Month: June 2017

Oh So Close!

For the last several weeks we’ve been announcing that we are close to closing on our new building.  It gets to be a bit embarrassing to keep making the same announcement.  Today we are scheduled to sign papers.  If you’ve ever bought a house or building, you know that the final thing before closing is signing the paperwork and bringing your money to the table.  I can finally say that we are right at the finish line and expect to close either tomorrow or Friday (Yeah!!!!!!!).

The irony of being at the finish line is that it’s also a starting line.  Once we own the building we start to work to get it back in shape to be a place where the church gathers and worships our God.

We have scheduled our first work day this Saturday from 9am to 12pm at the new property.  We will be removing some overgrown bushes, trees, and brush in order to make room for new landscaping.  I can’t wait to watch the transformation in the coming months and step into our new home.  On your marks, get set, let’s go!

Letting Go of Clutter!

About 6 years ago Stacy and I stood in our garage and were thinking about where we could add more shelves to store things.  I remember the moment when Stacy said, “Instead of building more shelves to store more stuff, what if we just got rid of things and lived with less!”  In that moment something shifted in both of our hearts and we have been on a journey to live with less.

Getting rid of things is an emotional process!  There is a particular reason we’ve bought each of our items and a reason we have held onto them.  That reason (multiplied by 1000) is why clutter fills up our houses and our garages.  It’s also the reason its so hard to let it go.  Each item holds some value to us.

Since that day, we have worked countless days to get to the point where we love EVERY area of our house.  I wish I can say its been easy but it hasn’t; It is hard and difficult.  Once you arrive, in a sense that is when the real work begins because you have to maintain it!

Approximately 3 years ago we reached one of our best places we’ve been so far.  Having gotten rid of a lot, Stacy finished the garage while I was out of town and it looked fabulous.  We celebrated and worked hard to keep it clean.  We did for a while but like so many areas, after time we were back to clutter.

We’ve been working hard for the past few days to go another round.  Some moments we feel like we are winning and others we feel like we’ve been punched in the gut.  But we are going to keep fighting.

I can’t believe how many things we’ve let go of over the last 6 years.  I can’t believe how much stuff we still have!  Our goal is when you come over to our house and open a cupboard, you notice how little we have and the extra space on the shelf.  When you go into our garage, you will find our cars actually live in there and you will wonder how we keep our house so clean.  We will smile because there will hardly be anything in there.

Until then…

Dedication Night- June 4, 2017

This last Sunday night was so much fun to gather at the “old bar” on Highway 99 and worship, pray, and take communion together.  We rented this space for over 5 years starting in 2008.  During this time we grew, saw lives changed and developed an incredible vision for this property.

We took many steps to purchase it but each one fell short.  We concluded that God was sending us elsewhere and emotionally let go of this property.  I remember thinking in my heart, “If God wants us here he knows how to get us here”.  But even as I was thinking these thoughts I never believed that we would be back.  God has a funny way of bringing you back to previous points in your life and letting you finish what was left undone.  This is where we are today…back at the place we were 4 years ago but this time with the money in the bank to purchase this building.

Standing on the stage again Sunday night brought a flood of emotions to my heart.  I felt as if God was saying to me, “Welcome Home”. It was a raw environment with no stage lights, or decorations.  Nothing was manicured or cleaned up.  I felt as if God was saying take a look at how bad it is; just soak it in.  There was no hiding the mess of things.  I have felt for a long time that this is what its like when we come to God; there really is no hiding our true selves and nature. He accepts us just as we are but as we submit to his leading, we are transformed into something beautiful and useful to him.  It is with this anticipation that North Creek walks forward in faith to see God’s transformation; not only of this location but a continued transformation of people’s hearts and lives as we surrender to him.  It brought the truth fresh to mind that the “church” is not a building, but the people who gather there.  I can say that the church is alive and well!

My favorite part of the night was writing scriptures and prayers on rocks as a memorial to what God is doing at North Creek.  I am excited for the rocks to become a permanent piece in our renovated building.  I feel they are representative of the excitement, anticipation, unity, and hope that we feel as a church.