Connecting the Dots

This morning was not a normal service at our church. We have been at Four Corners Church close to two years now and today our pastor told us his story, starting with when he first came to know Christ all the way to where he is currently feeling God's calling on his life. He did this because after two more weeks he will no longer be filling the role as senior pastor at FCC-he and his family will be moving for a year for him to teach others in a training program and prepare to come back to Atlanta to fulfill a calling God has placed in his heart to reach the people of Atlanta-specifically Little Five Points. He talked about how from the time he was 16 he felt a call to be a "missionary" but that has meant different things throughout his life, and now it seems God is connecting all the "dots" and allowing him to do all the things he has felt called to do-teach, preach, write books, and make friends of sinners in a place that has become a playground for Satan's destruction. There is a lot to this story, and if you'd like to hear it all I'm sure the podcast will be posted later this week here. It's definitely worth a listen-it will blow your mind how God is using Alex and his family for the glory of His kingdom!

So it's fantastic how God is using him and of course we are excited that he is following God's call-out of their comfort zone and straight into God's calling. But let's be honest-it's hard. Hard for the whole church because we have been led so passionately and fervently by such a Godly preacher. On top of that they are in our "gospel community" group (small group) so we have gotten to spend a fair amount of time with them and see that Alex and Jana are just amazing, genuine, God-loving people and there is zero front that they put on for the sake of looking "perfect". I admire and respect them so much for that. We will miss them terribly-but as we have seen with our friends the Barnes who felt called from our church to move to another city and be missionaries there-it will not make them any less a part of our "family" though there is more distance between us.

All the talk of connecting the dots (my words, not his) and how God works things together so perfectly-it caused me to have one of those very few moments where I saw sort of a "big picture" in my own life-and mainly because of one person who heavily influenced me when I was younger to have a heart for sinners, especially those who "look like God wouldn't love them". Bikers, tattooed "freaks" as he lovingly called them, homeless people, etc. That person was Pastor Jimmy Hammett. He helped show me how to love the "unlovable". As I listened to Alex talk about his burden for the people of Little Five Points my mind drifted to a memory of when Pastor Jimmy took myself and a handful of others in my youth group to visit a new church that Jay Baker had started in a coffee shop type place in Little Five-full of all those tattooed, multi-color hair people that Jimmy had such a heart for. I never really thought about it until today. How strange it is that I had been introduced to Little Five Points, and that even though I lived in Zebulon, a WORLD away from that kind of culture. I just accepted it and never thought about the fact that probably not many people from Zebulon have ever even thought about going to a place like Little Five-and here I was a teenager going to eat at the Vortex and mingling with the rough crowd of Atlanta and frankly I loved it. I knew back then that I would never stop having a love for those people, and how even though I didn't look anything like them I loved talking to people different from me-people that love shock value, from the ones I have met. They WANT you to "judge" them-to tell them they are wrong for how they dress and talk and what color their hair is. They want you to judge so they can say "see-you say your Jesus loves everyone but what about me? Does he love people like me?" He does. I still remember Pastor Jimmy bringing his friend who was in Hell's Angels into the church I attended when I was a teen-motorcycles and all one time-INSIDE the building. Jimmy loved to shock people-he seemed to get a certain joy out of watching your reaction. He also had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I've ever known and would sacrifice anything for Christ. Because he GOT it. He got that pretending to be perfect and playing by the rules and dressing formal on Sunday doesn't get you into Heaven. Only Christ does that-and Christ calls us to love EVERYONE-especially the "least of these" which I think Little Five Points probably falls under. So, in summary, today was a very emotional day for me and I cried quite a bit-because I am sad that our pastor is leaving but mostly those tears were of awe and joy for our God-for how he helped me see that going to Little Five Points as a teenager and putting a love in my heart for those people was not coincidence-it was all part of his perfect plan. Those tears came more freely also because I wanted so badly to call up Pastor Jimmy and tell him but I couldn't because he went to be with our Lord a few months ago. I know that he is smiling in Heaven knowing that there is a plan in motion to reach those people that he loved so much-and I am excited to watch it unfold!

These past couple of weeks have been very eye-opening for us. Change is happening in drastic ways-the Lord has shaken us up a bit-first with the skin cancer, now with the church an some other life changes that are still up in the air. He is reminding us that we shouldn't be complacent, that life is short and God is moving and working all over the world and we should be in the midst of it, not watching on the sidelines.

1 Year of Isley

Isley-It's happening.  That time in life when "blink and you'll miss it" is becoming all too true.

With your sister I remember time standing still-I couldn't wait for her to get to the next milestone in life because it was all so new and I was impatient to see what came next. It's different with you-I already know what comes next so I am in no hurry to see the stage you are in pass.  I take advantage of every opportunity to cover you with kisses, sing to you, hold you tight, rock you, make you giggle. You brighten my life every day and I marvel at your constant good demeanor. People ask me often "is she like this all the time??" and  "she's the absolute best baby!" It's true, you are the best baby! You remind me so much of your Daddy, you love to make people laugh and are easy going and easy to make smile :) You have an infectious joy about you-it's so fun to watch you bring smiles to all the people around you.

Sweet, blissful Isley Virginia.

 I cannot believe you are already one year old!! I don't really know how the time flew by so quickly! One thing I do know-you are the perfect addition to our family. You make us all light up-Daddy, Bella and I look forward to playing with you every day. You bring such light to all of our lives!

I love the "crinkly-nose" face that you make and that mischievous grin you give me when you get into something and make a mess!

You love our kitties, books, sweet potatoes, and drinking from real straws. You don't like blueberries, you don't care a thing about learning to walk, you love to shake your head "yes" and "no". You can say "Bella", "papa", "mama", "nooooo", "da-do" (thank you), neigh (for a horse), "mow" (for kitties), and "hello".

You have been to the beach twice and love the water and sand (the sand a little too much-you eat it if given the chance!) You got to see a beautiful wedding on the beach with myself and Daddy. You have lots of sweet friends from church and you don't have much fear of anything. You love your sister and Mommy

BUT I'm pretty certain Daddy is your favorite. You GLOW when he is around.

I pray that the Lord will guide you every step of your life and I thank Him for bringing you into our world and  reminding us perfect his timing is with your presence.