Monday, August 9, 2010

Being

"Being" can mean a state of simply existing... or it can mean "to happen." There are many opportunities in life for us to simply exist, but to happen, to be an event, well, that takes intentional action.

This last week, as a team, Connections decided to happen. We put out feelers and found places to serve in our community. We put feet on faith, to show our community and our God, that we mean what we say.

And it was, amazing! There is something so powerful when we don't just talk about what God has said, but we actually follow through and live it out. Even if no one knows who served them, even if Connections never gets the credit (which we were not seeking), I believe we are changed, and pulled closer to God's heart.

Honestly, going in, I was not sure how it would go. I had talked to some other church planters who had tried this. They said the percentage of people who show up to serve is often small. "You'll see the faithful, the core," they said. I wasn't sure what to expect.

But once again, I was humbled and blown away by our team! Our people showed up! We had more people yesterday morning that we did the Sunday before. We spent the morning with tools, sweating together to serve neighborhoods in Meridian. We mowed, weed whacked, picked up trash, cut down dead trees and had a blast doing it!

Paul's words come to mind, "In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel, from the first day until now." Philippians 1:4-5. I am blown away to be part of a team that gets it. And I know, if we keep our hearts here, humble before God and really WILLING to do what He says, we will rock the treasure valley, and be a tool of change for Jesus Christ!