boston for the weekend

a powerful picture of God's grace and mercy in our lives, particularly here, in Bryan's life. this is a classic photo for those who have husbands who become ordained pastors. i've seen pictures like this one before. but this one represents many years of  our prayer and hard work.

not long ago, bryan was happily teaching child psychology at FSU, (8 years total), and had just received tenure. 'total job security', woot woot, which made this 'lover of on-line shopping' very happy. i may have had a small budget, but i had a budget and after bryan received tenure, my budget was secure. all the same, bryan and i couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that we needed to change the direction of our lives, let go, and move on. we prayed. i protested. we prayed some more, took out a HELOC, and re-did the floors in our home. prayed some more. put a deck and fence in our back yard. prayed. looked at bigger homes in tallahassee. prayed. and finally gave in. God was calling us to seminary. goodbye american dream.  hello covenant seminary. we kissed security as we knew it, goodbye, and our lives have never been the same.

our first year in seminary, pastors from christ the king presbyterian church in cambridge (boston) came to share their vision to plant 20 churches by 2020 in the boston area. having grown up in the northeast we had a pretty good idea of what ministry there might look like. these pastors went on to describe the kind of ministry they had established in cambridge. the aim is to live alongside the people, enter into the culture, engage the culture, and get to know people. this is relational ministry. and it is what bryan and i are all about. we love people. all kinds of people, from all walks of life. our goal is not to change people but to be a part of their lives and if God wants to use us to show people Himself, if God wants to change people, then we pray 'use us'. thus began our questions to the Lord, 'are you calling us to Boston? are you daring to call us to church planting?' with much confirmation, despite our shortcomings, we're called. we accepted this call about a year ago and have since been seeking to raise the necessary funds to begin a church in the great city of boston, while bryan went through the tenuous process of ordination. you may have heard all this before, but after bryan's ordination service this weekend, its good to be reminded of just how far we've come, and how much God has provided every step of the calling he placed on our hearts years ago in tallahaseee.  bryan, this victory may rest with the Lord but you certainly have made yourself ready for the battle (proverbs 21:31), and mya and i are so impressed with you.  we love you.

 

uncle tim came to the see the good doctor get ordained. mya loves her uncle tim.



each time i tried to introduce someone to my brother they would stop me and say, 'this is your brother. i can tell.' hm. i didn't realize we looked that much alike.



brothers. i love this picture, from mya's tired, sweet face, to tim and bryan laughing. they love each other. i remember when i first told my brother about bryan...skepticism abounded. but now i think tim may love
bryan more than me.



reverend dr. bryan loney. and lisa. not pastor's wife, not pastor's wife who likes to curse. just lisa. thanks.



our future home:

 

view of boston's downtown from 'rosi':



beautiful arboretum in rosi, owned and maintained by harvard university:



my favorite house in rosi:



we had just toured a potential school for mya in beacon hill. this was on or way back to our car so we stopped for photos despite looking like tourists. plus, belly shot. 30 weeks!



bryan's tough city girls:



 

bye boston! hopefully, we'll be back in the spring, and we won't have to leave unless we want to. (http://ctkroslindale.org/)