{30 before 30} :: Encourage Another Church Planting Wife

I put this one on the list because it was something I desperately wished I had while we were planting. While my husband received a ton of support and encouragement from local church planters, I unfortunately did not. And that was hard. And lonely. The women at Redeemer were encouraging, but there is a different kind of need for pastor's wives that members of the church cannot offer, simply by nature of roles and ministry.

Acts 29 desires to be helpful to wives, but the actual implementation is a bit challenging. I went to a wives' tea the fall before we launched, and I met some wonderful ladies, but that was it. There was no follow up, and I haven't seen most of them since then. It's not Acts 29's fault, it's just difficult for church planting wives to find time to network with each other, especially since we're all spread out throughout the metroplex. And since we never achieved full-member status, we did not have access to the retreats, which is where I think most of the wives connect.

Working full time, launching the church, and monitoring my health made connecting with other church planting wives fall down on the list of priorities. I was fairly exhausted, and all of my energy was going to ministering to the women at Redeemer. I also struggled with knowing what I had to offer. I desperately needed encouragement from someone who was further in the process {and quite frankly, outside of our process}, so I felt at a loss. We had just started our church planting journey, and then a few short months later it was over. What encouragement could I offer another church planting wife, when our church plant didn't make it?

When we were a few weeks past the close of Redeemer, the Lord placed this on my heart again. And he placed a fellow sister on my heart, the church planting wife of a church with whom we have had close ties for a couple of years. We have talked often about getting together, but life and schedules had just prevented it from happening...until I made the conscious decision to not let it anymore. We had our first official hang out, and I am so thankful for this sweet gal. It was like meeting with a kindred soul. I really wish I hadn't waited so long to make the time to meet a priority.

I don't know exactly what I will have to offer her by way of encouragement, but I do understand some of the unique struggles of being a church planting pastor's wife. And that is a priceless gift that I don't want to waste. More than once, she has told me, "You just get it!" And I do :)

Whether it's just coffee to hang out and talk, or sending her encouraging emails or fun care packages, I hope that I can be an encouragement to her. Just knowing that there is someone there and available to talk and listen would have been an encouragement to me. Or knowing that someone was praying for me and the specific challenges of church planting ministry...my prayer is that I can be that for her. 

High Five for Friday!

{one} Things at work have been BUSY. With the transitions and changes, I am now assisting 4 executives, so there is no lack of things to do! Most days it's fairly manageable {they are being kind to me, I am sure}. But there is that 6-8 day span of time surrounding the monthly board meeting that everything in the office is just nuts. As crazy as it gets and as tired as I am sometimes, I really am thankful for my job and truly enjoy it.

{two} Oh my goodness...THIS has arrived in Dallas. My most favorite cupcakes now come in ICE CREAM FORM??? I must. Go. Here. Soon.   :)

{three} One of my favorite bloggers shared this post from Susan Black: In Her Shoes- Those Who are Hurting. I really needed to hear her words this week {apparently the Lord was trying to speak to me via the blogosphere haha}.

"...our prayers are often no more than a personal wish list for God, and that what we’re actually praying is this: “Please God, take away my trials so that I don’t have to need You or grow up...the sufferings of Jesus show us that pain comes to us not as punishment, but rather as a testing ground for faith that transcends pain. In truth, pain redeemed impresses me more than pain removed."

Guilty. I consistently ask the Lord to take away trials, not stopping to realize that they are the very tools He is using to teach me His lessons of grace. Can anyone say conviction?

{four} My sweet husband sent this link to me on Facebook. I'm sure you have seen it, as it has been circulating the interwebs. He sent it to me with this message: "My thoughts on you - exactly (minus one "colorful" word in there - warning). I'm just glad you weren't in the room when he woke up or he would have been disappointed you weren't his." Aww...love him! Enjoy the video, because it's pretty awesome and really sweet.

{five} Tomorrow I will be attending an event for Acts 29 wives in the DFW area. I am VERY much looking forward to this event, as I have wanted to connect with other church planting wives. Confession: it's still a little strange to me that I am a pastor's wife :) I will also get to have dinner with the sweet girls from my old Bible study at Woodcreek. I missed the last "reunion" because I ended up sick, so I am really looking forward to catching up with everyone.

