It's been seven weeks since we embarked on our glorious adventure! And since this is the third church-plant we've been involved with, I have the blessing of perspective. While the early days of church planting might look like a breeze to those on the outside, they can actually be quite challenging and hectic. But I am not experiencing the kind of doubts and fears that I have felt in the past. We truly believe that God has called us to this work, so we face each day with confidence in Christ and his promises. It is also easier as "empty-nesters" since we do not have children at home who are experiencing sadness over moving.
We planned it so that our first two weeks in Florida were actually accrued vacation time from our previous church. That was to allow us to take some "time off" to unpack and settle in without feeling guilty about making few contacts right away. That was the idea in theory. But we no sooner arrived, and we began to feel the pull of seeking out people. It's just who we are and how we roll.
So while we unpacked and set up house, we regularly had friends (new and old) over for meals, swimming, and visiting. Amidst all the cardboard and clutter we have had some very sweet fellowship. Hospitality is a vital component in church planting, and we're blessed that we do enjoy having people in our home.
Someone asked my husband, "What do you do all day?" It's a great question, and he answered it more extensively here. Besides all the normal things that must be done when you move (driver's licenses, new insurance, car registration etc etc), there are lots of church tasks to attend to.
Many of our days have been spent driving around looking for that ideal place to begin holding worship services. We have visited store-fronts, schools, office buildings, hotels and stand-alone properties. We've met with realtors, principals, managers and owners. It's been a good experience and we feel much more well acquainted with our community after visiting so many venues. The cloud of confusion is beginning to lift, and we think we have an obvious front-runner - yay!
Last night we held our first "event" which was an open house (in our home) to introduce people to our denomination and answer questions about our new church. We were excited that 29 people came! We received some encouraging feedback via response cards, and now we pray for God to move in people's hearts. We know that without the Holy Spirit we can do nothing. Only the Lord can draw people to himself.... He simply calls us to be faithful in showing others the way.
