Kentucky Road

Sometimes we are more aware of how real God is than at other times...how much He loves us...how faithful He is...and how much He loves to be in the details of our lives. As I write today I pray that the level of awareness I am enjoying today blesses and encourages you, especially if you are going through a season where it is difficult to see how God is at work.

Last week, in preparation for our Spring move to Kentucky, my son Jonathan and I traveled to Nicholasville to see what God is unfolding there before us. I tried to pack out my days with meetings with the community's pastors and business leaders as well as the leadership team that is being formed for the new church plant. On the way to my first breakfast meeting Thursday morning, Jonathan asked if we were going to look for houses. I said, "What we are going is to pray," and we did.

I told him the story of how when I was heading to seminary in 1990, I prayed, "Lord, you know I need a place to live so I thank you in advance for providing it." Within hours of arriving in Dallas I knocked on a door of a house I had noticed had a garage apartment behind it. It was the home of an elderly widow who, after learning why I was moving to Texas, informed me that she had been looking for someone to live there that could check on her from time to time. I changed light bulbs and occasionally reset her digital clock in lieu of rent for three years including one semester as a newlywed.

After my brief prayer with Jonathan, we walked into Cracker Barrel to meet with Gavin Duerson who leads a fellowship/network of simple churches that meet in homes. (Ever watch "Turtle Man" on Animal Planet? Gavin is also a rapper who wrote and performed Turtle Man's theme song. Come back here later if you have time to be amused and amazed! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAKUcHHJP9Q) ) At the end of our time, I shared with Gavin our desire to keep our Ellijay home of 19 years as a family property and a place to bless others with a mountain retreat, and that we are praying for a way to live simply (and inexpensively) in Kentucky. I shared with him how we would love to be a blessing to whoever we rent from. Gavin had someone immediately come to mind and "it just so happened" to be a family with whom we connected on our last visit.

Long story short, by the end of the next day, we were invited to occupy a house on a sustainable living farm, ten minutes from my future office, owned by a man our age. Mark Tanaka formerly worked as a hedge fund manager, but left Wall Street to pursue his farm dream in Kentucky. If you know Michelle personally, you know she has long dreamed to live on a such a farm. She, Jonathan and I have agreed to help with the farm's egg production, and we also will be blessed to pass on our gardening and canning skills to the Tanaka family. The farm sits on 55 acres adjacent to the Kentucky River and the woods are full of wildlife. They even have a son Jonathan's age...named Jonathan! Praise God with us that He has answered our prayers, seen the desires of our hearts beyond what we could ask or imagine, and has faithfully provided a place to live in Kentucky that we will not only love, but allows us great flexibility in what to do with our Ellijay home!

Work will also begin soon on the Kentucky home of the Grace to Glory Center atop J's Place in downtown Nicholasville (http://www.jsplaceonmain.com/#!about-us/c1fjb) . I was thrilled to meet last week with the owner, Gwen Riley, and HR Consultant Beverly Clemons and hear their hearts for the business community. It became clear that God is leading us to collaborate and develop a conference for kingdom-driven business leaders in Central Kentucky. I look forward to revealing what God is showing us about that in the coming months!