This is why I love my church!!!

So, this morning I got my 1st official phone call concerning our new role as Life Group Coordinators at Lifepoint Church and it totally pumps me up! NOT going into ANY details, the conversation came to a point where a statement was made and I realized how awesome our church really is! The individual I was speaking with stated that if we were in a typical church, he knew what the response would be, "throw them under the bus," but we're not your typical church! HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!! Lifepoint church exists to Love God, Love Others, and Serve the world...we don't throw our brothers and sisters in Christ under the bus...we love them and guide them in grace! Everyone lives in sin in one way or another, we've ALL fallen short, but we don't exist to cut peoples legs out from under them or judge them. We are here to respond as Christ would, and I pray that we would never loose sight of that!
Pastor Jeff has set an amazing vision before us as Lifepoint Church, and God is going to do whatever it takes through our church to reach this city and beyond. I pray that we would all come behind Pastor Jeff and do whatever he leads us to do because he is annointed by God to reach this city...and with that said, we will do whatever we are asked in order to reach people, and with grace, we will guide these Life Groups under the vision of our Pastor! WHO'S IN? It fires me up to see God move the way He is moving and to hear from people in our church who are IN!

No Doubts

So, its been a while and I'm feeling kinda anxious about this...pretty much fired up that I get to share what God is doing and that I was reminded that I have a blog to get things out on!
Life has gotten completely crazy for us here lately. Let me try to explain, this may take a while. When you move to an area where you don't know anyone, you have no jobs, and it was kinda the throw the dart at the map and move where it hits type thing, I'd say we had pretty much laid it all on the line and told God that if He wanted us here, He would have to provide for us, and giving up that control was hard enough, especially if you know me and most definitely if you know Sara very well at all!!! We've been here for 4 months and 9 days and after just asking Sara, she agrees that it has been the most exciting but scariest time of our life! We haven't ever grown this much in Christ. I can tell you from my perspective that if you would have asked me 9 days ago, I would have told you that I had some feelings of "God, are we REALLY supposed to be here?" "God, how is this going to work?" To say the least, I was confused and ready for something new! Then as I was sitting at the pool I WAS working at as a lifeguard for the summer, my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number but went ahead and answered thinking it was probably someone from the church or one of the other pools. When I answered a lady asked for me and then asked if I would be interested in interviewing for a job at Codington Elementary School here in Wilmington for the After School Program Coordinator position. I DIDN'T EVEN APPLY TO THAT SCHOOL!!! Long story short, within a week, I was filling out a hiring packet and within days I was on staff working at the school...can God answer prayers or what?!?! BUT, that's not all...in the last couple days, Sara and I have been approached about a new opportunity at the church and we're pretty pumped about it! God is really putting us in a position to reach people and I can't tell you how awesome this is!
So, with a guarunteed job for the next year and a crazy awesome opportunity to serve the people of Lifepoint Church, I'd say that my doubts and questions about if we are really supposed to be here have been answered! God has been faithful to us 100%, we just don't tend to focus on all we have, but all we wish we had. I constantly get asked what brought us to this area, and now the only answer that I can truthfully give that God called us here and I wan't to open my life to whatever He may have in store for us! For those of you that read this, hold me accountable to that! God has blessed us with amazing friends, an increadable church, and finally a job, and my heart goes out and prays for those that are still searching, God has something out there for you so use this time to get as close to Him as possible!!!

Love

I sit here and think about what is going on in our lives...friends, family, finances, LIFE...and I come to realize that I have it pretty stinkin awesome!  Within three months of moving nearly 1200 Miles away from what I've always known as home, and not knowing a soul, we have a place where we feel we belong; this is our home!  Even though our families are over 18 hrs away, we know that we are here for a reason, and its home!  We had the discussion tonight, as we often do, on how much we love this area already.  I always tend to chime in with the ever constant feeling that I'm cheating on Arkansas or something!  Arkansas was/is my home....always will be, but I've learned that there is more to home than a specific place.  Our home is ministering with our friends, being in community with others, caring for and praying for our families, and loving everyone we come in contact with!  I've just realized that our home is in our ministries, and when I say ministries, I don't mean the skewed view of ministry that many often have of being in a church, or a non-profit, or a church camp-I mean life, every second of every day.  Our friends, our work, our church, our families, and even something as small as our trips to the grocery store!  God opened a door for Sara and I this evening as we were walking into Harris Teeter(a local grocery store)!  Sure, I play guitar, but thats something I do on my own time right now, but I just so happened to be wearing a shirt that has the picture of a Fender Telecaster on it.  A guy that was working in the fresh produce section named Robert turn, looked at me and asked me what kind of guitar it was on my shirt??HUH  When does someone ever just strike up a conversation anymore?  Anyways, we got to talking, found out the guy used to build custom Guitars, still does on the side, and has an amazing personality.  Even though we weren't able to really get to know the guy, within a 7 min. conversation, God was able to open the door, now I just get to take of and go through it!  I'm praying now that I see this guy every time I go into HT...I want the opportunity to speak with Robert more, find out what makes him tick, find out if he knows Christ, and if not, introduce him!  This is honestly the first time that God has shown me something so clearly!  

