Long Time, No See...

Not only have I been absent from this blog for sometime, I've been absent from a lot of things due to my new job. Conversely, while I've not been seen around here, there are a lot of things I've not seen while I focused on the new occupation and more importantly, my family.

At the beginning of this year, I decided my family would be my ministry for the coming months. Obviously, God put this on my heart for a reason as our son has had a lot of health issues and we've spent a small fortune on Dr visits, co-pays and prescriptions. Thankfully, due to the advice of some good friends at Gateway Church, we found a new clinic to take him to and a solid, caring, attentive Dr who seems to have him on the mend.

Now that I have the hang of my new job, Zach seems to over the hump and we can start moving away from our introspective season, we started looking to the future and what God has in store for us.

For those of you who know the story, the Almighty had his hand all over getting us down here to Austin. Not only would we have never considered it if He hadn't put some puzzles pieces together, we couldn't have made it happen without a few minor miracles He brought our way, including the blessings from some awesome friends.

In the course of all that, we've been wondering exactly why He brought us down here. Thankfully, we're at a point in our walk where we're very open to whispers from the Holy Spirit. Just like a master landscaper, God has placed stepping stones in front of us along the way. We weren't sure where they were leading, but think we've finally figured it out.

This past Sunday we were invited to the first leadership meeting on campus of a Church plant. We had no idea we were going when we got up Sunday morning, but the invite came around 2:30pm and by 4:30 we were there.

The lead pastor, Michael Robison, has a great vision, great zeal and most importantly an unquenchable love of what Jesus loves. He reminds me in many ways of our first Pastor, Greg Rohlinger of Palm Valley Church.One of the puzzle pieces that struck me yesterday is how much we wished we'd been around to plant Palm Valley...

After leaving, Angie was very jazzed up while I was still processing it. After mulling it all over most of the day yesterday, then discussing it further with Angie last night, I went to sleep last night thinking this was why God had called us to Austin.

I woke up around 1:30am last night and laid in bed unable to go back to sleep until after 3. Once I realized I couldn't go back to sleep, I just started "chatting" with God. Praying, worshiping, honoring, asking and listening.

After well over an hour of communing with God, I recall feeling very peaceful about where He was leading us, then the next thing I knew it was 5:00am and time to get up. Upon climbing out of bed, I was as sure I'd finally "seen" what He has in store as I've ever been.

Something about being a writer really makes me appreciate God's master story telling skills. As I look back on what led us to this point, I feel flooded by waves of awe at God's craftsmanship.

For those who have been part of a Church plant, or anything else big that the Holy Spirit is guiding, I'm sure you can relate to what I'm feeling right now. For those who haven't, I encourage you to roll up your sleeves and get in the game. Nothing in this life compares to the feeling of doing something for the Kingdom.

If you're in the Austin area next Sunday, come check out the first ever service at Uncommon Church. We'd love to see you and for you to be seen.