We are still healing... duh. The process is so much more complicated than I could have imagined. To be totally honest, things haven't gotten any easier in the past 3 weeks. I am not sure if they will for a while. We are at a place where we can breathe. We don't really feel good, but we could feel worse.
Dad and Noah Halloween 2003
One tiny sliver of the tragedy of August 1st was the timing of it. It was really day one of the church plant. We spent about 3 weeks together as a family (Me, Shelly, Noah, Zoe, Jason, Holly, Elijah, Emmy, Zeke, John, Jean, Mike, Cindy, Geoffrey, and Derek) talking, crying, laughing, trying to eat, swimming, and really focusing on nothing exceptdoing nothing except healing, but at some point, we knew that we really had to hit the ground running with Greenhouse.
That has happened, and we are now in our offices at Common Ground Church. Preview services start this weekend (Sun. @ 6:00), and our official kick-off is October 9th.
We have been intensely focusing on team building and fund raising in the past 2 weeks. Last week we got our first round of letters out, and this week Jason and I visited each of the 5 zone meetings in the West Michigan District. We are also going to have a core team cook out at our house this Friday evening. Shelly and I decided that this would be a good time to stay the night at our house for the ifrst time, so Friday night is it.
Keep us in your prayers. We are not sure what to expect Friday night, but we are anxious to stay a night. We will soon decided wether or not we are going to keep the house.
We will keep you posted, sorry this one took so long.
God bless you
4 comments:
Dear Josh and Shelly:
You will certainly be in our prayers as you launch into this amazing endeavor, birthing your new congregation while attempting to cope with your personal struggle. Grief is such a bumpy, winding, uncertain road--sometimes eerily stable, other times erratic and violent, nearly knocking us off our feet. About the time you believe you're beginning that long journey toward healing, something (a spoken word, a keepsake, a tender remembrance) busts into your life to remind you that pain (whether emotional or physical) isn't easily handled. Be kind to yourselves during this horrific process--it will take time and energy. Above all, be encouraged; not only is God on your side, He will supply you with all the energy you need to get through the coming days, weeks, and months. His resources are endless and abundant. He will never disappoint you!
Be blessed.
Shar MacLaren from SLWC
(Good friend of your mom, Shelly)
Josh,
You guys will be in our prayers as well. You guys are doing an amazing thing planting this church and God is going to use you in big ways. I can't even come close to knowing how you feel, but you and Shelly are in our prayers daily and I know that God is going to use your personal struggle to do huge things. God Bless you and stay strong in Him!
-Josh Crisp
I love you guys...hopefully we'll connect soon.
You're in our prayers tonight. I see my bro-in-law already posted, but just wanted to echo his sentiments. Eric and I pray for you all often, and I can't get past this sense that God is going to do amazing things in your ministry at Greenhouse. Thanks for keeping us posted.
Erin
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