We have been praying and waiting to get to this point in our mission for a very long time. Now that it is here things have become even busier than we imagined possible. It is so exciting but leaves me with very little time to write. That said, on this rainy afternoon I have had a little time to reflect on what has happened over the last several months and it feels like enough substantial events to fill up several years.

Since we acquired our land, we’ve shifted into overdrive! We’ve known from the beginning that the land is the most critical step for us in getting started. It gives us a place to base our plans, and it gives us some credibility that we are actually going to be able to pull this off. We haven’t doubted it, but it takes a little more substance to get others to see that it’s actually going to happen.

I naturally try to compartmentalize my life. It is an old habit; a way of self-protection meant to try to preserve pockets of the things I treasure the most, for better or for worse. But more than ever, I am personally being stretched and opened up by every single facet of all the things that I do. Everything seems to be interconnected now. I’ve been a pastor at Redeemer South for all of 3 months now, but it has been so beautiful to be able to care for the homeless at the core level, and on The Field’s Edge side to strive and plan towards living next door to one another. To be sure, not everyone who comes to live at our village will be a regular at Redeemer South, or even a Christian for that matter, but the privilege to help my friends at the soul level is incredible.

Trying to balance the two areas of my work, my family, and a church planting residency is a challenge, but I know that I am doing exactly what I’m meant to be doing. My passion to cultivate community and home for my vulnerable friends has been reinvigorated. It has been kicked up a notch because these are folks that we are really walking through life with. With the growing success of The Field’s Edge, now more than ever I am driven to get this village up and running.

We have had great press coverage over the last few weeks (Midland Reporter Telegram, CBS7,NewsWest9, and TEDxMidland) and as a result, a great response from the public. Call me a glutton for punishment but I read the comment sections on social media. I’m pretty accustomed to the typical negative responses. I used to think that way (or worse) myself, but what I have noticed is a growing trend of Midlanders who are supportive and encouraging. The fruits of the last 2 years of our labor are really growing and the public perception of homelessness appears to be shifting. There is still much work to be done, but I am so hopeful that one day in Midland, Texas, that before a person is viewed as homeless, he is viewed as a person.

A couple of really exciting things going on in the near future:

First this week, on May 16th we are having a reception for the West Texas Tiny Home Competition hosted by the American Institute of Architects-West Texas Chapter. You have the opportunity to come and see some incredible custom designed homes that will eventually be built on our recently acquired land!

Secondly the film Finding Home in Boomtown is set to premier next week at the Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, Colorado. There will be several other festivals over the summer and we are looking at an October premier here in Midland!

Guys I can’t tell you how incredible it has been to have a front row seat to all of this. Today as we celebrate the 4thbirthday of our daughter Truma, we are so thankful to be able to raise her and Titus in the middle of this beauty. It certainly wouldn’t be possible without your support and prayer. Thank you all for walking this journey with us. I hope that you are as excited about what is coming as we are!

Paradigm Shift