A first for everything…

Today, J and I decorated our very first Christmas tree together. It’s our Christmas tree, and it’s in our first home together. It’s a special day…at least for me. I love Christmas-time: the joy in the air, the thankful hearts, the celebration of Christ our King’s birth, the love all around, and a time where many remember how good it feels to not only receive, but to give.

We’re getting the “it’s so early to put up your tree” comments, and that’s ok. Not everyone likes having a tree, or the work it takes to get it up and looking good. But I’ve always been the eager one, wanting to get the tree up as soon as possible and when Christmas Day passed, asked “how much longer can we keep it up?” I wonder how long J will let me keep it up.

I guess I’m eager to start the Christmas season. I like what we become, for the most part, at this time of year. We are more joyful, more apt to give, we celebrate Christ’s birth, and we seem to be able to love better during this season. I love catching the spirit of Christmas, I only wish it would stay with us year-round. Imagine what life would be like if we lived as we do during this time of year throughout the year. I wonder what that would look like…

I have another first I will add to this blog post…it’s my first written poem. A poem that wasn’t a homework assignment or anything. I found it on my computer again today and want to share it with you. I hope you like it :0)

Forever I will sing
Forever I will praise You
For you are God
And You are are good.

On the mountaintop I will shout Your fame
In the valley I will cry out Your name

For You have blessed me that I may be a blessing
You have loved me that I may show love.
You have been gracious to me, that grace I may bestow.
You have called me beautiful that I may see beauty.
You sent Your Son to give life- life together- life forever.

May I give back what You have given.
May I shine brightly that the may world see
That You are God of all
And God in all

Father, may my life be a celebration of You.

 

In closing, we pray that your holiday season will be filled with joy and celebration, laughter and love. We love you and miss you.

NorthPointe’s Launch: 10.25.09

NorthPointe’s official launch took place this past Sunday, October 25th. Wow has time really gone by! It seems like yesterday that we were sitting down to dinner with Dan Clymer, the director of Restoration House Ministries, and he was asking us to pray about considering a home and adventure here in Rhode Island.

There was much anticipation, nervousness, excitement, stress, worry…and many other emotions for NorthPointe’s launch. We have been excited to begin meeting consistently at our Sunday gatherings, and for community groups to begin. And now we’re here!

This past Sunday was very emotional for our team. We were excited for people to come, nervous that they may not come, full of joy because of what He has been doing in Rhode Island already, and extremely humbled by the number of friends, family, and loved ones that came to support NorthPointe in its launch, and knowing that many were praying for us, too. What a blessing it has been to be able to be a part of the adventure of NorthPointe.

The official number for Sunday was 151: 42 of those were supporters and the other 109 were newcomers!! The thing that we are most excited about, however, is that over 60 people signed up for community groups. We are very excited for the amount of interest in what we believe to be the most important aspect of NorthPointe: where we can do life together, grow in relationships with one another and with Him.  It is in these groups that we believe transformation can really take place.

Thank you for all of your support, whether it was an email, phone call, card, text, facebook message or whatever: we really appreciate it. And please continue to keep us and NorthPointe in your thoughts and prayers. I am quite relieved to have the word, “launch,” removed from our vocabulary for the most part…and now we’re focusing on the upcoming Sundays, continuing to meet people, and getting the community groups up and going.

Thanks for loving…and helping us love better. Love is what it’s all about.

S

It’s coming…

I can feel it. I can see it. Change is coming. Change is here.

Fall is beginning to change the appearance of New England; and beautiful it is. Fall has ALWAYS been my favorite season. A time for jeans and hoodies, boots and scarves, blankets and cuddles, football games, hot cocoa, tazo tea, pumpkin patches and so much more. Fall brings a different kind of warmth to my soul, unlike that of summer. Fall brings a warmth that stems from within; warmth that exists even when I may be cold on the outside. There’s nothing like it. It subtly comes and swiftly transitions to the next season. But as the leaves turn and eventually fall, I remain thankful that as they are changing, I too am being changed by a God who so deeply cares for me. The beautiful change of His creation brings me overwhelming hope that I, too, can be made new.

