Exciting Times...

Hello friends! 

It's been quite a rush living life in the fast lane lately.  Between teaching and starting a new church, our life has been a bit hectic.  However, we continue to see God's hand in everything we do.

Every day I'm becoming more comfortable in my role as a teacher.  Don't get me wrong, there are still days when I want to run and hide or just quit altogether, but those days are fewer than they were the first few weeks.  I'm beginning to enjoy teaching and I'm reminded of that passion that was in me all along.  As of this week, I will have completed one month of school!  September has flown by.  So much has happened in just one month, it's almost unbelievable.

We had our first block party at Crossroads Church on Saturday, September 17th.  Oh by the way, the new name for our church is Crossroads Church.  We decided on that name because our location is located at what is called the "crossroads" in Roanoke.  People are familiar with this area when you refer to it as crossroads which made naming the church that a natural fit. 

The block party was a success!  We had about 400 people from the community show up despite very little advertising.  A group of our former students from Palestine Baptist Church came to help us that day.  It was so great to see many of their smiling faces.  We continue to miss everyone at PBC and were blessed by their willingness to serve with us.  Current attendees of Crossroads also helped out at the block party.  One lady who is 94 years "young" was out there serving hot dogs all day to people in the community.  We even had a homeless man who has been faithfully attending our services provide amazing face painting for the children.  It was so great to see people coming together to reach out to the community.  The kids all seemed to have a great time and we're hoping many of them will come visit our church as a result.  We're having another block party this Saturday in preparation for our Grand Opening.

Crossroads Church Grand Opening is this Sunday, October 2nd!!! We're so excited!  Josh has been feverishly getting everything ready and working with so many different people to get this all accomplished.  The renovations are almost complete and the sanctuary looks incredible!  They're putting in the new carpet today.  I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished product next week.  I'm so proud of all the work Josh has been doing.  He was giving two months to completly renovate a church and build a team to help us launch and he's so far managed to do it all!  God is giving him incredible stamina and strength that we know only comes from Him.

Please continue to keep us and Crossroads Church in your prayers.  We need them now more than ever.  As we open this new church and begin to reach out into the community, we know that a target will be on our backs.  Satan will do anything he can to prevent the Gospel from being preached.  We definitely need God's protection over us as a couple and the church as a whole! 

God is going to do amazing things through Crossroads Church!  I'm just excited to be along for the ride!

~Nicole~

Teaching, Moving, & All that Good Stuff!

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind.  Since my last post I finished up working at Liberty, put a classroom together, completed my first week of teaching, and moved to Roanoke!  Your brain probably hurts from just reading that.  It's been crazy but God is still faithful. 

Saying goodbye to my co-workers at Liberty was probably one of the hardest things I've had to do.  I loved working at Liberty but I'm glad to be ministering to the people here in Roanoke. 

I have 20 students in my 5th grade homeroom, but I teach 41 students in two groups.  So far my first week has gone well, actually better than expected.  I have a good homeroom and my kids listen most of the time.  I'm still learning how to manage a classroom while teaching and re-learning the content.  When was the last time you had to do a stem-and-leaf plot?!  Yeah I can't remember either. haha  But I'm sure as the weeks go on I'll get more confident in my role as a teacher.

We found a place to live in Roanoke about two weeks ago.  It's a townhouse that is minutes from both our church and the school!  We moved in last week and spent most of this past weekend unpacking.  I'll be glad when it's all unpacked and I've found a place for everything.  I think I'm really going to enjoy living in Roanoke!  I can't wait to have time to explore the city!

Thanks for all your prayers!  They have been greatly felt over the past few weeks.  Please continue to pray for us as we begin to prepare the new church to launch October 2nd.  We'll be having a block party for the community next Saturday and canvassing the neighborhood over the next few weeks.  Pray for unsaved people to come to our church and that God will use us to touch the lives of the people in our area.  There is so much need and I hope that we can bring hope to a community that needs it.

Well, I better get back to lesson planning....

Until next time,
Nicole

Where have we been?!

You're probably wondering why this blog hasn't been updated in almost a year and I apologize for the delay.  In all honesty, nothing really had happened for several months and so I had nothing to update you on in regards to our journey in church planting, until NOW!  

