What Just Happened??

Today I officially became a church planter’s wife. Wait, what?? What just happened? I’m inclined to ask for the thousandth time, how we got here. The answer is the Lord led and we followed. It’s crazy, right? To leave the comfort of a full-time job, move your family (again….after you JUST moved them two years ago!), and move to a community where you know no one and no one has invited you here. There was no welcoming committee here to greet us when we moved. No “meet the new pastor” fellowship will be happening.  This little community that we’ve come to minister to isn’t excited or rolling out any red carpets for the new pastor in town. We’ve moved out here to start a church that no one has even asked us to start. Seriously, it’s by far the craziest thing we’ve ever done and I’ve wondered more than once already what in the world we’re doing. But what we’re doing is following the Lord. We’re going when He’s said to go. We’re jumping off the cliff and trusting that He’s going to provide and use us to advance His kingdom. We’re going way out of our comfort zones and relying on Him to make it happen. To build a church from a handful of people who have also crazily decided to join us. We’re believing that He is going to provide and lead the way and make this plant succeed because we believe He desires this. There are and will be many who doubt that we have what it takes. Guess what? WE DOUBT IT TOO!! Ha! Some of you will think that Jay isn’t charismatic enough to get people to follow him. Guess what? He’s not! And we’re thankful for that because we really don’t want people to follow Jay, we want them to follow Jesus. What I know about my husband is that he loves the Lord and desires more than anything that the gospel message be spread and that lives be transformed. Jay can’t do that, but God can. Some of you will doubt my emotional stability to be the support I need to be for Jay and this kind of endeavor. Guess what? I do too!! But what I know is that the Lord has set His treasure in this jar of clay and He can use my weaknesses and work through me despite myself. HE can do this, we can’t. And what will be awesome is knowing that when He does draw people and transform lives and provide a building and funds to operate and chairs to sit in and everything that it takes to make church happen, we will know it was all Him. I won’t lie and say this isn’t scary. It may be the scariest thing this non-risk-taker has ever been a part of. But I won’t live in fear or let the worries and what-ifs consume me. What I’m going to try and do is live in thankfulness. I read a devotional not long ago that pointed out that Jesus knew what was coming when He was facing the cross and all that He was going to have to sacrifice for it. But He remained thankful…THANKFUL!! Isn’t that crazy? It is. But He’s not asking me to take on the cross again, or even asking me to sacrifice like Jesus did. He is asking for sacrifice though and I’m thankful He’s entrusted us with this task. I’m thankful for what He’s provided so far and the way He’s working. He’s called us to trust, not to fear. He’s called us to wholeheartedly abandon ourselves and just trust Him. So I am. “For Who Can Stop the Lord Almighty?”