So....We have moved to Atlanta, GA to be a part of a brand-new church, The Courageous Church. The ride has been FAST, but AMAZING! Jason is the Executive Pastor, so he has been BUSY since the first day we arrived.
It has been so amazing watching him adapt to this new role. I am so proud of him. See, we've been doing youth ministry for 7 years. It's all we've thought about and been involved in. It's been refreshing for both of us to have a change of pace, but for Jason especially. He is still learning his role, but he is doing all that is asked of him and beyond!
I am also refreshed by this move and change! Our Lead Pastor, Jason's brother, asked me to head up all of the social justice efforts for the church. I cannot express to you my excitement about this. I am a social worker professionally, so nothing makes me happier than empowering, helping, and affecting change in people's lives. To have the opportunity to inspire others to do the same is just AMAZING! So, I've been working on establishing partnerships with local organizations that are already making a huge impact on the city of Atlanta. We have also established some key organizations we desire to adopt on the international level...more on that another day! I also am singing on the worship team. I've lead worship with Jason at both of the churches we've worked at before, but at this last church we backed off to allow our students to lead. I love worship, and I love to sing. So, I just feel like we've been given the opportunity to return to our passions and gifts that we've strayed away from for awhile. PRAISE GOD!!
This change/move has also been difficult for me on many levels. I miss our teens from our last church. They were who we spent most of our time with. They were our kids...our family! I also am currently unemployed, which is a very weird feeling. I've held a professional social work position since before I even acquired my degree. I know God will provide the perfect job at the right time, but in the mean time I feel out of sorts. I am staying at home with our kiddos, which is such and AMAZING opportunity...I love my children.
However, I have so much I want to do to help with the new church and especially my area of ministry, but taking care of a 2 year old and 6 month old leaves little time to do any focused work. I also just keep moving further and further away from my side of the family. Don't get me wrong, I am SOOO thankful to be near Jason's brother's family. It has been a joy to watch our kids play together and to be able to be there for each other!! WE LOVE YOU KING TEAM!! BUT, I also love my brother and his family. Our kids are very close in age, and I would love for them to be good friends, too!!
Regardless of the difficulties a big, risky move like this brings, we are just blessed to be doing God's work. We truly believe we are where God wants us to be, and there is no better place!
So, we have our very FIRST service this Sunday, January 11th! CRAZY! I feel like we just decided to move and that we had over 100 days before we launched! We moved down here and time just flew!! If you are reading this and live in the Atlanta area, come check us out! We'll be at Center Stage near Atlantic Station at 10:00 am this Sunday. We'd love to see you...if you have given up on church, never set foot in a church, need a change in your life, want something real, please give this a try!!!
In His Grip,
Sophie
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