the ten after: day of new beginnings

There isn’t much you can say after a day like yesterday at Journey Campus. 

Two services.  Seven baptisms.  Eight hundred thirty-six people.

The only thing that comes to my mind is, “Thank you.” 

First, thank You GOD, for showing up.  Only You can change a heart.  Only You can raise a life. 

But also, thank you church.  Thank you for holding a crying baby til your arms ache.  Thank you for daring fingerpaint with a journey group of preschoolers.  Thank you for setting your alarm for 4:30 (or earlier) on your only day off from work so that you can come set up staging, lights, and sound equipment.  Thank you for staying at ASU for two hours while everyone is eating lunch, to pack it all back up again.  Thank you for answering emails, counseling, coordinating, planning, preparing, and doing all the other work of a pastor after you get home from your “real” job.  Thank you for greeting each and every attendee with a genuine smile and a “Welcome to Journey Campus!” (even me & my girls… It means a lot).  Thank you for opening your home to a group of people every week, even if it means skipping a Sunday nap to vacuum and pick up.  Thank you for editing videos at all hours of the night so we can hear people’s stories of life change.  Thank you for coming to an elementary kid’s birthday party, and bringing a present, because they’re a part of your journey group.  Thank you for handing out free coffee mugs.  Thank you for carrying buckets of water to empty a horse trough.  Thank you for filling tiny cups with grape juice, ever so carefully.  Thank you for texting teenagers during the week to let them know you’re praying for them.  You know who you are, every last one of you.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

About yesterday, sometimes pictures communicate what words cannot.  So… thanks to my friend Trevor, (or as Dan calls him, Trevarius), I’d like to share some snapshots from this day of new beginnings...

Brittany

Caleb

Cate

Cooper

Jordan

Josh

Stevie