Arlington

1999 - The Evans family got their next set of orders: not Japan, as hoped for, to in a suburb of Washington D.C.

2001 - Kari was unexpectedly (and undeservedly) accepted to a scholarship program at a local community college.


2001 - In said scholarship program, Kari met her future husband, as well as 3 members of the church she now considers the dearest place on earth.


2003 - Stephan and Kari graduate from Montgomery College with their A.A.s


2004 - Stephan and Kari wed


2004 - Stephan and Kari join Covenant Life Church - to everyone's surprise...even their own.

2005 - Stephan graduated from American University with is B.A. and begins looking for a job in his field, International Relations. He sets his sights on D.C.


2007 - Kari accepts a job at Covenant Life as the church's Starting Point administrator, getting the wildly fun job of personally greeting everyone exploring membership in the church


2008 - After years in retail management, being unable to land a job in his field, and after much prayer, Stephan returns to school to get his masters degree


2008 - Approaching his first summer of grad school, Stephan begins looking for an internship and recieves an offer...


"Wait, why are we even talking about DHS?"


I put this question to Stephan as he discribed the two interviews he was going to in the coming week. I was driving home from a training session for a crazy-fun service opportunity later that year, and he was driving home from school.


"...because I think it might be more interesting," he answered.


I chewed on that for a moment. I'd been praying for years that he'd find a job he enjoyed. I really didn't want to dismiss his honest comment lightly.


"Yeah..." I started, "...but you'd be taking an internship for the summer."


"Right," he confirmed.


"...as opposed to the position at Justice, taking an indefinite internship that would continue through your next year with flexible hours, health benefits, and the possibility of rolling into an actual job at the end..."


He was quiet for only a second.


"...yeah, why are we talking about DHS?" He laughed.


I smiled. Practicality ruled the day again. He declined the interview with DHS the following day and accepted the position at the Department of Justice.


He worked part time and finished his next semester strong. Then, in May, our marriage turned 4, and instead of a trip to a tropical paradise, we opted to go to the New Attitude (now NEXT) Conference, and serve on their excentric hospitality arm - a group of weirdos lovingly introduced to the conference attendees as "the Ninjas".


We took up a red messenger bag stuffed with toothbrushes, playing cards, and lots of candy, and surprised and delighted the folks at New Attitude by slipping in and paying for their bookstore purchases unexpectedly, saving front row seats in the main sessions, handing out pens to those who forgot them, and showering them with fistfuls of candy. It was an absolute blast.


And all that in the service of my savior. Whoa.


And, it should be mentioned that an insanely fun (or...just...insane) duo named David and Casey also served as Ninjas...and we kinda hit it off.


We returned to Maryland thoroughly exhausted after a 7 hour delay on our flight home (full of cavorting in the airport...a story for another day). But, sometime after that, life returned to the Faherty house...and David and Casey made their first appearance too. The hitting-off persisted, and they quickly became some of our dearest friends.


Conversation began to drift out into the spring of 2009, when Stephan would graduate. We were convinced now that he'd find work in DC, being as there were few other places in the country where someone with his skills and training would be in demand. His commute was rigorous, and we started discussing if moving closer to the city would be a good idea.


"We only commute to church once a week," he'd say, "and caregroup is only once a week too. I'm going down to the city 5 days a week. All the time I'm spending in the car is time I'm not with you, and won't be with our kids one day."


His argument was compelling. "Well, let's see what it would take to move down nearer Bethesda," I said. "Or, perhaps we should even check out northern Virginia. Maybe there's a tax difference or something..."


"Yeah, I'm open to anything," he said. "We just couldn't be too far from Covenant Life unless we knew there was another good church there for us."


"Right," I confirmed. A variation of this conversation had been had throughout the years, and it always ended with that exchange: there must be a church there for us, or else we won't go. Right.


Thursdays are staff meeting morning at the church, and we all gather around a big table to hear from the church's adminstrator and pray. I was sick one particular thursday, and when I got to work, I found an email waiting for me from the administrator's assistant with the minutes of the meeting. One line in particular caught my eye. I immediately forwarded it to Stephan.


"They're planting a church in Arlington," I wrote. "We'd been talking about northern Virginia...should we pray about this?"


Stephan's always snappy on email. "Yeah, we can pray about it," he replied.


David and Casey came for dinner again, as they'd become accustomed to doing. We posed the normal "What's new with you?" question and got a surprising response.


