#SmallWonders... How They Add Up Fast! (A Mini Recap of How We Got Here!)

Here we are... the day after. 

{And honestly - after all the excitement and hype of our first Sunday, we crawled into bed last night happy but exhausted and were all, "Wait? We have to do this all again next week... like, for the 2nd Sunday... and so on...? ...AND SO ON!!!?  This is like a JOB?"  LOL! Yeah... seriously... we're slow like that sometimes!}

I know, I know.  I said this would not turn into the Church Plant Blog... and it won't, I promise. But this has all happened so quickly and our heads are still spinning a bit and there have just been all sorts of big and small wonders unfolding all around us and many of them were all leading up to yesterday.

So - ever so briefly, we will recap how we got here today and then on Wednesday, we will talk about something else! (What, I am not sure of yet... but something different, nonetheless! Pinky Swear!)

So I don't really remember if I even told the whole story here, but basically this is how it all went down:

A month or two ago, if someone would have asked us if we were starting a church --or if we would consider starting a church... we would have laughed a little (you know, like in their face) and then said, "No!"

As in, emphatically, No Thank You.

It's not that we don't love the church... we do.  It's just that we have spent a long time, years even... trying to squeeze ourselves in to places that we didn't belong, because - well, you should go to church, right?

We stayed in fellowship and we got involved in several great places - but with each of them, we just knew...

We had small groups and we pressed in and we were growing and not wounded (anymore) but honestly, we were not even going somewhere on Sundays consistently for a(long)while. 

Our 'church' was in many places, on different days, and we loved it - but we longed for a place to belong... to pour out and to see the Kingdom grow.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. (Don't even think that I am kidding. I am not.) One of the couples who had been attending our home group for a few months asked us to consider something.  They said it over the phone to My Honey and asked us to pray.  As Dave was saying the words, I thought it was so strange that I was not screaming "No!" from the inside.  We looked at each other, heads tilted, confusion (and maybe a little fear and trepidation) washing over us and we both said, "Hmm? It's weird that we are not saying no, right? That might be something?"

We prayed and it was clear - SO very clear... (which y'all may need to remind me of at a later date, Mkay?)

...and we said "Yes."

You guys... we are slow. We are older and do not jump in or dive off without some deep thinking and planning and praying... so when we said yes - we thought we were entering in to that cycle of how we tip toe into deep waters, but God (and the other couple!) were all like,

"Alrighty then... Let's DO this thing!"

Gulp. What the what?

And so, 'do this thing' we did... in a matter of days we had a website, a building space rented, all the paperwork filled out and filed, a sign ordered, a board of directors, and we were meeting with locals who saw the announcement and who had also been longing for a place to call Home. 

SPINNING HEADS AND HEARTS, y'all! 

I even tried to be fearful... it wouldn't work.

God met me in Nebraska to remind me that we are doing it differently... so it's OK to expect different results.  He also reminded me that He's called us to it... so He has plans of doing it with and through and in us. We are not on our own. He's all for our team mentality, our love for community, and our family vibe.

We sort of get that from Him.

So yesterday - we opened the doors, and poured out our hearts in worship... in prayer... in laying a foundation of what our vision and mission is... and the people came.

We met in a Theater in the round...

A Disco Ball, Theater in the round, & Dance room classes, you guys!     

Sound Check      

We opened in prayer... we worshiped (and worshiped... and then worshiped a little bit more!)... we prayed... we shared a little and talked... 

That's My Honey!    

We listened to the vision and mission... 

...and when it was all over, the prayer of our hearts was answered in this: the people stayed. 

They lingered.  They visited with each other. (Yes, even on a holiday with an afternoon of plans!)

Because our goal and hope is to be Family, we wanted an atmosphere that felt like Home... one where no one was in a rush to leave. 

(And now we get to do it all over again at Dad's House next Sunday!  We are digging in to our Core Values over the next month or so and will 'officially launch' in July! Next Sunday... Identity! I know, right? You are so surprised!)

P.S.  I'm linking up with these lovely writers:

The Community over at #SmallWonders 

The Community over at #SoulFriends

Holly Barrett for #TestimonyTuesday

Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp