Wedding Tips for Brides to Be!

I am so excited to be helping my brother and future sister-in-law plan their upcoming wedding! In trying to think of as much advice and tips on planning their big day as possible, I decided to ask some friends who recently planned their own wedding to see what things they had to say.

It is easy to get wrapped up in the things that a magazine, wedding planning book or celebrity and how they plan their weddings on a budget that is FAR from realistic for the average couple. I hope this helps other brides-to be in some way!

1.     What did you spend the biggest amount of your budget on?

·        I spent the biggest amount of my budget on my photographer. Now, with that said...I loved my pictures but I wish I had spent more time searching for my photographer. The one that I chose I had decided on long before I was engaged bc I had seen some of her work a few years before and loved it. She is really the only photographer I had looked into and as soon as I was engaged I booked her immediately. I know photographers are expensive but I felt I paid way too much of my $ for what I got. It was almost $4000 and all I got was 8 hrs on the wedding day and a CD with 600 pics and rights to print. I didn’t get any prints, no wedding album and at the time that she did my wedding she was involved in another business and I felt she was lacking the creativity I had seen in her previous work. I had wonderful pictures of my husband and I, but only 1 pose with my bridal party and I so wish I would have had cuter pics with my girls and the entire wedding party and family. Like I said, I loved what I got but wish she had done more. There are several things I wanted photographed that she did not get. Since my wedding I have had several friends get married who have had pictures just as good as mine if not better, with much more offered and a much less price so just be very careful and detailed in choosing a photographer-Your pictures in my opinion are the most important thing you could spend your money on bc that is what you are going to have forever....and no matter which photographer you choose, make a list of EVERYTHING you want pictures of and give it to them to make sure that nothing is forgotten or left out. Don’t wait until the day of like I did bc everything is so hectic and going by so fast you aren’t going to be able to think or remember everything.

·        Reception venue

·        We didn't have a budget really...just did everything as cheaply as we could. We spent the most on our honeymoon, which was the best use of our money!!

·        I spent most of our money on own reception venue! hard to find an inside place in GA for the winter time!

·        I spent the most money on my venue. I got a great deal on my photographer otherwise I may have spent more on that.

2.      What was something you wish you would have spent more time/money on?

·        Photographer!! Don’t cut this part short FOR SURE!

·        I wish I would have spent more time on a photographer and more money on a DJ. Our DJ was ok but was the cheapest one we could find and was a friend of a friend type thing. I recommend going through a company bc believe it or not the DJ is kind of what "helps" everything fall into place at the reception and you need someone who knows what they are doing or things could get a little chaotic.

·        I can honestly say I was 100% satisfied with how every detail of our wedding turned out. Money was spent where it needed to be and saved where it didn't need to be spent!

·        Probably favors. In reality I wanted us and our wedding party to always remember our wedding but also the people that came. Our favors were nice but could have been better.

·        I wish I had met with more videographers. I didn't really know a lot and just went with the one my wedding planner recommended to me. They were ok but missed a few important things on the day that we wished they would have recorded.

3.      What do your guests remember most about your wedding?

·        Probably A few of the songs we selected for the ceremony, Our wonderful slide show ( a tear jerker for sure) that my sister worked on for months to show at the wedding, the food was fabulous and hopefully how much fun they had ;)

·        Our guest talked about our decorations, the flower girls coming down the aisle in a wagon...but EVERYONE talked about our wedding party dancing to "The wobble". Even our photographer couldn't stop talking about it. So much fun!

·        The energy and dancing at the reception and that it was just fun!

·        Dancing at the reception

·        Most people said the warmth and laid back atmosphere to the wedding. Nothing was formally done....even the ceremony. There was TONS of laughter and it was very relaxed.

4.      How did you bring your own personality to your wedding?

·        We brought our own personality to the wedding in three ways: 1. Our wedding processional song was, "This will be an everlasting love" and we all kind of danced out. 2. All the groomsmen and groom wore basketball shoes to the reception 3. and of course our Dances at the reception

·        My husband has a very funny/jokester personality and has been known for his tuxedo t-shirts he has worn for years. So, we had tuxedo shirts made for all 10 groomsman and they wore them under the real tuxedos all through the wedding and once all the "formal" stuff was done at the reception they all took their tux jackets and shirts off and enjoyed the rest of the night comfy in their tux tees lol. Tacky as my grandmother would say but so something we would do lol. Also, we had our very favorite oreo dessert balls that my grandmother made as party favors (5 to a bag) with a picture of my husband and I holding up a "Thank You" sign for all of our guest. The groom’s cake was an exact 3D replica of my husbdand’s Jeep Wrangler...down to the exact color and detail of the wheels and tires. It was awesome....and my all-time FAVORITE movie of mine and my mother’s is Steel Magnolias- so, I walked down the aisle to the beautiful music from the soundtrack. I loved it!

