I started praying at 2am this morning, wondering if our house was going to survive severe winds ushering in a cold front and snow. I haven't been that close to alarm in a long time.
Winds of change in our church ushered in a virtual church heart transplant. I wasn't sure we were going to survive that either, but I wouldn't trade a moment of the praying and holding on for dear life.
I have heard that a transplant organ is delivered to the hospital in a cooler--a sort of unassuming tote for such a vital item.
God delivered our new heart in an unexpected tote as well. Our current pastor is everything Prickly is not.
Prickly conforms to Pharisaic standards and is hypocritical, self-righteous and full of condemnation.
Planted, the destination on our continuum (Day 1), is solidly in pursuit of all things Christ, overarching in hospitality, acceptance, grace and love.
This is the very DNA of our pastor and his wife.
But God traffics in the unexpected...often.
What God seemed to want in a tiny community of church splits and predictable church trappings was a place that would embrace brokenness, yet offer the hospitality and rigor of investigating God through life done together.
He brought in a guy who began as our youth pastor with no aspirations of lead pastor, who before that began dating his incredible wife while under house arrest, who somewhere along the way added two earrings and more than two tattoos, whose heart for taking Christ to the community is more spirited and generous than any I have known.
And so began the overhaul of our church heart. The struggles are daily--the counterattacks vicious (still)--and the road is often rocky. Yet, we give away thousands of hot dogs in community outreach events, baptize new believers in icy Deep Creek in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, build orphanages and minister regularly in Guatemala, and cycle through countless small groups. Babies come almost monthly, and our children's program is vibrant and intentional in its curriculum.
We talk each other off the ledge often, wondering how we are going to make it through yet another month financially, but the more we give, the more God shows up.
Planted is our destination. It survives droughts and floods, digging deeply for sustenance and continued growth.
So shall we, God willing. After all, He owns the place.
We're on His journey. Thanks for coming along.
