My Church

The start of this year has put my church on my mind almost non-stop. I think it's because I really do feel things shifting. We have not been perfect but we have always loved people and worked hard to make sure people know that. I just have to say that I love my pastor and I love my church now more than ever.

Brandon and I started attending Cornerstone Summit in 2007. We started dating the year before and had attended the church I grew up in but had been feeling like we needed to find a place where we could connect with more people our age. We found Cornerstone Summit quickly and I remember lifting my hands in praise and really engaging with people from day 1. Although it was a totally different church culture than Brandon and I grew up in - something kept us going back.

It was that year that I met my best friends. I found people that I would live with, have Bible study with, and take vacations with. I met people who would be in my wedding and I would be in theirs and people who would visit us the day Grayson was born.
If you take Cornerstone Summit out of the equation - who would I be today? Where would I have spent all that time? Yes, it's been a lot of time and energy and sometimes there were frustrations. But it made us who we are and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Since then I have attended conferences, traveled to other countries, and went out of my way to serve other churches or groups through worship and volunteering. I have seen people healed and lives changed and I have grown in my faith in ways that I couldn't imagine. I don't want to forget these things. The ways that I have truly been blessed by Cornerstone Summit and by my Pastor. And I don't doubt that the next seven years will bring more of the same. It has to. It's just who we are. We will keep growing and moving forward!

This year the leaders have really committed to the church moving forward and not dwelling on the past. Yes, there have been mistakes. Yes, there have been things that should've been done better and it's not like the leaders want to pretend it never happened - it's just that there's more important things to be done.
My Pastor has a heart like no other. He will love people through anything and he has such a strong desire to see the people of Boone impacted for the greater. He has poured into so many people - some personally and some without ever even knowing that he made a difference in them.  I'm so excited to get to see him continue to grow this year. And I'm so thankful that he never gave up. Some people have. Some people have moved on because it was easier and even at times I've wondered why I don't just take the easy route and go somewhere else where I don't have to help do the work. But that's not what Jesus did - He put His hand to the plow and did things no one has ever done before. And that's not what my Pastor has done. He has pushed through obstacles and never stopped working and serving. I'm so humbled and grateful to know him.

So that's where I feel like I'm at. I was called to Cornerstone Summit in 2007 and I'm called to Cornerstone Summit now. I'm supposed to be leading - putting my hand to the plow and helping to establish the Vision of our church in Boone. It's not a quick and easy thing for our church to really get things put in place but we are starting. Don't doubt that. The leaders are working hard and their hearts for people and their passions to see our church and our community grow is enough to stir others' faith to get connected and stay connected. We are going to do great things this year and on into the future. My prayer is that no one will miss the opportunities to meet their best friends, their spouse, the people that will love them and see them through the greatest and hardest times of their life. Because that's what Cornerstone Summit is about.

Heart of Gratefulness

Sometimes I struggle with this. I get wound up in life and get stuck in a rut of feeling entitled. I feel like I'm on the losing end and people and things are not living up to the standards I have created for them. Like my phone for instance. The screen is broken and half the time I try to push a letter to text someone - it enters 5 letters instead. Or it calls someone without me even pushing one button and trying to hit the end button is another story all together. I know this is a silly example but it really does get me all excited and agitated and I feel as though it's just not doing it's job.  I totally forget the part where I should be grateful to have a phone, to have people that I need to text or call, or that I have the ability and the money to get it fixed. There are so many things I need to be grateful for and little silly things are stealing my joy because I'm forgetting to prioritize my focus.

This year Brandon and I set some goals. One is that I want to blog more. I know we make resolutions that half the time we don't keep or we only do for one solid month but it's on the list so I'm going to try. We also have on the list: reading the Bible to our sweet baby boy and praying with him before bed, following a devotional book together, eating and exercising, eliminating some of our debt, giving more, writing and recording some music, and a few others.

Today I'm also going to add gratefulness. It's not a goal that you can measure tangibly. I can't easily check it off day by day to know that I'm actually accomplishing this goal. But this year I want to be someone people turn to for a smile or encouragement because they know that's who I am. I don't want to be a complaining magnet or a stirrer of the pot of frustration. If I'm honest, right now that's where I feel like I am. But I'm going to choose joy and I'm going to choose gratefulness. And this blog will be a part of my accountability. Because this year, as I try once again to get back into blogging, I want to write relevant things that encourage people. I want everything I type to be just be part of the overflowing of a heart of gratefulness.