I Serve a Show-Off

I must confess (again) that I am a logical individual the majority of the time. When presented with a challenge I tend to gravitate toward the “strategize and plan” method of conquering it. I lay out action plans to arrive at my goal and worry when things don’t line up the way I think they should.

God has once again shown me how that method of ‘controlling’ and doing things in my own strength is not His way.

You see, I believe that God is inherently a show-off (in a good way) … mostly just because He can and because He likes to remind us He is the one in control – not us. This whole church-plant thing is certainly more under His control than ours. And for that I am grateful.

So … back to the good news!

We recently (by an act of God) acquired a building in which to meet. {See previous post} Randy graciously allowed us to meet while Pastors were in town and extended that offer into the month of March. At the end of March, James was scheduled to meet with him to negotiate monthly payment, etc. for the building.

We looked over what little bit of finances are coming in on a monthly basis – needless to say it didn’t take long and determined what we could do at this point toward the mortgage. Mind you it was pitifully shy of the full $1700 per month and James admitted he felt embarrassed to even make the offer. (Let me put into perspective for you how HUGE a step of faith this is to even pursue this. In ALL of last year, our church offerings totaled $3400 (yes, for the YEAR!). Ummmm … that’s only 2 months at $1700 – LOL — but I digress.)

Naturally we will be putting insurance on the content of the building and taking over the utilities, but beyond that we were woefully inadequate in what we could pay. But he offered to Randy what we could with a promise to revisit it in 6 months. God-willing we could increase it at that point.

Randy told James that he felt our offer was too high. WHAT??? Too high? Did he really just say that?  Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around?

As it shakes out, Randy wants to allow us time to build finances toward a down payment on the property so that it can be transferred into our name as soon as possible. So … he wants us to take care of utilities, upkeep and improvements, insurance as planned, and begin to sock cash away for the down payment on the property.

WHAT A BLESSING!!

So many emotions are running through us right now and so many thoughts – which I’m sure will be blogged about, but one overriding desire is for God to bless Randy with more than he can hope, think, or imagine! (Eph 3:20)

God has used Randy and Acts III to bless us and our prayer is that as he sows that mortgage payment into Brookstone, that God will pour back to him and Acts III in such huge amounts that they can’t even calculate the exponential ROI that comes from this act of generosity.

Please join with James, myself, and the members of Brookstone in praying for Randy and Acts III. Pray Luke 6:38 over them. Pray that God will bless him.

“A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

Now … isn’t God good?

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Church Progress Report

When last I reported on things here in Savannah, God was opening several doors where a church building was concerned. A lot has transpired since then and I wanted to catch you up.

First, within a week of that Cloud 9 moment, James was in a pretty severe accident on I-95 just over the state line in South Carolina. Because he was also towing his War Eagle fishing boat, there wasn’t a panel of that truck that was unscathed. Mercifully, he walked away from a near head-on collision with a semi.

And financially, thanks to God, fantastic friends, and insurance policies, we came out better than seemed possible.

He still cringes when we drive into Jasper County, but for the most part that incident in our lives is behind us!

So, we went from that extreme high to an extreme low within seven days!

From there, things returned to normal and we set about to working with the church that had opened up their hearts (and doors) to us.

Back to the Home:

Around the first of this year, things changed and we once again began to meet in our home for services. Just a few short weeks later, we learned that the church building where we had been meeting was no longer used for services.

To shorten a REALLY long story, when our Pastors and several of the church members from Nashville came to town for Josh’s Marine Corp Graduation, we knew there would not be enough room to meet in our home for church services. James approached the men who owned the now vacant church building and they agreed to let us use the building for those two services.

Just prior to Pastors arrival, James met with them again and they offered for us to meet in the building for the month of March as well.

Let me pause right here for an aside. These men – Randy McEwen and Michael Dant – have been such a tremendous blessing to us. They are in charge of Acts III Global Ministries. They operate several successful thrift stores in the South Georgia area as the mainstay of their domestic ministry. The international missions portion of Acts III ministers extensively in Malawi and includes an orphanage that they founded, built, and administer. God blessed them on a recent trip to Malawi and has cleared the way for even more ministry abroad. There truly is no way for us to repay them in the natural for all they have done for us. So, I will ask you to please remember them in your prayers!

