Let the Transition Begin

I finished up at the coffee shop officially yesterday. Me moving along from the coffee shop was the plan from the beginning so that time has arrived. Actually I plan to be back there to volunteer on Sunday Sept. 3 and I will fill in from time to time and offer any counsel that will be helpful along the way. It is a little strange because I dont really feel that I am leaving. It is nothing like transitioning out of Prague when we moved out of the country. We are not moving at all. I am really glad God gave me the opportunity to meet the folks at the Community Life Center and I look forward to the future of my relationships with many people there.

We are taking the plunge back into ministry with Grace Connections as you probably already know if you got our letter. We have a great peace about the people and the goals of Grace Connections. It is good fit for us. Many of you might wonder why we did not return to Grace Ministries International. Let me say that we love the people at GMI and we had a great experience there. GMI has been refocusing its ministry to discipleship counseling and training others to carry out discipleship counseling. That refocusing is great, however, I dont sense God is leading me to focus on counseling. It is not my heart's desire to spend most of my time counseling and teaching others to do so. I respect it completely and have done my fair share of it. Grace Connections will allow me to spend time on school work, join in with their programs, respond to teaching invitations, and work as a sourcing agent for missionaries. So, our decision was more about what fits with the movement God is doing within us. I am actually working on international projects with GMI right now. So, we will continue to work alongside GMI.

I fly out for a 15 year class renunion in Atlanta tomorrow then on to Portland on Sunday morning to begin the Doctor of Ministry program. I am excited but even as I write now, I have a long list of things that need to be done by morning. I will have the opportunity to meet up with good friends I met in Prague. I will post some lines about my time in Portland when I return. Unfortunately my trip is causing me to miss Lincoln's first soccer game ever with his Big Ducks squad