The hard work paid off

Just as work had begun on Awaken's first building, we found out we weren't allowed to hold church there due to zoning laws. Hindsight is always 20/20, and of course, in looking back, we see God's hand at work saving us from meeting in a building that wouldn't have worked from our very first night. We had already put in a lot of work at that building, but nothing compared to the labor that would go into our next one. With 11 days until our first service, we began working on renovating the building that we'd soon be meeting in. After spending 11 straight nights at the church (many until 1 or 2 in the morning), the details finally fell into place and the work (at least the majority of it) was completed. Nate threw together some video clips from the past month or so from work we did at both buildings. Hope you enjoy...

New Stuff at Awaken

Today seemed like the day for new stuff at Awaken - we got lots of packages in the mail and there's much more to come. Here's a quick look at what's going on...

NEW BUILDING
That's right. This time last week, we didn't have a building that was legal for assembly. Exactly 1 week later, we have a building that will work much better and be much more comfortable. We only have 11 days till our first service (yes, we're still on for Saturday, September 19 at 6:30pm) and plenty of cleaning to do. No, the sign isn't up yet, but it should look pretty similar to the photoshopped editions you're looking at. We have a work day scheduled for this Thursday, September 10th from 9:00am-noon to start the cleaning, and of course there will be more after that. Let us know if you want to help. We're stoked to see how God uses this building and glad that with just a couple minor touches, it measures up to fire code and satisfies the city's zoning codes. That's a nice change. There will be a map and more info posted shortly on the website on the when & where page.

NEW DECALS
Does your car/Bible/friend's face need some style? We have just what the doctor ordered. Our new are you awake? decals just arrived today (thanks to woventhorns.com) and you'll love them. Beginning this weekend at Riverfest, you'll be able to grab a decal, submit a picture of it on your car to our Twitter, Facebook, or email, and you'll win a prize (more details to come)! They'll be available for free on a first come, first served basis, so make sure to swing by the Awaken Church table and grab one for your car! Once they're gone, they're gone.

NEW ARTWORK
We just got the posters for our first 2 books of the Bible that we'll be studying. On Wednesday nights beginning September 23, we'll be studying the book of Acts in a series called To the End of the Earth. On Saturdays beginning September 26, we'll be studying Philippians in a series called To Live is Christ. Both books are powerful and have specific application to us as individuals and as a church. Can't wait to dive in! Download the artwork and listen to past teachings on our teachings page.

Some other new stuff...
- a new pulpit (it broke during shipping, but we'll have a new one by next week)
- new chairs (padded, even!)
- a nice projector and screen
- a nice Pearl drum kit donated by Calvary Chapel Rivergate (we just need a drummer)

I'm so stoked to get this thing off the ground and I really hope you'll be a part of it. There will never be another first weekend of Awaken Church, so plan on being there Saturday, September 19...but don't stop there - keep coming! In the mean time, join us for our last 2 weeks at the Edlers' house on Wednesday nights. Grab a map here.

Speed Bumps Can Be Fun

My dad used to own an '84 Chevy pickup truck that became my main driving vehicle when I got my license. I had some history with that truck. I got hit by a drunk driver...in a Taco Bell drive-thru, backed into lots of things, scraped the side on our garage door...3 times, and plenty more adventures. One that I'll never forget (that I highly discourage anyone from trying) was seeing how fast I could hit speed bumps. When I hit one at about 45mph, the front of the truck came off the ground, then slammed back down. All the dash lights, headlights, and radio quit working and I had to drive home in the dark like that. I don't remember what excuse I came up with to tell my dad, but somehow I weaseled my way out of that one. I should have never done that and I learned an important lesson: there's a reason they say to slow down before coming to a speed bump. That would make sense.

If you read my earlier blog, Curve Ball, you know that Awaken Church hit a bit of a speed bump this week that I'm mostly to blame for. I should have done my research earlier before we ever signed a lease to make sure everything was ok with the building to hold church meetings in. Unfortunately, I didn't. So, with a little under 3 weeks till our first church service, we quickly realized that we had no building to meet in! That's where the body of Christ came in. I had people from around the country emailing, texting, and calling, saying they were praying and offering advice. It was so cool. At first, I tried to be real positive about it. That only lasted so long though. Soon, the weight of having no meeting place and only a couple weeks left till our start date really hit me. Wednesday, I started to freak out a bit. I drove around for 4 hours in the afternoon trying so hard to find another place. Nothing. Finally, I made one last phone call on a place I saw on my way home. That place wouldn't work either...but the guy told me of one more property that he owned that might work. We set a time to go look at it on Thursday and I drove home. I was reminded of Nehemiah, who also dealt with some major issues and speed bumps as he followed God's call on his life to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Whenever something came up, he immediately prayed (check out Nehemiah 1:4, 6; 2:4; 4:4, 9; 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 22, 29). He faced people who mocked him, others who attacked him, as well as plenty of hardships and set backs. Despite the attacks, his battle cry was "The God of heaven Himself will prosper us!" (Nehemiah 2:20), and that is exactly what I needed to remember. I calmed myself down once I got home and remembered my original vision for the church: this is God's church, not mine, therefore, this is His problem, not mine. From the very start, I committed to not trying to build a team of people or support or stress out about details, instead, I would allow God to build the church. I never wanted to get to a point where I would look back and be tempted to say, "Look what I built." Thankfully, there's no way I can say that about the place we hope to sign the lease on this week. It seems like the perfect place for us.

After lots of prayer, I finally received the phone call we were hoping for on Friday morning. Our landlord from our first building said it would be in our best interest and his if we went somewhere else. He even said he'd give us a full refund, including out deposit and first month's rent! Incredible. My name was on the 1-year lease. Technically, he didn't have to refund anything.

