potty training, church planting, & more

So I have so many random thoughts going through my head right now that I’m having hard time with clarity for blogging. So I’ll share the random thoughts, then maybe they’ll be out of my head and I can move on! Hopefully you’re entertained by my crazy mind of thoughts.

– Sweet girl Harper LOVES to sit on the potty. SO much, it’s actually annoying since she’s all of umm… 22 months old and the boys didn’t potty train until 3. BUT yesterday morning, while sitting on the potty for the 4th time of the day (and it was only 9am), she actually went! Is this normal for girls? OR I’m thinking maybe total coincidence. I don’t know. But any smart mommas out there – where do I go from here?

– Feeling creative and crafty but have no idea what to work on. I’d like to learn to make a quilt, but love projects that instantly gratify and a quilt is a pretty long-term project. I’m kind of planning a bedroom re-do with this cool idea possibly as a wall. Jd is game for it, but I honestly just don’t know when to get it done. Earlier I was thinking that Harper needs pants with ruffles at the bottom. Kinda like this or this. Then again, I still have Christmas projects I was making to finish. (Eek!)

– God is doing something through me with the church planting business. It is hard! I guess you enter into anything with certain expectations, but God is using mine to turn me upside down I think. In the same way He’s blowing my mind with some challenging friendships lately – in a good way. But lots of inward thinking and looking, and I’m not so good at that! 🙂

– This little bloggy blog. Not sure what to do with it. I like bogging frequently, it’s a challenge for me. And I think more than just my mom is reading it. But I’d LOVE some feedback. Let’s converse. Share your thoughts, experiences, etc. in the comments below. I’d love to “see” who is actually reading this. It might also help me figure out what types of things to write about. What do y’all like?

– Water. Yeah, I think I need to drink more. My skin is winter dry and I just don’t drink that much in a day. My new challenge – drink 8 glasses tomorrow (or 48 oz.). It’s a start!

 

Okay, enough randomness. Off to read, “Eat, Pray, Love.” I saw the movie last week, but heard the book was much better.

JANUARY 30th!! Columbia Church launch!

Well, as we have prayed, worked, and gathered support for 2 years, we are so excited to finally announce that Columbia Church will finally have an official launch on January 30th, 2011!!

Many of you have been waiting to hear us say, “We’re launching.”  Well, the wait is over, and now it’s time to gear-up.  As Grand Opening approaches, we feel as though we are on an airplane runway preparing for take-off.  The final procedures checklist is being checked, the passengers are buckling their seatbelts, the captain and crew are verifying readiness; and we believe that your participation will make the difference between mediocrity and excellence when the plane is ready to fly.  We still need more money; we still need more people; and the work is far from over, but the next phase of the journey is within sight.

 

Next, there are a few events scheduled for the remainder of the year that we want you to put on your calendar.

November 7^th and December 5^th are UpStreet Live.  UpStreet Live is our environment for elementary-age children, with a full-scale production and a small group environment rolled into one.  This will be the best hour of your child’s week.  And adults, remember that there’s an intentional place for you at UpStreet Live, too.  So plan to stay and hear more about how Columbia Church strategically implements Family Ministry environments.

November 21^st is our next adult gathering.  We want everyone to be with us for this event as we begin to turn our focus toward being prepared for Grand Opening.  Family Ministry environments will be in full swing, too.  So bring the kids!

justONE virtual conference

Last night I was able to participate in an exciting opportunity, the JustONE Virtual Conference. It is a 6 week conference, on Tuesday mornings or evenings that is geared toward pastors wives and women in ministry. Some of the best women leaders in the church will be speaking over the course of the next 6 weeks on topics such as marriage, relationships, family, time & balance, growth and passion. Last night my favorite speaker was Lisa Young, wife of Ed Young Jr. from Fellowship Church in TX. She said some very insightful things on criticism and friendships while being in ministry. I am looking forward to another great speaker next week.

Another great thing to come out of this conference and the Leading and Loving It team is the opportunity for Virtual Community Groups. I am in a group of 10 other women, led by a great woman of God, and we will be connecting monthly via the internet. In between the times we “see” each other, we can support each other and keep in touch via Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, or phone. It is a really neat opportunity to develop relationships with other women traveling the same journey you are. I’m super excited about this because there isn’t anyone yet that I’m connected to who can understand exactly what we’ve been going through as a family, and me as a wife, starting Columbia Church. I’m also excited about encouraging other women who might be a step behind where I’m at.