I would like to share with you a prayer that a friend of ours wrote about the fall season. May his words bless you, too.

I can feel the winds are changing

and the night draws near

and the path is unclear.

So where do we go from here?

God I want to know You, I want to see You awaken the dawn

and to close the cloud curtains.

I want to understand Your ways and to love Your will;

the joy of pursuit as You kick up Your heels.

But I can’t always see You;

and I don’t always try.

If bare are the fields and the harvest is near;

a chance to make most of what You hold most dear.

So help me find peace in the mysterious night.

And purpose and hope in the cool, clear light of Your love,

cutting through the trees and meeting me here:

in my abundance and in my need.

And when change sets in, bring me to Your side

with roots down deep and arms open wide.

-words by Jeff Dueck.

Embracing the beauty of fall; a blessing of our Creator,

S

Can’t wait.

I am finally heading to Indy on Friday to see my family and their new home! They actually just finished the closing process this past Thursday, and that evening began the move-in process. The rest of their belongings are hopefully on their way from AZ now, where they have been in waiting.

I’m flying out of Boston on a 6am flight on Friday morning to arrive in Indy nice and early! I will be there until I fly out of Indy Monday evening. It has been almost 4 months since I have seen my family, and some time with them is well over due. Marah, my little sister, is heading to her first high school homecoming tonight! I can’t believe she’s growing up so fast!

I just can’t wait to be with them! Jordan unfortunately cannot go…but we’re hoping that they’ll make the trek out east to us soon so they can see our new home! Family and friends are so good to the soul. We were created to do life together, and life is so much better when we are able to spend time with the ones we love.

Anticipating a refreshing, rejuvenating, fun, memorable, all around amazing weekend. Can’t wait.

A little catch up…

Life has been crazy around the Plumier household for the last few weeks…and it’s about to turn into sheer madness.

Our launch date is exactly 7 weeks from yesterday…WHAT?!?! Can’t believe how the time has flown over the last 3 months. So crazy to think of how dramatically our lives have changed just over the last year. Just 13 months ago…Sammy and I weren’t even engaged. Got married in December and left the only home I ever knew in the rearview mirror with no idea what was on the horizon for us. Spent an awesome 5 months in Manchester, NH getting accustomed to church in New England, got our graduation caps and gowns in May, and in June packed up all our earthly belongings and moved to the smallest state in the country. We had no idea what we were in for.

Can’t even describe for you how much fun we’re having and the new things we’re learning everyday. It has been a blast. But I thought I would do my best to try and let anyone who reads this know what’s going on with the church plant.

We set out everyday with the goal of communicating the vision of NorthPointe with at least one person that day. We are doing everything we can to meet people. Whether it be at Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, our apartment building, on the bike path, or wherever. We know that intentional relationship is very important, and that discipleship cannot truly happen without relationship. I have taken on coaching a little league soccer team for the fall, and we’re working on hosting a “meet and greet” for the people of our apartment building so that we can get to know one another. We trust that God is ahead of us and that we need to be open and willing to those around us. We are called to love not only God, but to love people; and by loving people, we in turn love God.

Myself and the rest of the staff of NorthPointe -Jerry, Julie, and Chris- have been intentional about getting to know people such as the Mayors of Lincoln and Cumberland (two of the main communities in our target area), the superintendent of Lincoln school systems, teachers, firefighters, etc to learn of the needs of the community that need to be met. We have a very full schedule of events we’re calling “Community Touches” coming up soon. They range from serving dinner to firefighters, to hanging out with homeless war vets at a “Tent City,” to volunteering for the Walk for a Cure. We do these things so that people will know about NorthPointe, but more importantly, to show that we want to make our community a better place.

