I Need You

Has anyone heard that song lately? The one that goes "I need You, oh I need You. Every hour I need You. My one defense, my righteousness, oh God how I need you." Than it goes on and there is a bridge that speaks to my heart as well saying "teach my song to rise to you, when temptation comes my way. And when I cannot stand I'll fall on you. Jesus, You're my hope and stay."   Jared and I started singing this song to Liam while I was still pregnant knowing through the whole process we would desperately need Him, and every day that hasn't changed. The Spirit brought me to tears yesterday as we sang that song in church, and the realization that I need Him now, I will need Him tomorrow, and the next day and the next. As we are in this season of the unknown and waiting on God it is so obvious that we need Him and I think the Lord was showing me that I will need Him regardless of the circumstance we are in.  If we set ourselves aside we can fall on Jesus to be our hope and provider and healer and deliverer and savior and the list goes on and on.  Through our discouragement and doubt He is constant and nothing that is happening is He oblivious to. It's a daily reminder to lay my worries and doubts at His feet and to know He already knows and is working. 

Enough about me :).  As for an update, CityWave had our first official gathering October 26 and it was fantastic!  We met at Jason and Jodi (lead pastor and his wife)'s house, had a short worship time, shared what we will be about, and than connected with others. There were several from the original team from Iowa, but than several Chicago natives that we got to meet and connect with some. There were 33 people there total for this first time and our prayer is that will increase. Jared and I invited a young single mom to the event this weekend that we had met when we were looking at apartments so,we are hopeful we will get to see her. The entire weekend was enjoyable though, filled with painting, job hunting and some great time with Jason and Jodi and other staff.  Jared is leaving tomorrow for a hiring event in a nearby suburb to Lombard for Aldi grocery store.  His hope is to get some face time with the hiring manager, and it would be fantastic if he came home with a job but I don't know if that is how it works.  

We are getting excited about Thanksgiving and the opportunity to get to see immediate and extended family!  It is coming fast!

Prayer points: Jared would get a job/that this hiring event would be fruitful. 

                    : we would be reaching out to the lost, hurting, and broken in the Oak Brook, Lombard area as a church. 

For His Name,

The Phillips

In our Saturday

AAs a follow up to our last post I wanted to explain a little about the meaning behind 'Saturday' and what we are doing while in this season of waiting on The Lord. 

First of all, to explain Saturday. During church last Sunday, they showed a video about the prayer ministry and in the video they talked about Easter.  Good Friday, everyone that knows or has heard about Jesus know what happens on Friday than Easter Sunday comes and we all celebrate that He is risen! But what about Saturday? No one talks about Saturday, but try to imagine what the disciples were thinking and feeling.  Sadness, confusion, maybe doubt that what they had been doing, who they had been following was all wasted time?  Maybe waiting for God to do something great?  Maybe not, but we have been reflecting on that a lot this week in feeling like we are waiting on The Lord.  We are definitely in a Saturday, not sure what God is doing in this time but we have gotten to a point where we know He is doing something great. He is faithful, He always has been, always will be.  We would be lying if we were to say there hasn't been a whisper of doubt and fear, but as we seek and cry out to our Jesus, His whisper is sweeter and more wonderful and oh so trustworthy.  We don't know what this next week will look like, or month or however long The Lord keeps us here, but we know He has kept us here for such a time as this. 

That being said, as we are waiting The Lord has provided so much, sustaining us emotionally, physically ans spiritually.  As I quit my job as a step of faith, we were wondering how paying bills was going to look.  Thankfully God provided a way to a job for Jared while we are still here in Iowa. Thank you to Mike Leaverton for helping us out. Even though it is WAY out of the box for Jared it is allowing him some great time with his dad, and he is learning a lot about carpentry :). (Maybe we will have a handyman in our house after all:). Love you darlin!).  As for me, I am completely embracing my role as mommy, homemaker, and errand runner.   It does have its daily challenges sometimes but more than anything it is wonderful to spend my days with our little man-no greater job in the world!  I am thrilled to get to watch him as he is developing. And now that he is pulling up and crawling around, he requires a lot more energy from this girl!  But it has freed me to go and spend time with my sister and nieces, be with my mom during treatments and resting at home and to start to feel semi organized in preparation of moving(reorganizing boxes and trying to find things I need since it is all stored in the basement).  All in all we are embracing the time with our families and waiting and listening for what The Lord will bring us next. 

Prayer points for you:

~a job for Jared in Lombard or surrounding areas

~our support/fundraising to be fruitful

~our families, lots going on with my mom and a new member is arriving soon to the Phillips side!  

Until next time!

Jess

Waiting on The Lord

Friends and Family,

We want to take this time to ask you to be praying with us in this "Saturday" in our life. By this we mean that we are in a time of waiting for The Father to move and open doors for us to move to Chicago. Right now we are waiting for a full time job for Jared, as well as a place to live. We have also been working towards raising both financial and prayer support as we embark on this new journey. Jared will be looking to start taking classes towards his Master's at Northern Theological Seminary in Lombard, IL as soon as we get moved and settled. While we are still here in Iowa, we are living with Jared's parents and Jared is working with his dad. That job alone has been a blessing from God because we were not sure how bills would be paid in September and now October. 

The Lord has placed on our hearts that we need to take this time to have our eyes open to what He is doing around us and to be thankful and joyful for how He is moving right here and now in our lives as well as the lives around us. As we mentioned earlier one of those movements of The Lord is that He has blessed Jared with a job! Praise Him who provides for our needs!

Another blessing that God has given us is Liam! Through this time of waiting and praying for a way to Chicago, Liam has changed so much! He is crawling, pulling himself up, eating baby food, giving high fives and that's only the beginning! Having Liam in our life has given us a glimpse of how much to Our Heavenly Father loves us. Liam brings so much joy and laughter into our lives and we are so thankful for that!

We also want to thank our families for opening their homes to the three of us for the last two months as we lived with Jess' parents the first 3 weeks of August. There is no way that we would be where we are at now without their generosity. It is hard for two families that are used to having their own space come together for a season and they have opened their homes and lives without hesitation! God has blessed us with wonderful families!

Please let us know if you want to know more about CityWave and what our journey entails in Chicago, we would love to share!   

Thank you all for your prayers

In Christ,

The Phillips (Jared, Jess and Liam)

Traveling on God's Road!

Wow we can't believe that it is already July! It is an exciting time in our lives as Liam has just hit the 5 month mark and is learning so many new things. He is starting to show a want to crawl and get around! We are excited for this new time in his life, but not wanting him to grow up too fast all at the same time! While he is growing and changing so is the path The Lord is leading us down.

The path The Lord has put us on has been crazy fast since November 2013. He has called us into a path of Children's Ministry Leadership in Chicago and a time of being part of the CityWave church plant team.  The last three months Jared has been interning at thebridge as a Children's Ministry Apprentice. The end of June marked a new step in our journey as we are now completely focused on CityWave tasks and preparing to move. We want to thank everyone who has been praying for us as well as ask for more prayers as our move becomes closer and closer.

God has opened the doors to raising support so we are starting down that road. The month of July will be full of support raising meetings and preparing the children's ministry vision and core values! We want to ask for prayers as we continue to trust God for provision for the next stage of our life in Chicago! 

As we go we are excited and scared all at the same time. The Lord has taken us on a roller coaster ride in life as we follow His lead. He continues to show up and provide when we need it and we continue to have faith in His future provision in a place to live and the salary to support our family!

Thank you for all of your prayers! We will continue to update as new things come in our journey! 

Wherever You Lead

-The Phillips