Wow, what an amazing time Norah and I had in Birmingham at the ARC (Association of Related Churches) Training. Suddenly, what seemed SO DIFFICULT 2 weeks ago, suddenly seems easy! That may be an overstatement, it will take a lot of work, but we know that we can do it!
We have two BIG announcements in this post… I also put together a little video for you this morning. Click to watch, and don’t miss the announcements below!
1) We have officially been accepted into ARC as ARC Church Planters!
YES! This is huge for us. It’s just an amazing honor to be a part of this organization that is doing so much to further God’s Kingdom here in the USA and beyond.
2) Nashville, HERE WE COME!
Huh? What about Dalton? I know, I know… this sounds strange for those who have been following us over the past few weeks and months… Let me explain:
We have struggled quite a bit trying to figure out WHERE we were supposed to plant. We had originally discarded the idea of returning to Middle Tennessee for various reasons… mainly because we felt that we needed to be some place with not as many large churches. We finally settled on Dalton, GA because it was close, there were a lot of Hispanics there, etc.
BUT, after talking it through with multiple pastors and Leaders at ARC, they were kind of like… WHAT? Why are you going somewhere new where you know NO ONE, and you have already had 4 years of plowing the ground and preparing the terrain there in Nashville. It’s obvious that you and your families hearts are there… you have hundreds of contacts AND your probably have half if not more of a launch team already put together. You guys will rock it there.
Soooo…. we were kind of like… uh… yeah… you’re right! Why didn’t WE think of that???!
THIS IS WHY WE ARE SO HAPPY TO BE WITH ARC. Sometimes you need others to look into your life and speak to things that you have been blinded to. Sometimes, when you are in the middle of the craziness of life, it’s hard to see things clearly.
Trust me, when we decided this, we ALL just felt a weight come off of our shoulders. The kids are STOKED, and Norah and I are just plain out antsy to get started! Not only that, we’ve communicated this with most of our team back in Murfreesboro/Smyrna… and they are literally hooting and hollering (I can prove it if you don’t believe me… I have it on voicemail, lol!). They are excited to say the least!
Make sure to see the above video if you haven’t already…
Love you all!
