I love Easter and it’s almost here! Not only did Jesus hang on a cross for our sins, but then He showed death just how powerful He is and rose from the grave…what an awesome story about an awesome God! I look forward to celebrating on Sunday morning with our North Creek Family. We have mulitple services to choose from, so we hope one works out great for you:

Hazel Dell – 9:15, 10:30, and 11:45 am
Battle Ground – 9:30* and 11:00 am
*9:30 Battle Ground includes Deaf Interpretation

See you on Sunday!

It was a great morning and I finally feel like we might be getting back to normal after a roller coaster ride of events in March. I have to admit, I’m excited for a little solid ground coming our way! Here’s this week’s highlights:

There was a new little girl in KidCity Battle Ground who left exclaiming, “Oh, church is over?!?! I wanted to stay longer!” LOVE when kids LOVE to be in the house of God.

Another little girl from TinyTown Hazel Dell left so excited and said, “Jesus rode in on a donkey!” Toddlers remind us of the simplicity of joy at the smallest details.

Our new perculator coffee pot died a viscious death in Battle Ground on Sunday…so did the kettle…so did the burner…Let’s just say that it was HOT at the Coffee Church this weekend!

Chris Harold did an outstanding job talking about critics as part of our Nehemiah series. This sermon was so needed in my own life. Short recap: Nehemiah did what God told him, changed history, but started a war in the midst of it as he faced his opposition head on. In the midst of adding a campus, we’ve faced some critics and I have to say, it has not been the highlight of the journey. We are going with the Nehemiah principle: Pray first, fight second, and never loose sight of what God told us to do. My theory: if you are being critical, you haven’t prayed…ouch! But it’s true in my life, so I bet it’s true in yours.

Mark knocked it out of the park in Battle Ground talking about our small group structure. Community is important and being in a growing relationship with Jesus includes being in a growing relationship with other people as well! He also got lots of great comments about the building updates, which is nice to hear!

The ladies took worship this weekend with Alissa at BG and Emily at HD. Great job to both of you and your beautiful hearts for worship and serving Jesus! Your hearts sing louder than your voices!

Wayne and Jenny are back from Haiti, but now the Deaf church is off to Mexico for their missions trip! North Creek is not only going local this month, but also global!

My daughter, Kennedy, who has been so shy in the past, chose to go to Battle Ground with Mark yesterday. She said, “I’m going to make some new friends!” Super proud of her and she had a great time. Meanwhile, my daughter Delaney and Kris’ son, Drew, set up KidCity for the morning and took ownership of ministry. I have a theory on this too: if you want amazing kids, come to church an hour and a half early. My kids are becoming leaders and lovers of Christ’s bride in those early morning hours. They help me, they worship with the team practicing, they play with other staff kids, and they dance in the aisles while we set up chairs. It’s a magical time that is the most precious moments of our week.

Well, this is the launch week. In six days we hope the community wiLL flood our doors and experience a great church that loves Jesus! How can you help: pray! Also, we’ll be at Battle Ground today from 1-5:00 pm finishing some projects. We’ll be at Hazel Dell on Wednesday from 10:00-2:00 pm. We’ll buy pizza on Wednesday! See you soon!

Here’s some shots of the work day!

What a great start! We should be knocking out the last few projects over the next week, so finished product pictures will come when we’re completely finished!

I’ve been trying to come up with the words to describe our crazy renovation weekend and I’m falling short! It was truly a miracle to watch as people united around a cause that was bigger than them.

We had about 120 people who jumped in one way or another. We had people who started early tearing out walls, drywalling, and prepping. We had stump diggers, painters, sanders, stainers, sprayers, tapers, edgers, floor layers, brickers…it was organized chaos at it’s best! I walked down the hallway at one point and 15 people were prepping and painting simultaneously while a refrigerator made it’s way around them. Electricians were updating lighting and people were staining the old prayer benches an updated color. We had multiple women who cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom throughout the day while it was renovated around them. Art was being hung and signs were being placed.

And then the food would come…one of our small groups had taken an offering to buy food and some volunteered to cook. It was a “Feeding of the 5000” moment as every hungry person ate as much as they needed all day long. Rows of mini-cupcakes graced our day and you would often find paint-covered people congregating around the table for a moment of food and fun.

People were meeting – both from different campuses and also from the different services at Hazel Dell – and enjoying pleasant conversations all day. Some could hear and some were deaf. Some know Jesus and some are still figuring Him out. The teenagers came out in full force and worked with a wreckless abandon. It also seemed like when one crew would need to leave, a fresh batch seemed to instantaneously show up with new enthusiasm and energy. It was as if God was orchestrating His people into a working symphony.

Although it was an exhausting day that wore us out to the core, I left that night completely amazed at what I had just witnessed. All day long I heard laughing, I saw smiles, and people kept taking on jobs that they were ill-equipped to do, but their willingness made a way.

We almost got everything completely done and will easily nail out the last few projects before our launch on April 8! So much accomplished and the best part is yet to come: people!

So, thank you to all of North Creek Church – Battle Ground, Hazel Dell, and the Deaf Church. Mark and I both agree that we might be in the middle of something that will go down in our history as the most amazing thing we have ever seen. My prayer is that you will be blessed 10-fold by what you gave. We love you!

I have A LOT to say about the renovation weekend, but I’ll separate the Sunday highlights and do another post about the renovations! It was a miraculous weekend!

Mark was back at the Hazel Dell campus speaking on Nehemiah. He talked about how each person did their part in rebuilding the wall, which was a funny conclusion to a weekend that was the mirror image to the story of Nehemiah! We didn’t plan that to line up so well, but when God is in control there is a lot of “coincidences!” 😉

I went to the Battle Ground campus for the first time on a Sunday morning. I got to preach on our strategy and volunteering. It was really great to finally get there, meet some more people, and share my heart! We are keenly aware of the massive changes going on around this congregation and we are believing that God will help everyone walk through the changes and stay focused on the purpose behind every change.

Pastors Wayne and Jenny had a great trip and will be home sometime this week! We can’t wait to hear about Haiti!

The Hazel Dell campus said goodbye to Greg and Michelle Fitting as they are moving to the south to be with their son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. Those grandkids have a way of motivating grandparents to move half way across the country… Thank you to Greg and Michelle for helping to start North Creek. You did a great job!

It has been very interesting from our perspective to jump into another church as well. It is a difficult and yet important balance to both honor the past and yet completely be ourselves and do ministry with our DNA. Here’s what I know that I know: we are doing what God asked us to do. We prayed about our strategy, we prayed about the paint color, we prayed about the steps we would take and in what order. Now we just have to walk through it, knowing that God will do what He needs to do in all of our hearts.

I love the people from the Deaf Church! We spent all weekend together and they were AWESOME! They showed up in force, worked like dogs, and had the best attitudes. They made fun of me alot, but I can take it…just be careful because I can also give it!!!!

Our staff meeting was one crying person after another. All of the tears were “good” tears, as God is working on our hearts, helping us with our frustrations, and giving us victories where we need them.

We have been SO encouraged lately with kind and uplifting words from our church! I’m serious when I say that we would not be making it without those heartfelt words. This is hard and exhausting, but everytime someone reminds us of what North Creek means to their lives and family, we press on.

That being said, we sure aren’t doing much today! We are enjoying an easy day with our kids and that beautiful spring sunshine! Be blessed!