Latest Developments:

The story doesn’t end there! When Pastors were here we discussed the building at length with them and are now pursuing a contract on renting the building long-term. The rent alone is $1700 per month and with a fledgling ministry that was going to be a stretch – to say the least. James met with them yet again to discuss terms. As James began to explain our situation, Randy stopped him mid-stream. He told James that his landlord recently renewed his contract on the thrift store and that his rent typically went up each renewal, plus he had common fees to pay. Randy went on to say that God had blessed him because the rent went down instead of up. Come to find out – it went down by $1700 per month!!

Randy then told James for us to let him know what we could pay and that because God had blessed him so, he wanted to pass that along to us. We will be meeting with him soon to sign papers and solidify the lease. We still know that we are dependent on God to grow the church and meet the financial obligations, but Brookstone Community Church now has a place to meet (that isn’t residential).

We praise God for His blessings and the generosity of Acts III. Please be in prayer as we take these next steps toward what God has here for us.

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Looking forward to seeing the Girl

I can’t wait for this movie to be released because I can’t wait to see the girl – and I’m not talking ‘bout Miley. I’m talking ‘bout Savannah and her beach – Tybee.

From what I can tell this movie is doing a tremendous job spotlighting the beauty and history that surrounds me here in Savannah.

I love that Tybee gets to be Tybee and not some fictitious place or a stand-in for some other locale.

Check out this trailer:

“>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joCwQ2pjfjw]

Yeah, baby!!! That’s all Savannah, Tybee and her environs. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

And after you’ve watched that take a gander at this song. One of my new favs.

“>http://youtu.be/8wxOVn99FTE]

Again …   Savannah, Salt Marshes, Wormsloe — love it!!!

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The BIG Announcement

Ok … how to begin this post?

Well, I suppose I’ll start at the beginning in case anyone out there needs to be brought up to speed.

My husband is a Pastor. For 14 years we lived and served in Nashville, Tennessee. Last June we were sent to Savannah, Georgia, after much prayer and confirmation from our Pastors to plant a church here.

A couple of months after arriving we began a Bible Study with some of James’ co-workers, and then in January we started meeting as Brookstone Community Church with regular church services in our home each Sunday. Attendance has been steady and we’ve seen some visitors come and go, but we knew it wouldn’t be long and we’d need a place to meet.

It’s been really tough, spiritually speaking, to make any headway. The divine connections we experienced when we first arrived seemed to all but stop and we seemed to face dead ends at every turn.

Prayer and Fasting

About six or seven weeks ago, we got serious about things and started meeting with the Marrie’s once a week to pray and fast for our situations – both personally and for the church.

Almost immediately we felt a renewed sense of peace – even if we weren’t seeing things change – and we continued to pray and fast each week.

Four Weeks Ago

I’d say approximately four weeks ago, on a Saturday, James was headed into work and I was headed to a Girl Scout meeting. On a “whim” James stopped at a small, country church when he saw someone outside mowing the lawn. He’s been looking to meet other Pastors in the area for friendship and network purposes. So, he was delighted to discover the man at the building was one of the men in charge at the church.

Long story very short … this gentleman and another man had started the church as a ministry extension from a local thrift shop in order to minister to the needs they saw daily in that shop.

James and he struck up a friendship and they have been going to lunch almost weekly since then.

The Offer

I’m leaving a LOT of details out and for the sake of brevity, I’ll just cut to the chase.

Out of the kindness of his heart, he offered the use of their church building for our services!

The church is small but ample as a starting point. It has a small sanctuary that will seat about 80-85 in the current configuration. It also has two classrooms and a multi-purpose kitchen/meeting area.

The plan: to have early morning services and to have mid-week services on Thursdays.

So, we now have a place to meet. Pretty awesome, huh?

