God is working.  God has been at work in the calling of Ryan Busby to be Journey’s next Lead Pastor.  Ryan will begin his ministry among Journey’s wonderful community of faith starting on August 9.

God has been at work in the architectural planning process for the expansion of the Journey Central building.  After worship on August 9, a congregational gathering will be held at Northside High School in order for the expansion plans to be presented to the Journey family.

God has been at work in the property development surrounding Journey Central.  Dirt has begun to be moved for the construction of 427 residences in a new walkable neighborhood adjacent to Journey Central.

I trust we all celebrate these ways God has been at work.

God has been at work in another way that has been unexpected.

My wife, Debbie, has been disabled for over 20 years.  As her health challenges have increased, we began to explore the possibility of our entering into a continuing care community, knowing it is often the case that people have to wait years to be admitted.  Immediately, we were told that her health condition was such that we would not be accepted.

Her health continued to worsen.  She was diagnosed with heart failure, another heart difficulty, and pulmonary hypertension.  She reached the point of struggling to breathe when walking from one room to another room in our house.

We are very thankful that over time the medicines Debbie has been prescribed have helped improve her health to a degree.  Debbie’s doctor said that it would be well for her to enter a continuing care community as soon as possible before her health might start to decline again.

We began to explore the possibility once more of entering into a continuing care community.  God was at work.  For some reason unknown to us, a person decided that she did not want an apartment, and it has worked out that the apartment was offered to us—as long as we could move in quickly and we did not have any significant health decline before then.

It just so happens that this continuing care community is located about ten minutes from where my sister lives.  She has challenging health conditions and has for some time expressed the hope that I would help care for her.  Debbie has been in a telephone support group for disabled wives of ministers for over 20 years, and one member of her support group lives in the facility.  My mentor and one of my best friends for over 40 years lives in the facility.  The chaplain at the facility was a college classmate of mine and is a dear friend.

Debbie and I understand all of this to mean that God is at work.  We are glad to tell you God is providing for her care in this way.  We are sad to tell you that the facility is located in Richmond, VA.

Because there is a limited window of opportunity for us to be accepted into this continuing care community, we anticipate moving to Richmond in the next two months.  We hope to put our house up for sale in the next two weeks.

We love our Journey Church family dearly, and we realize that this all may come as a shock to many.  On the Sundays of July 19 and July 26, there will be the opportunity for people to stay after worship at Northside High School and ask questions and talk about the short time of transition to a new Lead Pastor.

Debbie and I are grateful for your love and care, and we trust you will be praying with us during this time of change.

We are confident that God will continue to be at work in you, the amazing Journey Church family.  God’s great blessings be with you all.

-Pastor Michael