Me and The City.

Photo of the skyline from Boston Sports Then and Now.

I love the city. The diversity, the sights, sounds, smells...it's all wonderful. But, I've been starting to realize that down in the depths of my heart I am not really a "city-girl." When I was younger I used to dream about living in the city, the tall skyscrapers, the people, the "cutting-edge", always having somewhere to go or something to do.

This morning I was sitting at the dining room table drinking my coffee and I said to my husband "I'm a sit-on-the-porch with a glass of lemonade and no other plans than to just chat, chill and enjoy the day kinda girl." He chuckled because he knows that I do things at my own pace, and by my own pace I mean slower than most. Although, I love the city, the pace of life here is much different than what I am used to. I've also realized that I don't have to set the pace of my home the same as it is outside. Being here is causing me to see things about myself that I haven't seen before, and this is one of them. I'm also discovering how much I love it when I am organized but, how extremely hard I have to work at actually being organized. I guess it's not the city that has brought me to that conclusion, it's the homeschooling. :)

Anyway, this probably sounds like I am a true candidate for life down South but, uh-uh. I'm happy here. This is where God wants us, and that's exactly where I want to be. Besides, where else can you leave your front door and walk a few blocks to the nearest Starbucks?

God is doing amazing things here and in our lives. It has its challenges but, life itself is a challenge, right? Good thing we're not in it alone.

Journey Church Update...

Just wanted to give you a little Journey Church Update.

Our first monthly gathering is tomorrow! We are so excited. We are starting out meeting once a month and then in September we will launch our services weekly. I really don't know what to expect. I can't believe we have been here for 6 months. So much has happened and we are as ready as we'll ever be. I'll definitely have much to tell next week. Feel free to visit us at our website.

*Don't forget my Q&A ends tomorrow so, get your questions in! (if you have any). :)

Life as I know it...

I've decided to write a post on my life right now. My real life. I often struggle at times as to how much is too much to share on a blog. Most times I try to keep it light. I look at blogging as a way to express myself and have fun. But, honestly I don't have any light and fun ideas in my head right now. The title of my blog is This Girl's Pilgrimage but, I don't think I've been really sharing much of the journey. I find myself sitting at the computer, having all of these things to say but no idea how to say them. Will anyone get it? Will it be worth reading? I'm now convinced that it really doesn't matter. I started this blog to keep friends and family in the loop of my life and I've now decided I need to do that. While I won't be sharing deeply personal issues because, I'm just not comfortable with that, I will be sharing more of my journey, or pilgrimage in this life, a life that is drasticallly different than it was just a year ago.

My husband put it well in his blog...

As you can imagine, planting a church in one of the most unchurched cities and regions in the country (Cambridge/Boston) near the #1 University in America (Harvard) isn't a cake walk. It's been a joy but very difficult. We have changed every part of our lives from our housing, type of environment, ministry role, friends, etc, etc, etc...

I couldn't have put it any better. I am a minister's wife, I have been for the past 10 years. There are joys and struggles and all kinds of wonderful and hard things about that life, and maybe by posting more about that part of my life, I can be helpful to others in the same boat. So yes, we have started a church from scratch. It has been the most amazing yet, difficult time in my life. The Lord has been as faithful as always as we have uprooted our lives and moved here. We are slowly developing our team and now have 2 people as well as one currently preparing to move here soon. We have been having amazing prayer meetings and meeting incredible people.

One of the most frequently asked questions we get is "How do you plant a church from scratch?" and the answer to that is "we're working on finding that out." There is no exact method to it but, we feel that we have heard a strategy from the Lord that we are following. It is one thing to move and pastor an already existing church but, to start one from nothing is another ballgame. Walking with God in this has been an incredible adventure, there are some days when I wake up and feel like I could just do anything and others when I want to throw in the towel. I am reminded of this one thing...I cannot be anywhere outside of the will of The Lord. We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is where the Lord has us and I would not have that any other way. I want to be where He is. It has been incredible to see the many ways that The Lord is working and I look forward to sharing more of that with you.

Feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to answer them for you.