Get a bunch of moms together and, without fail, what do they start talking about???? Birth.
Dudes don’t. We talk about just about anything but birth. (I think that area is kind of a mystery to us so we don’t bring it up!) Why do moms talk about it? I assume because of the intensity of it — their bodies go through an amazing amount of PAIN. It is an achievement, and everyone’s is both different and the same. It is therapeutic to talk about. It is an easy common denominator. People who have gone through it understand and people who haven’t can never understand. The truth is, I think moms want to be an encouragement to one another:
• “Mine was horrible but I had another one and it wasn’t that bad.”
• “I did it without meds and so can you.”
• “My doctor was the best; use him.”
• “Try this technique next time; it was really helpful.”
When moms hear other moms who have done it and it’s gone well, they are inspired and encouraged about their own experience.
The ARC (Association of Related Churches) conference last week felt kind of like that. Church planters get a seed implanted of a vision from God. They are called to create something that they do not already see. It doesn’t exist and they carve it from scratch. It reminds me of when we were pregnant with Olivia. You have the vision of a baby and you see signs of that baby growing, but you really have no idea what it is like until you experience the fullness of Childbirth. There is fear, constant questioning, nesting, sickness, and a whole lot of prayer involved. Church planters get a vision seed planted inside of them, it grows until they cannot stay where they are, and they have to create this vision called a church.
The experience creates a lot of fear, pain, and discomfort (sometimes sickness). You never know if it will work or what it will really look like until it is started. Many churches miscarry in the beginning, but there are certain proven things that you can do to improve your church’s birth weight, and the end result is beautiful because it accomplishes God’s heart to reach people for the cause of Christ. The end result is a successfully birthed church that thrives.
The ARC is made up of bunch of people who have birthed a church and they love to tell their birthing story. Matt Fry kicked it off by showing photos of his jaundiced first nursery. (It was bad...really bad!) As we were sitting in his beautiful 2,200 seat auditorium that they fill multiple times a weekend, it got pretty exciting to see that it works and that from such anemic beginnings, God grows healthy churches. All of the other speakers shared their humble beginnings and how God has richly blessed them and built them from nothing.
If I could boil the whole thing down to one word it would be…INSPIRING! I remember when Elizabeth and I were hanging around the ARC before High Point was born. We thought we were nuts. We were 24 years old and had a desire from God to start this church. It seemed so impossible and we were so unprepared and under resourced. But we were inspired by these stories and realized that everyone starts out the same. Even the large churches out there that seem “perfect” came from the same place. I watched the faces of so many tired and hurting new church plants relax as they realized that this is a phase, and if they stick with it, pray, and implement simple strategies and systems, they will have a viable church. It will work and that God-given dream will grow!
I am not inspired to go birth another church personally, I am still enjoying my first born, but I am encouraged to tell my story so that other people who are pregnant with a God-sized dream will have the encouragement to go for it and see what God does to bring their dream to life.
I am encouraged to inspire you to take your God-given dream: that new business, that engagement or marriage, that 1st or 2nd child, that job transition, that vision to be a better father, that commitment to surrender to Christ fully, or whatever it may be. I want to tell you that God will meet you in the land of uncertainty and He will do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever imagine.
Your God-given dream is possible! Go and do great things!
Go tell your story to whoever will listen! It will inspire them too!
a_cross//the_EARTH
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