Living Grace Church...here we come!

First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for earnestly praying for Frances and me these last few months.  Although stepping out in faith is an exhilarating feeling, it also is a terrifying experience!  

Let me give you a rundown of the events that occurred these past few months...

 - In May I communicated with the leadership team of Bannockburn Baptist Church in Austin, TX that God had laid it on my heart to return to being a senior pastor.  They graciously gave me until the end of September to pursue that calling and then step out in faith as God gave me the grace to do it.  

 - We put our house on the market and ventured out into the realm of the unknown - while being pregnant (of course)!  

 - Although several "good" opportunities presented themselves from really "good" churches and / organizations, nothing really gripped our hearts.  Trust me, it was the most difficult thing in the world to say "no" to the good in order to hold out for God's best.  

 - The very day that I said "no" to an opportunity to be the senior pastor of a church on the east coast, I received a phone call from Living Grace Church in Campbellsville, KY.  (www.livinggracechurch.com)  

 - Living Grace is a church plant that is only 6 years old.  It began with only 17 people and today averages over 700 each week.  

 - After speaking with them for over a month, Frances and I made our way to Campbellsville, KY the weekend of December 5-7 for an extended time of interviewing (with Staff Search Team and Leadership Team).  We met and ate - and ate and met, etc, etc, etc... 

 - A few weeks ago, just three days after Maddy was born, I flew out again to preach at Living Grace. 

 - Just last week I received a phone call from Living Grace saying that both the Search Team and Leadership Team unanimously voted to bring me as their next Senior Pastor!  Oh, how humbling and exciting!

 - I fly out again (for the 3rd time) this Saturday - Monday to officially go before the church, share my story and vision for Living Grace.  

Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what Living Grace is all about... (In case you're wondering, the building used to be a Coca-Cola Bottling Company factory - cool, huh?)