to busy for God

Did a small moving job today, it was for an older lady that was living in an efficiency appartment in Hollywood Beach. She moved a couple miles inland to another efficiency appartment that she said was cheap enough to justify moving. Her daughter lives in New Hampshire, yet handled everything she could over the phone for her mother. It seemed like the mother was very lost without her daughter.

The mother asked why we moved to Miami and I was able to tell her.  She then asked me to "sprinkle water on her new appartment". I told her I would be glad to pray wither her. When the last box was unloaded, she sat there kind of in a daze. I think she was trying to figure out where to start unpacking. If only her daughter had been there, she would have known. I asked if she wanted to pray and she was very happy to do so. She started to cry after a short prayer. It made me realize how disconected to God we get when we get to busy.

You never know where or when God is going to use you to turn someone's attention towards Him. Looking for opportunities to show God's love requires a new mindset and that can be hard. But, the implications can be life changing.

Please pray that while we are so busy working and wondering what to do next that we don't loose sight of the hurting and lonely right in front of us.

let's get it on!

We need emergency help right now!

We are getting help with setting up a 48 hour prayer event happening the weekend of Oct 14-16. That's where people sign up for certain 30 min or 1 hour time periods and pray for Operation Miami. If you would like to sign up, please email Ellayna with your times! We are starting at 6pm Friday and going until 6pm Sunday.


Here are a few things we are praying for:

1. That we can effectively show God's love in practicle ways and win the hearts of the people of the Miami Metro area and that many will start following Jesus.

2. Monthly committed support through 2012.
        Either we need 25 people to give $100/mo. OR 100 people to give $25/mo.
                 (If you would like to help, you can click on the Donate Button on this
                 Blog to use PayPal or you can email me jeffjkauffman@gmail.com to
                 get a different option.)


3. The weekly feeding starts soon and we also want to start the work for food
program so the homeless can work for and earn additional food in the form of
restaurant gift cards (McDonalds/Burger King/Wendys). Please pray that we can
get the right location, that we will win the hearts of the community and that we will
have all the supplies we need.


4. Our friend Joel Anderson is praying for stability in housing, employment and transportation.


5. The Kauffman family needs:
     a) two new tires for our mini van;
     b) replacement A.C.E. schoolwork (we lost it all when our computer crashed);
     c) weekly fees needed for the motel we are living in until we get a permanent house;
     d) a permanent house;
     e) the right team members that are willing to come along side us and help minister and
         ultimately build the church through love and service.


6. Speaking opportunities to share our story and empower the churches and believers
in the area to step out in great faith and be the church, effectively turning Miami
up-side down.

7. We need many people doing spiritual warfare, which is praying against the devil's strongholds in Miami. We need many prayer partners.

Please share this blog on your facebook page and ask your friends to spread the word about this emergency prayer session. Also, please subscribe via email. You can find the button at the upper right hand of the blog to subscribe.

sand castles

Wendy and I sat out on the beach last night around mid-night. Watching and listening to the small Atlantic waves wash in over and over and over again. There was a consistent breeze coming in from off the water and the sea air was a little salty. Earlier we talked to the kids about walking to the beach and Hannah, showing her 14 year old self said "why should we? it's exactly the same as it was the last time we went to the beach, boring." When I was a kid I used to love going to the beach  and I especially loved feeding the seagulls. They would nearly flog you trying to get to the torn up pieces of  hot dog buns before the wind blew them away. Wendy and I were more than happy to leave the kids in the room as we ventured out alone. Some day they will miss those boring times, but, until then, Wendy and  I have no problem enjoying them by ourselves.

I got up this morning and after making coffee and walking the dog. I went back to the beach alone to pray. I could really get used to this lifestyle. One of the rules of the beach is "No feeding the birds". I guess the idea is to keep the birds from becoming annoying. Nobody wants hundreds of seagulls and pigeons flapping and calling out for a snack. Darting here and there and leaving their droppings all over the beautiful beach. If they are intentionally fed, then they will continue to flock around where they were fed. So I was very surprised to find hundreds of birds out on the beach this morning and nobody was feeding them. I guess they just develop the habit of checking the beach for food.

