(7 fresh bluberries on my white plate.)

It’s been seven years since we left Gainesville. I think it is funny, it was also 7 years of training, between the time of hearing God call us into ministry, specifically church planting, and leaving to go to parts unknown. I remember distinctly sitting with a few friends praying and waiting on God in Gainesville about moving forward. We knew that we would be moving soon, but were newly pregnant and were not sure of when to actually pull the trigger. In our best thinking, we thought we should stay in Gainesville, have our first baby, and then move with a new born. Knowing what I know now, I am so thankful God moved us when we were 7 months pregnant. At the time, I couldn’t see that but now I do. Do you see a pattern?

(Mike and me at 7 months pregnant. With our first child, that was my favorite dress, by the third baby,I hated it.)

As I was saying, Mike and I were sitting and praying with friends and I got the very vivid picture of the number 7 etched into a large rock. At this time, we were wondering what to do. Do we recruit some from Gainesville to move with us as is conventional church planting wisdom, or do we go, by ourselves and trust God? I felt like God impressed upon me that 7 would be the number of people that we started this little church with and that they were here in South Florida waiting for us. And, I am here to say, that 7 it was, and yes they were, our new born baby being one of them.

It became radically apparent that we were to move, and within 2 weeks our house had sold, we packed all of our belongings in a little Uhaul truck, or church family laid hands on us, prophesied over us, ordained us, cried with us and then in a bitter sweet moment, sent us out. Just the 2 of us, pregnant with not only our physical baby, but this hope and vision that God had so deeply sewed into our hearts. It is sewn so deep, it causes us to limp. It has forever changed us and who we are. I think that is what calling does. It wrecks you for normal life. We had no idea what we would be getting into.

(Our first home in Gainesville, FL. Those trees dropped some wicked leaves.)

Upon settling into temporary quarters (did you know we have moved 7 times since arriving here-I know it is getting strange), Mike felt deeply that we were to wait until the baby was born before we did anything formal. And so, we began to detox, from the business of ministry we had always known. We read, we prayed, we slept, we were introduced to ancient church mystics, we asked for guidance, and one by one, those 7 dear friends were drawn together and we started asking, “What is church?”. What does it mean to be the sent and called people of God. How do we help people actually become a student of Jesus in their real lives. How do we reach the world where they are at, instead of asking them to come to us? What is really essential and important in being the church, and what can we just chuck by the wayside? So many questions, so much unpacking, so much unlearning and relearning.

Last Thursday we had 2 birthday celebrations in our home. Our physical baby turned seven. He has moved into a level of growth a maturity that is new for us all. He has lost teeth and grown adult ones, he has learned to read, write, speak intelligently, have an opinion and take care of basic needs. God forbid he ever get lost somewhere, he would have the ability to find his way to help and then home. Now, he is at a place that we can deeply call out and instill values that will take him far in this great life. It is a fun stage of parenting. Much more of what I had envisioned when I was dreaming about being a parent. I just didn’t realize you have to go through all the messy, sleepless stuff to get here:-)

Well, our little church, or faith community as we like to call it, turned seven too. It too has lost teeth, painfully I might add, and grown new adult ones. Learned to think and respond and take hold of what it means to be a called gathering of Gods people. God has called many people to come along side of us, to take hold of what God has placed in their hearts and dig in here. It has been a hard and rewarding process for all of us. It looks a bit like what we hoped it would in the beginning, and yet, just like with our little 7 year old boy, we only have glimpses of what it may look like fully matured.

Last week, I had not thought of any of this, until I was doing dishes and God showed me that rock again. Mike and I call them anchors and we have many of them in our journey of faith. We write them down, remember them, review them often. Those little moments that you are sure that God is saying something profound, and that for some reason you must remember them. Encouraging words from friends that were straight from the thrown room of God, personal visions, dreams, particular verses and passages in the Bible, all things that God has been speaking and saying to us for years now. We were told early on, by our church planting assessor, that these anchors at times would be the only things that we could hold onto in ministry. At the time, I thought it was a bit morbid, now I understand.

The first year, Mike did not work conventionally, as we worked out this calling of ours. In time, we made the choice, to be just like everyone else. So he started working as an engineer again and currently works 50+ hours. How could we ask others to grab hold of their discipleship to Jesus in the midst of real life, a life that we would not be able to understand if we did not do it as well. So, no mid week pastors lunches, yearly pastor retreats, pastor appreciation gifts, or even the title pastor. And yet, it is hidden, and quiet, and not paid for, but he pastors and leads and assists with the best of them and doesn’t get one red dime for it. We like it that way. Guess what? God has led a few others who are doing it to with us. My dear sweet amazing husband has given up a lot these last 7 years. There aren’t many patting you on the back in this space. So I pat him on the back as often as I can. He is brilliant and humble and stubborn in all the good ways, always pushing past the good in pursuit of the best. I love living this thing with him. There isn’t anyone else I could do this with.

So, as I was doing dishes and God reminded me of that rock, I felt like He said, There are 3 periods of 7 here in South Florida and we have just completed the first leg of this 21 year experiment. It was almost like I heard the click of a door closing behind us and a new door opening in the spirit. Everything we learned the first 7 years of training, and everything we added, omitted and rebooted our second 7 years of detoxing will propel us forward into the next 7 years of gathering. Mike and I think it is interesting that Hudson will be 18 at the end of the third 7 years. So It will be fun to see, who keeps moving along with us, and who new may be added to the mix.

