We’re almost home, back to the sunshine of Southern California. Honestly, it feels a bit like a time warp at the moment. Leaving Northern Ireland was one of the most bitter-sweet experiences of our lives. We laughed and cried as we said goodbye to friends who have become like family to us over the past year. We stood joyful and sobered all at once as the community & leadership of Causeway Coast Vineyard prayed over us, laid hands on us, blessed us and commissioned us to plant a new community that brings life to San Diego. We chatted for hours with friends in London that we hadn’t seen since last summer, and marveled at all God had done in us in the past 10 months. And now, we’re sitting in a coffee shop in Rochester, New York, fiercely battling jet-lag and getting ready for a couple jam-packed days of church planting training at an ARC training conference before heading home.
The overarching phrases that come to mind as I think over all of this are: Wow.Thank You God. What a trip.Wow.The Kingdom is beautiful. I miss who I left behind. I can’t wait for what’s ahead. Wow. I wonder what next year will be like.
Just to name a few.
This year in the UK has been a greater gift than we would’ve even known to ask for, and it has changed us forever. It really was one of the best decisions we’ve made in our lives.
It would take years to process and articulate all that we’ve picked up and learned from this experience, but I thought I could share some bullet points of a few of the learnings that I’m laying hold of in the meantime. So - here goes:
Always be “switched on”One of the most incredible and inspiring things I noticed within the first few hours and days in Northern Ireland was that the people of CCV were always switched on. They were always looking for what God was up to, always ready to give a prophetic word, or to pray for someone who needed healing or to share their faith, or to encourage anyone nearby with a pulse. And it wasn’t fake, and it didn’t seem cumbersome to them. It was like the stuff we do during ministry time at church invaded their entire 24 hours of each day. I’d be at the grocery store and someone would walk up to me with something they felt God was saying. I’d see someone from the church praying with their barista who was having a hard day, etc. Anyway, it inspired me to give up on the idea of “on times” and “off times” God is always moving, and He works from a place of rest. Looking for what He’s doing, and jumping in is a joy, not a burden, and we can do it all the time, in all places - and the bonus is - it’s REALLY FUN.
You choose how you see things. I remember someone once telling me that it’s important to not look for the darkest version of the story. Meaning - don’t interpret your circumstances with the worst intentions and implications. There’s a lot of ways to understand and look at a turn of events, and it’s up to us to filter and choose the perspective we take. At CCV I saw this taken to a whole new level. They made an intentional decision to look at life and everything within it through eyes of faith. We can choose to ALWAYS believe that God is good, that His words are true, and that He is not distant or sleeping on the job as our baseline, and then begin interpreting our experiences from there. I saw people walk through difficult diagnosis’s, seasons of boredom, tough losses, and dark nights with a perspective of faith, and it wasn’t cheesy or put on. It was a real, authentic decision that they had made long before the circumstances crashed in. God is always working, we just need to learn to recognize what that looks like, and then look for signs of Him.
Doing the things Jesus did is FUN. I think before this year I would’ve used a lot of words to describe ministry. Maybe words like: powerful, intense, deep, lasting, long-term, passionate. And in honest moments, I definitely would’ve added in tiring. And I still believe that ministry is all of these things, but now I think my first knee-jerk answer when asked to describe ministry would be “fun.” This year I was reawakened to how fun it is to join Jesus in doing what He does. Seeing someone’s paralyzed hand open up for the first time in months is FUN. Seeing someone experience that feeling that God is present with them is FUN. Praying for your barista’s injured hand is FUN, and 30 minutes later when she waves it around saying it feels “Way better” - yep, that’s REALLY FUN. Seeing someone open their heart to Jesus? Fun! Seeing a shut in open their door, light up and beg you to come in and pray for them as they tell you how lonely they’ve been? Yes, FUN. Seeing you friends learn how to do miracles and share their faith - yep. FUN. I still believe that it is passionate, and powerful, and even sometimes still tiring, but now I remember that ministry is FUN. I think Jesus thinks so too.
Ok. That’s just a few for now. I have so much more to share, but I can’t imagine anyone wants to read a post this long, much less one that is even longer… So that’s it for now, more to come.
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