An Exciting Potential Ministry Opportunity!

Today has been an interesting day. If you read my last post, I mentioned that Vince was going to be meeting with a new church planter this week. They had a long meeting this afternoon and it appears that God is opening a door for us that will be a very new and exciting journey for our family!

Vince and Chris (the church planter) met at the church planting school last semester at our church that they both attended and Chris went on to start a new church in McDonough, GA. They have not officially launched but they have a core group of people that are now meeting at a local church in the area and will be officially launching in March 2010 but they are having preview services that will begin October 18th. Chris sought the advice and wisdom of Jim, the director of the school of church planting, about the need for an executive pastor. After hearing what Chris was looking for, Jim recommended Vince for this role at his church. Chris contacted Vince which led to where we are today with this meeting.

While we will definitely be praying about the next steps we need to take, it is so neat to possibly be in the place where we are beginning to see the picture form to all the puzzle pieces we had before as we lived out each day but not knowing exactly how the pieces were to fit together. If you have followed my blog from the beginning, you know that certain doors were opened to explore the church planting call and Vince felt very led to pursue this calling. Originally we felt that Vince would be the lead pastor because of certain visions and core convictions he had and felt God gave him in order to lead a church. However, back in April, we still believed we were to be involved in church planting but we began to pray about the idea that maybe Vince wasn't to be the lead pastor. At that point, we just knew that we were to be involved in a church plant but we didn't know what that would exactly look like. During this whole time, it became very hard, especially for Vince, because he really struggled with the need to provide for our family and also still explore what he believed God was calling us to. The frustrating part for both of us at that time was that all we knew is that we were to be involved in a church plant and the mission and goals of the church that we would be involved in through a plant. However, we didn't know where we were going to be, who would be on the team with us, and if the time for this call was even now. All of these aspects were very important details as we waited for God to reveal the next step. That was the hard part, we were put in somewhat of a waiting mode. While in that waiting mode, Vince began pursuing anything and everything in terms of a job because we have literally been out of money since February and in the process of no doors opening and God not appearing to reveal our next immediate step, he began to lose sight of the vision that we so strongly felt he was called to back in February. As a result, he started a downward spiral and hit rock bottom. As you've read from other posts, God was so faithful to send encouraging friends and even sentimental gifts to help encourage him in some very specific ways where he was struggling. That was probably one of the most painful times in our marriage but I can say that on a personal and marriage level, we were tested by the fire and in all of the sifting, I believe are stronger for it and ready for the next step which could very well be this church plant.

As it stands now, we are praying about this decision because while it is an exciting opportunity, we need to be certain that this is the journey that God wants us on now. Chris has sent us the church's doctrine and other specific information on the church. If this is something that God is calling us to, this job is Vince's to take. What is so neat about all of this is as Chris was explaining his core convictions and what the church's focus, goals, and mission are, it sounded exactly what Vince had said of the church that he believed we were to plant. Vince never considered that there was someone else out there who would feel so strongly on some very key areas that would lead a church based on those convictions given by God and that Vince could team up with someone like that and not be the lead pastor.

There are still a lot of details to be worked out. We still need to sell our house but a neat part to this story is we would be able to live in my grandmother's house which is also for sell. When my mom put my grandmother's house on the market, we hated it so bad because we wanted it to stay in the family. This house is filled with so many memories and the house itself is so unique because it sits on a large lot and literally is a kid's paradise with a huge backyard, a wraparound driveway which allowed for a lot of fun on bikes and another driveway that goes down to an extra detached garage that was our playhouse when we went to visit, and there are so many other unique qualities that I enjoyed as a kid when I would visit her. Honestly, it isn't about the house so please don't misunderstand me here. I've always said that I would hate to leave our house now but wherever God calls us, we will go. It is just a neat thought to think that our boys would be able to make their own memories at a place like this if we have the opportunity to live there.

I am just reminded that even the smallest details that are important to us, are important to God too. It isn't being selfish to tell God what you desire and want. God knows our feelings anyway so why not share them as you would in any other relationship. He knew our desires with this house from years ago and the heart behind wanting this house to stay in the family. Sometimes He chooses not to give us those things because He knows what is best but sometimes He does bless us with more than just our needs. It is like any loving parent. You want to give your kids the world but you know that would ruin and spoil them so there are some things that need to be withheld for their own good but sometimes you love to give them things that are true desires of their heart because it gives you both so much pleasure. I think God works the same way some time. There have been times that I have felt that God was just taking things away not because He was cruel but because we needed some type of extra-long boot camp to equip us for the next step. However, knowing God wasn't being cruel and believing that everything happening to us was for our ultimate good too didn't make it any easier or less frustrating. While I think there are times God does this and we question God or get a certain image of God, I'm equally reminded that God loves to see us enjoying the things He blesses us with too as long as we don't let them distract us from what really matters or that we don't become hoarders or lovers of things.

Anyway, in regards to this house, I kept telling my mom that she needed to hold on to it so that someone in the family could live in it. The only problem is nothing was leading anyone to that area until now. If we lived in this house, we would be about 20 minutes from the church and the house is paid off so that would substantially cut the amount of support we would need to raise. That leads to the other important detail...we would be responsible for raising all of our support for the first few years until the church becomes self-supporting through the giving of the members. This is very typical with a church plant but I think one thing God has shown us to this point...He will provide. Who would have thought that we wouldn't have completely gone under financially after being out of money since February? God used so many people to meet our needs and provide and He will do it again. We are confident He will bring others along that will want to be a part of this journey with us by helping support us financially and/or through their prayers. There is also the possibility that Vince may be bi-vocational and this could be where some of the radio leads could come into play. Only time will tell. Being bi-vocational is extremely hard because being on staff at a church plant is more than a full-time job even though you are raising your own support so adding extra work on top of that is something that would be very tiring. We know that God is and has been orchestrating all of these details and this is also one of the details He has under control but we would also appreciate your prayers for this detail too. We look forward to seeing the way God will work and we appreciate your prayers!