James sat down today at lunch to hammer out the details for our meetings …

(Cue late-night infomercial voiceover)

“But wait, there’s more.”

Did I fail to mention that neither of the men who started the church believed they were to Pastor the church?

Indeed that is the case. Both of them have professed they are otherwise gifted and have been filling in until a pastor could be located. Enter a third man, who joined them about six months ago as interim pastor.

He and his family travel about an hour each direction on Sundays so that he can pastor the church here. He believes he is to start a church in his hometown but is tending to the needs here in the meantime.

Stepping out in Faith

Long, long story again cut very, very short …

As James prepared to sit down to discuss details regarding our services, they sat down with very different intentions.

By the end of lunch, plans were underway to, in their words, “pass the baton” to new leadership and to lock, stock, and barrel, merge with us and become Brookstone Community Church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rather than us joining them, they would like to turn things over to us and become one church.

WOW!!

There’s still a lot of legal things to be worked out but as of Sunday, James will be preaching there each Sunday from now on and one of their men will continue a Discipleship class for mid-week services during the transition time.

It’s all SO MUCH to take in right now, but this truly was NONE of our doing and completely, 100% God’s.

Many times over, the men who started the church have stated that maybe they were able to build it up so that another could take it. They even referenced the Old Testament story about King David and how he wanted to build a dwelling place for God {the Tabernacle} but all he was able to do was gather the materials in preparation for another.

We know that unless the “Lord builds the house” we labor in vain here, and we are acutely aware that He is what it will take to pay the mortgage on the building and to maintain any type of forward motion. BUT, we trust that He started this thing and will surely see it through to completion.

It feels like we are a train on a track and God is the locomotive. We can’t go anywhere under our own power but He has sent us on the ride of our life!

The Unfolding Story

I can’t wait to share with you all that is sure to come in the weeks ahead. I’ll be sure to post pictures and acquaint you with the church family as well.

We’re excited and deeply humbled at the same time. Exhilarated giddy-ness mixes with somber awareness of the task at hand. We can’t wait to see what God has in store!

*Please continue to pray ~ In fact, this blog is merely a means to share basic info. If you want to join with us in prayer for this endeavor, please email me (or send a Facebook message) and I’ll add you to our email list.

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Pirates, Riverboats, and Scrooge

As promised, here’s the second part of yesterday’s entry regarding our recent outings.

Tybee Pirate Parade

The Pirate Fest on Tybee Island was this past weekend and we thought Steph would enjoy the parade. So, we hit the beach for a few hours then positioned ourselves along Butler Ave. for some swashbuckling fun.

James and Steph with their best piratey “Arrrr!” Please note that we are nice and dry at this point. That didn’t last long and as the parade reached our location the clouds rolled in and the rains came down.

We came prepared for the sunshine and beach with our large, 8-foot beach umbrella. I’m proud to say it doubles nicely as a rain shelter – big enough for us and a few pirates too.

Once the rain rolled in, I snapped a few shots but the camera and Steph were placed in the car during the heaviest of the downpours. We were soaked to the bone by the time it was all over but we had a blast!!!

Catching coins, candy, and necklaces was fun, but Steph loved that she got to be in the street for the whole thing!

Some of the more “colorful” pirates that marched in the parade. They at least looked like they showered – the rest, not so much! Hee hee

Riverboat Cruise down the Savannah River

Next up … a ride down the river on one of the big paddlewheel boats. Our Homeschool group took a short jaunt down the river together for this month’s field trip.

Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” 3D Train Experience

Last, but not least, we stopped by the Amtrak Station to tour the Disney train featuring the new movie “A Christmas Carol.”

Check it out here: http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/christmascaroltraintour/

Now, mind you, I haven’t seen anything in 3D since my childhood days of flimsy little cardboard cut-out 3d glasses that just made things look red and blue. Boy was I impressed!!! Those snowflakes looked like they were floating right into my hand!! I really enjoyed it – probably as much as the kids did.

As a reminder, more pics from our excursions are on Facebook.

