Oh my goodness!  We are making great progress!  Our current plan is to get the front building done and cram in for a few months while we finish the back building.  Our goal is July, but that is completely dependent on when work gets scheduled with our hired trades and how much volunteer time we can log.  Even if it’s August by the time we get in…we are so CLOSE!!!!  Thank you to the countless volunteers who just keep showing up.  Even those of you who only have an hour are very appreciated!  There’s nothing like being super tired and having someone stop by to pick up the trash that seems like an unattainable mountain, but then suddenly it’s gone!

Every day we have people from the community stop by to thank us for our work.  You are already making a difference!

Here’s some of the progress:

The front building is barely recognizable at this point!  We have it mostly painted and the landscaping in the front finished.  We still have to paint that board that runs under the roof line, install new windows, and finish painting the front door.  We will also be adding signage soon.  Those details will make this building sing!!

The back building got most of it’s face ripped off! 😉  This is actually a huge improvement!  Now we can get the roof redone, replace that floating door with a window, pressure wash, and paint.  The fence will come down between the buildings, bright green sod will be laid, and the sidewalk that you can’t see will become our main entry to the courtyard.

Inside we have been doing a ton!  Our new foyer is getting done.  We found old masonry brick under the drywall that is a true treasure.  It got pressure washed last week and it’s just gorgeous!  We will finish the ceilings, floors, get our HVAC completed, get new lights, and install a coffee bar.  I may live in this room…  Also, the stage is getting rebuilt in the auditorium, the bathrooms have been completely demo’ed thanks to the guys from Heritage Church, and we are beginning to put paint on the ceilings and walls.

Right now it feels like we have about a hundred half done projects, but one by one we are all ticking them off the list.  Please pray for everything to continue to go smoothly and that our timeline stays in tact.

How’s the budget?  Well….it’s fine.  We are managing what we have well with a $300,000 loan and the money in the bank.  That being said, everything is expensive and unforeseen things are constant.  While we will make it work within the parameters we have, another $100,000 would complete all the projects and stop us from having to put some much needed things on the back burner.  Would you pray for that as well?  On a praise note, our monthly budget is doing good.  We are meeting our goal every month, which makes the day in and day out ministry much less stressful.  Thank you for your faithful giving while we are in transition.  You are truly a gift to this church and the Kingdom of God.

Our next two work opportunities are Wednesday from 6 pm to 8:30 pm and again on Sunday, June 3 from 2 to 5 pm.  We have landscaping, painting, drywall, trash hauling….come dressed for work!  Someone is also at the building every day from 8 am to 4 pm if you’d like to stop in to work or just to see the progress.  We love visitors!  Especially visitors who bring ice cream bars…thanks Hollie!!!

Whew!  Now let’s get back to work!  Love you all!!!!!

We started North Creek Church with 20 children and 19 adults almost 12 years ago.  As those children who are still at North Creek turn 18, I write a blog just to honor them.  Happy Birthday to Adam Gray!  Enjoy!

Dear Adam,

You are a wonderful man of God.  A man with great depth, great strength, and great perseverance.  Ironically, most people reading this letter would skim over those words quickly, but I wrote them with clear intention.  I wrote them because I understand that the depth was carved from grief, the strength was carved from lonely times, and the perseverance was carved from patience in the midst of trials.  Those traits should be held with great regard as they were bought with the highest price.

In Australian Aboriginal society, there is a thing called a walkabout that is a rite of passage for boys between the ages of 10 and 16.  At some point during that time, the adolescent goes to live in the wilderness for about six months to make the spiritual and traditional transition into manhood.  When I think back over your life, I feel like God allowed you to have a very defining time that was your walkabout.  A time when you set off into the wilderness completely alone to come face to face with who you want to be, what you will stand for and whom you will serve.  A time that you stepped into manhood both spiritually and traditionally.

Your mother and I spent many hours grieving over your wilderness journey…it wasn’t pretty!  We questioned God often about why He allowed you to experience some of the things you did and why He wasn’t rescuing you from the challenges.  It seemed from the outside looking in that God sent you to the wolves with a pocketknife.  It was almost unbearable to submit our trust to God and let you navigate each challenge as it came the best way you could.  We had dreamed a much different dream for our kids who helped start our church.  We hoped for mountain top highs, not realizing that a mountain is only majestic because of the valleys…

But we were admittedly shortsighted in our worry.  What I see now is the profound value that those days in the wilderness gave to you. It was there that you found that depth, strength, and perseverance that will carry you well through the rest of your life.

Adam, God spoke to my heart about you a very long time ago.  As a boy, not even in elementary school, He told me you would set the church on fire.  Not a literal fire (which at the time was the more believable option amongst your Sunday School teachers), but the figurative one where your unwavering will is a catalyst to inspire others.  I have no doubt now that the very days we were most concerned for you will be the very days we look back on as the ones that molded and shaped you into an immovable force.  

I am very proud of you.  Not for being perfect or having it together through every challenge, but for going on a journey into the wilderness and making it out…not only alive, but as a man.  I have no doubt you will continue this trajectory through the rest of your life.  I also see now that you are armed with far more than a pocketknife.  You carry a mighty sword with you and you have what it takes to conquer whatever may come.

I love you.  It has been my highest honor to watch you grow up.

Stacy