God has been doing some incredible things in our lives in the past two months and I'm here to share it with you.  At the end of June, Josh ran into one of his friends/mentors, Matt Wilmington.  Matt is an executive pastor at Thomas Road Baptist Church, the church that started Liberty University.  The two talked and Matt asked Josh if he wanted to interview to be the new campus pastor with TRBC as they start a new campus in Roanoke, VA.  Since God had stopped us from going to PA to plant a church, we decided to pursue this option and see where it would go.  Well in about 3 weeks time, Josh was offered the position and he accepted!  So as of August 1st, we became church planters with TRBC!  This campus is a result of a former church, Airlee Court Baptist, turning over its property to TRBC for them to revitalize the church and bring in a younger crowd.  The church currently has about 30 attendees whose average age range is 75-80.  We have our work cut out for us but the surrounding community is in desperate need for a vibrant church that reaches the lost and hurting.  For more information on this church re-launch, you can read this article published in the Roanoke Times, http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/283879.  The name of the church will be changing and the sanctuary will be getting a face-lift among other things.  We are excited to start getting in to the community and reaching the people of Roanoke!

This new position also means that we will be moving to Roanoke, VA as soon as we can find a place to live!  We are both excited to move to a more diverse culture with a bigger city feel.  Roanoke, VA is a beautiful and diverse city with lots of art, culture, and community events.  Roanoke is known as the Star City and it really does shine like a star!!

Here's a picture of the new Taubam Museum of Art.

When we received the call to go to Roanoke and start this new campus, I had every intention of continuing to work at Liberty University.  I loved working with international students and enjoyed what I did.  The hour commute everyday would have been tough but I told myself I would be fine.  But God had other plans!  I have always wanted to teach.  I have a Bachelor's degree in Elementary education and a Master of Education, but I wasn't having much success landing a teaching job.  The bad economy, teachers not retiring and budget issues have decreased the number of teaching positions available making it challenging for me.  I have lots of education and no practical experience.  I began to think all hope had been lost until last week.  I received a call from Roanoke City Public Schools offering me a 5th grade teaching position at Roundhill Elementary School for the 11-12 school year!  I couldn't believe it!  I was completely in awe of how God had provided for us!  The school is in the same community as the church and Josh and I will now work 5 minutes from each other! The school district had 300 applications and only 20 positions to fill!!  God truly opened up the doors and allowed me an opportunity to finally teach! 

I put in my two weeks at work and my last day at Liberty will be Aug. 17th.  I start new teacher orientation the next day!  Life is going to kick up a few notches over the next few months but we're ready!  We've been asking God to show us where He wants us to be for a year now and God has finally revealed it to us!  The peace we have experienced through this process is unbelievable which helps us know that we are exactly where God wants us to be.  Please keep us in your prayers as we begin this next journey!  This blog will be our way of documenting all that God is doing, so I'll hopefully do a better job of updating it.  I look forward to sharing with you in this incredible adventure!

~Nicole~

Where I've Been...

Hellow fellow bloggers!  I'm back!  Sorry it's been such a long time since my last update.  I really need to update this thing more often.  Hard to believe it is November 1st!  Time is flying by and I'm almost another year older. :)  To be honest, I haven't had much to write about over the past few months which is why I've been silent.  God has been teaching Josh and I how to wait patiently for His timing and not our own.  Our plans would have us already up in Reading starting our church plant, but for now we are still in good ol' Lynchburg.  There were many things that held us up and I truly believe that they were road blocks from God.  They stopped us in our tracks and made us truly evaluate what the next step might be. 

Have you ever felt like God was silent?  Like you were praying and praying and you seemd to get no response in return?  That's how we felt for most of the summer.  We thought we knew what we were supposed to do but then our plans were stopped abruptly and we were left more confused and frustrated.  However, it was during this time that God reminded me that He is in control, not me.  I became aware of how much I had wanted to move and realized that maybe that wasn't in God's plan for us yet.  Maybe He still has something more for us to accomplish here in Lynchburg. 

We have seen God do some amazing things at our church, especially in our student ministry.  We have more students coming than ever before and we have seen many of them grow in their relationship with Christ.  It can be hard to move on when you are being effective.  I have also grown tremendously as a worship leader over the past year.  I have learned what my weaknesses and strengths are and have stretched myself further then I could have ever imagined.  As a result, the church has grown and I truly believe God has great things in store for Palestine Baptist church. 

