Flare Request Friday: The Part After the Start

We have been in Sioux City for one week. In that week, Hopesprings in Sioux City has met as a community group and had our Sunday morning gathering, both for the first time. I have started a new, full-time, very physical job. We have been living with Summer's parents. Our kids have been wrestling with a life-turned-upside-down, not having slept in their own bed or had a sense of "normal" in several weeks. We closed on a house. We moved our stuff in yesterday. That is in the last week. Seven days. 

Wow.

Then I open up the Scriptures this morning and read THIS:
Then David the king went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that You have brought me this far? And yet this was insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of the house of Your servant concerning the distant future... For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to let Your servant know. For this reason You are great, O Lord God; forthere is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears. -2 Samuel 7

Double Wow.

I have heard and seen and been a part of so much grace in the last few months it is unreal. To see Hopesprings walk through this transition, and see God walk with us every step of the way, is something big and profound to me. He is who we have read about, sang to, prayed to, wrestled with. He does what He says He will do. He loves us more than we could dream of. 

To say that it has all been a little overwhelming would be to grossly underestimate what is going on in our minds, hearts, and lives. I feel like I am one Hallmark commercial away from a complete emotional breakdown (in a good way!). I am so thankful and tired and happy and scared and excited. So much has happened, and there is so much more to come. In fact, the exciting part hasn't really even happened yet.

The part where we get to show and tell the good news of a God who could do all this to the people in Siouxland starved for hope.
The part where lives are changed because Jesus is alive.
The part where love and grace win out over judgment and fear.
The part where people can be themselves and that's ok because we are all taking our next step towards the life God has for us.
The part where we see change because we were willing to serve and love and give like Jesus does.

It has been a pretty wild start for having just barely started.

This is a flare request for the next part of our journey. That Hopesprings in Sioux City could discover where in this city we need to be, love, serve, and give. That people would experience the God who is bigger and wilder and more true and more beautiful than any counterfeit god we are tempted to let into the center of our lives. That our vision and mission in this city would become increasingly clear. Thank you!