Pausing and praying

Our Immeasurably More team has been busy in 2017. Meeting every other week, at 6:00 a.m., this group of Northstar leaders has led our church to the point of readiness for our future ministry facility. We now have a final design and are preparing to approach general contractors for bids.

One of the key steps at this point in our timeline was to secure financing. Our team had determined a financial strategy which involved financing the bulk of the project (approximately $5.4 million) while retaining a savings of $1.5 million). This would give the church resources to make payments for up to 48 months. In doing so, it would allow Northstar four more years to raise the money to pay off the loan completely, while at the same time allowing our normal budget to grow to accommodate the service of the debt.

On April 30, in a special Immeasurably More update service we shared our confidence that we were ready to begin the next phases – of securing financing and identifying a general contractor. We approached three banks, answered a lot of their questions in pre-approval applications, and… by the end of the week of May 26, we had three no’s.

This caused our team to pause. It was a good time to pause.

We had scheduled a Member Meeting for Wednesday, May 31. We thought we’d be voting to approve moving forward on selecting one of the banks. Instead, we met, our leaders shared our progress and steps, we answered questions from members, and then we did what Christians have always done in times of needed direction – we prayed together.

Our team will be making important decisions in the days ahead as to direction and scope of our campaign. In the meantime, we invite you to pray with us, to pray for us and to ask us questions or share your thoughts. Other churches have experienced similar times of pause. We are not discouraged. We are dependent, dependent on God to provide and direct as we continue preparing for our future home.

He has already done immeasurably more than what we could imagine, and we are trusting Him together in the days ahead.

As we left the Member Meeting Wednesday night, it was raining. It cooled off a hot day here in Blacksburg. It wasn’t long, however, that members began texting me pictures. Pictures of rainbows. In scripture, a rainbow indicates God’s promise, and our church had already had an amazing experience with a rainbow.

As I drove home, I also saw the rainbow. It caused my heart to leap, and I associated it with God’s promises as well. I had to get a closer look, if I could. I drove to the top of Main Street, and then turned right into the Maple Ridge subdivision. I pursued the rainbow behind the clubhouse of the apartment complex there, and I was stunned by what I saw – the rainbow almost looked like a dome of light. And it was a double rainbow.