My Vegas Babies

My kids are doing great! This move has gone so well for them and I'd like to share a few reasons why I think they are transitioning so well.



1. We have laid a foundation in our family that we follow and obey God. It's something we've stressed with them from the beginning. We talk about what it means to follow God and we have taught them that God is worthy of our trust.

2. We included them in our decision to move. When we told our kids about the way God was leading us they were surprisingly cool with it. We were honest with them about the positive and negative impact this move would have on our family. We allowed them to talk about their feelings, fears, excitements, etc. There was never a sense of, "We've decided to move and you guys are coming with us whether you like it or not!" We had a very open form of communication with them about everything (and continue to since we've gotten here).

3. We prayed about this church plant with them from the beginning. They are only 7 and 9, but they talked very openly to God about it. It's awesome to see their vision for Verve and our family's presence in this city. They shared their hearts with God.

4. We waited about a week before they started school so they could hang out with us and begin to feel comfortable in their new surroundings. Another thing that helped was that Vince completely focused on us and the house for the first two weeks we got here. He had some meetings, but he was with us for the most part.

5. The night before school, we drove to the school parking lot and prayed with them. After we prayed we took them to an ice cream shop to celebrate. After their first day we went to McDonald's and asked them tons of questions about their first day. They were our main focus that day.

6. We got them into their favorite extra curricular activities right away. Baseball tryouts were the second weekend we were here and practices started shortly thereafter. I got Marissa back into hip hop dance lessons, which she loves. We wanted their lives here to be somewhat similar to life in Virginia Beach. Getting them involved in the activities they did in Virginia Beach was one way to do that.

I'm sure we've also made some mistakes with this transition, but I feel like we've done a good job overall. Please share some of your tips for transitioning your kids into a new environment. We could all use a little help in this area. Be sure to leave some comments!

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Debbie Downer

I've been a "Debbie Downer" for sometime now. I thought it would be good for me to share some cool things that are happening here in Vegas.

1. I'm almost unpacked! Only a few more decorations to go!

2. Las Vegas is known as being one of the most un-neighborly cities in the U.S. Despite this I've met several of our neighbors and am beginning to build relationships with them. One neighbor even asked me to go to Jazzercise classes with her (I didn't even know that Jazzercise existed anymore. I thought it was a fad from the 1980s. I also wonder if you have to wear legwarmers to class...I hope so!)

3. My kids love living here. I'll write more and share some theorys I have as to why in future posts.

4. Dawson started playing baseball. We've met some parents and are beginning to connect with people.

5. I am going to start volunteering in the kids' school on a weekly basis.

6. Lori Wilhite invited me to join her book club!

7. There are 7 adults that have already moved here to help Verve! Many more are coming later this year.

8. I never need to wear a winter jacket.

9. We are starting a non-profit community based organization called, The Verve Foundation.

10. And finally, our last piece of furniture is being delivered today. It's almost "home."

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How Honest Should I Be?

I really struggle with how much to share in this blog. On one hand, I want to be totally honest because I think honesty will benefit you the most. On the other hand, my pride would like you to believe that I am perfect and that my life ROCKS! In the end, I've humbly decided to choose honesty because I think it's way more beneficial to you. Church planting is HARD work; if I pretend that it's not then I'm doing you a huge disservice.

In case you haven't picked up on it in my recent posts, my life has kind of gone down the toilet. My depression has increased, my time with God has decreased, my relationship with Vince is strained and I'm having trouble getting out of bed.

In my last post I mentioned that this past weekend was life changing for me. For the first time in a long time I feel alive again.

I'm not really sure what happened. I think there are a ton of contributing factors. I could go on and on about the mistakes I've made over the past months. Instead of dwelling on the negative, I'll tell you what I did right. It's quite simple actually: I cried out for help!

I have a group of girls that I love with all my heart. They are staggered throughout the country. Some are in ministry and some aren't. They all have one thing in common though. They love God and they love me (I guess that's really two things).

When I finally got desperate, I sent out some emails. I was completely honest and told them how I was feeling and what was going on. I asked for some huge prayer support. My only regret is that I didn't cry out for help sooner. Once the prayers, emails and calls started I began to feel better. Their unconditional love and kindness helped me in ways that I didn't even realize it could.

The second thing I did was to get back on track with God. Making God my priority was vital to my overall well-being. This is actually the most important thing, but I honestly needed a little pushing, prodding and encouragement from my friends to do this.

I say all this to encourage you. Because you are a church planting wife, you will have times like this. You will have days or periods of time that you feel like your life is an absolute mess. You will want to quit. You will want to run away, retreat and curl up in a ball. I want you to know that you are not alone. You are not a freak show.

