Everyday is a Milestone

We are continuing to do the detail work in the new building with high hopes of having our first service there on Nov. 16.  The men’s and women’s bathrooms were both completed today, which is an important necessity!  They went from looking grimey and dissheveled to quite nice and definitely very clean!  A few finishing touches and we will have conquered some of the worst of our jobs!

We also are mostly done with the Little Adventurer’s room.  It got fresh carpet, tables, chairs, storage, and even some new toys!  It was a joy to see my two Little Adventurers absolutely destroy that room today.  They tested the new toys, colored with new crayons, and watched a video cuddled up next to a portable heater, since we haven’t turned on the gas yet!  It is an unbelievable transformation from a pool room to a room where God will be glorified in our toddler’s lives. 

We began cleaning another room that will morph into our nursery in the next couple of days.  It got fresh paint and flooring will go in tomorrow.  We’ll put in a cabinet for storage, a changing table, crib, toys, and chairs to create a cute, peaceful place for our youngest guests.

And then from there we will deal with the Great Adventurer’s and the Youth room to round out the massive cleaning job that we’ve been working on for a month now.  The good news is that we are beginning to see daily progress.  For so long it was wading through so many projects that it seemed like we were never seeing anything actually finished.  But God always finishes what He starts and He also graciously gives us the strength to finish what we start!

Think Life Change!

Last Friday Mark and I attended a mini-conference with Kris and Joe for Small Group Leaders (since we were up in Seattle anyway!).  It was about helping people get to the next season in their walk with God.  It was nothing new, but nonetheless a challenge to me.  It was a very good reminder of how to love people and continue to create disciples for Christ. 

Without accountablility in our lives, it is easy to avoid being stretched and changed.  Who will help to make sure that you are reading the Bible and pursuing things like baptism and faithful church attendance?  The most determined people can easily fall short when it comes to pursuing growth!  It’s difficult to remain motivated and consistent without someone in your life helping you along.

That is why small groups are important to our church.  It’s an opportunity to walk through life with people.  I think about my small group every Sunday when I walk through the doors of the church.  Who’s out of town?  Who will I see today and what do I have to get updated on?  I think about them when I write notes of encouragement and when I pray.  What needs are in their lives that they need someone to care about?  I think about them when my kids are driving me nuts and I need a break!  Who do I trust to talk to about my day?  They are literally entwined throughout my life.  And I love it.  It gives me a measureable group of people to invest in and be invested in by them.

As a group we will grow each other and fail each other.  It’s the beautiful part of commitment and growth.  We will see life change in our strengths and in our weaknesses as we walk together.  I want to be a better leader, follower, and friend…and I’m glad that I have a foundation of people who will stick by me on that journey!

What a Trip!

On Saturday about eight of us ended up in Seattle to pick up all of our new equipment that was donated to us!  What a blessing!  It was really unbelievable to watch dreams come true right before my eyes.  From the very large and expensive lighting trusses right down to the little things.  Angela lit up as she discovered a box of Bibles to use for Starting Point.  And of course, they were even the version that she wanted for her class.  I’m not surprised at how intentional God’s love is anymore! 

We are exhausted from the trip and this process, but I wouldn’t trade that for the world.  From the day we decided to plant a church until now, God has just been so faithful.  I see why He chose to let us go through the toughest seasons and I also see why He is blessing us now.  The growth and reliance that God has instilled in us is a security that I am so appreciative of.

I look forward to the journey.  Everyday with Jesus is better than the one before!  God is good.

By the way, you can stop praying for the lift!  We’ve decided that a platform floor is the best option, so you can continue to direct your prayer time towards a speedy process with the county.  We’d love to move in by Nov. 16, although Nov. 9 is still an option!

Floors, Doors and Ramps, OH MY!

Well, we are currently in the midst of trying to solve the one problem we have to get our occupancy permit.  Basically we need a ramp or elevated floor to make The Great Adventurer room ADA compliant.  That sounds easy, but with the rules in place that we have to follow, it is turning into quite the challenge.

I know that God will give us the answer.  It feels like we are putting together a puzzle, but first we have to find all of the pieces.  One of those pieces could be a  45″ commercial grade platform or elevator lift, so if you are in the mood to pray specifically, that’s a good one!  They are very expensive, but that hasn’t really stopped God from finding a way so far, so I’m sure that a miracle is looking us straight in the face!

Hang on!  The story is going to be a good one.  It always is with God.

