Tag: update

Gather, Pray, Trust

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For a season it seemed like we would never make it to this point. But here we are. In Spartanburg. God is faithful and His timing is good. Looking back it’s easy to see how He gave us what we needed when we needed it, even though in the midst of it all we really had no idea what we needed. He shatters our plans and gives us something far better…Himself. He asks us to trust Him even when it doesn’t make sense, and it rarely makes sense. As we trust Him we find a life far better and deeper than we could have imagined.

So I should have known. Surrounded by boxes, after months of waiting and planning, I had a huge to-do list. Unpack, connect with people, make repairs, schedule meetings, and on and on. A few days in and I was already feeling frantic. How is all of this going to get done? How are we going to make this happen? Where are the people? Let’s make a home. Let’s start a church. Let’s do this!

When I slowed down enough to listen, I felt the Lord pulling back my anxiety to remind me that this is not my work. It’s His. My role is to pray and trust. Our role as His Church is to gather, pray, and trust Him to do His work through us. We need Him. And He is faithful and good. We need the Holy Spirit to empower us. And He will because this is His work, not ours.

So we will gather, pray, and trust Him. Not just to give us what we think we want, but to give us what He knows we need. To give us life to the full in Him.

Come, Lord Jesus. Fill us, lead us, empower us to be your witnesses.

God with Us

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I have been reflecting lately on one of the first times Mike and I skied together.  We were dating at the time, still getting to know each other in so many ways.  As we started out, Mike asked me what kind of hills I liked to ski, and I told him I liked anything but black with moguls.  I am able to ski black, but I do not care for the thrill of it.  I like to enjoy being outside.  I like the feeling of gently swooping back and forth across the hill marveling at God’s creation, all while perfectly in control of my body.  Mike on the other hand, skis for the thrill. The point for him is to find a challenge and go fast. Regardless of our differences in taste, we enjoyed the morning skiing a variety of hills working our way around the mountain.  Conceivably, though, Mike was secretly assessing my skill because suddenly we “happened” upon a hill, steep as could be, full of moguls. DOUBLE Black.  I clearly stated that I did not want to ski this hill, perhaps mentioning that I had already told him this once before…. Mike, in all his gentleness, replied that at this point we didn’t have any other options, and he supposed the only thing we could do was go down it.  After some comforting and consoling, he took off down the hill leaving me to decide if I was going to follow or not.  So I followed. 

I thought that this was a simple event in our dating history, laughable even.  As I have reflected on it the past couple of weeks I see that in a very real way it characterizes our life together.  Mike at the edge of adventure, and me, praying for strength, following to places that I never dreamed I’d go.

Maybe that day of skiing was a test I didn’t know I was taking; would I follow into the scary? Into the unknown? Into the adventure? I didn’t know then that we would go to places I didn’t want to go, didn’t plan to go, but God has nonetheless given me everything I need to go.  And that is HIMSELF.  “This is my command: be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

So here we are again at the top of another mountain, freshly reminded that it is God’s power alone that we can walk in, that we are weak but his grace is sufficient for his power is made perfect in weakness.

So deep breath.  The waiting is seemingly almost over.  Our house is under contract again.  If all goes as planned we will be closing in about 7 weeks.  Mike is working full time for the church plant which has made it possible for us to travel back and forth between the beach and Spartanburg, starting to build relationships and making new connections.  We’re looking for a house in Spartanburg. I am homeschooling Parker full time to further allow for this transition (which truly has been a blessing!). It’s certainly not the relaxing descent I envisioned. The hill is steep with lots of bumps, but the Lord our God is with us in this adventure.

A Quick Update

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Since this is intended to be a place for folks to find updates on the progress of Gathering Spartanburg, I thought it might be helpful to actually provide an update. I’ve gotten caught up in the opportunity to process what we see God doing and have neglected to give the details of what’s going on. So here goes:

  • I (Mike) began working full-time on the church plant in August. Since we haven’t sold our house yet, we are traveling back and forth to Spartanburg frequently.
  • We felt like the Lord was leading us to go ahead and make this transition as a step of faith even though our house hasn’t sold. We’ve been greatly encouraged as we’ve seen His faithfulness as we’ve moved forward.
  • We’ve experienced His faithfulness and received tremendous encouragement from other churches. There really is a sense of unity in the Spirit among God’s People. We have a group of about six churches that we anticipate partnering with in this journey, sharing the stories of God’s faithfulness with one another as we seek to do His Kingdom work.
  • We are inviting old and new friends to pray about joining us in God’s work in Spartanburg. There is a small but growing group of people committed to the church. We excited to get to know the people God continues to bring.
  • There are a lot of essential nuts and bolts that I’m working on. While the work isn’t especially energizing, it is exciting to see the infrastructure of the church taking shape.

That’s a quick snapshot of what we’re up to. We’re so grateful for your thoughts and prayers. Please contact us if you have any questions or if there are ways we can be praying for you.

Blessings!

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