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Field Trips and Fun in Coastal GA

Thought I would catch you all up on a few of our latest adventures. We’ve been pretty busy exploring and enjoying all that Savannah has to offer. So, in the interest of brevity I’ll only include a few photos from each, but if you are my Facebook friend then you can see lots more.

Savannah always has something going on – some free day or museum or special event. There truly is no shortage of interesting things to do here.

Free Museum Day

Recently, we took advantage of the free day for museums that the Smithsonian network was hosting. We chose to visit the Mighty 8th Air Force Museum.

Now, I’ve been to a LOT of Air Force museums – some bigger and some smaller than the Mighty 8th. Truly this was a case of not judging the proverbial book by its cover. That small, unassuming building is really well laid out and offers some high quality exhibits.

Here are a few pics from the day:

Memorabilia from WWII

Checking out the map of Mighty 8th power during WWII

Some of the exhibits

B-52 Vertical Stabilizer

Picnic in the Park

Next up we spent an evening in Forsyth Park enjoying some Jazz and a tribute to Johnny Mercer. The place was crowded but it was so worth it. Next time, I’m getting there earlier, bringing my bug spray, and settling in for the day!

Skyelite Jazz Band

Some of the picnic settings – complete with tables and linens, candles, and flower arrangements.

I’m going to make this a two-part entry. Next up … Tybee Pirate Parade, Savannah Riverboat Cruise and the Disney “A Christmas Carol” 3D train experience. (Told you we’ve been busy)

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Field Trip to Old Fort Jackson

Our first field trip with ECHO (our home school group) was a great educational trip to Old Fort Jackson here in the outskirts of Savannah.

Old Fort Jackson was built in 1808 and utilized during the War of 1812 and the Civil War. It was decommissioned in 1905. It is the “oldest standing brick fortification” in Georgia and has the distinction of being “one of only eight Second System fortifications (a series of forts built prior to the War of 1812) still standing in the United States.”

Our Tour

We had the privilege of enjoying a full tour conducted by Coastal Heritage Society reenactors. The Civil War drill sergeants lead the kids through a Student Militia program where they learned about life as a Civil War soldier.

Here Steph is helping to demonstrate the art of Semaphore – signaling with flags. They discussed other methods of communication on the battlefield and how Civil War soldiers would utilize those methods during peacetime and war. We learned about signaling with one flag – as opposed to two – and how each letter had a corresponding code made of “1s” and “2s”. Seemed confusing to me but Steph loved getting to help with the lesson.

Next, they showed us Civil War medical instruments and discussed, in brief, how patients would be “cared for” back then. Some of it involved pounds of sulfur hung around your neck and other not so pleasant treatments.

Here are some of the *lovely* looking instruments. A tourniquet is in the upper left and a leech box is in the lower right. Oh, and that gruesome looking hook in the upper right is a bayonet that has been curved to serve as a body hook. Nice!

Here are a few more pics of the fort:

Cannon Firing Demonstration

View from the ramparts (Savannah proper is in the background near the big bridge)

One of the guard rooms set to appear like it might have been during the war.

The tools on the wall were used in preparing the cannons to fire. The corkscrew looking ones are called “Worms” and they removed residual material from the prior blast. The “Sponge” looks like a big Q-tip and the “Rammer” was the wooden block on the opposite end of the Sponge.

Another view of the moat surrounding the fort. This fort was so close to the river that the tidal effects of the river apply to the moat as well.

All in all it was a great tour and the kids are still talking about it. So, that must mean it was a success! If you are in the Savannah area I would recommend visiting this fort in addition to the larger Fort Pulaski located closer to the mouth of the river. This fort is older and smaller but offers an incredible view of the river traffic and a great hands-on learning program suitable for educational field trips.

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Springtime in the Deep South

Down here spring brings festivals … lots of festivals. First came the Collard Green Festival (we missed it), yesterday was the Strawberry Festival and in three weeks we’re headed to one of the biggest and best — but more about that later.