So, here we sit.....waiting for God to move us....knowing it will be in His perfect timing and according to His perfect will! 

If you think about it....please pray for Josh and I.  We have such great aspirations and know that God will use us however He sees fit. 

Sometimes waiting is the hardest part...but I will continue to serve Him while I'm waiting!!

Til next time.....

God is AMAZING!

I know it's been awhile since I posted last.  It's been a crazy semester but God is still faithful.  Josh will be finished with his MDIV next week and has decided to start the Doctor of Education degree to learn more about teaching.  He hopes to teach youth ministry at the college level someday.  I am very proud of all he has accomplished.

We also found out last week that a church plant in Texas has decided to donate an entire sound system to our church plant in Reading!!!  We are so excited!  God is continuing to work in mysterious and wonderful ways.  Just when we start to doubt He shows up BIG!  We are so excited to see what else is in store for this church plant.  God continues to affirm the call He has on our lives and we are so blessed to be a part of it. 

I am so excited to see where God will lead us in the next few months.  The end of the semester brings changes and with that comes trust, faith, and intense prayer!

I'll try to update more as things continue to fall into place.

Until next time....Nicole

Well it's been awhile since I last posted. I need to get better at updating this thing. :) My summer has flown by and I have definitely kept busy. We haven't even been able to take a vacation yet because my work doesn't let us have off in July/August as it's the busiest time for Resident Enrollment at Liberty (the joys of working in admissions). We're looking to take a long weekend sometime soon and just get out of Lynchburg.

I have to admit that I'm looking forward to Fall. I'm ready for cooler weather, football season, fall festivals and of course my birthday in November. It's hard to believe that I'll be 26 this year! Recently I got in a rut and thought that I should be doing more extraordinary things by the time I reached this age. I had this mindset that if I was going to do anything great I had to do it now before I got too "old". However, I was reminded by my wonderful husband that we still have so much to look forward to. Our journey is only just beginning! That is exciting because there is so much I want to accomplish and I don't have to do it all before I'm 30.

I have been trying to seek God's purpose for my life. I know I won't work in admissions for the rest of my life, so I've been trying to figure out what God has called me to do. I am passionate about many things but I need to find one thing that I can put all my efforts towards. For right now, I think I might have found that passion...

Two weeks ago, I took over as worship leader at our present church near Smith Mountain Lake, VA. I have really enjoyed leading the church in worship. It is a powerful feeling to worship God and lead others to worship, but it also has great responsibility. I pray that I live a life of worship in my daily life and that my actions will please God. I am excited to learn more about leading worship and music in general. Who knows, I may have to lead worship at our church plant and I know this will give me great experience for whatever God has in store.

The fall semester started this week. Josh has two more semesters and he'll be finished with his Master of Divinity in Missional Studies!!! We're so excited. I am also taking some doctoral level courses since I get an education benefit at Liberty, although I hope to finish my doctorate degree from another school down the road. Finishing our education brings us one step closer to moving back to PA and starting our church! We are so excited to see what God has in store for us in this next season of our life.

For now...I take each day at a time and thank God for the precious gift of life! :)

Here I Go...

I'm about to enter the wide world of blogging...why?! you might ask. Well, I had a revelation while I was visiting my family back in PA over the July 4th holiday. I decided to start blogging all my thoughts, feelings, ideas, decisions, triumphs, and set-backs as it pertains to our adventure of church planting. My husband has known since freshmen year of college that God wanted him to start a new kind of church in our hometown of Reading, PA. At first, I thought he was crazy! Then as I began to pray and really think about it, I felt the call of God on me too. Trust me, I know it won't be easy and people think we are nuts for doing it, but we know it is God's plan for our lives.

As we have begun the beginning phases of this adventure, I decided to put down in writing everything I, as a church planter's wife, was experiencing and feeling. My hope is that by reading this blog you will be encouraged and see God work in our lives. Maybe one day these blogs will be compiled into a book to help other church planter's wives, but I pray these words bring you hope and strength!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight!" Proverbs 3:5-6