Convoy of Hope

Everything matters. Every word, every deed, every moment and everything you do, make, create, or share matters. The opportunities to love and serve the people around you are staggering, and it only takes you stepping into the story God is telling around you all of the time. We believe that we can help spread hope like fire in our community, and we want everything we do and say as a community of faith to revolve around that belief. Jesus said he will make everything new, and we believe that includes Siouxland-its neighborhoods, its people.  

Coming up we have an incredible opportunity to serve our city alongside many other people of faith in our community. Tons of food (literally), haircuts, fun stuff for kids, and a whole bunch to et cetera will be given to the people of Sioux City. We can't wait to share love in a tangible way, and build connections with people in our city. September 13 at the Sioux City Convention Center. Gates open at 10 AM. Pray for folks...join us...may you see the opportunity to share hope in your world today. 

Lunatics, Love, And La Juanita's

Hey there friends!  It's been a little while. We're still here! Loving God, loving people, serving the city. Hope this post finds you well and doing the same. 

Last week, some lunatics we love got in a van, drove for twenty hours, and came to be a part of Hopesprings in Sioux City for a few days. We ate, we laughed, and we loved the people of this community together. It was surreal and wonderful and a beautiful portrait of a church in two places coming together to spread hope into the cracks of a community.  

We did this:

And this:

And this:

And THIS:

We had a blast, and it was emotionally devastating (in a great way!) to experience the encouragement, love, and support of people willing to travel across the country to see the cool things happening at Hopesprings in Sioux City. To you brave and wonderful people who came out: THANK YOU!!!!!!  We love you and we're grateful. To those back in Bangor who sent those crazy kids: WE MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY!!!!! …And also: THANK YOU!!!!!!  Your continued support and encouragement remind us the family has our back.  To those who like what they see: JOIN US!!!!!  There are so many people to love and ways to love them, get going!  Share the hope you've found…it is springing up everywhere people are awakening to the love God has for whatever people and places you find yourself around. 

 (Thanks to Kaitlyn Rodger for the pics!)

Haps at Hopesprings

Hello again…some cool things are going down at Hopesprings in Sioux City, and we'd love you to pray for and celebrate with us. Thanks for all of the support and love and prayer. 

We are moving again!  We began in the offices of STEMM in October, then moved in November a couple doors up in the same building to a bigger space.  That space has been leased, but another space is available on the top floor of the Commerce building, in the same building we have met in since the beginning.  We remain flexible and grateful for a place to meet Sunday mornings. 

The mission of Hopesprings is simple…Love God, Love People, Serve the City.  To serve our city and live on mission with God in our community we have partnered in two areas.  We have people spending time at an after school program for some elementary school children close to the heart of the city.  A few weeks ago we began hanging out with some new friends at Opportunities Unlimited, an organization that serves folks who have endured traumatic brain injuries.  In both areas we are building relationships and seeking to offer the good news in a tangible way. 

We had another opportunity to share that news with our organizational tithe last month.  At Hopesprings in Sioux City we give away 15% of any giving that we receive to mission locally and globally.  Last month we heard about a single mom in our city who needed help, and we were able to help her in a tangible way with some gift cards to help her financial situation.  

Please continue to pray for us as continue to show and tell the good news in Siouxland. Thanks!

Adventures in Preacha-Sense

Hello friends and co-conspirators…it has been a while.  Since we last checked in, the holidays happened. I took a trip East to helped two wonderful folks get hitched and see the Hopesprings crew in Bangor. The holidays were a great time with family and friends, and the trip East was great for a host of reasons, some of which I will elaborate on presently. 

Seeing the people you have called family for the last six years is an emotional and fulfilling time. One of the MAJOR principles our move West was hinged on was this deeply held belief that the people of Hopesprings in Bangor would be able to embrace such a dramatic change, grow throughout the process, and embrace a new pastor as they continue their journey of loving God and people in the Slate Belt. I was only there for a few days, and brought home just a snapshot of how things are going. In that small window I got a powerful portrait of this family, this scrappy, dynamic, diverse community of faith that we had poured our lives into taking their next step together. 

