““Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.””
These wise words from Jim Elliot have taken on an even deeper meaning over these past two months as we’ve transitioned from a 32-year history of living in the Boston area to our new address in Fairfax, VA. Since making the move on August 20, we’ve actually spent less than 4 weeks in Fairfax and those days have been largely dedicated to unpacking and settling in. We don’t yet have a good answer to “how do you like living in Fairfax?” . . . but we are “living to the hilt, believing we’re absolutely in the will of God.
We had our first houseguests Sept 19–24 when we hosted my sister Francene’s 70th birthday “mini” sibling reunion. Six of the original seven Collins clan gathered for this gala (the seventh, sister Sue, was not well enough to travel from CA :( ) and we really had wonderful days together celebrating our shared history. We reminisced about childhood antics and decades-old family traditions; we ate family-favorite meals; we watched a few very old family movies; we visited the 9/11 memorial and the Bible Museum; we toured our old haunts from living in this area while our father was stationed at the Pentagon (1969–1972), and we made a proper fuss over Francene hitting this milestone birthday. We also attended church together, followed by one of our favorite family traditions: singing hymns around the piano. My sister Laura, who lives just two miles from us, shared meal prep and our only brother, Frank, who lives in Alexandria, chauffeured us the day we went into DC. All in all, it was a very sweet and memorable time together and a great initiation of our new home.
At Immanuel Bible Church, Sunday morning, where we wrapped up the reunion: (l to r: Lucy, Melissa, Laura, Frank, Francene, and yours truly)
The honoree, Francene, daughter #3 in a line-up of six girls, with the 7th child being the only brother.
Paul, meanwhile, headed north to attend the funeral of a man he led to Christ about 30 years ago, and who, as a result of his conversion, experienced a major transformation of life values and practices which healed his marriage and family. It was deeply meaningful to Deanna Vallely to have Paul join the family in honoring her Paul’s life, and it was equally meaningful for Paul to see fruit in the lives of the Vallely family all these years later. All praise is His!
Several days later, on September 28th, we flew back to Boston to speak for Grace Community Church’s marriage conference. Nate Burgoyne, Care Pastor at GCC, booked us months ago to do a Friday night/Sat morning marriage conference, long before we had any idea we’d be relocating to Virginia in August. It truly was such a gift to return “home” (though we accepted Richard Hendrick’s kind offer to house us rather than camping out in our empty house!), where we packed a whole lot of everything into the 8 days we were up north. The marriage conference was the tip of the proverbial iceberg!
And it was a great tip. We loved being with this congregation and were thankful for a great turnout and a responsive audience. It was especially nice to connect with many dear friends there. Nate Burgoyne very thoughtfully put together the conference and was very pleased with how it turned out.
Friday night at Grace Community Church in Chelmsford, MA, drew an energetic crowd.
Richard Hendricks took care of the book sales throughout the conference.
Nate Burgoyne, Care Pastor at GCC, was a delight to work with.
Because the GCC conference ended early afternoon on Saturday, we said yes to the Arabic Evangelical Baptist Church’s invitation to launch their marriage course, “Adam and Eve,” for the 2023–2024 year. They asked us to speak on the easy topic of balancing marriage and work and a large crowd gathered to wrestle through the challenges of this reality. Prior to speaking, it was so good to be around a dinner table with the team behind the “Adam and Eve” course. We’re always encouraged when a church intentionally focuses on building into marriages. We left that evening with tired bodies and full hearts.
We’re speaking at the Arabic Evangelical Baptist Church in West Roxbury on the importance of balancing marriage and work.
Under the leadership of Pastor Khaled Ghobrial, this team of three couples has undertaken this ministry which focuses on building into marriages.
Though there are many friends at this church, it was a special joy to connect with Beshoy and Diana Estafanous. Paul has been mentoring Beshoy for about 5 years now.
Sunday, after attending church, we headed north to Concord, NH, to join the Jarvis family in celebrating Skip’s 60th birthday. Through many years of family camp at Berea, and more recently annual apple picking ventures, we’ve developed a deep bond with this family and it was truly a joy to spend the afternoon honoring Skip. Avonne and the girls prepared a yummy feast and we were so happy to be a part of it.
Avonne Jarvis and Patrick, Isaac, Kendra and Kara pulled off a great surprise in honor of Skip’s 60th birthday.
And since we were in the area, we had a very sweet though short visit with our dear friend and mentors, Gordon and Gail MacDonald. It’s never long enough, but we’re always thankful for any shared minutes with this sage couple.
A brief visit with the MacDonalds capped the afternoon.
We spent Monday and Tuesday connecting with many friends and then . . . we rolled our sleeves up and started working on getting our house ready to sell. For months we had been uncertain of what to do with the house: rent it, AirBNB it, or sell it? and we finally decided to sell it. That decision set in motion many trips to Home Depot for paint, new door knobs, hinges, light fixtures, etc., and we had our work cut out for us. Up until noon on Oct. 6, we were feverishly working on getting the house ready for the market and thankfully we weren’t doing it alone. Richard Hendricks was our right hand man and he worked right alongside us for several days (and has continued to do whatever has needed to be done since we left town). He is in a league of his own. Some other friends painted the Great Room after we ran out of time and that was a huge help. And our irreplaceable neighbor Linda has been on call for a variety of last minutes tasks; she is always so willing and cheerful.
