July 2011

We took another big step when we made plans to attend ARC 2.0 (Training) in Minneapolis, Minneosta. We really wanted to attend the 2.0 in Birmingham a little later in the year, but God used Pastor Dave to press us to go sooner. It was costing us more money to go to Minnesota, and with all of it coming out of our pockets, we were kind of having a hard time getting really excited about the experience.

Our attitudes took another dive upon arriving at the church hosting 2.0. When we walked in, we were asked to give our launch date, city, and other info for the church plant.  Excitedly, we told them, “We’re Brian and Jacqueline Zdrojowy. We’re planning on launching in January 2013, in Sarasota, Florida.” The woman checking us in said, “Oh, so you’re the other couple that’s team planting.” Us: “Huh? What do you mean?” ARC Rep: “Oh, there is another couple that already checked in and they’re also planting in Sarasota… if you’re not together, you’ll have to talk it over with Cory Hardesty (ARC’s Director of Church Planting), because ARC requires we keep a 20-mile radius between church plants.”

Jacqueline and I looked at each other in disbelief. It felt like someone had punched us in the gut. I tried to make the most out of that first day, but honestly, I just wanted to go home. We briefly met and spoke with T.J. and Leah Hankey, the other couple planting in Sarasota during the lunch break, but I was not ready to be overly friendly, yet! Jacqueline rose to the challenge at that point and exchanged numbers with Leah. As soon as the afternoon session was over, we left and headed back to our hotel. The ride back was a long one.

When we got back to our hotel, we were both on edge and on the verge of fighting. I suggested that Jacqueline get in a nap before dinner. I had decided to cool off outside for a while. As I sat in the car, I began to pray… I said, “God, I don’t understand what You’re doing, but I refuse to believe the lie running through my head, that we somehow missed Your calling in our lives.” As I boldly proclaimed the truth of Scripture over our lives and future, I felt a palpable sense of God’s peace wash over me. I headed upstairs to cheer up Jacqueline.

Now if you really know us, then you’ll understand that what happened next was nothing short of a spiritual battle capped by a miracle. When I got upstairs, Jacqueline was not asleep, and immediately started saying how mad she was… she was being super negative (NOT LIKE HER AT ALL). I calmly said that everything was going to be fine, and that we should ask T.J. and Leah to go to lunch the next day. Jacqueline glared at me… “I don’t want to go to lunch,” she said… “Sarasota was ours.” I responded with, “God called us to an area, not to a specific street… Everything that has happened to this point was to let us know that we are running in the right direction.” As she stared through me, her countenance changed… “You’re right; it’s going to be OK!”

The next day we had a much better time, because the Holy Spirit had softened our hearts.  When it came time to go to lunch, there was a resurface of some tension, but we shook it off and decided to enjoy the ride. We thoroughly enjoyed our time with the Hankeys, and after hearing their vision and connecting with their heart, we could not help but be excited for them. We knew that God had indeed given them a vision for Sarasota, and that He would open another door for us. T.J. and Leah committed to pray for us as we were looking for a new location to plant and mentioned that we should check out North Port, Florida.

Another major change that came through our experience at 2.0 was the birth of the vision and overall strategy for our church. Up until that point, we were thinking we might call our church Crosswind, Florida. I was on a trip with Pastor Dave, Pastor Mike, and Pastor Mark when we came up with that name; we were all instrumental in writing the core values and missional strategy when we changed the name the year before. However, a speaker at the seminar who was dealing with the topic of writing the church’s core values challenged me.

He said that the core values for the church should be your personal core values. As much as I liked Crosswind’s written materials… they weren’t mine. In a moment of inspiration, I began to write down the words coming to mind.  I wrote down… “Generous,” “Relevant,” “Authentic,” “Compassionate.” As I sat back, I realized that I was making an acronym for GRACE. I added “Excitement,” which I was later challenged to change to “Exuberant” (I loved that change!!). I showed the words to Jacqueline and she immediately shook her head in approval.

On the way back to the hotel that night, I thought of our tagline… “It’s all about G.R.A.C.E.”  We ended up staying up most of the night, trying to work on the missional strategy, coming up with the name and just dreaming together about what God was really calling us to do. The way that it all came about gave us great assurance and confirmation that God was leading us, and we were obediently following. It would be a couple more days before God would let us discover the name He had in mind for His church. Even the way that God revealed the name to us was an “exclamation point,” if you will, helping to solidify and make undeniable the call on our lives.

Brian