Vacation Weekend

I am so excited to have this week off from work; I definitely could use the break! While it will be filled with fun festivities for Laura's wedding, it's nice not to have to be in the office :)

I started my vacation by coming home to my husband in a cow costume, telling me to get changed, we were heading to Chick Fil A for Cow Appreciation Day!

Is free chicken worth the silly costume? Yes. Yes, it is.

And because we're cool, we hit 3 different Chick Fil A's in the area to stock up on chicken for the weekend. Don't judge us.

My brother came to hang out with us for the weekend, which is always fun. Saturday I had breakfast with Laura, which was a sweet time to catch up before the flurry of wedding activities this week. Mike and I each had a few things we needed to work on, but then we took a break and headed out to McKinney Trade Days. It was SUPER hot, but still fun to walk around and see what people had for sale. We got to see all the puppies for sale, which was my personal favorite :)

Saturday evening, we enjoyed dinner at the Olive Garden (courtesy of a gift card from our sweet landlord), then spent the evening playing games and watching a movie. 

Sunday, Mike was preaching at Mercy Church, a fellow Acts 29 church in Frisco. 

We visited them when we first moved to McKinney, when they were still meeting in a movie theatre. Now, they are meeting in a School of Rock building, and it was encouraging to see how they have grown over the last couple of years. It was definitely fuel in our tanks to see a church a couple steps ahead of us. Mike will be preaching there again next Sunday, and our home group will be joining us as well. We are really excited for them to see a growing church plant, so they can have something tangible to envision. 

This weekend was a great start to vacation time, and I am looking forward to all the fun festivities this week! :)

High Five for Friday!

It has been kind of a long week...I am so glad it's Friday!!

 

{one} Mike started a new job this week, so he has been busy training and getting his feet wet with his new responsibilities. You can be praying for him, as he learns the job and tries to balance his schedule between working and church planting.

 

{two} Wednesday night we headed to Denton to have dinner with a couple from Acts 29. Ross was one of the people to conduct our assessment in Houston, and he is one of our board members. It was great to meet his wife Heather, and we are so thankful for them. It was encouraging to hear their stories and just be able to sit across the table from a couple who "gets it." They understand the struggles and the joys of church planting, and we are looking forward to having them as a resource, as well as fellow laborers in this crazy church planting adventure.

 

{three} Thursday night we had dinner with a couple in our church. Sami has been a part of our group from the beginning, and she has been such an encouragement to me in our women's Bible study. It has been exciting to see her grow in her faith over the past year! We prayed for a long time for her boyfriend to join us, and while it took him awhile and was a little rough going at first, he eventually joined and has been committed as well. They recently got engaged, and we are excited to see how God continues to grow them through their engagement.

 

{four} Thursday was also Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Although I am SUPER bummed that they lost {especially to the Heat...}, I still LOVE my Spurs!!

 

{five} I am looking forward to date night tonight with my husband, a haircut and then some hang hang out time with Laura tomorrow :)

 

Acts 29 Candidates

As I mentioned before, Mike and I completed the final assessment for the application process with Acts 29 last month. We were so encouraged by the time with our assessors, which made us that much more excited about connecting with them in this church planting journey. We received the official word last Friday that we have been accepted into their candidacy phase of the program!

So what is the candidacy phase? It basically means that we can begin connecting relationally with other church planters in the network, including a coaching relationship with an experienced planter. It means that we will now have the support, guidance, oversight, and wisdom of being connected in a network of churches and church plants who have the same heart and vision for Jesus. During this phase, we will gather our core group, develop of our strategy, assemble our budget, and determine our needs. We have several objectives we will have to work toward as planters, and as Redeemer Church, before we can be an official Acts 29 member, but they will walk beside us and help us as we seek to launch a church here in McKinney.

This is such an encouragement to us, and we are so thankful for the relationships the Lord has already provided within the network. It's comforting to labor beside like-minded people who want to help us make our church the healthiest and most successful it can be for the sake of the gospel.

Houston Getaway

Mike and I headed down to Houston this weekend for our formal assessment with the Acts 29 Network. Our interview was Friday morning, so we drove down after work on Thursday so we could get a good night's sleep. We stopped at the Collin Street Bakery for some road trip cookies :)

We met with our assessors Friday, and we think the interview went really well. We felt so thankful for and encouraged by our time with our assessors; we should know their decision with a week or two, so we appreciate your continued prayers!

