Discover Church Cookout...

We had a great weekend last week and I just want to share briefly what we did and post some pictures too!

On Sunday, Nov. 8th, Discover Church held cookout at the park in Jupiter. We rented out a pavilion and the volleyball court next to it and we all had a really good time! The weather was perfect and we had a great turn out. Discover Church provided all the paper products, drinks, and meat and several people brought side dishes and desserts! Our neighbors came to hang out which was exciting to see them there as well as friends and families of our other Launch Team members. We were stuffed from all the great food, played a few games of volleyball, and connected really well with our neighbors and friends and family that came to the cookout! Here are just a few pictures....enjoy!

Discover Church's first Gathering...

Sorry I have taken so long to write about the church's first Gathering, but here it is...

Our Sunday last week began on a great note. We gathered together with our Launch team to worship together and pray for the day ahead of us. The launch team consists of people who consider Discover Church home and who are committed to giving and serving to help get it off the ground and see it grow. We had a great time of just setting our hearts in the right place that morning and felt the presence of God before the hectic day began.

After meeting together we went our separate ways until meeting at our condo to start packing everything into the trailer at 1:00. The past few weeks all of the shopping and all of the equipment was shipped to our condo and needless to say, I'm am thankful to be able to see our floors again...It was packed! We packed the trailer in no more than a half hour, ate lunch, and headed to the hotel to unload at 2:00. This seemed to be the easiest part of the day because the pace quickly picked up and the set up began!

The set up went really well for our first time! I was so excited about the kids area and thought the Gathering looked great! Benj and the worship band sounded amazing and he had a great group of very talented musicians to help out! Over all we learned so much and where we saw things missing or not how we wanted it, God showed up in a mighty way. Screens, subs, projectors, mics, and much more ended up not being on time so we had to rent screens, go with out subs, and run to stores for other things. God provided abundantly and our first Gathering was a success!

That night we had 79 people total (including volunteers)!!! About 20 of those people filled out guest cards, meaning that they were not well-wishers or volunteers from other churches. It was a great turn out and we received so much encouragement from those well-wishers, supporters, and volunteers from other churches...we could not have done it without their prayers and encouragement and yours too! We knew so many people from home and from other places were praying and we are SO THANKFUL. God was so present that night.

On a different note, Discover Kidz looked great and we were prepared for kids, but we just didn't have any. At first I thought I might have been disappointed but I quickly heard God reassure me and I know if He wanted kids there, He would have had kids there! Instead I was able to have great volunteers ready to go when needed and I was able to experience our very first Gathering. This was a blessing from God and I am so thankful I was able to be there and watch it happen!

Tear down was a little confusing at times, but everyone really sacrificed their time and worked so hard! We are learning quickly what works and what doesn't and I cannot explain how amazing it is to see other churches coming together to help get this church started. The Church is a body, not a competition across denominational lines...we were so blessed by how sacrificial these churches were! (Thank You First Baptist-West Palm, First Baptist-Lake Worth, and Life Church.Tv! You guys are Awesome!!!)

Even in the short amount of time we have been down here in Florida, we are already seeing life change, marriages being restored, and friendships renewed! I hope to be writing some of those stories on here very soon to share with you what God is doing and hope that you are encouraged by this and what's to come!

Here are a few pictures and the whole album is on my Facebook page!

Please continue to pray as we prepare for our very first Second Gathering :)

So You Think You Can Dance...

This past week, Brittni and I had the awesome opportunity to go see the So You Think You Can Dance Tour! Brittni won tickets off of the radio and I was so thankful that she took me with her! Here are a few pictures, it was such a good show!

This Week.....

This week holds a lot of emotions and thoughts! During these last few weeks there has been a turning point in our lives as we prepare all of the details for our first service that we call The Gathering along with the kids worship area, Discover Kidz. There is an extreme excitement for our upcoming Gathering, and I must say, the nerves are evident as well. But most of all there is the presence of God that seems to be very near right now! Please keep us in your prayers as we put finishing touches on all the details and that He would give us the strength and wisdom to do our best. We want to do our best, yet we know that only He is the one that works in a persons heart and changes lives!

If you are in the area and would like to join us or if you would pray for us this weekend, here are the details:

What: The Gathering and Discover Kidz
Location: The Hilton Garden Inn ballrooms
3505 Kyoto Gardens Dr, Palm Beach Gardens, FL‎ 33418
When: 6:30pm-7:30pm

Three weeks to go....

We are back and this past week just flew right by! We had a WONDERFUL time at home visiting friends and family and we are so blessed to have been flown home and taken care of so well! We were able to get some rest even though the weekend was very busy. Mike and Kelsey's wedding was beautiful and the rain stopped as soon as the carriage brought her up! Bella's 5th birthday party was fun and she was "so surprised," and we were so happy to see Joel and Lacie too....Happy 1 year anniversary!

As we prepare for our first preview service (Oct. 25th), the weeks are going too quickly. We have less than 3 weeks before everything has to be ready to go! I want to ask if you would be praying....Pray for spiritual protection as we prepare lessons, music, sermons, etc. Pray that God would prepare the hearts of the people in this community to come to know Him. And please pray that the spiritual battle going on would not leave us discouraged, but rather excited because we know the ONE who conquers all!!!

We are so thankful for your prayers for us and supporting us in changing lives in Palm Beach County and please know that you are in our prayers as well!

Here are a few pictures from our visit to Ohio!!!

O-H-I-O....

We are coming Home!!!

I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am that we are coming home this weekend!!! Kelsey is getting married and we are so blessed that Benj and I can both be there! Benj is a part of the wedding, playing his bagpipes for them and he's been practicing hard!!! Not only do we get to see friends and family and celebrate a wedding, but my little niece Bella is turning 5 years old!!! She requested a surprise party even at age 5 and I can't wait to see her and Sophie's cute little faces! I will certainly put some pictures up here when we get back and please pray that our trip goes quickly....I'm already counting down the hours!!!

Discover 4-1-1.....

Discover Church 4-1-1 is our way of being able to share with people what Discover Church is all about and why we are in this area. Tonight was our third time doing this and every time the weather has been just horrible. Even today the thunder was so loud and began to rain 10 minutes before our team showed up. We have learned many things each time and this time I truly learned that God is in complete control. I felt as though no one would show up and we didn't think we were going to have any one there. Just as our team arrived, the door bell rang and two girls from PBA came to check it out and then another girl from the area came soon after! We had a great time tonight with three new faces and saw that as soon as we realized we could do no more than just wait on God to provide, he provided three times more than we could even imagine!

What could have been a potentially discouraging evening, turned out to be God moving in a mighty way. There is no possible way we can take any credit or glory for tonight! Please continue to pray for the Discover Church core team as we grow and reach out around us! God is doing something big and I am so thankful that He was gracious to even allow us to be a part of it!!!!