Beginnings...

Its been a day full of blessings and happenings!  We had our first service at our new "home" and it was spectacular! What a wonderful time of prayer we had beforehand where the Holy Spirit moved and touched so many of us whom were present to pray and then on to worship which, I am convinced was so awesome because we could finally hear everyone singing! WOW! It was amazing! And then our amazing contractor who headed up the building project, Mike Powell, stood up to be honored and when Arte called him up there to stand alongside the church council, the congregation stood and clapped and clapped and clapped...Poor Mike, he broke down crying and knelt before the Lord.  How I love his heart of worship! At one point in worship, the congregation just began singing during a musical part! It was incredible to look out at all these beloved people and see each and every one of them standing, hands held high and singing to the Lord.  None of us on the team were even singing.  We all just stood and felt this overwhelming sense of the congregation leading worship! I have never ever seen that happen in a regular church service before.  It was very moving.  Afterwards all of us confessed that we didn't want to start singing again, we just wanted to stand there and let them sing. Jeff Wilson said he didn't even want to start playing his guitar again, it was so powerful and special.  And indeed it was.

I took this yesterday, I didn't get one with chairs in it but I will post one when I have it)

The Lord is taking me to a new place these days.  After some time of struggle and pain I am seeing some wonderful things that He has been doing.  I have had the sense that it was Him working in my heart all along and even though I did not and do not understand some of it even now, I do have some understanding of a few things that have been healed in my heart and in my life.  I can't say that it has been a pleasure to go through this valley I have been in but I am now at a place of confidence that I am finally on the right track and am moving forward.  I so often recognize the ugliness in my own heart and oftentimes, instead of using that to run to the Lord, sometimes I allow it to drive me from the one place where I can get forgiveness, healing, restoration and wisdom.  I know I am not the only one who does this but not being alone in sin isn't necessarily a comforting thought! I am committed to change and to seeing the sin in my heart and when I know what I have done to face it honestly, openly and without reproach.  Jesse Pattison said it so well this morning when he prayed that we "leaders" have a target painted on our back and if the enemy can take out the worship team then....so it is with that recognition that we must be diligent to be in His Word daily, be in prayer and be taking time to listen to what He says about us.  I found that as I did that, I began to have a much better understanding of who God says that I am in this season of my life...(after all, I will be 48 this Friday!) I am so grateful to the sisters in our body who have come to me to confess their concern for me this past month and who have been praying for me, not even knowing what was going on in my heart.  I have even had a dear brother sit with me while I cried (not something I would let just any guy do) and give me some very very good words of encouragement. Today, as we stood in front, the same place we have stood many times before, I was struck again by the utter change, the incredible stirring the Lord is doing in His people.  How will we respond?  I know that for me, I want to be found at His feet, worshipping, listening and adoring His very presence.

One last note, and this one is for any of you who "grew up" at WCF (yes, in my heart that is what it will be). Last night I stood in the middle of the sanctuary.  I had been there helping clean and Butch Grady walked up to me and said "Luce, its pretty amazing isn't it?"  "yes, it is Butch," I said as I looked around the room at this gorgeous sanctuary, and my heart squeezed.  "But...what, Luce?" He asks me.  "well, I look around at this beautiful place and I am so in awe of it, I am so grateful for it...but...the attic where my kids once hid for games is gone...that little part of me is sad to see it go. But...I am so excited for this new place, this new home of ours and what we get to do with it."  Yes, the room where many potlucks were held is now mostly glassed in and has a hallway off of it with bathrooms that have TWO toilets and sinks.  Yes, the sanctuary is the same size but the ceilings are 17 feet high now and the lights are no longer in the soffetts but are located in the ceiling and on light bars. The upstairs is gone, the nursery is long gone, the prep room was replaced by bathrooms and our entry way is a new gorgeous double glass door.  BUT....my heart will hold a piece of that ugly old building and a sanctuary where I went when my life had spun out of control and a group of women encircled me into their loving arms, where my husband sat, third row, right side and got saved and filled with the Holy spirit all in one fell swoop. The sanctuary where our children ran the aisles, climbed the pews, snuck under the pews and learned about Jesus.  Where we cried, laughed, threw paper balls, ate amazing and not so amazing potluck food, said good bye to dear friends and pastors and where we learned that we could be free in Jesus! Oh I am so grateful for that place, for that start, for the beginning that became a story that will be a legacy for our children.

Now as I look ahead a deep sense of anticipation and excitement builds in me.  The Lord is going to do mighty things and I, for one, can't wait!