The Next Ten Days and The Next Month

The next ten days are pivotal in our journey to New York.  We are heading to NYC for the last time as tourists!  Our goal is to find our first apartment in the city, which will determine which pieces of furniture will move with us, which will determine which moving company we will use.  So many decisions hinge on this apartment search.  Josh and I will leave Tuesday morning and will start viewing apartments and meeting landlords on Wednesday.  Because I'm a psycho planner, we've created tiers for the amenities in an apartment.  Tier One includes every (reasonable) feature in an NYC apartment:, laundry in the building, full size refrigerator, close to the subway, to name a few.  Tier Two still includes a few luxuries, but we compromised on some features.  For instance, a laundromat on the same block, close to a subway station or a bus stop.  Tier Three's features are minimal and include: "has a door that locks."


We're committing the first two days to Tier One apartments.  Then we'll give Tier Two a couple of days.  By the weekend, we'll probably be desperate enough to sign on just about anything!  As Josh mentioned in the latest newsletter: "Pray that we are able to find a place that is both affordable and inhabitable (sometimes a trade-off in NYC)."  I'm also praying that we are able to both agree on an apartment earlier in the trip rather than later.  We would love to find something the first couple of days, then have the rest of the trip to start making preparations for the move, enjoy the city with our friends, and get to know our new neighborhood a little better.


Josh was praying recently and reminded me again that our God owns the universe, including every inch of New York City, and every piece of real estate in Astoria.  We are trusting Him to place us in exactly the right apartment with exactly the right landlord and neighbors.  And that reminder is the sole reason I get any sleep lately!


Upon our return to Birmingham, we will celebrate Thanksgiving with my family and begin packing.  Our sending church, The Church at Brook Hills, will commission us on December 4, during the 9:00, 11:00, and 6:00 services.  If you're in Birmingham and would like to join us in praying for NYC, please feel free to attend any of those services.  (Speaking of Brook Hills, they produced this video for us, and it is amazing!)


On December 14, the moving truck will load all of our household items and head toward the city.  Josh is officiating and I am directing the wedding of a good friend of mine that following weekend.  So we will head to Decatur on the 16th for the rehearsal, and will leave after the reception on the 17th.  We'll drive through the night and, hopefully, beat the moving truck to NYC.  


We'll have a few days in our new apartment, and then we'll head to western NY to spend Christmas with Josh's family.  We'll return to the city on the 28th, when a group of friends from our church will be visiting to help us get settled in.

We are so grateful for your love, prayers, and encouragement during this intense exciting time in our lives and ministry.  We know that we are utterly dependent upon the Lord to order our steps, and we are excited to watch how His plan unfolds.  Thank you for joining us on this journey!

NYC Newsletter #6

This newsletter was originally sent November 1, 2011.

"Your heavenly Father knows what you need before you ask him."--Matthew 6:8 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."--Hebrews 4:15-16 "Likewise, the Spirit also helps our weakness.  For we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  And he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God"--Romans 8:26-27 As we have pressed forward toward the time when we will move to NYC, we have been repeatedly reminded of our own inadequacy and finitude.  Not only do we find ourselves unable to carry out this ministry in our own strength, but sometimes we don't even know what exactly we need.  We need the grace of God, not only to give us what we ask, but sometimes to give us what we don't even have the wisdom to ask for. We have found tremendous comfort in the Bible's teaching on prayer.  The Bible teaches that our heavenly Father knows what we need before we ask him.  We do not need to cajole or manipulate him into giving us what we need.  He loves us more than we love ourselves, and he delights in giving us what is best.  We can rest in the providential love of our Father. Not only do we have a Father who loves us, but His Son, our great high priest, Jesus Christ has made a way for us to come into His presence.  This is the only reason that we can call God "Our Father" in the first place.  Because our great high priest has offered the sacrifice of his own blood to cover our sins, we can come confidently into the very presence of God.  We don't need to hide, we don't need to pretend.  Jesus' death makes it possible for us to live honestly and transparently in God's presence, knowing that we will not find judgment, but grace to help in our time of need. But what about those times when we don't know how to pray?  What about those times when the darkness or confusion is overwhelming?  Well, God has not left us alone in those times.  He has sent His Spirit to live in all who trust in His Son's death and resurrection as the payment for their sins.  The very Spirit of God dwells inside those who trust in Jesus, and he himself prays for them during this time.  And because he is the Spirit of God, he always prays according to the will of God. My friend, you might find it easy to pray at this time.  Be thankful for that and rejoice in the privilege that you have to come into the very presence of God.  But you might be walking through a dark valley right now.  You try to pray, but it is difficult.  I want to encourage you to keep praying...even if it feels like your prayers are bouncing back off the ceiling.  Remember that when you pray you do not pray alone.  You pray to a Father who delights to give you what is best for you; you pray through the Son who has made a way for you to come confidently into the presence of the Father; and you pray by the power of the Spirit who empowers us in the midst of our weakness.  The entire Trinity is conspiring together for your good and God's glory...and you get to experience it as you enter the presence of God in prayer. Please pray for us over this time... We would also ask that you remember to pray for us as the transitions in our life accelerate over the next two months.  Specifically we ask that you pray for our upcoming apartment search.  We will be in Astoria from November 15-22 to look for an apartment.  Pray that we are able to find a place that is both affordable and inhabitable (sometimes a trade-off in NYC).  Pray also that God would lead us to the area of the neighborhood where he wants to plant us in order to make connections and build relationships for the advancement of the gospel.  Pray that even on this initial trip, we might be able to begin building meaningful relationships with our neighbors. Please also remember to pray for these ongoing requests: Pray for our personal holiness and faithfulness to the gospel Pray for the personal holiness and unity of our prospective team members Pray that God would assemble the team that He wants to send to NYC to advance the gospel Pray that God would provide jobs and other necessary resources to enable our team members to relocate to Astoria Pray that God would grant wisdom to those who are considering moving to NYC.  Pray that they would know whether this is, in fact, where God is leading them. Pray that we would have wisdom to know how to lead well   Pray that we would continue to develop Kingdom partnerships with churches and individual Christians in NYC Pray that God might open door for the gospel and that we might proclaim it boldly, as we ought (Col. 4:2-4) Pray that God would provide the necessary financial resources for our ministry expenses Some of you have asked about how you can partner with us financially. Currently, our sending church, The Church at Brook Hills, is handling all financial donations.  If God is leading you to give, you can do so by mailing your tax-deductible gift to:             The Church at Brook Hills             Attn: Jean Adams             3145 Brook Highland Parkway             Birmingham, AL 35242 Please make checks payable to The Church at Brook Hills and designate your gifts by writing“Northeast Church Plant” in the memo line.  If you would like to see our prospective budget, please contact us. Thank you for taking the time to read this e-mail.  We cannot express to you how valuable your prayers are to us.  We would love to talk with you more about what God is doing in NYC and answer any questions that you might have.  We greatly appreciate the encouragement that we have received from so many of you, and we look forward to partnering together in the future for the glory of Christ in NYC and in all nations. Blessings in Christ, josh and traci "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, now and forever. Amen" (Eph. 3:20-21)