Bumper Cars... Enough Said

Vacation Fun in Seaside

Our much-anticipated Jones family beach trip is now upon us.  Talk about a recipe for success... 12 young cousins under the age of 8, the 3 original Jones kids (with spouses), Grandma and Grandpa, and one huge beach house overlooking the Pacific.  What a great way to beat the heat and find some rest in the middle of our Olympia transition.  Here are some fun pics of day one.

We Bought a House... No We Didn't... Yes We Did!

So- following the fun that is our life... As I told you in my last post, we made an offer on a house, received a counter offer that was more than we wanted to swallow, and walked away on Tuesday trusting that God had something better for us.  

This past Saturday night, while out on a much-anticipated dinner date with Callie (the kiddos were with Callie's parents), we received a phone call from our real estate agent.  She was just calling to inform us that the seller had reconsidered our original offer and was now willing to accept it. We just smiled and laughed and are extremely excited about the prospect of closing on that house by September 18th.  

These past 2 months have been an incredible ride of faith and truly like never before, nothing surprises me when it comes to God and His ways.  

Oh- and Cam- there is an extra room waiting for Logan's "big brother."

We Bought a House... No We Didn't

Just keeping you up to date on the Jones' house saga...

Last Thursday night we put an offer on a house that we have had our eyes on for the past several months.  Because it is a "buyer's market," we offered $10,000 under the asking price and awaited a response.  Maybe I should say that we patiently awaited their response.  

Contractually, they were supposed to respond by Friday night.  Friday night came and went with promises of news by Saturday.  Saturday night came and went with promises of a Sunday deliberation.  By Sunday night they were saying that we would hear by 12 noon on Monday.  So, finally, some time Monday afternoon, they responded with a counter offer that was just slightly over our pre-determined limit.  While we probably could have pushed it and made it work, we didn't feel right pushing our boundaries.

So, after all that- we walked away trusting that God has another house for us.

In the meanwhile, we are continuing our greater-Olympia house tour.  First Tumwater, then the Westside of Olympia, then Tumwater again, then Lacey, and now a house out in the country toward Yelm until next Tuesday.  

Please pray for us because living out of a suitcase for a month is wearing on all of us a bit.

Church as a Gift

Even though I haven't been "doing ministry" for that long, over the past 9 years of pastoral ministry, I have seen in my own soul the best of serving the Lord and I have seen the worst.  And one of the greatest challenges to every person in vocational ministry is to find the balance between self-effort and God's activity.  One of the most common traps that is so easy to fall into is to buy the lie that any "success" or growth in a ministry is due to your own hard work, natural talent, and/or personal effort.  You will often hear at pastor's conferences, "Yeah, I started out with only a handful of people and then I grew it to hundreds or thousands."  Really, you grew it.

I have been reminded and humbled in this regard recently by my most recent job change and ministry assignment.  As most of you know, I just moved up to Olympia to pastor a church that is bit over 2 years old with about 200 people in the downtown area.  

And here's the beauty of it right now for me- this church is a gift of God by His grace... period.  I was saying to my wife the other day.  I have done absolutely nothing to earn, deserve, or merit this church.  I can't even be tempted right now to take any credit because I haven't done anything but show up.  The people aren't there because of me- they don't know me.  They aren't gathering because of my great sermons- they've heard only a couple.  I didn't plant this church, I haven't "grown" this church, and I have no claim to it.  It belongs to Jesus.  I am grateful for those who have gone before and labored to get it to this place, but again, it wasn't me.

Every day I come to serve and every chance I get to preach, I do so with thankfulness and joy because it really isn't my church at all.  And I pray that as the years go on, I would remember that.  When I am tempted to take credit down the road, may I remember that this is a gift.  It doesn't belong to me and if anything of spiritual worth comes from it, all credit, glory, and honor must go to One who really is building His church... and that's Jesus.

Amsterdam on My Mind

For the past few days, I have really been thinking and praying a lot about Amsterdam.  A large part of that is due to the fact that there is a team of young adults over there right now carrying out a mission trip that I was going to be on if I didn't leave for Olympia.  As I read their blogs, I can replay the sights, sounds, smells, and the emotions of being there with the team last year.

Mission trips are always profound times of spiritual growth for me. By being forced out of my routine and comfort zone, God always stretches, refreshes, and speaks to me in new ways.  Last summer was definitely no different.

The other day I was going back and reading some of my journal entries from last summer's trip. It's amazing how that time shaped my heart, my views on incarnational ministry, my desire to reach the city, and gave me fresh reminders of the brokenness of humanity.

So- from Olympia this morning- I pray for:

-The conversations at Vondel Park to by marked by love and messages of Jesus

-The addictions and wounds of the Red Light District to be met by the freedom and healing of Jesus

-The darkness of the city to be overcome by the Light who is Jesus

-The prayer and worship of the saints to exalt Jesus because when He is exalted... things cannot help but change.

And I pray that the lessons I learned from my time of ministry in Amsterdam would change how I do ministry today in Olympia.