Of all the "what ifs" I've ever "iffed" over, the ones that take on the most life in my head are the ones concerning our move to Charlotte to be a part of Elevation Church. But the "what ifs" now are very different from the ones that bombarded me 2 years ago.
A little background: David and I had both said out loud multiple times in our lives that Florida would be the only place we'd ever live. And not just the state, we were pretty concrete about Hillsborough county. Maybe saying that kind of stuff was like a dare to God. Not because He's mean-spirited but what better sign of spiritual growth and change than to turn our "always" and "never" upside down. Our choosing to move 600 miles from "home" to help plant a church was an expression of God's ability to do BIG things with little lives. We'd always had little dreams, dared not dream ourselves a part of something that would change the world. Then along came Elevation.
By the time we heard the name Elevation, Charlotte was the identified city and the core team was making plans to move, one family at a time. We knew one of those couples, the Corbetts, and excitedly agreed to be a part of a prayer team for the church. The excitment about this church plant was electric. You could FEEL God all over this thing. The story between praying for Elevation and 6 months later moving for Elevation is much too long for today's blog. David moved in December,the kids and I joined him in January, the church began Sunday services in February, and the rest is Elevation history.
Now back to the "what if"...today, I worshipped with just under 2000 people between 4 services in 2 counties. I just read on my pastor's blog that 46 people gave their lives to Christ this morning. Hundreds more have made the same eternal decision this year alone, and since February (as in 5 months) I've watched in amazement as over 400 have followed Jesus in baptism. Have you ever seen anything like a spontaneous baptism in a high school auditorium, where hundreds of people take the plunge to be identified with Christ? I have! And it's amazing.
What's happening here in Charlotte is nothing less than an explosion of God's power; power being poured into the lives of ordinary people, commissioned to spread the gospel of Jesus, and others responding to His message of love and grace in an outrageous way. I can't believe I'm a part of this, I can't believe God invited my little family of four to be a part of this. There is nothing about us that deems us worthy to have our names attached to this movement of God. I can't think of one good reason. But what if I'd let that stop me? Our lack of ministry experience, our fear, the uncertainty of something new? The what ifs attached to something like this are immeasureable. It made no sense for us to make this move. Dare I admit I'd never even heard Pastor Furtick speak before we decided to move here? I'd heard him sing, does that count? David didn't even meet him until we came into town to check out housing. But this was never about us, never about him. We knew early on that the only way to survive this was to keep it all about God, and what He wanted from us and for us. The fact that we now know Pastor Furtick is an amazing man and spiritual leader has just been an added blessing. (One day I'll blog a little about the spiritual gifts he has mined out of my hubby).
The what if that fills my brain most often now is, What if I'd missed this?
I think I know a little of that answer, I'll save that for another day.
A little background: David and I had both said out loud multiple times in our lives that Florida would be the only place we'd ever live. And not just the state, we were pretty concrete about Hillsborough county. Maybe saying that kind of stuff was like a dare to God. Not because He's mean-spirited but what better sign of spiritual growth and change than to turn our "always" and "never" upside down. Our choosing to move 600 miles from "home" to help plant a church was an expression of God's ability to do BIG things with little lives. We'd always had little dreams, dared not dream ourselves a part of something that would change the world. Then along came Elevation.
By the time we heard the name Elevation, Charlotte was the identified city and the core team was making plans to move, one family at a time. We knew one of those couples, the Corbetts, and excitedly agreed to be a part of a prayer team for the church. The excitment about this church plant was electric. You could FEEL God all over this thing. The story between praying for Elevation and 6 months later moving for Elevation is much too long for today's blog. David moved in December,the kids and I joined him in January, the church began Sunday services in February, and the rest is Elevation history.
Now back to the "what if"...today, I worshipped with just under 2000 people between 4 services in 2 counties. I just read on my pastor's blog that 46 people gave their lives to Christ this morning. Hundreds more have made the same eternal decision this year alone, and since February (as in 5 months) I've watched in amazement as over 400 have followed Jesus in baptism. Have you ever seen anything like a spontaneous baptism in a high school auditorium, where hundreds of people take the plunge to be identified with Christ? I have! And it's amazing.
What's happening here in Charlotte is nothing less than an explosion of God's power; power being poured into the lives of ordinary people, commissioned to spread the gospel of Jesus, and others responding to His message of love and grace in an outrageous way. I can't believe I'm a part of this, I can't believe God invited my little family of four to be a part of this. There is nothing about us that deems us worthy to have our names attached to this movement of God. I can't think of one good reason. But what if I'd let that stop me? Our lack of ministry experience, our fear, the uncertainty of something new? The what ifs attached to something like this are immeasureable. It made no sense for us to make this move. Dare I admit I'd never even heard Pastor Furtick speak before we decided to move here? I'd heard him sing, does that count? David didn't even meet him until we came into town to check out housing. But this was never about us, never about him. We knew early on that the only way to survive this was to keep it all about God, and what He wanted from us and for us. The fact that we now know Pastor Furtick is an amazing man and spiritual leader has just been an added blessing. (One day I'll blog a little about the spiritual gifts he has mined out of my hubby).
The what if that fills my brain most often now is, What if I'd missed this?
I think I know a little of that answer, I'll save that for another day.
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