Since moving here, I'll tell you over and over, and I'm sure you can tell from previous blogs that God has been pressing the idea of truly loving others on me like you wouldn't believe!  Even two nights ago my heart broke into pieces listing to the testimony that Pastor Jeff's parents were giving.  George(Jeff's Dad) said at an extremely difficult point in their life, he had his pastor come up to him during a major accident and told him that if the Pastor lost one of his kids in the car crash they had just been in in order that George would come back to Christ it would all be worth it in the end!  HOW?  I don't understand that type of love!  My heart broke, because he did end up losing his daughter, and George is using his testimony to help married couples through difficult situations.  God uses everything, and this Pastor had it figured out, even if he lost one of his own kids for someone else, in the end, it would be worth it!  I WANT THAT!!!  Not that I want to lose things, but I want to be able to give up anything so that others will know Christ!  I want others to see love in me, not frustrations, or an attitude, or arrogance!  I want everyone to see that I would be willing to do anything/everything for others to know HIM!  To most this probably makes no sense, but if you are anywhere close to this position, I'm praying for you just as I'm praying for myself, God, Let us see as You see, let us Love as You Love, willing to sacrifice it all, for just one to know You!  Get rid of my pride, take away my selfishness, and don't let me be comfortable knowing that I missed the opportunity to speak to someone about You!  I don't want to feel like I need to apologize to anyone for not living like Christ would want me to because I don't want there to be any chance that I'm the reason someone doesn't know you.  

I pray that with all my heart, I hope all that I come into contact with realize there is a decision to make, to follow or not, and that I am an influence in their life to follow!  Christ will use me no matter what, just depends on how I want to see things happen, the hard way or the easy way!  I'll ask you the same question!

Daily Tearing down of my Pride

I had a moment today where I realized that its all about how we look at things.  I was reading a book that I swear I could have probably wrote some of the things he wrote about!  It's a great book, I've had it for years and just haven't gotten around to reading it.  Blue Like Jazz.  It's been out for several years, and it is absolutely crazy how God works.  I was given this book free outside of one of the dining halls on campus at the University of Arkansas and it has sat on my shelf for nearly 4 years.  It's not that I haven't read anything at all since then, trust me, I've made huge advances in my reading skills, I just looked it over.  But God was saving this read for a specific season in my life, and here it is!   This book is almost an outside look in on my way of thinking, and has humbled me to really look past all of my personal desires, "my plans," my way of analyzing everything, and truly see things through God's eyes.  It's awesome how God will speak through other people to you at just the right time.  If I would have read this book when I got it, I would have probably hated it, but its relevant to me, NOW!  This current book and the one I just finished, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, have really challenge me to Focus my thoughts on God, but not to over think God.  I often times try to reason out and analyze God, the situations He has me in, and the purpose He has for me, but I miss the point!  I've spent all my time thinking about God, rather than focusing my thoughts on God and letting him lead me!  I look through my eyes trying to figure everything out, and when I'll let God take control, step back, and look through his eyes, it blows my mind!  

God has us in the situation we are in for a reason; me Sara, our families, everyone.  We can't see the end result, or even what will happen tomorrow, but I'm learning to adjust my focus so to speak!  I step back and see some of the things unfolding in front of me and I get jacked up about it.  I've been challenged to live Christ out in everything I do, even when I'm driving, which is probably one of my weaknesses!  It's hard for me to love the guy that just cut me off without using a blinker with the same love Christ shows me.  Its even more humbling for me to realize that I'm pretty much doing the same thing to him when I want to do things my own way, and basically cut Him off out of the picture!  Are we willing to love EVERYONE, or just the people that are nice to us, look like us, act a certain way....you get the idea!

Update!!!

Hey everyone, trying to get a bit better at this! For the next several weeks or so this should be much easier because through some ministry opportunities which I will explain here in a few, I have temporarily been given a computer! Ok, so, here is some of the new down low. We are loving it here!!! The weather pretty much rocks, most of the time it is in the 80's, sunny, with a slight breeze, often time strong...20+mph. Me and another individual in the church have been given an amazing responsibility of keeping the Life Groups for the church running, and actually attempting to bring more organization to the ministry while Kevin McGeorge, our Life Groups Coordinator, is on mission to Africa! I'm pumped, but with this new responsibility, my life just got a bit busy! I'm also starting my job with the city at the pools this week! Praise God for work and ministry, but seriously, all at once...AWESOME!
Sara hasn't found a job at the moment, but she has literally tried and looked everywhere! Trust me, if she was supposed to have a job right now, she would. God is just giving her a break from work, which for her is totally not normal! She even feels like she's not doing enough, but I'm often encouraged not only by her words, but her passion for those around her, volunteering, and just seeking what it is that God wants her to do! Thank you Jesus for a Godly Wife!
Anyways, here are a few new pics just to give you an idea of some of the coolness that we are a part of now!
























The first pic is from Greenfield Lake downtown, "there's gators in there!"
The second one is down on the "ROCK" south of Ft. Fisher.
The two with the Helicopter are from the Lifepoint Helicopter Egg Drop for Easter...isn't that nuts! The last pics are from the beach we frequent, the last two are of another crab that didn't have the best fate!!!
Love you guys, later!