Goodby Kentucky, Hello Weston, Missouri!

I started this blog almost a year and a half ago in order to share with anyone who cared what the Voigts in Kentucky were up to. Well, The Voigts in Kentucky blog will soon come to a close. A couple of weeks ago I received my first appointment as a Provisional Elder in the United Methodist Church: Weston United Methodist Church in Weston, Missouri. I will be the Senior Pastor there much sooner than we anticipated. They have had an interim Pastor since December and he will leave the first weekend of June. They have invited us to come anytime after that. So, we will pack up on June 9th, begin the journey on June 10th and arrive in Weston on June 11th (Thursday). My first Sunday will be June 21st. Until that time we will set up house and take a little vacation. The parsonage is only four years old and is absolutely amazing! We feel incredibly blessed to live in such a gorgeous home. Weston UMC is a phenomenol church (and community) as well! They have grown from around 85 on Sunday to 120 in the last three or four years, many of those folks have joined via first time faith affirmations. They have a contemporary service and a traditional service, which I am really looking forward to. Kim and I are also excited to be a part of a small community, which will be a new experience for the both of us. We were really hoping for a smaller church where we could get to know people really well and feel that Weston will give us that opportunity. We also feel blessed to be so close to both of our families again since we've been away for five years now. There are many other great things I could share about the community of Weston and our new journey but I think I can sum it up with "we're excited"! We will miss our friends here in Kentucky a great deal and look forward to staying in touch with them as we begin a new family transition: Voigts in Weston:)

And Now We Wait . . .

The family made a quick trip to Missouri this weekend. We left on Saturday for Springfield. Unfortunately we hit the aftermath of the ice/snow storm an hour after we hit St. Louis. So it took us 4 hours to travel 20 miles! This pretty much squelched all of the plans we had in Springfield for that night. We pulled into the Potts' crib in Springfield around 9pm (10 pm our time). After visiting a while we hit the hay. The next morning we went to Schweitzer for Sunday School and then missed church because our class had lunch at 11am. After visiting with that group, saying "Hi" to Kim's old gymnastics crew and paying homage at Bass Pro we took off for Columbia. Ready for the really funny part? After 3 hours we rolled into our hotel in Columbia only to realize I left my suit for my 3 hour commissioning interview in the closet at the Potts'! It was 9pm and I had no suit and no shirt! So, I called Lori from Schweitzer who is on the Board of Ordained Ministry that I was interviewing with. Kim had offered to drive back to Springfield and back that night to get the suit. Lori said to run to Wal-Mart and buy a pair of pants and a shirt- so that's what we did at about 9:30pm. I didn't have a jacket, but I actually liked the pants and shirt- go Wal-Mart:) My interview the next morning went really well. I was in and out of the four different interview teams pretty quickly and felt everyone was very kind and supportive. After the interview the family loaded up and headed back to Kentucky. About 30 minutes after we walked in the door I received a call that I had been accepted as a provisional Elder and would be commissioned at Annual Conference in June! So, now we wait for the next call! The next call will be our placement in Missouri. Please pray for our family as we wait patiently to find out where we will live in three months:)

Kentucky black out!

So I went through Louisville yesterday after I dropped Kim off at the airport; what a mess! I though where we lived was bad. There was a tree blocking a road in one area. I had to drive to four different gas stations to find a place that was open. It almost looked worse than Springfield a few years ago. Almost everything in downtown Louisville was shut down too. Alexis and I tried to go to several museums, but the only thing open was the Louisville Slugger Museum and factory. They were in the process of making Ken Griffey, Jr's bats for pre-season- that was cool! We have been without power for 2 1/2 days now. They say that it may be another 7 days before many folks get power again. I'm going to assume they are talking about someone else and that we aren't counted among the "many".

Christmas for Christians??