·        I think by having it small and simple, nothing to fancy - from the rehearsal, to reception - it was all about what God had done and celebrating it with our family. My husband and I both tend to be pretty laid back so I think that reflected our personalities well!

·        We had it outside so there was a lot of natural beauty but we tried to keep things simple and not too flashy. It was really nice but no ice sculptures or formal dinner. We made it mostly about celebrating with our families and friends. Also, my husband is a pretty casual dresser so I let him go with a suit instead of a tux and all the groomsmen wore Chuck Taylor's. It was reflective of his style, and I think he was much happier in that than dress shoes.

·        Our ceremony was tailored to us as a couple, both in our vows and nontraditional music. We wanted to remember the ceremony and bring as much meaning to the actual “getting married” part as possible!

5.      How much time did you spend planning your big day?

·        We got engaged on November 24, 2009 and got married on May 7, 2011...so about a year and 1/2 total

·        We were only engaged for 4 months and in those 4 months, we made a cross country move. So there was lots of time over really 3 months that we planned and made decisions.

·        9 months… the last 3 were the most intense!

·        We were engaged for 13 months and we started planning after being engaged 4 ish months. But in reality if we planned "full time" it probably would have only been a total of 4-5 months.

·        I was in my last year of college, looking for a job, and planning a wedding so I probably didn't spend as much time planning as I should have. Lucky for me, I had a good mom to help :). She was enthusiastic and helped keep me on track.

6.      What did you think was a big deal that ended up not being?

·        I worried that we wouldn’t have enough beverages or food but we actually had more than enough!

·        Having everyone on a schedule, song list to dance to, favors

·        I was worried about the bridesmaids looking uniform. I'm more of a creative dresser and believe in expressing your individual style and personality, but I was also a ballerina for 15 years. In that world, everyone has to look exactly the same when you go on stage so I was overly concerned that they were going to wear some type of crazy jewelry or paint their fingernails some crazy color. In the end, it did not matter AT ALL. I didn't even notice in the big day :)

·        Honestly nothing. We had a small mini reception for everyone after the ceremony, followed by a luncheon private reception just for family/close friends. I slightly worried that there wouldn't be enough food, but once the day arrived, I didn't worry at all!

·        Not having enough food.....we stressed and stressed and stressed about not having enough food. Not knowing exactly how many ppl would come since it was New Year’s Eve, not having enough money for more food = a ton of unnecessary stressing. Truth is other ppl may come for the food, but they're really not going to care if it isn't a gourmet meal. We had just enough to go around with no 2nds and NOBODY complained (which shocked me) but if its ppl that love and care about you food is going to be the last thing on their mind and trust me it will never once come in your mind until it’s all over and your starving (papa johns is always open btw)

7.      Did you have a wedding coordinator? Suggest one? Why or why not?

·        We had one at the church we were married in. But up until the rehearsal, we planned/coordinated everything ourselves. Having someone to coordinate the ceremony was SO helpful...I would highly recommend that - someone who is not family/friends and is a good voice of reason and authority. Martha was a life saver. She even decorated the sanctuary for us in our colors and didn't charge us! She made sure the ceremony and mini reception ran so smooth!

·        I did and it was AWESOME! One Enchanted Evening was the name of the company I think. They were great. They took the reins about 3 months before the wedding. On the day of my wedding I didn't have to talk to the florist, DJ, etc. they handled everything, and it was a huge relief because you just want to enjoy your big day!

·        Well, I didn’t actually hire a "wedding coordinator" but I did have my cousin who is an event planner and has many connections with florists and vendors help me. I planned every last detail of my wedding on my own, He just helped me pull everything together and make it happen. I do suggest making sure that you have someone there to make sure everything is in place and done and set up right so you won’t be stressing so much about it. Whether it’s hiring a coordinator or has a family member or friend volunteer to help.

