At North Creek we have this phrase that makes me laugh…”Find Your People”  It’s the idea that although you can probably enjoy many types of people, there are also those certain types of people that you tend to gravitate towards.  We strongly encourage people to get into small groups where they are surrounded by “their people”.  In fact, we actually encourage you to keep trying different groups until you feel like you are the missing piece of that group’s puzzle.  We want you to belong!

I find great comfort in the system.  It’s a lot like high school with jocks, nerds, goths, etc…yes, I just dated myself!  The only exception is that in high school it’s hard to get into the crowd you want to be in and there’s a negative stigma about some certain groups.  At North Creek all of the groups of people are on the same footing and our arms are wide open if you want to come in.

For instance, scrapbookers are a breed all to themselves.  They use words that I don’t understand and get more excited about paper than most men get if their football team wins.  Scrapbookers want to be together with other scrapbookers while they cut and paste until they are too exhausted to see.  Scrapbookers go for long weekends to fancy hotels…to scrapbook.  They are “their people”.  They should be together.  

I have my people as well.  I have people like Nichole Lundervold who came up to me after church to compliment my font on this week’s bulletin.  That’s a graphic designers way of saying to another graphic designer, “I love who you are and am so excited to have you in my life.”  Most people do not compliment my fonts.  They don’t particularily care about my fonts.  Nichole makes me comfortable because she understands that part of my world.  Other types of “my people” include people who think way too much about leadership, have toddlers, or obsess over the show Design to Sell. 

So, come, find your people!  There are all sorts of amazing, wonderful, talented people at North Creek to meet and discover.  They are all great, but somewhere in the midst of the excellence will be just the niche that you’ve been looking for!  And you can proudly leave all of your scars from high school behind!!!!

(Below is a high school picture from one of our board members.  I’m thinking he was in the popular crowd in the 80’s with that awesome head of hair!)  I’ll let you know how long it takes until he notices his picture is up on my blog…You’ve got to love a church where our board members are this cool!

Mark and I love change!  When everything is going so smoothly that you can do it with your eyes closed and you’re so comfortable with the system that you can relax, something begins to bubble up inside of us.  How can we do this better?  How can we involve more people in the system?  How can we make the dream bigger and harder to reach?

We feel that need to stir things up again now that we are two years into this church plant.  Honestly, I’m relieved.  I thought that starting a church would be so hard that it would take a decade to settle down again.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to make this whole thing seem easy, but God gave North Creek so many amazingly competent people that we have it down pretty well.

I’m excited in my spirit.  I’m a big fan of faith.  If I can do it in my own strength, it’s not very fun for me.  If God has to show up to make it work, that’s where I like to live. 

So, let’s all get ready for the next ride.  It’s always a ton of work, but the stories that come out of it are worth the expense!

School started this week for just about every kid in Vancouver.  What an interesting phenomenon!  You can almost feel the anxiety in the air.  New experiences, new friends, new systems to learn, and reputations to uphold.  Delaney marched off to preschool on Wednesday with new clothes, freshly scrubbed from head to toe, and a little lipstick…because she is ALL girl!  You could see her look around the room for something familiar to gain a little comfort from.  Thankfully she had attended the same preschool last year and several friends returned as well, so she quickly acclimated.  She ended up having a great time and skipped out 2 and a half hours later, so I’m pretty sure she’ll go back with a new boldness.

I imagine that anxiety is replicated when an adult walks into a church for the first time…especially if they have never been to a church before.  How do I dress?  What do I do?  Will I stand out from all of the “regulars”? 

At North Creek we do our best to alleviate as much tension as possible for our first time guests.  Here’s the general experience at North Creek…

You walk right through the doors to a coffee pot.  This is so you can be armed with a hot liquid.  This completely stops strangers from feeling the need to hug you.  We have great children’s areas that allow you to put your children in an environment that is fun, loud, and full of energy.  This keeps your kids from having to sit with you in something called a “pew” and be still and quiet for two solid hours. 

As you make your way into the main auditorium, you be relieved to notice that you don’t need to sit in a “pew” either.  We have chairs…normal ones that allow you to have your own space.  The nice guy at the door will hand you a program of some of the things you can expect at North Creek.  This handy little thing will give you the opportunity to look busy reading so that you don’t have to talk to people if you don’t want to.  If you do make yourself available to mingle, you won’t be ignored.  We all like socializing…a lot. 

The stage will be decorated really creatively and the music will be uplifting.  Don’t worry, the guy who leads the music won’t ask you to stand up, raise your hands, or do a dance with a tamborine.  As our guest, you can just sit in your seat and drink your coffee if you want to.  Go ahead and just drink it all in…the coffee and our environment.

The message will be relevant and brief…no two hour service for you, either.  You’ll be out of that room in an hour from start to finish, so the awkwardness will pass quickly.  The preacher will also be speaking in words that real people understand and doing a great job of explaining new concepts.  You’ll learn, you’ll grow, and it will be understandable with or without a master’s degree in Bible.

So, that’s our strategy in a nutshell.  We want you to feel what Jesus made people feel…comfortable, disarmed, and excited to become a better person.

Delaney got in the car after preschool on Wednesday and said, “I like making new friends.  It’s fun.”  And North Creek is that simple…come, make new friends, it’s fun.  Community in every cup!