As I get older there are some elements of Christmas that are well focused and some that are increasingly bothersome (and I don't throw out the word bothersome everyday). Gift giving does promote an unselfish and giving aspect that I think is important. It would seem to correlate with the wise men and their gifts, even though they gave gifts to Jesus and didn't receive a tangible gift back. I think I struggle with the Americanization of Christmas, especially as it leads to consumerism. It does create a flux in the buyers market unlike any other time of the year. So much so that many business' count on the flux in order to survive. Kim just text'd me to share her current disdain for the season for the first time ever. Why? Because she has been on a big, brown truck that delivers gifts to many since after Thanksgiving week. It has put a lot more money in our pockets, but she is exhausted and ready to hibernate. I think somehow, for Christians, Christmas needs to change. It should somehow celebrate the birth of the Messiah and reflect the values and goals the Christ child has for us all. So, any ideas as to what that might look like for a Christian community? Christmas Eve service is great, but its more like the anasthetic for a post-Christian society. Just about everyone goes and walks out feeling like they did their duty for the year. I think we need something that creates community interaction and demonstrates thankfulness and worship. Maybe someone is already doing something like this?? What is it:)??

Jim's Christmas List:)

Here is what I want for Christmas. This is really just for Kim, but everyone else feel free to contribute anyway you'd like:)

Jim’s Christmas List

Fishing Kayak (used or new)

Car Top Rack for a Malibu Max 2005 (used or new)

Frisbee Disk (Driver or Midrange)

0 or 10 degree mummy style sleeping bag

Baseball Cap

Cool stocking cap

Ultra light camping stove

Bait casting reel

Waterproof Outdoor Medkit

2 Way Radios

Coffee Press (larger than single serving)

Backpacking Water Purifier

Gospel Commentary

Wedding Band (lost during ’07 ice storm)

Under $10

Fly Line tippet (7x, 6x, 3x)

Trout flies (midges, scuds, dries)

Gift Cards

Amazon.com

Cabelas

Bass Pro

Dick’s Sporting Goods

Tithing again

Tithing is something that I learned very early in my life and have practiced pretty regularly (until recently anyways). I actually learned it in college while going through a membership class in a Presbyterian church. They spent quite a bit of time talking about it and its importance- but I guess I forgot. When we moved to Kentucky I decided that we couldn't afford to tithe. After all, we are taking out government loans just to survive. This made quite a bit of sense. There were some months where I wasn't even sure if we could pay the bills! But low and behold, all the bills have been paid and continue to be paid. We have received blessing through scholarships, extra jobs, gifts from friends and family and yes, loans (mostly no interest to low interest). And the more the provision comes, the more conviction (guilt really) I feel. So, we have decided to begin tithing again based on the income of our jobs (not our loans). Ultimately, I have learned two things:

1) If the church (and other organizations, but primarily the church) is about promoting the gospel, doing good, helping, providing and supporting- why would I not want that organization to have my finances, especially in a time of recession more than any other. I also benefit from this community and have given very little to it. Even though it will be very little, I need to financially support the structure because the structure supports the community (others, Nicholasville, our family, etc.)
2) It's about faith. As far as I can tell, the budget still does not balance out. It doesn't appear that the funds coming in will match the funds going out, especially now that we are tithing, but somehow it always does.

We do continue to cut back in many ways as a family, but this has been for our good. It has helped us realize that we need far less than what we want. Most recently I have learned this about food. For some reason we have, as Americans, this intense fear of not having a large quantity of high quality, eclectic food. Its crazy how much we can spend on food and we often justify because it has a dual purpose: entertainment. But that's going to have to be another blog:)

Family Camp

Kim, Alexis and I attended a family camp this weekend. It was at Aldersgate United Methodist Camp out in the Kentucky mountains (really hills). It was a gorgeous area between four or five beautiful, tree covered hills. We got to hang out with all of our friends from Sunday School and church (Nicholasville UMC). I played some disc golf, flag football and basketball- which is why walking is difficult today. We all played group games, sat around a camp fire and worshiped together. Shawn M. did a three series lesson on Wesley's three simple rules (do no harm, do good, grow with God). All in all it was a great weekend. Now I need to write four papers, though:(