We are blessed.
The house listing went live a few days ago and will hopefully sell quickly so the books can be closed.
Painting all the wood floor boards, trim, stair risers, closet doors, and regular doors white was a BIG job.
Paul and Richard worked together non-stop for days.
We hit the road for Fairfax at noon on Friday, Oct. 6, and highlighted that long drive with a stop at Matt and Susie Light’s new house/farm in Rhode Island. It was great to explore the grounds of their spectacular property, but even better to have some time to catch up with them.
Matt, Susie and Anna Light showed us around their new home and property.
We left things unfinished in Bedford because we had a very important date in Fairfax: Nathan’s flag football game on Saturday afternoon. This is the reason we pulled up stakes and moved south. A beautiful fall day for football, topped with a win, made the perfect experience. Pure joy.
Nathan, playing quarterback, led the “Rams” to victory that day.
Paul drove back up to Bedford in a rented pick up truck the very next day to finish a few things at the house and to bring a few remaining things to Fairfax. It was a quick, two-day, very successful trip. Meanwhile, I stayed home and did some painting at our new house along with more unpacking. Paul returned Wednesday, and before we flew out to California on Friday, we hosted Rob and Gabby Warren for dinner. Gabby continues to serve in an exemplary fashion as our administration assistant for Home Improvement Ministry and we love that we live only 45 minutes apart now.
Rob and Gabby Warren are invaluable assets to HIM and to us.
And then we were off, being “all there” in at Maranatha Chapel in Rancho Bernardo, CA, October 13–19.
We were introduced to Maranatha's leadership team at Forest Home’s family camp back in June, when we shared the platform with them. It was an instant connection as our time partnering together revealed that we were “in sync” on all the majors (theology and Biblical authority) as well as the minors (having fun and laughing a lot). We knew they were “our people” so we gladly accepted their invitation to speak this fall. It took a bit of juggling to make it happen, including canceling our plans to be with New City Church Oakland for their 2nd birthday celebration, but we did so with the Garcia’s blessing and we’re so thankful it worked out as it did.
Flying in to San Diego at sunset was pretty spectacular.
Jared Burke, Dream Team Pastor, put the program together and it clearly was not his first rodeo. He planned and executed our time effectively and wisely. We were honored to speak at all three of their weekend services: one on Saturday night and two on Sunday morning. We loved getting the vibe of their congregation, who were very engaged and responsive—a reflection of their ongoing experience at Maranatha.
Jared Burke welcomes the Saturday night attendees.
Dave and Diana Watts drove down from Sacramento to take care of the book table Saturday and Sunday. They rock.
Pastor Jared and Jessi Burke met as “kids” at Maranatha, and eventually married. Their parents, siblings, and kids are all part of the ministry at Maranatha—a powerful legacy.
Daniel Bentley is the lead pastor of Maranatha Chapel. His dad, Ray, passed away suddenly and shockingly from Covid complications a year and a half ago and Daniel was appointed to take his place. Daniel and his wife and family had been church planting in Colorado prior to that, and had returned to Maranatha a year before his father’s death. He is an anointed pastor and preacher and we loved working with him.
We spoke to the Maranatha staff during their Monday staff meeting on balancing marriage and ministry and felt very much a home with this stellar group of Christ-followers and leaders. So many of their team members grew up at Maranatha and are now serving on staff or were part of the launch team 35 years ago when the church was planted by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa (the church which spawned the “Jesus Revolution”). John Wickham was on that team—yes, the father of Phil Wickham, and Phil carries the DNA of his very musically talented parents, John and Lisa.
John Wickham is one of the worship leaders at Maranatha Chapel and is described as an incredibly talented and equally humble man of God.
Tuesday night the church held an evening focusing on marriage for which we gave two talks, and then Wednesday night the focus was parenting. Great crowds gathered both nights and we were especially delighted to connect with a number of longtime friends who came out to at least give us a hug.
So fun to connect with Steve and Jodee Neal, who were part of the Patriots couples’ study for the eight years he played for the Pats. We were so inspired by them as we had breakfast together the next day and heard about their Christ-centered family. They love being a part of the Maranatha community.
We were thrilled that Chaz and Emily Celaya and their kids drove up to reconnect with us. They both served on family camp staff back in the day and it had been a long time since we had seen them. We were so encouraged to hear about their life of serving at Point Loma Nazarene University.
Chris and Juanita Thomas were very involved in the InterVarsity chapter at San Diego State University back when Paul was our staff leader. They were at our wedding and spent many summers at family camp with their two kids. It’s been a few years since we’d seen them.
