Exciting changes PART 1
Well, I am here awake and have at to do list in my head that will not stop going until I crank out this post. It has been forever since I posted and though I've been busy, it is more that I feel overwhelmed trying to catch everyone up on the happenings in the Lugones Life. So many people have asked us and since I didn't even get our Christmas letter out this year, I really feel like I owe it to everyone to catch you up. So, here in this post I will do my best to give you a brief summary of all the exciting things that have happened with our family this past year and will add some pics of some of the highlights below.
Well, the first big change is that, as many of you know, we were youth pastors in Texas for a year and a half and made some wonderful friends and memories while there. We liked many things about Texas. The boys had a blast going with our good friends the Sanders to the Houston Rockets games, and we loved hanging out with them all the time. (I think we practically lived at their house and definitely ate all of their food!) It was a good reminder to us that it is important to take the time out to spend with friends, and not be so busy in ministry, and life, that we disconnect with friends. One thing we did not enjoy was being so far from our family in Florida! It was way too long of a drive and Michael did not have the vacation time to leave Texas for the first year. It was so terrible every time our family would leave to go home. We realized how important it is to us to have family close by. There were many other things that we realized were important and though it was a VERY trying and stretching year, we can definitely say that we learned what mattered most to us...in ministry, in our family, and in life. God really did a work in our hearts and built some character in us that He just could not have done without taking us through that time. Looking back, we are thankful for that time.
In May of last year Michael received an incredible offer to move back to Florida and become the youth pastor at an AMAZING church. By amazing, I mean, the closest church to the book of Acts church I have ever seen or heard of. There were many things that stuck out to us that we loved, but it was not until we visited that we felt that the DNA of this church functioned very closely to how we believed Christ intended the church to function, and the type of church we had longed to be a part of, but was not sure even existed. A church that LOVES people, and gives their time, efforts and finances to show that. (Radically, this church gives 50% of all its income to missions. The average church gives 3%, I believe.) They LOVE JESUS and stress daily quiet time with Him and reading of the Word as the foundation of all discipleship. (That and salvation are at the core of every message preached.) As a pastor, Michael would be required to spend 2 hours a day in prayer and the Word. They believe in making disciples and actively do just that with bi-monthly leadership training, Breakthrough retreats, and micro churches. The micro churches work very much like small groups or cell groups and every facet of the church uses them, from the senior ministry all the way through kids church. I am so impressed by how well they bring such a community feel and closeness to others, while allowing the church to grow to large numbers on Sunday mornings. There seemed to be no "showiness" in the church or in the staff, and while they believed in doing things in excellence to reach the community, there is a simplicity in making sure everything is done for the kingdom first and foremost. We loved that everyone gathered in each others homes on a weekly basis and shared meals and life together. If you know us, we are all about living life together, and it seemed that was what they did here. There is so much more I could add, but you will have to go to the website at www.first-assembly.org to check it out if you want to know more about their DNA.
After MUCH prayer, questions, and hesitation, we felt this was the place for us. We asked LOTS of tough questions during the interview process and they did the same with us. There was a mutual hesitancy on both ends as we questioned the integrity of the pastors, the vision of the church, and so many other things, only to find that there was an overall consensus...it seemed that what we saw was the real thing. And thankfully, they liked us enough to offer us the position. :) We broke the news to our pastor, friends, family and youth group, and loaded up the Uhaul heading back to Florida. We moved to Gainesville, Florida, 5 hours from Mike's parents, 6 hours from my mom and brother, and 8? hours I think, from my dad and step mom. Ironically, we were smack dab in the middle of ALL of our family. Such an answer to prayer.
Michael became the youth pastor at First Assembly of God (soon to be known as the Greenhouse church) and we started the long process of getting to know all of our truly, truly genuine and brilliant leaders in youth ministry, and the funnest, most sincere, loving staff that exist. It took a little adjustment period for us as we were so skeptical coming in because we just could not believe God had blessed us so much to bring us here. The kids fit right in. They loved it! It did help that as we drove into the church parking lot there were youth leaders and staff members there to greet us with hugs, love and even signs welcoming us. Amelia whispered, "These might be the nicest people in the world." :) Her and Micah have made wonderful friends and this youth group, church and children's ministry is a dream for any parent to have their kids a part of. I am one thankful Momma!
So here, almost a year later, I can honestly say with such gratitude in my heart, that, this church is all that we thought it was, and so much more! I only pray that God continues to bless us to be able to be a part of such a wonderful staff, serve under such men of God as our pastor(s), and lead these teenagers and leaders to passionately love Jesus. I remember one night listening to a Judah Smith message called "The Church I See", where he describes the church he envisioned, and believed God wanted. I remember sitting alone in the dark listening as tears streamed down my face asking God, "Why?" "Why, do we have such passion to be a part of a church like this? Why do we feel so different, always feel like the radical ones? I believed with every fiber of my being that Christ had called us to be a part of such a church, that he had given us those passions, yet, the doors had never opened to be a part of such a place, and honestly, my heart was starting to doubt that it even existed, or could exist, given the politics we had seen and heard of happening at most churches today. I vividly remember that moment, and have thought about it many times since then. I am so very thankful to say that we are at such a church as Judah described that night. Though it's not perfect, we belong here. Surely we have been privileged to be a part of some wonderful churches through the last 10 years of youth ministry, and served under a man of integrity who has fathered us, and taught us so much, but God has closed doors and opened doors, all in His own time and in His own way, and we are so very thankful that He knew where He was taking us, we just needed to trust Him in the journey.
