Isn't it strange how a picture, a piece of music, a particular sound or even a smell can so easily trigger distant memories, that then play in your mind in glorious Technicolour. It's as though you are there reliving the moment, experiencing the sounds, the sights and even the smells once again. I had such a moment this morning, as I was scrolling through my news feed on Facebook.
Facebook kindly reminded me that it was 2 years ago today, that we posted that we were leaving ngm to pursue a vision to set up a home where we can invite church leaders to come and stay to relax and be refreshed. All of a sudden, it all came flooding back. We had returned from church and had lunch and were now sat in our lounge in Lancaster House, there were logs burning and crackling on the open fire, giving both warmth and a sense of comfort, together with an unusual percussion accompaniment to the worship CD that was playing whilst we discussed the correct wording of the post. We wanted to capture the sadness of leaving the security of ngm and our friends, the excitement of stepping out in faith, together with the reality that we were going to have to rely totally on God for the provision of the house and the money to run it.
As we eventually hit the post button, we both felt a sense of relief that we'd finally shared the news, news that by then we'd already been carrying for a long time. After the briefest moment of elation, the doubts began to appear like little sparks from the roaring fire. To be honest, I think that the whole myriad of thoughts we were both experiencing were all centred around us and our reputation! They could be summed up by: What if we've got it wrong? If we have, we're going to end up looking like real idiots having so publicly claimed that we felt God had called us to this vision.
Within minutes, it was as though God had turned on a powerful light, the dark doubts disappeared as we began to receive messages from friends, many of whom we hadn't spoken to for a long time. There were words of encouragement, words of confirmation and affirmation. People were speaking out what they had seen and experienced in us, which was amazing and humbling at the same time. Never doubt the fact that words have power, power to bring life, healing and encouragement, but also power to bring destruction and hurt. We need to be conscious of what comes out of our mouths!
Have the last 2 years been what we expected? The answer is a definite no! But looking back, were we ready to begin? Again the answer is a definite no! Our time at ngm had taught us so much and helped our faith to develop, but we still had things to learn and past hurts to be healed. Back then we naively thought we were ready and that we would be up and running within 6 months, but we've learnt that God's timing isn't the same as ours and that even though he's given us many confirmations along the way, we'll only get the house when he's ready to release it.
We shared in our latest newsletter that just prior to the current lockdown, we had met up with a lady from our church for coffee and as we were chatting, she was encouraging us to continue to support church leaders, saying that it's wonderful that we've been able to start Time2 without a house. It suddenly reminded us of a conversation we had with a wise couple last year, they had challenged us about what we could do to start outworking the Time2 vision, while we waited for the property. Our response was that we couldn't really do anything, as we've no spare room at home for anyone to stay and that sharing with our daughter and grandson even made hosting people for a meal difficult. Well, here we are 12 months on from that meeting with Ian and Marjorie, we have been shown a way to support church leaders!
Our nominate and celebrate initiative has brought us into contact with church leaders and individuals who we would never normally have come into contact with. We've broken out of the small circle of friends and supporters we had into a much larger circle throughout the UK.
I recently came across this verse from Zechariah 4:10 (NLT):
'Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.....'
What we're doing may be small, but it's a start and we know that the Lord is rejoicing with us!
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