New York, Ho!

At the Magic Kingdom
(Disclaimer: The photos in this post have no relation whatsoever to the written content. They are just there to give you something to look at.)

Yes, it's true! Since the last time I blogged (a lapse due to terrible internet service, a very active baby, and a good dose of laziness), the Myers have finally decided to return to New York. On April 30th, we will embark on our return journey, Carrie and Deise by Jet Blue; Sophie, Daniel and Ryan by Toyota Camry; and all of our stuff by a 6x12 ft trailer, driven by the intrepid Jeremy Reynolds, a friend who lives here in Jax, but works as a tugboat engineer in New York City. And by May 1st pm, we should all be more or less comfortably and chaotically installed in our apartment in Astoria, upstairs from our good friends Darcy and Cris.

We can't wait! In the meantime, we are frenetically packing, finishing up homeschooling for the year, and divesting ourselves of all the extra stuff we have collected to fill our 2,800 square foot house. After all, we will be squeezing all five of us into 800 sq feet - and with only one bathroom! Of course, we can't help returning with more than we left with, Deise being the most important addition, and one that comes with a lot of accessories.

What prompted this momentous decision, you ask? It has been coming on for a while now. (I can hear the chorus of our New York friends saying, "IT'S ABOUT TIME.") Ryan has been working through the question of calling for years, ever since our departure from City Church of Honolulu. Although he has long felt called to be a pastor, the questions of where, and to whom, have not been as clear. When we visited New York at Thanksgiving, Ryan rediscovered his love for the city, and for the people of the city - the diversity of culture, ethnicity, and experience. And it was not until a few weeks ago that he articulated to himself that the one place he has ever felt directly called to is New York City.

Some events here in Jacksonville contributed to our decision, as well. In October of last year, Ryan left the staff of our church, Beaches Vineyard, where he had been working part time for over a year. Although he had hoped to work into a full-time position, there did not seem to be a need for a fifth pastor on staff. That was one closed door. Then, early in 2012, Ryan was a finalist for a position at a church here in town. Although it would have been a culturally difficult fit for us (extremely wealthy, white, conservative congregation), God seemed to be pointing us in that direction. When the church went with another candidate, that door closed as well.

During the same time Ryan was pursuing the church job, we were also seriously praying about church planting, whether here in Jax, or in New York. Our Monday night home group has grown in the past year to a gathering of over a dozen people -- sometimes as many as twenty -- and some of the regulars had begun thinking of our group as their primary church. A few even tithed to us. So growing this group into a church was a viable option.

In the end, God seemed to confirm for Ryan that his heart was, and is, in New York. (For my part, my sister is expecting a baby in August, and I have felt the pull of my nephew-to-be very strongly!) Since that confirmation, things have begun to move very quickly. God has opened up our old apartment for us, and our landlord has graciously given us a price that we think we can manage while we hunt for employment. Friends here have offered to drive our things up, at no charge to us. We can sense God going before us, and we look with excitement to days ahead.

We are returning to Astoria during a time of vibrant church planting. There are several new plants that we know of, and it is likely that we will join one of them for a season while we go through the church planters assessment process with the Vineyard.

As we prepare to leave, we are inexpressibly grateful to our church family here, both at the Beaches Vineyard and in our home group. Beaches Vineyard has provided us with training in prayer and ministry that we could not have imagined. The Vineyard pastors, especially Pastor Lee and Pastor Byron, have given Ryan invaluable opportunities to preach, teach and learn, and to receive healing. My Wednesday morning intercessory prayer group has covered us with prayer and spoiled us with gourmet meals when Deise was born. And thanks to the Vineyard, Ryan will return to New York as both a licensed and ordained pastor! Pastor Lee licensed Ryan in December so he could perform a wedding for friends, and will ordain him at our going away party this Saturday.

Dad and Deise.
(This is Ryan's "Leonardo DiCaprio" cut, given to him by his friend Vaughn the day before Ryan performed Vaughn's wedding. I guess that does make this picture relevant to this post, in sort of a strained way.)

As for our home group, we have built a community around shared meals, prayer and worship, as well as time spent together during the week. Our kids have lightsaber duels with the Jones and Perry boys; Patsy and Jerry give us eggs from their chickens and teach us how to clean windows with lemon-lime vodka; Mimi and Ken come by on Tuesday mornings to help us learn about healing prayer. We will miss all our friends deeply.

Deise
(She is crawling and standing on her own now, and I suppose we have a picture of that somewhere. But this is the best we could do for now.)

In this time of transition, we are blessed to have friends such as you, and we continue to rely on your prayers as we move into this season of our lives, such a strange and joyful mixture of the old and the new. We are planning to take advantage of Darcy's superior internet service at the new house, so hopefully blogs will be more forthcoming once we get somewhat settled in. We love you and look forward to hearing how God is moving in your lives, as well.

Blessings and love,
Carrie, Ryan, Sophie, Daniel and Deise