I don't want to jump too fast with this other building until we know things are official, but here are a few fast facts:
- I already put a call into city hall to research fire code and zoning before we sign the lease - things are looking good.
- We will get 900 more square feet for only a few hundred dollars more per month.
- It's divided right in half with 1200 square feet for a big meeting room and 1200 for Awaken Kids ministry.
- The Kids Ministry area already has 4 or 5 classrooms pre-built, which will save us lots of time and money!
- The building is 1 mile from the college campus now and almost touching the park we want to have a sunrise service in next Easter!

I could go on and on about how great this building is, but I'd rather go on and on about how great God is. It's possible that we don't end up with this building because God has something else in mind for us, but things are looking promising. He truly is building this church and I believe this speed bump, although I allowed it to get to me, was just a way for God to prove His sovereignty once again and test my faith (I guess I partially passed, but I could have done better). I believe God saved us from meeting in a building that wasn't ideal but we were willing to make work. He has this way of doing things last-minute with me, and I guess I'm learning to be ok with it - it forces me to pray more, like Nehemiah. I know one day, we'll look back on all the speed bumps and be able to say something like what was said in Nehemiah 6:15 - "So the wall was finished," or in our case, "So Awaken Church began."

Thanks to all those who were praying or offering advice. God truly showed Himself faithful and the body of Christ proved to be the support that we all need. Keep up those prayers.

Awaken's first building!

It sure has been a process finding this place! We've driven almost every inch of Clarksville in search of a good place to hold services. Most places we wanted were just too expensive and those that we did like were not in the right area of town (which is a lot of the reason we could afford them). We've spent countless hours in prayer and lots of gas money driving around, calling any number we saw that said "space for lease." We found a place that we thought would work great and the guy said he'd be willing to work with us because he really needed someone in there. So, since he was desperate, we figured we'd offer low. We did and didn't hear back from him. By the end of the day yesterday, we had finally exhausted all of our resources. We had no idea where else we'd go. On our way home, the guy called me back and asked if we still wanted it and accepted our very low offer. Wherever we rented, we didn't want to be in there for more than a year. That was another challenge we had faced - everyone wanted at least a 2-year, some a 3-year lease. This guy told me, "After a year, we need you guys out - we really need to be making more money than this." Ha! So of course we agreed to that!

Anyway, our lease starts on Sat, Aug 15. We'll have about 1 month to get in there, paint, possibly re-carpet portions of it, and get it all ready for services. Before us, it was a tanning salon (as you can tell from a few of the pictures), called "Tropical Tanz". I guess now, instead of people leaving that place looking like they've been in the sun, hopefully they'll leave living like they've been with the Son! It will take some work - dividing the room up for a kids' ministry as well as sanctuary area and foyer.

It's a 1,500 sq ft building that is in a prime location in the city. It's right in the middle of the city, 2 1/2 miles from the University, 3 1/2 miles from Starbucks, and down the street from a State Park. It also happens to be right across the street from the two buildings I want to buy next year for a huge sanctuary and youth room/skate park, but maybe I should stick to one big financial investment at a time. The price and location of this building literally can't be beat. God has come through again as we knew He would!

Thanks for all the prayers and support. It's so great to finally be in a building. If it weren't for the financial and prayerful support of so many of you, there would be no way we could do this. I believe God has bigger plans than we think He has for this place!

And, speaking of financial support, as soon as we receive our incorporation letters from the state, we'll have a bank account up and going as well as online giving. Be looking for that if you're interested in being a financial part of what God is doing here in Clarksville.

Here's a peek at the back of the building:

Nice big parking lot that we'll have all to ourselves Saturday nights (and eventually Sunday mornings if we expand):

Here's a sketchy pic inside the building. As you can see, it'll take some work, but that's part of the fun. Oh, and another great part about this building is that it comes with the artificial walls! Great for building a classroom!

Here's a a front view from the parking lot. I'm currently looking into the cost of replacing the "Tropical Tanz" sign with our own.

Stay tuned here for more info and pictures in the next month or so of how the work is progressing. The structural renovation starts August 18 and the soul renovation starts September 19!

Building (in more ways than one)

When it comes to Awaken Church and the ministry out here in Clarksville, Tennessee, things are building. Let me share the 3 types of "building" that I'm talking about...

The congregation is building...
We're so glad to have finally met some friends out here in Clarksville! As awesome as it is having Nate, Jenn, and Denver here with us, having some new faces around has been very refreshing too! We've met 2 couples so far that are excited about being a part of Awaken and are helping us get the word out about our outreaches and the church.

A physical building...
Tomorrow, Jenn and I will meet a guy at a building that's for lease in a great part of town. It's a 1500 sq ft building that he said he'd be willing to work on a price with us on. He sounds pretty desperate to get someone in there since it's been just sitting there for a couple months since the last tenant moved out. We're hoping to get a screamin' deal on the place. Pray that that meeting goes well and if this is the building that Awaken Church will begin in, the doors will swing wide open.

Excitement is building...
Saturday marks 9 weeks till our first church service on Saturday, September 19, and Sunday is the 2-month mark. We're loving the UNIGHT outreaches (we've only done 1 so far), but we can't wait to be in a place and be holding church services weekly! The excitement and anticipation builds daily as we anticipate beginning the reason that we came out here. As I heard from the Pastor of Calvary Brentwood, "Enjoy each and every step along the way" of a church plant. Very true.

It's been great and we can't wait to see what's just around the corner. Stay tuned to awakenchurch.org for building updates, UNIGHT pictures, and much more!