"Well, David can't stop talking about Arlington."


Stephan and I looked at each other, then to David for an explaination. Apparently his heart had been stirred up big time after hearing about the plant, and he and Casey were seriously considering being part of the team.


A 'we are too' conversation followed. We both confessed that the thought of the other going to Arlington too built faith for going themselves.


The announcement was made to the church not long after. "If you're interested in exploring being a part of this plant, there will be a meeting next Saturday," our senior pastor said.

After many "Whadayouthink?"s and about 7 days, the meeting arrived. We were all asked to fill out a little questionnaire when we got there.

"On a scale of 1 to 10," one question read, "with 1 being 'not going' and 10 being 'I'm ready to move', where would you fall in terms of the church plant?"

I confidently wrote down "5". This was all very exciting, but I still had to be sold on it. It would be a huge change.

The meeting began. We heard some logistics, saying the pastors were hoping for a summer-time launch of the church. We heard some statistics, which were also seriously compelling and interesting. Then the guy who would be leading the church as it's new senior pastor, Eric, got up to talk.

He told us about a time a friend of his had called him in a panic, saying he just needed to talk to someone. Eric told him to come on over. This fellow was what the world would call 'messed up.' He had piercings all over and tatoos to cover the rest, was addicted to alcohol and drugs, and was absolutely petrified of getting HIV from his premiscuous lifestyle.

Eric recounted how he listed to his friend, and tried to share the hope of the gospel with him. He told of his friend balled up and rocking on the floor of his deck, absolutley overcome with fear. Then he told us about what happened after his friend left, and he gathered up his wife and 3 kids, and they all prayed for him - and Eric thought as he prayed "man, I just want to do this all the time. I want to hold out the hope of the gospel to the people like my friend who the world has written off as 'messed up'."

I discreetly scratched out my 5 and replaced it with a 9. "Me too..." I thought. I didn't have exactly the same burden, but his heart to show mercy to the people society has rejected did resonate with me deeply.

We left the meeting and had a dinner with David and Casey. We were all pretty moved, but aware we'd have to count the costs.

Stephan and took stock of life over the next few days. Stephan had a job in DC. We both loved being downtown. We both had a desire to care for those with physical needs, and there was such a concentration of them in the city...it seemed like God was channeling us toward the city. We met with our pastor and he remained very involved through the whole process. As we talked more, the plant began to make more and more sense...and we slowly transitioned to saying "When we move to Arlington" instead of "If we move to Arlington"...

"Why aren't we just committing?" I asked Stephan one night. "We're already saying when, not if." It seems we're both in faith. What's holding us back?"

Stephan was very honest. "I just don't feel like I've prayed enough," he stated.

That was enough for me. When facing big decisions like this, it's absolutely critical to make the decision in faith bourne out of prayer. Otherwise, when you hit a rocky time, you'll be tempted to think you made the wrong choice. But if that decision was made in faith, you can be confident you just need to persevere. "Take all the time you need," I told Stephan.

"Give me a week," he said.

The next day he came home from work declaring he was ready to committ. "Email Eric," I said.

"Can't wait to labor with you guys in Arlington this Summer!" he responded.

----------------

That was over almost a year ago. We'd been told the team would solidify in early 2009...but we hadn't heard anything from leadership by February. An email brought the answers for the questions we were beginning to ask. The plant would be postponned, possibly up to a year - or possible canceled.

Now we're waiting for God to lead again. Everyone who'd committed was basically released by the pastors to pray and evaluate again once more details were to be had.

Why'd we have to walk this road? It's not unprecedented that God would give a clear direction to do something, then reveal that he'd had another intention all along - take the story of Abraham and Isaac, for example. Abraham had given up hope for kids by age 100 - but then God promised him a son, and a son came. Isaac, a child of promise, was born, and Abraham loved him.

Then God commanded Abraham to slay Isaac as a sacrifice to him. Abraham was heart rendingly obedient, going so far as to hold the knife in the air over his son on the alter, when God stepped in and stopped him, saying he'd commanded Abraham to do this to see his true aligence. Abraham proved true to God.

We may be experiencing a 'slay your son' moment...where we felt God say one thing, but it turns out he's got different intentions. If so - wonderful! I'm up for the adventure! God's been so faithful to us this far in life, I'm confident he will be in the future too.

More as it developes!