Enough

Robin and I have started going to Einstein Brothers every Sunday morning for a breakfast of bagels. We really love our new little tradition. As we were there today, Robin was telling me about a book she is reading. The short of it is, its about a guy that is working really hard to provide for people who are very poor in the world. Sometimes he will do a presentation and only three people will come, but one will provide enough money to continue his work.

As she was telling me about this, I had to think about our current situation. Robin and I are unemployed, and looking hard for jobs. We have enough money to live on for awhile, but we are still a little worried at times. But I just couldn't help but think about how God provides for the birds and the rest of his creation. He doesn't give them enough to live on for weeks or months or years, he gives them enough for today. God doesn't promise we won't ever worry or think we might not make it, he promises that we will have enough for today. And he has more than provided for us today. I hope we both get jobs this week, but if we don't we have to continue to believe that God knows what he is doing.

I want to write this now, so that when you guys move here you will know I felt the same. I want to give you a little preview of some of the thoughts I think most of us will probably have when we move. You will feel a little isolated. You will realize that your friends and family are a now a long way away. You will think about all the connections you have in Texas that could have gotten you a job in a week or two. You will be sad to leave home. You will be excited to start something new. I have gone back and forth between knowing God would provide soon, to being angry with him for not providing yet. I ask if God brought us here just to drop us sometimes.

Here is the thing about most of those emotions, I think they are pretty normal. I also think that most things worth doing are not easy. I look back to college and remember how hard it was to go to a school 300 miles from home when I knew no one. But after it was over, I met my wife, met some great friends, and met most of you. Without that difficulty, I would be very comfortable living in OKC and living as the same person I was all through highschool. I think seminary was similar. Neither was enjoyable right away, but in the end I was so much better because of it. I think it will be the same here in Denver.

I think there are several reasons God puts us through this. He wants us to grow and to change, and if we stay comfortable that will not happen. God wants us to trust him, and that is hard to do when our wallets and bellys are overflowing. God wants us to sacrifice for him, and that is hard to do when we keep everything for ourselves. I hope this post does a couple things, I hope it gets you to think through what ways God needs to challenge you, what ways you may need to change as you prepare for this journey. I hope it can also encourage you that we feel the same emotions you all probably are.

I really think there were some great comments on the last post. Let me add a little bit about what I think. I think it should be something that is part of everything we do. It can't be programs, but I think it can be disciplines. The first time you invite a stranger from church to eat lunch or dinner with you afterword, it can be scary. The twentieth time in a row, it is habit. I think including new people can be a habit for us, and I hope it is. I think the fact that we will all be kind of strangers in Denver for awhile will reinforce to us the need to help strangers be made at home. Grant, I agree about Rochelle, remind me of that when we start doing core training stuff, because I think we really need to focus on that. Pray for us guys, we need some jobs. I found one that I think I would love, though the pay is not great. I will tell you more about it next week. Please share your thoughts on all this, the comments remind me that you guys are here.

Delicious Egg Sandwiches...

Here is a quick recipe for some delicious egg sandwiches. (Note, these are very bad for you, so you may want to do this after running a marathon or before a week of strenuous exercise)
Ingredients
1 egg
2 strips of bacon
2 pieces of bread
1 slice of cheese
butter
cream cheese
Toast the bread. Put butter on one slice, and cream cheese on the other. Cook the bacon. Place it on the cream cheese side of bread. Fry one egg. After flipping the egg, place the cheese on the egg to melt the cheese. After the yolk is cooked to your preference, remove the egg and place it on top of the bacon. Build your sandwich and enjoy. (If you need more, just make two like me)

Now, I know most of you didn't come here for an egg sandwich recipe, but I just had two and Robin had one and I had to share the joy.

A couple things I have been thinking about this week (and I have a lot of time with no job or activities other than football). Robin and I visited a local church here on Tuesday night. Great time for church. There were definitely some things we liked about the church, and a few we didn't like. I think they probably have an excellent church, but here is my critique. We wouldn't know that just by going to their worship service.

Now, I am like most of you and think that church is a lot more than worship services. I think small groups will be central to us being the church God wants us to be. But, the fact remains that there are people who will just walk in off the street. Robin and I walked in off the street, and we had no idea if this was a friendly church, a rude church or an indifferent church. We didn't know if anyone cared if we were there or not.

I understand we want people to connect at small groups or whatever we call them. But, I want people that come to our worship services to leave our service knowing what we are all about. I want people to come in and feel like we want them to come back. How do we do this? I have some ideas, but I want to hear from you all first. So my question, how do we convey to people that just come to worship services what we are all about? If we are a tight community, how do we show people that they can be important too? Which people have to take part in this? How do we help people that may just come off the street be comfortable? How do we make sure we don't miss people?

Its ok if you can't or don't have the time to answer all of those, but I would like some feedback on what we as the core of Refuge can do initially to help be that kind of church. Please keep us in your prayers, Robin has an interview this week, and sometimes I feel like no one will ever want to interview me. God has helped us thus far, and I don't see him letting us drop, but I'm praying that he might help us sooner rather than later. We are so excited to see you all, come visit if you want, and I am excited with what God will do through us in this city!

Checkin in.

Hey people. Its Sunday, and we are enjoying that we can sleep in on Sundays again. We look forward to you all being able to do the same. It is 41 degrees here in Denver, which is great, especially since we got our heater working. It was freaking cold last night though... If you are worried about me since my beloved Sooners lost yesterday, I appreciate the prayers, but I'm doing ok. At least we didn't lose to some crap team this time.

Anyway, we are adjusting to life here. We love lots of things about the city, and don't love a few things. We don't love that we don't have jobs yet, but we both have a couple solid leads. We are hoping to get something this coming week. So if you could pray for that, we would really appreciate it. I have a couple applications at CCU, and Robin has a couple at nursing homes. God has really taken care of us thus far, and so we don't have any good reason to doubt him now, but it does get worrying sometimes. We have met some really great people, and have noticed that there are a lot of places where people just go to hang out, and are open to talking to strangers. I hope that we can start doing some sort of home group or something soon, and maybe that will eventually lead to a core group for when the rest of you get here. We miss some things about Texas, namely the close friends, I don't miss lots of Texas fans giving me crap...

Anyway, let us know when you want to come visit us, let us know. We have a nice little upstairs for visitors to stay in. So say a prayer for us, and we will say one for you. Let me know if there is anything I can do for those of you moving before long. It will sneak up on you and you will be here before you know it.

Here I am.

I got to Denver on Mon night, it was a beating of a drive. I woke up at 5 and drove straight through, because of construction and some stupid traffic, I got here at 7 Denver time. That is 15 hours of fun. I listened to a book on CD most of the way, but that didn't make it a good drive, merely tolerable.

Our apartment is great, I love the town so far. The drivers are crazy, but I feel like they make up for it by have a sweet town. I have spent a lot of time with my friends Chad and Mary. They moved up last spring completely independent of us. They are great people and I am glad not to be completely alone here. Hopefully we can make some connections and begin to find a core group of people.

Other than that, our furniture got delivered fine, the power is on, but the AC doesn't work, so that's a bummer. Again, I love it here, but am really missing Robin. She will be here Friday night, and Tanner and Jessica will hang out until Sunday. Hope you are all doing well, and I will keep you updated here and on my blog. Pray for us that we will find jobs quickly and that God will continue to take care of us as I know he will.