Monday, January 19, 2009

First and foremost, my apologies for the large gap between posts. Since we moved to Denver on Dec. 1st, Katie and I have been pretty busy, which is a good thing and a bad thing at times (as I’m sure you can all relate to).

Our new life in Denver can characterized, so far, by two words:
Abundance and Struggle.

We’ve experienced these competing realities in a number of ways and as we tried to get our roots established and our ministries launched.

Abundance



Katie and I are so blessed to have found a wonderful apartment to call home (see photos to the right). We have everything we need and we love the location.


In the heart of Denver, we are surrounded by a mosaic of life and culture. From the little Greek Restaurant down the street, to the vibrancy we on Colfax just a few blocks away, we find ourselves in the midst of a beautiful collage humanity.

Struggle

And yet we have to admit that this is an adjustment for a couple of suburbanites. We grew up in Colorado Springs and spent the first years of our marriage in a neighborhood just outside Zeeland, Michigan. If you’re in anyway familiar with those two places, you can imagine how different downtown Denver can feel.
Although we are blessed to have found such a great apartment, it is pretty different from our home in Zeeland. Mobley missed having a yard and we miss having a garage and not having to carry groceries up 4 flights of stairs.

Abundance

The welcome and community we’ve found at City Church has been overwhelming. We seem to meet new people each week that we feel right at home with. Ministry has been going well and we honestly couldn’t dream of a better groups of people to serve God alongside.

Struggle


The welcome we received from Denver was quite different. Our first week in town, our Dog was injured (paralyzed for about 2 weeks, see her rehabbing in a underwater treadmill on the left) and I was rear-ended. This was after a fun first day of moving and unpacking boxes…can you say week from hell?

Abundance

We were immediately lifted up in prayer by our amazing family in Christ. The grace we’ve come to know on a daily basis as the result of those who pray for us humbles us the to point of tears while at the same time encourages us to live out the calling God has given us. We are so grateful to belong to a community of saints that loves us so deeply, but we are most grateful to belong to Christ who loves us deeper than we could ever know.

Our first few months in Denver have had ups and downs, but we know we are where God wants us right now. Thank you all for your prayers, your financial support, and for walking alongside us as we stumble down this road that Christ is leading us on. We are forever blessed by our family in Christ.


Go here to listen to one of the sermons I gave at City Church: http://www.citypres.org/sermons/2008_12_07.mp3