It's kinda funny because one of the things Wendy and I talked about last night is how people are creatures of habit too. How we get up, get ready, eat breakfast, go to work, go to lunch, go back to work, go home, eat dinner, watch tv and go to bed. Our whole lives seem to hinge on our schedules. The thing is, that habits and schedules are security to us. Problem is, our schedules are not always Gods' schedule. I wonder how many times I didn't do something God would have had me do because it didn't fit into my schedule. How many people did I zoom by while in cruise control?

Instead of traveling down that guilt trip, my real intention is to point out how, like the ocean that's sure to be just the same tonight as it was last night, so is God. The consistencies of God are amazing and despite our schedules, God seems to come in like the tide, and mess up our perfectly constructed lives that appear a lot like sand castles to Him. I believe it's his intention to break up our schedules and get us out of our ruts so we will look and listen to him. He likes to feed us so we will flap and call out to him for more.

Matthew 6:26 says "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" 

So perhaps the next time something seems to be conflicting with your schedule, stop and listen for a minute. Maybe God is crashing in on you or maybe he's going to use you to crash in on someone else.

mud slingers

As we work out in our mind the vision of the church that God has put on our hearts to plant, the question of "why?" surfaces over and over.

Why are there so many people hurting?

Why are there a limited number of churches reaching out?

Why are there so few churches in the area we want to plant a church?

Why does less than 10% of the population here attend church?

Why do the politics of the area dictate who can and cannot start a church?

Why us?

Many more "why" questions pop up, but, instead of focusing purely on the why's, we have decided we would focus more on the "what".

"What" does God want us to do about it?

We have become convinced that our first inclination of serving first and building the church later is absolutely the way God wants us to do this. We have found out that the local governments are so in need of tax money that they are not really allowing new churches or non profits to operate as such. The State and Federal governments have no problem with "tax exempt status", it's the local governments that are not recognizing it. They want the property and sales tax revenues from businesses that would otherwise fill the locations where new churches would be opened. So unless a new church purchases an existing church building, the chance of getting a tax free status from the city/county is slim to none. This is where our political grass roots movement experience is going to come in handy.

Through simple acts of kindness we can win the hearts of the people and the ones that like the people, but don't like us, will be more willing to respond to the wishes of the people. Jesus was able to teach in the synagogues while the religious leaders sat by steaming, because the people loved Jesus. The religious leaders however, feared the people and so were unable to lay a hand on him. So, we plan to win over the hearts of the community  by serving the community. Once we have won their hearts, navigating the political field will be much easier.

We are planning our first public feeding this Saturday, feeding freshly made biscuits and gravy. We also plan to start the "Work for Food" program which I believe is the key to winning the hearts of the community. Please pray we find favor with the community.

So, "WHAT" about you? How can this approach affect you and your neighborhood? What small acts of kindness can you do to win over your neighbors hearts? If you can win their hearts, you can affect your community for Jesus.

If you would like more information on the feeding and the work for food program or would like to help sponsor the program, please email me jeffjkauffman@gmail.com and I will gladly share the details.

out there

Help me, LORD my God; save me according to your unfailing love. ~Psalms 109:26


Why is it said that David was a man after God own heart (1 Sam 13:14)? Why was he any different than all the other kings before or after him?


Was it because he was a warriors warrior, killing tens of thousands, even before he was king?
Was it because he was a great outdoors man, a skilled archer and an accomplished hunter?
Was it because he was a true survivalist that would put "Man vs. Wild" to shame.
Or maybe it was because he was a good looking, smooth talking ladies man that was totally into poetry and classical music?


Though all of those things are absolutely who David was, I believe none of them are the reason he captured the heart of the father. What separates David from most of us is his ability to be 100% honest. When he was angry, he strapped on armour and fought, when he was sad, he cried out to God no matter who was around. When he fell into sin, he did not hide it. When he wanted something from God everyone new it because he was usually face down in the dirt fasting and praying for it. When God made a decision, he accepted it because what's done is done. When he worshiped, he worshiped with his whole heart, no matter where he was or who he was around, totally uninhibited.


On the other hand, when we get angry we grunt and cuss and kick the dog. When we are sad, we stiffen our lip and acknowledge we're okay, not wanting anyone to know we are hurting. When we fall into sin, we go to unbelievable lengths to hide it and cover it up, afraid of what others will think of us.  When we want something from God, we passively tell our friends to "keep me in your prayers" because I have some unspoken prayer requests. When God makes a decision, we throw a tantrum inside our heads, wondering what it ever was that we did to deserve this. When we worship, it's usually at a football game or a rock concert. We are not 100% honest with God or others.


