Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings from South Georgia! This year, we have decided to do something
different…instead of our normal CHRISTmas letter, we are writing a Thanksgiving
letter. A Thanksgiving letter just seems
appropriate because we have SO MUCH to be thankful for!! The two things we are most thankful for is God
finally revealing our next call and moving into our new rental home after
moving out of our townhouse 14 months ago.
So much has happened over the last year, I (Sara) don’t
even know where to begin. As many of you
know at the end of August 2014, we moved to NC to seek and wait on what the
Lord wanted us to do next. We didn’t
think it would be very long because Chris had been applying to a lot of
churches for associate pastor positions and was moving along in the process
with quite a few of them. He was in the
final two or three with several churches but when it came down to the final
decision, he wasn’t chosen. The search
committees frequently told him that they wanted to choose him and our family,
but when they took the vote they just felt like the Spirit was telling them no. They felt like God had another plan and purpose
for us. He then started applying for
senior pastor positions thinking maybe the Lord wanted him to stretch him. Chris never had the desire to be a senior
pastor. He was content specializing in a
certain area of ministry. So, Chris
began applying to senior pastor positions.
Again, he moved along in the process with several churches. Again, he was in the final two or three. And again, when it came to the final
decision, he wasn’t chosen. Again, we
heard the same thing of the search committee wanting to vote for us, but when
it came time to vote they felt like the Spirit wanted them to say no to us
because He had another plan and ministry for us. In October 2014, after three people in one
week asked Chris if he had thought about starting a discipleship ministry, he
sat down at the computer and typed up a ministry plan for a discipleship
ministry. When he got done, he was
amazed what was written on the computer screen, but thought it would be
impossible for this type of ministry to happen.
Chris continued to apply to churches and to our surprise we kept getting
the same answer…the search committees wanted to say yes, but just felt like
they need to say no. So, in December
2014, we began filing the paperwork we needed to make this ministry official
and in January 2015 Mathetes 268 Ministries was born. In January, we got a phone call from a church
in VA that we had a relationship with and they informed us that their pastor
was getting ready to retire. One of the
elders at the church wanted to know if Chris had gotten a position at a church
yet and if not, would he be interested in applying for the position. We took a couple of days and prayed about
applying for this position and felt like the Lord was saying yes. So, Chris applied to the church and then we
waited…and waited…and waited some more.
During our time of waiting, the Lord continued to fine tune Mathetes
268, us as a family, us as a couple and us as individuals. When Chris applied for the position in VA, he
felt that if the Lord didn’t work it out for us to move there, then we would
need to officially launch Mathetes 268.
I agreed with him. In September
2015, we found out yet again that we weren’t chosen. Again, there were some on the search
committee going into the vote who felt like Chris was going to be the one they
were going to call to their church, but when the vote approached they just felt
like the Lord all of a sudden wanted them to choose a different person. As soon as we found out, we took a day to
just process the information. It was a
day of grieving because when this door closed in VA, we realized that we would
not be a pastor or a pastor’s wife for the foreseeable future and that saddened
us. Chris asked me after we found out
that we weren’t going to VA, if we needed to go back to applying to churches
again. My response was, “If we go back
to applying to churches, then I think we are just running away from what God is
calling us to do.” We began letting
people know that we hadn’t been chosen as the next pastor at the church in VA
and then we started making plans to move to Valdosta, GA.
We have been on a whirlwind of a ride as we moved our
family to Georgia, started Mathetes 268 Ministries, continued with
homeschooling, found a place to live and got the Hooties settled into a new
routine. But God has been AMAZING, and
we can see how He has gone before us and prepared us and pastors for this
ministry. To read about some of the
amazing things He has been doing, there are some websites you can visit at the
end of this letter.
Now for the Hooties…
They have done so well over the last 14 months as we have waited on the
Lord to reveal to us this next chapter.
As their parents, we are so proud of how well they waited. At times, they waited better than we
did. I guess that may be the faith of a
child that Jesus talks about in the Bible.
Josiah turned seven in June and started second grade in
the fall. We got 268 Academy established
shortly after moving to Georgia and continued with our studies. Josiah really enjoys art, math, and
spelling. He took an art class this
summer and really enjoyed it which helped him to grow in this discipline. Math comes very easily to him just like it
does for his dad. As for spelling, he
likes the weekly challenge of getting 100% on his pre-test. I made a deal with him that if he got a 100%
on the pre-test, then he wouldn’t have to take the regular test on
Thursdays. Well, he has stepped up to
the challenge and has passed every pre-test thus far. Josiah is in his last year of being a Spark
at AWANA (it is a weekly program at a church where children learn scripture
memory verses, Godly characteristics, and team work through games). He continues to amaze us in his ability to
memorize verses and the books of the Bible.
