Jeremiah is Starting School!!!

Wanted to share a pretty important change that will be taking place in our lives this month: Jeremiah will be starting preschool! When we moved down to Delray Beach and began the process of preparing for kindergarten in the Fall, we quickly came to realize that Florida operates a little differently than Washington. For one thing, the kindergarten programs locally are all full-day. We have decided that we are going to have him finish the remainder of the year in half-day preschool at Spanish River Christian School to get him ready to enter into all day school in August. The curriculem here also has kids reading and writing PRIOR to entering kindergarten...which he does some, but we feel like he will do better with a few months in a classroom setting. The school is fabulous, very welcoming, and about 15 minutes from home. We are really excited to have him there.

We were able to go in and meet his preschool teacher this week, and he will be joining the morning preschool class that meets every school day from 8:30-11:30 each morning. He has been really reluctant about the idea of leaving and going to school every day. Until this week--we have been praying so much that the Lord would work in his heart change his fear into excitement and readiness! When we came home from the Calvary Chapel Southeast Pastor’s conference last week, I tentatively told him that he was going to be starting school sooner than we had planned, and he became so excited that he hasn’t stopped talking about “how soon!” It is really a miracle in our home. :) He already has his little Curious George lunchbox and is feverishly deciding whether he wants a Spongebob backpack or Handy Manny... :) We are just happy that he is so happy. 

I know that this isn’t a huge deal for many of you, but for our family (and him being the first to go) and with me being at home with them each day, it is a life changing transition to make. :) So, we are thrilled to know he will be in such a great school, learning from a gentle and loving teacher, and is growing up! His first day is going to be January 30th! Mark your calendars and pray for a GREAT first day!!

"New York" on the Ave

On Thursday night, we were asked to play our music in downtown Delray for the “Jazz on the Ave” event that takes place every other month in Delray Beach. We were super excited about it, and didn’t quite know what to expect since we hadn’t been able to attend one yet since moving down here. It turned out to be a great evening with thousands of people turning out to walk up and down Atlantic Avenue (the main historic downtown strip) to view art from around the country, listen to local and non-local musicians perform, eat food from vendors and food trucks, and socialize. We had a great time, and we were able to play almost 3 1/2 hours of music. 

The theme for January’s Jazz event was “New York,” so we saw traditional yellow taxicabs, hot dog stands, face painting of New York mascots, and many, many performers playing on the street. While we sang, we enjoyed meeting numerous people who live here and also many who are visiting. We were able to give away over 40 CDs throughout the evening, and we’re looking forward to our next opportunity to play for the next city event! We had a great time! We played many old “Fletcher” tunes as well as some Phil Wickham, Gungor, Bob Marley, and Coldplay... We are trying hard to learn more covers that people recognize and can sing along to--the crowd favorite for the night was “Every Little Thing is Gonna be Alright” by Bob Marley. :) 

 

It was also a surprise and blessing for us that the musicians also play for tips, and we were very happy to go home at the end of the night with some extra cash...

Mostly, we are just thankful that God is giving us opportunities to use our gifts and sing about our lives, love, and the great work that Jesus has done in our lives! If you think of it, you can pray that the people who did take home a CD will listen to it and be blessed by it.

Our Music Schedule (the next few weeks)

We wanted to let you all know when we will be playing music and where in the upcoming weeks. We would love to have you come out and enjoy some music and hang out with us as we play our own original music as well as some newer covers we are learning. We have been adding music from the Motown era as well as some Coldplay, Carole King, Phil Wickham, and Gungor. We’d love to have you come out and join us! For directions to any of these places, please contact us—(561) 789-9485. We are so excited to have the opportunity to be out, playing music together, and meeting people here in Palm Beach County. Awesome. :)

Music Schedule

Jan 18^th at The SPoT in Delray Beach for Open Mic (8pm-10pm)

Jan 19^th at Jazz on the Ave (Downtown Delray Beach) on 300 block from 6:30pm-10:30pm

Jan 24^th at Havana Hideaway in Lakeworth for Open Mic (7pm-9pm)

Jan 25^th at The Living Room in Boynton Beach from 9pm-10pm

Jan 31^st at Havana Hideaway in Lakeworth for Open Mic (7pm-9pm)

Feb 1^st at The SPoT in Delray Beach for Open Mic (8pm-10pm)

Feb 3^rd at Mother Earth Coffee in Lakeworth from 9pm-10pm

Feb 8^th at The SPoT in Delray Beach for Open Mic (8pm-10pm)

Check our facebook page for more details and future events:)

God’s amazing provisions for us

We just wanted to take some time to give praise to Jesus for all of the ways that He has been providing for our family!

We are very blessed by our new home in Delray. It is so perfect for us and feels just like home already. It’s a great neighborhood with great neighbors. Daniel goes to the weight room or pool almost every day to work out for free—an unexpected blessing for him. :)

We are blessed to have Laura’s parents living about ten minutes away from us now, so we have the love and support and company of family close by. It has been wonderful for all of us—especially the kids—to have family here.

We are super thankful for new friendships we are making with other Christians in Delray who have been opening their lives to us and befriending us. We got to go to dinner at our new friends’ house last Tuesday night and were so blessed just to have friends to spend an evening with! Huge answer to prayer for us.

We are so thankful for your prayers. They make all the difference to us. Even on those days where we can start to feel discouraged, we have felt God’s presence and love for us.

We have had three community group meetings since we moved to Delray Beach, and God is bringing people! We really look forward to Thursday nights when we get to have dinner, worship, pray, and hear Daniel teach through the Bible. Mostly, it is just wonderful to serve and have people in our home and share Jesus. Thank you God for this humbling, exciting time!

So, thank you all for your prayers! God is blessing us and stretching us daily!

Redemption Church Delray Beach has a WEBSITE!

Redemption Church Delray Beach can now be found online at our new WEBSITE! We are excited to have a place where people can read about our church plant and have better access to us and the progress of Redemption Church. We used our own photos of various locations around Delray for the graphics, so be sure to check it out!

You can also follow Redemption Church on twitter and facebook! We have frequent updates on what’s happening with the church as well as words of encouragement and inspiration from God’s Word.

You can visit our website at: www.redemptionindelraybeach.com

Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/redemptiondb

Like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/redemptionindelraybeach

Super excited to have a way to get the word out to people about what we are doing here and what Redemption Church is all about! Looking forward to 2012 and all that Jesus is going to do in the lives of people here. Enjoy!