update: we’re movin’ on “up” or is it “down?”

I really want to continue the blog series on the church, and I will, but we’ve been busy, really busy over the past several days. When I was in Kansas City, we learned that the sale of our house was complete and that we were closing on the 15th of January…with Christmas, New Years and a trip to NYC (we leave tomorrow) between December 20th and January 15th, time was most definitely of the essence. So, we knew we had to move…the question was “where?”  Gina and I prayed and talked it over with each other and some friends and we started with where we knew we wouldn’t plant the church. While we love the east valley of Phoenix, we didn’t see planting a church there for two main reasons, 1. there are tons of great churches there and 2. God is not calling us to plant in the east valley. No. 2 trumps reason No. 1, by the way. So, where do we go? We had talked about Tempe but as I’ve sought God over the past couple of months…God hasn’t given us peace on Tempe as the main location. So, where do we go? We thought we might try to find a temporary spot to live until summer but there were other challenges with that….so, where do we go?

Well….where we have gone, is right in the middle of it all…uptown/downtown Phoenix. Yes, I got my wife to move to the city! We are in the process of moving to the historic district of Willo. Since the day we drove through it, we felt like this area could be the place. It is just blocks from the light rail, a vibrant business district, tons of homes and apartments/lofts/condo living with young professionals and families, downtown, ASU downtown, areas of physical need, etc. Additionally, it is just a 20-25 minute drive from the east valley where our kids currently go to school and where we wanted to keep them at least to finish out this year.   The biggest thing: the need for the Gospel in the area is obvious…..hmm, could this be where?

Well, we think it might be.  (If you are familiar with Phoenix: basically, the central part of Phoenix running from the north edge of downtown to Camelback.) We are in the final stages now and we’ll have our target soon. Our trip to NYC is a time for us to reflect, pray and learn and will allow us a little time to breathe and let God speak more into this decision. We are also consulting with others as this is not a renegade operation…we have people speaking into this process at every level and we want the confirmation from those around us too.  We would appreciate your continued prayers and thank you for partnering with us.  We can’t wait to see what God will do through all of us.

Engaging the battle…