Into The Future

What a weekend. Let me try to catch you up on everything that has happened in the last 3ish days... As I've already mentioned, The Journey got a major boost of confidence and support when our friends at Mosaic in Arlington signed on to be our support church. As their pastor, Stephen, and I talked, we realized that last weekend would be an ideal weekend to come down, sign papers, and get things really rolling. We had our community meal here on Saturday, and then we would head for Arlington Saturday night.
The community meal was great. Nathan and Elaine hosted the party and did a great job! In addition to the Futrells and my clan of 4, we had three other couples there. All total, our community meal had 12 in attendance! That's up from 8 at our last meal, and that is super! A special thanks to Austin, Andrea, "Fletch," and Candi for making the meal so enjoyable, and blessing us with their stories. We had steak and chicken shish-ka-bobs (sp?), garlic potatoes, fruit, bread, and cup cakes.
We finished at 8 p.m. and loaded our clan into the car and headed out for the 5 hour drive to Alrington. With the blessed time change, We got in at 12:30 a.m. That would give us plenty of time to sleep as we prepared to visit with our friends at Mosaic for their worship gathering. Caryn's mom joined us. As always, it's great to have her along. She is such a pleasant and fun-to-be-with kinda person. And, it never hurts to have MeeMaw along for the kiddos.
We worshipped with the Mosaic folks, and had a wonderful time. They have great leadership and a great worship space that is a drama/performing arts theater during the week. I was really encouraged when we walked in, and their worship space looks just like what I designed at Bacon, but in a full-blown fashion. Good stuff. I had the opportunity to share my vision with the "family" there in Arlington. Afterwards, we all went to eat at Mama's Pizza. What an awesome pie! Then, Stephen was graciuos enough to let us hang at his house for the afternoon. We went back to their Taste and See event that night, and shared fajitas with their potential new partners. Thanks, Mosaic folks, for a GREAT weekend. You have been great to our church and our family.
Then, Monday, we met with the SBTC friend that gave me all the paperwork for The Journey to become "official." The SBTC has really been a blessing, too. They have invested in me, and have been so supportive of my vision. We couldn't do this with them, especially Terry Coy. He is a dear friend, and visionary in the SBTC church planting arena. Terry has made some invaluable resources available to us for The Journey. What a blessing!
With all that happened this weekend, all I did was talk the whole way home. I couldn't stop, much to my wife's shagrin. She would drift off to sleep only to have me pop-off again about what God is doing...I'm surprised I made it home alive! The greatest thing, though, that I keep coming back to is something that God has been driving home in me since leaving Bacon Heights. Stephen has mentioned it a couple of times, as have others around me: Be encouraged. God has something special instore for me. When I left Bacon Heights, it was hard to bounce back and keep a positive attitude about the future. There was a nagging doubt in my head: Maybe you're done. Maybe God has finished with you, and you're done. But He has been faithful to me, as He always is. He has shown me time and time again since that point that I'm not done. I'm just getting started on a new chapter. And now, for so many people to hear my vision, and make an investment of their time and resources for this kingdom work has been a real encouragement. It's people I trust and respect saying, "You're not done. We believe in you." Rock on! Now, I've got so much on my mind that I'm having trouble figuring out what to do next! I think I mentioned this before, but my friend Nick reminded me that I am not forgotten. I am loved and esteemed by the Almighty. And now, we're journeying into the future, with a myriad of supporters, to change the world, to save the universe starting with Lubbock. Here we go...