It's no exaggeration that 2011 was a life-changing year for our family.
The first half was filled with strong momentum and lives being transformed through our ministry. The second half was an unexpected journey marked with perseverance and rediscovery.
For what its worth, here are my memories of 2011:
John Sonnenberg was my energetic new neighbor who moved in down the street in 2010 - - his kids were wonderful with our four-year-old as Josiah would often stroll playfully into their garage to visit Shadow, their family rabbit.
I invited John to our church where he quickly dived into bringing our technical arts to a whole new level. On a cold, frigid December morning last year I shared breakfast with John at McDonald's, unpacking my vision for completely overhauling and relaunching our student ministries. John tracked with my plans immediately. He was part of my volunteer team that launched Students UN1TED last January. The ministry fruit was amazing - we saw 44 teenagers give their lives to Jesus Christ on one night alone.
I was excitedly wanting to share our new church planting dreams with John this fall, but it was not to be. I'll never forget the night that John's widow quietly pulled me aside to share how the Lord took him home abruptly in October. John was a good man. He and I shared the same birthdate. His sudden death in 2011 reminds me of the urgency of sharing the Gospel. No one is promised tomorrow! I look forward to catching up with my friend John on the other side of eternity.
I recruited and hired Dan Thorp in the summer of 2010 because I saw in him the energy and authenticity we needed for a successful team. Dan and I shared some fun ministry adventures together, the biggest being the launch of Monday night UN1TED worship services for area teenagers last January. We were regularly engaging between 120-150 teens every single week. It was probably the most fun I've ever had in ministry. This photo was from the Tuscola County Sherriff's Department honoring us with a local award for our efforts in serving area youth. Everytime I see this photo, I miss those days of early 2011.
In February, our church honored my family for Pastor Appreciation with an overnight stay at Frankenmuth's indoor waterpark, Splash Village. It was an awesome memory for our family.
In March we visited all our friends in north-east Ohio. I caught up with Josh Allen, my former worship guy at our first church plant. I love Josh. He blogged about our time together here and here.
Easter 2011 was insane. A ton of baptisms, thousands of easter eggs, a helicopter, thousands of guests on our church campus, plus I recruited, interviewed, and hired two new pastors: Justin Bowers and Jason Garwood. And we bought a new house, putting down strong roots in Caro. But at the end of the day, the two people above mattered most in my world.
In July, we visited family in Illinois and Iowa. Here we are with my Grandma in Burlington, Iowa at my favorite restaurant, Gator's (that's an alligator in the tank next to us)...
...and here's my Grandpa with the President.
This official White House photo from 2008 was on his fridge, so I took a photo of his photo:
I like how in that moment, the United States Secret Service
is protecting my Grandpa.
This was my view for much of July and August as I recovered from not one, but two back surgeries. My daily routine involved a visiting nurse and zero mobility.
Labor Day I ventured out of the house for the first time to visit the Detroit Zoo.
Hands-down, this photo is my favorite of 2011:
Both sides of our extended families did something incredible in September: during a very painful season in our lives, they spontaneously all dropped everything and drove to Michigan to throw Josiah a huge party at the Saginaw Children's Museum. Unbelievable.
My favorite moment was when a Very-Random-Spider-Man wandered into our party, looked around, and then just as randomly walked away:
As Amber and I prayed about what our next steps in life would be,
a very good friend in the ministry blessed us with an unexpected,
all-expenses-paid trip to the Disney World Resorts.
Unbelievable generosity.
Amber and I spent the Fall season reflecting, praying, and seeking wisdom.
Halloween unleashed Little J's inner pirate.
I love this photo - - zero retouching:
Clarity began to come into focus.
Looking back, we were amazed and humbled that God would use our creativity and enthusiasm to impact so many lives in this region - - during our two years at our previous church, we saw 328 people receive Christ, 135 people go public with their faith through baptism, and 168 new partners (church members)... all in a city of 5,000 people. Amazing!!
God called us to this region, allowed us to buy a home in Caro last spring and allowed us to invest thousands of dollars into the Michigan adoption process (we'll be bringing home a little one in 2012!).
As one trusted pastor remarked to me, the Lord clearly wants us to minister in Caro with our unique ministry flavor. Through this confirmation of prayer, Scripture and the godly wisdom of many pastors we admire and trust, we know without a doubt that our next step in ministry is to launch Life Church Michigan publicly in 2012.
The Lord continued to bless our faithfulness, showering us with favor through stable jobs that we love and that allow flexibility for church planting. As we look toward 2012, we are blown away and humbled by the number of people registering for our first Info Mtg and can't believe that two different area families have already contacted us about having their children dedicated to the Lord.
As crazy as 2011 has been, we are confident that Jesus is leading our family and calling the shots. Like kites in God's hurricane, we're just trying to hang on for the ride!
This was an amazing post Jon. I've been blessed to see what your family has done and continues to do! I've even considered getting a twitter just to follow your weener dog. Now that's something!
Posted by: Jamie Wilson | Saturday, December 31, 2011 at 04:40 PM