Camping at Cumberland Falls, Kentucky

Alexis and I took a trip to Cumberland Falls, Kentucky last week. We went three days and two nights to a beautiful area. The camp site was decent, but for being a major state park it could have been a little nicer. It makes me appreciate Missouri camping areas all the more. There were a ton of great hikes in the area. We did one to Eagle Falls and it was the best. A lot of rock climbing, hills and scenic opportunities. We attempted to get to Dog Slaughter Falls but we got on the path too early. We jumped on the 4.4 mile path which ended at the 1.5 mile path. Alexis and I turned around at about mile 3 and headed back to the car. We saw several snakes and Alexis even spotted the first one right off of the trail. She thought they were pretty cool! We found an awesome cove on Lake Laurel that we hung floated on for a few hours and that was the extent of the trip. If you want to check out our pictures on Facebook follow this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=120976&l=0a4c6&id=527555092
I went on a fly fishing float trip last week as well and caught a ton of fish. You can see some of those pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=119952&l=d1637&id=527555092
There will definitely be more trips in the future!

Job Transition

Kim starts a new job this week. She resigned from "Kid's Place" a couple of weeks ago and worked her last day on Friday. On Tuesday she will start with UPS. The "Kid's Place" job was difficult for a lot of reasons; she was expected to work four different areas by herself, she was away from Alexis all day, she occasionally had to work weekends, and the list goes on and on. She will work from around 4am-9am, Monday through Friday at UPS. It's a tough time commitment but it will allow her to be home most of the time with Alexis which means we can cut out paid childcare from the mornings. She is going to also pick up a few more hours at the gym that she coaches at on a very slim basis right now. So, she will work less hours but we will save money. Did I also mention that UPS offers full and incredible benefits after 60 days? Theirs are actually better than Starbucks! So, that's what's up. As a side note, I went on my first Kentucky trout fishing trip last week. Someone at church was nice enough to let a friend and I borrow his canoe on a short term basis. We canoed all the way up the Dix River for about two hours and fished for trout. It was an awesome trip and fish were caught. You can check out some of my trip pictures at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=112655&l=2fc8d&id=527555092

My first piggy-tails!

Since I'm Mr. Mom now, I get Alexis ready for preschool in the mornings (however, Kim still sets her clothes out because of my inability to match colors up properly-I blame the color blindness on my Dad). Kim has recently told me that merely combing Alexis' hair doesn't get the job done. So today I did my first piggy-tails- and I'm quite proud of them. They aren't perfect, but they are close, right? So the back of her head looks like a big "S", maybe she'll be a trend setter at school because of it?

Alexis and Kim in the snow!

So we lived through the huge mideast snow storm! It really wasn't too bad here. I think we received four to six inches but most of it melted off in a few days. Just a little bit north of here they really got hammered- up to a foot of snow! Well, around here that is really getting hammered. Alexis and Kim took advantage of the snow yesterday before it all melted. I uploaded a few of the pics, but to check them all out you can go to this site: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=98238&l=12ef9&id=527555092
Alexis has a bad cough today. Probably a combination of beginning school last week (new kids, new germs) and playing in the snow yesterday. We were supposed to go to Kim's work (Kid's Place) today and Alexis was going to play while I studied, but we decided she should stay home and rest since she has school tomorrow. Alexis is pretty bummed! Maybe next week:)

Alexis' first day at preschool!

