What's going on in my family life?

To say that the past two years has been stressful on me and my family at times would be an understatement.

Two years ago my wife and children and I moved from our home in Schenectady to Troy to plant the CORE Church of Troy. Granted, it was only a move of twenty miles, but as far as my kids were concerned, it may as well have been twenty thousand miles.

I had assumed in my idealistic mind that the move to a new city, for my wife and kids that is, because I was born and raised in Troy, a new school, a new church, etc, would go over smoothly, without friction or any major conflicts. Well, there has been a little friction as we all learned (and are coninuing to learn)how to adjust to all of these changes.

I can remember Ed Stetzer sharing some of his thoughts on this very issue at a church planting conference I attended back in the fall of 2006. He told us church planters who were in attendance that we'd better be sure of God's calling to plant churches, because this venture WILL produce added stress to our marriages and family lives. He went on to say that if we are not called to plant churches and we try to beat that door down, it will destroy our family lives through the added stress, which will turn into chaos, and then to discord and so on.

My family and I have experienced some of the friction and conflict Stetzer had alluded to, all the while I was 100% certain of God's call to this mission field. So, we continued to pray together as a family. And I trusted God to work all of this out; and He is. We are all adjusting nicely to this new adventure. We are all getting plugged into our new community.

Scouting has become a big activity in our family that both of our boys are involved in and my wife and I are becoming more involved with as parent volunteers.

Little league baseball is another activity my boys have participated in from the time they were old enough to pick up a bat. They look forward to playing ball every spring. So, we signed them up last year inour new community, and again this year. Now our local little league leadership is inviting me to help with coaching duties.

So, little by little we are adjusting and growing in our Divinely assigned mission field.

I share all of this with you, my church planting family, because somewhere out there in another town or city there are men, called by God, to go and plant churches. This means their families have to pick up and move with them. And this has or will cause friction and conflict in your marriages and family lives. But, continue to pray together and trust in the One who called you. He will guide you and your family in this new adventure. And you see a sweet spirit take over your marriage and family life as you obey the Lord and go to the place He shows you.

Dreaming Big and Praying Hard

Charles Finney once said, "When you attempt great things for God, you can expect great results from God."

I was recently reading through Kirsten Strand’s “Community 4:12” Blog. Kirsten leads Community 4:12, a ministry of Community Christian Church (CCC) of Naperville, Ill, which brings compassion, social justice, and community development to under-resourced communities. CCC has adopted the inner-city community of East Aurora, as they seek to live out the Biblical mandate to serve needy, marginalized people. Kirsten has served as the catalyst in this community, through organizing servant evangelism and community outreach projects.

In her most recent blog entry, Kirsten included a hit list of big dreams she is praying for; things she would like to see happen in 2008. At first glance the list looks like wishful thinking, but, as the title of her post (Mountain Moving Prayers #2) suggests, her faith is not in what she can do, but in what God can and will do through her. I got to thinking about Kirsten’s Big Dream list. It’s not too much different than my own. Yeah our dreams are big, but God is infinitely bigger. We serve a big God who compels us to dream big.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Eph. 3:20)

Ephesians 3:20 is a verse that I regularly camp out in, because it tells me that His power is at work (within us), to accomplish all that He places in our human hearts and minds, and so much more; that combined with my life verse of Proverbs 3:5&6,

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Prov.3:5-6)

I am thoroughly convinced that what God desires to accomplish through us is far beyond anything we can rap our minds around. Many times I find myself trying to manage the vision God has given me, when He's simply asking me to be obedient and faithful and let Him do the rest. It is surprisingly refreshing when I am reminded that it is His church and that it is He who gives the increase.

I really appreciate reading about what Community 4:12 is doing. Our God is encouraging me through what they are doing; that others are successfully making His name known in their own community and if we (here in upstate NY) follow the example others are setting, we will see similar success as we make His name known here in Troy, New York. We truly reap what we sow. Dream big. Pray hard. Trust in the God who gives us big dreams, and wait expectantly to be blown away by what He will do with faith the size of a mustard seed.