It begins!
Six months ago, we thought Seattle was the end of our story. After ten great years in Lawrence, we followed my new career to the Northwest in June 2006. We found great jobs, great friends and the church we honestly dreamed of: a place where anyone could “come as you are” (for real, not just to sound relevant), but where we felt as Christians were challenged not to stay as we are.
But after Dave, one of our pastors, decided to move back to his hometown of Kenosha, WI to launch a church, I started feeling like this really wasn’t the end of our journey. I knew something bigger was coming soon for Emily and I. As cryptic and generic as that sounds, it was something I was deeply wrestling with for the next few weeks, but I didn’t tell Emily.
After Dave’s last message on “fear,” I knew I had to figure out what was really going on in my heart. I had to let go of my own fear of what God wanted to do with us. That same day, the message made Emily wonder if we would go to Kenosha with Dave if he asked us to help. She thought “Nah, but if someone were to plant this type of church in Lawrence I’d totally go!”
After the message we compared thoughts. I told her what I had been wrestling with to see if we could sort something out. Then she simply said “Maybe we’re supposed to move back to Lawrence to plant a church.”
It was like the end of Sixth Sense. All of the little clues along the way for the past ten years came together with a crystal-clear resolution kicker: We are moving back to launch a “church for the rest of us” with the first preview service this Fall.
Quick aside: if you don’t like church, haven’t been in a long time or maybe have had a bad experience that’s kept you away, know that we’re starting EastLake for you. More on that real soon…
We are so excited to move back to Lawrence. This new adventure will surely be challenging, but it’s going to be amazingly fun.
We’ve got a temp website up with more info, so make sure to check it out! The link is on the right side of the blog.
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