Hitch Up the Sled Dogs, We're Moving to...

 ALASKA

It's official.  Our family is making a move.  To Alaska.  Never really thought much about Alaska.  It's far away.  And cold.  And dark in the winter time.  Sun's always out in the summer time.  People hunt big animals like caribou and moose and dall sheep.  People fish and catch giant halibut and salmon bigger than anything we've ever seen.  But, nope, never really thought much about Alaska.  Until last summer.  We heard of a need there for a Worship Pastor in a growing church.  As we found out about this church and began to talk to the Pastor and leaders of it, we discovered this church was really working hard to impact it's community for God...in a place where the Gospel is just not as accessible as it is here in the deep south.  God was using all of this to absolutely draw us there.  Julie and I made a visit there last October and found out there was actually real possibility to a move there.  We prayed and talked and prayed and talked and prayed some more and decided we needed to make a 2nd visit - this time, with our kids.  We were really serious about it to make a 2nd visit.  After this 2nd visit back at the end of March, we've determined this is where our family should be doing ministry right now.  We are stunned.  And grateful.  And excited beyond words.  While we are excited beyond words, we are also saddened at the thought of leaving a place that has been home to us for 14+ years.  Macon, Georgia: Our kids were born here.  Many people we love live here.  It's home.  Ingleside Baptist Church: what an amazing team of staff leaders and a church committed to taking the truth of the Gospel literally around the world.  What an absolute privilege and blessing to have been on this ministry team.  We will do ministry for the rest of our lives having been impacted by our wonderful church family here.  In so many ways, because of the strength of the ministry and the team and our experiences at Ingleside, we feel God has been readying us for an assignment like this one.  So here we go.  To Alaska.  This summer.  Specifically, we will be in Chugiak, Alaska - this is 20 miles northeast of Anchorage and is just south of the Knik Arm (pronounced "ka-nick").  Denali (Mt. McKinley) is some 300 miles north but is easily seen on a clear day.  You don't step off of the plane and see igloos and polar bears, but you do see a few things you don't see around Macon:  snow and mountains and glaciers and moose walking through your back yard to name just a few.  The church we are heading to is The Crossing at Birchwood.  A great team of God-following people who are working hard and trusting God to help them to be a bright light in a dark place.  Pray that as we join them, we will be able to help them to do that very thing.  Ephesians 3:20-21.