So grateful were we to be welcomed by the local Funeral Home chapel for the last 16 weeks. We knew it was temporary yet had no idea for how long. Their hospitality was generous and loving. Youth met in the room where they could eat with tables and chairs, adult classes merged to fit in available spaces, children met on the floor and still used modpodge, sharpies, paint, and wet glue without a slip. The only expectation was that the Spirit of the Lord was in the place and among His people.

He certainly was!

Just this week we gathered to worship our Great God on a 15-acre campus with a new sign out front.

Within the last nine days papers have been signed, walls have been painted, ceiling tiles have been replaced, squirrel’s nests discovered, and even with backordered chairs and tables, we gathered to worship our Great God.

Pipe and drape defined space, youth had their regular donuts, the coffee was hot, holy communion was served, the tech team were heroes, children were painting rocks for the Holy Week Walk with Jesus Tour, and the nursery was full. The sun was shining, and the parking lot was in overflow. Laity formed teams of security, maintenance, custodial, landscaping, with project managers and an ever-growing punch list.

A huge, beautiful flower arrangement was gifted by the folks from the church across the street who shared they had been driving around the campus praying for us for weeks leading up to the closing. A dear kidmin friend delivered Amazon blessings of paint, scissors, glue sticks, pipe cleaners, beads, googly eyes and other craft supplies for little people to creatively respond to the Good News of Jesus.

The humble generosity of God’s people has been overwhelming.

Some of the stories….

• On the first Sunday four women chose to humbly receive littles in the nursery as their worship.
• Youth wrote their names on a banner with their new name as their worship.
• Young adults served all over campus as their worship.
• Bushes and lawn-care for nine days was their worship.
• Crosses on walls were tended and painted as worship.
• A grandma searched the consignments, cleaned, and boxed potato heads, Lincoln logs, Lego bricks, and Duplo blocks for littles starting from a sacred scratch as worship.
• Boxes were built for monitors, new light bulbs were hung, windows were framed, light fixtures were cleaned as worship.
• Prayer partners were vacuuming, dusting, dumping, laughing, loading, unloading, greeting, shopping, disinfecting, draping, setting, sitting, painting, wiping, praying as worship.
• Senior saints had chairs in classrooms while camp chairs were brought in by other adult small groups as worship.
• Dozens of donuts and Poptarts (thanks for popping in on our first Sunday) were donated by a kind couple as worship.
• Littles built a fort of sticks and pine straw in the woods on campus during the afternoon new member class as their worship because there are fifteen acres to explore.
• Smooth swings and a picnic table were home for families on a playground to linger after services as worship.
• Multiple multigenerational families are traveling over an hour for this, their worship.
• A prayground space of tables for elementary (and youth) with markers, Alphabots, and connecting straws is a sacred space in the worship center for children to move and remain engaged in worship.
• Six wagons of children’s and nursery supplies were moved from one building to another then returned as worship.
• The Good News of a humble sacrifice of praise was shared through word, song, and actions including the blowing of a shofar was worship.

We have scheduled our first church potluck next week. Kingdom work of tablelife and prayer throughout the campus. The youth are exploring this week with dozens of mini-Jesus figurines to be found just about everywhere on Wednesday night. New ministries and other-than-Sunday-or-Wednesday programming have graciously agreed to wait until April to ‘come in the house’ to get our legs under us for rhythms and scheduling. 

In full transparency the spiritual warfare is thick. Of course it is. It’s to be expected when bold, new things are started.

Thank you, Lord, for a great sense of humor. Thank you, Lord, for the joy that comes every morning. Thank you, Lord, for growing my perseverance muscles. Thank you, Lord, for the example of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Esther, and Jesus’ brother James. Oh, brother James!

I put on the armor of James Chapter 1 every day. I sing “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart” when I answer the phone. There’s a 6-foot cardboard cutout of Jesus in the corner of my office to make me smile alongside pictures of my family of bigs and littles who call to laugh and remind me that the Lord is good, and His mercies endure forever.

And the strong disciples who share and lead this journey are the best of God’s people faithful in prayer, skill, talent, preparation, and encouragement. I’d go to the fiery furnace with them any day, every day, all day.

Thank you, Lord!

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.” James 1:17-18