Below is a pic of the boys at a Rockets game, the kids saying their good byes, our pit stop at a Diners, Drive-ins and Dives restaurant, and our precious welcoming into Gainesville!
" >
Well, the first big change is that, as many of you know, we were youth pastors in Texas for a year and a half and made some wonderful friends and memories while there. We liked many things about Texas. The boys had a blast going with our good friends the Sanders to the Houston Rockets games, and we loved hanging out with them all the time. (I think we practically lived at their house and definitely ate all of their food!) It was a good reminder to us that it is important to take the time out to spend with friends, and not be so busy in ministry, and life, that we disconnect with friends. One thing we did not enjoy was being so far from our family in Florida! It was way too long of a drive and Michael did not have the vacation time to leave Texas for the first year. It was so terrible every time our family would leave to go home. We realized how important it is to us to have family close by. There were many other things that we realized were important and though it was a VERY trying and stretching year, we can definitely say that we learned what mattered most to us...in ministry, in our family, and in life. God really did a work in our hearts and built some character in us that He just could not have done without taking us through that time. Looking back, we are thankful for that time.
In May of last year Michael received an incredible offer to move back to Florida and become the youth pastor at an AMAZING church. By amazing, I mean, the closest church to the book of Acts church I have ever seen or heard of. There were many things that stuck out to us that we loved, but it was not until we visited that we felt that the DNA of this church functioned very closely to how we believed Christ intended the church to function, and the type of church we had longed to be a part of, but was not sure even existed. A church that LOVES people, and gives their time, efforts and finances to show that. (Radically, this church gives 50% of all its income to missions. The average church gives 3%, I believe.) They LOVE JESUS and stress daily quiet time with Him and reading of the Word as the foundation of all discipleship. (That and salvation are at the core of every message preached.) As a pastor, Michael would be required to spend 2 hours a day in prayer and the Word. They believe in making disciples and actively do just that with bi-monthly leadership training, Breakthrough retreats, and micro churches. The micro churches work very much like small groups or cell groups and every facet of the church uses them, from the senior ministry all the way through kids church. I am so impressed by how well they bring such a community feel and closeness to others, while allowing the church to grow to large numbers on Sunday mornings. There seemed to be no "showiness" in the church or in the staff, and while they believed in doing things in excellence to reach the community, there is a simplicity in making sure everything is done for the kingdom first and foremost. We loved that everyone gathered in each others homes on a weekly basis and shared meals and life together. If you know us, we are all about living life together, and it seemed that was what they did here. There is so much more I could add, but you will have to go to the website at www.first-assembly.org to check it out if you want to know more about their DNA.
After MUCH prayer, questions, and hesitation, we felt this was the place for us. We asked LOTS of tough questions during the interview process and they did the same with us. There was a mutual hesitancy on both ends as we questioned the integrity of the pastors, the vision of the church, and so many other things, only to find that there was an overall consensus...it seemed that what we saw was the real thing. And thankfully, they liked us enough to offer us the position. :) We broke the news to our pastor, friends, family and youth group, and loaded up the Uhaul heading back to Florida. We moved to Gainesville, Florida, 5 hours from Mike's parents, 6 hours from my mom and brother, and 8? hours I think, from my dad and step mom. Ironically, we were smack dab in the middle of ALL of our family. Such an answer to prayer.
Michael became the youth pastor at First Assembly of God (soon to be known as the Greenhouse church) and we started the long process of getting to know all of our truly, truly genuine and brilliant leaders in youth ministry, and the funnest, most sincere, loving staff that exist. It took a little adjustment period for us as we were so skeptical coming in because we just could not believe God had blessed us so much to bring us here. The kids fit right in. They loved it! It did help that as we drove into the church parking lot there were youth leaders and staff members there to greet us with hugs, love and even signs welcoming us. Amelia whispered, "These might be the nicest people in the world." :) Her and Micah have made wonderful friends and this youth group, church and children's ministry is a dream for any parent to have their kids a part of. I am one thankful Momma!
So here, almost a year later, I can honestly say with such gratitude in my heart, that, this church is all that we thought it was, and so much more! I only pray that God continues to bless us to be able to be a part of such a wonderful staff, serve under such men of God as our pastor(s), and lead these teenagers and leaders to passionately love Jesus. I remember one night listening to a Judah Smith message called "The Church I See", where he describes the church he envisioned, and believed God wanted. I remember sitting alone in the dark listening as tears streamed down my face asking God, "Why?" "Why, do we have such passion to be a part of a church like this? Why do we feel so different, always feel like the radical ones? I believed with every fiber of my being that Christ had called us to be a part of such a church, that he had given us those passions, yet, the doors had never opened to be a part of such a place, and honestly, my heart was starting to doubt that it even existed, or could exist, given the politics we had seen and heard of happening at most churches today. I vividly remember that moment, and have thought about it many times since then. I am so very thankful to say that we are at such a church as Judah described that night. Though it's not perfect, we belong here. Surely we have been privileged to be a part of some wonderful churches through the last 10 years of youth ministry, and served under a man of integrity who has fathered us, and taught us so much, but God has closed doors and opened doors, all in His own time and in His own way, and we are so very thankful that He knew where He was taking us, we just needed to trust Him in the journey.
Below is a pic of the boys at a Rockets game, the kids saying their good byes, our pit stop at a Diners, Drive-ins and Dives restaurant, and our precious welcoming into Gainesville!
" >
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