Diary of a church planter's wife- our first meetings

We had our first official meeting of Mercy Church on Sunday February 8.  We met in our house and had about 30 people who have signed on to move from Raleigh with us to Charlotte.  It was absolutely incredible

I stood in the back and I took this picture.  And just was blown away.  I had two thoughts as I sat watching Spence talk to our team.  One was "oh, no, this is real.  How am I going to tell Spencer that I can't do this and we are so not moving".  The other was "wow, it's happening and this is exactly what God has been preparing us to do."

The following week, Spence and I went to Charlotte to have our first meeting of the Charlotte based portion of Mercy.  I so enjoyed meeting everyone from there and putting names and faces together.  

It was so great how quickly people started making relationships and hanging out.  I loved watching everyone make connections.  It was seriously so good for me to see the groups and everything coming together.  Our second time for both groups was this past week and we attempted to video conference.  The tech part didn't go well, but the unity already was overwhelming.  I had to run upstairs for a second during our time and when I came back down I saw two people who hadn't known each other before praying together.  And ya'll that right there.  That is what gets me so excited and pumped up for all this.  It makes the moving and leaving friends and all the change so much easier.

Church Plant Vision Nights

We had two nights in November where we had meetings in Raleigh and in Charlotte for people to come out and hear more about our church.  We were blown away.  The whole time I have been so so worried about it being just us, but people showed up.  It was so great having people come who are open to moving with us from the Raleigh/Durham area.  Then it was really awesome to be in Charlotte and have people so excited for us to be coming there.  We had invitations to come over for dinner, to bring out kids out to play, places to stay while we are house hunting or just exploring the area. People who said this church is a very specific answer to prayers they have been praying for months and even years.  It is just so awesome to see God already moving and preparing the way for us.  Spence and I also were able to enjoy a night away from the kiddos just the two of us for the first time in almost 14 months.   Spence wrote a little something here about the nights.  

Meeting in Durham

Meeting in Charlotte 

I get the privilege of being married to that stud 

Diary of a Church Planter's Wife

Well, yeah.  I dropped that "we are having a huge life change" bomb on you, and then what did I do?  Yeah, not really mention it for a whole month.  So, here is an update of how the past month has gone.

There are the fun, high moments where I am over the moon.  Those moments include Spence having a cool meeting that went well and coming home excited, having college students over who are interested in hearing more about our move, our kids talking about Charlotte, reconnecting with friends, meeting new people, random people getting excited about our move (Zeke's teacher and our doctor both have been really encouraging in the last couple weeks).  

There are also sad moments like when I thought about Haddie can't have her next birthday party at the pumpkin patch near our house that we love, not being so close to Chapel Hill, missing the fair next year, when Ben starts talking about his best friends, calling up friends late and making Target runs, being far from Meredith, and don't even get me started on when I think about leaving my friends. 

There are also hard moments where I feel lost and confused.  Like with the fact that right now I still don't know where exactly we are going, or if anyone is going to actually come with us, or a name for our church.  The type A planner in me is going a wee bit nuts.  Coupled with this is the fact of just a few other things going on in our world (like crazy work schedules and AC being broken for a week, but those are just normal things that feel heightened by the underlying)

But ya'll this is what I know, Jesus is gonna meet me wherever I am.  Today was one of those days where it was just a roller coaster.  We had a really fun, full day.  The boys had soccer, we had lunch, Spence had to leave to go out of town for a couple days, we went to a birthday party and were going to go to church.  Everything was pointing to going to church as being a bad idea.  I was alone, we had a full day, Ellie fell asleep in the car, and then it started to rain.  Everything in me wanted to hit a drive-thru, head home, and put on a movie.  Instead, the four kids and I went to church.  I prayed the whole way there.  JD said this quote tonight "God's plan for discipleship is not something, it is someone".  And it hit me.  We are that something.  This no name, no identified partner for Spence to share the work load, no exact location body of believers.  And yes currently it is Spence and me and the kids with a few verbal commitments.  But we together are gonna be disciple makers.  We together are going to be a someone.  And knowing that makes all the difference for those sad and hard moments. 

Diary of a Church Planter's Wife

Before I begin this series of posts I am going to be doing over the next few years, I want to just pause and recognize how we have felt the past few days.  We knew that once we were "out", things would change.  We knew it would be emotional and bittersweet.  We had no idea how humbled, honored, loved and overwhelmed we would feel on the other side, though.  The comments, hugs, texts, emails, and conversations we have had since Friday have been so encouraging.  It has made us even more excited about our new adventure.
My plan for this series is to give this side of church planting.  There aren't a ton of resources out there about being a wife of a church planter.  So, I thought I would document my side of our journey.  I am going to back track quite a bit to start our tale.  Spencer and I went to seminary (as in he attended classes and got a degree while I worked and paid bills, so yes I went too) thinking we would head overseas.  Through a series of events, Spence became the Small Groups Guy which turned into Small Groups Pastor and then eventually Spiritual Formations Pastor.
We never went to seminary or even initially took the job thinking we would be here forever and ever.  We always knew that Spence had a gift of teaching and preaching.  A few years ago, Spence began to really feel a desire to do more of both of those.  He began praying about the possibility of us planting and asked me to do the same.
For me the biggest thing that I really had to pray about was if I truly was ready to follow where the Lord was leading Spencer and our family.  Some verses that were really big for me during that time of prayer and seeking God's will were:

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.  Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Genesis 28:15 "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land.  For I will not leave you until I have done with I have promised you."
Deuteronomy 7:6-8, 9 "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the people's who are on the face of the earth.  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you... Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments.
Psalm 56:3-4 "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.  What can flesh do to me?"

As I prayed, I realized that yes I was ready and willing to follow Spence's leadership of our family no matter where that took us.  Even if it meant leaving a church we love, our friends, and the place we have lived for 15 years.  As we have settled into our decision over the past few months, I have gotten more and more excited.  I can't wait to watch Spencer as he shares his vision over the next few months.  This man.  Ya'll his heart for people who are lost to know Jesus and his desire for those that already to do know Him to grow is crazy awesome.
I will continue this with more about how I am processing everything.  How we were led to Charlotte specifically.  How we are planning.  What you can be praying for for our church and our family.  Things may get messy as I really get into the nitty gritty of all the change.  I'm a crazy emotional hot mess and this may be the place where I work out all those thoughts.  So, thank you for reading and especially thank you for supporting us.