Many times the bible speaks about the light and the darkness. In the light all things are exposed and known but in the darkness all things are hidden. David was able to drag his junk into the light for all to see. Nothing was covered up or hidden. He was totally exposed for all to see. The one time he tried to hide his sin, was when he got another man's wife pregnant, so he had her husband killed before he discovered it. However, God confronted him through Samuel and when that happened, he didn't continue to cover it up, he repented and he cried out to God for mercy. Then the whole kingdom knew what David did. It was dragged out into the light.


I think David was a man after God's own heart because David loved the light and hated the darkness. He couldn't stand to keep a secret hidden, he had to expose all to the light.


How much could we learn from David about just being honest and open about where we are? About admitting our faults and confessing our sins? About how much we really need God and his unfailing love? It seems the more we try to hide things by pretending everything is okay, the harder it is to talk to or even hear from God. God loves us so much, nothing is hidden from him and though we deserve it, He doesn't smoke us where we stand.


My prayer is that God will give us the key to peoples hearts here in Miami. That when we talk to people, the hard crusty shell that hides their hearts crumbles away allowing the light to shine in, driving the darkness away.

bling sting

As we get more and more submersed in the culture of Miami, we are finding a real tension between the classes. The super poor and the super rich are separated only by a couple of blocks. The recent economic down turn has shrank the middle class at an increasing rate. For a town known for it's glitz, Miami seems extremely quiet and reserved.

We spoke to a lady who told us she was a retired real estate agent. She said it's a totally different town then it was just five years ago. People don't go out and get together with their friends like they used to. They don't talk to their neighbors and nobody cares about anyone else. They are afraid to have a good time and seem to hide and sulk in thier current conditions.

In talking with other locals, they all seem very depressed, almost ashamed. We are finding that people hold great stock in their status. As long as they have a nice car and live in the right house and send their kids to the right school, then they are "happy". Otherwise, they isolate themselves from the rest of the community. Not wanting to be compared or judged by their friends and neighbors because they are going through hard times.

A lady that worked at Carnival Cruise Lines for the past 26 years told Wendy yesterday that 2000 employees work in the corporate office. One of those employees was a single mom. She ended up going through a nasty divorce. Falling into hard times, she ended up being foreclosed and evicted from her house. She was not able to rent anywhere because of the forclosure and eviction. She lived on the street with her kids for a week or so and then was able to get into a womans shelter. After sixty days, her alotted time was up and she had to leave the shelter. Still unable to rent a place she ended up back on the street. The whole time all this was happening, she was working full time at Carnival and nobody new her situation.

High class status is the desired lifestyle here, problem is it's a lie. You can dress up your outside but it doesn't change your inside. When the status is stripped away, all that remains is everything you have been trying to hide. Jesus said to clean the inside first, then the outside will be clean (Matt 23:26).

As we get busy reaching out to the poor and starting a church for people who don't necessarily like church, we want to create a culture of love and a community of grace. One where people can be open, honest and authentic without the fear of being judged and condemned. Jesus loves us where we are and will go great lengths to find us. Truth is, there is nothing we can do to make him love us more than he does right now and there is nothing we can do to make him love us less than he does right now. He gave everything so we can be clean on the inside and when that happens, the outside will be clean.

no tomorrow

Today is our twin boy's 11th birthday and the only thing they want, besides the latest nerf gun, is to eat dinner at a restaurant they have only heard about, "The Cheesecake Factory". They have been planning this since early July and the anticipation has been building and building and it seems like the only thing they can talk about. We are even going to sit down today and look at their extensive menu online so they can have more time to think about what they are going to order. They are so excited!

Today I read 1 Thessalonians 5, following along with the Verve reading plan. Paul is talking about the return of Jesus and how it's going to take the whole world by surprise, except those who are followers of Jesus. He explains that not only are we anxiously anticipating it but we should continue to prepare for it and help others to prepare for it to.

So, if today were the day, what would you want to do with the rest of your time?

fall

We all know that Texas is known for how big everything is. However, we are finding that Florida is a big state and they do BIG very well too. From big cockroaches to big flea markets to big traffic problems to big beaches and now that it's offically fall we have to really watch out for the falling leaves because if you're not careful, they can take out an entire family!

smashed

We have a cat that has been an outside cat for nearly all it's life. I'm allergic to cats and have to double up on my allergy medicine to handle the prolonged exposure while living with him in this small apartment. Early this morning, his "evil alley cat" side came out in him as he opened one of the upper cabinets in the kitchen and jumped in looking for something to munch on.

