And Just Like That...Everything Changes

Spent several hours up at NRH last night getting the building ready for tonight. I have been overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions over the past week of opening Gateway Church NRH.

This has been something I have dreamt of for more than 7 years. I remember the first time Robert came to me and asked me to put together a building plan for generational ministry (I think I did it at least 4 times in 90 months). It was kind of fun to dream and visionize about what a building like that would look like if I were to have a say in it. But I also remember the deposit that the Lord made in me as I drew out the building on paper...it was significant...it was unforgettable...it was a foretaste.

There have been several times throughout my time at Gateway where I actually thought we would get it built...that was more than 4 years ago. What can I say? I was young and dumb.

All this time, no matter how unlikely it seemed, I saw it. I have known what this would look like for years...not the paint schemes, carpet colors, or layout. I guess it's hard to explain but I have always had a sense of what things would look like when this building was built.

4 years ago I wasn't ready but now things are different...much different. God's timing is perfect. I have felt like what God was doing at Seven was something very few churches try to or have the resources to offer. For the first time in my life I am actually proud of the ministry I am a part of...not in the sense that it's any better than others...I am simply proud to be a part of my Father's business doing my part to see it succeed and be eternally profitable.

I feel like to this point Seven has been a great hole in the wall restaurant with great food. Not everybody has known where our restaurant is located or what exactly we serve but those customers who have dined with us have immediately become lifers. And then in a moment I feel like one rich man came into the restaurant and tasted the food and saw that it was good. In fact he thought it was so good that he instantly started making plans to take our little whole in the wall from a place that could seat 40 and build a restaurant that seated 20 times that. Some people saw it as a hole in the wall restaurant but not this investor, he saw the opportunity to feed thousands a menu that people dream of ordering from. The rich man was so excited to eat the food and see others eat it around him that he built the new restaurant himself. There is no way the family who owned this little eatery could have afforded to expand their business. In fact, they had never even counted the cost of expansion because it would have taken more than they made in a lifetime of profit from their little shop. But this rich man changed everything. The rich man knew this. He never required a dime. He never asked for a thing. All he said was "People need to experience your menu, they must experience your menu. I will see to it for the rest of my life that your restaurant has every opportunity to feed as many people as possible as excellently as possible." And over a very short period of time this little restaurant went from a place that only locals knew about to a place where tourists made a point to eat while they where in town if only for a day. The food was the same. The service was the same. The people were the same. The only thing that changed was one rich man came in and took his influence and his resources and made this little hole in the wall restaurant famous.

I knew that when the Lord built this building that it would coincide with what he was doing in me. It's not that I'm ready, it's just that it's time.

This is a day I will never forget. Thank you Lord.