It's over.

My time with Target is officially done. I am not real sure how I feel right now, Wednesday is usually my day off, so it doesn't fell much different at this point in time but maybe in a few days..... I'll wake up and have the urge to ask, "Can I help you find something" or maybe have a strange need to put on a red shirt. I think as I contemplate it all now, the thing that I will miss most is the people that I work with. I have spent a third of my life over the past four years at two different stores; both of the stores have an average number of 110 employees plus turn over = 350 people that I have worked with. It's all just too strange, stay tuned for more.

This weekend; team time in KC, next week camp Maranatha! Lots to trick me into thinking it just a vacation!

I have a job!

Only four days left at Target....but I have a job! In fact, I have been trying to balance two for the last year, missions ( fund-raising for our time in Italy) and retail. They don't mix well together; one (retail) has been more immediate and has dominated my time. Coming home form closing the store five out of six nights, generally leaves little time to connect with all of you.
Over the last few weeks, I have made allusions to the fact that I will be leaving Target, but the time has come and is now! Our needs are not without substance, we have a lot of work to do in a very short time to make this thing work. We have been talking and praying with several great friends and family as we walked this decision. We feel like this is the right one but it is not without a huge dose of nervousness.
We are overjoyed, however, when we hear about how awesome God is when He is at work in the lives of His people. We met a couple at Avant in February when we were there for Team Lead training. They had recently taken a similar step into full time support raising. They had a long way to get to their goal and limited time as part of their team was already on the field. We just heard this past week, that they are 109% funded and leaving soon to plant churches in Europe.
This is my job to reach out to the lost and plant a church in Rome! Until I get there, my job is to get there!

No Power!

My wife's car wouldn't start on Friday morning, which was not particularly odd; we had a torrential down pour over the evening and for whatever reason Renee's car hates being wet (maybe it is part cat).  I was at a meeting when this was all going down. We have some great friends who came and got the kids for school, then tried to give her a jump start. When I returned from my morning coffee appointment, I found my friend and my neighbor looking under the hood of my wife's car. They had done some basic trouble shooting and tried cleaning the up the battery posts and cables, the car was trying to start but just would not turn over. After briefing me on the situation my neighbor had to take his leave. My friend and I decided to take the battery out and to the local part store to see if that was our problem.

The guy behind that counter looked at the battery and shakes his head. Then he looks at the date on the battery March of 2004 (seven years old) and shakes his head again. Before he even hooks it up to his machine, he says "this thing is deader than a dinosaur". His look of judgement saying, give me your man card, your privileges have been revoked. He proceeded to tell me that in our climate most automobile batteries last 3-5 years max. And I was lucky to have lasted this long.

All of that to say this: my wife's car a a systematic problem and it eventually ended with the battery being completely dead. It would not work anymore it had been utterly spent and was unable to operate the vehicle. The only way to fix this problem was to completely remove the battery and install one that is new and good.

I see many parallels to the human condition; we have a systematic problem and left unchecked it will leave us utterly dead. This problem leaves us unable to operate in the way which we are created to work.  The only solution is to remove it and install something that is new and good!
And just like the battery in my wife's car, we have no power to do this on our own.

Filling the gaps........

As we are in the process of making big decisions, I am continually blown away by God's provision and the doors that He opens in order for me to be faithful! If I had a title for the past few weeks, I would have to say that it is opportunities  abound! This summer and fall is going to be filled with great ministry that will shape my ability to minister to others and that will allow me to work in areas of strength.

First up, our family was a last minute addition to Camp Maranatha junior camp staff. This is a blast and something that we have been a part of for four of the past five years, we had a chance to minister there last year but we were at Avant for training. I have been asked to lead a devotional time/ bible study. I will work with a dear brother on some skits/ videos and work with a great group of kids from Lincoln Christian (as well as other schools)! So looking forward to our time in Western Nebraska!

Next, I have been asked to be a story teller for  America's Great Stories, a summer out reach to local Lincoln kids. I will be playing General Joshua L. Chamberlain a civil war veteran who lead the Union forces during the battle for "Little Round Top" a key turning point for the North. He studied theology and was preparing for the mission field (ironically enough)! This outreach already has over 500 students signed up to come to the story telling sessions and I will get the chance to share my missionary journey with all of the other volunteers that are a part of this ministry!

I plan on taking my son to Colorado for the Peak Challenge, this is group of guys from my old church that get together to take on climbing (up a trail not up a rock face) a 13K+ summit. These are men that I had great fellowship with for many years of my life. I was in Life Groups, Bible studies, and prayer partners with them. Our sons grew up together and I am excited to be taking them with us. It should be awesome!  

Finally (chronologically, not in terms of importance) I have been asked to help direct the fall play at Lincoln Christian. Our wonderful teacher is due to have a baby just two weeks before school starts and will not be able to take on the full season. I am so excited to work with these kids again ( I volunteered a lot of time this year) and to get the chance to coach them up! This will eventually be the play that they take to One Act competition. This is truly a dream come true for me and I cannot wait!

I pray that I will learn valuable lessons that will shape and equip me into the type of missionary that God has designed me to be! As I close the door on this chapter of my life and move to the next I am amazed at how God is filling the gaps.....

Running?

Today was filled with many things that had to get checked off of the list..... I had a doctors appointment for my yearly physical ( cholesterol, blood pressure, and everything else checked out great), then I had a meeting at the kids school to talk about tuition for the next year ( praying that the school and I are on the same page), third handed talked to a team member about support ( Renee was actually talking I was eavesdropping), talked to my father in law, went shopping for mother's day, and had Oasis tonight!
I am also coming off my closing weekend and haven't connected with my family for a week ( we haven't had dinner together since last Tuesday). I feel like I have been running a race, without getting very far! I made an executive decision for our family tonight; No OASIS and Family TIME! We watched American Idol and had a great dinner; then we went for a run (of course)! It was awesome to just spend some time together.
I have been running in my mind quite a bit recently too. As you read in my last blog I am starting to feel the pinch of running out of time, and feeling like I need to be more focused on getting the funds we need raised so that we can get to the field. I feel that this is the most important race that I need to be running, but with work and other schedules it is a race that I have been jogging. I am feeling that I need to step away from my current job, but the uncertainty of the ramifications of that decision has left me sleepless several times the past few weeks.
Please be praying for us, that our direction would be clear and that we are running the race God has laid before  us.