The End is the Beginning

The title for this blog is so fitting for my life right now. The past 3 months have been so crazy in the life of the my family. For those of you all that don't know God has called "The Davidson Clan" to move to Hickory NC and plant a church. Now this is something that God has really had to move me towards. Church planting has become very trendy and as one friend put it, "Its the new youth minister!" I have seen many friends move towards church planting but have not asked them why they felt the need to do this. There are couple of things I have learned already and I have not even planted yet.

* Church Planting calls you to do things WAY outside the norm and your comfort zone.
* Most new churches fail in year 4 and 5 after launching.
* I have never seen so many people invested in you, your church and they want you to succeed. This is such a great motivation and yet humbles you tremendously.
* It is already the hardest thing I have ever done but I know it will be the most rewarding.
* At the core of every church planter is a strong sense to help people live life the way it was meant to be lived and look like the church Jesus died for.

AGAIN this is not something that I went after who even wanted to be, but something God transformed me into. Looking back at my calendar you can see how God works in the lives of his followers and how he uses people around you.

Summer 2009: I was contacted by a church planters group to consider doing this and I said, NO!!!! But God was planting seeds in my heart and mind.
Nov 2010: Began to pray with Natalie about God's leading in our lives.
Jan 2011: God revealed that our marriage needs to be stronger.
Feb 2011: God revealed how to be better parents.
April 2011: Contacted by a friend who planted a church with Stadia and they had been asking about a name he could give them. His Facebook message read this way, " I have been praying about this for weeks now and I can't get your name out of my mind." We told him it was ok to that he give them our names.
June 2011: Contacted by Stadia and went to Assessment in Chicago.
4 days later: Stadia confirmed us as lead planters and wanted us to start soon.
3 days after that: Contacted by a lead planter in NC to plant a church there. Natalie and I were already praying about NC which is crazy.
July 2011: Envision hired me as a lead planter in NC and now we had to narrow it down between 5 cities.
July 31: Told FCC that we were leaving them to plant a church (one of the hardest Sundays ever).
Aug 2011: 4 partners were nailed down and we chose Hickory NC to plant this church all while saying good bye to our amazing FCC family.
Sept 2011: Start date with Stadia and hopefully moving to Hickory NC.
Future: In God's hands!!!!!

As you can see God shoved me through this door and I am so thankful he did!!! So there a couple of things I want you to know as a reader of this blog.

1. This is my last blog here at Crockett's Corner!!!! I will be starting a new blog about my adventures in life, marriage, fatherhood and church planting very soon!!!
2. I have done youth ministry for over 10 years now and it is one of the greatest ministries ever. I am so thankful that God allowed me to meet so many wonderful people in the last 10 years.
3. If you would like to give to this new church plant please contact me on Facebook or through email. My new email is crockett.davidson@gmail.com.
4. I need your prayers more than anything... I can't do this without God and the support of his people. Please pray for me, my fam, the church and the city of Hickory DAILY!!!
5. The End really is the beginning in so many ways. Thanks for reading this blog over the years and I will send out the new blog address soon!!!

I'm not complaining but...

I have never felt that this blog should ever be used to complain or bash anyone or anything. There are seasons in life that you go through that you just have to say something because it has just been that hard. I know many out there have it much harder than more and I am not writing this to complain but actually for prayers.

As my previous entry mentioned I have been fighting off a kidney stone and this fight is now into its 3rd week. Yea, you heard me 3 weeks of this has been crazy. I have seen doctors and they want to me to go through surgery to remove this lion but they told me it is 2mm away from my bladder which means if it drops I am home free. The hard part about the stone is I feel so disconnected. I can't function well at work, home or with people. You are always wondering when the pain is going to start up again and you can't do what you want to do. Maybe I'm rebellious but I don't like being told what I can and can't do my somethings as small as a kidney stone...

Speaking of not being able to do things, while I was fighting this stone off I slipped in the bathroom and twisted my knee. It has been swollen for over a week and I am seeing the doctor tomorrow. I am limping everywhere and I because I can't but weight on it I am using a crutch to walk around. I am not a fan of using crutches but you have to do what you have to do so you can heal. That happened last week and it is still as swollen and hurting more than it has since the beginning. I am drinking so much water to get this stone out of me that I have to use the bathroom every 5 seconds and that means more walking for me on this knee!!!!

I tell you all this so that you will pray for me. There are some big things happening in my families life and this just seems to be slowing it down. No injury ever happens at the right time but it has been a rough summer so far. Just hoping it gets better soon!!!

I promise next post will be positive haha!!!!

Marriage, Kidney Stones and Faith!!!

