How Do You Do It?

     It was about this same time last year, November 2017.  Everlasting Church was meeting at the martial arts studio on Sundays.  It was cold, Moses was still sleeping terribly (like waking 4-5 times a night), and honestly I just didn't have hardly any desire to be at a church service that Sunday.  Seriously, God had already blessed us with some amazing connections in our neighborhood and there was much to be grateful for.  We actually had a really great summer last year and had some Sunday gatherings with 10 or 12 people from the neighborhood there.  But just the day in and day out work of starting a church is hard and lonely and it's easy to get tunnel vision and only see what is happening at the moment, so I found myself discouraged quite a bit.  Anyway that particular Sunday morning about this time last year we had 2 people there for the service.  One of the ladies (who I love and is wonderful and still attends church when she can) asked Jordan, "how do you do it?"  Meaning how do you study and prepare sermons and show up Sunday morning still as excited and passionate as ever to preach the gospel, and only have 2 people show up.  She pretty much just vocalized what had been on my heart for months.

      I love my husband and the fact that he is optimistic, passionate, and truly 100% committed to this task to which God has called us; and I fully believe this is exactly what he is supposed to be doing also.  God further confirmed that with our daughter.  I believe this is exactly where she is supposed to be also!  So anyway, that is how he responded.  Whether there are 10 or 2 people who show up, this is where God had called us to be at this moment in time.  We must be faithful to do what we know He has called us to do, and depend on Him for the rest.  It was not always easy for me to FEEL excited and eager to get to church on Sundays (and honestly I still struggle with it sometimes).  It's been a long road for sure...and there is still a long ways to go and much work to be done.  But I think those feelings are okay.  Faith is not based on feelings.  As the Bible tells us in Hebrews 11:1 -

 "Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."  

 I love the Lord and I am completely confident this is where we are supposed to be, even when my heart does not let me feel that way.

     The memory of that Sunday conversation came up because Jordan and I were reflecting on and praising God for the first baptism service that we held at Everlasting Church a few weeks ago! Seriously, I don't think I could have been more excited for a Sunday to come.  Praise God we had 4 people baptized and it was such a meaningful time as a church family!  To see these new brothers and sisters in Christ from all different backgrounds and walks of life making a public declaration of their faith in Jesus refreshed my soul and served to remind me of why I am here in NYC.  That is why we do it and how we do it.  Whether it's 2 or 20 or 40+ people who come to church, we all are surrounded by people who are ready to hear the gospel.  We just need to be faithful to speak up and reach out to those God has placed in our lives.  The Holy Spirit has been working on me about that lately.  Anyway, Jordan told me after that conversation on that Sunday a year ago he was thinking that if God had led us to 2 amazing, wonderful, committed church members last year, that maybe in another year we could find 2 more.  God has blessed us over and abundantly more than that y'all and He is still on the move and I just am so humbled to be a part of it.  Here are some pictures from our baptism service and as you read this could you just pause and say a prayer for these new members of the family of God?  And would you also just stop and pray that God would continue to use Everlasting Church here in Pelham Parkway, the Bronx, New York City, and to the ends of the earth?  Thank you! 

      It's still definitely a struggle some days living here and being away from all our family.  Maria has really been having a hard time lately missing her grandparents and cousins, there have been a lot of meltdowns and sad moments, even after 2 years!  I still sometimes struggle on Sundays and have my moments where I miss being a part of an established church, specifically like one with a nursery.  Jordan and I seriously just have to take it a day at a time and plan out the next day the night before because there is no set schedule, no routine, and things are always different each week; and I am not a big fan of no routine.  But y'all God has done some amazing things this year and all the glory and honor and praise goes to Him because it is not us but to HIS name be the glory!  From bringing a team of people to serve alongside us earlier this year (shout out to the Dence family, Alexis Jeffries, and Anna Bowen), to moving in to our new church location in October, and finally to having our first baptism service this month, God is on the move and I'm just so humbled to be a part of it.  As we just celebrated Thanksgiving this past week not only am I humbled to be used of God but I'm so thankful also.  Thankful for the family of God who IS our family when our blood relatives are thousands of miles away, thankful for my immediate family here with me, and thankful for lots of food!  We had a great Thanksgiving day with our team members and we are so grateful that God has called some others to come here and labor alongside our family to reach the Bronx for Christ.  So I'll leave you with some pictures of our Thanksgiving celebration...and one more quick story.  A couple of ladies and myself have started a MOPS group in the Bronx.  We just finished a 14 day gratitude challenge where each day for 14 days we texted each other 3 things we were thankful for that day.  Apparently there was a study done that said if you do this for 14 days it will improve your attitude and mindset and general outlook on life for 6 months!  I'm not quite convinced of that but it did help me realize that each day God gives us something to be thankful for. So friends during this season in life I hope we can all take time to stop and reflect on each day and the blessings that God gives.💗