New Year, New Beginning, New Life

New Year

I love to celebrate the start of a new year. The idea of starting over. A new date: 1.1.08. A new journal--clean pages waiting to be filled with new adventures. I love the idea of a fresh start--leaving the old behind and starting over. This new year started like the others with a celebration, a count down and champagne--except it had even more new starts.

New Beginning

Besides a new day, a new month and a new year, it was also a new beginning on the job and ministry front. My job as Pastor of Adult Ministries at Timberlake Christian Fellowship in Redmond ended as of December 31. I knew about this change during December and was ready for this new beginning.

It really IS a new beginning. I'm not sitting at home wondering what to do next. I'm already doing it. What is it? This new year starts with the new beginning of an organization called Semper Vita. Semper Vita means "always life." (Yep, it's the name of my blog's web site address.) This isn't a sudden start--I've been preparing for this new beginning since last January (actually October 2006). However, with the end of my full-time job, I now have the chance to start it in earnest.

During this past year a group of missional leaders, including Tamara Dull and I, started thinking and planning for the launch of Semper Vita. We met several times in the Fall. By the end of December we filed for non-profit status, filed a Form 1023, and received our non-profit tax I.D. We even received some donations from early supporters and believers of this vision for new life.

New Life

Semper Vita will mean a new life for me and all those who resonate with our vision and passion. The goal is to connect like-minded people who love God to serve people who need help. We will not start a new social service organization. Semper Vita will be about aligning with other organizations to connect people to each other and to existing service opportunities. We will be a missional partnership group that connects and trains individuals and organizations to better serve people in their communities with the love of Christ.