Its time

"Come alive to the real world, the world where Jesus is Lord, the world into which your baptism brings you, the world you claim to belong to when you say in the creed that Jusus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead.........It's time to wake up! you've been asleep long enouth! The sun is shining and there's a wonderful day out there! Wake up and get a life!"

(N.T. Wright)

We are moving

7 years in this house and in my hometown. I think the problem I am most faced with when I come to the end of a certain chapter in life is wondering if I truly enjoyed it all. I would have been a better daughter, sister, friend, in-law etc... I would not have let myself be hindered by my dillusioned fears. To really engage yourself in the moment, is really hard work and takes a lot of foresight and determination. With my kids, for the most part, I put aside the "to do" list in my head and sit down to play with them, because all to soon they will be grown. Sometimes I am so aware of what kind of parent I want to be, but don't translate that into my own relationships. A friend in college once accused me of having my own agenda all the time. Naturally, I was annoyed at the comment. Unfortunately he was speaking with more discernment than I would have liked to grant him. He was basically calling me selfish and he was right. I am task oriented, I like to get things done. Thankfully I married a people oriented person, who has taught me a lot about the importance of relationships. He values people. For example we took a family trip to the beach and both of us had conversations with other parents. Mine was a 5 minute surface conversation with another mom from Chicago. His was a 45 minute life sharing and gospel presentataion with a devout Jewish man and in the end they exchanged business cards. I hope my boys grow up more like their Dad in that regard.

As a couple there has been a tug on our hearts to live differently. To let go of everything this world entangles us with, and to live in such a way that when we are at the end of our life's chapter, we don't cry out "I've wasted it all." I have talked about how much the book "Don't waste your life" by John Piper has challenged me and it just might have been the catalyst for getting us off our lazy bums in our comfortable home and out into the world of Faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. What do I really hope for, a happy life, subtantial wealth, nice things, well-behaved kids, a good figure, etc? Is all that really worth putting my hope in? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. How can hoping in the temporal ever allow me to glorify and enjoy God?

There must be more than just having a nice life. To be free in letting God use us as He has planned, even if that means a lack of security and comfort (2 things we Americans value most).

"Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter." (Francis Chan) I don't want a life that doesn't matter.

God gave me this mission statement recently, to be on the forefront of our hearts and a reminder of how our family should live: Live as a family who brings glory to God the Father and pursues the hope of Jesus Christ through missionally living out unconditional love and sacrificial giving to all God's people.

It's time, time for us to come alive. God has fueled a passion in our hearts to wholeheartedly obey and follow Him. In California, Mike and two other friends will be launching Elevate Worldwide, Inc. The first year will consist of making contacts and connections with the greater NorCal churches & partnering with Lassen Pines Christian Camp to run their programs for the summer of 2011. So we as a family will be moving to Redding, California. The future is unseen, but filled with Hope that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. I know that I need to be careful in thinking that moving will automatically transform us into radical living for Christ. It doesn't matter where we live, but at this present time, God is calling us to leave our life here and trust Him for what lies ahead.

Please pray for us:

1. for diligence and direction in the coming weeks

2. for safety as we travel

3. a place to live when we get there

4. a wonderful school for Caeden

5. to find a Bible believing, truth living, community reaching Church

6. financial support