The love in the gathering was palpable, and I couldn't stop talking about the vibe afterwards. It was powerful, unified, and clear. It felt like a community of faith excited to be together and ready for whatever is next in their journey together. It felt like a party. It felt like a family. There were a ton of new faces and a fresh energy. And as Jonathan got up to preach, and worked his way through his message, my preacha-sense was tingling. 

preach -a-sense 
noun
1. Intuition felt by a preacher. 2. Discernment regarding the underlying feel of a room when someone is preaching. 
"His preacha-sense tingled, and he could feel the room was engaged with the speaker"
synonyms: spidey-sense, teacha-sense, bidness-sense, intuition

Preacha-sense don't lie. Much like my hips. The people of Hopesprings in Bangor are behind Jonathan, following his leadership, and experiencing God as they study the Scriptures together.  It was a beautiful feeling.  I am in no way the father of Hopesprings in Bangor, so this analogy is fatally flawed, but it felt something like a dad looking at his kids being exactly who they are supposed to be.  I came back with a full heart.

Not just a full heart, but with a deep, hard-fought optimism in the face of hardship and doubt that we are exactly where we are supposed to be, and that God is writing this story in the life of Hopesprings.  When things here are hard (and they are...daily) some of my rest comes in knowing that our family in Bangor keeps trucking, loving people, and moving forward together to love the people of the Slate Belt.  Their faith and commitment to each other is helping strengthen ours here in Sioux City.

For our brothers from alternative mothers and sisters from different misters in Bangor:

We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; (Colossians 1.3-6)

Thanksmonday.

Ok, so I have been away from the blog for a while.  Call it a mental health vacation.  May need more in the near future, but for now I'm back after The Great Pause known as Thanksgiving. I am feeling thankful this year, and I think it is ok to feel thankful after Thanksgiving…right? Santa and the Black Friday Smoke Monster will allow that?  I hope?

I digress.  Often and wildly.  Sometimes the most powerful times of thankfulness come when it is really difficult to be thankful. Like when you have lost someone. Or your life is crazier than a barrel of monkeys inside yet a bigger barrel of monkeys. Or when you're not sure how to take your next steps. (Or when all three are true!) But I am thankful. And that is powerful. Gratitude orients us in the universe. When I am thankful I can remember which way is up, and I can find out who I am, and who I want to be. 

1. I am thankful for Summer. Thinking of my life without her is a truly scary thing, and she is my favorite person. Her existence is proof of God's grace to me.

2. I am thankful for our children. They are wonderful, beautiful kids...and growing too quickly...and I want to jab a stick in the spokes of time so I can just soak up the moments with them. (Take that, time!)

3. I am thankful for God's love, and the love He has given to others to show my family as we have gone through the loss of my mom. I am thankful her suffering is over, and that her life told the gospel story. 

4. I am thankful for the small group of people who took a chance on us six years ago when we packed up our lives and moved to Pennsylvania. They were instrumental in some monumental changes in our lives, and they are great friends, and now cheerleaders as we move down the Hopesprings road in Siouxland. Their faith is inspiring.

5. I am thankful for the small group of people in Sioux City that have begun the journey here with us, and for all of the amazing times we've had in the last couple months loving God and people, and serving this city.  Their faith is inspiring. 

6. I am thankful to be breathing in air heavy with the love of God.

Thanks is like medicine. It silences greedy, black voices filled with what-ifs and regret. It gives us the ability to take the next step, realizing that everything around us is a gift and we are here, today, and we might as well get on and do something with the time we are given. Gifts demand a giver, and when we give thanks, we are pulled by the gravity of the love of God into an orbit of praise and worship. When we look at what we've been given, it's evident Someone is up to something.

Someone is up to something in your life. And mine.

Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every circumstance. This is God's desire for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5.16-18

Tunes Tuesday: 1 Love

So Good.

God the Show-Off

...your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

And the award for Most Obvious Theological Principle goes to…Jesus?

Of course God knows what we need.  He knows everything, right? Created the universe (stuff from nothing?!?!), knows the hairs on our head (weird) and holds our cells together…of course He knows what I need. Of course.

So then why the freakout?

Why the panic?

Why the anxiety?

Why the rush?

One of the major things we have been praying about for Hopesprings in Sioux City is our meeting space Sunday mornings. We have been meeting in the offices of STEMM (check them out here!), which is great, but we are feeling some growing pains and a bigger spot would be a huge help.  

Well, last week a spot opened up and we are meeting there for the first time Sunday! Also the price is right (and by right I mean…well, if you know me you know exactly what I mean). 

One of the things I love about the STEMM office is that the location is perfect. Well guess where we are moving? Same block, TWO DOORS DOWN. Also there just happens to be a parking lot available in this new location. Downtown. Our Heavenly Father is a show-off. 

When we were praying about a new space I didn't know exactly what we needed.  Not sure about space, about growing, about parking, about location. I had some ideas but could not really have asked for a more ideal spot for the next leg of our journey together. 

He knows what we need before we ask Him. So let's ask big and chill out.