I Can Do THAT

Last night I watched the local news. In our Hulu and Netflix world, I rarely get to do this, but I happened to be waiting on a load of laundry to be done so I thought I’d sit and watch. It was dismal. It was depressing. It was hopeless.

It also was completely contradictory to my experience earlier that day and throughout this month.

Rock City chose to use its One for One fund for the month of May to bless local school teachers and faculty in some of Columbus’ inner city schools. What an honor this has been for our teams to be able to spend time with these fine men and women … hear their hearts … see their commitment.

The city and future we saw through the eyes of these teachers didn’t at all match what I saw on the news last night. The city and future we saw this month is full of hope and full of promise.

Is it hard? Yes.

Are the problems and social issues these teachers are facing with their students nearly insurmountable? Yes.

Have they given up hope? No.

Over and over we heard stories of teachers who were going the extra mile to ensure their students were given a fighting chance.

Today, we talked to a social worker who worked for Columbus Public Schools. She received a call earlier this week from one of the students she works with. The student is 18 and homeless. She hadn’t been showing up to school and with graduation just days away, the social worker was frantic. She shared how, shortly after arriving home the other night, her personal phone rang. It was the girl. She had been on the streets all week. No where to go. That’s why she hadn’t been to school.

The social worker spent the next 4 hours working with various organizations to ensure the girl had food in her belly and a roof over her head. She was the girl’s lifeline. Next week, because of her, this girl will graduate.

It’s so easy to get overwhelmed when we look at the problems in our cities. It’s so easy to say, where would I even start? What could I possibly do? This month I realized that the odds of me being able to tangibly make a difference are actually pretty slim. I’m not equipped. I don’t have the access.

But, I can serve a meal to those who DO have access. I can give a hug to those who ARE equipped. I can provide encouragement to those whose tanks are almost empty because of the time and energy they pour into others. I can show God’s love to that social worker who went the extra mile. I can do that. And Rock City can do that.

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Cleaning House

In January, Rock City gifted our One for One funds to Crack House Ministries. We met Pastor Mitchell and his awesome team over a year ago shortly after our family moved to Columbus. We’ve been so impressed with their heart for the city and their ability to share God’s love in the lives of people who are off track. They are making a difference every day.

On Saturday, around 25 Rock Citiers gave the Crack House ministry center and one of their group homes a CLEAN LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN. I’ve never seen so much Soft Scrub action in all of my life.

One of the coolest things about the phase we are in as a church is that when a group of people get together like that, hardly any of them know one another. It’s the neatest thing. They show up … introduce themselves … spend the day together serving … and then leave knowing they now have some really good friends. I love it!

You don’t need a potluck to create community. HELLO?!!! Just pass the Windex, paper towels and get to work!

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The Mondays

What a big weekend at Rock City! We continued in the Guardrails Series focusing on Avoiding Spiritual Drift, shared what our One For One Funds did for a single Mom this week and kicked off week 1 of Rock City Connect!

Avoiding Spiritual Drift
This series has been challenging and inspiring. We certainly don’t have control of everything that happens to us in our life, but it’s amazing how much we can avoid by putting up guardrails (disciplines in our life that help us from going to a place we don’t want to go).

For many of us who are strong and with lots of thoughts and opinions, this can be difficult. And even though this has improved as I have gotten older, I never like to be left out or feel like I am missing out on anything. But something that Chad said during his message this weekend really resonated with me:

“Don’t fool your self into thinking that there won’t ever be a point where you want to put on the brakes. That you won’t meet a line that you don’t want to cross.”

Each of us gets to a place at some point in our lives, where we say: I don’t want to go there. We looked at the story of Daniel and how one guardrail impacted his future and ultimately an entire nation. The kicker with this was that Daniel resolved his conviction before he knew the end of the story. Would he be killed? Starve to death? Would his friends abandon him? It turns out that once he took a stand, God began to do what only God can do … defy the odds.

One for One
We had the extreme pleasure of blessing a single mom this weekend with our One for One funds. On Saturday, over $500 worth of groceries and toiletries  were delivered to a mom of three children whose husband was recently sentenced to Prison for 18 years without the possibility of parole. The family that delivered the items said that when they dropped them off, the mom brought her children over to the boxes and pointed to the two large boxes of toilet paper and said: “Look, I want to show you how God has provided for even our most basic needs.” What a beautiful picture of how we, as a church, can make a tangible difference in the lives of people.

Rock City Connect
Perhaps one of the most amazing things I get to experience is on the first nights of our Rock City Connects. As we watch people come in one by one, I am always thinking: Where in the world did you all come from?

Rock City Connect is the way that people get plugged in to Rock City … how they go from attender to engaged team member. And even though we are nearly a year old, I am still surprised when people walk through those doors. It’s amazing to hear their stories, how they got here and to see God at work in their lives. We were joined by over 50 new friends on Sunday Night for Week 1 and I took my usual seat in the back where no one can see me the big tears in my eyes as I look at the faces of those who God is at work in. What God is doing here is simply amazing.

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The Mondays – Life, Money, Hope

I have LOVED this Dave Ramsey Series that we wrapped up this past weekend. It doesn’t seem to matter where I am at in my life, that little worry about money bug is constantly nipping at me. I find that it quiets down the most when I have a plan, budget and am looking ahead vs. looking back. Easier said than done right?

We wrapped up Life, Money, Hope this weekend. We’ve heard so many amazing stories from the people of Rock City throughout this series. Some from people who were at the end of their rope and God used this series to give them hope and a plan to get back on track! I loved what Dave said last week. It kind of kicked me in the you know where. “Your father in heaven is rich. In fact, he owns everything. ET Phone home!”

Sometimes when we are in the midst of a crisis, be it financial or something else, we forget the fact that God owns it all. He owned it before we had it, before we spent it and he still owns it and if we can just find the strength to crawl out under the pile of bills that we are in, He may actually be able to help us.

We are looking forward to what God is going to do in the lives of the people at Rock City as they commit to getting on track financially!

We also made a HUGE announcement this weekend about a new focus for 2012 that will allow us to do even more locally and globally!

It goes something like this: Every time someone (man, woman, child) walks through the doors of our church, we will give a dollar to a local or global need! ONE FOR ONE!

We continue to be amazed at the generosity of the people of Rock City and we believe that One for One (on top of our Beyond Our Walls Budget) will be a game changer in our efforts to impact our city and our world!

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