This last week has been consumed by two big things: visiting with City Church (Tallahassee) and preparing to move. For the first time in four weekends we are all back together in Raleigh. This post reviews the highlights of our time with City Church and a little more about what we're facing on the home front. As we do, we're sharing a few ways that you can pray with us as we continue this journey to London.
City Church Tallahassee
We (Thomas and Elizabeth) took a five day road trip to visit with our friends at City Church. Thomas preached on Sunday morning, we hosted an interest meeting Sunday night, spent time with the staff and elders, loved on some college students, and Thomas taught in City Church U (their Tuesday night college gathering).
Our partnership with City Church started last summer when a pastor at The Summit Church connected us with Ashlyn (one of the executive directors at City Church). We were excited to discover that God had laid London on the hearts of City Church leadership for more than the last year! In a lot of ways, we seemed like an answer to each other's prayers. Over the next couple of months we developed a friendship with the City Church team. In October we hosted City Church in London for a preview trip to share our heart for London. At the end of that trip in October Dean Inserra, the lead pastor of City Church, invited us to Tallahassee to spend some time with the team before we make the move.
We LOVED our time with City Church. Their team chemistry was a sight to behold. Their members were warm and encouraging. Their college students were hungry for the Word and to make an impact with their lives. Quite simply: We went to encourage and to share and we left encouraged, spoken into, prayed for, and cared for. We could go on an on with our love for City Church. We had a great time. We are thankful for Elizabeth's parents for watching the kiddos while we were out of town. It's good to be back.
Preparing To Move
We landed in Raleigh just an hour before Launch Team meeting and rolled into a number of projects around the house. It feels like we're working nonstop in preparations for the move to London. Over the last two weeks we have been busy with a number of projects around the house that need to be finished before we put the house on the market. We were really encouraged yesterday to spend some time with Matt and Meredith Schelm - Matt helped Thomas with a few things around the house while Meredith caught up with Elizabeth and the kids.
We are LOVING this weather! We have been sure to get out of the house over the last few days to take advantage of the clear sky and nice temps. The kiddos are loving their scooters and are really getting the hang of it. These are those precious few days before the pollen starts to pile up. Also, Auburn won the SEC basketball tournament today! That has little to do with everything else but is worth a mention.
War Eagle!
Next week will involve more house projects- purging, organizing, more purging, and more organizing (try not to be too jealous). Thomas will be busy with the penultimate Residency Training on Monday and Tuesday and an Overnight to Wilmington on Tuesday to spend some time with Port City Church. We hope to put the house on the market in the next two weeks.
Pray With Us
Would you pray with us over the next week of activity? Thomas has a bunch of trainings, travel, and meetings to help prepare us for the move and continue fundraising for London. Elizabeth will be holding the fort down and being the point person for all activity with the house. We are dividing and conquering, and feel like we are running from one thing to the next. We humbled that you are following along with us and so appreciate your prayers.
As the needs and work continues to mount, we remember God who loves us so well. This verse from Ezekiel has meant a lot to us in the last week and we are happy to share it with you...
"They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all their backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."
Ezekiel 37:23