I feel like my eyes were opened to a bigger plan on Monday. A plan that has been in the making for literally generations.

First of all, let me give you some background. It all began three years ago this week when we first looked at the bar to move our church into. We felt like God gave us a gift in our landlord and he helped us by cutting the rent to pennies on the dollar in order for us to get into the building at all. We had very little money left for any fixing up of the place, so we did what we could with a massive effort of volunteers and donations. It was devastatingly exhausting. It was on one of those work days that a man named Jerry came into the building to ask what we were doing. When we told him that we were launching a church, he began to cry. For months he had been coming here to pray because he felt like God had a plan for this corner of our community. We were the fulfillment of those prayers. I still remember thinking how humbling that was to be a part of the story.

And Monday, standing in the exact same place I was standing when Jerry walked in years ago, I looked down at the now bare concrete floor due to our renovations, and began to cry. There, at my feet, written all over our floor were scriptures, prayers, and messages to Jesus. Decades ago there was another church in our building and they had consecrated this space by writing what was on their heart for this place. They had dedicated our auditorium before most of our congregation was out of diapers.

I thought to myself about the irony of how many times we’ve all stood there worshipping Jesus with His Word literally under our feet. I thought about the nightclubs that moved in before us and how so many people so far from God danced with scriptures surrounding them. I thought about the fact that God has been fighting for this corner for decades, and for this season, He chose us to be His placeholders.

It was one of those times that I felt very small in the enormity of an almighty God. I thought our church plant was the beginning of something. No, no. It’s the continuation of a plan that has many players, many beginnings, and many endings. It’s all very purposeful and it’s all ordered. And I’m humbled, moved, and completely willing to allow God to use us however He wants to accomplish His ultimate plan.

You’re move, God. You’re move.

Here are a couple of pictures. It’s difficult to read through the glue, but the first one says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. Without me you can do nothing. Love, Jesus”. The second says, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”

If you’ve been following our story, which is pretty hard to do since we move and change overnight, you know that we tore apart our church on Sunday. Although we have LOVED the esthethics of the nightclub feel for the last three years, we have outgrown our space. Our only option quickly became to take out the massive bar in our main auditorium and make room for more seats. The decision was between people and property. I’ve seen too many churches forget the mission of God over “sacred cows” in their church. That will never be our story. Goodbye bar, hello more people! Every swing of the sledge hammer was a clarification of why we do what we do.

Thank you to the many men who hit, kicked, cut, swung, and scraped to make way for people. Thank you to the ladies who moved, swept, cleaned, held kids, and hung out with me while we kissed the bar and the dance floor goodbye! And thanks to those of you who provided more food than an army could eat because we all know that every church function must include food!!!

Want to know what I love about North Creek? No one complained. No one chose the bar over people. No one muttered and grumbled. Everybody jumped in, worked hard, ate lots, and laughed themselves silly over what crazy thing we’d come up with next.

And just wait until tomorrow’s blog. The story gets even better.

WHAT A DAY! We started with church and then we had our demolition day where we tore through our main auditorium and took EVERYTHING out in preparation for new floors. Bar, dance floor, beer taps (they were hidden behind art all these years!), some lights, all the decorations, and MUCH more has LEFT the building!

One of our newest babies came to visit for the first time yesterday! Welcome to the world, Landon! And congrats to Shayna on that beautiful baby boy!

I was in the Great Adventurer’s yesterday! HILARIOUS group of 4th and 5th graders in my small group. I LOVE the way they think at this age and how they are figuring out the way the world works. Volunteer once a month to work in our elementary class. It’s awesome!

We NEED small group leaders! To accomodate our growth, we need five couples who will lead general groups. If you would like more information, please email Amy Day at amy@coffeechurch.com right away. We want to get our lineup finalized within the next 10 days! It’s a great way to get to know people and serve our church.

I will do a detailed post tomorrow about our building demolition and construction. I’m pretty excited about it!

Mark preached about conflict resolution yesterday. I really feel like this is an artform that we all need to get really good at! It’s a necessary part of life and most people do it so poorly that it’s shocking.

Have you ever thought about the fact that the person that you are so offended by probably doesn’t think about you very often? That may hurt your feelings, but it’s true. We spend so much time investing energy into offense and the other party is probably living their lives just fine and dandy. Stop letting them live in your head without paying rent. Just sayin.

Last week our 6th graders transitioned out of the Great Adventurer’s into the youth group, next week our Kindergarteners transfer out of the Little Adventurer’s into the Great Adventure, and our graduating seniors are now out of the youth group and onto our college age small group. That’s a lot of nervous energy around! Please pray for all of these transitions and assure them all that the next step is going to be awesome!

The number one question I was asked yesterday, “What color are we painting the auditorium?” My answer is officially: something that you probably won’t like. I say that jokingly because it seemed like every color I suggested someone in whatever group I was talking to announced that was a bad idea. Here’s the reality: Our target audience for esthetics is teenagers. If they like it, we win. If we want young people to love our church, we need to create an environment they love to come to. I will attend ANY (Godly) church that my kids love. Paint it hot pink for all I care. I didn’t prefer cobalt blue and corrugated metal, but our youth thought it was cool. Not going to sacrifice drawing in a generation that is easily lost for anything…especially paint. So, brace yourself and prepare to LOVE it, because you will!!!!

Blessings to you all!

My husband, Mark, has always wanted to take a helicopter ride, but has never had the opportunity. For his 40th birthday, back in December, our church blessed him with a dream helicopter ride! He’s been really excited to do it, but it seemed that we were in a competition with the Washington rain and had to wait for dry skies. Well, we made a date of it for our 14th anniversary on Wednesday. Mark enjoyed every minute and was like a giddy little boy as he snapped pictures of mansions, the Capitol building and the surrounding scenery.

Thank you to everybody who helped him reach a goal in his life! It was so fun to watch him experience something that he has always wanted to do! We are blessed!

One of my favorite bloggers is Pastor Steven Furtick. I highly recommend adding him to your reading list! Here’s a taste!

Upon Further Review by Steven Furtick
Wednesday August 24th, 2011

As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow…When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
Luke 7:12-15

This widow’s son. Lazarus. The son of the Shunammite.

All of them looked dead. Were dead.
But then in one instant, everything changed.

Life was reintroduced.
Hope was rekindled.
Vitality was restored.

It reminds of how sometimes in football, the officials will come out after a play or a call has left a team dead in the water. Everything appears hopeless. The game or the opportunity looks over. But then after they have looked at the tape, the officials will say, “upon further review,” and overturn the play or the call. And in one instant, everything changes.

Every dead area of your life is available for further review from God’s life-giving power.

Maybe a relationship in your life just fell apart.
Maybe you lost your job last year.
Maybe you’ve made some terrible mistakes that have cost you a lot of time and opportunity.

It looks like a dead situation.
But it’s not over as long as Jesus is on the scene.

Upon further review, He can restore your relationships.
Upon further review, He can supply all your needs.
Upon further review, He can forgive you and make you whole.

Most of us give up on God too easily.
Don’t lose hope.

With God, nothing in your life is ever beyond its resuscitation point.