Home Sweet Home

So, some of you have asked for a video tour of our new apartment. Here you go...

Search for Church

Hey guys! Just wanted to update you on our search for a church here in Austin. As you know, our first church visit was a little disappointing and it left us really looking forward to...well, something else.

So, this last Sunday we visited Hill Country Bible Church UT. Our friend Dan has a friend who goes to Hill Country Bible, but another campus. Hill Country Bible has been planting churches here in Austin and this one at UT is among the numerous plants.

Sunday we set out driving to church and Troy said on the way that he wasn't sure he wanted to drive this far to church. Well, it ended up only being about 15 minutes and we were right across the street from the UT campus at church.
We went in and they were very friendly, the nursery wasn't as big of a deal there as the church before, but they were very nice people and very happy to have Audrey. (A little more like the nursery at Hope would be.)

Up in the "sanctuary" (just a large room with a small stage) we were surprised to see that they were setting at round tables for worship and the people we met at the front door invited us to sit with them.

Worship was really good, really loud, but really good. (and when I say loud, I mean heart thumping, front row at a concert loud) You couldn't hear yourself singing, much less the person next to you. But the band was really good and the lead worshipper spoke well in worship and was very authentic. It was good for Troy and I.

They had a time in worship where we were to find someone around us and find out how we could pray for one another and then we had a time of prayer.

A woman and a college girl shared in the service about their mentoring relationship and encouraged us to get involved in this kind of relationship. How bout that? We were pretty excited about that. How much more perfect for us could that be?

Then the sermon was very good. Troy and I had really been longing for really good, challenging, scripture centered preaching. We had also prayed for a pastor who would really open himself up and be known. And wow, this guy is preaching through Colossians and he was so scriptural and so authentic. It was so good, we can't wait to hear more. (and he was the college pastor, but we heard that the head pastor preaches much the same.)

After the service we were invited to lunch (which we couldn't do that day, but it was so nice to be invited.) and we talked with the college pastor and his wife. They were very welcoming. After talking he told us that he really thinks that this church would be a great fit for us and that they might start hounding us about coming there, but we could tell them to stop if we needed to. and we got an e-mail from him today. This was actually nice for us since we worried that coming to a Texas church there is always the possibility of going to a church where the pastor never even knows your name. We didn't want that.

And after the service, we actually saw several groups of people standing around praying together. Wow, that was refreshing.

So, the deal is with this church that their purpose is very strategic in reaching the campus of UT. Their strategy is for students to go into areas that are natural for them (their dorm, frat, club, etc.) and start a "missional community" (or a small group.) They have had quite a few of these started already and many many lost students are coming to these groups that would never come to church. And the adults of the church are mentoring the leaders of these groups. The adults could have anywhere from 1 - half a dozen students that they are mentoring.

And yes, there are a good number of adults our age. The pastors are our age (and have kids from 7 mo up to 3.) We saw several babies and pregos too.

Right now they have, I would say maybe 200 or so. But they said that during the school year it is more like 450.

If you know much about our moving here you know that we really have a desire to reach out to the students of UT and the lost in the city. This place really is very unreached. It's pretty exciting to find a church who is actively doing something about it. AND we both really have a heart for discipleship...and here is a church that really values discipleship and needs more disciplers. Yea!

So, what do you think? Doesn't this sound pretty perfect for Troy and I?
We are really looking forward to visiting more and maybe even connecting to ministry before the fall comes.

We would love your thoughts and prayers as we further check out this great church possibility.

Saturday Fun...

Today was our first free Saturdy here in Austin (and the conclusion of Troy's first work week) and we decided to go and check out some of the Texas hill country. We drove west of Austin a bit to the town of Blanco which is known for its lavender. (if you know me very well, you know I LOVE lavender and anything lavenderish. Troy said he hit the jackpot for where to shop for me.) So we shopped a bit there, had some good bbq, and then went to Blanco River State Park. We got a pass to all Texas State Parks there so we can go to any parks for the year. This was kind of exciting to us since we have so loved the outdoors in Boston and the State Parks in New England. We're really looking forward to checking out some of these great places. There are so many near us.
From there we went to Pedernales Falls (you'll see the picture below.) It was really pretty. (You'll notice in the pictures that she was really tired and we forgot her pacifier on our hike down to the Falls, so she got Troy's finger instead...boy did she grab hold of that finger!)
Audrey got to swim in the river for the first time. It was nice and she did really well until she got very tired and ready to go home. I think her daddy especially liked swimming in the river with her. I have a feeling Audrey is going to grow up in these rivers.
And tomorrow is Sunday - we are looking forward to checking out another church. We'll let you know all about it.
Our good friends Amy and Aaron Graham are coming in town tomorrow as well. We get to go hang out with them at Lake Travis - another beautiful place just around the corner.

