Shaking off the Dust

Hi All.

Many of you know that Graham, myself, Justin and Angie Rimbo, and our other friends Jay and Tia Gamelin have been praying and feeling called to start a church together. We felt a call to Asheville, North Carolina. After a year and a half of praying together, we decided it was time to visit and talk to local ELCA churches to try to find support to begin this adventure.

North Carolina was absolutely beautiful! We had a blast all living in community together. Justin and Angie have a 1 year old boy and Jay and Tia have a 5 year old, 3 year old and 1 year old...all boys! Staying in the same house was sooo much fun!

During our time together in NC we had meetings with two pastors of local Lutheran churches. We shared our vision and desires with them and were hoping to get emphatic support so that we would have our "burning bush." After our meeting with these pastors, our new friend Ernie, the ELCA missions director for NC met with them. Unfortunately, the support we longed for was not there. When we heard the news on Thursday we were crushed. Our dream for Asheville had died.

That night Ernie came to our "mountain house" for dinner. Afterward, we were able to worship and pray together. During this time we also were able to process and debrief our visit. Ernie is completely behind us, 100%. He believes in our vision and knows there is a need for it somewhere. Asheville is just not the city. After talking with Ernie for a couple hours we all seemed to feel better. We know our call is real and that this will happen. For now, we are grieving the death of our hopes for Asheville. Now we go back to listening and realizing that God is the one in control of the entire adventure. Please pray for us as we try to discern what God is really calling us to.

During our talk with Ernie, he reminded us of the time Jesus sent the disciples out by twos. He told them to extend peace to a person in town. If that person accepted and returned the peace, the disciples were to stay in that person's house. If the peace was not accepted and returned, the disciples were to shake the dust off of their feet and move on. We are shaking the Asheville dust off of our feet. Ernie also told us the three things that will have to happen when we find our person of peace. First, this person will have to trust our vision. This includes knowing that our vision does not come with a concrete plan. Second, our person of peace will need to trust our team and our abilities. Finally, the person of peace will have to make this a priority in whatever city he/she is in. With limited resources, our vision will need to be moved to the top of the list of things to do.

Please pray for these things for and along with us.

Watch Out For The Knives

When we got married we got fancy, new, sharp knives. About a month or so after the wedding I was washing dishes and had put the large butcher knife in the soapy water. I forgot about it and stuck my right hand in the water. My pinky finger paid the price. I really should have gone to the hospital to get a couple stitches, but I decided against it. It took over a month for my finger to heal. I had learned my lesson and now I never leave the knives in the soapy water.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was making salsa to take to a surprise party for my friend Molly. It was around 9:30 in the morning. I had a busy day ahead of me, get my hair cut, pick up cupcakes, go to the Andersons' and party. As I was cutting the green onions for the salsa, my left thumb ended up under the sharp knife. The cut was similar to what happened to my pinky finger. I applied pressure and finished making the salsa one handed. I rushed around the house getting dressed and gathering my things for the day, I wouldn't have time to come back home until after the party! I drove to urgent care and got all signed in. At urgent care, when you get called to triage, they take your blood pressure and such then usually send you back to the waiting room. When your finger is covered in blood and you have a cut, they still take your blood pressure and such, but then they take you straight back to a room to see the doctor!

The doctor came in, and for those of you who watch 30 Rock, sounded like and had the same type of mannerisms as Dr. Spaceman. He was hilarious! He numbed up my entire thumb because it was safer than trying to put the novacaine close to the wound. Having the novacaine put in my thumb hurt a million times worse than almost cutting the tip off. As my thumb was becoming super numb and swollen, I soaked it in warm soapy water to clean it off. The doctor came back in and started to stitch me up. I was fascinated with the entire process! I couldn't feel a thing, but saw him put a needle and thread through my skin. Crazy. Now I have two stitches in my thumb. I'm glad I opted for the doctor route this time. My thumb will be healed in a week, as opposed to my pinky that took over a month! Here are some pictures I took with my phone in urgent care.

My thumb, pre-novacaine and cleaning.

Soaking in soapy water to clean it.

All stitched up!

My stitches!