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Sunday, December 16
missing church
Due to the aforementioned bed rest, I am missing church today for probably the eighth time since we started this thing in early 2003.
I do have to stop here and be honest with you if you're going to know me at all through this blog: church planting is brutal work. I'm not going to put a pretty face on it, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Because if you're going to do it, you'd better be called to it and not be going on my recommendation anyway.
There are plenty of reasons it's one of the hardest jobs I can imagine: The physical toll of the long hours of work and the labor of setting up and tearing down each week. The emotional toll of volunteers who continually "commit" and then flake out, of people who say they "love the church" and then leave, of carrying the weight of leading others in the right direction. The mental toll of keeping things accessible and fresh, of planning for the future, and of imagining new ways to help people focus on what's eternal in a world that continually flaunts the temporary as the goal.
And that doesn't even address the spiritual toll: the attacks, the tragedy of someone who you've poured everything out for choosing the wrong path, the struggle to trust God in the face of a long and winding road with an uncertain destination.
Yes, some days your calling is all you have. And take it from a girl who's been in ministry her whole life and seen just about everything: we have a great church. It's positive. It's growing. It's missional. And it's filled with amazing people whose lives are being transformed and who are living out the gospel in ways they never imagined. I am crazy about all of them, because when God gave us the calling, He also gave us the love.
That's why this morning, in spite of anything we ever face, I am still longing to be there, serving and worshiping with the people of Grace Fellowship Orlando. Miss you guys today.
I do have to stop here and be honest with you if you're going to know me at all through this blog: church planting is brutal work. I'm not going to put a pretty face on it, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Because if you're going to do it, you'd better be called to it and not be going on my recommendation anyway.
There are plenty of reasons it's one of the hardest jobs I can imagine: The physical toll of the long hours of work and the labor of setting up and tearing down each week. The emotional toll of volunteers who continually "commit" and then flake out, of people who say they "love the church" and then leave, of carrying the weight of leading others in the right direction. The mental toll of keeping things accessible and fresh, of planning for the future, and of imagining new ways to help people focus on what's eternal in a world that continually flaunts the temporary as the goal.
And that doesn't even address the spiritual toll: the attacks, the tragedy of someone who you've poured everything out for choosing the wrong path, the struggle to trust God in the face of a long and winding road with an uncertain destination.
Yes, some days your calling is all you have. And take it from a girl who's been in ministry her whole life and seen just about everything: we have a great church. It's positive. It's growing. It's missional. And it's filled with amazing people whose lives are being transformed and who are living out the gospel in ways they never imagined. I am crazy about all of them, because when God gave us the calling, He also gave us the love.
That's why this morning, in spite of anything we ever face, I am still longing to be there, serving and worshiping with the people of Grace Fellowship Orlando. Miss you guys today.
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