So in the past year, Amy and I have changed quite a bit of things, and we wanted to let everyone know the why's, what's, and huh's of our life. Sooooo backstory.
A few years ago, Berk (our pastor at Grace Community Church at NC State) talked with me about being a part of an eventual church plant at UNC-Charlotte. I prayed about it and basically accepted the vision of going to Charlotte. This was close to 3 years ago, and about a year later, my great friend Daryn committed to working with me for the sake of the Gospel wherever God placed me. So there were the 2 of us. Around that same time, Amy and I started dating with the intention of marriage and she was also wanting to be a part of the church plant in Charlotte. Bam 3. As time went on, we talked with different people about being a part of the team and Bekah Maier threw her lot in with us.
November 2012, I asked Amy to marry me and she said yes, and from there we started planning our future. These plans included finding jobs in Charlotte, NC in order to be a part of the church plant at UNCC, as well as planning for our wedding ;) Around Christmas, my best friend, David, also got engaged to his girlfriend, Renée. Renée was looking into UNCC for grad school, and in February/March, she found out she had gotten in and later accepted. Thus, adding 2 more to the crazy adventure of Charlotte.
Soon after that, I got a job in Charlotte working as a front end web developer for TradeKing, and David's job agreed to allow him to work remotely. At the end of April, David and I moved down to Charlotte! Amy and I planned our wedding to be on June 22nd, and David and Renée planned theirs for August 3rd. This summer would be the summer of weddings while starting the church plant! At this time, I had been living with David, so we needed to find a place for us to live in after we got married. We signed a lease for an apartment near campus, and I began living there. Amy was living with her parents (30 minutes away from UNCC) and soon after, got a job offer from Electrolux! God was doing work!
June 22nd, we got married at Bond park in Cary, NC with our friends and family present. For our honeymoon, we rented a cabin in the mountains of Tennessee, and it was great! We went zip lining, white water rafting, walked trails, went horseback riding and generally had a great time. Amy started work the Monday after we got back, so we got home and BAM life started.
Over the summer, we sporadically spent time on UNCC's campus meeting students and sharing the Gospel with them. A few weeks later, we got a text from Bekah saying she was moving to Charlotte... the next day! We thought it would be a while before Bekah joined us, but God had other plans. Bekah moved down without a job but believing in God for one (she had a few interviews beforehand). Soon after she moved here, God gave her an architecture job!
August 3rd, David and Renée got married and joined us in Charlotte. With our current full team (Daryn will be joining us when he finishes raising support for going on staff with the Church) we have started putting our nose to the grind. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, we are trying to get out on campus for an hour or two and meet students. Our goal is to introduce people who don't know Jesus to Him and to help believers in Christ to understand their faith. This involves sharing the story of Christ and teaching believers what Christ taught he disciples to do.
As we are seeking to expand the Kingdom of God here in Charlotte, I ask that you would be praying with us for the students of UNCC's campus. Pray that they would be open to God's word and willing to be a part of His Kingdom. We also ask that you would be praying for the other Christian ministries on campus as well. Be praying that God would be allowing them to see victory in reaching out to the people of Charlotte.
Well that is a look into what has been going on in the newly minted Rice family this past year. Please keep us in your prayers in the coming months and years.
Amy, Keegan and the Ricelette!
Oh yeah! Did I mention that we will be having a child?! He/she will be making their appearance in April of 2014!