Pouring It On

Mark got the privilege of announcing on Sunday a great blessing that North Creek Church received this week.  It came at the most hilarious of moments…

On one of our many work days, Kevin Perron and I spent the entire day duct taping and spray painting nasty old chairs to try and make them workable for our new church building.  Chairs are expensive, any way you slice it, so we took what we had and were determined to make it work as long as we needed to.  After about eight hours of work, we went home.  As I was driving in the dark I thought to myself, “God, we can’t use those chairs.  People won’t even want to sit down in our church!  There has to be another option!” 

Ten minutes later Mark and Jeff walked in the door with the news of a lifetime!  Our friends’ church was closing and we were going to be the recipient of some of his assets…including 80 beautiful black new chairs!  Along with those chairs would be the lighting system we need, the espresso machine we were praying for, and a long list of odds and ends that will make ministry so much easier and sharper.  It was incredible!  Tears welled up in my eyes as I heard the news.  How could God go down the checklist of my heart and literally nail everything we need?  How could God love us that much?  But He just does!

The irony of the situation is that our friend, Jon, didn’t even know we were getting in to our own building.  He just called to see if we could use some office equipment when Mark let him know that we were in the process of moving.  Jon said, “I’m about to change your life.”  And did he ever!  If we hadn’t been moving in just at this time we would not have a need for his equipment.  The timing was literally to the day!

Now, some of you may be feeling my pain for having had to spend a day spray painting chairs that we won’t use…Kevin’s probably feeling the most pain!  But don’t worry, the moment of understanding God’s love is worth eight hours of agony.  So, if you’re in the middle of a little agony – hold on!  God’s got a miracle just around the corner!

A Little Time To Breathe

We just got back from a day in Seattle!  Our family went up to visit an old friend, Jon Morauski and his family.  They run a quaint bed and breakfast up in North Bend.  It was a meeting of sorts that was not negotiable, so in the midst of a mountain of work, we had to leave.

We made the long drive with the two kids, which is normally a pain, but today it was just relaxing to all be together.  We laughed, played games, watched movies on the DVD player, and ate snacks all day long!

When we arrived the girls got to go out to the pasture to feed the goats and chickens.  They had baby goats that were just days old…too cute!  Our girls had the best time running in the mud of the farm.  Delaney was dressed in a velvet dress with sparkly shoes…she’s all girl!  Needless to say, she’s gonna need a new pair of shoes after that travesty!  Kennedy jumped right in to let the chickens eat right out of her hand and gave the goats a run for their money!

We ate a great lunch and then sat around the fire pit outside in the cool air.  I had a cup of hot coffee and nothing to do, which was a very odd sensation!  After the intense craziness in the last month, I could feel the knots of stress slip from my neck and back.  The air was crisp around me and the mountain peaks shot up above the yellowing trees.  I could hear the river rushing in the distance.  There is a reason that God commands us to take a rest and I’m thankful that God forced a break into my schedule.  I’m very good at working, but stepping out of the frontline is a challenge.

God is blessing North Creek and our family in literally every way that we need Him to.  Everytime I turn around, it is as if He is directing my path to the very thing that we needed most that day.  And today He directed our family all the way up to a farm in the middle of nowhere.  I didn’t know how much I needed those dumb goats, but I’m sure glad that He knew.

Problem = Opportunity

It’s been a while since I last wrote…too busy painting and scrubbing our new building to type!

I love this process.  All of the ups and downs are really exciting!  A problem seems to be just the opportunity to connect with the next miracle that God wants to do for us.  Don’t get me wrong…I’d rather not deal with any problems and just have the red carpet roll out with rose petals and violin music.  But in the real world, that’s never going to be the case.

Problems will arise and have daily.  But in all of those issues, I really feel the hand of God moving.  It’s as if He’s saying, “Walk through this.  The people you meet along the way are part of the destination.  I’ve got a plan.  I’ve got a purpose.  Just keep going.  Pay attention to the people, not the problem.”

Every problem is an opportunity for someone in our community to connect to North Creek on a personal level.  If it’s too big and too difficult for our church, then we have an opportunity to go outside of our church.  The community gets to know our name, they get to meet our people, and they get to experience a sense of who Jesus is.  A problem is a chance for God to touch someone at the paint store, an architect, a worker at Home Depot, a person selling something on Craigslist…

God is just using our “struggles” to be His hands and feet.  It’s not about the problem…it’s about the people.  What struggles are you having in your life?  Stop focusing on the issue and start wondering who God is about to touch through your life.

