Well, here we are!
Spring is now upon us. The days are longer and the weather is warmer. People in
Spokane are coming out of hibernation and starting to become more active. It is
crazy how the weather can dictate how people live their lives.
The Verduzco’s
Everybody is doing
well. The Verduzco’s are healthy and we have settled into life here in Spokane.
Jason’s job provides for the family. We are able to pay the bills and bless
others. Praise the Lord! Noah will be 9 years old on April 2nd and Felicity will turn 5 on April 6th. Jaicee will turn 7 in August. My, my how time
flies. Jesus continues to be the purpose in which we live our lives. Parenting
is the single greatest and trying thing we have ever done. Hopefully our kids
turn out well. Our marriage is as strong as death. We will celebrate our 14thanniversary next month. Grandma and grandpa are
coming up next month and we are headed to Catalina Island for a couple of days.
We are so looking forward to our time together as husband and wife!!!
Some of you may
already know this; on our honeymoon we bought a picture frame of the place that
we visited. When we got home we put a picture in it from our trip. This
tradition has carried on every year since. So we now have 15 picture frames
with 15 pictures that capture us changing over the years. When we got married
Jason was 20 and Amber was 19. We were just babies! Over the years, we look a
little older and wiser. Some pictures show Amber with a baby belly and some
pictures have our little ones because she was breast-feeding and they were too
little to leave with family. It is awesome that someday when our grand kids
come over they will be able to look at a wall of picture frames from around the
world where grandma and grandpa have traveled. More importantly, they will see
a journey of love!
Kao
Kao is doing well.
He is looking into going back to college. He continues to be a source of great
joy to our church. He always has a positive outlook and a hope that is
contagious. God will continue to grow him and use him in mighty ways here in
this City.
Tanya
Tanya is a Godsend
to those with mental illness here in Spokane. She is literally the hands, feet,
and mouth of Jesus to those that need help. She works in a profession where
faith isn’t the primary driving force of life. She continues to bring a
toughness and a tenacity to our church community.
Vineyard 509
Update
Our church is
amazing! We have a core group of people gathering and it really is special. We
have 2 unbelievable women (Cathy & Lindsey) that are leading worship for
us. They are great musicians and even better human beings. We are creating a
great sound and enjoy worshiping God in song. We’ve had some powerful times in
singing that has produced greater faith for all those present. We also have a
young college student that has just blossomed over the past year that he has
been with us. I have seen him grow in his faith, character, and his manhood. He
is extremely intelligent and is going to make an impact on many people in his
lifetime. There are many others that are just starting to connect and we look
forward to deepening all these relationships. Much more to come on this.
Partnership!
When we made the
decision to go ahead and sign a 2-year lease on a building that we could not
afford, we were freaking out and yet excited to see what God was going to do.
We had enough money to cover the cost of the building for a few months. Well,
as the savings account dwindled we saw God start to move. I was dreaming of
moving our gathering to a Sunday night and I had a connection with a group of
church planting pastors. One of these pastors has a church plant that is in the
same stages as us and was starting to look for a space to rent but wasn’t sure
how they could afford it. I told him that we were thinking about moving to an
evening gathering and that if they wanted to they can have Sunday mornings for
their church to gather. Amber and I got together with the pastor and his wife
and a beautiful partnership has started. So, we are 2 churches in 1 location.
They are an amazing couple and they have an awesome community. They are a 2nd/3rd generation Russian/Ukrainian community. So, it has
been a blast getting to know their culture.
What’s Going On?
This past weekend
we handed out 5,000 door hangers around our neighborhood for an event we are
doing this Saturday in a park just blocks from our church building. We are
having a BBQ and a big Easter Egg hunt. We are partnering with the other church
that gathers in the building and blessing all of our neighbors. Then, the day
after the BBQ we are having an Open House at our church building where we hope
and pray many of our neighbors will come to meet with us as we ask questions
about life, faith, and God. Then to top it all off we have an awesome Good
Friday and Easter event planned. It is going to be a full week! If you want you
can see more about these events you can check out our website, under the
upcoming events tab.
How You Can Pray
Even though we
have lots of great stuff going on we are still a small and young, fragile
church. We are still a church in its infant stages and we are learning,
growing, and maturing. There is a big difference between a 2 year old, a 10
year old, a 20 year old and so forth. Please pray that unity would abound.
Please pray for all of our events coming up this week. Pray that the weather
would be good. Pray for God to bring all those that He wants us to come in
contact with. Please pray that God would break the spiritual bondage and
barriers that keep people from becoming a part of either community. Please pray
that our neighborhood is blessed beyond belief. Please pray for our finances so
that we can pay all the bills and bless our neighbors.
A Closing Thought
The
other day I stopped by the church building for something. Everything was quiet
and I stopped what I was doing and paused. I took in the immensity of the
present moment. You know what I am talking about. The moment that nature
catches your eye. The moment you take to breathe after you watch something inspirational.
The moment you take to hold a loved one that you haven’t seen in a while. It is
the moment in which time from your busy life just stops. In this moment, I
paused from all that I was doing and I had this thought, “This is my church.”
The thought wasn’t a possessive one, as if I owned it. It was more so that God
has given me such a beautiful gift and that He said, “Here son. I want you to
have this. It is a gift. Enjoy it. Cherish it. Take care of it. It is precious
and it means so much to me.” I don’t have the right words to express all that I
felt in that moment. It was/is holy, sacred, and full this thing we call life.
I
can only pray that each and every one of you is experiencing this God-bathed
life.
Peace & Grace to you all!