Today was Alexis' first day at a preschool in Wilmore! She will be in class most afternoons during the week. Kim and I are incredibly happy that she will have an opportunity to learn and grow with other children. Our little girl is a social butterfly and definitely needs "friend time". However, the biggest thing that she did today was ride the bus home for the very first time! She did a great job and loved her time on the bus. We have a couple gals in the area who watch children in their homes for affordable hourly amounts. So, after two months we finally have Alexis locked into a schedule. Kim's first day of work was Tuesday and she is off to a great start. She really likes the people she works with and is naturally great at anything involving children. She will also be working a night or two at a gymnastics place in Lexington. She had a great night tonight with a class of very talented gymnasts. TWO MONTHS- that's how long we have lived in vagueness and chaos. However, it appears our waves have subsided and we can hopefully live on the beach for a while. Granted it is the part of the beach for poor folks- but we're just happy to be on the sand and out of the water!

Kim has a job!

We knew it was only a matter of time. Kim was offered a full-time position with Kid's Place in Lexington, Kentucky. She will be the front desk supervisor beginning next Tuesday. She is getting ready to go in today to go over the benefits program they offer. It's right next to a big Gold's Gym and she has been told that she will have a membership there as a part of her benefits. So, in three months she will be "Body Builder Kim", or maybe not. She has also taken a part-time job at Legacy Gymnastics in Lexington. She will work there a couple of nights a week and Alexis' classes will be 1/2 off that way. It's a huge gym! So all of this couldn't have come a moment sooner. If she didn't get a position in the next two weeks we were looking at a very large Federal loan- that's no good. Alexis went to preschool screening on Monday. It's in Wilmore and its supposed to be fabulous (of course, everyone knows that Jesus lives in Asbury's backyard). It's a public preschool for mostly poor folks like us, so it will be a lot of seminary kids and local kids. We will find out shortly if she has been accepted, which will be very necessary now that Kim has a job. So, we are taking a deep sigh and looking forward to a schedule.

Asbury Chapels are Amazing!

I have attended chapel now, twice a week for two weeks in a row. Wasn't really my plan when I started classes but I just can't help myself. The worshiping community here is amazing! There are three things that make chapel amazing:
1) The people attending- there is such a feeling of awe when you come into worship with hundreds of people who have a heart and a thirst for God. You can feel hearts flowing from voices when they open their mouths. This could be a wrong assumption, but most of the individuals there are singing out of a fullness as opposed of an emptiness. The campus community is well known for that. And even those that are there and empty are looking for a fullness; that's why they are there.
2) Worship style- they really do blended worship well. It doesn't feel pieced together or disjointed. They have a guy on a piano who plays hymns and modern songs incredibly well! He composes music so well that most of the time you can't tell what's a hymn and whats a modern piece. The songs flow very well, the musician sings and plays well.
3) Speakers and Chapel Pastor- We had an incredible speaker today who spoke about prayer and her connection to the Holy Spirit. Tuesday we had a guy who was local who spoke about Mary and her love of Jesus. Everyone they bring in has more of a practical spiritual message as opposed to a dry theological message. And then there is the Chapel Director- JD Walt. He is a very soft spoken man who seems to have a real spiritual sense to him. Whenever he preaches he shows a great deal of insight and faith. Overall, the the speakers are always deep in knowledge and faith encouraging.
Well, now I'm going to go play with Alexis. Our classes were canceled for the afternoon because of the ice storm. A little bit of play time and a whole lot of reading- fun, fun!

Blaughhh!

So, I guess I'm sick. I don't remember being sick much until I moved to Springfield. Then I started developing headaches and having days where I just feel crappy. I don't know if it's part of getting older, stress or allergy changes? Probably all of those things. I'm not bouncing back well from working the weekend closing shifts at Starbucks. When I go to bed after 1am I generally don't bounce back well. This morning I woke up with a headache and have had one most of the day along with a lot of coughing. It is interesting that the temperature shot up about 16 degrees today, too. Seems like whenever we have big temperature jumps my head aches. I'll be better tomorrow after a full nights sleep. Speaking of blaughhh, Kim wasn't offered the position that she interviewed for three times. We are both pretty bummed. She was offered a position with another company here in Nicholasville, unfortunately it starts out as part-time and not a whole lot of money. She interviews with a placement agency tomorrow morning for positions that guaranty a little more money than what she was offered with the other company. So, the saga continues. We all went to a $1.50 movie tonight to break free of the homestead. We saw the VeggieTales- The Pirates that do Nothing. It was pretty good- I enjoyed it, maybe you will too?

