Who Says You Can't Go Home?

We have been praying since April 2011 about what would be next for us.  With Clint being in Seminary full-time and our desire that I stay at home with the kiddos, we had to figure out how those kiddos were going to be fed!  In May, we thought the answer was clear.  A big, awesome church initiated to Clint about becoming a campus pastor close to the Seminary.  Perfect scenario.  But as the summer went on, it seemed less and less ideal.  So, the prayers continued, and we mentioned our situation to a pastor of a supporting church who had teased Clint about coming on his church staff in the next 5 years.  He agreed to pray and help us think of job options.  A few weeks later that pastor went on vacation, and when he came home his elders called an unscheduled meeting.  With no information about his conversation with Clint, the elders pressed the pastor that they needed another pastor on the church staff.  The pastor mentioned Clint's name and the rest has been the logistics of getting us there!

As we have prayed about church ministry we have dreamed about having a church in a building downtown somewhere.  We never knew what city that might be.  One day it was Philadelphia, others Monroe, Greensboro, anywhere.  But, no matter what city we dreamed about, it was always in a downtown building.  The Lord is mysterious.  He gives us desires and dreams that seem like silly preferences and then, later, you look up and realize he was preparing you for something.

So, this is it.  Freedom Church.  Located on Main Street in downtown Lincolnton, NC.  When I left Lincolnton to go to college I swore I would never come back.  I wanted to go to a big city, live in a loft apartment and have a Rottweiler (for security :)).  I left my life and (less than ideal) high school days there and moved on.  But the Lord knows better than I do, and He has made it clear this is where we will call home for an indefinite amount of time.  We are excited, thrilled even.  There is so much new, so much to learn, so much to adjust to.  A new normal, a new home, a new job, a new city, a new team.  But the mission is still the same, to make much of Christ.  And that is what we will do, Lord willing.