So what’s next? Stay tuned and I will keep you posted!

So Grace tagged me for a meme that takes you back in time.  So for your reading enjoyment and my own personal ammusment here you go!

10 years ago: Mike and I would of been married 2.5 years.  We were “plugged” in to our church and praying for God’s direction in our lives.  At that point we were just a year fresh out of college and wanting to go on the “mission field”.  No one would take us.  It still puzzles us.  We then began considering “church planting” as we knew it then and the rest is histroy. We often say now that ether way we would of ended up at the same place pragmatically and philosophically with all things having to do with the “Church”.  It has been a fun 10 years to say the least.

20 years ago: I was right in the middle of middle school hell.  What else do you say about that .  It is the beginning of the teenage gauntlet that leaves most limping for many years to come. I hated school starting in the 4th grade and never pulled out until my junior year in college.  I went from super board to super “over” all the relational drama that left me unbable to think about learning. 

30 years ago: I was waiting for my baby brother to be born, going to montessori preschool and generally climbing every tree in site.  I still remember when I swong the garden house over a ficus tree limb in our front yard.  I was swinging back and forth on the hose from limb to limb.  In my youthful vigor I forgot to grab both lengths of the hose and came crashing down on the roots of a ficus tree and landed on my ankle.  A three year old and “bed rest” is not a good combo.

And there you have it, the best that I can remember it. Thanks Grace for asking me to play along.

We had new friends over the other night.  Wonderful, wise followers of Jesus.  They have successfully raise three boys in their thirties.  I called the wife the other day with a question.  I said “Knowing what you know now, after raising 3 children, what did you do right and what would you do different?”

 You know how hind-site is always 20/20. I really wanted to know what their experience has taught them.  They had some wonderful words of wisdom.  They were VERY encouraging.  I want to be like that in everything I do.

Firstly, they said to make sure that in the teen years, get them out of this country on a short term missions trip.  That is very important to their overall formation.  Especially when it comes to them having to work out their own faith apart from you as their parent.

They did home school for many years in the early years and then sent them to a traditional high school.  In retrospect, they wished they would of stepped in a bit more in some relational issues.  It is  a thin line of giving them the independence to deal with things on their own, and also take over when they weren’t quit old enough to  handle it on their own.

And the most important things was, their house was “the house” to be at for all the kids in the neighborhood.  They were raising kids during the ‘latch key” generation.  So most of their kids peers had 2 working parents.  So they were their neighborhoods stabilizing force.  Simple home made cookies and strong house rules for the “neighborhood” to abide by endeared them to their kids peers. 

Through this they were able to develop strong relationship with their boys and constantly show them the light of Jesus in the midst of everyday life.  It was a very encouraging story.  It makes me think about relationship and how it is the fabric of life.  For me homeschooling is more about the “being, knowing and training” our kids then it is about teaching them.  It makes me wonder about today’s culture that hops around and moves so much.  Isn’t it good for our kids to develop deep meaningful relationships too?  Isn’t good for us as parents to lead them by example of that?  Call me crazy but I think it is the most important thing to model to them.  Especially in a culture that values individualism so much.

 Their children live life outside of the box because they were raised that way.  I pray that for our kids too. I pray our children will know the value of being connected to a group of God’s people in deep and meaningful ways.  That what we have together is so special.  It doesn’t happen overnight and it isn’t always found but it is a treasure that is worth digging for. 

Many of you have asked about our community bbq tomorrow.  So I wanted to give you all the “digs”.   Firstly, Mike and I had a “spirited debate” about the manner in which information should be broadcast in our community.  I wanted to have 4 signs made (that can be reused) similar to the  garage sale signs that you see that I would put at all of the entrances to our development.  I thought, “Oh we could just throw a quick webpage together describing the party and that we would love to see everyone there.”  To me that would of been the easiest for me, but it was too programmatic for Mike. He wanted the kids and I to pass out invitations to all of our neighbors.  Have it be more relational.  It would be like “oh yeah your the family we always see at the pool, or we bought lemonade from your son type thing”.  So being the submissive wife I am, I agreed to do it his way:-) So last night we made invitations and the kids and I rode our bikes around the neighborhood.  The kids were excitedly knocking on doors, chasing down people as they got in and out of cars  and telling anyone who would listen, “Come to our neighborhood party.”  Mike was right.  It was more relational that way.  At least for the first one, although I do think the sign thing would work after we have a few. And yes, for the record, I did get “Oh you are the family we always see around the pool”. and “We bought lemonade form your son” and “We’ve been hearing about this and are so excited” and “oh we were hoping you were still going to do this!” Shocking if you ask me.  They have heard about it?  I did speak to a few people I saw at the pool through out the week about the party.  I did try to focus on “connectors” in the community.  I did want the word of mouth thing to work in our favor….there are a lot of houses here.  Almost everyone that opened the door to us said…”Thank you so much. I’ve been thinking I should do something like this but I just never have.”  Hmmmm.  I wonder how many people think about connecting with others and then just don’t?  So Mike and I are taking it seriously the  whole “Jesus becoming flesh and blood and moving into the neighborhood” thingy.