Of course, being a cat, he doesn't care what gets in his way so the beast moved the Pyrex glass pitcher out of it's way. The thing about flooring in Miami is that there is no carpet and there is no vinyl flooring. It's all hard ceramic tile, which is not a good mix with kids and apparently cats, when it comes to glass dishes. The pitcher ended up falling out of cabinet, bounced off of the dish drainer full of clean dishes and smashed onto the floor breaking into a million pieces, waking everyone up.

It reminded me of what Jesus said in Matthew 21:44 ~

          "Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

He was speaking to the religious leaders of the day, talking about how the Kingdom of Heaven would be taken away from them and given to others who would produce fruit. It seems Jesus was pretty hard on those who were entrusted with God's work, feeling like they were not doing their job. They were in their positions for their own benefit, not looking out for the poor, widowed, orphaned and sick.

The good news is that we can learn from the mistakes of the religious leaders of Jesus' day. You see, we are all leaders, Paul said "follow me, as I follow Christ" and even if you didn't realize it, someone is following you. It might be your own kids, or the neighbor kids or a subordinate at work or an under class mate. Someone is following you. As we realize our leadership, we can either become enamored by our own power or we can lead out of brokenness. The brokenness of falling on the Rock (Jesus) is realizing that we cannot do it. That no matter how much or how little experience we have following Jesus, if we try to lead outside of that brokenness, we will fail.

Please pray, as we start this outreach to the poor and as we start a church out of the culture of Miami, that we walk in that brokenness every day so we wont get crushed.

Miracle

Blog Post by Wendy Kauffman-

So this is my first attempt at a blog since before we moved. Everything happened so fast I think my head is still spinning some but we are here and as we start to get in a bit of a routine I am constantly reminded of God's faithfulness. I am also so very aware of the miracles He has already done to get us here. When I think of where we were and all the thoughts going through my head a month ago. All the doubts and worries, but God did it, just  as he promised. We knew it was going to take a big leap of faith and quite honestly all the way to the last minute I did not know if I could do it. I would just wake up everyday and say this is your day God and what do you want me to do with it.

After our first day in Miami I was really discouraged! All I wanted to do was cry. It was so hard to look at place after place and find nothing, but just as we needed another place, God provided! This little apartment is much smaller than we are used to, but we know it is what God wants for us right now.

On Saturday the girls and I made our first attempt at trying to do our mountain of laundry. As we were sitting there waiting for our loads to wash I was reading a blog from Matthew Barnett. If you don't know him, you should! He drove into Las Angeles 20 years ago and much like us coming to Miami, he was very afraid of what was ahead but knew what God had put on his heart.

Today he heads up The Dream Center in Las Angeles where he does amazing outreach to the poor, homeless and disheartened people of the city. His twitter quote of the day was

    ~ "While your waiting for a miracle, go ahead and be one".

It really hit me, hard! As we were folding our laundry, I spent time talking to the laundry attendants, I was able to share our story of why we came to Miami and they were just so amazed. I don't think they were amazed that we were here, but more amazed that someone was willing to listen to their story too. As I left there that afternoon, it hit me hard, what Matthew said in his blog. Is there really anyone who is not waiting for a miracle of some kind? Could it be that for that day, for that lady at the laundry mat, her needed miracle was that someone would hear her story? It really made me wonder what kind of effect
we could have on people if we all lived by that statement of Matthews?

We waited for a miracle and God came through, but there is still so much more that is needed to move forward in what God has called us too, but while we are waiting and seeking His will in this, we will do everything we can to go and be a miracle for someone else! So this week, I will go back to the laundry mat and visit with the attendants again. Maybe take some coffee and we can chat more!

Please pray that God shows us where to go, who to see and how we can be their miracle for that day.

solid

I got up early this morning, ready to work, but, before the work starts, I need time to read and pray. So, I went out to the beach and watched the sunrise. As I was walking in the sand my calf muscles started to get a little sore, as they are worked a little harder in uneven and soft ground. I decided to walk up closer to the sea wall and came across a utility cover which butted up against the wall. I sat down on the wall with my feet on the solid cover and rested. It reminded me of the old hymn words

 "On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand"

Which fit perfectly with the Verve daily reading in Hebrews 12 as the author described how God is shaking everything to remove that which can be removed so all that is left is that which cannot be shaken.

