Meetings with Taylor Update

Thank you all for your prayers and support this weekend as we traveled to Taylor University for our meetings with President, Dr. Gene Habecker, as well as many other leaders in Taylors campus administration. Overall, the weekend went incredibly well. We have heard it said that, “If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.” So, our approach has been to tell God the desires of our heart and ask Him to reveal His plan to us. This weekend, He did just that, and more!

In a way, much of what we have been planning was blown into a million pieces, but with a perspective of rebuilding it 50 times better and faster than we could have before.

(Kelly Hibbs, Randy Gruendyke, Steve Austin, Jon Cavanaugh, Jesse Hibbs)

So much of our planning has been focused on the minimum provision required to get Saddle Lights off the ground, that we haven’t really pursued thinking about how big God could provide for Saddle Lights.

As we met with Taylor University, not only did we feel that our excitement for Saddle Lights was shared, but we were challenged to entertain some possibilities that are much larger than we had initially let ourselves dream.

Our plans are in the process of being revised and revisited as we de-brief and incorporate feedback received Friday. I know much of what I am writing is cryptic, but we hesitate to publish anything until things begin to come into focus for us and gain certainty.

One thing we can be direct about, is that funding for Saddle Lights does not fit in Taylor University’s general budget. This sounds like a bad thing, but quite the contrary. Not to speak for anyone, but across their leadership we were getting head nods that Saddle Lights’ mission and vision are aligned with Taylor’s and that it makes sense to pursue a partnership.

We have a lot of work ahead of us and are excited to share how God is moving in great detail, when we feel that details are appropriate to share. For the time being, be excited with us that God IS moving, and in ways that seem to be much larger than we would let ourselves dream. Jehova Jairah! We are still hoping and praying for provision and a full-time launch by August of 2012 (next fall), with the first tour starting in 2013. But His timing is the perfect timing, so we’ll wait and see what God says about that.

Kelly Hibbs, Jesse Hibbs, Janech Davenport, Bob Davenport

While in Upland we also spent some wonderful time reconnecting with Coach and Janech at Wandering Wheels. Not only were they the leaders of our first Coast to Coast experience, but they have provided valuable council to us as we have been planning Saddle Lights. It was a great time to revisit with them, and discuss how God could unfold a much bigger picture than we first imagined. Pray with us!