ARC Assessment

Ok, so i fell off the face of the earth for a little bit, but we have been insanely busy for a while. There is a ton to catch up on, but the most recent is the ARC Assessment. We left last Friday night after work, so about 7:00 or so. The assessment was in the Atlanta area but we went to my Dad's house first to in Augusta to drop the kiddos off and spend some time with the family. here is the run down 1050 miles to Augusta, 4 kids (10 and under) and a 8 and 1/2 month pregnant wife. We probably stopped every hundred miles or so and we had to stay over night in hotels so that Faith wouldn't get blood clots in her legs (what a trooper!). I really like to just get in the car and not stop until we get there (except for gas every 3o0 miles) that way the trip is a 17 hour deal, instead of 2 days.

So we get in the car and we get like 40 miles away and the little guy (Ian - 2 years old) starts to throw up. not just a little, but a lot ... it was mostly string cheese and strawberry milk, if that helps the visual. so we find some where to stop and buy a bunch of sanitary products and wipes and such and since I very well can't make my wonderful pregnant wife take the car seat out, and get on her hands and knees to strub every crevase of the car seat and van seat, the job falls on me. sick ... that is all i can say. So my mind is thinking, we just lost 70 miles of the trip and i am cleaning up puke ... GREAT! Ian was fine after that, so it must have just been something his stomach didn't like. I have to clean every piece, that way it wouldn't smell for the next 1000 miles in the van.

The rest of the trip was pretty smooth and we got to August about 1:30 AM Saturday night/ Sunday morning. This was the the first Father's day I ever remember spending with my Father on Father's Day. So, it was a special time. It was just good being there. My sister Lori, her husband Miller (I actually got to marry them late last year) and my brother Michael were all there. It was fun.

So the next day (06/16/08) was our 13th year anniversay, and we had an appointment with the marriage counselor as the first part of our assessment. I think they just wanted to make sure that we weren't scary and that we actually loved each other. I have met quite a few couples that should've went through that process. He went into our past and such, over all it was good. Later that night we had another meeting, free anniversary meal ... haha. It was good food and good company. Out of the 13 church planting couples there we had to go first with the introductions followed by a brief grilling (Q&A) from the panel. To top our assessment/Anniversary Date off they gave us a homework assignment to write up by morning.

The next day was a full one. They split up the couples and put us into a small groups situation where we were given a 2-part senario to talk through and come to a unanimous decision. There was no appointed leader, but I was quickly appointed by the group members ... wooohoo. That one was actually fun. We did well. Next we had to roll play with a fellow planter as if he was a neighbor and conversate through to to point of leading him to Christ. Of course, through all of this there is always an assessor taking notes on your every move, guess we better get used to it. There are always people taking notes on our action, whether we realize it or not. It was fun though, i got him saved, which is a good thing for a church planter to do. We then were grouped with 2 other couples and given a section of the country in which to plant in. We had to decide what city, research the city, come up with a game plan for the launch, then how we plan on planting 10 more churches over the next 10 years, and oh yeah, produce a power point and present (with all members speaking on there areas) in front of the panel and your peers within 2 hours. It was actually pretty crazy. The last deal was a final interview with new questions based upon our homework assignment and how we did for the day. whew. We met some really great people through the process, these are the people that will all be planting at the same time as us through out the country ... a mini support team. We are really excited about these relationships.

We then drove back to Augusta, to visit and see our wonderful kiddos. They had a blast with the Grand Parents and Aunt and Uncles. We had to wait a couple of days on our results form the assessments. On Wednesday, we started the long trek back to Austin and arrived about 2:00 Friday morning.

I had meetings early Friday, but about 7:00 Friday night I crashed and didn't wake until about 8:30 the next day. what a week. I have much more, but I am off to bed instead.