Subbing for LaRissa

I spent the last two days substitute teaching for my wife, LaRissa. Subbing facilitates church planting in two ways. One, it helps supplement our income so that the needs of my family do not become a burden on the church plant. Very important. I would say, if you as a church planter, are not willing to consider the possibility of serving bivocationally to further the resources of the plant, you need to take a long, hard look at the call to plant.

Second, subbing gets me connected with kids, their parents, teachers, and administrators at the schools to give me one more connection point in the community. Subbing has given me the opportunity to have at least some beginning conversations with people about the plant.

Okay, so that's the reason for subbing. But what I really want to say is how much I have enjoyed subbing. Not at all what I expected. I thought I would be able to get through it and do a pretty good job at it, but really had no anticipation of enjoying it. But I am loving it. Okay, I said it.

LaRissa's class has been a joy over the last day and a half. Yeah, they can be rowdy. And, yeah, there are a couple of little boys who are real stinkers. But they are really a sweet class, and I just love seeing their little faces light up when you do something as simple as give them a "knuckle bump" for a job well done. (I've got to say, my wife is a phenomenal teacher, because her class was so easy to handle.) I have a real heart for the little boys who are stinkers. They want so badly to please you. You can just see that there is a battle going on inside of them. They want to please, but there is this energy inside that just has to come out. They will either make some of the most incredible lion-chaser, CEOs, or pastors in the world, or they will wind up in prison somewhere. The influence of some really good teachers will probably make a lot of difference.

Sure, some days I think applying the board of education to a kid would really help them out, and some days I am totally worn out. But, overall, I have surprised myself at how much I have liked it.

Update

Lots of stuff going on right now with The Crossroads. Last week we secured a meeting place! Hurray and thank you, God! We will be meeting at the Tiger Cat Tumble and Cheer Gymnasium. It is located just west of US-75 and just south of FM 455. It is a really great location, and it comes at an awesome price. In addition, the owner has some build-out she wants to do and would be willing to allow us to help her with that and apply that toward the cost of the lease. Awesome!!

LaRissa has created a baby registry at Target for the nursery. If you are interested or you know of someone who is interested, this is a very real and practical way to help support The Crossroads.

I have been having several conversations with pastors trying to secure support for The Crossroads. So far, most of those conversations have been very positive and productive, although there have been no definite commitments yet. So please be very much in prayer for funding. If you know of anyone I need to talk to (churches, individuals, corporations) who might be interested in supporting The Crossroads, please let me know. I will be happy to talk to them and share the vision God has given us.

We are scheduling dates for pre-launch events right now. I will post those as soon as we have them in stone. If you would be interested in helping out with door-to-door surveys, service projects, block parties, or coming to a preview service, please let me know.

I have a friend who is working on a logo design for us, and I am working on getting our website up and running.

Please, please, be in prayer for our family. I will be without my current job at the end of this month. I'm kind of feeling like I can't breathe right now when I consider that. I'm serious. Pray for us. Stop what you are doing right now and pray for us.

Sponsorship

Ugh! Trying to generate support for the church plant is the thing I really don't like. I just don't like making the big ask. I feel like I am begging people for money. I have to keep reminding myself that I am not asking people to give to me or even to our church plant but to give for kingdom work and to give so that they can be partners in something awesome that God is doing.

I have had some really good conversations over the last couple of days with some potential sponsors. So, be much in prayer about that.

One thing that encouraged me was thinking of what we needed to do for sponsorship in smaller terms. If we get one hundred people to commit to giving one hundred dollars a month, we will be well on our way to the needed support for starting the church. Please pray about who God would have be involved in sponsoring The Crossroads and how they might be involved.