Yes, we are trying to trademark that! So for all of you who were praying for our launch on the 9th, I have some good news, it didn't happen! Now how can that be good news? The reason it didn't happen was because the school didn't find someone to open the door and monitor us on Sunday morning. Now we were kinda bummed about it, but we began to think about it, and we honestly weren't ready. We were biting off more than we could chew. The school rental plus the church insurance was really too expensive for us, especially on a weekly basis so this made us stand back and rethink what we were doing.
So we have a better plan and we're really excited about it. We are going to open the Lakewood Library's doors on Sunday, December 23rd, for our first church service which will be held in the evening. Yes, we will still have pancakes, as Stan Simmonds put it, "Pancakes were never intended as only a breakfast food." We are also going to be buying a bunch of Christmas gifts for people who cannot afford gifts for their kids to take home with them. Now meeting at the Library is a huge blessing because its free. We can only meet twice a week, but that's a good start, and it will make a more obvious transition as we grow and we start holding weekly Sunday services in the morning sometime in the future.
Crazy faith, in other words, Stupid faith or Reckless faith. This is what we have been experiencing in the last couple weeks. This is when you give up everything that is comfortable and do something that is beyond your means just because God asked you to and He has promised that He will provide. This is a story of what God did to show His great provision for us.
MEAT!
I have been looking for a job since I got here and I've been looking everywhere. I found an add that said they were hiring drivers, so on a Friday I interviewed with them and they said they would contact me by Monday if they wanted me. I didn't get a call so I moved on, but about 1 1/2 weeks later, I got the call. They said they were going to take me on a 2 day ride along to see the job first hand. I hopped in the car with the manager of the branch, Jerry, and realized very quickly this was a door-to-door sales job, not really delivery. So I knew right away this was not my thing but I was there and so I prayed that God would use it.
The first thing this guy tells me is that he is an ex pastor/prison chaplain. Say WHAT?! Okay so he tells me his whole life story and asks me some questions and its totally laid back. We get the the place we are going to work and I watch and observe, praying almost the whole time. Now the product we are selling is meat, variety packs of tasty choice beef steaks and premium marinated chicken. So around 4:00 we sit down at McDonalds to take a break and he brings up a study he wrote while in ministry about Grace and the Law. It was really fascinating and we talked about it for about 45 minutes. I left with some really good insight.
We finished our route and headed home. We discussed it and decided it wouldn't be good for me to continue, but he gave me a small box of the steaks, the least valued ones and the some deer meat we acquired from a hunter on our route and I was very appreciative. Then He asked me how the financial situation was with the pastor and his family. I told him that things were super tight, but we were hangin in there. Then he told me that the Lord had been prompting him to do something all day and he asked whether I wanted a full box of chicken or steaks to take home. I was completely blown away, this is not cheap stuff. So I said chicken because we have kids, so he said he was going to give me both because he knows how hard starting a church can be.
After selling this stuff all day, I knew this was huge, and this was the reason God sent me there. I drove away laughing because I had no words to thank God. I want to put this into context for you. What we got was 13 gallon size ziplock bags full of choice beef steak and premium chicken. If you were to order these two boxes online, it would cost you about $800, we were selling both for $388. Each box costs the driver $132, so if he sells both for $388, that's $124 profit. So by giving us that, its a cost of $388 to him because its $264 out of pocket and a miss of $124 profit. So he donated $388 worth of meat to us. Now as poor church planters, meat is something we have missed out on for a while, so this was the biggest blessing ever. You should have seen the jaws hit the floor when I showed Cam and Britt what I had brought home.
- All the meats
- This is our chest freezer
- Das good Steak
Then through a program called WIC, which helps children under 5 eat better, we have been provided with food free of cost till March! And the lady that interviewed Cam and Britt is a Christian and wants to tithe to our church because hers is big and doesn't really need the money.
Mind Blown!
Also Cam might be getting a good security job this week and I still don't have a job so keep praying that I find one soon. One thing we are learning, Life is hard, but God is good, and Heaven is real. God provides to those living on Crazy Faith. This is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but we know that God holds true to his promises. All the time. To Him be the glory! Amen.
In Him,
Landon
Landon