Barking Up the Right Tree

Our work parties have been nothing short of draining!  Early in the week I was beginning to feel the sluggishness and discouragment set in.  We would tear into a new job which would create five more jobs…very similar to house projects!

However, encouragement comes when you most need it!  God is faithful to bring moments of His miraculous love if we will block out all of the negative junk and listen.  Sometimes we are looking for a big miracle and can easily miss the many small ones that He gives us daily.

Yesterday ended up being very encouraging for me!  We started the morning with our staff meeting, but quickly turned into a work force.  A woman from our church, Veronica, took the time to get bark dust donated and delivered so that the outside of the building would look sharp and crisp.  Our staff and Veronica unloaded 6 yards of barkdust and spread it over the gardens surrounding the building.  It was just enough and beautiful!  The ragged old bushes that Ivan had painstakingly trimmed looked stunningly perfect nestled into their new russet colored home.

Veronica asked for a goal and attacked it with a vengence.  She is one of many determined people in our church.  I am grateful for each person who is unstoppable.  I love that spirit inside of some people that will accomplish a task at any cost. 

Veronica has only been to our church a few times, but clearly understands the bigger perspective of working for the kingdom of God.  She is generous, kind, and encouraging.  She did not have to buy into our vision or give of her time, but she did.  She grabbed a hold of a goal and made it happen.  She was our miracle of the day.

Talented People of All Ages

You would think that if you took 30-50 people (including a fleet of children), put them in the same building with cleaning supplies, plaster, paint, and power tools, you would destroy that building in about an hour.

In this process of fixing up the future church, I would have guessed that our work would have been much more haphazard than it is turning out.  Everything is being done with excellence, right down to having those busy kids scrap gum off of the floors by the hours!  It is really beginning to look clean, crisp, and feel much less like the night club that is was and more like a church that it will be.

We have taken on monumental tasks!  We have been painting a band of color around 7000 sq ft of mulitcolored walls in order to have a crisp edge.  It is literally being done with brushes by hand about 10 feet up on the wall!  We also put over 100 pounds of plaster on the women’s bathroom walls to make them trendy and fun rather than covered in musty, dirty wallpaper.  Yesterday two brave women scrubbed the commercial sized kitchen floor on their hands and knees.  We are replacing carpet that is so compacted with dirt, it’s difficult to tell it’s original color.  A toilet came out yesterday that was cracked, over-caulked, and filthy.  Cabinets and the dance floor (!) got sanded and refinished to look clean and sharp.  The overgrown mass of bushes out front were taken back to a manageable size and the pressure washing has begun.  We have yards of barkdust coming on Wednesday to add that boost of freshness to the edges.  Grease traps were scraped and sinks were scrubbed.  Loads of trash were hauled out and mops were in full swing.  The kids gathered round as the bolts that held the ATM machines down were sawed right off the floor with a great fountain of sparks. 

And it’s all excellent work done with gratefulness to God.  It’s as if each person does their chore for the glory of God, knowing full well they may never get earthly credit for their work.  It’s been fun to watch as the people come and go to do their part.  I can never thank each person enough for their work, but I know that God’s blessing is not only on our church, but on each of their lives as well.

Work Day

What a day!  We had our first opportunity to work on our new building.  Lots of our church people came to help and we got so much accomplished!  We were scrubbing and painting and plastering and trashing…it was like a colony of ants, each with a task and a common goal.  Not one job was more or less important than the other.  Each person helped our church take a step towards excellence that I appreciate so much!

I am a firm believer that a church that works together stays out of a lot of trouble.  You would think that people scrubbing toilets and cleaning grease pits would have complaining spirits, but that’s not the case at all.  Our people were excited, determined, and filled with joy to work for God’s purpose.  Nobody focused inwardly, but kept going beyond the strength of their bodies and truly hated to leave when it was necessary.  I am fully aware of the rare demeanor that floods out of our church.  I am proud to be a part of a people group that is so excited to be a part of the mission of God that they would do ANYTHING. 

I may say it a lot, but… thank you, North Creek.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I needed to believe that a church could be unified, focused, and have a determination to succeed at our cause.  I needed to believe that an entire church could be friends…including all of our strengths, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies.  That despite our abilities to say and do the wrong things, we could all love each other anyway.  It’s funny how everything I needed in a church was so evident today.  You may have just been cleaning toilets, but I saw Jesus in you.