Wildfoote: A Leadership Journey

Home In P-Town

The parties are finished, the good byes are over.  Yes, it is official...we are home in Peoria. 

We wondered at times if we were going to make it. Liz did an incredible job of packing and preparing while I was traveling right before we moved.   I think we were both delirious before it was all over.  But we made it...thanks to lots of help and encouragement from old friends, new friends, family, Allied Moving company, and mostly the grace and strength of God.  Thanks to the Hilberts and Liz's parents for the ton of food on Saturday.  The movers were excited about the "buffet" they were able to experience. Thanks to Scott and Holly, Jessica, Heidi, Tom and Dottie, and Joel and Emily for unpacking, setting things up and help us make those decisions as to what goes where.

Now to get down to business...Getting the kids in school, finish setting up the house, and putting energy and intentionality behind my role at Richwoods Christian Church.

Guess What We Are Doing...

This is just a small snapshot of what is happening at our house at the moment...boxes, boxes, everywhere.  We are putting on a full court press to get packed and ready to move.

I returned home from Peoria tonight to help get packed.  The movers are scheduled to load the truck on March 15, we close on both houses on the 16th, and the movers deliver our stuff on the 17th.

The kicker is that several months ago, I agreed to help facilitate a retreat for the Regional and Ministry Leaders of International Teams in South Carolina, March 11-16.  Hmmm...see a problem here?  Liz and I have worked it out, and I will return early before the retreat is over but before the truck shows up.  I will plan to blog some of the retreat while I am there next week.  Apparently we are supposed to have wireless internet.

One thing I can say, our life is definitely not boring!!!

Transition Thoughts

As we are packing, cleaning, attending "going away" parties, saying good-bye, etc, Liz and I are having an ongoing discussion about the impact we have had on people in our neighborhood and community.  If you haven't already, you need to check out her latest post here on her blog. 

In reading Joshua this morning from The Message, I was taken by a line from Peterson's introduction to the book.  He wrote the following:

"God's great love and purposes for us are worked out in the messes, storms, and sins, blue skies, daily work, and dreams of our common lives, working with us as we are and not as we should be."
(The Message:  The Old Testament Historical Books, p. 10).

I find that line comforting.  We have strived to be who we are, without pretense...to be open and authentic...to be honest about who we are and who we are not.  I have to say that Liz does a better job of this than I, as it seems that I can be too concerned with how I am perceived by others.  But all in all, I am grateful that God uses us as we are.