Announcement

Well, it's official news now. The Cason family is moving to Michigan!

Some of you know this and have been praying for us as this whole thing has come together. We can't thank you enough and ask that you please keep praying.

For others, this may come as a bit of a shock. Especially since you probably know how we feel about the State of Michigan. I never in a million years thought I'd be heading back. But I am. And amazingly... I'm excited about it.

I'm excited about it because God has orchestrated this whole thing and I want to do what He wants our family to do. So, for that, I'm excited. I'm also glad to be close to family again. The whole three-kid-thing makes living close to family very attractive.

As I've thought about writing this post I've realized that who I was when I left Michigan and who I am now are two very different Juli's. So I want to write about that a little because it's actually a big part of why we are going back.

Up until I was 22 I drank. A lot. I partied as often as I could. I literally drank myself out of college. I drove my car drunk all.the.time. I was an awful daughter, sister, friend, and coworker. I was completely self-absorbed and emotionally and spiritually sick. In February of 99 I was arrested for drunk driving and that began a new path for me. I realized that I was drinking alcoholicly and made the decision to get some help. And getting help led me to God. And God totally met me right where I was at and put people in my path who could help me get to know Him.

In 2001 I became a Christian. Now, up until that point I would have told you I was Catholic. However, I didn't practice Catholocism. In fact, I never went to church - not even on the holidays anymore. I also realized that year that I knew nothing of having a daily relationship with God. Nothing. I learned that God loved me - just as I am - and wanted me to follow Him. So, I made the decision to try to do that. And so did Chuck. And so began our spiritual journey together.

At that time, Chuck was in the Coast Guard. Our life was not all roses as soon as we began to follow Jesus. We had a lot of past baggage to work through, both individually and together. We spent countless hours in marriage counseling, literally battling for our marriage. We were jacked and without God and some very Godly wisdom, we would not be together today, no doubt.

In 2002 we moved to Virginia Beach and were introduced to Forefront Church. We began attending and deepened our relationship with each other and with God. In 2004 I went to work for Forefront as an administrative assistant and began to understand why Forefront did things so differently than other churches. Forefront exists to reach people really far from God. Not people who know God already. Not people who might like to know more about God. Forefront reaches out to people who want nothing to do with church, people who don't like church. Once I gained this understanding, I came to really love our church and the mission of the church.

In 2007 Chuck was medically retired from the Coast Guard due to a back injury that led to surgery. And at that time Chuck went to work for Forefront to be the Campus Pastor of a new campus of our church. Chuck and I were so excited to extend Forefront further out in our area. The campus opened in October of 2007.

The following month we learned I was pregnant, while waiting for our twin sons to come home from Haiti. We had begun their adoption in 2006 and were unsure at that time if the adoption would complete. As the pregnancy progressed, so did our adoption, and our boys were ready to come home two days before Tristan was born on August 15th. Three weeks after Tristan was born, we hopped on a plane to Haiti and picked up Noah and Samuel who were nearly three years old. We had committed to adopt them when they were just 10 weeks old. Our family exploded in just three short weeks.

We've been parents for 10 months now and WOW is it hard! I realize that we were introduced to parenthood quite differenly than most, but we are just doing the best we can one day at a time. God's grace has been shown to us so clearly these past 10 months!

This past Sunday our campus of Forefront was closed so that we can all meet at one location in Virginia Beach. Heartbroken is a mild word for what Chuck and I are feeling about that. Our prayer is that everyone who can will join us at the Virginia Beach location, but we realize that some will not. I'd like to ask that you pray right now that they find a church where they can get to know Jesus. (Thanks for praying!)

One of the many factors of the closing of the Chesapeake Campus has to do with where God is leading our family. In October Chuck was asked to speak at a retreat in Michigan. Michigan has been hit really hard by the failing automotive industry. Unless you have a deep understanding of how the automotive industry has fed Michigan for years or have been there recently to see the devastation, you just can't comprehend the depression that is going on there. To give a brief example of the pull of that industry, when I was in high school anyone who had a family member who worked for the auto industry was encouraged to go work in the factories instead of going to college. People are disillusioned and hurting by the collapse of the auto industry. They are losing their homes, their belongings, and their dignity. And for many of them, they have absolutely no hope in God. Michigan is predominantly Catholic, though most people from my generation don't practice Catholocism. Many of them are like me - they would tell you they are Catholic, but they have no tie to the Catholic Church. Well, as Chuck was researching the area and getting to know who he'd be speaking to, God just completely broke his heart for Michigan, particularily Southeast Michigan. He couldn't stop talking about it and it was all he thought about. He went there and the people he spoke to were hungry for the passion he had for reaching lost people. They want to be challenged. They want to turn the world upside down.

Chuck kept talking about Michigan and how he felt God was asking him to start a church there. It made perfect sense to me. You see, when my life began to change for the better, Chuck was relocated to Virginia and North Carolina. And I kind of just ran away from Michigan. I was glad to be leaving because I didn't like who I had been there. So, the fact that God is asking me to return doesn't surprise me. Perhaps going back will be God's way of giving someone else hope. I don't know. I just know that it feels right that God is asking us to return.

When Chuck first began talking about starting a church in Michigan I looked at him like he had 5 heads. Chuck is from Southern California. He is a surfer and total lover of the ocean. He HATES snow and all things cold. In fact, because his spine is fused, cold weather is painful for him. So, for Chuck to be talking about moving to Michigan... well, there's just no doubt in my mind that it's from God.

So, here's the deal. We are moving to Southeast Michigan to start a church for people who don't like church. We want to reach out to people in our age-range who have given up on church, but not on God. And even if they've given up on God, we're hoping that we can share some hope with them that maybe, just maybe God is worth a second chance. My eyes tear up just thinking about it because there just aren't churches like that in the area we are looking at. Yes, there are some very good Christian churches there, but they aren't completely focused on reaching out to people who don't want to be reached.

Almost everyone immediately asks us, "When?" And the answer is that we're not sure yet. We have a house to sell - that we just bought 19 months ago - in a depressed economy. We're not even sure if we can use a real estate agent because we're just hoping to break even. Before we can sell the house we have a number of small projects to complete... projects that are not easy to manage with three little kids under foot. We need prayer and help. If you sense God leading you to help us out with advice on how to sell this place or with projects, please email me at (julicason@yahoo.com).

If you are reading this and you haven't talked to me in years you may be wondering, "What the heck happened to Juli?!" And I just want to tell you that I'm still me. I may not do some of the things I used to do, but I'm totally open to talk - about anything. Just because my husband is a pastor and we're starting a church doesn't mean I'm going to try to shove Jesus down your throat. I promise. I'm having great time reconnecting with many people on Facebook and it's my hope that this announcement doesn't scare people off.

I would ask those of you who pray to please pray for us. The excitement of following God is paired with the heartbreak of the closing of the Chesapeake Campus. Just as we are adjusting to our crazy new life of being a family of 5 instead of two, we are now going to have to pack this party up and relocate. We are overwhelmed with the weight of all we have to do in the months to come. Just getting regular household chores done is a stretch for us these days. I'm not sure how we are going to keep our house ready to show at a moments notice and then pack it all up. And I'm not even ready to start looking for homes in Michigan.

All that said, I must say that God is good in all these things. And today my hope rests in Him and His power, not my own. He will be our strength through this. I know He's got it all figured out already. He has since the beginning of time, afterall. I will keep you updated on our progress and how to best pray for us.

Thanks for being there for us.

Love,
Juli