I have been told that church planting will provide a garden of opportunity for learning  new things, relearning old things, and provide opportunities for working through current short comings.  For me the first lesson in our new trajectory has not been a surprise.  Faith and reality intersect to create a point of opportunity.  For some, this opportunity can be met with great fear.  This point, however, is a point of decision and even indecision (which IS a decision).  It’s a point where those around you are frozen in time waiting for you to make THE decision that is in front of you.  To get to January 20th, 2015 at 1:20pm (the moment I decided that we had to obey God and move forward with His call to plant Awaken City Church), I endured what seemed like years of standing on the edge of a diving board.  Feeling your toes wrap around the coarse rounded edge  of the board as you stand and just wait.  The breeze blows, the sounds around you seem amplified.  Your heart thumps at an accelerated rate.  The voices around you seem distant while all the time your logic and reasoning are running complex algorithms to assure your more cautions self that THIS IS SAFE.  My moment to jump forward came through a voice that seemed to echo what God had been telling me for months (I just couldn’t hear it).  This voice (from a close friend), said ‘don’t live life with regrets, if God has called you to this, then DO IT’.  That’s moment I jumped.  That’s the moment that I pushed off the ledge of the diving board and began my trajectory with destiny.

Mark Batterson says “Commit to the path of greatest glory (to God)” in his book ‘All in‘. In essence, he describes a simple but profound idea.  That idea can be communicated in one statement: “Don’t let fear dictate your decisions”.  With respect to our faith, I realized that I was semi-paralyzed in my decision to go because of fear.  I was too busy working on plans C, D, E, F… and Z.  To surrender to God with our life meant to surrender to Plan A alone.  People have asked me over the past few weeks are you scared?  I usually pause because this is a word that has described so many things I have stepped out towards before (to be honest I am sometimes embarrassed for my lack of faith).  This experience so far has convicted me to say that  I am CERTAIN in lieu of I am scared.  We are certain of God’s call on our family to move to St. Augustine, Florida. We embrace the unknown now.  Jumping off the diving board of faith is a liberating experience.  It has set us free to do His will.

I could share some really cool God stories but will save those for future posts.  All I can say is if you are standing on the edge of your current reality and looking at the pool where God wants you to swim…just jump.  In the words of my dear friend who’s words moved me to action, don’t live life with regrets.  If God has called you to plan A, embrace it…don’t waste time with other plans.

So what are you waiting for?