{"id":837,"date":"2011-05-07T13:17:30","date_gmt":"2011-05-07T17:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/?p=837"},"modified":"2024-05-03T14:01:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T18:01:20","slug":"beyond-the-cul-de-sac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/2011\/05\/07\/beyond-the-cul-de-sac\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the cul-de-sac"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of you have seen that we are selling our home and have asked why and where are we going.  We are moving on to the next phase of our life journey.<\/p>\n

Melissa and I – and we believe all of us who profess to be followers of Christ – are called to grow and serve the body of Christ.  We have been so blessed over the years as individuals and as a family.  We’ve taken a close, prayerful look at where we are in our faith journey and are convinced we have a calling to take another step of faith.  Our Father has been preparing us for this next phase and it is our responsibility and joy to respond in faith.<\/p>\n

Post college we have had major phases of our life journey.  First there was Madagascar and an incredible time of growth and learning through service.  We started our journey as a couple and family in Madagascar and it still remains close to our hearts and fresh in our minds.  Post Madagascar came Texas for a short stint, then a move to Indiana.  We have settled well in Indiana, are fortunate to work for a great company, and most importantly, have an incredible church<\/a> and community around us.  We have been blessed with a beautiful home on a cul-de-sac and our kids have grown up in this safe, nourishing environment.  Each one has come to their own realization of their home in the body of Christ and are growing in their own unique and special ways.  It is now time to move beyond the cul-de-sac.<\/p>\n

Melissa leads a ministry at our church, On Eagle’s Wings (OEW), and we have seen incredible life changes happen over the past years of ministry.  Melissa is wrapping up her Masters in Biblical Counseling<\/a> this fall and is looking forward to growing and enhancing the program with her new gifts and insights.  One of the areas we feel called to is to serve the women and their families in more than just a counseling manner, but also with tangible physical support.  It is not unusual for the women in the program to be in very challenging personal times, including the basics of just having of a roof overhead.<\/p>\n

You probably guessed it: we are not moving far.  We have purchased 4 acres of wooded land in the country and are in the midst of starting a construction project to build a new home with a guest apartment over the garage.  Our goal is not just to provide a roof to those in transition, but a peaceful environment where people, both women in OEW as well as others, can come and experience peace and a dose of agape love.  And so we’ve called the place, The Sanctuary<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As we considered different options for the environment we wanted a real change of pace and feel. We’ve opted for a log home with a large wrap-around covered porch.  \"SimilarWe feel this will be inviting to others and we are excited to share it with our friends and extended family.  The property layout also has great possibilities.  Our front yard area will be open and fairly flat, but the rest of the property is hilly and wooded, gently sloping down to a year-round creek.  We’ve already scoped out the potential locations for a large garden, a walking\/bike path down to the creek, a tree house for the boys (think zip line off the deck into the tree house!) and a campfire area.  Quite a different feel from the cul-de-sac.<\/p>\n

\"SketchWe are about 4 months into a year-long process to plan and build the home and apartment.  We are praying for a buyer for our home, an interim place (apartment) for the fall, and hopefully an end-of-year move-in to the new home.  We have been blessed by many friends helping us prepare our home for sale, and we are looking forward to the fellowship with a community of friends who have offered to help us with the new property.<\/p>\n

And so the journey continues.  We will be challenged – in a good way – to open our lives even more and to stretch in giving of ourselves.  It will be a big change for our kids (country living, new schools, etc…) and we are excited to see how God uses them in this new journey.  Each one has already thought of ways to help – from decorating their own room to planning the grounds.  We are confident that our kids will learn much as they experience what it means to give, and, consequently receive.  We’ll keep you posted on our progress and stories along the journey.<\/p>\n

I have left comments open on this post as we welcome your thoughts, prayers and if so inclined, your help as we move forward beyond the cul-de-sac.  Peace.<\/p>\n

Tom & Melissa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many of you have seen that we are selling our home and have asked why and where are we going.  We are moving on to the next phase of our life journey. Melissa and I – and we believe all of us who profess to be followers of Christ – are called to grow and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":944,"href":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837\/revisions\/944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thomaskrohn.com\/family\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}