The last couple of weeks have been very challenging to say the least. There has been so much good to come out of it though I don't know where to start. Every marriage has highs and lows, valleys and mountaintop experiences. Natalie and I feel like we have pretty much had a safari all across the mountain at times. We have had seasons in our marriage where it felt very routine, and seasons where everything felt new again. The one thing I have learned about marriage is that the longer you're married and the more work you put into it the meaning of true love rises in both of your lives. Natalie and I attended a wedding last weekend and we were talking on the way over how they have no idea what to expect. The best counselor could not prepare them for the day to day life with your spouse. But we prayed that like us 8 years later they would truly know and understand the word love and sacrifice. Not that we have it down but with each new day we learn and live these words together. Natalie posted this on her Facebook a couple of hours ago...

See you and me have a better time than most can dream of, have it better than the best and so can pull on through whatever tears at us whatever holds us down and if nothing can be done will make the best of what's around......forgot how much I love this song. It reminds me so much of us! Love you♥ Crockett Davidson

Of course she is quoting Dave Matthews Band and that is what makes our loves special!!!!

On a more painful note I have a kidney stone that is inching her way down right now and the pain is pretty much awful. But every time I have one of these I am very thankful. Seriously!!!!! I pray without ceasing, I trust God and maybe I know what it means when Paul says, "There is a thorn in my flesh." I don't think he meant a kidney stone but you never know!!!!

I just want to give you some encouragement... Trust God!!!! He is so faithful and he always keeps his word and there is nothing out there that deserves your trust or faith like God. I know many are going through hard and scary times but God values you so much and I pray that you would just trust him with everything. For real, EVERYTHING!!! Having a relationship with God is indescribable and trusting him with the smallest details of your life is so worth it. Where do you need to trust God more? Is there an area of your life that you like to control? Do you believe him when he says, "I will take care of you..." or do you doubt?

Interesting discussion!!!

For the church leaders out there who think about church planting and or multisite then you will enjoy this lively debate...

Multiple Sites: Yea or Nay? Dever, Driscoll, and MacDonald Vote from Ben Peays on Vimeo.

Still Here!!!!

There was so much going on this weekend its tough to know where to start...

* Friday night we had dinner with our good friends David and Lynn Tully. They are two people that both Natalie and I are drawn to because of their love for God and the world. David cooked burgers on the grill and introduced me to the best salsa I have ever had in my life. The name escapes me now, but I put it on my burger and it changed by life.

* Sunday was Graduation Sunday and our youth praise band led worship and I preached. I was so nervous for the band because I know it is a different audience and venue but they did a great job (as always) and I am so blessed to work with people who want to change the world for Jesus Christ. I gave them the book Radical and I hope they read it because it is such a wonderful and challenging book...

* That night we all went out to the Kani House (Japanese restaurant) and had a great time. It was great to be with friends just laughing and remembering different times together.

* My favorite band in the world called it quits this weekend. This would be the David Crowder Band and I will post more on this later.

* Tornado's hit Joplin Missouri this weekend and I am praying hard for the people there. I know many have lost homes and family's and I pray the people of God rise to meet the needs in that community. I actually watched a video on YouTube that a guy filmed while in a building during this awful ordeal. It was hard to watch and hard to listen to...

* Finally we are still here. There was such a big debate whether the "rapture" would happen this weekend. Social Networks were going crazy, news, internet and many more couldn't stop talking about it. I hope Christians don't forget that Jesus said, "Know one knows the day or hour" and his focus was on being ready not being taken. Since we are still here let us focus on bringing the good news to the world and being ready for his return.

His Bride is Still Alive!!!!

I have read countless books and blogs that are pretty much bashing the church. Don't get me wrong there are tons of things that I don't like about the church and what she does or doesn't do. I believe the church is the hope to the world and can bring rescue to a person, nation and world that is hurting. Jesus gave up his life for the church and even though we are dysfunctional at times I still love her and want to serve with her. Her beauty still exists, His bride is still ALIVE!!!

God is not a white man!!!

I have not blogged in a long time for a couple of different reasons. One thing that God was calling me to do for 2011 was journal more and I have been doing so on a regular basis. This has taken me away from blogging because what I journal is between God and me and what I blog about is me and the world. I need this in my life... I need to share what is on my heart and mind because I know there are people out there thinking the same things I am. So here we go again!!!

Lately I have been listening to the band called Gungor. They are very talented and have a heart for God. There is a song called, "God is not a white man!" I was taking Emma (my youngest daughter) on a date night and we were listening to this song. It says all the things that God is not.

God is not a man
God is not a while man
God cannot be boxed in
God is not bound to religion

The chorus screams out GOD IS LOVE, GOD IS LOVE!!!! My daughter burst out screaming this every time the song plays. We have heard this song now at least 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 times.

1 John says, "God is love," while driving around town listening to this song with kids screaming it at me I am reminded of this truth. God does loves me!!! He really does love me!!!! So many times I forget that simple truth but that truth has changed my life and my destination. So today not sure how everyone out there is feeling but remember, GOD IS LOVE and HE LOVES EVERYONE!!!