Crazy things technology allows us to do!

struggles of a church planting wife…

So the past 18 months have been spent as a church planter’s wife. Pretty far from where we envisioned God would bring us in our life, but an adventure nevertheless. When entering down this path, I embraced it with open heart and open arms. I knew I could totally depend on God to provide for our family, knew we were in His will, and knew we had family and friends to support us. I’m a girl who is pretty open minded when it comes to change and adventure and just having my husband and family alongside me set me in a pretty trusting place. I figured there would be setbacks and struggles. We actually embraced responding to God’s call in starting Columbia Church as a way to stretch and strengthen our faith. So all this to say, I have been pretty much a long for the ride of this chapter of our life, while supporting JD in any way I can as a wife and partner.

I think though that to be pretty open and honest, I am starting to feel the struggles of church planting. Some of the emotions I have felt at various times over this journey have been hurt, fear, jealousy, inadequacy, and even anger. Fear of the future, financial strains, hurt from families leaving, jealousy at what other have when I feel we sacrifice much, even anger towards God in things not moving quick enough for my liking. There’s also loneliness – who else has felt this struggle or experienced what I’m feeling or going through?

As I encounter these emotions, I realize that I am getting what I essentially asked for – a faith strengthened. Our family has made sacrifices that has made our family better. Our values are in a very different place. The values we are teaching our children are different. I’m learning patience, and God’s timing. I’m also learning empathy and compassion for what others are going through. I guess most things can be linked to my selfish nature – wanting control, bigger, sooner, more. When I sit back, at my protector’s feet, I can see a larger picture and know that He is who He says He is. He has my present and my future cradled in His hands, just like He has always has. I have no reason to fear, no reason for selfishness, or anger, or hurt. I just have to quietly trust and walk each day of this journey relying on what His ultimate plan is.

I firmly believe that Columbia needs this church that we’re working so hard to bring. The fruit of our labor will be worth it when we see life change happening around us, knowing that we had some part to play in it.

Update

So a lot has happened since the last time I blogged. We are full swing into planting Columbia Church, we had baby girl, Harper Grace on May 31st, I am a full-time stay at home mom, and Cade has finished preschool and will be in kindergarten in the fall. No wonder I haven’t blogged in months!

I am going to try to get back into this blogging thing. I need a favor from those of you that read it though — as you read, leave comments now and then. They encourage and help keep me motivated on writing! They also establish and develop relationships that I look forward to having.

So hopefully look forward to more posts coming soon!

Quiet faith, quiet support

Today was JD’s last day as Youth Pastor at Dutch Fork Christian Church. Tomorrow he starts full-time as lead pastor of Columbia Church. Wow! God is already doing amazing things through starting up this church. We had our first launch team meeting last week and we saw 5 unexpected individuals show up. Totally cool! Then we had a commitment come through that would cover what JD needs for salary and expenses for the first 2-3 months. We get to eat! And there are more and more cool things God has done and is going to do. We sit quietly by and wait. 

I was praying the other day that I can be the wife and support that he needs through this time. That I am giving of my time and even more so, giving of his time. That I can be understanding and patient. I want to be supportive from the sidelines in the way that JD needs me to be. 

Other news, bebe’ is bouncing around daily! I love feeling those baby moves. We have our big ultrasound in 3 weeks, but we’re still not going to find out what the gender is. We do have names picked out for both boys and girls. I’ll share them maybe tomorrow!

The beginning of the journey…

So back in January, JD received a call from North Point Ministries, actually a recruiter for them. They had come across him and wanted to know if would potentially be interested in planting a church for them, or at least to start talking to them. He was dumbfounded. For the past two years a few close people to JD have spoken into him that he should plant a church someday. His response has always been that he’s not inters ted. He even told NP this when they called – that he hadn’t really considered doing this and didn’t know why they wanted him. Their answer – “talk to the people who think this of you and find out why.” So he did. 

Over the past 10 months, NP has had phone conferences, interviews, site visits, personality/leadership testing, etc. to determine what type of leader he is and if it is what they look for. We guess it is because after the site visit we started talking details of the launch! JD is the youngest “strategic partner” to plant a North Point church. 

So, that’s the how we came to this. A few more details: the plant will be in Columbia, SC, where we currently are. They looked at moving us to a few places, but they ultimately decided that Columbia needs a church like this. Launch is expected Fall 2009. 

Wow! We have been humbled daily by this gift God is giving us. It’s amazing all the faith connections and blessings we’ve already seen through this. God’s hand has been more than evident through the past 10 months and we are ecstatic to see what He does in the future!