·        No we didn't have one. Too expensive with our tight budget. So we did everything our self, granted it would probably have been a lot less stressful with one. We just couldn't bring our self to hiring somebody to do something our family would die to help do and we could do own our own. If our budget was bigger it would have definitely been something to think about.

·        Yes! Family friend and she was AWESOME!

8.       What was your favorite DIY project you did for decor?

·        I don’t know if it was actually DIY but I had black and white damask table runners for the reception and we had several left over that weren’t being used so we made bows out of them and added them to the arrangements going down the aisle and it looked beautiful

·        Everything was DIY! I ordered the boutonnieres off etsy. com (KatesaidYes....is the seller's name..she's located near Boston, MA...and is WONDERFUL!!!) Otherwise, I did everything myself. I think my favorites were my sister and I's bouquets. They turned out so much prettier than I thought. And my centerpieces...we did simple glass vases with hydrangeas, ranunculus, and dahlias.

·        Instead of flowers for center pieces, we put fish in vases. I picked up a TON of fish, and even though there wasn't much crafting involved, it was still fun :) and it was fun to give them away to kids after the reception. I have people who still have the fish from 3 years ago!

·        Almost Everything was a diy project. We made topiary trees out of a wooden stick, Styrofoam balls, flowers, ribbon, etc. There were 2, one on either side of the aisle runner. My aunt made them and everyone asked what florist we had that made those. We also decorated every vase with all kinds of stuff. Hobby Lobby and Michaels were our best friend the 3 months before. We even made huge plants out of glittery blue and silver limbs and feathers. It looked awesome with the lighting at the reception.

·        We had to keep all décor very simple bc of the budget. Most of my gifts for people in the wedding were made.

9.      What store or site online did you frequent the most?

·        Hobby Lobby. Saved our flower budget!!! Website: Pinterest.com - gave me all of my ideas from centerpieces to bouquets and table numbers.

·        DEFINITELY theknot.com, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels

·        Michaels & Hobby Lobby. Love their 40% off coupons!

·        Theknot.com 

10.   My best advice in planning a wedding is....

·        Take a deep breath, Take your time, don’t get overwhelmed, Try not to stress so much and enjoy every last moment of planning and the wedding. No matter what you fret or stress over its not going to matter in the end bc your wedding is going to be as beautiful as you have ever dreamed and at the end of that night you have the love of your life by your side :)

·        Enjoy yourself and don't take it for granted. Do all the girly crazy things. Wear a giant veil in public at your bachelorette party. Get a manicure so your nails look awesome when you show off your ring. Wear sassy dresses to all your showers. Invite 300 people (even if half of them are strangers that only your parents know) because it's worth it to see everyone you know and love in one place having a giant party and celebrating love together! Because you're only the bride once:) . But just HAVE FUN because no matter what color your bridesmaids fingernails are, at the end of the day, you're going to be married to the love of your life :)

·        Keep it simple. We have a very simple ceremony from start to finish. I had one attendant - my sister - my Matron of Honor....and she was allowed to pick out her own gown, which was GREAT! The guys didn't have to wear tuxes - they wore navy suits they already owned. Looking back, it was the most perfect day. My husband and I saw each other before the ceremony and had an incredible time of prayer before the ceremony. It took the stress and nervousness off...but still seeing his face as I walked down the aisle was priceless. Don't stress about the little things - or about others people's opinions about your day. Delegate things so you don't have to do it yourself. Look for local restaurants that will offer a discounted reception site. Over all....enjoy it!!!! =)

·        Talk to your fiancé and decide what is most important for you two about YOUR day together. It is all about you guys and the commitment that you will be making together. You will only do it once, so don’t worry with what everyone else wants. Focus on the two of you and have fun with it! You’ll never get to plan this big of a party again J

·        Try your best not to let anyone else stress you out over anything. Whether it is your parents, his parents, or even your fiancé. What is important to you is what is important, end of story. Really allow yourself to let this be about you. It can be really hard to do that, because you start thinking well my mom has waited for this day too, but fortunately they've already had their big day. So first don't let anyone else stress you out, and second don't stress yourself out. As long as you have all the main things, such as: a dress, bridal party attire, ceremony and reception venues, food, flowers, photographer, officiant, and invitations. EVERYTHING else will fall into place. I promise. This is coming from a girl that decided to get chair covers and sashes two weeks before. From every sash being tied, to every curl being curled. It will happen, and if it is the exact opposite of what you thought...set in your mind you will not let anything upset you and try to enjoy and capture every moment because at the end of the day everyone you love just witnessed you joining life with the love of your life and you still get to go on your honeymoon which will be awesome!

