An unexpected change in our home: By his own choice, my eighty-one-year-old Dad has been living in an assisted living home for the last five years. And, as some of you know, he got and survived Covid-19 in early 2020. Thankfully, the virus didn’t take his life, but it did take a lot out of him and left him less mobile. Additionally, the isolation from the pandemic didn’t help and he’s now dependent on a wheelchair most of the time.

Throughout the last year, I’ve tried to see him weekly—first through a window, then outside 10’ apart with a mask, and recently inside but still with a mask. We’ve had to wear masks even though we’ve both been vaccinated for quite some time. What is more, because of the quarantine, they haven’t sent anyone out for needed medical care unless it was an emergency. Further, under-resourced like many private assisted living homes, his facility relies on an inexpensive transport service to get residents to medical appointments. Unbelievably and consistently, 25% of the time a vehicle doesn’t show up, and 50% of the time it’s 1-2 hours late. Bottom line, my dad has not been getting the medical care he needs, is languishing, and I am all he has.

Four weeks ago, on one of those cool breezy days, Pam and I had a rare 3–4-hour conversation outside on a Saturday morning, a portion of which was spent talking about my dad. Unexpectedly, we came to a place of peace and 100% agreement that we should ask him to come live with us (we jokingly told our friends and kids later, “No, we weren’t drunk!). We called him that night to ask him and the next day he called back to accept our offer.

Being in healthcare and managing 3 of the 7-8 doctors my dad needs right now, Pam took point in getting a handle on and overseeing his healthcare. I went into construction management mode and put everything in motion to have things ready for him to move into our master bedroom this past Saturday. (This room just happened to have a handicapped accessible shower when we moved in three years ago!) We are now upstairs in the guest room next to my office.

As you would expect, it’s been an exhausting few weeks but the transition is going well so far. “Honor your father and your mother” is a command that’s central to our faith, even if discerning exactly what it means looks different in different seasons of life– ours or our parents. The picture above was taken during his first meal with us Saturday night. Would you continue to pray with us that my dad, Ed, will feel God’s love through our care for him?

On the church plant: We now have both a name and a logo! (See featured pic for this post.) And, as a reminder, our three-year plan is to go digital with a weekly service in 2022, add a live monthly gathering in 2023, and then weekly live gatherings by 2024. Our priorities are:

• reaching new converts,
• reaching those who’ve been disenfranchised by the church, and…
• equipping believers to better share Christ with their neighbors.

Recently, we were asked a great question that others may be wondering:

“Are you going digital rather than in-person because it might appeal more to the millennials at Rowan University?”

Here’s the answer I gave:

“No, it is not specifically about that (Also, most of the students at Rowan are now are part of Gen Z). It is more because, on this side of the pandemic, digital has become a more valuable and effective way to connect with people in general—especially those under 50. This article articulates some of the reasons this is true, and over the last year at Care Net, I’ve observed some of these same things as well.

Additionally, current church planting philosophy is to prioritize the digital. This article gets at some of the reasons for this. But for me, it also interfaces well with the part-time focus I’m able to give to the church plant as well as the online blog I’ve written over the past four years. I can now take that to the next level, so to speak, and add a weekly live service and online live opportunities to connect. Of course, this is part of a three-year plan that will end with weekly live gatherings (a true hybrid model) but, for us, it starts by prioritizing the digital.”

Thanks again for praying for us and please drop me a line with any questions and/or to give me an update on how you’re doing. Blessings!