I thought I would share our Strawberry Festival experience with you all. It was held in Bloomingdale, Georgia, at Ottawa Farms. This adorable 700 acre farm is situated about 15 minutes from my house. We dropped in after lunch yesterday and spent some time in the field picking a few strawberries, but the plants were already fairly depleted by the time we arrived.

So, we splashed in puddles and sloshed through soggy rows of strawberry fields and had a blast! Thank goodness we wore our flip flops because our feet were muddy and we looked like hobos after about 10 minutes in the field.   We plan to go back in a week or two and pick some more when it’s dry and the plants have had an opportunity to recover.

Steph inspecting the rows of strawberries looking for the perfect ripe berry.

 

Success!! (btw, those are her daddy’s glasses. She took them from him early on in the day.)

 

Look at all those strawberry plants. Deceptive dry on this end but oh so soggy in the middle of each row.

Check out that sky! I just had to include it in the picture.

 

Ride, Stephie, Ride:

Stephanie loves to ride horses and they had some at the strawberry festival. Well, actually they were ponies but it served the purpose. They needed an older child that wasn’t afraid to ride without someone standing next to them because the only available pony was a wee bit grumpy. So, Steph volunteered. As they put her on the pony they mentioned to her that his name was “Buckshot” – great name for an ornery horse!

We noticed that she was giggling about something and as she rounded the corner nearest me, she hollered, “Mama, do you know what this horse’s name is? It’s BUTTshot!!!”

Leave it to my daughter!

Here’s a picture of Stephie and BUTTshot!

 

What’s Next:

In three weeks we’ll be headed to Vidalia for the Vidalia Onion Festival. I’ve always wanted to go to this festival and this looks like as good a year as any to attend.

In addition to celebrating the official State Vegetable of Georgia, there will be an AIR SHOW and you know anytime I get to hear the Sound of Freedom it’s a good day!!

You’ve got three weeks. If anyone is interested in going with us to the festival let us know and we’ll make plans accordingly. Kids under 12 are free and if you buy tickets in advance, adults are only $8.00. Not too bad for an air show and a festival to honor those delightfully sweet onions from Georgia.

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What I’ll be Missing

I had hoped to have a Notes from the Deep South post for you all this weekend, complete with pictures, but I’m going to have to miss the soiree of the year down here. We’re headed to Nashville this weekend to work on our house and get it ready for renters (YAY!!!). So, I’ll gladly give up a post in exchange for that.

Just so you don’t feel like you missed out, though, let me share with you where I would have been.

That’s right! We were headed to the local Collard Greens Festival and James was excited about enjoying the “Collards ‘n’ Cornbread Cook-off.” They offer lots to do that day, complete with a parade. Plus, you can pick a mess of greens for only $5 this weekend. This was sure to be some down-home, country fun. Alas, maybe next year!

For those of you that will be in Savannah this weekend, you might consider a trip out to the Promised Land Farms. Looks like it will be lots of fun and some good grub to boot — that is, if you like Collards.

Visit the website to learn more:
http://www.portwentworthga.com/events-collard-greens.php

Check out the commercial for all the details:
http://www.portwentworthga.com/images/2009CGFCommercial.wmv?eventId=4033

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ThunderSNOW? Seriously?

Apparently the Hotlanta region is seeing a phenomenon of sorts — ThunderSNOW. That’s right – when the sky can’t make up its mind between thunder and lightning or a full-on snow storm – they call it ThunderSNOW.

At first I thought we were dealing with a purely redneck term but I have a photo that proves the educated weathermen at The Weather Channel used the term too. In fact, they seemed quite excited to be experiencing a thundersnow in Atlanta.

 

After a short Google session, I’ve learned that thundersnow is a rare but valid meteorological event.

In the United States, only 1.3% of cool-season (October-May) thunderstorms reported coincide with snowfall, and only 0.07% of snowstorms have associated thunder. (A five-year study of thundersnows in the central US by University of Missouri meteorologist, Patrick Market, began in 2003.)

Learn a bit more by clicking the link below or Googling the term.

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/13646/111679

 

Were you lucky enough to be in the thundersnow event of ‘09?

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