**By Bret
My allowance is gone until Friday. That means I can’t really get in my office. If you are wondering about whether North Texas office spaces charge an admission fee, its all a matter of perspective. When your office is the booth near the plug (around the corner in the prep area) at Denny’s, then yes, there is a per visit fee for office usage. While I’m out of cash, I’m still okay thanks to the grand opening event held whenever a new Chick-fil-A opens (like the one in Frisco that I attended in November) I have (er...had) 52 coupons for a free #1 combo...which comes with free refills on, you guessed it, coffee. So today I write this update from my temporary perch at the Burleson Chick-Fil-A.
We’ve created an office in our bedroom at home and believe or not the wellsbrothers do a pretty good job not disturbing Daddy when he’s “at work.” But there is very little separation between us and to be honest, I have a hard time not coming out to play. So most days, after Chris gives me a liberal dose of humility on the racquetball court, I shower and head to my home away from home: Denny’s.
For those who know me well, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise - Denny’s was a favorite study spot through college and grad school. But nowadays it has taken on even greater significance.
I developed an appreciation for a “public office” in Mandeville - Starbucks and IHOP were the prime locations back then. Our building at TOCC was quite lonely and TOO quiet during the day and so I would often pack up and head out to get a cup of coffee. Katherine, Emma, Parvis and Brim are now friends of mine connected to Tammany Oaks thanks to those little trips.
Here in Burleson I’ve been blessed to get to know several members of the waitstaff at Denny’s. I haven’t asked them if I can share their names yet, but I’m sure you’ll hear more about them in the future.
One is a young woman who should have delivered her baby by now - nobody at Denny’s had heard anything yesterday. Conner and I were able to attend her baby shower last Wednesday (at Denny’s) where I met her mother and sisters. We talked about life in this area, what its like to have young children and the importance of family and friends. It was a great couple hours.
Another is a young man who moved to Texas from the Northern US just last year. Yesterday he and I had what I believe was our 4th multi-hour conversation about faith - he is a searcher who’s been studying with some friends but just isn’t sure he can trust that the Bible is true in what it says or that he can even understand what that is. I met him because Rachel spent some time there working on her computer one evening and told him to look for me when I came in...he remembered my name when I saw him.
Another wonderful lady has lived in the same house for 21 years. She is full of energy - to the point that her conversations can be quite difficult to follow! However, she is always ready to serve everyone, not just the customers but other waitstaff as well. I like that about her. She has some interesting ideas about life and has certainly had some difficult experiences, but her desire to love and serve others is something that we can all learn from.
The first two folks I usually see, a young hispanic woman and a young man who is probably around my brother’s age, do a good job of getting me into “my” booth as soon as possible. I asked them once if I could move somewhere there was an electrical outlet and since then they’re always looking out for me. There is something about both of them that I immediately liked a lot (beyond their technological assistance) and I’ve noticed our conversations beginning to go beyond the typical restaurant niceties.
These relationships typify what I believe to be the greatest signs of success in our ministry here. I’ve had the opportunity to develop actual friendships and relationships with people who are not going to stumble into the coffee shop on a Sunday morning...at least, not yet.
However, these aren’t the only progresses we’ve made since October - not by a long shot! Chris and I are very excitedly preparing for the planting of 3 new house churches, hopefully by Easter. I will (initially and Lord willing) be leading two of these and Chris the other. We’ve cultivated relationships with several families who are either disconnected from church or have never had any significant connection to begin with.
Our Sunday morning gathering - what we refer to as “the gathering of the House Churches” - has outgrown the JJ Mocha’s coffee shop and we are excited to announce that on February 15th we’ll move to a new gathering spot, just around the corner from our present location. This is a great story that would take too long to tell right now (though I’d love to tell it to you over a cup of coffee or even the phone if you’re interested), but suffice it to say we’re very excited about this development.
Our present series of messages, which impact our time together on Sunday morning, our house church gatherings and even the new Christ Journey website/blog - www.christjourneylife.com - is titled “Navigating the Suburban Wilderness.” We’ve already witnessed several actual, real life relationships experience reconciliation through this challenging call to live into authentic community. Christjourneylife.com contains snippets, teasers and discussion guides as well as the podcasts from our Sunday messages - check it out!
I’ve also launched a new personal blog found at www.ancientjourney.blogspot.com, titled “Modern Traveler: Ancient Journey.” My personal goal is to maintain a connection to the great story of God and His people throughout the ages while still faithfully navigating my own contemporary culture - all with the purpose of being formed in Christ’s image and inviting others to do the same.
We’ve been incredibly blessed with over 60 individuals/families who’ve partnered with us financially in some way (special gifts, memorials and/or monthly support.) We’ve also been blessed to have someone step in at a tremendous level to cover some of our needs temporarily until we can find a congregation or more individuals to get us closer to that 100% mark. If you know a church or a family that would be blessed to partner in the ministry of planting new churches could you help us get connected? We’ve already seen way too much evidence of God’s hand on this effort to question calling or timing - we believe fully that God has prepared us for just such a time as this and that God has prepared others to serve as patrons and co-laborers - as many did for Jesus, Paul and others.
In other, less impressive news, hopefully you've noticed that I do have a new email address - bret@christjourneylife.com. Rachel is still blogging away at www.wellsbrothers.blogspot.com (if you’re one of the three people in America who aren’t already hooked on the tales of the intrepid wellsbrothers!) If you’re surfing the web please stop by our blogs and CJ Life to get up to the minute reports...well, not exactly, but still!
As usual, I’ve gone on way too long, but this is just the tip of the exciting iceberg around here! Thank you so much for your partnership in the gospel, you have already been such a great blessing to us.
Grace and Peace,Bret, Rachel and the Wellsbrothers (Conner, Micah and Josiah)
