This past weekend we partied hard!  Seven years ago, we set out on the adventure of a lifetime!  We packed up everything we accumulated over 15 years of marriage, 12 of those 15 incredible years with our Pastor in Columbus, Ohio, left the birthplace of our 4 babies and set off to Louisville.  I remember the trip here like it was yesterday.  I could barely see through my tears to drive.  Collin, then 8 years old, was in the passenger seat inconsolable because he was leaving his whole world, his home.  If Peter’s faith allowed him to take a few steps on the water without sinking, in my book his “water” was more walkable at that moment then our “word.”  I know that this isn’t the story that everyone likes to tell.  We love to hear that when God gives you a word everything surrounding it smells like roses.  That’s just not always reality.

I’ve learned not just how to stand on the word of God, but how to surf when the waves get high.

Leaving the security of our lives, moving the contents of our Columbus home into a tiny Louisville condo, enrolling our kids in a public school system, taking a job at DSW, were all part of our promise.  Oh how i remember the winter 6am call times where we pulled our equipment truck up to the Hilton Garden Inn to unload and set up our Ballroom for church.  Some of my favorite memories were of our Thursday night Core Group sessions.  Everyone piled into our condo to learn our foundational principals, ministry philosophy and the culture that we would intentionally create…and i had the chance to serve and make everyone coffee and snacks and sometimes even Chili 🙂  When God provided us with our first building.  Most would think it wasn’t much, but to me it was beautiful.  The mountains God moved and how He touched the hearts of men we had never even met to get it into our hands was amazing.  And then when you stepped inside?  The spirit of the Lord was so thick in that house!  To watch a body of people gather there, and organically see hunger and passion be carried out, i could have stayed there forever! (God obviously didn’t let that happen).  My kids making friends who are still their friends today.  Watching them grow together, watching kids grow up…this has to be one of my favorite things about Pastoring.  Watching people grow.  I believe it is our “this side of heaven reward.”

Time flies when you are having fun!

7 years of growth in so many areas…serving, leading, imparting.  Seeing lives saved, babies be born, miracles take place, marrying beautiful couples, watching people find their purpose, making mistakes, praying hard, believing with everything, holding hands with people through heartbreak, celebrating small victories, watching people you love leave, understanding seasons, gaining wisdom, having too much fun, loving Jesus every second, loving people, living life together.

All of this because we stepped out on a word that we are still walking today.  That God would send us men and women whose hearts He has touched.  That is our water, our word.  And we are still walking on it!  God is so good.  If you have never been to TKC, you just have to experience it.  The presence of God is so tangible there.  To ALL of you who call TKC your home, or have ever called it your home…I celebrate you.  One of my favorite sayings is “what i love most about my home is…the people inside.”

Happy 7th Anniversary TKC,

Steph