Our Journey (part 1) – Minding Our Own Business

While we were back in NY last month, we went through some of the stuff we left in storage over there, and carted some of it back with us. One of the things Liz brought back, were letters that I wrote to her while we were dating. I was reading some of them yesterday (I'd like to think I'm a better person 24 years later).

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by bob

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Jul 8, 2013

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On the first leg of our trip to Ireland, we missed our connecting flight in Iceland.

While we were back in NY last month, we went through some of the stuff we left in storage over there and carted some of it back with us. One of the things Liz brought back, were letters that I wrote to her while we were dating. I was reading some of them yesterday (I’d like to think I’m a better person 24 years later).

In one of the letters, (dated November 1989) I wrapped up the letter by talking about foreign missions. I basically said, “while I understand this is something you have a heart for…I don’t, so please don’t try to persuade me to consider it.”

That ranks right up there with “I will never plant another church.”

This leads to this…

Three years ago this month the 5 of us (actually Méabh was a stow-away on the trip…we just didn’t know it yet) were preparing for a 6-week sabbatical which we would spend mostly in Ireland.

Liz and I were excited and looking forward to it.

The kids were partly excited, partly upset that they’d have to spend almost their whole summer apart from their friends.

Two years ago this month, Liz and I (& Méabh) flew to Dublin to meet with the pastors of the Dublin Vineyard Church; make sure that we were actually doing this, and then walk and pray around the city to discern where we should live/plant a church.

One year ago this month, our family got on a plane and officially moved to Dublin, Ireland. (Okay, Erin & Hannah came over in August, but you get the idea).

July is a pretty big month for us. This month we begin our second year of life in Dublin, and at the same time, we look back and celebrate some important milestones in this journey we’ve been on for the past three-plus years.

Over the rest of this month, we are going to share some of the ups and downs, as well as some of the big events that led us from ‘minding our own business and going about our lives in Ithaca, to living in Dublin and planning to plant a church.

If you’ve been part of this journey with us these past few years, a lot of it may be stuff you’re familiar with, but hopefully, you’ll see how many of the pieces connect.

For me, it was foreign missions…for you what was the thing you didn’t want to do, that you now find yourself excited about?

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What about Bob?

bob

I grew up in Western New York and have started and led missional church planting efforts for a little over 30 years. As you might gather, I have opinions about the church, and I share some of them here.

It is said doctors make the worst patients. So, when I visit a church, I work at being positive and noticing the good. At the same time, I believe it is crucial to critique what we, as the church, do. In Ireland, just as in the States, the fastest growing religious group is the “Nones”. While you can find a lot out there blaming the Nones, the ex-vangelicals, or those who are deconstructing their faith, for why fewer people attend church than did previously, I believe the first place we need to look is at ourselves.

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