home (part 1)

"Here we see what compassion means. It is not a bending toward the underprivileged from a privileged position; it is not a reaching out from on high to those who are less fortunate below; it is not a gesture of sympathy or pity for those who fail to make it in the upward pull. On the contrary, compassion means going directly to those people and places where suffering is most acute and building a home there."

Compassion, McNeill, Morrison and Nouwen

Twenty years ago I read these words and they have been burning a whole in my heart ever since. Through reading this book, I knew that God intended something personal for me (and later, when I was married, for my family), but I didn't know what He intended.

Friends, it's been a long time coming. I've had so very many things to learn, but I think that we are finally coming home.

A few years ago, David and I began praying earnestly for some answers. We had been (and continue to be) a part of an amazing community of believers here in Fort Collins since the year 2000. We were incredibly grateful for the many ways that we had grown in love through this community, but we were also beginning to understand that our call from the Lord, although the same in many, many respects, was also different than that of our brothers and sisters here in Fort Collins.

We did not pray lightly. We knew that our prayers meant something. We were asking the Lord either to help us to be content here and to clarify our vision, or for another place to build community (the church) with other believers of like mind and heart. We were asking for something that we considered to be a miracle.

And then we waited.

And waited.

And were loved by our brothers and sisters.

And loved them (albeit imperfectly) in return.
We learned a great many things.

We struggled through some other things.

And grew in patience and trust.

And waited some more.

And just at the point where were tempted to despair,

our Lord broke in.

Some very dear friends from our church, unbeknownst to us, had also been praying,

 listening,

and hearing from the Lord.

And one night, when the time was just right, our friend, Brett, invited David to his house and told him that they believed that God was calling them to Kansas City to plant a church.

And immediately, we knew.

We knew that this was the Lord's answer for us because this family loved the Lord and lived for His glory. We knew, because this family wanted to build community (the church) and was dependent on the Lord to lead them. We knew, because this family's heart was for the poor and the needy. We knew, because this family was greatly invested in children. We knew, because the Lord had already given us such tremendous love and affection for this family.
 

(The beautiful Costigan family: Brett, Gracie Joy, Alyssa and Michelle)

And we could hardly fathom the goodness of our Lord to lead us in this way, in this time, and with this family (but of course, we know that's just how He is...so very generous).

 

And, as it turns out, that was just the beginning of all of the good things that He was about to do...for He was about to fulfill all of the dreams that had been burning in my heart for twenty (or more!) years. He was about to show us our new home.

(part 2, coming soon!)