“Are you ready to move?” a man walked up and innocently asked me at church in early June. Tears immediately flooded my eyes as the reality of leaving McKinney hit me head on. Two weeks later as Chris and I were writing up a contract offer for a house in Phoenix, Chris asked me, “What date can we close? July 15?” A specific date brought the certainty of leaving McKinney to the forefront, and I lost it again.
Right now, less than two weeks from our move out date, I’m in that hard place of grieving–leaving a place and a people so precious to us. If we had not loved so deeply, we would not feel the loss so deeply. So I thank God for the sorrow because of the blessings it represents. I’m also grateful for the certainty of His call on our family to Phoenix.
I thank God for more McKinney moments than I could ever recount. So thankful for…
- The simple life we have lived on Brook Lane…neighborhood potlucks, small group meetings on Sunday nights, and the ability to walk to church, schools, the dentist office, and piano lessons.
- Family dinners in the round room with Grandma and Grandpa often present.
- Group bike rides and more than a dozen triathlon finishes with friends.
- All the teachers at school and at church and coaches who have invested so much in each of our children.
- The thrill of cheering on the McKinney Boyd tennis team at State.
- Grandma and Grandpa sitting with us at the kids’ piano and choir concerts and soccer, baseball, basketball, and football games.
- A group of girls that helped launch the Coach Mom book in one of the busiest seasons of my life.
- Weekend road trips to spend time with Nana and Pap in Tulsa, OK. And their trips to McKinney, always with a homemade loaf of zucchini bread in hand.
- Friends on their hands and knees with us scraping wax off our brick floor during our home remodel.
- The opportunity to get to meet with hundreds of moms groups across McKinney and the Greater Dallas area.
- Lunch with friends on the square in downtown McKinney.
- Chris building a tree fort for the kids that overlooks the creek in our backyard.
- Writers groups that met monthly for as long as the past eight years, helping edit everything from books to newsletters and blogs.
- Friends that met weekly to pray for our schools, teachers, and students.
- The joy of dozens of missions group send offs.
- The amazing young people who have stayed in our home for DiscipleNow weekends…and the delicious breakfast casseroles and muffins provided by our food coordinators (okay, we admit it–did it for the food!)
- Being part of the summer camp where over one hundred young people surrendered their lives to full-time ministry in one evening.
- Wednesday morning Bible study groups with powerful prayer sessions and drawing closer to God.
- Opportunities to help lead in worship through the music ministry.
- One-on-one weekly spiritual accountability meetings with dear women.
- Runs and walks around Town Lake with friends.
- Super kids who have been so much fun for me to teach in summer drawing camps the past eight years.
- Great finds and fun with my mom at Trade Days (best find of all: our little pooch, Speedy, who was 4 pounds and sitting in a Christmas stocking.)
As I look ahead toward our life in Phoenix, I’m reminded of the multiple times God has already moved in the past fifteen years to prepare us and prepare others for this work we are about to begin. Here are just a few of the ways God’s hand has moved to bring us to this place: we have already seen how God has gone before us in multiple ways:
- Fifteen years ago when we lived in Phoenix he gave me the verse Isaiah 43:18-19 for Phoenix: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I’m making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”
- While in Phoenix, God sent 40 women to intercede and fast with me for God’s will to be done, and for revival to break forth in the Phoenix area.
- During that time I recorded 14 pages of words from God regarding revival for Phoenix, which I still have on file. As we started to feel God’s call back to Phoenix, and I thought about m the things we had hoped for but never saw, I felt Him whisper to my heart I never make a promise I don’t keep.
- God has used sermons on the radio, scripture texts from friends at key moments, scripture from our daily readings, and other avenues to confirm his call.
- God has moved in the hearts of some dear faith-filled friends to get them in place to help launch the church. These gifted leaders are coming from the North and West Valleys of Phoenix, from McKinney, and from Atlanta.
- We get to keep the connection with First Baptist McKinney as they will be our sending church. And we have a connection with the church we formerly served in Phoenix, North Phoenix Baptist. They are acting as our Arizona “host” church.
As we move, we look forward to watching what God will do. We are not sure of all the details yet, but when God tells us the name of our church, where we will be meeting, or when we will begin meeting, we will let you know. And we appreciate and need your prayers.
Though we are grieving in the leaving, we look forward to where God is taking us and all that He has ahead for us. The best is yet to come! Now it’s time to stop writing and start packing! But first, I want to share two verses.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
2 Corinthians 9:8
We wait in hope for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
In him our hearts rejoice,
for we trust in his holy name.
May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,
even as we put our hope in you.
Psalm 33:20-22 (NIV)