I have been talking with a lot of people recently about all of the changes that are taking place at once in me and Sami’s life. When talking with a friend about it a few nights ago I made the comment that the last few months have been an exciting and scary “new chapter” for us. After making this comment my friend looked at me and said, “bro, this isn’t a new chapter for you guys— this is a new book”.
I guess it wasn’t until my friend said this to me that I realized how much change is actually taking place for us at once. I wanted to take a second and update on each new “chapter” of life that we are writing all at once right now. We are incredibly excited about all of this an know that God is orchestrating and working in and through it all.
Chapter 1: Goodbye Lubbock, Hello Round Rock
After a little over 6 years in Lubbock, Sami and I packed up and moved to Round Rock. We are joining with Josh and Lauren Reeves and a few other’s from Redeemer Lubbock to plant a church in Round Rock. The people in Lubbock and especially our sending church, Redeemer, will always be near and dear to our hearts. There are lots of people and things about Lubbock that we already miss and will continue to miss, but we are excited about this new work that God has called us to. We would love to talk more with you about how you can pray for us, support us, or join with us as we work to plant the gospel in north Austin if you are interested.
Chapter 2: The Elders on Elder Way
We decided not to waste any time in putting down roots in our new city, so we bought a house. Buying our first home was a stressful but exciting adventure for us. I made over a dozen trips to Home Depot and Sami had lots of fun shopping at Ikea during our first week as home owners. We love our house and are excited to serve and bless our new neighborhood. Oh, and the street that we live on is Elder Way (I’m not lying).
Chapter 3: Oh, Baby!
We found out in March that Sami is pregnant! This has kind of trumped all of the other exciting stuff that has been happening. We just had our 14 week sonogram and it was unbelievable to see how much the baby has grown and developed. We can’t wait to find out if it is a boy or a girl. Sami is doing great and we are both already falling in love this little thing that is growing in her belly. The doctor is telling us that Dec. 3rd looks to be a pretty accurate due date!
Chapter 4: Jonah
We also just recently found out that my brother and his wife will be adopting a little boy from Russia and they are going to name him Jonah. We are so excited for them as they are beginning this process and seek to make a difference in the orphan crisis in this world. Their is no better picture of what Christ has done for us in the gospel than the adoption of an orphan. We cannot wait to meet this little guy! You can follow along with their adoption story by clicking here.
Chapter 5: New Jobs
As a pastor, people often ask me for advice on things. If anyone would have ever asked me if I thought it was a good idea to quit their jobs and move to a new city without jobs— I would tell them that this doesn’t sound very wise to me and maybe they should wait until God provides new jobs before they move. Well….this isn’t what we did. We knew that God was calling us to Round Rock and knew that he would provide job for us, and this is exactly what He did. Sami is working as a Labor and Delivery nurse at a great hospital in Round Rock. She is absolutely loving it! And after applying to every school district in a 40 mile radius of Round Rock and sweating it out with every other teacher in the state over the new education budget cuts, I was just offered a teaching/coaching job at Round Rock Christian Academy. I couldn’t be more excited and grateful to God for his provision. There are a few more people on our church planting team that are still job searching (mostly teachers), so you could join us in praying for them.
Chapter 6: A Church Forming
For the past three weeks I have been splitting time between Lubbock and Round Rock as I finish out my duties at Redeemer Lubbock. Due to being in Lubbock on Sunday’s I have yet to be able to be apart of Redeemer Round Rock’s Sunday gatherings. This past Sunday I was able to attend my first RRR gathering and was blown away but the church that God is forming. There were around 30 adults and 15 kids crammed into the Reeve’s living room to share a meal and discuss the gospel and what it means to be a gospel-centered church. We haven’t even launched this church yet, haven’t sent out one mailer, and don’t even have our entire team from Lubbock here yet, and that living room was already full of people: friends, neighbors, young, old, black, white, new christians, mature christians, and non-christians. God is working and we are grateful!
thanks for reading,
Jordan
