Comfortable and Meaningless Life

Do you ever think about how comfortable your life is? We are extremely comfortable people! One of my biggest fears is that I become entitled to the things I have, and leveraging my power to get more. So much of my thoughts revolve around my vision, my job, my school, my food, etc... We do a fabulous job at positioning ourselves to be comfortable. Reading Ecclesiastes with beautiful Lauren the last week has once again blown me up in the truth that the rich, smart, powerful wall street banker faces the same ending as the guy who sleeps on the bench under the freeway every night. I don't believe it's mandatory to give all of my stuff away and go sleep under a freeway (though it could be necessary), I just think it's a shame how often comfort controls me and not the other way around. It is not an easy call to be a faithful steward. This idea is a great place for my heart to simmer for a while. Thank God for steadfast saints of faith who understand their "stuff" is temporary and they themselves are mortal. How freeing the idea of sacrificing comfort now in exchange for eternity with the Comforter.

Wilson Cheah, and Latin American's

Today was a day that changed my life. Lauren and I have the privelege of being in North Carolina at a conference of Crown staff and volunteers from all over the world. Nothing humbles my heart more than to be in a room filled with people of different language and culture, strategically preparing to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. A man that I was fortunate enough to meet is named Wilson Cheah. I still don't know a lot about this man, but I have hunch that he will be seated close to the throne of Christ when he goes home. Wilson is probably 70 years young and he lives in Singapore. He was responsible for introducing Haagen Dazs ice cream to Asia, amongst other consulting endeavors. Wilson also serves as the VP of Asia-Pacific for Crown. Wilson was kind enough to have lunch with me today and I was blessed to see and hear his heart for Jesus. This evening, Lauren and I both were fortunate to be involved in a meeting with prominent business men from Latin America who are committed to bringing the gospel to their people. Their hearts are beautiful. God is using amazing men and women to take the gospel to the ends of the earth! Sorry for brevity, it's late and I should get some sleep.

Life in Georgia

Preface: We don't have internet in our current residence. Once we get settled permanently and we'll have internet and update more frequently...

We woke up this morning to a crispy cool morning of 58 degrees...we're not in Texas anymore. And in case you are wondering, the weather is not the only difference from Texas to Georgia. There are trees here! And mountains! It's beautiful! If we haven't invited you out to visit us, this is your formal invitation!

One of our biggest fears leaving the Lone Star State was that we would lose the luxury of finely prepared Mexican food. In the Lord's timing, we discovered what will indefinitely become a lifeblood for our time here: Taqueira del Sol. Friends, let me tell you, this place is amazing! It is a small taco joint (similar to Rusty Taco for you Dallas folk) with amazing taco's and great cheese dip (Lauren was perplexed that it's not called queso). Come visit and we'll take you there.

The Lord has blessed us with beautiful people who have welcomed us and made us feel like family. Every day when I walk into work I'm taken back to the times I walked down the aisle of dad's church and had little old ladies pinch my cheeck - what a life! I'm fortunate to be able to sit under Chuck Bentley; not many men have the urgency for the Kingdom that he has. It will most definitely be an inspiring and encouraging year.

I had a great idea to get Lauren involved in our blog. It will be called Lauren's Lines. After each blog I'll leave some room for her to input her thoughts and experiences - it will be great!

Welcome to Sojourner!

Sojourn means "to stay for a time in a place; to live temporarily." We landed on the title "Sojourner" because we feel that it carries extraordinary meaning for us in our current stage of life. In a few weeks, we will be leaving Dallas, friends, and family, to "stay for a time in a place" that is unfamiliar to us; we're moving to Atlanta. We couldn't be more excited to jump into the call we feel the Lord has placed on our lives and we couldn't be more sad to leave behind the life giving friends God has blessed us with in Texas. We will be sojourning in Georgia. But sojourning carries deeper meaning for us. Whether we're in Texas or Georgia, or the opposite side of the world, we'll always be sojourning. We are living temporarily on the grace afforded to us by Jesus' death on the cross. So, in essence, we're not leaving home, we've never been home. We are eagerly awaiting the return of Christ to take us home and are committed to fleshing out the call he has placed on our lives until he decides to take us there. Our hope for this blog is to inform you of our sojourning, and to inspire you in yours. Feel free to check in regularly and we'll do our best to keep our posts fresh!

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20

Sojourning,

Jon & Lauren