D-Day over, but not over

Well, it's been a long day. It didn't help that I got to bed late. I closed at Starbucks and got home around 12:30pm. Then if took me until 2am to fall asleep. And in my anxiousness for the day I woke up two or three times until I finally got up around 8am. My classes were great, though! I was very impressed with my professors. My "Pastoral Crisis and Intervention" class was like listening to a heart wrenching sermon for over an hour! He used several different stories, songs and videos that ripped your heart out for those who have experienced loss in their lives- very powerful and very well done. Once again, at Asbury there is a continual focus to make what you learn ministry applicable from the very get-go! So, that was my day. Kim had a good interview and was told that she would receive an offer or not on Friday. So, once again, we wait. She was told that they now have another store that has an assistant manager opening, so now they need three. Kim was very nervous about the interview and is relieved that it's over. As for Alexis, school was canceled today because of snow and ice. So, maybe that'll happen tomorrow. Thank you for everyone who has been praying for us- we're getting closer!

D-Day for the Voigts

A lot happens for us this Tuesday. I start classes at Asbury, Kim has her third interview with Kroger for an Assistant Manager Position and we turn in some initial paperwork for Alexis to hopefully attend Nicholasville Preschool. So we would appreciate any prayer support we can get for Tuesday the 12th. I got my first taste of what a slammed Starbucks tastes like yesterday. I worked an 8 1/2 hour shift and it only calmed down in the last 30 minutes. It was nutso! So, if you live in Nicholasville and ordered a tall, decaf, skinny, cinnamon dolce latte and received a venti, triple, breve (also known as 1/2 and 1/2) mocha then I apologize that you gained 5 pounds and didn't fall asleep until the sun came up.

Church Planters Event with the Wesleyans

The first day of the Wesleyan church planters event was pretty good today. They shared a lot of helpful books, websites and resources. All of the presenters today were very intense. Not so much a serious intenseness as much as a hyper intenseness. At times they were serious intense, but mostly hyper- but good presenters all the same. It was good to hang out with my Wesleyan (denomination) brothers and sisters. The Wesleyans seem to be pretty focused church planters. I would have never known that because I don't know of many Wesleyan churches in Missouri. I'm sure they are there, I just don't know of many of them. I go back tomorrow to close it out. I'll have to list all the resources and most important statements over the weekend sometime. On a family note, Kim and Alexis worked on Valentines today. Evidently Alexis left the kitchen for a few minutes while Kim was doing something. Kim found her in the living room cutting her hair with a pair of scissors they used on the Valentines- not a happy mommy. I guess part of their plans tomorrow include some time at a hair salon to trim up- since Alexis focused her cutting focus only on one side.

Crazy Storms!

Family and friends have been checking in on us because of the crazy storm activity here in Kentucky. We had an actual squall come through here yesterday along with a few tornadoes. It did a lot of destruction but fortunately we didn't incur any loss in Nicholasville. We have more high winds moving through tonight and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees this afternoon. So, no more 65 degree days:( We went to an indoor swimming pool today so Alexis could utilize her built in fins and gills. She is a swimming machine- 2 1/2 hours straight. Kim and I are pretty exhausted tonight and looking forward to a full night of sleep. Kim has the sniffles tonight and is starting to feel a bit under the weather. Hopefully just a short term deal. Tomorrow I start a two day church planting seminar with the Wesleyan church. Hey, I'm not picky- any information is good information. I'm sure I'll have more to share on it over the weekend.

Newport Aquarium Visit

Last week we took a great trip to Newport Aquarium- one hour away from Nicholasville, right outside of Cincinnati Ohio. I uploaded the pictures on Facebook. Here is a link that will allow anyone to check out our pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=90097&l=060ff&id=527555092