In other words, the things that SEEM to be important can quickly fade as the things that ARE really important remain.

I ended up finding a bench that faces the sea. The picture above is the view from that bench. It appears to be a postcard perfect picture,  right? However, you'll notice that on the beach between the two palm trees is a homeless couple that spent the night on the beach. I talked to them a little and found out they just rolled into town last night. They were from Pennsylvania and lost their home to the recent flooding. They figured if they were going to be homeless, they might as well be homeless in paradise. The need is real and is more important than the picture perfect scene we try to surround ourselves in.

If you don't currently read and pray daily, I highly recommend it. It will shake you up and leave only those things that cannot be shaken.

On Christ the solid rock I stand....

roaches!

One thing we've noticed in Miami about the houses that we've been looking at is the owner's do not care if they are clean when they show them. I don't know if it's just the neighborhoods we are looking in or if the owners figure we'll leave it trashed so they might as well rent them out trashed? I don't know, but, I can tell you that a couple houses we looked at yesterday had roaches the size of mice. Our cat is gonna love it here!

Regardless of what shape the houses are in, we're finding it hard to get into a place because they want proof of income, which we don't have, of course. So, we found an efficency appartment 2 blocks from the beach which is a huge step up from the motel rooms we've been staying in. The best thing about it is it sleeps 7, so no kids sleeping on the floor (where those giant cock roaches like to crawl).

time after time

Old Faithful

It's been a rough couple of days since we've arrived. It really feels like a battle just finding a place to stay. We've driven over a hundred miles looking for rentals and have been coming up short each time. It's a real continuation of trying our faith, but, I have to consider that it's a miracle that we are even here.

There is one thing that happened before we even left Missouri that continues to feed my faith for some reason. It's doesn't even seem like a big deal, but, when I think about it, I feel God's presence and love. When we were all packed up and ready to load our stuff into storage, we determined that it was probably going to take at least two large storage sheds and maybe even a third at the rate of $75 a month for each unit ($225/mo for storage).  However when we talked to the storage facility owner, he made us an offer out of the blue that we could not refuse. He gave us entire warehouse, one that could store 10 houses worth of stuff, for $100 a month.

Like I said, it doesn't seem like a very big deal, but, for some reason it gives me hope.

God is faithful!

unchained

"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; [The Lord] has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners."  ~ Isaiah 61:1

I love how confident Jesus was in his mission. It seems that as he stepped out in faith, doing what the Father showed him, he had absolute faith that the Father would do exactly what he said. Which is amazing knowing that at any given time, a dozen legions of angels would have rushed in and helped him if he asked. So at any time while he was being beaten and crucified, he could have stopped it, but, willingly layed his life down.

We can hardly understand why he would do such a thing, but, the Father showed him it was the way to bridge the gap between fallen man and God. So often the Father has been portrayed as being very mad with mankind and ready to smoke us all where we stand. Yet even in the old testatment he was preparing a way to reconcile us to him.

Thousands of years after the prophet Isaiah wrote what Jesus would do, the mission remains. We, as the re-presenters of Jesus, can rest assured that the Father will continue to do what he said he will do.

As we arrive in Miami to start a church for people far from God and an outreach for the poor, please pray that we will bring good news to the oppressed, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and release the prisoners.

faithful

As of Friday I've been unemployed and as of Saturday we are homeless. All because we believe God told us to leave the life we've made for the past 20 years and move to Miami to start a church from scratch and start an outreach to the poor.


We have known for a long time that this was what God wanted us to do, we just were not "ready". We have been working towards this for many years, but, every time we made any progress it was stolen away from us one way or another. Many would say that it really wasn't God's will because nothing is transpiring. But, to us, it seemed that God has been telling us all along that we can't do this on our own and that no matter how much we worked to do it, it would fail. We can only do it if we have absolute faith in God. Of course, this scares us to death.


In April of this year we felt the call stronger than ever, so, we decided not to wait any longer for things to materialize. That ready or not, we are going to trust God and are just going to move to Miami. Our plan seemed to be going just fine, however, when we were three weeks away from my scheduled quit date, we had only raised $25. I started thinking of contingency plans, just in case we could not leave when we wanted to.


