Redeemer: Church Planting 3 months In

The last update I shared about our church planting journey was five days before Grady made his debut (so Oct 25th). I felt like it was high time for another look at how things are going! Ha.

We have been meeting on Sunday mornings for 20 weeks! Wow time flies! Things are going really well. We have had visitors almost every single week that we have met. We just finished our first membership class last week! There are tons of exciting things happening. We just began our first "life groups" (small groups), and are starting with three groups! We are averaging 35-40 a week (including kids). We have setup and tear down worked into a nice routine. Overall, it is going very well.















But I more so want to share the things that can't be measured by numbers or classes or things or budgets. What has the Lord been teaching us through this process? A ton!!

He is teaching us how to truly serve His church, not just our friends. When you have been at a church a long time, those things sometimes become synonymous. But here He has called us to interrupt our plans and life to serve people we may have just met. And that is stretching but also a huge blessing.

He is teaching me not to assume people here know the gospel and the bible. We have a tendency to not start with the very basics because we kind of assume everyone has been around church, even if it was just as a child. Several of the new people that are coming have been raised in very different spiritual backgrounds. It's important to really teach scripture and not just overview it.

I am learning that more than anything People want to feel a connection when they go to church. Clearly we are small, still getting basics worked out and do not have it all together. Our nursery had two rock n plays and a changing pad for many weeks. Taking up offering sometimes looks a little chaotic as we let new people volunteer for it. At any point during our worship there may be one or several children running wild, which is understandable because we are in a gym- why wouldn't they?! And thru all of it people have loved it because we have been able to truly connect (pretty easy when their are only 40 of you! Haha) and ask questions and get to know them. And I can see it all over their faces, they came here because they wanted to be known.

I am learning so much as we go, and I hope to be better about sharing. It is hard to put most of this experience into words, but I am gonna try.

Thank you to those who have been praying for us thru out this journey! Please keep it up.










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Congrats Jeanice & Adam

At the end of January, my good friend Jeanice got married! I met Jeanice in college when we both worked in the Admissions office, and we have stayed close every since. She is part of my bunko crew (and pumpkin carving, cookie decorating, birthday celebrating, whatever else Becky comes up with crew). I did a horrible job of taking pictures thru out the weekend (probably because I had a baby with me...) but here are a few I took or stole :-)






























We had a great time. Jeanice planned a gorgeous wedding, no surprise there. She is super crafty!

Congrats guys! So glad to be a part of it.

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Our first sleepover!

During our snow week, we got the opportunity to have some friends over for a sleepover! Their parents needed to check a health issue checked out, so they came over and stayed over night. Griffin was beyond thrilled! We had a ball. Daddy may have even made a tent that hung from the ceiling fan...

They had a picnic in Griffins room...


Watched Frozen under a tent (and ate lots and lots of popcorn!)...





They slept on Griffins bunk beds and it worked out great!


Dress up time...





And we played a bunch of games...





We really had the best time. These kids are the most well behaved I have even seen. They play so well with Griffin, it is a blessing. Yay for friends and fun while being snowed in!

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Snow, Snow and more Snow

Towards the end of January we got a light dusting of snow. It didn't last long into the morning, and it was on a Saturday so there were no disruptions etc. Daddy and Griffin went out to play in it and had a blast.








Then last week Kentucky had a major winter storm, and got almost 12" of snow! For us that's like the equivalent to a major blizzard and 3 feet. Ha.

I was out of work for an entire week. Our county schools are going back tomorrow and we're out 6 days. It was a lot.

I loved being snowed in with my boys! I am a hermit by nature, so not going anywhere didn't bother me one bit. But you would think with all that snow we wols have played and played... Not so much. The first day we went down the street to Lilli's, and they lasted outside for like ten minutes. Then the next day he and Daddy played for about 30 minutes. That's all we did all week.









I am so over winter. Done. But I do hope we get this much snow again when griffin is older and would enjoy things like sledding.

It was pretty while it lasted, now bring on the warm weather!


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Griffin is 3 & 1/2!

In January, Griffin hit the 3 & 1/2 mark. Wow. That means in less than 6 months, I will have a 4 year old! Whew, time really does fly.

So here is a little snapshot of Griffin at this age. I do not have any weight or height stats, because we do not go to the doctor until his birthday. But he has definitely gotten taller and skinnier this year. He no longer looks like a baby :-(






He is now sleeping in his bed all night. Thank you baby elsa! Ha!

He has been potty trained since last year during the day, but we finally attempted night right before Grady was born and Griffin is rocking it. As long as we potty right before bed he is good to go. Woo hoo!

He loves to sing and dance still. His favorites right now are All About that Bass, Lips are Movin, Blank Space, and Shake it Off. He is dramatic and hilarious when he sings them. Love it.



He is obsessed with YouTube right now. He is all about watching the play doh videos and unboxing videos (it's such a weird thing, Google it if you don't know what I am talking about), peppa pig, mascots, Disney characters like at Disney performing, and dance videos. Oh my.






My favorite thing right now is when he gets words mixed up. He says marenights instead of nightmares, beanstalk instead of stockings, and bulletins instead of bullets. Ha!


When he gets out of the bathtub he calls himself Old Man Winter because his fingers are wrinkly! Precious.


He is learning a ton. He is getting pretty good at tracing his name. He knows all of his body parts, birthday, colors, shapes, and can recognize most letters. He can count to 30 and is getting good at sound recognition for letters too. School is so helpful. He loves to cut and glue and paint.









Playing with our little nerf guns is a new favorite past time. And playing board games. I love that we are starting to be able to play games!!!






He still loves being a big brother and is obsessed with kissing on Grady. He is really good with him and is a great helper getting things etc when we need them.















I can't believe this kid is getting so big! Ahh!



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