This season of my life has been focused on planning for a
tea house I am opening up soon. When I first got going on this project I didn't
know what all would be involved, I just knew that God had given me a passion
for the people of Atlanta and a dream for putting that passion into action.
Little did I know, this thing that I have such a passion for (pouring into
people) would require me to first do some things I despise.

Right now I am in my least favorite part of the process, the
planning stage. If you would have asked me a few months ago to write out a
business plan I probably would have given you a paragraph. I am not at all
detail oriented but more of a big picture kind of guy and writing out this
several page plan has been torture for the past week or so... and there is still
a good bit more planning I have to do. 

Not only is this stage very tedious, but it is also quite
frustrating due to the lack of fruit I am able to see. I don't see people
coming to know Christ, I don't see lives transforming, I don't see injustice
being fought and to be honest I am having a hard time with it. My personality
type is one that thrives on being productive and seeing fruit and it wears on
me when I don't see that.

On top of that, my support account (from which I get my
paycheck. You can donate by clicking on the "Support Me" link on the left) just
hit the negative numbers. Then there is Gainesville, the town I'm living in
now. I like to call it "Gaines-vegas, the city that ALWAYS sleeps." It takes 30
minutes to get anywhere thanks to the overwhelming number of people over 95
behind the wheel. Every time I ride my bike to my friend's house or the grocery
store I fear for my life due to the lack of people willing to share the road
with me. I'm living in an almost empty house with the exception of  my roommate who just moved in. There is
no A/C or heat or shower and the basement scares the dickens out of me.

But its times like these that I have to keep going. I have
to trust that the Father has plans for multiplying my efforts. I know that when
this is all done that he will be able to do so much more through me and I will
have so much grater influence on the people of Atlanta. He continually reminds
me of the people he has broken my heart for who have lived their entire lives
in way harder situations than I am in. He is showing me that even though I am
not on the front lines right now I am still bringing his kingdom. As Jon Forman
sings, "For these seeds to give birth to life, first they must die."