Happy New Year - from Mike
See Amber's New Year's post below as well. I was watching mindless NFL highlights and was about to switch over to watch the ball drop in NYC when I had a thought...there has been a pretty remarkable change in our life since last January 1st...I need to post something about it on the old blog.
January 1, 2006. The title of my post one year ago was "Community". It's a fairly unremarkable post from the outside - just some ruminations on barriers to community that are common. However, in the background a year ago was a nagging sense that we just weren't getting it, that the dream God placed in us and the whole reason we moved to South Florida in 2001 was dying. At the time, I wasn't close to throwing in the towel, but the thought had begun to cross Amber's mind about the possibility of moving somewhere. What I wrote at the time was ultimately pointed at myself, but carried with it a sense of disappointment that our faith community seemed so scattered and disjointed.
In March, we made a break with the Vineyard. Although we felt that eventually that decision would allow us to pursue more of what God has for us here, it also cut any remaining strings of "responsibility" that we felt to the work God had started. Even though we had dropped the identity years earlier, this was no longer a Vineyard church planting project. It was now a nameless, unofficial group of people with a fairly weak internal identity.
The next few months were pretty scary, but there were also signs of hope. We came together on Easter for an entire weekend and sought God. Some very clear prophetic words were given that reconfirmed our calling, but our direction seemed to be "wait". In June, Amber and I went to Minnesota to visit my brother's family. During that month, we let the question sit on the table, "God, is this it? Is our work done here?" There were no visions or audible words, but both of us couldn't shake that we needed to return home and let God work it out.
When I look back at that post from a year ago, it's fascinating to see how God has begun to address each of those barriers to community in a very short period of time. Lack of proximity? We now we live within a mile of three other families in our group. Issues with children? We have a group of children ranging in age from 2 to 16 who care for each other and relate well. Transparency and the god of 'me'? I have seen more honesty and authentic "one-anothering" in the past six months than I have in many years. The final component, and one I relish to say, I enjoy these people. All of them, in their own way. That enjoyment is a blessing, a luxury perhaps, but it is incredibly satisfying when I meditate on the events of the past year.
There is much I have to be thankful for on January 1, 2007. But right now, I'm especially thankful for my church family and expectant for the year to come.
January 1, 2006. The title of my post one year ago was "Community". It's a fairly unremarkable post from the outside - just some ruminations on barriers to community that are common. However, in the background a year ago was a nagging sense that we just weren't getting it, that the dream God placed in us and the whole reason we moved to South Florida in 2001 was dying. At the time, I wasn't close to throwing in the towel, but the thought had begun to cross Amber's mind about the possibility of moving somewhere. What I wrote at the time was ultimately pointed at myself, but carried with it a sense of disappointment that our faith community seemed so scattered and disjointed.
In March, we made a break with the Vineyard. Although we felt that eventually that decision would allow us to pursue more of what God has for us here, it also cut any remaining strings of "responsibility" that we felt to the work God had started. Even though we had dropped the identity years earlier, this was no longer a Vineyard church planting project. It was now a nameless, unofficial group of people with a fairly weak internal identity.
The next few months were pretty scary, but there were also signs of hope. We came together on Easter for an entire weekend and sought God. Some very clear prophetic words were given that reconfirmed our calling, but our direction seemed to be "wait". In June, Amber and I went to Minnesota to visit my brother's family. During that month, we let the question sit on the table, "God, is this it? Is our work done here?" There were no visions or audible words, but both of us couldn't shake that we needed to return home and let God work it out.
When I look back at that post from a year ago, it's fascinating to see how God has begun to address each of those barriers to community in a very short period of time. Lack of proximity? We now we live within a mile of three other families in our group. Issues with children? We have a group of children ranging in age from 2 to 16 who care for each other and relate well. Transparency and the god of 'me'? I have seen more honesty and authentic "one-anothering" in the past six months than I have in many years. The final component, and one I relish to say, I enjoy these people. All of them, in their own way. That enjoyment is a blessing, a luxury perhaps, but it is incredibly satisfying when I meditate on the events of the past year.
There is much I have to be thankful for on January 1, 2007. But right now, I'm especially thankful for my church family and expectant for the year to come.
posted by Mike Bishop at 12:11 AM
4 Comments:
Hi Mike, enjoying reading your adventure. It sounds very authentic. Very much what we are doing yet we still have the Vineyard connection...Scott
Mike-
I found your blog about 9 months ago, about the time I decided to no longer pastor the vineyard church that I had planted. I'm still processing and wrestling through things and I've found your story encouraging along the way. Thanks for sharing it.
Happy New Year Mike and Amber! all at once you guys encourage and confound and bring a little glimpse of kingdom living and warmth into my life. gracias.
Hey Mike, welcome to freedom in Him and each other. 2007 won't be perfect, but it will be far more real. Real relationships are never easy.
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