A lot has been happening in the life of Zion Church since the fire destroyed the building last June. It’s encouraging for me to see new life rising from the ashes (the potential metaphors abound) because I was particularly troubled by this loss. To this day, when I hear sirens zooming down 9th Street I pause and wait for them to stop in the Zion parking lot. Just the other day Livia asked, “Why you frowding [frowning], Mom?” and I realized that sirens now have power to transport me back to images of black smoke and emergency vehicles and the beginnings of red flames licking at my beloved church. It’s amazing how such memories can stick with you.

Yet, today I am encouraged because why? Because now we are going to see two churches existing where only one did before. Tobey Brockman, our associate pastor, is partnering with Adam Odell, our youth pastor, to start a new church (in the PCA we call it church “planting”) in Zion’s old location. Zion has actually purchased property several miles south–and we’ll hold our first worship service there on December 2. Less than six months after a fire took our lovely old building, and God has provided a new place for worship. Pretty phenomenal, if you ask me. The past six months have been filled with a lot of beseeching (for wisdom from the Lord) and thanksgiving (for all that we have). Though I haven’t particularly enjoyed the past several months of church homelessness and have handled it less than gracefully at times, I am incredibly proud of the leadership of my church. Stu and Tobey have used every opportunity to thank God for His goodness in the midst of hardship, and they have refocused the church body, over and over, to the ultimate sacrifice paid by Jesus for our sins. I believe their attitudes not only glorify God, but also encourage the rest of us to follow suit.

For all two of you who are still reading this lengthy blog post, what’s next for the Tredways? The church plant. When we moved back here, after our sojourn in St. Louis, we decided to live in community with our church. We drove down every single street in the neighborhood, eyeballing every place for rent to see if it passed the “would Rebecca feel safe here?” test. Eventually we bought a house near the church. Suffice to say, we are invested in the neighborhood; we want to stay involved here. Beyond this paltry explanation there is much to say about “leaving” the church I’ve grown up in, the body that has nurtured us to adulthood, the pastor who has cared for me from young teen to young mom. A decision like this doesn’t come lightly. Perhaps I’ll blog more about it in the future.

But for now, there is much excitement. Let’s see what God has in store for Lincoln, Nebraska.

Trip down memory lane… Livia’s baptism.