The Unexpected Voyage Begins

 

– Extreme Days, 2001

This year, though we are only one quarter of the way through, has been quite the wild ride.  And I can’t say that we expected any of it.  Part of the reason that I started this blog is because we feel something big brewing and I wanted to make sure we had a record of all of those “God moments” that, somehow, we so easily forget.

But let me start at the beginning.  A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away….  Oh wait, um, that’s not our story.  Hmmmm…  I honestly don’t even know where the beginning is.

At the beginning of the year we were struggling.  Burnt out from doing a lot at the church, feeling alone since there are so few young(ish) adults, trying to balance the care of a toddler at church while still serving on the worship team, – the result was us not “feeling” fed.  So we made a commitment to buckle down and keep moving forward.  We decided to put in a little extra devotional time at home, both individually and as a couple.

Around the same time, after a few discussions on a couple of different committees, our church decided to make a few changes in pursuit of growth.  We are still in the midst of that.  However, these two things together – our personal commitment to growth and the church as well as the church’s commitment to growth, apparently created the perfect storm.  God showed up.

Or rather, God made Himself known.  Because God is always here, of that I am certain.

I can’t say the road from there on out has been as easy one.  In fact, I’ve spent many nights in tears (not of joy).  Justin and I still don’t see eye to eye on everything.   And life, outside of our hearts, continues as usual – screaming toddler, work demands, exhaustion, etc.

But back to the story of where we are and how we got here…

I had been doing a lot of reading and thinking, processing and studying.  And I was continuing to go through my usual routine.  One day as I was working, a thought crossed my mind – a small group for the unchurched, outside of the church building.  I scribbled down a couple of thoughts and left it at that, meaning to talk to Justin when he got home.  But I forgot.  Two days later as I read through Scripture and had my prayer time, the thought just kept coming back to me.  Okay, I guess I need to talk to Justin.

So I called him, knowing he was still driving into work.  I explained the rough idea of thoughts in my head and his response was,“Okay.  Let’s do it.”  

“What?”

“Okay, let’s do it.  I think we’re supposed to do this because I have a really weird peace about it.”

You see, Justin hasn’t exactly been comfortable with talking about his faith outside of church.  And leading anything isn’t something he would sign up for.  So I was a bit blown away by his response.  As we talked, we both grew more excited.  This might actually work.  For us to be so excited about something so far outside of our comfort zones was a clear indication that God was nudging us forward.

And the voyage began….

(Continue the journey here.)