March 2015

March was the final blow to our huddle.  Christopher said he was bowing out.  He had been absent most of February after Erin left the huddle.  He had gotten hurt at work which had prevented him from being able to come to many family dinners too.  He said he wanted to explore what God might be calling him into and that huddle and our MC wasn’t quite aligning with that any more.  Since he had been fazing himself out, it did not come as a shock.  As prepared as we might have been for the news, it was sad to see him go when it was finalized.

It wasn’t all loss in March though because March was when Jarred and I took our vows for TOM.  During the winter, we had done the exploratory huddle for TOM.  We had learned a little bit more about it.  From everything we learned, we realized this was something we had to be a part of.

The Order of Mission, as its name suggests is an order that is focused on being missional in daily life.  People within the Order support the church with its mission to make disciples.  They use a common language, specifically life shapes.  They take vows for purity, simplicity and accountability.  As we learned about the Order, it became clear that 3dm had actually been birthed as an economic arm of the Order in the US.

After talking with David and Susan, they told us the guardians who would oversee our vow taking were Mark and Wenda who lived in Omaha.  We had started to see the strength of networking amongst people in 3dm (and now TOM) so we knew we wanted to go to Omaha and take the vows in person.

We invited people from both our huddles as well as the huddle that Robyn and Kyle had started.  My parents and Courtney were the ones that made the trip up with us.  Almost immediately upon getting to Mark and Wenda’s house, our decision was confirmed.  It was like a breath of fresh air to meet people who spoke like we did.  Sitting around making jokes about life shapes with people we had just met was a new and exciting experience and for my parents and Courtney (who had not made it to the pilgrimage) it was a first.

The five of us spent a lot of time learning about Mark and Wenda’s story.  They had their share of ups and downs.  They also had a similar lifestyle to my parents which helped them get thinking about how they could do missional community and was very influential in what they now do for their MC.  

The day of the vows, Mark and Wenda invited over their TOM family which consisted of four other families.  We also had Robert and Kim and another TOM member David skype in.  After the vows, Mark and Wenda had everyone pray for us.  During the prayers we realized the significance of the date, March 21, 2015; exactly nine months from the date of our wedding.  God was birthing something through us and on this day, the second set of vows we had ever taken, there was a solidification of the family we were a part of to see the story unfold.

Our new TOM family.