Its worth the risk...

This week I listened to my first sermon online at the church we are partnering with in Knoxville and am oh so thankful for their ministry and the heart of Pastor Rodney already. God knew I specifically needed to hear this part of His sermon through Rodney.

"God says, "if you follow me, it wont be easy, it might be hard, it might be costly, it might be risky. But it works. it changes lives. it rescues people." it must be a lifestyle that you are so sold out that people think you are crazy. you are all in. you are willing to do whatever it takes to see lives changed for Jesus."

If you werent able to hear about Jesus today at your own church, or just want to be encouraged again... please take the time to watch this message.

Jayden is ONE!

We have been adopted to the sweetest family at our church and in that family is the most precious little girl, Jayden. I had the priviledge of taking her 1 year photos with her Aunt Stacey and we had so much fun. I was so pumped when I went to her birthday party and saw that her mommy had used one of my creations as part of her decor!!

What a little cutie, huh?!?! Love you sweet Jayden Grace!

Ministry Wives

I have linked up with Kelly's Korner today to meet other Ministry Wives. Those that have been following my blog already know our story and I am sure are tired of hearing about it since its been ALL I have talked about for the last week ha...... but for those who are stopping by please read it here! The basics are that we have taken a giant leap of faith, quite our job at our current job and are beginning a residency program for church planting in Knoxville, TN. We are excited, nervous, happy, sad to leave, crazy and crazy some more :)

Being a pastor's wife is a whole new world for sure so I would love to hear from each of you! And especially if you have any advice/encouragement for church planting! Very thankful for Kelly making the connection for us all!

Carter-boy!

I took a few videos of Carter-boy today. It is rare for he and I to have any alone time so I was thankful for the extra hour that Griffin napped so we could have some. C's personality is really coming out and he is so full of himself lately! Hopefully this will give you a glimpse of how busy he keeps me daily!

Celebrating 29!

 It was very fitting that JR chose to surprise me on leap day, the 29th, to celebrate my 29th birthday!!! I was very shocked when I received a text with the picture above in it.... and it said, "Waiting on the birthday girl!" It had been one heck of a week and truly a whirlwind of emotions which made this birthday even more special to me! I loved seeing all of these sweet people and realize they love me dearly. AND that I am truly blessed!!

Thank you to my wonderful husband for planning this great surprise of a night filled with friends!

Q&A

Many questions have been coming our way and for those who may not have had the chance to ask but want to know, I will do my best to answer them below:

1. What is a church plant? That is a great question and I am sorry it hasn't been answered sooner. Church planting is truly not something that JR and I made up and its actually been going on for many many years. It is in a very basic explanation: moving to a community, creating relationships with people, sharing Jesus with them and as new believers are made a church is formed. It has the idea to think outside of the "traditional church setting" box and do whatever it takes to make followers of Christ.

2. Who is providing your training? There are 3 different groups that will be helping consisting of:
OneLife church, where we will be serving during the training process and is an actual church plant, The Missionary Church which is a network of churches committed to church planting and world missions and strives to be focused on the fulfillment of the Great Commission, and the Tennessee Baptist Association.

3. What is the Great Commission? According to Matthew 28:18- Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

4. Is this a cult or a scam? Ha! Yes, we were asked this question and no neither of them are true :)

5. Where will you live? We aren't exactly sure at this point but our team is looking for us some free missionary housing in the local area now. If that doesn't work, we will go to plan B and look for a rental ourselves, but know that either way God WILL provide! (For those who hadn't heard prior, we recently had to find a place to live in TEN days and He provided, so now a month seems like plenty of time!)

6. How will you survive financially? The network is providing some funding and insurance. JR will be getting a part time job (or more if needed) and I hopefully will find a Mother's Day out program or something similar to provide what I can too. We are also asking other Christians to partner with us. Although we don't all have the call to church plant or be pastors, we do all have the same commission to make disciples as Christ followers.

7. How much financial support do you need to raise? I'll be flat honest. Our family lives off of a $30K yearly budget with no extras or fat anywhere. Our goal is to raise $20,000 to support us through our training process.

