Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Busy Busy Busy... And Two Prayer Requests

Hey! Life has certainly been super busy since the Laynes moved back to Charlotte on June 25. We've been on the go quite a bit!

After a week here that ended Sunday night with a fireworks party with some friends at LifePointe's Fort Mill campus (next door to the Charlotte Knights' stadium and free fireworks after the game) we finally have settled in a bit. Chloe, after being irritable since we got here, is now back to her usual fun self. Two things have helped her I think: getting to bed at her regular bedtime of 8 pm, and finding a good park for her to play in! She sleeps longer when she goes to bed earlier. She also takes better naps when she gets to bed on time. And, she's much happier when we can take her outside! Pineville Lake Park is a really cool place... So far, Chloe hasn't had to compete with many other kids for the tunnels and the slides! That's good news for her, and allows her to have some fun in the morning with Emily before it gets too hot.

Speaking of Pineville, we have been living there since we moved in with a great family. Craig and Kathey Cox are two of LifePointe's great servant leaders and have opened their home to our little family. They are grandparents, and Chloe has really enjoyed their attention! She calls them Keg and Kaffy. We appreciate their hospitality very much!

That brings us to our two prayer requests. First, we are in search of a home to rent. We've spent a great deal of time running around, both before I started at LifePointe and after office hours, looking at neighborhoods and checking out homes. It's tough to find a great spot at the right price... But we actually put an offer in on a rental home on July 4th. We haven't heard back from the owner as they are on vacation, but we'd appreciate your prayers that they would get back soon and say "yes" to our offer! It's a nice house with a yard for Chloe and cookouts!

Our second prayer request is for health insurance stuff to work out. We are concentrating right now on getting insurance for Emily, our unborn little one, and Chloe first. Then, we'll take care of me. LifePointe generously gives the staff funds for health insurance, but getting the insurance paperwork all straight is a long process. Please pray that everything works out, as we'd like for Emily to be able to go to the OB doctor again soon. And, with all the things that little kids get into and bugs that they can catch, we'd like for Chlo to have access to a pediatrician as well. Proving we are residents of North Carolina has been the toughest part... I promise we're really here though!

Thanks for being there for us... You're awesome!





Tuesday, June 15, 2010

We're back in Charlotte on June 25!

Hey! We have a solid day on when we'll be returning to Charlotte. Friday, June 25! We're excited to be back in town, and excited about our new ministry opportunities at LifePointe Christian Church. We're also excited about getting to hang out with some good friends that we've really missed during our time away!

Thanks for the prayers... We can still use them!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

This blog is back in business!

Hey, everybody! I'm working on getting this blog back in action. Originally, it was a bit of a journal for me as Emily and I were planting Ridge Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Life has changed a lot for us since we moved to Knox Vegas to plant a church in June of 2008!

We had our first child, Chloe, on November 7, 2008. Then, we folded our church plant into another church, OneLife Church, in September of 2009. In two words, I would say church planting was very hard but also very awesome.

This April, we discovered that Emily was expecting our second child! Now, after we've been trying to learn patience for several months while we wait for Him to lead us, God has called us to return to Charlotte, a city we love, in the next few weeks! I will serve as the Student Pastor at LifePointe Christian Church starting July 1.

For now, our family is living with Emily's parents, Bill and Sue Irving, in Knoxville as we work to raise financial and prayer support for the next chapter in our ministry journey together. For the month before that, we lived with Emily's cousin Amy and her husband Joe in Farragut. We really appreciate the support of our family here in Knoxville! (The reason we are living with family has to do with our landlord's foreclosure while we were renting a condo... Long story, but it's good to have a place to lay your head!)

I have been working at the HoneyBaked Ham Store for nearly two years, being what dudes in the church planting and missions biz call a "tentmaker." Basically that just means that working a job in the "real world" supplements the finances you receive in ministry so that you can survive in this world we call home. It's a lot of hours when you're a pastor but certainly worth it to serve on the "cutting edge" of ministry and represent Jesus to a needy world.

I appreciate my boss, Josh, and my coworkers at the ham store! Emily spends many of her hours chasing around our 18-month old little girl, and she also has a small business on Etsy selling hair accessories! (You should check it out at iloveredhair.etsy.com... Help us pay that electric bill!)

So, that's what's up with us right now. I will leave you with a picture of our new little one. Feel free to email if you have any questions about what God is up to with us! Soon, we will be posting the letter we are sending out as we seek the people God is calling to support us in our new place of ministry. Have a great one!