You can follow our adventures through Jarrett’s Twitter Feed.  However, we would ask that every time you see a Tweet, you PRAY BIG that God would continue to provide above and beyond what our Family needs or could possibly imagine.  We are excited to see what God brings….in the next few hours!  Thank you for being a part of this with us.

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How do you find a HOME in a day?  You don’t.  You find a house and you make it a HOME.

“Anyone can do anything with money.  What can YOU do without?

What a brilliant reminder for us personally and for whatever Business or Church Endeavor you find yourself in.  The comforting deception is that “If we just had more (or some) money we could…”

• …Reach more people in our city.
• …Hire more people to do more work.
• …Get out of all this debt.
• …Be able to give more as a family.
• …No longer worry about NOT having money.

You fill in the blank.

But the naging question remains – “What can you do without?” What can you do without money that people with money can’t do?  What kinda faith and creativity and ingenuity might God be trying to squeeze out of you in the absence of having all that you think you need?

Money is nothing to God.  He could give you all that you need and then some.  So money is not the point.  Faithfulness.  Obedience.  Dependence.  Sacrifice.  Creativity.  That stuff that is priceless.  And all the money in the world can’t get you that.  But not having it…that may be the only thing in this season that affords you the things that God desires most.

So – What is one thing you have done or are doing that is GREAT in your family, business, or church without the supposed luxury of money?  We’d love to hear your stories…

• We choose to Rest instead of Work.
• We choose to Trust instead of Hustle.
• We choose to Sip coffee instead of Pound it.
• We choose to Talk instead of Tweet.
• We choose to Refill instead of Pour out.
• We choose to stay in Jammies for as long as possible instead of getting Dressed.
• We choose to Sabbath instead of just taking a Day Off.

It’s Sabbath Saturday.  See ya Sunday.

So today I let them out to play and as I listed them off to God I had the hymn “It is well” playing in the background and my list actually came out an entirely different way today.  They started as a list of fears that I traded in for a list of peace.  I am sure that I will need to keep speaking this truth out loud – one blog post of declaring that my soul is OK with all of these fears most likely won’t accomplish perfect peace.

So if I pass you in the car and you see me talking out loud – yes I’m a little bit crazy – but most likely what you are seeing is me declaring that God has won – Christ prevailed – and it continues to be well with my soul!

• It is well with my soul that our house has not sold and we have not
• secured a renter yet.
• .
• It is well with my soul that we still have a long way to go in our
• fundraising efforts.
• .
• It is well with my soul that we are still trying to figure out our living
• situation in Chicago.
• .
• It is well with my soul that we have more unanswered questions than we do
• defined answers.
• .
• It is well with my soul that I regularly feel unqualified for the task
• that God has clearly called us to accomplish.

So what is on your list today that needs to come out from the darkness and breathe so that you can also say – “It is well with your soul?”

And if you get a chance go to ITunes to get my friend Todd Fields CD – I have had this song on repeat all day.  Thanks Todd for being a part of my story of trusting God today!

When I don’t Sabbath I assume one of two things (if not both):

1. I’m the ONLY ONE who can do all of this
2. It ALL depends on me

• The First Assumption precludes OTHERS from the work God called has called us to in community.
• The Second Assumption precludes GOD from the work He created us for.

So instead of doing that…today, we’re choosing to do nothing.

Happy Sabbath!

Unfortunately it happens far too often in ministry.  It can bring about great destruction, pain, and deep disapointment the longer it goes unrecognized and unconfessed.  You may have experienced it personally.

• Has there ever been a moment when you have gotten to the end of your Sunday Service or Gathering and you were disappointed with the amount of people that showed up (or didn’t) and you found yourself exaggerating about or “rounding up” the amount of people that were really there (aka – “Pastor Math”).
• .
• Do you ever find that on the off chance you receive positive feedback from someone, your whole attitude about the ministry is good?  But if (when) you get an e-mail from someone that is disappointed with a decision that you made then your general attitude about the ministry is bad.
• .
• Do the comments, suggestions, and opinions of others about your performance have a disproportionate bearing on your decision-making and your ability to actually listen to what God is saying to you about the ministry?

If so, than perhaps your own personal desire for SUCCESS has become an idol for you.  I wonder how many of us who fall down at the feet of the Idol of Personal Success would have the guts to admit here?  For those who can, you gotta remember this – You are not alone.  Sadly here are far too many of us than we would ever imagine in this imaginary spiritual competition.  And this is not what God created us for.  But there is hope!  It just means that something is gonna end up in the fire.

So, what can you do TODAY to recognize that this is you idol and throw that sucker into the fire as a sacrifice to God?  That one defiant act can bring more glory and praise and delight to the one true God than you could ever possibly imagine.

Comparisons seem to happen all the time – especially in ministry. Have you ever found yourself in a conversation with another person and the whole time you’re talking you are internally comparing what you see or hear to your own life? You judge the intentions of their heart.  You wonder if their life or ministry is really deep and helpful, or if its just good easy entertainment that keeps people coming back. You judge what you don’t really know to make yourself feel better about what you are doing. Could it be that your insecurity and fear of failure have become more important than the God who uniquely created you and called you to a unique purpose. Could it be that COMPARISON is your idol.

Think about if there is a person that you keep wishing you were more like or a person that you continue to judge –

Now, what might God be saying to you about the idol of comparison in your life? Maybe you need to deny the power of comparison in your life.  Instead of feeding the idol, maybe you should instead bless the person that you continue to compare yourself to.

So when we heard U2 was coming to town, we looked at our budget, laughed…cried….and made the choice that it would not be the best way for us to use our finances in this season.

We were cool with it.  We had moved on.  That is until an old friend of ours – Jess called up with (RED) Zone seats to the show…for that night…for free!  On the Floor.  20 Feet away from the stage.  5 feet away from the Runway.  What a gift!

God provided a relatively small thing in a way that was bigger than anything we could ever imagine.  It was hands down the best concert experience of our lives.

There will be no “Lessons Learned from the 360 Tour”, no “What the Church Could Learn From Bono”.  Nope.  This post is all about celebrating a great night at a great show, brought to us by our good friend Bono, I mean, Jess.

SPOLIER ALERT – These pictures will make you hate us.  We understand.  Click HERE to see them all at our Flikr Page.

We won’t be Blogging, Texting, Tweeting, Emailing, or Updating our Status.  Our Status is Sabbath.  We choose to Turn Off.  We choose to Unplug.  And somehow…all that stuff seems to get along fine without US for one day.  And somehow…we seem to get along fine with IT for one day.

How are you Choosing to Sabbath this week?