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I know this post is supposed to be prevention part 2 but I can't resist sharing what has been happening especially over the weekend. Have you ever been so overwhelmed that you can barely put into words what your experiencing? That is how I feel today so I will do my best! I have already mentioned on some posts about us getting ready to plant a church. Some of you know the details of that and some don't so I am going to back up to explain some things!
For years we have known that there was going to be a special way God wanted to use us. As we have been searching and praying about what that could be there has always been a spiritual discontentment. Tim has had incredible opportunities to be involved in ministries that are making huge impacts for the kingdom. With every ministry opportunity that has come our way we have felt humbled to be a part of such great movements. However, there has been the underlying feeling of knowing that whatever we were currently doing, God had something else in mind. It has not been easy as a wife to watch my husband wrestle with this. Every job change I heard him say that he knew it would be temporary until God revealed what He really wanted him to be doing. To live like this is very frustrating. I wanted so bad for him to figure out what his true purpose was and to do it.
You've heard it said many time before...God's timing is not always ours. During these years of frustration, He was shaping Tim into the person He needed to be. He was using each ministry opportunity as a stepping stone to what we are about to do. It is easy to see now that we needed all these experiences to even be capable of allowing God to use us in this way. And He has even used our mistakes. How else are you really able to learn? How else would you really be able to relate and reach out to people if you haven't really been there yourself?
Fast forward now to around spring of this year. God starts stirring Tim's heart once again except this time he addresses it. We start to unpack this possible calling of God to be church planters. As time went on through the summer the feeling of God calling us out got stronger. We even admitted to some close friends that God may be taking us in this direction. Every pastor and leader that Tim met with to talk to about this confirmed this call.
But you do know the difference of saying God may be calling you to something or God is calling you to something. We had never fully crossed that bridge of saying that we are really going to pursue what God is telling us to do. Fear, doubt, uncertainty among many other scary things set in and make you think that this isn't really what you should be doing.
But I will also never forget the day we finally crossed that bridge. This was one of the best days of my life because I knew this was God's plan for us. In fact, I knew months before but how do you tell your husband, "Can you just make this decision??? Can't you tell that this is God calling us to do this? Don't you know you are supposed to be a pastor???" Of course I had to just wait for God to reveal this to him. But the day he did I was so elated. I couldn't wait to tell anyone. But I didn't tell anyone for a few weeks and even then it went a little something like this: I don't know any details, I don't know where and with who or anything else. All I know is that God wants us to plant a church.
After surrendering to this call Tim began to meet with a good friend that actually were a part of our small group. This was in August. It was a divine appointment because it just so happened that God was having them (Kevin and Suzanne) go through some of the same feelings, that spiritual discontentment and knowing God is leading you to do something else. It is amazing how God started working. God melded our hearts together for the passion of a very specific mission. From then on it has been a roller coaster. But when the four of us came together knowing that this was God's purpose, doors flew open. It feels like every day something happens as more confirmation. Do we have the details yet? No. But things are happening so fast and God is showing us very specific things. Our church model is almost completed and our church name is Brownsmill Church. We know the area we will be serving in, Newnan (still Atlanta, about 30 min. west of where we are now). In future posts I will explain why we chose the name and location. Today it just feels awesome that we know the direction to take and who we are taking it with. There is no better feeling than knowing you are walking smack dab in the center of God's will. There are some great times ahead and some challenging ones but thank you for wanting to be a part of our journey! Let the journey begin!!!!
For years we have known that there was going to be a special way God wanted to use us. As we have been searching and praying about what that could be there has always been a spiritual discontentment. Tim has had incredible opportunities to be involved in ministries that are making huge impacts for the kingdom. With every ministry opportunity that has come our way we have felt humbled to be a part of such great movements. However, there has been the underlying feeling of knowing that whatever we were currently doing, God had something else in mind. It has not been easy as a wife to watch my husband wrestle with this. Every job change I heard him say that he knew it would be temporary until God revealed what He really wanted him to be doing. To live like this is very frustrating. I wanted so bad for him to figure out what his true purpose was and to do it.
You've heard it said many time before...God's timing is not always ours. During these years of frustration, He was shaping Tim into the person He needed to be. He was using each ministry opportunity as a stepping stone to what we are about to do. It is easy to see now that we needed all these experiences to even be capable of allowing God to use us in this way. And He has even used our mistakes. How else are you really able to learn? How else would you really be able to relate and reach out to people if you haven't really been there yourself?
Fast forward now to around spring of this year. God starts stirring Tim's heart once again except this time he addresses it. We start to unpack this possible calling of God to be church planters. As time went on through the summer the feeling of God calling us out got stronger. We even admitted to some close friends that God may be taking us in this direction. Every pastor and leader that Tim met with to talk to about this confirmed this call.
But you do know the difference of saying God may be calling you to something or God is calling you to something. We had never fully crossed that bridge of saying that we are really going to pursue what God is telling us to do. Fear, doubt, uncertainty among many other scary things set in and make you think that this isn't really what you should be doing.
But I will also never forget the day we finally crossed that bridge. This was one of the best days of my life because I knew this was God's plan for us. In fact, I knew months before but how do you tell your husband, "Can you just make this decision??? Can't you tell that this is God calling us to do this? Don't you know you are supposed to be a pastor???" Of course I had to just wait for God to reveal this to him. But the day he did I was so elated. I couldn't wait to tell anyone. But I didn't tell anyone for a few weeks and even then it went a little something like this: I don't know any details, I don't know where and with who or anything else. All I know is that God wants us to plant a church.
After surrendering to this call Tim began to meet with a good friend that actually were a part of our small group. This was in August. It was a divine appointment because it just so happened that God was having them (Kevin and Suzanne) go through some of the same feelings, that spiritual discontentment and knowing God is leading you to do something else. It is amazing how God started working. God melded our hearts together for the passion of a very specific mission. From then on it has been a roller coaster. But when the four of us came together knowing that this was God's purpose, doors flew open. It feels like every day something happens as more confirmation. Do we have the details yet? No. But things are happening so fast and God is showing us very specific things. Our church model is almost completed and our church name is Brownsmill Church. We know the area we will be serving in, Newnan (still Atlanta, about 30 min. west of where we are now). In future posts I will explain why we chose the name and location. Today it just feels awesome that we know the direction to take and who we are taking it with. There is no better feeling than knowing you are walking smack dab in the center of God's will. There are some great times ahead and some challenging ones but thank you for wanting to be a part of our journey! Let the journey begin!!!!
1 comment:
I am so happy for you guys, Nicole! I can't wait to hear more details!
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