8. Do you realize that is a crazy amount of money? Of course we understand it seems crazy to trust God to provide that much money. We have heard several testimonials already, however, that 20K is actually not that much. One family of 3 raised more than double that and another single female raised $19K by herself.

9. Why do you think its okay to quit your job and expect other people to give up their money to pay your bills? There are many different viewpoints on this of course but here is the best way I can explain it. Our life is supposed to be about fulfilling the great commission that God has called us to do and He has set up the church in a way that everyone together is responsible to do that. Not everyone is called to give up their jobs and move to another city to plant a church, however, as the church, fellow believers are called to contribute in whatever way that they can. For some that's financially giving, for others its support through prayer, and for us it is to go. You can read more about this on JR's blog here.

10. How do you have such radical faith? I remember reading a book not too long ago and thought this very same thing of the girl whom I read about. You see, at 18 she moved to Africa and did whatever she could to care for those that she came in contact with there. She has now lived there over 5 years and has adopted 13 Ugandan girls by herself! (You can read more about her story if you wish here.) And when she was asked that very same question she very humbly said, "I am just reading my bible and doing my best to do what He tells me to do. I have made myself available to God, and He has done the rest." Now several months later as I cannot believe that very same question has been asked of me, I very humbly know no other way to answer than just as she did.

11. Where will you be planting a church? We honestly have no idea at this point but know that God will lead us wherever He wants us to go.

12. How did you know that this is what God wanted you to do? I am simply amazed at the various ways He made it evident to JR and I, both individually and together. I knew 5 years ago when we surrendered to the call to full-time ministry that I would be in for a wild ride, but I truly had NO idea!
It was not a sudden thing as I mentioned in my previous post. As He began to reveal His plan for us, throughout those months I really didn't know. But once everything came together by the end of our decision, there was no question in my mind that He was asking us to go. The only question was would we say Yes or No.

13. Aren't you scared? I know that JR and I would answer this a bit differently but I will again be honest. When I look back at how faithful He has been over these past 5 years, from working out every detail of our move from Atlanta to Wake Forest by providing us housing, jobs, friends, a Masters degree debt free and so much more, I am in awe. It would be easy to say, well we did those things and it was by chance that it all worked out, however I disagree completely. We didn't know what we were doing, He did. So yes of course I am scared. I feel as if I am jumping off a cliff blindfolded! I am trusting God in a way that I never have before and walking by my faith in His goodness, not by the things that I can see! That is very difficult for a person who is Type A and wants to plan out everything! I do know a few things that's for certain though. One being that is that it is NOT okay to say no to God. Also, that God loves me, my husband and our two boys more than I can fathom. He has never broken a promise to His people and He wants whats best for me. I will do whatever it takes to follow Him and one day I know He will say, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

14. You can't expect everyone to understand. Obviously this is not a question but a statement and a very true one at that. My prayer is that everyone would understand but the reality is unfortunately that is not true. It has been extremely difficult to explain this to everyone we know and love who surround us. I'll be honest and say that I have never felt so alone and alienated in all of my life. It is so frustrating when I want people to understand but they just don't get it. And if that's you... hold on for the ride! I pray that you will continue to keep up to date with our crazy journey and that you would experience God and His faithfulness in a way you have never seen before! It's gonna be good... and you wont wanna miss it :)

If you have anymore questions, PLEASE ask! We are wide open and are willing to answer anything!!

Whatever it takes

Here is a video about church planting. Right now within the churches their is a movement going on and believe it or not... we arent the only crazy people :)

The rest of the story...

After sharing our BIG news with everyone that we know, I have had many questions about how all of this came about and so I wanted to also share with anyone else who may want to know!
First of all, of coure this isnt something that happened over night. TRUST ME :)

About 6 months ago, the idea of church planting started coming up on a regular basis."Church planting" was something we were familiar with because we had friends from seminary who had planted in the last few years, but it was never something we saw our family doing. Oh boy wasn't God laughing at me when I thought to myself, "Who on earth would want to do that? It sounds scary to me!" So anyways, as different people in different circumstances started bringing it to JR's attention that they saw him as a church planter we just began to pray, "God, we dont know why this is coming up or what it means so please make it clear to us."