About two weeks ago, after a period of fasting and praying, I had a dream. I dreamt  I was asleep and someone was knocking at the door, I got up and answered it and no one was there. I returned to my bed and thought "huh, it must be God at the door" so I said, "okay God, I'm listening" and God said "JUST GO".  I then woke up for real.


It's been a constant back and forth with our faith and our doubts. This dream seemed to come to mind every time I had doubts since I had it.


So, as we loaded the last box in storage and drove our packed vans to my mothers to spend a couple of days before we leave, the panic set in. We had since received gifts of money from friends, but, when we added it up, it was not enough to even pay for all the gas to get us to Miami.


I was determined that no matter how much we had we would just start driving, I knew that if it is God's will then it is God's bill. On Saturday, after getting to my Mom's I got an email from a friend from Kansas City that said he had moved to Columbia and wanted to get together for lunch. We met at Buffalo Wild Wings on Monday and after explaining what God was doing my life, he said God had put us on their hearts and he was really glad he was able to get a hold of me before we left. He then said that he wanted to help and the least he could do was to give us $1000. So, today when we met at the bank, he said they talked about it and prayed about it and wanted to do a little more than $1000, so they gave us $4000. We're a long way from doing all we want to do, but we now have enough to get to Miami and into a house.


If I've learned anything during all this, I've learned that God is absolutely faithful. I can't wait to see what else God is going to do.

gut check



Guy sleeping outside yesterday - photo by Joel

 Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." ~ Luke 9:58

"Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ "The King will reply, ‘whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.’ ~ Matt 25:37-40

Those who give to the poor will lack nothing ........ ~ Proverbs 28:27


We take many basic things in life for granted, like easy access to a bathroom, a fridge with leftovers in it for that mid afternoon snack, a dresser, our own bed ....

What is it you take for granted? Could you live without it for a day? Two days? A week?　

Nathan Adair, a Baylor University graduate, is living for 30-days-on-$30 to identify with the more than 1 billion people globally who live on $1 a day or less. He said "When you are really hungry, one raisin is like eating an ice cream sundae. Twenty-five-cent canned vegetable soup tastes like it came from a five-star restaurant."

Now, with all this, I'm not saying we all need to convert our homes into shelters for the homeless and go on 30 day fasts. We don't have to become Mother Theresa wana-bees. But, we can start off small, it's all part of loving God and loving people.

So, the next time a pan-handler is on the corner, next to your car, making you feel a little uncomfortable, think of how he feels. I dare you to look him in the eye and smile, maybe even hand him a buck or two (even if he does use it to buy beer). It doesn't have to be a huge gift. We are not going to solve the worlds problems, but, if a bunch of us are affecting one person every once in a while, that's huge.

Jesus also said "The poor you will always have with you"~ Matt 26:11

So you'll have lots of opportunities!

hoarders

The last few things are getting packed and we are separating what we'll be taking in the vans and what we will be putting into storage. As we have gone through our kids rooms, we have discovered that some of them are hoarders. Yep, it's true, what am I going to do?

I have no idea why we have an old motorcycle wheel and why it's been in the girls room for over a year, nor why they insist on keeping it. We have never even owned a motorcycle........

a life lost

Today starts the last week I will work a job I’ve worked at for the last 17-1/2 years. I’ve no doubt left my mark on a 4th generation family business that will not be soon forgotten, but, eventually it will be forgotten.

One of my struggles with leaving has been leaving the security of a company that has always been there for my family and I. As mentioned in previous posts, there are friends and family that believe we are crazy for leaving such security.

Every day, since I put in my notice, I’ve wanted to talk to my employers about the possibility of staying and not moving to Miami. However, as those doubts about leaving arise, the words of Jesus echo in my mind. He said in Matthew 16:25-

"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."

Never have those words made more sense to me than they do right now! It would be very easy to stay and save my job and our lives as we know them. It is very difficult to leave and as foolish as it seems, I know it’s for the purpose of not only "life" for me and my family, it’s "life" for many who do not know Jesus yet. 

I’m further reminded by Paul in I Cor 1:26-29, which says-
"Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him."


So, as we leave a "secure" life behind and move to Miami to start a church for people that don’t like church and an outreach for the hungry, please pray we will never forget that it’s not about us.