Hey friends,
I'm usually not the guy who dives off
the side into the pool straightaway. I meet the cold water little by
little in steps, and with opportunity to change my mind. This
picture of stepping into the pool came to mind as we made the
decision to move.
Some might see this announcement as a
dive off the side. For Heather and I, it has been long days of little
by little. We have experienced the accompanying fears and faith with
long days of prayer, evolving T charts and many conversations. If
you were to ask us about our interest in packing up and moving to
Tennessee, for a great job, professional advancement, lower cost of
living, and so forth, our 'cons' for the move outweighed the 'pros'.
Some cons include leaving family after 36 years of essentially being
home, 24 years of other dear friendships, and countless expressions
of kindness, help, counseling, friends grieving with us, supporting
us physically and financially and the list goes on.
While this past year has been
challenging for Heather and I, due to the work pace I was running,
our heavenly Father was kind to provide me with a unique opportunity.
Once I resigned, I had a pit stop to take a breather, but also an
opportunity to take inventory, to think strategically, to see a fork
in the road, and prayerfully choose a path. I was offered a position
with a company in TN pioneering a hot market in Knoxville and
expanding into other local towns. Some close friends of 20 years who
assist in leading the SGM church in Knoxville, shared that they were
looking to plant a church in the upcoming year and this company will
expand to that area into which this plant would occur. Additionally,
I was also given a good option which seemed to offer an opportunity
for success, stability and advancement here in this local DC metro
area.
We visited the company down south, met
the owners and found that it was a unique culture, one that saw
excellence and service as its company life blood but also as its
identity. The owners have a vision for making their cloud hosting
offering the best in TN and they are driven to see all aspects of their business exhibit a
culture of service; their goal is that their employees love coming to
work and find their priorities well ordered with family first.
While this was an important ingredient
in considering the challenges and sacrifices of a relocation, I did
not yet have peace to make such a move based only on this. The local
company was well positioned and well established in its market with
opportunity for great reward. There are too many variables considered
and weighed over the past few weeks to impose on your time sharing
them. However, the biggest items on the scales after we saw that
there was provision for necessities, were the key treasures of
family, friends, church and mission.
We knew we would be letting material
things go with uncertainty on full replacement. We were concerned at
first it would seem we took family and friendships for granted by moving farther
from them, and wrestled with the question of mission and excitement
about joining hands in a church plant.
In summary, after much thought, prayer,
discussion with family, friends and counsel, Heather and I were
objectively aware of the provision for the move, for business success
in that city, and but also the subjective sense that God has indeed
called us to this move and given an excitement for the adventure and
eternal rewards on the other side of the church plant. Our
relationships with you are forever! Our ability to take this risk is owed to your lives
being poured into ours in your friendship, support, care,
encouragement and inspiration. You are a part of us.
With affection,
David and Heather
Mckenna, Selah, Adelyn and Hailey
P.S.S. I want to mention that Heather
and I (and our girls) love Covenant Life Church and the pastors, and
highly appreciate and respect their integrity and efforts to honor
God, his Word, and care for His church. This move is purely motivated
by what I shared in my letter above. This is a painful move for us!
It is very hard to leave here.
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