Audrey's First Swim

So, we have been saying since we moved in that we were going to take Audrey swimming in the pool here at our apartments. Today, we finally did it. And here is Audrey's first swim...

How are we doing?

Well...

Troy has begun work now. I think he is really going to like it. He works just a couple of minutes down the street. Today he got to come home for lunch.
He is going to have to learn alot to get going, but I think it will be good for him. The guys he works with will be good I think.

Our apt. is great. We are all settled in now. I did realize in the move that we have LOTS of stuff! Much of it is still boxed and in the closet. We decided not to get out all the stuff we don't need for this year, hoping that we will only be in this apt. for a year and then we can look at buying. But the place is looking really nice and homey like we like it. I have beautiful plants on the porch with our table out there so we can enjoy the sunshine (and boy is there lots of sunshine.)

Audrey is doing well. I am glad that we are settled now. She needs a normal schedule. She sleeps GREAT at night which we are really thankful for. Now we just need a regular nap schedule. Man, is she precious. She is smiling and talking so much.

And me? Well, I think that is yet to be seen. I am at home with Audrey and Nettie. I am enjoying taking care of our home. I do think, though, that this is going to be quite a different thing for me. I have always had a job when I have moved somewhere new. A built in way to connect and make a place my own. I think this is going to take me a little longer, especially since I can't get out a whole lot with Audrey. Mostly my view of this is that I want my husband to do really well and I am really excited for him to have this job. And I sure have been able to do alot over my years of ministry in PEI, SF and Boston. Troy deserves this time of pursuing his career and I can work at helping him and taking care of our family.
I am doing a Bible study with my friend Kelli via phone from Boston. This is good to keep me accountable.
I've looked online and found a moms group here in North Austin. I would like to join a group like this, particularly a group that is not churched.
Our neighbors seem to be quite multicultural. I think we have a good number of Hindu families here in the apartments. The ladies have young children and seem to be out alot. I would LOVE to find a way to get to know some of them.

And...we are looking for a church. Last Sunday was our first attempt at finding a church home. We were excited about visiting this particular church because it is said to really seek to reach seekers.
It was a great facility. Very cool looking. We put Audrey in the nursery and she did great. They seem to have the children's stuff down.
The service - we must have come in after a song or something because we were only there for 2 songs. But we weren't really late. After "worship" they talked about Father's Day and played a funny video about Father's Day gifts. I admit it was funny, but I was so disappointed that worship culminated in a video having nothing to do with worshipping God. It was actually a bit distasteful I thought. and then they had "special music" which was the Dave Matthews song Space Between. Now, I am not one of those who thinks you shouldn't have any secular music within worship. If it fits, if it honors God, if it edifies the body or causes us to think about God in a different way, then sure. But this song was a stretch.
And the sermon was good, but not the challenge that Troy and I were looking for.

So Troy and I went to lunch (happy Father's Day to Troy at Chuy's Mexican Food...Yum!) and we discussed our thoughts about church over enchilidas and what Troy claimed to be the best refried beans he has ever tasted.

It seems to us that some churches seek so much to be seeker friendly that they go too far and the truth and edification of the body is lost and certainly the focus on worshipping God is lost.

We talked about what is important to us as we look for a church.
We want a church that really seeks to build up and edify the body of Christ. A church that is discipling the body. A church that takes worshipping God seriously. A church that preaches the word. And as a result of the previous the church lives out the gospel and reaches the lost.

Man, we are hungering for that.

Next week we are trying a Bible church that meets near UT. I am listening to a podcast of their sermon series on Colossians right now. Good stuff. And it looks like a graet way to reach out to UT students (which is part of the reason we wanted to be in Austin.)

So...that's where we are now. We will keep you posted. We appreciate your prayers as we seek to dig into life here.

Troy's first Father's Day...

I know, we have not blogged in awhile. It's been busy getting settled. We will blog more this week with updates on how we are all doing. (I especially want to blog about our adventures in searching for a church.) For now I wanted to share some great Troy and Audrey pictures since this is their first Father's Day. Troy is a GREAT father and Audrey is growing so much. She is talking more everyday. And that smile...