Over the last 8 months, we have been on a journey with Jesus. We have been learning how to trust Him in a deeper way, how to heal in a fuller way, and how to be authentic in a more real way. We probably wouldn’t have chosen the journey if we would have known the twists and turns God was going to take us on, but on the back side of the journey, we are appreciative of how God loves us and guides us. In the last months we have had the gift of the Holy Spirit revealing to us the places in our lives that we were holding onto as preferences, as areas of pride, and as selfishness. These were areas that were not keeping us from living a good life, but preventing us from living a fuller life. All along the process we felt God was giving us choices – choices on what to do with our lives, where to live, and what to be about. God is always good and the following Him is not a linear, logical journey, but instead a moment by moment intentional decision to walk with Him. These are the things that we have learned in the last 8 months, we are not perfect, nor desire to claim to be, but we do want to be people that share their story of how they are following Jesus – one step at a time.
Over the last year we have met hundreds of great people, welcomed Jack to the family as he married Hannah, watched Hailey make the transition to a high school English teacher and observe Zach making his freshman year at GCU a success. We have been blown away to see what God continues to do in the lives of our kids as they live out following Jesus one step at a time. Life hasn’t been easy or comfortable – changing relationships, living in a 2 bedroom apartment that doesn’t have much insulation, disappointments, random health issues, and plans that did not turn out that way we had hoped. And through this process, we feel God has given us the choice in how things would turn out. We have learned humility – not taking ourselves too seriously, compassion – care for the people you love and don’t love, and trust – believing God is good even when circumstances aren’t what you would like them to be.
As we have grown in our relationship with Jesus over the last months we have become more like the people we want to be and more confident in who God has made us to be. With that we have felt that it was going to be time to step into our next ministry opportunity. We have talked to some incredible churches and leaders. We have found ministries that we align with and ones that we would be a square peg in a round hole. We have needed to say no to joining some great teams and have been told not the right fit from a couple of ministry opportunities. In the last month, we have sensed that the beginning of a new chapter was coming quickly. Within a week, the conversations with 3 churches elevated and the clouds “cleared” in a way that we were talking to people who could be a great fit. We decided to visit one of the places to see if we would be a good fit for the staff and church culture and a little surprisingly for us, the people felt like friends and the place felt like home.
So we are excited to be going to Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas in the position as Family Pastor. I will get the gift of leading the kids and students teams as we join Jesus and bring life to everyone, everywhere, everyday. I love that the focus will be on creating disciple makers that make disciple makers that make disciple makers. The focus is on helping others become followers and disciple makers for Jesus. We have been impressed with the staff and core leaders that exemplify humility, selflessness, and passion for Jesus. We are looking forward to being a part of a community that lives out living in the value of people over program, conversation over policy, flexibility over rigidity.
As we transition to Las Vegas, we want to thank you who have been praying for us. For those of us we have known in the past – you all are highly valuable to us and what God has done in our lives. For those of you who are people we get to do life with in the future – we are excited to meet you and make steps alongside you. For those of you who are still stuck on why are the VG’s going to Vegas – let me invite you to check back in the days ahead – I will write some thoughts on that, but for now plan on visiting us in the coming months and check out our new community.
A couple of final thoughts and prayer requests for now:
- Kris and I will be driving to Las Vegas on Thursday, April 6th and spending Easter at Canyon Ridge. We also will be flying in our kids so that we can have time together. Kris will fly back to Lincoln to wrap up work, Dr’s appointments, and other miscellaneous things. She will join me in Las Vegas by late April. We will be looking for a home and when we find one, we will return to Lincoln to move our stuff.
- Zach is still figuring out where he will be this summer
- Hailey is searching for her next step in ministry
- Jack and Hannah will hopefully have a calm summer break.
Thank you for your support and prayers – looking forward to our next steps with Jesus.