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Writer's picturePaul

Thank You - Max Born & A New Dawn : Update #4

Updated: Mar 21, 2022


Right after Max was born :)

Will Loving on Max for the first time

Moments after getting home from the hospital

Sibling Love - Hard to get them off of him


(All professional photos provided by sister-in-law Meghan Gorman of Meghan Marie Studio)








Below are some high-level highlights:

Past (since last update)

  • While more and more stories of lives changed is the ultimate goal, I’m creating a personal quantitative dashboard that gives glimpses of movement. Here are some stats thus far;

    • 188 total individual introductions since July 2021 (+56 since last update)

    • Care Communities:

      • 6 created through 4 churches

      • 42 volunteers recruited - through Promise686

      • 2 more churches interested in launching

      • 3 individuals just completed the training to launch at their church

  • Received 2 greenlights internally to move forward on projects that will better shape our organizational ability to collaborate and communicate - both internally and externally.

  • Our amazing leader, Chris Combs, is taking a sabbatical for the next couple of months after 10 years of grinding leadership and service. Prayers for him as refreshes, reconnects, and reorients.

  • And so much more... partnerships/friendships growing with leaders of Dear Dinah (Human Trafficking), Dayton Dream Center and Hope Center, For Columbus, and many many others. All focus is on leveraging collective capacity to mobilize many people for a greater collective impact. Always feel free to call and ask for a story/update, or if you have something going on in your life, up or down, you'd like to chat about.

Present (Today)

  • I continue to meet with my executive coach, Andrew, to help me orient, process, and heal from any internal barriers that hinders thriving personally and professionally.

  • Just returned from a collaborative meeting today with about 15-20 church partners in our county about serving the local schools.

  • As of today we are at 91.74% of known support through 45 supporters for this fiscal year. Currently at 75% sustainability. Again, I'll stop sharing these #s when we become fully-funded because we'll be fully-focused. Click here to begin partnering.

Future:

  • Collaborating with a regional convener to mobilize hundreds/thousands of folks in August/September ‘22 to relationally care for youth from hard places.

  • Collaborating with a county-wide convener to mobilize the local churches towards serving vulnerable children and fragile families. Hoping to pilot a project in the next couple of months in the form of a Single Mom Support Group.

  • In the beginning conversations with the head of a large urban children’s services agency about improving outcomes through trauma-training and Church mobilization for families with open cases.

If you have decided on your monthly level of support and would like to finalize by filling out this form, we'd really appreciate it. And Thank You Again for everyone who supports this mission and our family. We are pumped for past, present and future healing.




--------- BELOW, STORY SENT IN THE EMAIL ----------


Thank you for your thoughts and prayers over this time of transition. Our son Max was born on 2/2/22, the night of the big winter storm, during the 22nd hour of the day, and was 22 inches long - but not 22 pounds ;)

There is nothing like a newborn and the resulting mix of peace and chaos to remind me of the preciousness of each life. We all are similarly held this way in God’s tender gaze. We all are Loved too deeply to comprehend.

A recent storm of two broken down vehicles, appliance break-downs, full-family sickness, gassy infant and lack of sleep resulted in a stuck feeling of “The Darkest Hour” - especially between 3 and 5 am when the crying would not cease. Learning more about WW2, I began to understand the world’s “Darkest Hour” when Nazi Germany conquered 9 other countries. I can’t imagine the feeling of a New Dawn, when the hope of support fights back and lets us know “it’s all going to be ok”. Many people live in the Darkest Hour. I was just on the phone this morning with my sister as we tearfully discussed the Darkest Hour of a good friend and newly singled mom of young-ones they are likely welcoming into their home for a season.

It is hard for me to imagine navigating the common stressors of single-parent life or living with a contentious partner, without strong support of friends and family, battling addiction, surviving abuse or neglect, and/or living with intense economic strife. People need a New Dawn; no one needs to trudge through their Darkest Hour forever or alone. That’s where deep woundedness and casualties occur. We have all the loving people, filled with light, we need to combat the Dark. We just need to organize. Eventually Max’s tears paused, coffee was poured, and loved ones cared for us, bringing the Dawn until we could stand on our feet.


Thank you for your partnership,


Paul

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