September 2009

In September of 2009, Jacqueline surprised me with a trip to the West Coast of Florida for my birthday. It was an awesome time, with family and a well-needed time of relaxation.  While we were vacationing, we took time to visit an area near Sarasota, called Lakewood Ranch. We spent an entire day exploring Lakewood Ranch, visiting homes and schools and generally falling in love with the area. Before heading to Florida, I had actually made an appointment to touch base with a friend of mine from college who lived in Tallahassee.  Brian Hunter is a fellow church planter and pastor who planted a church in 2003.

Jacqueline and I, along with my parents, drove over to Tallahassee to meet Brian at a TGI Friday’s – the plan was to eat a bit of lunch and get some general idea of what church planting was all about. Needless to say… we got more than we bargained for! Brian encouraged us for over two hours, sharing intimate details of his personal experience and never once got frustrated at me for the petty questions I kept bringing up. Several times during our discussion he made the statement, “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”  It was quite simple, really… God had ordained that meeting, that day – long before either one of us knew we would be there. I remember being emotionally overwhelmed when he told me I would pastor thousands of people one day. I felt so inadequate, and so unsure; Brian, on the other hand, said things like that so matter-of-factly, it was as if he wasn’t really the one speaking. At the end of our meeting, Brian made the commitment to speak to the State Evangelism Director for the Church of God in Florida on my behalf. He said that he would put in a good word for us and do anything he could to help us make this vision happen.

As my family drove home that day, we shared the abridged version with my parents and dreamed and cried together. After a couple of hours on the road, we stopped again to eat dinner; shortly after sitting down, I received a text message from Brian Hunter. It said, “I just got off the phone with David Nitz, the State Evangelism Director. He said he’d love to talk with you and that he was looking for a church planter for the Lakewood Ranch area.” My jaw dropped, and I began to silently weep. My family was instantly concerned… asking me what was wrong. I mustered all the composure that I had and read them the text message… I had never once mentioned to Brian that I had just been in Lakewood Ranch, let alone that I was interested in planting a church there. This became a huge catalyst moment for our journey. Jacqueline and I, along with my mom and dad, knew undeniably that God was directing us for this calling.

Brian