We decided to stay an extra day and make a weekend of our time in Houston. Since we were so close to the bay, we headed over to Kemah Boardwalk for a little fun. We rode a couple of rides and just enjoyed walking down the boardwalk. 

On the Ferris Wheel with my love!

A view from the Boardwalk Tower...

The weather was pretty humid, but we still had a fun time together :) The rest of the time, we ate some good food {I even braved a margarita!} and were able to relax. It was nice to have a little time away! 

Redeemer Church

Yesterday we publicly launched our church name and website...ya'll, this thing is for real. Here we go! :)

 

As you know, Mike has been faithfully serving at Christ Fellowship for their church planting residency. It has certainly been a time of stretching and growing, and we have spent countless hours in prayer over the direction of the church plant. Through much prayer and conversation with the leadership at Christ Fellowship, we actually decided back in January that we would not extend the residency past Phase 1 {which ends this month}. We are so grateful for the relationships that the Lord has given us, but we know the Lord is leading us in a different direction.

 

Since the residency with CF will end next week, we have been seeking the Lord on what our next steps should be. We have taken steps toward forming the church's identity {hence the name and website}, casting vision within our group, and applying for 501(c)3 status. We know that we need accountability and oversight as we move forward, so we have re-engaged the application process with the Acts 29 Network. If you will remember, Mike and I attended a bootcamp while we were engaged, but ended up hitting pause on the application process since we got some good advice to not plant a church in our first year of marriage :) We will actually have our in-person assessment this week, so we would appreciate your prayers!

 

The Lord has been faithfully moving and working A LOT in the last few months. We have seen His provision in countless ways. We saw a member of our home group come to faith in Jesus. We have seen people dig deeper, grow, and commit to the task ahead of us. We have begun developing a clear vision and strategy for the church we feel God is calling us to be. There have been some tough things too, but we know that all of it is God's way of prepping us for what's ahead. We are excited about how the Lord is moving and allowing us to be a part! 

 

Church Planter

I realized this weekend that many of you know this already, but not everyone does. Mike and I will be getting married in July, and then we will be moving to McKinney to begin the process of planting a church. We have known for awhile that this was the Lord's calling on our lives, but we needed to wait on His timing in communicating that to everyone. So yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am going to be a pastor's wife :)

It still amazes me to think of the journey the Lord has had me on in the last couple of years. Because 2 years ago, if you had told me I would be marrying a pastor and beginning steps to plant a church, I would have thought you were crazy. "Me? Ha! You obviously don't know me that well. I'm certainly not qualified for that! Surely, more godly (and nicer) people are called to that..." It's funny how God seems to a)change your perspective, b)find purpose (and humor) in taking you completely outside of your comfort zone, and c)radically change your heart. Don't misunderstand me, I don't think I am more qualified today than I was 2 years ago. I am humbly dumbfounded that the Lord would want to use me in this way. But I do know how He has worked in my heart and how He has reminded me that it's not about me or my qualifications. It's about being obedient to the calling He has placed on our lives. It's about seeking to do His will and conforming my heart to the image of His Son. It's about reading through His Word and recognizing our call as Christ-followers to love our neighbors, share the gospel, and make our lives count for His kingdom, all to His glory. Mike and I just get to do that through a church plant :)

I don't have a lot of details yet; this is certainly something we are learning and praying our way through. I can't tell you what it will look like and how we will get there. We know it won't be easy. We know it won't be popular. We know that some will call us crazy :) There's a part of me that is excited to see what the Lord will accomplish and be a part of His work in this way, and there's also a part of me that is absolutely terrified of the unknown. And yet, when I think back over the times the Lord has asked me to do seemingly difficult or scary things, He has always provided, always shown His power, and always drawn me closer to His heart.

I am really looking forward to this upcoming conference:

I think this will be a good opportunity for me to have some questions answered and see more of the process and next steps. If you think about it, you can be praying for me and Mike this week as we attend this conference, as well as in the coming months. We recognize that we cannot do this on our own, and we are learning what it looks like to walk in faithful dependence on Christ. So your prayers are coveted. We are working on a blog that will be a central place for us to communicate our plans and update everyone on our ministry, so once we have that ready, I will be sure to share that with you.

I stand in humility before my Creator and pray that He will use me in spite of myself. I pray that He will give me the strength to be faithful and obedient. This is certainly a turning point in my journey...and I cannot wait to walk the next steps :)