On his first night of AWANA here in Georgia (he hadn’t started AWANA in
NC this year because they started the week before we moved), his teacher gave
him his new book. His teacher opened up
to the first couple of verses (they were review verses), and he told them what they
were. Talk about being convicted by your
child!! The last time he looked at those
verses was in the spring and here it was in the fall and he remembered
them!! Another activity that he is
getting involved in is Chess. Our local
library offers a chess class twice a month.
The first time he went, he came home talking non-stop. When he does that, I know that his cup has
been filled up and he has really liked what he has done. This chess class also does chess tournaments
which Josiah is very excited about attending. Josiah will be doing basketball
for the first time in January through Upward Basketball. We let him think about it for a few weeks,
and he decided he wanted to try something new.
We look forward to going to the games and cheering for him.
Sophie will be turning six in January and started
Kindergarten at 268 Academy. She
continues to do really well in school. Her favorite subjects are math,
handwriting, and art. She has started
speed drills in math and also began doing subtraction…two of her favorite
things. She also likes handwriting…writing her numbers is one of her favorite
things to do. And then there is art…this
girl LOVES to write a “story” and then draw a picture to go with it. At night, we often hear her over the monitor
telling her brothers and sister an imagination story. I love seeing this creative side to her. As
the one who is the most reserved about new situations, Sophie has done an
AMAZING job with the move. She has done
great as we visit new churches and have been meeting new people. She has also jumped right in there with AWANA
and has earned her first badge as a Spark.
She is doing a great job with her scripture memory and tries to memorize
at least two verses a week. She thought
about doing Upward Basketball, but then decided she wants to watch her brother
play first and maybe play next year. She
continues to be very athletic and competitive.
You can find her riding a bike or running in the wind…she even went
running with me a few times over the summer and was a lot less winded than her
mom was!!
Kyrie turned four at the beginning of November and
started Preschool at 268 Academy. She
continues to do really well in school and has really taken off with her
reading. She really likes the “Dick and
Jane” books. The two older Hooties
learned to read with these books, so I decided to keep with tradition. She is really growing in her fine motor
skills and is getting really good with her coloring, cutting and handwriting. Kyrie
has also started AWANA this year and is in her first year of being a
Cubby. She is doing a great job with her
Bible memory each week. Kyrie enjoys
dressing up in fancy clothes. I am not
talking about dress-up clothes, but dresses that most little girls would wear
to church on Sunday. She would do it
every day if I allowed her, but sometimes our activities require something a
little less fancy! Kyrie was a flower
girl for one of my friends in September.
We did a dress rehearsal…put on her dress, high-heeled shoes, hair bow
and gave her the bucket that would be holding her flowers. We practiced walking and dropping
flowers. When we got all done, I was
praising her for doing such a good job.
Then she told me that she wasn’t a real flower girl yet. I asked her why she thought that because she
had all the stuff to be a flower girl. Then she informed me that she wasn’t a
real flower girl yet because she didn’t have any earrings!! So off to Michael’s I went to buy some stuff
to make clip-on earrings for her to wear to the wedding. She continues to be such a maternal little
girl. This girl has more babies and baby
doll stuff than I know what to do with.
She does a really good job taking care of her babies and real people
when they don’t feel well.
Tobias turned two in June and is attending 268 Academy
for the first time. He has been doing
the “Your Baby Can Read” videos and is doing really well with recognizing the
words. He is also learning his colors,
shapes and the letters in his name. He can count to ten by himself and after
that he needs a little help. Tobias is
definitely ALL boy! He loves trucks,
cars, wrestling with Daddy and collecting rocks and nuts when we go outside. He definitely likes to be outside and he
spends most of his time in the swing while the other Hooties play. Tobias is
such a happy, full-of-life little boy.
His smile and laugh are contagious and he often tries to make people
smile and laugh with him. Tobias started
AWANA for the first time this year and is a Puggle. He doesn’t do scripture memory like the others,
but he is learning some of the Bible stories and does a craft. The first couple of weeks were a little hard
for him, but he is getting better with being dropped off. There is a definite conflict that goes on…he
wants to go like his brother and sisters, but at the same time he misses Mommy
and Daddy. But we know it is good for
him to be introduced to these Bible stories and to be around other kids.
