Just for a day...to visit! :-)

I will be on the Microsoft Campus on Wednesday, October 8^th for the entire day.  I’d love to be able to say hello to you while I’m there! 

Why I will be there is why I made this post, and is MUCH more important than the fact that I am there...

During the week of Monday, October 6^th through Friday October 10^th, World Vision will be presenting a special “Step into Africa” exhibit.  The details, including a link for volunteering (Sorry - Microsoft employees only), are below.  This is being put on by an internal DAC (Africans at Microsoft) and is part of Microsoft’s annual Giving Campaign for this year!

I really wanted to make sure that everyone I know has the opportunity to check out this amazing exhibit.  I’ll be there on Wednesday spending a vacation day volunteering.

This exhibit is a modified version of the “World Vision Experience: AIDS” exhibit that is and was touring the area.  I went through that exhibit right after I left Microsoft and it shook me to the core of my soul.  I want to personally encourage each of you to take an hour out of your day (Wednesday would be really cool – I’d love to be able to spend a few minutes with you!) at some point during that week.  If you can’t make it on Wednesday, PLEASE find another day to go.  I assure you – this will impact you like you won’t believe.

I hope to see you at some point on Wednesday.  Feel free to give me a call or drop me a mail if you have any questions.  I don’t have all of the answers, but I’ll certainly be able to find them for you.

I hope this mail finds each of you in great health and continuing to do the amazing things that Microsoft is known for!  I look forward to seeing you there!

Step Into Africa: Charity Fair and Interactive AIDS Exhibit
** If any of your members are interested in volunteering, we need people to help with the exhibit - Microsoft Matching applies! **
Dates: Monday October 6^th (noon) through Friday October 10^th (noon)
Venue: Microsoft Conference Center, McKinley Room  
Follow an African Child through the award-winning “World Vision Experience: AIDS” exhibit and learn about to local and international initiatives to solve hunger, health, and human rights issues impacting Africans. This fair will provide attendees with opportunities to learn about how they can contribute by donating, volunteering or participating in creative capitalism.

Since we've closed Faith Chapel, things have been going a bit weird.  It feels odd to sit in a church service and not have things to do.  I find myself thinking of the topics that the pastor is trying to present and wondering if I would present it differently.

I know that God is alive and working in my life - and I FULLY and undoubtedly trust Him and am simply waiting for the next season of my life to begin.

Actually, as I think it through, the season is already underway.  This is a season of change - of learning again to be patient and wait on the Lord.

I draw strength these days from Isaiah - "Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength...".  As I wait on God, I know that He is preparing me for the new work which he has in store for me.

Today we visited "Celebration Church" in Puyallup.  This is a new neighborhood church that is right up the road from our house.  It was a nice service and a very cool facility.  The congregation was friendly and reached out to us as we visited.  I don't know much about the church (denominational affiliation, doctrine, etc) but what we experienced was solid, Godly and good for the soul.

I think Jesus for his continued hand on my life - and look forward to serving Him more fully.

In His Spirit,

Tom...

As seasons approach, they bring with them a sense of excitement and expectation.  We look forward to what each season has to offer.  Maybe it's hiking or biking in the summer.  It could be playing in the leaves in the fall.  Some people look forward to skiing or snowshoeing in the wintertime.  But the reality is that we all have seasons that we look forward to.

Seasons are not just calendar event.  We also have seasons in our life.  I had a season where I worked at Microsoft.  I had a season where I did youth ministry.  I had a season of returning to school.  We had the season of the birth of our first child.  I had a season of leading Faith Chapel as pastor.

But as with all seasons, they end and lead to others.  Fall is fast approaching in the Northwest and some of the trees are already changing colors.  That means colder days and rain are soon to come.  I left Microsoft and began working at World Vision.  I'm no longer considered "the new guy" there and that season is well under way!  And the season of Faith Chapel has come to an end.

For the last month or so, I've been feeling the pressure from God to end this season, but I've been hesitant and fought it.  I've prayed for a sign from God that there was still life in the church, and found none.  I've prayed for God to reveal to me - without any doubt - that it was time to end it.  I believe he has done just that.

To say that it's time to close a church after only a year and a half, when you've waited 15 years for God to tell you to start is difficult.  This was not a decision that I made quickly and without counsel and prayer - but I believe it is truly what God had asked.

I know that this season is come to an end - but I also know that God has another season lined up and ready to start!  To say that this process hurts would be an incredible understatement - but to say I don't have some excitement about what is next would be a lie!  I'm fighting the human side of me that wants to slip into depression so deep that I'll never climb out - and leaning on the God side of me that is pulling me through.

None of this has caught God by surprise - and truth be told, it hasn't caught me by surprise either.  God reveals things to us constantly - it's whether or not we choose to see them that is the key.  God spoke the end of this season to me weeks ago - but like Gideon, I needed to keep "putting out the fleece" and ask Him to confirm it.

As I look forward to this new season, I ask for your prayers to help me past the previous season.  Part of me wants to simply start over - now.  But I know that God has ordained something different.  I'm not totally sure what the next step is, but I know that God will reveal it when He - and I - are both ready.

'Til then, I continue to seek after Him and His will.

Stay tuned - more to come...