By January, the call for church planting was becoming very clear to us but we still couldnt see what exactly God was doing. Little did we know He had a LOT planned behind the scenes. On January 13th, we received a phone call from a good friend's husband who was a church planter in Oak Ridge, TN. He said that he was asked to pray about a pastor that would come and take over a church plant in the Knoxville area and he continually came back to JR's name. Now all along, he had NO idea what we had been praying for the past several months and just simply said if its even a possibility then you should call and talk to the men who were over the church planting network that he was a part of.

JR and I were shocked at the call, thanked him for ruining our weekend, and immediately started to pray. Because Jacob, our pastor, had been one of the ones who had saw the church planting call in JR, we immediately told him about the call and asked him to pray for us. You see we never had planned to leave Bethesda and were very confused as to why this opportunity was even before us.

As we prayed, it continually became clear that we did need to meet with the church planting network. And I personally took it as we would go and learn how they were being successful at their church plants and we would bring it back to Bethesda. JR met with the network the first weekend in February and spent many hours with them. When he came back to update me on what went on he knew that God has placed these men in his life for a reason. Of course we had no idea why or what they even thought of us. It was very apparent that we had zero experience in church planting and but our vision for what God had called our family to do alligned with theirs completely.

We attended 2 services that Sunday; one of their first church plants and also the one that we had received the call about. Our eyes were opened to a whole new world of "church" and we couldnt stop smiling. It was simply amazing to see many different people of all different backgrounds joining together to worship Jesus! Their love was truly contagious and we soaked up every minute of it.

We returned after that weekend with a lot of questions remaining and yet the most important one answered: Yes, we were supposed to church plant. We continued to pray, talk to other friends who were church planters themselves and with our staff at Bethesda. We got a phone call a few weeks later saying that the position we had went to speak to them about was no longer available. Door shut. Ok, now what God??

As our eyes had been opened to a whole new world of church planting it became evident that we would need training. One of the friends JR spoke with had told him that his greatest asset going into planting the church he was a part of was an internship that he had received at his local church in NC. "Ok, so should we go and enter into their intership program", we asked. No actually, believe it or not just a few hours later, we received another phone call from this same network in TN that had told us they didnt have a position for us. "Although the position we spoke about before isnt going to work out, we see the potential in you and would like to offer you an internship." DO WHAT?!?!

No we would have never imagined completing a college degree, then a master's degree only to return to an internship. No we didnt want to leave our church. No it wasnt going to be easy. BUT we knew we had to go! We continued to pray earnestly over the next few days and then called to tell them yes.

We began to learn the details of what this would look like: that they would pay us $10,000 and provide insurance, they would also look for us a missions house that would be rent free, and they would invest in us over the next 18 months so that we would be equipped to be sent out to church plant.

And even more questions were left unanswered. Where exactly would we live? Where would JR find a part time job so we could provide for our family. How would we come up with the remaining 20K that it would take to meet our family budget?

All of these questions remain left unanswered even now and yes it is scary to me. We are walking in faith and it isnt easy. We do know, however, that His grace is sufficient. And where He leads us, He will sustain us. This is never ever a situation I ever thought our family would be in, but there has never been a time in my life that I have been more sure of anything than this and so therefore we will continue to say YES to God and see what He has instore for us!

God is on the Move!

***copied from my husband's blog

Friends & Family,

Greetings from the Isham family! We have some exciting news to share!

In the past 6 months, the Lord has been cultivating within us a deep passion for making authentic disciples of Jesus who make authentic disciples of Jesus to the glory of God. We want to leverage all that we are and all that we have to that end with every remaining day that the Lord graciously gives. In light of this work of God in us, as of April 15, 2012, our family will be sent out from Bethesda Baptist Church in Durham, NC to OneLife Church in Knoxville, TN in order to enter a training program to prepare us for church planting. God has graciously provided the opportunity for both the hands-on training within a three-year old church plant, OneLife Church, as well as weekly coaching through the Ignite Church Planter’s Network. Over the next two years, we will have the privilege to engross ourselves in this training while laying the foundation for our very own church plant in a city to which the Lord leads.

This is in no way an easy decision. We love and have thoroughly enjoyed co-pastoring Bethesda Baptist Church and truthfully, we are as comfortable as can be, having many of the things most pastors would greatly enjoy, such as: loving members, great co-workers, an excellent Christian academy and childcare, a big house in a golf course community, and a salary that enables my Bride to fulfill her dream of being a stay at home mother. Life is great! However to selfishly stay here and bask in this comfort, would be to blatantly disobey and abandon the very will of God for our lives. And so we must proclaim from the rooftops with Paul in Philippians 3, that, “whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ…that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him.”

