Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Update #2

The time has come for a semesterly update. God has been so good over the past couple of months.
Lindsey and I hope that as you read this information and be able to see God's hand working through
all of our daily lives.

School is Comin' To A Close:

Last semester finished quite smoothly. One thing that I have been praying for was for God to lead me
to teachers at school that can provide some guidance and leadership in my life regarding future ministry plans etc
Well, God definitely answered those prayers...I have connected with three different professors that I have either
met with or will meet with. They all bring different aspects of gifts to the table, and so I am very thankful to be
able to meet with them. God is so faithful!


Lindsey at Work

Lindsey has been busily working as a full time administrative assistant at an architectural/engineering firm.
She has enjoyed working there, but she is also excited to go back to school in August to continue her masters
work in Marriage and Family Therapy. (She has two more years of school to finish) In the meantime, she has
been working hard, and she has also taken time to build relationships with some of the co-workers. We are
praying and hoping for more opportunities for Lindsey to share her faith with these co-workers.


Church

As we stated in the last update, we have plugged in at a church here known as the Ring Community Church.
This church's congregation is predominantly made up of college students, and we have really enjoyed being a part of this church while we are here living in Baton Rouge. (Not to mention, we have some super cool people in our community group including two professional rodeo riders! The picture to the left is when we went to one of the guy's rodeos.) God has continually opened doors for us to invest in the lives of college students here, and our new-found love for serving college students is growing every day! God has also opened up some doors for us to get to know some other people in the community, and we are praying for God to use us as we invest in the lives of these people. We would love to see them grow a deep love for Christ.


Marriage


WOW, time has FLOWN! Lindsey and I have been married for 8 months!! Marriage has been so great! Because we aren't going to school at the same time, we have had more time to spend with each other....this has been such a blessing for our first year of marriage. God is continually growing our marriage, and uniting our hearts to His. We are loving the opportunities God is giving us to serve Him together, investing in the lives of others.


The Day's Ahead

As I mentioned in the previous post, for the past several years, I have been thinking about and praying over the idea of developing an arts academy. The mission of this vision is to empower artists and future artists to be "salt and light" in culture. (As of now, we still have a deep love for Williamson County, TN, and we hope to bring the vision to this area.) Lindsey and I have spent many days dreaming
researching, praying and talking about the future arts ministry. God is continually affirming this passion and even expanding
the scope of the vision. We cannot begin to share how excited we are to see God's vision come into fruition. Currently, we are taking steps to learn the process of developing a business plan. We are also planning a week long progressive arts camp in Baton Rouge for 5th-8th graders, hoping for the summer of 2008.


Here are some areas you can pray for us:

1. Pray for God to grow the relationships that we have built with others here in
Baton Rouge. Pray that God will use us to bring others closer to Him.

2. Pray that God will continue to refine our personal relationships with Him...He's
teaching us so many new great things.

3. Pray that God will continue to refine our marriage as He continues to unite our hearts to His.

4. Pray for God to guide us as we balance our ministry here in Baton Rouge with the time we also
spend preparing for the ministries of the future.

The bottom line is this: GREAT THINGS ARE HAPPENING, and we know that greater things are in store.

If you are reading this, know that we love you and miss you very much!

-Jonathan and Lindsey