My best recommendation is to cry out for help. You've got to reach your hand out of your pit and ask for help. Whether it's to one person or hundreds, you've got to do it. You will be changed because of it.

The whole purpose of this blog is to be an encouragement and support for you. Feel free to email me anytime at j_antonucci@hotmail.com. At least you'll have one person who understands and whose experienced what you are going through.

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My L.A. Weekend with CHIPS and God

We spent the weekend in Los Angeles. Vince preached at Discovery Church in Simi Valley. We had a great time exploring L.A. like a bunch of tourists. In classic Antonucci fashion, we got pulled over by the LAPD twice. The first time was for Vince not wearing his seat belt in the passenger seat. The second time was for not having license plates on our car (the Nevada DMV made me take off my Virginia plates before giving me new plates).

I was very disappointed that neither policeman was Erik Estrada.

This was a life changing weekend for me. Not because of Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, the Oscars, or our steps on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was life changing because of The Shack.

This move has been more difficult than I thought it would be. My life has been in a state of chaos since we made the decision to move to Vegas. Life is beginning to settle down now, and as it slows down, I'm forced to face some things that I'd rather ignore.

For starters, I don't think I prepared myself emotionally for this move. I figured that I've done this before, that I knew what to expect and that I'm super woman. Unfortunately, my cape shrunk in the wash.

Second, I put my relationship with God on the back burner. It's not that I didn't spend any time with God, it's just that it stopped being my priority. I had packing, moving, traveling and a million other things to do and so I pushed God to the side.

Reading The Shack was like getting slapped in the face. It was a much needed wake up call. It was a sweet reminder of what's really important, what my life is about and why we moved across the country. It made me fall in love with God all over again.

And for the first time in a long time I feel like I can breathe again.

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Something to Ponder...

I recently read an article about a porn star. She was asked several questions that I thought were really interesting. I thought I'd share them with you:

Why did you decide to get into porn? I'm doing it for me, to have a good time. As long as you don't mind taking your clothes off, it's great.

How do you reconcile doing porn with raising kids? Whatever I do in my private life is my private life. When I come home at night, I have my family. The kids are my whole life-this is my business. I give 100 percent to my kids and husband.

How will you explain what your job is to your children? I'm sure when Jenna Jameson, who was the biggest in the porn business, has to tell her kids one day, it'll be nothing but good stuff. My family is supportive.

What does your husband think about what you do? Many porn stars are married. Lou travels with me to all the shows, to everything. He's my best friend in the world. He's supportive, and he's having a good ol' time.

How would you minister to her? How would you love her? What would your church need to look like for her to feel welcome? Just something for you to ponder...

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Off to New Jersey!

We're headed to New Jersey this weekend for my sister's wedding. I am so excited to be with my family. They really know me and love me. I didn't expect the loneliness I'm feeling here. The fact that I can go an entire day and not talk to anyone in person is depressing. God has given us a great team of people to start this church with, so it's not like I'm alone. It's hard to put it into words.

Please pray for me. It's not like I'm spending the day in bed or even having bad days. It's just this general sense of "blah..." I'm passionate about our ministry and plans in Vegas. I know without a shadow of a doubt that God wants us here. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that Satan is on the move in my life.

I was prepared for the big attacks; it's the little ones that have caught me off guard. I think the same could be said for just about all of us who have moved here. Some of us haven't gotten the jobs we hoped we'd get, others are struggling financially, we're homesick, our marriages are struggling, and that's just the beginning!

Thankfully in the end God always wins! Even though we are each struggling in different areas, we know that it will be OK. God's got our back and we are "more than conquerors."

And so are you!

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Different Good or Different Bad?

Everything is so different here. I guess it's that way no matter where you move. You get used to life done a certain way and when there's a change it messes you up.

When you ask your husband if he likes your new haircut and he says, "It's different!" I bet you automatically say, "Different good, or different bad?" The difference can either be positive ("I love your new haircut! Don't ever go back to the old style!") or negative ("Can you go back to the salon and demand a refund?").

I haven't figured out whether the differences in Vegas are good or bad yet. Here's some examples:

1. Everything is brown. I'm used to the lush green colors of Virginia.
2. Virginia Beach has the ocean and Vegas has mountains.
3. Today it's 65 degrees in Vegas and 39 degrees in Virginia Beach (Ok, that's a no brainer).
4. Everywhere you go there are slot machines.
5. Gas prices are higher.
6. The schools are different.
7. Bigger city verses smaller city.

None of these differences really matter in the grand scheme of things. Life is different for us and we're adjusting. There's one thing that's really similar, though. No matter where you go people are unhappy, living monotonous lives, lacking joy and contentment, and trying to find that "one" thing that will satisfy them.

And that's why we're here. Everything else kind of pales in comparison, don't you think?

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