Necole and I took six-months to make this decision. We went back-and-forth multiple times. We also journeyed with a group of friends as we struggled to discern the best choice. So thanks to those of you who prayed, listened, and journeyed with us.
We choose to head back to Raleigh for multiple strategic reason.
1. Location: Raleigh is located in a perfect place for us. Close to Atlanta, DC, Charlotte, Nashville and several other key cities. HELP will now have two areas of focus. Texas and the Southeast. This is huge as we try to rescue and restore orphans across the globe. (See #2)
2. Church Partnerships: We will be surrounded by a large number of churches that we hope to partner with to help end local poverty in key global hot-spots like Zimbabwe and S. Africa.
3. Cost of living: We wanted to stay flexible so Necole did not have to work as much as I travel more often.
4. Simplicity: Again, as I start to travel more, we wanted to keep things simple for Necole and the family.
5. Community: We know the city, love the city and have a lot of great friends that live in the city. This makes life easier for us. We’re looking for *gasp* stability.
6. Fun: Necole and I are committed to spending as much as time as possible with Boo and Kenz. They are growing so darned fast. We can’t wait to spend time at the ocean and mountains, etc. We deeply missed this aspect of our family lives.
7. Necole’s Business: We need to live somewhere for the next 10-12 years. Necole needs to establish her clientele, which takes time. We decided not to spend another 2-3 years here building her business and then leave it and start over again!
8. Raleigh: Again, Raleigh is a great city, we love the weather, the people, the schools, the fall foliage, the rain, the regions…Its a city moving forward trying to find its place. We love what the future holds and we want to help make the city better by living there and serving.
3. Cost of living: We wanted to stay flexible so Necole did not have to work as much as I travel more often.
4. Simplicity: Again, as I start to travel more, we wanted to keep things simple for Necole and the family.
5. Community: We know the city, love the city and have a lot of great friends that live in the city. This makes life easier for us. We’re looking for *gasp* stability.
6. Fun: Necole and I are committed to spending as much as time as possible with Boo and Kenz. They are growing so darned fast. We can’t wait to spend time at the ocean and mountains, etc. We deeply missed this aspect of our family lives.
7. Necole’s Business: We need to live somewhere for the next 10-12 years. Necole needs to establish her clientele, which takes time. We decided not to spend another 2-3 years here building her business and then leave it and start over again!
8. Raleigh: Again, Raleigh is a great city, we love the weather, the people, the schools, the fall foliage, the rain, the regions…Its a city moving forward trying to find its place. We love what the future holds and we want to help make the city better by living there and serving.
We are also going to work on some missional church planting opportunities with some friends in Austin. I can’t go into details, since I don’t know them yet. But I hope to soon. I love my church planting friends here in Austin: Soma, Austin City Life, Austin New Church, Austin Stone and many others, these churches are awesome! I’ve learned so much from them, plus I love Visio Dei, Vintage 21, Hope Chapel and others in Raleigh…lets just say I have some dreams I gotta work out.
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