After a year of praying, planning, talking and dreaming – Jennifer and I finalized the last details to move our family back to the South after a 15 year absence.  It honestly felt like we were moving to a new mission field and not necessarily moving ‘back home’ since we had never lived in the South as a married couple.  Our decision to move to the South was largely do to a subjective feeling that Jennifer and I both began with independently.  As we talked and prayed God began making it clearer and clearer that we were on the right track.  I had been hired by Grace Giving International as their Executive Director and the Board of Directors allowed us to move to GA to open a ‘branch office’.  My cousin Keith had launched a church plant in Macon, GA.  We had talked about ministering together on several occasions and this one just seemed to work out.  We told a couple of our close friends and they begrudgingly affirmed our move.  Obviously our family was ecstatic that we were moving to the South and were very skeptical that it would ever happen.

So, the boys and I put Jennifer and the girls on a plane in early December which launched us into ‘the plan’.  The plan was to send Jennifer and the girls early so that the boys and I could pack up the moving truck and do some work on the house.  We left just as a record setting snow storm hit Spokane and drove 4 days to get to Macon.

On one of those days we drove for 17 hours.  A lot happened in that 17 hours – prayer, deep conversations, moments of silence, and lots of caffeine to name a few.  It was a great time of reflection on the chapter in our lives that was coming to a close called ‘Spokane’.  Here are just a few of the highlights:

1. 1997 – Jennifer and I drove with our two cats, Moses & Delilah, from GA to Spokane, WA to close a chapter in our lives called England and begin a new Chapter called ‘Spokane’.
2. Shortly after arriving in Spokane we began our ‘church home’ search that began and ended with Faith Bible Church.  I would later be trained as a Pastor here by several remarkable men and develop friendships that will last until the end of time.
3. 1998 – After an almost 5 year run in the Air Force I said good bye to my beret, my rifle, and the soldier’s way of life.
4. I became a Small Group Leader and started meeting with a man that would change the course of my life.  John Smith spent a year with me discussing theology, my desire to become a Pastor, and began the arduous process of hammering me into a man.
5. I will never be able to express enough my thankfulness for our time at Faith Bible Church.  It truly was where Jennifer and I grew up spiritually.  I entered the Men of God program which was their pastoral training program in 98 and would spend the next 6 years trying to figure out who I am and what I believe.
6. 1999 – After 4 years of miscarriages, procedures, tears and prayer – Emma Ruth McConnell was born on April 22nd – healthy and happy!
7. 2000 – A year later on July 10th, Makayla Grace McConnell was born.  We were told she had club feet before she was born and that she had Down Syndrome shortly after she was born.  She had neither.
8. 2002 – Abigail Shea McConnell would be born on April 12th amidst an emergency c-section and many questions regarding her mysterious condition.  A few months later we would learn that Abby had an extremely rare syndrome that was terminal.
9. 2003 – On Feb. 11th Abby breathed her last and was ushered into the presence of our Lord.
10. 2004 – After Abby’s death we knew that we were not done parenting.  We became Foster Parents and met our fourth daughter – Aubriana Mia Hope McConnell.
11. I was also hired by Valley Bible Church in Spokane as a Youth Pastor and we began the second half of our journey in Spokane.  My spiritual development continued to be honed as we (the elders) did battle over major issues such as open theism, lordship salvation, Christology, and reformed theology.  I also met a new mentor in Ben Orchard and was able to learn much from a skillful shepherd.
12. 2005 – Arianna Marie Joy McConnell became our 5th daughter.  She is now ‘the favored one’ that the family calls Princess and as the baby of the family – she lives and loves it.
13. 2006 – Jennifer came home from an adoptive mom’s retreat with the crazy, hair-brained idea that we should adopt older sons from Ethiopia.  I quickly shot this idea down.
14. 2007 – In July we traveled to Ethiopia and picked up our new sons – Josiah, Noah and Caleb.  In one of the most incredible displays of love that I have seen – the body of VBC rallied around us and remodeled our home, threw a massive fundraiser, and showed us love at every turn.
15. 2008 – I was hired by the Board of Directors of a non-profit to help wrestle through some issues while I was still working part-time at Valley as the Family Pastor.  After the position and direction at the non-profit came to a painful close I was hired by Grace Giving International and the rest is, as they say – history.
16. I continued on as an Elder at Valley Bible Church until we departed.

There are so many other things that I was able to reflect on during those 17 hours like the countless men and women who invested countless hours as friends, brothers and sisters, and the many jobs that I held after the Air Force, and a major sin issue/addiction that had gripped my heart and almost destroyed my life, ministry and family.  It was an incredible 17 hours and it helped me close that chapter and focus on the chapter ahead.

While I do not recommend driving 17 hours straight, I do recommend taking time to reflect on what the Lord has done in your past to help reset your thinking and sharpen your focus for the future.  We are all vapor in this life – here for a moment and gone the next.  The question for me continues to be will I float in the air (stagnant and self-focused) or will I burn bright for a moment and then enter glory.

My answer: burn baby, burn!