I specifically have been tackling a lot of marketing and branding in the recent weeks. By the end of the month, we will have an “official” website up and running, but for now I just set up a temporary informative one over here that you can check out to see a lot of what NorthPointe strives to be about.

Just recently we put the finishing touches on where we will be meeting for our Sunday morning gatherings. Since we are a church plant, we do not have our own building. For now, we will be meeting in a movie theater on Sunday mornings. It’s going to be so awesome! What’s more, the movie theater is connected to a mall, which is where our offices will be located. It’s going to be so great to be in a temporary space but have a more permanent presence just a hundred feet away. I can’t wait to hear the stories from people who become a part of NorthPointe who showed up to CinemaWorld to watch a movie and all of a sudden realized they were in the middle of a church lobby!

This church is truly blessed. It’s so awesome to sit back and watch God move in more ways than we could never imagine.

Thank you so much for your love and support. We feel it more than you will ever know.

J

Block Island

Getaway to Block Island

Yesterday, J and I had a little getaway to Block Island. We were encouraged to go on this date by a friend from Lincoln sponsoring our date…thank you, you are more than kind! We drove down south to Point Judith where we climbed aboard the ferry. We packed a lunch, beach towels, the camera, and sunscreen into our back packs and took our bikes along for transportation once we arrived on the island.

The ferry ride was an hour long. On our way to Block Island, it was quite foggy, but we knew we were going to have a good day…we had decided, no matter what. And it turned out to be a b-e-a-utiful day there! When we first arrived, we decided to head toward the lighthouse…only to find later, once we had completed the long trek over there, that it was closed. We still enjoyed our view, and the bike ride/ walk along the beach to get there.

Then came my absolute favorite part of the day!! We spent a majority of our day at the beach. Again, it was a beautiful day, perfect for a day at the beach. The water was full of people, waves, laughter, and was even 76 degrees! I had forgotten, but very quickly remembered how salty the ocean is…goodness! J and I decided to rent a boogie board for the afternoon. J had never done this before, so I let him go first…and honestly, he was no good. bahahaha. So, I went out to show him how to run in front of the wave and then jump into it…he was a little angry that I was so good at it, but what can I say? ha. J finally got the hang of it and literally spent the afternoon boogy-ing out in the ocean. I LOVED watching him. He was having such a good time.

What I failed to notice, though, was the redness that was beginning to show on my skin. And J, too. We are burnt…and paying for it. Bummer. I am optimistic that J will gain some color out of this, though…I on the other hand am hoping to peel! I’ve only peeled once, and I thought it was really cool! I tried to get Boogie, my sister, Marah, to peel it for me, but she for some reason thought that to be disgusting…weird.

We then returned our boogie board, although J wanted to keep it (go figure!) and rode back into town. We spent some time wandering around the little town and landed at a little pizzeria where we ate our dinner outdoors. While we waited for the ferry, we walked along the beach…this time with the sun beginning to set, and watched it finish as we rode the ferry back to shore. It was beautiful.

I guess I write about all of this not only to update you on what we’re doing, but to thank you for encouraging us to continue dating one another. What a wonderful day it was to get away and spend time with J. I needed it. Thank you for loving us and praying for us. We’re working at this marriage thing, and need people like you in our lives. So, thanks for being there for us. For supporting us. For loving us. We love you, too.

And J…thanks for being so stinkin’ cute today when you were boogy-boarding :0) Can I just keep you?

S

A quick video…

The last few days we have been working on a short video that we hope will effectively and concisely communicate the vision of NorthPointe for a few of our partnering churches. Hope it helps you see a small glimpse of what we’re getting ourselves into…

Love you and miss you all.

