The Road to Mars Hill

I just want to record the journey as it's happened so far. Mars Hill has been a long road for us and now we are sitting on the edge of being there. It's been a long, difficult, enriching and great time of growth to get here.

We became aware of Mars Hill through Brad Ellgen and Mark Shupe. They both attended the counseling program at Colorado Christian University with Dan Allender and Larry Crabb. They loved the program and ranted and raved about both Allender and Crabb. Since then, Allender moved to Seattle to start Mars Hill graduate school.

Steve and I started reading Dan Allender's books in the mid-2000s. The Cry of the Soul, Bold Love, The Healing Path and To Be Told. His books have challenged us, inspired us and brought healing to us.

In the fall of 2005, we knew our time with Campus Crusade was coming to an end. We weren't sure where we were going, but we knew God was moving us on from the Academy. In the spring of 2006, Steve applied to Mars Hill and was accepted into the MDiv program. With hope and excitement for the future, we went to Seattle in July 2006 to look for housing. Much to our disappointment, we couldn't find even a 2-bedroom apartment for under $1,300! After a dose of reality when we met with the admissions office and the shock of housing prices, we decided not to make the move to Seattle, but went to Kalispell instead (that story is recorded in my 2006 blog book).

The last 3 years have been an intense time of searching and looking for direction and purpose. We've felt much like a ship lost at sea. Kalispell -- Albuquerque -- Kalispell.

In the winter of 2008, Steve went to Mars Hill for their Leadership Crucible. It was a thin place for Steve - and a time that impacted him on a very deep level. It was after that conference that he began the application process to be a college partor at a church in Belleview ... just a 20 minute drive to Mars Hill. When the church flew him up there for an interview in May 2008, we were certain he would be offered the position and could begin his schooling at Mars Hill as well. Much to our disappointment, the position was offered to someone else. Steve struggled with the outcome for a couple of months. His hope to end up at Mars Hill vanished as quickly as it appeared.

It was during that time of discouragement that Ben McFarlane called us to tell us he was closing down Elevation church and did Steve want to move back and assume leadership of the seven remaining families? And now - here we are. By January 2009, we lost six of the seven families. The possiblity of merging with Calvary Chapel kept hope alive until that door slammed in our face in March. It was at that point we knew we would not be staying in Kalispell to continue trying to plant a church without a team or money.

In May 2009 we had to move out of the Lakeside home -- and God had blessed us with a housing opportunity in Kalispell. We were to stay in that home until October 2009. It was during this move that we began to revisit the idea of going to Mars Hill. Late May/ early June, Steve began conversations with the admissions office and started re-submitting pieces of his application. This time he applied for the Counseling program.

After our trip to Silverwood for Shiloh's 6th birthday - we got back to Kalispell on June 16th, only to find out we had 2 weeks to move out of the house we had just moved into! So, June 28th, we loaded up and drove to Seattle to take the kids camping, to the aquarium, visit Mars Hill and look for housing.

Back to Kalispell July 3rd - we have been staying in Big Fork with Mary Bissell - God bless her! Steve got his acceptance letter a week ago. Now we are getting ready to schedule a truck to load up the storage unit and make our way to Seattle! The trimester starts early September.

We're looking at living in Lynnwood, North East of the campus which is in Belltown, the heart of downtown Seattle. Housing prices have come down drastically! Six months ago, a 3-bedroom apartment was renting for $1,200-1,300. Now, they're renting for $900-1,000. We have found an apartment, but may look at a few houses before signing a lease.

We were excited to find that Mars Hill Church, where Mark Driscoll is pastor, has a satellite location in Shoreline, a 10 minute drive from Lynnwood. So far we've chosen a neighborhood and a church. We feel excited and hopeful again - mixed with feelings of sadness and disappointment. Isn't that just like life, living in the fall ... joy mixed with sorrow. The two seem to go hand in hand. But we try to fix our eyes on Jesus and trust Him for great things.