author | Steve

Waiting on the Lord

Weird to start a blog titled “Here We Go” with waiting, I know. But from the time we left Katy, Texas, this is what we heard Jesus inviting us to – to wait on Him. Honestly, I knew very little about this. I mostly knew how to work a plan and to ask Him to bless it. But I didn’t know how to actively take steps forward in faith while also waiting for God to act. And more importantly, trusting Him to come through in His way in His time. After twenty months, I’m not sure I could articulate it very well, but I’ve certainly seen the faithfulness of Jesus to lead us into His presence and to shape us into His people and His image while waiting on Him. Our family is in many ways the same as it was two years ago, and in thoroughly profound ways unrecognizable from two years ago because of Jesus and His pursuing grace.

We have learned a lot about ourselves and our pet idols. We have lived the exhilaration of trusting Jesus beyond what seems reasonable, and we have lived the meaningless darkness and quiet despair of not trusting Him, but popular opinion and our gut feelings instead. We have lived in fear of what other people might think about what we are doing, and we have lived in trusting fear of the One who loves us and owns all things, which is truly freedom. What a difference.

All this to say, God has brought us to a new chapter of fear and trust…and waiting.

On Sunday, October 2nd, LifeBridge Church in Cypress, Texas took a leap of faith and said, “Yes!” to a partnership with the Wiechman family in the Gospel of Jesus (a truly unanimous vote by secret ballot)! I have been serving on contract at LifeBridge since May 2016, assisting Pastor Michael Meissner and the leaders of LifeBridge in taking steps toward building their first church building, and in fostering a climate of discipleship rooted in Jesus and His grace. On October 2nd, the people of God at LifeBridge voted to help seed the construction of Abba’s House, and ongoing support of the ministries that will call Abba’s House “home.”

Abba’s House

What is Abba’s House? The simple answer is: a refuge of love, compassion, and healing for Christian leaders and their spouses, as well as refugee women and their children. Our family, along with the Meissner family, will live in two modest apartments in Abba’s House while starting two separate, but complimentary ministries.

Breathe Life Ministries

God has broken our heart for Christian leaders and their families, especially those who are isolated. After much prayer, waiting, and many little steps of faith, we are in the process of starting Breathe Life Ministries. Our mission is:

accompanying Christian leaders and their spouses
into the presence of Jesus to experience healing and freedom
in a safe, highly personal & individualized retreat setting

To discover more about Breathe Life Ministries, click here.

Abba’s House of Welcome

At the same time, God has led the Meissner family and a number of people at LifeBridge to love and serve refugee women and children. Their mission is:

be a safe community of healing for refugee women and their children,
helping restore their dignity as ones created in God’s image,
while caring for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs

To learn more about Abba’s House of Welcome, click here.

Bottom line: Abba’s House will have two apartments for our two families, four to five hotel-style rooms for refugee families, a cottage-style apartment for Breathe Life Ministry guests, and a large common area with kitchen, dining, and great room. Over time, we intend to develop a large community garden and barn for animals, a prayer garden, and a wood shop, among other things. The idea is to develop a very open, close community where people can fold into the daily rhythms of life and faith while receiving rest, healing, and courage for the journey ahead.

Close Community

God has continued to draw us into closer and closer community. First, it was through our travels and living for short amounts of time with people in their homes (not quite “short” in Ann Arbor though!). Then it was living for a year in 550 square feet (three of our kids continue to say it was their favorite home!). In August, the Meissners invited us into their home to start to learn how to live in this kind of community that we will have in Abba’s House.

Living so close to ten other people (six in our family and five in theirs) is like holding a mirror up to your own soul. The things that I could easily hide from about myself, are much more difficult to do with all these people around. Really, that’s the hardest part so far. And that is actually a good thing. There’s so much more to write about this, but it will have to be a whole other blog (or two or three…).

…and Waiting

So here we are, trusting that Jesus is leading us into this crazy, unconventional, messy, beautiful adventure. LifeBridge has seeded this adventure to the tune of $160,000-$170,000. Now, we look forward to finding the other $250,000-$300,000 we will need to build Abba’s House. So we wait on Jesus to provide what He has called us toward.

If the Spirit of Jesus so moves you to want to be a part of Abba’s House becoming reality, please fill out the form below. All giving for Abba’s House is through LifeBridge Church in Cypress, Texas, and is tax deductible.

Please keep this entire process in your prayers. God has provided everything at just the right time as we have ventured out in this (some of those times have felt really late, but He knows best!). At the end of the summer, He put a wonderful woman in our lives, Deb, who graciously gave us three days of her life to help us strategic plan Breathe Life Ministries. This next year, as we fundraise for construction and begin building, we will also be incorporating Breathe Life, just as the Meissners will be incorporating their ministry to refugee women and children.

There is much work ahead, but we are continually drawn back to what Jesus has put on our heart – spending time with Christian leaders and their spouses, listening to them, speaking God’s promises to them, praying with them, and helping them see the Kingdom of God near them. As we wait on God’s timing for Abba’s House and for the “official” beginning of Breathe Life Ministries, we watch with expectant eyes for those He brings into our lives with whom we can mutually share the healing balm of His grace and the energizing hope of His kingdom.

Thanks for following His story in our lives, for lifting us up in prayer, and for considering partnering with us in this adventure.

~ Steve, Jamie & the kids