As for me…well, we have spent the last 14 months waiting
on the Lord. For me it was a season of being
patient for His timing. I am a
planner. I am an organizer. So, it was hard…real hard…waiting for Him to
reveal His plan for us. During my time in NC, I was able to reconnect with old
friends from my teaching days and make some new friends. I also stayed busy by
helping a good friend decorate for her rustic barn wedding that happened at the
end of September. I had SO much fun
helping her take her vision from paper to reality. I have decorated for quite a few baby
showers, bridal showers and birthday parties, but have never done an event to
this scale. I am so thankful for the
opportunity, and I must say that it gave me the desire to maybe start a
business one day. Right now is not the
time because a lot of our energy and focus is getting Mathetes 268 Ministries
started. So, while we are getting
Mathetes 268 off the ground, I will enjoy decorating for smaller events for
friends and family. In the immediate
future, I will be spending my free time decorating our new rental home. I am
SUPER excited to have a home again!! I am very thankful for the season of
living with family while we waited on the Lord to reveal His plan for our
lives, and our children have been able to create wonderful memories with their
grandparents. But let’s be honest…we are
A LOT of people and we take up A LOT of space, so it will be nice to spread out
and have our own space. Chris and I
spent a couple of weeks looking for houses.
We found a couple that we really liked, but we were second in line and
ended up not getting either one of them.
We heard about this house through one of the rental companies in town
and from what we saw on paper this place looked like it would fit our family
perfectly. The only drawback was we couldn’t
look at it because there were people still living in it. We had to wait about a week for the people to
move out and you better believe we were the first ones there to check out the
keys…we weren’t going to risk losing out on this place! They day we looked at it, Chris picked me up
at my parents’ house after he got done have a business meeting. On his way to pick me up, he got a phone
call. We drove to the house and I went
ahead in while he finished up his call in the car. As I walked through the house, I felt like
this place could really work for our family.
Chris walked in the front door and he said to me that this was going to
be our house. As he sat out in the
driveway, he just felt like this was where we were going to live. I was hesitant to claim that since we still
had to apply for the house and since the rent was over our budget. We went back to the rental company and told
them we were interested, but wanted to know if there was any negotiating on the
price. One of the ladies contacted they
owner and he was willing to come down!!!
So, we applied for the house and within a couple of days we found out
that we had been approved. We just spent
our first night in our new home on November 17th and we are beyond
excited!! We have a guest room, so
please let us know if you want to reserve a spot at the Greenwood Inn. We love to have visitors!
Hello All, Chris here! I hope this letter finds each of
you well and stuffed from your Thanksgiving celebrations. J I wanted to write a
quick section about my own journey over these last 14 months. Sara has done
another masterful job of condensing our lives into a few readable paragraphs,
so I won’t go over anything she has already shared. What I do want to share is
that this journey has been a very difficult one for me in particular. I have
had to let go of some dreams and plans in order to let God bring about new
ones. I have seen that my desire to want to be in control also demonstrates in
visible ways my lack of trust. These last 14 months have brought me to a place
of total abandonment to the plans and purposes of the Lord. I have read about
it, taught about it, counseled others to seek it, but until about four months
ago I had not truly reached it. For the arrival of that place, I am beyond
thankful. I am also thankful this season for a few other things in particular:
1) I am thankful for a wife and family who has supported me each step of this
journey (It is hard to overstate this one). 2) I am thankful to our parents and
the Hooties’ grandparents (both by blood and adopted) who have offered our
children consistency and love over these last 14 months. 3) I am thankful for a
new home in which to make new memories with our four wonderful children. 4) I
am thankful for our brothers and sisters in the faith who have prayed for and
encouraged us through this journey. 5) I am thankful for the financial
provision of the Lord through His people and those not yet His people that is
allowing us to take this journey. 6) Lastly (for the sake of brevity in this
letter), I am thankful for the hand of the Lord going before us and preparing
each step of the way. He is indeed Jehovah Jirah.
One thing that seems more real to me than ever before is
that, as we look forward into 2016, we have absolutely no idea what lies before
us. We have no idea what lies ahead of all of us on a global scale, for all of
us as a country, for us collectively as the Body of Christ, and for us
individually as the Greenwood family. This ministry venture could all fall
apart. It could take off beyond what I can manage. It could be somewhere in
between. All I can say is that, regardless of the outcome, these last 14 months
have been worth it. Sara and I unwaveringly believe the Lord has called us to
do this. Called us to do what we can to strengthen the American church for the
dark days ahead. All I can do is reach out my hand and ask churches to let me
walk with them through this journey (Acts 3:1-6). I am just a willing vessel. May the Lord bless you and keep
you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. May
the Lord lift up His continence upon you and (through His Son, Jesus) grant you
peace. Happy Thanksgiving and merry, merry CHRISTmas!
With Love,
Chris, Sara + the
Hootie Hoos
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