We are definitely taking a step of faith that only the Lord can craft. To pursue this training, we will be taking a $35,000 pay cut and I’ll have to work a part-time job to supplement our income. Furthermore, as I write this letter we don’t know where we’ll be living, where I’ll be working, and the Lord will need to provide $20,000 in support for us in 2 months. Many people and maybe many of you, will hear this story and say, “This Dude is crazy!” But I say no, this is the beauty of a faith that only God could precisely craft in us so that we not only have peace in this uncertainty, but great joy, knowing that our Lord is going to provide. Our prayer is that people would look on this situation and think we are insane and that that would create the opportunity for God to show up and proclaim to all who are looking on, that He alone is God and He is a faithful God who never forsakes His people whom He loves. There are several questions, which still need to be answered, however we’re confident that this is the Lord’s direction for the next season of our lives and we know that where the Lord’s Will leads us, His grace will sustain us!

In 2 Chronicles 20, there’s a story of King Jehoshaphat with three armies stacked against Him and he cries out to God, “These armies are stronger and mighty than we are and God, I don’t even know what to do, but my eye is fixed on you!” God, then, tells Jehoshaphat a little later in that story, “Do not fear or be dismayed, for the Lord is the with you and this is not your fight, but His….station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord.” And, this is where we’re at! We are stepping out with the faith that God has so graciously given us and we don’t know how our needs are going to be met, we don’t know the answers to a lot of questions that need to be answered, but our eyes are fixed on our King! It’s His fight that He’s going to fight and through it all we will see the salvation of the Lord. That He and He alone is the one true God! We are tremendously anticipating with great excitement How He’s going to show Himself!

Now, you might be saying, “That’s awesome JR! I pray that the Lord works everything out for ya’ll. I really do.” However, at this point, I humbly ask that you hear me out because God has given You an incredible opportunity to be a part of what He’s doing, not only in our lives, but in the big picture of all eternity. There is an excellent book entitled, “The Treasure Principle”, by Randy Alcorn and in it he reveals the following biblical truths about the finances God has graciously given to each of us:

1. God owns everything and we are His money managers.

2. Our hearts always go where we put God’s money.

3. Heaven, not earth, is our home.

4. We should live here, not for our time on earth, but for our time in eternity.

5. God prospers us not to increase our standard of living, but our standard of giving.

In Ephesians 4, Paul tells us that God graciously gives gifts to every Christian in order that these gifts would be used “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.” In other words, if you are a Christian, God has given you gifts to build up the church for the glory of God! It’s our prayer that you will see that You, at this moment, have an opportunity to be a part of God’s work, which will impact all of eternity! All Christians no matter what church you go to, are THE church. We are one; and God’s purpose is that the world would know Him by seeing the way we reflect Him in our love for each other. 2 Corinthians 9:8-11 tells us, God is able to always generously provide all you need and more, so that you can generously bless others. He tells us that when we give, He will continue to give us more and more, so that we can keep generously giving to others. And when we do, those who receive these blessings will thank God because of us.

Friends and family, if you are receiving this letter, you are one of two hundred people that God has used to impact our lives in some way. If God moves each of you to invest only $10 a month in the work He’s doing, you would more than empower us to do what we feel the Lord’s leading us to do! Now we do know, in reality, that some receiving this letter will simply trash it, so we pray that God would lead you to give out of the abundance that He’s given you in order to compensate for those who aren’t able or willing to give. Our questions for you today are, “Will you seize this great opportunity to be on mission with God? As a part of THE church, will you help support us, by praying and/or making a financial investment that will impact all of eternity? Could you sacrifice $10 a month, knowing that our family and all those who come to know Jesus through us, will be thanking God because of you?

If the answer to these questions are YES, please support us by going to http://www.onelifeknox.com/jr . There you can securely and conveniently make a one-time investment or set up recurring investments with your debit card that will instantly begin helping us make an impact in making disciples who will be face to face with Jesus for all eternity! We pray that the Lord would move your hearts to join Him in His work!

Walking by faith because of the work of God in us,

The Isham’s