Gotcha!!!!

Well, we've officially reached the end of a very busy week of packing, good-byes, hellos, traveling, exploring, and trying to get settled into our "new normal." While I'm still processing a lot of the experiences, dreams, and emotions, here are some of the initial thoughts.

As we were packing and getting ready to leave Michigan, I couldn't help but think back to almost exactly two years before when I was packing and getting ready to leave Pittsburgh. These were two very similar experiences, but they felt very different to me. I've been trying to process why.

When I was leaving Pittsburgh, I certainly was very sad to leave my family, church, friends, and the only home I had ever known. By saying, "Yes," to Brad, I was saying, "No," to Pittsburgh and all that it held. And while the pain of the, "No," was very significant, the joy of the, "Yes," was exciting, delightful, and certainly tangible. All of the long-distance dating was VERY old at that point and the thought of being able to stay with Brad, to live with him and do life with him was certainly a dream come true. It was really easy to see that, feel that, and touch that and it made the letting go a little easier.

With this move, we are again saying, "Yes," and, "No." Only this time, the, "No," is a lot more tangible than the, "Yes." We are confident that God has spoken to us and is leading us to start a church planting network in Philadelphia and with that, "Yes!" we feel great excitement and dreams building in our hearts. Sometimes, though, it's hard to hold on to that dream, when all we can feel is the pain of leaving so many people and places that we love so dearly behind. When the "Yes," is a bit more intangible, it can be harder to let go.

I guess that's why the end of this past week was so significant for me. Almost immediately upon arriving in Pittsburgh, we left again to visit my sister in DC and then to travel to Philly as a family and scope out the city for a few days. As we were entering the city, I was busy navigating for Brad, trying to look for road signs in the midst of six lanes of congested traffic.

Somewhere in the middle of this, however, I paused, looked out the window, and felt my heart leap inside my chest. Perhaps it was seeing the city skyline. Perhaps it was the sun peeking through the clouds. Perhaps it was the fact that we just passed a Target right in the city limits. :-) Whatever the case, it was a definite excitement burst in my heart. I wasn't even looking for it, but I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

I would be lying if I said that over the next 48 hours I never had moments of feeling fear, anxiety, tension, uncertainty, or stress. These were certainly present and I'm sure it won't be the last time that I feel these over the next few months. Underneath it all, however, there was this underlying peace, this inexplicable confirmation to embrace the, "Yes."

I've identified with a picture of a trapeze artist who has just leapt off the platform to be caught by their partner. I've read that when the "catcher" successfully grabs on to the "flyer" sometimes the catcher will shout out, "Gotcha!" to their partner. This lets the flyer know that the catcher has a good grip and that the flyer can now let go of the bar.

At the end of several months of leaping off a secure platform into the arena of the unknown, this trip to Philadelphia was the "Gotcha!" at the peak of the leap. God was letting me know that He did have me in His grasp and that I could let go of the security of what we were leaving behind. Even in the midst of hanging at the end of a wild swing on a trapeze, there's nowhere more secure than in the grip of the hands of our Father.

I'll probably have to re-read this several times in the months ahead, but in the meantime, I'm going to try and make an intentional choice to enjoy the ride as a "flyer," and rest in the grasp of my Catcher.

Leach Family 411

So I'm ashamed of how long it's been since I've written. I made it a New Year's Goal to try and write once a week, but I've already fallen behind in that. :-( Because there's been a lot of changes in the last few months, however, I thought I'd give a quick update.

• Baby - Gabriella has officially turned 1/2. We used the day as an opportunity to discuss integers and rational numbers. I think she caught on, though she started asking some questions about irrational numbers and I told her we'd wait until she was at least 5/6 to discuss those. The imaginary number can get a little confusing. :-) It truly has been amazing to me to see how much I'm enjoying each new phase more than the last. Often I can actually see her learning something new. It's such a fresh, new perspective on life to see someone trying something and doing something for the very first time. It's really made me appreciate again the unique diversity and beauty of our world, things that are so easy to take for granted. I'll post some new pictures below.
• Holidays - We were able to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas with family and friends. We got to spend some time in Tampa with Brad's family and then enjoy a Pittsburgh Thanksgiving with my family. For Christmas, Brad took me to Bronners CHRISTmas Wonderland for the first time and I hope it's a tradition that we can continue as a family for a while. It truly made me happy making Christmas memories as our new expanded family. :-) Gabby was blessed with many wonderful gifts from Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles and she's definitely enjoying playing with them now (although she seemed to enjoy the wrapping paper the most).
• Philly Project - God has been doing some amazing work in the hearts of both Brad and me over these past few months. It's ultimately resulted in us stepping out in obedience to leave Detroit and plant a new church in Philadelphia, PA. You can read about the initial process of making the decision to plant a church here on Brad's blog. And you can read about the way God led us to Philly here on his blog. Honestly, more than any end result, I'm so grateful for the way that God used it as an opportunity to bring us closer to Him and to each other. It was really the first major decision that we made together as a married couple and we learned a lot about how God has spoken to us individually in the past and how He's speaking to us as a married couple. I'm so grateful and humbled that we serve a God who actually speaks to us and guides us. In the months since, I can honestly say that God has been growing the seed of faith and excitement that He first planted several months ago. I never imagined planting a church, but the more that I've learned, studied, and felt God planting a new dream in my heart, the more excited I've been. It's definitely bittersweet to leave a home, church, and family that we love, but we are filled with hope for the next chapter that God is bringing.
• Next Steps - So that brings us to the specifics and logistics of now. I've noticed several comments on FB that have been wondering what I'm talking about when I discuss packing and moving. Yesterday was our last official Sunday at COTK, although I'm sure there will be visits in the future. :-) Brad preached such a meaningful message and you can read the highlights here. We will spend our 2 year wedding anniversary tomorrow packing up the last boxes, cleaning the house, and loading the moving truck. We will head to Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning and unpack there as we will be staying with my mom and dad for a few months. Allison Park Church is going to be partnering with us to launch a church planting movement in the city of Philadelphia. You can read more about Pastor Jeff's thoughts here and here. It is then our goal to be in Philly by June 2010.
• Prayer Requests - I have heard so much encouragement and prayers from so many people as they've found out. To each of you, I truly am grateful and thank you so much for all your kind words. We would continue to covet your prayers. Specifically, our house is on the market at a time when it is not the most ideal timing to sell a house. We're praying that God would help it sell to the right person in His perfect timing and that He'd give us the patience, faith, and strength to trust Him in the meantime and glorify Him throughout the process. We'd also ask for prayers as we'll be making some major decisions in the upcoming months as far as location, housing, team building, financing, etc. We really trust that God will continue to lead us and want to remain soft and open to hearing the Holy Spirit each step of the way.

I guess the length of this post is evidence of what happens when you don't blog in 3 months. Sorry about that. :-( Hope to be better in 2010! You can also follow on Twitter if you wish at LeahLeach. I seem to be able to manage 140 characters a little better. :-)