There will be hard times in church planting. Scrutiny. Challenge after challenge. Endings. Beginnings. All hard.
BUT there will amazing shreds of light amidst those hard times. Light that almost blinds you. Light in the shape of laughter at picnics, seeing joy in people’s faces during worship, tears when hearts are broken and healed in the same moment, prayers answered, and true, real friendships that almost blur into the image of family. (Or as some weird commericials on our Roku call “Framily.”)
These times will carry you.
In a sense, these are the times that will determine how you view those hard times. That crazy light will outshine the bad.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The bad times will still hit you like a rock. And that rock will sometimes take awhile to move on. But those GOOD TIMES! They will coat every bit of everything with a sense that God is with you. That’s He is cheering you on, running ahead of you, turning around to give you encouragement and hope for tomorrow, preparing you for what is around the next corner… because who knows?
One thing I do know. It’s gonna be good. (Man… just sounded like my husband!)