Love With Abandon: Desire Church January Launch

I can't wait to share this video testimonial Blake and I put together of our Desire Church momma; miss Milvian Lema. She's just beautiful!

What a weekend. I never thought that I'd be sitting here blogging about church planting in South Florida but here I am, and I wouldn't change it for the world! When we were first asked to pray about moving to Florida my heart was torn. I was scared, confused, impatient, and cold hearted to the idea. 

However, the Lord is in the business of changing hearts and I'm so glad he broke, restored, reshaped, warmed, and completely changed mine. 

God is so faithful. I can't help but proclaim it over and over! If you've followed our journey to Florida then you know what kind of faithfulness I'm referring to. Maybe you've experienced God's faithfulness in your own life and can testify to his great love and sovereignty over what seemed like absolute chaos at the time. Controlled chaos. Isn't that life?

I was telling my sweet husband last night, my heart has never been so full of happiness, joy, and sadness at the same time! We are delighted and overjoyed to see all that God has done through Desire Church so far! He has moved through the hearts of so many different individuals. To see each unique person come forward and bring their faith, culture, music, their talents, their adorable children, their passion for Christ to the table has been a bit of heaven!! This time last year I couldn't imagine all the precious friends that are in our midst! I've never had Cuban friends before and I don't know how I'll ever live life without friends from other countries again. They bring such color to our lives, literally! Not to mention their amazing food. We certainly do miss our family and friends in Tennessee and have journeyed through some homesickness but we're thankful for the peace God has given us. Peace that transcends all understanding.

Philippians 4:6-7 reminds us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." Can I get an AMEN to that? 

It's not about having a cool church with twinkling lights. It's not about the music, the cool pastor who gives awesome sermons with a lot of greek references; it's about Jesus! Oh, how He loves us! Wretched, helpless, sinners we are and He breathed life into us! Our prayer is for the community of Pembroke Pines to know the love of Jesus! Our mission as the body of Christ (for all believers) is to seek out relationships with both people who know Jesus and those who don't, to share life with one another to share the gospel, and to send out disciples who can spread God's word through daily life and by starting more churches. What does that look like? Loving with abandon! No restraint. No conditions. I was reminded this weekend by sweet Lindsey that her grandfather always said, "people will never care how much you know until they know how much you care." So true. How amazing that we ALL get to be a part of this adventure!

This weekend was filled with a daunting to-do list, with try and try again, with hugs and reunited friendships, quick pizza dinners, long conversations over too much dessert, nights out on our back porch with vinyl and kindred spirits, obnoxious dance moves, but mostly it was filled with the spirit of God. His presence. Sure, it was stressful and we hardly slept a wink but it was a pleasure! We started off the weekend reuniting with Carolyn, Ann, Katie, Lindsey, Tim, and Jason from Tennessee. There were also a few friends from other states who were a huge help. I believe one man came from Virginia Beach and is about to start a church in Belgium. How nice of them to come from so far away to help us! God has just provided more than we need! He's so good.

Of course, a trip to Florida wouldn't be complete without a trip to the beach!

I have to admit, I cried like a baby when these girls left... two nights in a row. We just had so much fun being girls and they were a great encouragement to me! They are both talented women with huge hearts for the others and the Gospel! God has big plans for you two! Love you!

Also, on Saturday this fine group from Belle Aire Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, TN (our old college town) came...

The goal of our weekend as you might assume was to have our first launch service at Chapel Trail Elementary School. This was no ordinary task. It may sound simple but it required a lot of preparation, prayer, hard work, and thinking caps constantly on. The set had to be designed, the materials had to be purchased, and our hearts had to be open and flexible. We plan on meeting at the school once a month until we have our big "hard launch" in April for Easter. Until then, we will continue to meet in homes for the remaining three weeks of the month. Before our Sunday service could look like this... 

...we had to start from the ground up. Literally. Here are some glimpses of our hard working team...

Jude helped too!

Sweeeet Katie Suggs! I love you girl!

Mark was a big helper!

My sweet and beautiful friend River and her awesome bass that she let her brother borrow for our service.

Josh and Jude had a blast chasing each other! 

Evie and her beauty.

Sam totally rocked the bass!

Meet Liz! She is such a talented piano player, thank you for playing with us!

Aaron and his wife Keelan have the adorable seven children and they all have musical talents!

After all the practice, preparation and hard work, it was GO TIME!!

Alycin and her husband Scott are incredible servants! Love you both!

Jerel spoke on Jacob's ladder this week. What a great reminder that Jesus is the connecting point from heaven to earth, the intercessor, our hope! We are here to make His name great! 

John 1:51 And he said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angles of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." 

I couldn't hold myself together and practically cried through the whole song I led. Haha! 

It was a big day for this SoFlo family from Tennessee so afterwards, we had to continue the celebration by chomping down on some authentic cuban food over at the pavilion in our neighborhood!

I don't know who this plate belonged to but it was very nicely put together! :)

I had fun putting this cooke cake together and miss Kelsey created these beautiful cupcakes!

Parting is such sweet sorrow. We will miss you Katie, Lindsey, and Jason! Thank you for your help, willingness, and prayers! 

To God be the glory forever and ever and ever!!! Lord I pray that we will submit to your will. I pray that you would use our little church to shine a beacon of hope and light! Only Jesus satisfies! In Luke 4:18 Jesus proclaimed, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed," Lord, have your way in Pembroke Pines!