A Family Vision Becomes A Reality
We are 4 days away from experiencing the reality of the vision God began depositng in my heart and Shauna's heart in November 2008. We have dreamed big. We have experienced fear at times. We have walked our kids through this major transition. We have seen God answer prayers about Elijah's school, our home, relationships, friends, and many other things.
We've also had hundreds of people walking through this with us in tangible ways. Our friends and family have been a part of our lives during this season more than any other in our lives (even though we've never been further from most of them). Our kids are on board with the mission of our lives here. Our marriage is as strong as its ever been. I don't believe these things would be true if people weren't with us (prayer, encouragement, and support).
Two primary things I want to say to our friends and family:
1)The 5 of us thank you more than we could ever express in words
2)Please be a part of this with us now more than ever...we need you!
Here are 10 ways to pray for our family going into the Grand Opening of Epic Church:
1)Pray for protection over our home, our marriage, and our kids
2)Pray for favor regarding Shauna's dreams for her life...it's a big deal to me to support her pursuing her dreams, even as she supports me pursuing the start of Epic
3)Pray for favor regarding the many relationships our family is invested in here in San Francisco
4)Pray for balance in life: date nights, family time, church life
5)Pray for that 15 years from now (when they're adults), our boys would thank us for making the decision to launch Epic Church in 2011
6)Pray for us to lead well- We desire to lead our kids, our staff, the servant leaders at Epic, and our congregation- we need wisdom, clarity of mind, focus, discernment
7)Pray for us to live out what we're teaching our church to live out
8)Pray for long-term sustainability for our church
9)Pray for our love of San Francisco to grow- we love living here and want to see a movement happen in our city
10)Pray that we would sense God's joy this weekend as we launch Epic Church...that He would be pleased and pour out His blessing on our church!
We are forever grateful...Thanks for all you've done so far...let's move forward together.
Much love,
Ben, Shauna, Elijah, Sam, & Asher