It’s a beautiful day…

What a b.e.a.utiful day here in Rhode Island. J and I went on a bike ride along BlackStone Blvd. This bike trail is along the road in a beautiful area of Pawtucket and actually heads down into downtown Providence. This trail wore us out more because it has a lot more hills than the others we have checked out. It’s been fun exploring the different bike routes throughout Rhode Island. What a blessing it has been for me to have trails so close. Loooooooooooove it :0)

Recently, J and I have been having car problems, but we’re hoping to have his car back on Monday. Other recent news is that my parents and sister, Marah have arrived safely in Indy. They made it there safely and have since been looking for housing. Please pray that they will find a home and for them as they transition back to the place where we lived before Yuma, where they spent the past 3 years full of life, laughter and love. Marah is jumping in right away as she started conditioning for both volleyball and basketball earlier this week. She is excited to be playing at a new level. She’s quite the athlete…I hoping to be able to see her in action this year!

Yesterday, the Cassetto family, John and Stefanie, and their two boys Noah and Hayden, came to visit us! John was J’s mentor while we were at Manchester Christian Church in New Hampshire on our internships. They have been so great to us and we are so glad to be only a short drive away from them. They are a wonderful example for us and so much fun to be around. We ate lunch with them at “Fire and Ice” in Providence and then J and I were able to spend some time with the boys. We spent most of our time on the basketball court that is within our apartment building. Noah is quite the shooter, to say the least. He is 6 and made 63 shots! Hayden was more concerned with how far he could kick the ball…he is a giggler, no doubt about it. We then met back up with John and Stef and headed to the Pawsox game. It was J and I’s first game, too. We had a great time, and it was a perfect night for baseball. Noah is a huuuuuuuge RedSox fan. Needless to say, it was a fun night.

OK. I’m off to continue our “friends” marathon…I’m hoping that once we finish all of “friends” that J will watch “gilmore girls” with me… :0)

love love love to you.

S

Life in the Ocean State

The Ocean State is definitely proving itself to be a great place to live. J and I are in Pawtucket, which is literally a 5 minute drive from “downcity,” what I would call “downtown,” Providence.  We’re also in close proximity of Martha’s Vineyard, Boston, Block Island, Newport and many beaches = Fun!!  So far, we have been to Newport, RI and Boston, and have had some trips downcity to explore Providence.

It has been really rainy on the east coast recently…and I mean literally about the past 2 weeks: it has been depressing! However, we did have sun over the weekend, which enabled us to enjoy our 4th of July.  We spent the 4th of July with Christine Lee (our first visitor, and therefore, first to sign our guestbook!), the Links and the Martin’s.  We had dinner in Providence and then attended Waterfire, which takes place within the canal that runs through Providence, and then walked a couple blocks to see the fireworks in the city.  It was good to be able to spend the 4th of July here…it made it feel more like home. What is it about fireworks that makes us “oooooh” and “aahhhh” everytime? What is it about them that makes us look forward to the grand finale? I have numerous memories growing up about watching fireworks with my family, some of them silly like me spraying the people next to us with windshield washer fluid when I accidentally turned the wipers on (remember that one, momma??). Fireworks seem to unify us. Most look forward to seeing the pretty colors, the different explosions, the noise, the company, and many are thankful for the freedom we are blessed to have.  Fireworks seem to bring a sense of joy. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m childlike, but fireworks make me feel connected to people across the nation and they also give me joy…so, I’m thankful for things like firework displays, for the way we have all been connected through the grace and love of God, and for joy that comes because of Him.

We’re coming to know the area around here. I’m learning why Rhode Islanders don’t like to drive anywhere…it’s because it takes FOREVER to get anywhere…seriously though, one lane traffic with way too many stoplights than necessary!! I do, however, appreciate the closeness of the city (I love you Lincoln, IL, but city is sure nice!), the numerous grocery stores within biking range, and the bike trails nearby! When driving, I rarely turn on the gps, I figure that it’s good for me to get lost and learn to find my way around… :0)

What we love most about being here in Rhode Island is knowing that this is where we are to be, where He wants us to be.

Dear Rhode Island,

You’re really growing on me.

S