Laura and I have now been living in Cincinnati for over a month. When we first set out to move here, I had two assumptions. First, ministry is going to be difficult and we will likely face opposition. Second, God has given me a great wife and family and our home would be a place of sanctuary and rest. Ironically, Satan has reversed these assumptions and attacked my strongholds. We have yet to close on our house here, meaning that we are living here but not allowed to really settle in and make it our home. Our mortgage company has been uncomfortable with the fact that our income is from support, thereby increasing the paperwork and difficulty in completing this loan. This has caused incredible frustration and stress because we can’t really settle in, which, in turn, has caused a great burden on our family and marriage. It doesn’t sound…
Month: July 2008
OK, I live here. What now?
Things have been crazy for us! We are trying to get settled in to our new home and get everything unpacked and put in the right place. Our basement couch wouldn’t fit in the basement, our desk wouldn’t fit up the stairs, and so we’ve had to perform a total furniture reorientation. Next week I have a team of young people from Georgia coming to Cincinnati to help me do pretty much whatever I tell them to do to help me get a church going. They will spend the week doing survey work and “decoding,” which pretty much means learning everything they can to help me become more of a Cincinnati insider. Priority one is to locate and develop a core group. I’m not a lone ranger. But since God didn’t send me here with a team, I have to trust him to provide the team for me here. So…
Hello, Cincinnati
As of today, we have been residents of Cincinnati for one week. We live about a block from a hospital, which is great if we have an emergency, but not so great when ambulances decide to scream into the ER at 2 am every night. This pic is the view from our living room. The house on the left is an inner city ministry called “City Cure.” Their president has agreed to help me learn about inner city ministry. The group of buildings looming just above the City Cure roofline is Christ Hospital. They like to wake us up at night. God has been graciously connecting us with other awesome believers in town, whom I hope will show me around and help me to understand Cincinnati better. I met John a few days ago, who found me by reading this blog. We had coffee and spent a few hours together,…