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Monthly Archives: July 2008

The Velvet Hammer

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July 26, 2008
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I love the people that God has brought to my life.  I realize that I am abundantly blessed with amazing, talented, creative people all around me.  I especially appreciate the people in my life that are different than myself.  One of those people is our youth pastor’s wife, Angela.  In the future, I’ll tell you the story of how she and Jeff ended up in Vancouver, but for today, I’ll just tell you about her.

When you first meet Angela, I’m pretty sure that the heavens open up and rays of sunshine burst forth.  Small, woodsy animals scurry from the darkness to rest beside her and you can almost hear the sounds of Julie Andrews singing, “The hills are alive with the sound of music…” somewhere in the distant background.

She’s got a gift of enveloping people with kindness and love.  I watch her in absolute amazement because she is just dripping with graciousness.  She disarms the toughest of souls and you feel the need to confide your deepest transgressions into her loving care.  That’s the velvet part of who she is.  Soft, warm, and just downright beautiful.

But that’s not the part I love most about her.  What I love most is that the “creamy center” of Angela is opinionated, strong, secure, and determined.  She may smile while she’s saying it, but it won’t deter her from telling you the truth.  She wants people to live right, do right, and fulfill what God has in store for them.  She gets downright frustrated when people can’t figure out how to do just that.  And the look of outrage on her face that you might live to be anything short of God’s best is worth a thousand pictures.  She’ll straighten you out with a bluntness that will leave you reeling, but all wrapped up in this warm and reassuring package. 

She’s what I call a “Velvet Hammer”.  You’ll never know what hit you.  But, believe me, you’ll be glad that she loves you enough to dive headfirst into your life and tell you what God sees in you.

Coincidence

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July 25, 2008
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I love random coincidences, like when two twins separated at birth just happen to work in the same building and reunite after years and years…

When we first moved up to the north end of Vancouver (Salmon Creek) a friend of mine (Jeannie) told me about a friend she had that lived right by my new house.  “You’ve just got to meet, you have little girls the exact same age, you’d love her!”  Sounded nice, especially since we had no friends up in the area, but the reality of calling a complete stranger was a bit odd.  So, needless to say, it never happened.

Thankfully we started preschool and dance class, which helped to create relationships for my daughter.  We met lots of great girls in school and I got to chat with several moms while we watched dance class together.  I mostly talked with one mom in particular, so when dance class was over we put our girls in the same swim lessons.  They ended up being the only two girls in the class and bonded even more than in ballet class.  My daughter, Delaney, is shy and reserved, but her friend, Emily, is the total opposite.  She talks to anybody as much as they will let her!  They are in the same school district, so their friendship will last through the years.

After nearly a year of lessons together, Emily’s mom and I discovered that we had a mutual friend…Jeannie.  She had been telling both of us we should meet for over two years, but neither of us had put together the fact that the very person Jeannie was talking about was the friend we already had.

Those are the very strange coincidences in life that I love.  Vancouver is not a small town, so the chances of randomly becoming friends with the person that Jeannie suggested is pretty remarkable.  I think it’s God’s opportunity in life to remind us that He’s got a plan and a purpose for everything.

It’s a game of chess

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July 24, 2008
History
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Sometimes I think that God sees the world as a giant game of chess.  As He moves us where we need to be, He’s got the big picture in mind.  Meanwhile we may wonder what in the world He’s doing.  I wondered that eight years ago when God brought us to Vancouver.  In September of 2000 we found ourselves without a job, living in Seattle, and no plan of what we were going to do.  As I lay in bed one night with Mark, I said, “If you could take a youth pastor job anywhere in the world, where would you go?”  He quickly said, “Vancouver, Washington.”  That was markedly odd at the time since we had only even been to Vancouver once in our lives and it was not a special place for us.  I told Mark that was a nice dream, but the church he wanted to go to had recently hired a new youth pastor and so he’d have to go with his second choice.  He didn’t have a second choice.  The conversation ended for the night with God up in Heaven still moving His chess pieces while we slept. 

It was a few weeks later that the very church he spoke of called us for an interview.  They had a change of situation and when they asked around for hiring candidates, they were told one name…and one name only.  Mark Newell.  When they called that day for an interview, I said, “No need to interview, this is meant to be.”

We moved immediately and spent the next 5 1/2 years at Glad Tidings Church.  That became some of the most influential times in ministry that we could ever imagine.  I now see that time as the building block for everything we would later become.  Checkmate.

Baptism

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July 24, 2008
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So, probably the best part of the story came last Sunday when my husband, Mark,  (the lead pastor), our youth pastor, Jeff, and our children’s pastor, Kim, baptized seven people in the lake from our new church.  For those of you who are not familiar with baptisms, the Bible directs us to get baptized (dunked in water) when we decide to serve Jesus for the rest of our lives.  Pretty cool.  Watching those seven get baptized, I couldn’t help but think how badly Christians screw up what the Bible meant to be pretty clear.  I’ve watched so many people wait to get baptized until they feel they are “ready”.  That usually means that they have issues in their lives that they want to rectify before they feel “clean enough” to be accepted by Jesus.  The irony is that God wants people to get baptized immediately after deciding to follow Jesus because HE wants to clean them up.  If we can clean up ourselves, what do we need God for in the first place?

So, as I watched those seven, I thought, “Man, I think we got it right this time.”  None of those people were anywhere near perfect, just madly in love with this Jesus guy and wanting Him to mold and shape them.  It was awesome.  I think it was at that moment that I knew that all of the work was worth it.  To just have a church that wants to grow together…leave your pedestal at the door, because nobody is on one here.  It’s refreshing and I’m pretty sure it reflects alot of who Jesus really was.  Didn’t He go after the prostitutes and the tax collectors?  Certainly not the ones you would think that the King of Kings would be concerned with.  But that’s who He was.  And that’s who I want to be.

Sweet Beginnings

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July 24, 2008
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It’s about time that I started a diary of the amazing journey that we started two years ago.  I’ve thought about writing the story down a million times, but honestly, I think I was afraid to write it down and make it a part of history.  What if we failed?  What if the story ended badly?  Who wants to read a story with a sad, bitter ending?

But now I think it’s real.  All of the thoughts, the dreams, the planning, the praying, the work…it has all paid off, and so now, I can breathe a little…and I want it in writing so these precious memories can never be forgotten. 

That being said, the story is a long one, but hopefully through this outlet you will hear all of the stories and be a part of the journey that we went on when we started North Creek Church.  It’s only just the beginning!