It’s very unusual for me to miss taking a photo of something important, but sadly, I failed to get a photo of us with our amazing Rancho Bernardo hosts, David and Julie Butler. We had met at Forest Home in June, but after our week together there, we felt like we’d known them for a very long time. Their invitation to stay with them during our ministry week at Maranatha Chapel was easy to accept and our days together were delightful in every way. It would seemingly be impossible to top the accommodations for sure, but our time connecting with David and Julie did just that. We had many conversations, ranging from information exchanging about our life journeys to deep life issues, and all served to bond us more deeply with this couple. We left their home feeling very refreshed, very cared for, and very grateful.
In between all of the speaking and meeting up with people, we did manage to get to the beach almost daily for walks. Several mornings we were walking in the dark having beat the sunrise, but any walk on the beach is better than a walk almost anywhere else.
The early morning sunrise is reflecting off the top of the waves. So beautiful.
Two of our beach walks happened at sunset . . . glorious.
Very early Thursday morning, Oct. 19, we were on our way back east to Baltimore Washington Airport (BWI) where, fortunately, we can leave our car parked in long term parking for a mere $8 a day. Since the airport is over an hour from our house (with no traffic, which is a middle of the night event), it’s very helpful to have cheap parking.
And it was extra convenient on this trip, because our next conference started the night of Oct. 19 in nearby Annapolis.
This was our sixth year partnering with the Eusebeia Marriage Experience and it is truly one of the highlights of our speaking calendar. Seven years ago this event was launched by Dr. Harold and Dalia Arnold, and months before its inaugural weekend, the Arnolds and their marriage team from their church heard us speak at the Tuscarora Conference Center in Pennsylvania. They invited us then to speak at the second annual Eusebeia and we’ve been partnering ever since.
We love the Arnolds and we love their vision and passion for building into marriages. It’s been exciting to see this conference grow year by year, and this year it hit the milestone of 100 couples. Full of energy and life, worship that lifts the roof, workshops that address and tackle real life marriage issues, and fellowship that is dynamic . . . that’s a taste of Eusebeia.
This year's theme was “Rest,” which quite honestly, seemed like a stretch, knowing that the Arnolds' and our lives don’t really have a lot of that. But we know that Harold earnestly seeks the Lord for direction in setting the theme, so we expected God to use this theme in our own lives.
And He did. Harold’s plenary, which set the trajectory for the long weekend, also set the table for us to evaluate our spiritual rhythms which include not just spiritual disciplines of time in the Word, in prayers, in serving—but also in rest. Although we can definitely improve in that area, our 1.5 hrs of walking daily is actually part of our “rest.” Harold emphasized that rest isn’t primarily inactivity, but it’s abiding in Him. It was a very good word.
We carried the theme in our plenary as well, focusing on the “vine and the branches” and abiding in Him rather than counting fruit.
Harold and Dalia Arnold have become very dear and treasured friends as well as partners in ministry.
Presenting at the Saturday morning plenary session.
The room was alive for worship Sunday morning.
Harold’s mother, Dorothy, is the queen of this event.
Gerard and Tonya Breland lead us in soulful worship every year.
Ken and Amy Gaudet, longtime friends and HIM partners from New England, have made Eusebeia a “must attend” each year.
Eusebeia ended early afternoon Sunday and farewells were exchanged as though we were leaving a family reunion.
Which we were.
We’re already looking forward to next year’s Eusebeia.
It was good to return “home” Sunday afternoon. We welcomed our dear friend, Wendy Turney, to our home early Tuesday morning. This wasn’t just a “hang out, tour, and drink coffee” together visit—this was a working visit. Wendy is an interior designer and she came expressly to help us hang our pictures.
And what a gift she was! She worked tirelessly for three days, envisioning, selecting, recommending, measuring, hammering, and voila! Though we didn’t get everything done, she transformed our place from a house to a home.
It now really feels like we live here.
Wendy Turney served us with her gift of decorating and helped us get our wall art from leaning against the walls to hanging on them. We love what she did!
She’s really good at what she does.
Julie and the kids, who are big fans of Wendy also, joined us for dinner one night.
Tapping in to our desire to spend more time with our grandkids, Derek and Julie left the kids with us Friday night and Saturday while they joined with the board of Neurokids for their annual meeting, held locally in Alexandria. We had a blast: playing, making pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies, working on a jigsaw puzzle, hot tubbing, and then going to Nathan’s flag football games on Saturday.
These are the moments that make leaving behind 32 years of history and life in New England, where we were “all there,” worth it.
Nathan and Rachel creatively carved their pumpkins.
Nathan’s flag football team debriefs with the coach after their first win in the play-offs.
Papa comforts a dejected quarterback after their loss in the second game.
One of the things we anticipated missing the most about New England environmentally was fall. Glorious fall. Breathtaking beauty.
But God . . .
These trees are in our neighborhood here in Fairfax.
These are definite stand-outs. The overall tree-scape is not as bright and beautiful as New England’s, but these . . .
Sweet “love notes” from Heaven reminding us that “wherever you are, be all there” and He’ll be there, too.
