Contagion

the day that the dream for TXC was branded onto my heart. It was March 6 of last year and I was sitting in my office at APA and it basically paralyzed me. I started writing and writing like a madman about what the possibilities could be. I talked to my pastor about it and put the future of the dream of his hands, saying that if he didn't believe it was from God that I would let it die then and there. He felt it was a God thing and I started to move forward.

I figured SilverCity would be WAY to expensive or that someone else would already be in there but I decided to pick up the phone that very day and try it out for the heck of it. As it turned out, Cineplex worked with churches and gave them a great deal and I basically made a tentative agreement on the spot. What's crazy about this is that I hadn't been out to the Junction hardly at all, except to watch a few movies. I couldn't even remember the last time I was out there.

By this time, the blood was pounding through my veins and I could hardly see straight I was so ecstatic about the possibilities. As I drove out there my mind was racing and, even though nothing was even close to being a possibility, I felt like something was on the verge of happening. As I drove into the Junction I had this overwhelming feeling like "This is it!" I called Bek and I couldn't even get my words out to form a coherent sentence. I just kept saying "This is it" (At this point, Emma was 3 weeks away from being born so she was in a different frame of mind, still excited though.)

From there we had this dream just exploding in front of us. Another messed up piece of the puzzle was the fact that I hadn't even passed my assessment or gone to the Church Planters Summit yet. We had no idea where the money was going to come from or how any of this would even work. We just knew that God had birthed this insane thing in us and we were going for it.

Up until this point I had never had this type of faith...the crazy faith that step out into the middle of nowhere and just expects God to show up because he said that he would. I've never felt this kind of excitement before and I had finally come to realization that this is why I was created...for this moment and the journey that lay in front of me.

And the rest is history. Yesterday I listened to talk from Bill Hybels regarding when he started Willow Creek in 1975 and his first point was, in regards to planting a church, "Make sure that you have a holy discontent and not just a 'hankering'" I fully agree with this. He said that if it's just something that you think looks like fun, you'll more than likely quit when it gets tough. I can honestly say that when the dream for TXC was birthed in me almost a year and half ago, I just couldn't shake it. It consumed me completely. And I can honestly say that today, there is nothing else that I would ever even consider doing that seeing this church become what God intends for it to be. Of course there are days where my rationale self kicks in and I think "What on earth am I doing?! Who do I think I am? Planting a church from scratch?"

And then I remember that day...the day my life fell apart in the best way imaginable with a dream that changed the direction of my life forever. I'm so excited for what God is going to do and is already doing through our church.

Dream huge! Don't let your fear of "what might happen" stand in the way of what God could do in and through your life. Following God into the deep end is one of the most frightening and exhilarating things that you will ever do. Don't settle for comfort. Don't let the people around you tell you that it's impossible and it can't be done. If you have that holy discontent for something and you feel like there is nothing else on earth that you could imagine yourself doing...do it! You're life and view of God will never be the same!