At the new church site, they told us they would be working on the dirt for about a month before it was ready for concrete. I balked. A month to work on dirt? Then we got the price on what it would cost to work on the dirt for a month. I balked again. Why is the contractor going to devote that much time and money to dirt? I want to drive out there and see concrete slab poured with metal beams lifting skyward. I want to see very tangible progress being made. I don’t want to see dirt moved around for a month.

In my life of following Jesus, I am the same way. I don’t want to do the little things like daily prayer, reading God’s Word, obeying Him in all the small opportunities He brings my way. I want to preach to a stadium full of people who will give their lives to the One who gave His life for them. I want to pray for a person who is stricken with a deadly disease and have them healed before my eyes. I want to have a sea split apart at my voice and allow me to pass through it on dry ground. I want something tangible and big.

Just like this church building, our lives of following Christ have to have a solid foundation. They spend time and money on the foundation because they know that it is central to the church’s structural health. It got me thinking about how much (or little) time and energy I spend on my foundation with Christ. When I think about it in these terms, spending time praying while I commute and taking little opportunities as I wait in waiting rooms to read my Bible seem like really wise investments. Most likely I will never preach to a stadium full of people or have someone touch my cloak and be healed, but I don’t have to do those things. What is important, is that my life is built on a strong foundation; and that doesn’t come by accident. It takes purposeful expenditure of time and energy. While the contractors build a strong foundation for our church building, let’s purpose to spend time and energy building a strong foundation for our church body. It’s got to be more enjoyable than moving dirt around for a month.

At that moment, I was ready to shout a hearty, “Amen!”. After Unflood arrived and I was able to sit down, I thought about our current church building and the new one we are building. Water heater problems, AC problems, toilet problems, light problems, RO problems, flooding problems, the tiles have to be stripped and waxed regularly and still only look good for about two weeks after going through the labor-intensive process to make them look new.

But the truth is that we will have many of these same problems at the new church building and some brand new ones to deal with. So why are we moving? Why are we doing this new building project? Is it simply a matter of bigger, better, newer?

Let me answer this by sharing a common experience. Have you ever gone looking for a house? You drive around and stop at several houses, looking at the outside and the inside, and then you make a decision; does this house fit? Some houses just fit who we are and the way we do life while most others do not. Obviously, you can make any house work, but there are those few houses that when you walk in them you feel . . . home. The kitchen is the right size and shape and feels very open. Living room is a good size and in the right place. Dining room has been converted to a small office (who needs a dining room anyway?). Bedrooms are the right sizes and in the right positions (master bedroom on one side of the house, kid bedrooms on the OTHER side of the house). Laundry room isn’t great but is adequate. The house even comes with a small workshop for a flyrod or pipe building setup. It fits who you are as a family and the way you do life.

That is why we are building a new church. We have made our current one work and it has been a great home, but it doesn’t fit us anymore. I look at the plans and think back to all the time and effort we put into creating these plans and I think, “This fits.” Adult classes are the right size and are all in the same area. Kids classes are all together and they have an auditorium for meeting together as a group (children’s church, AWANA council time, fellowship time). The nursery is bigger and will keep similar ages together with bathrooms easily accessible for potty training as they grow. The fellowship plaza (AKA foyer) is big and has places to sit and tables to set your coffee on as you mingle to make it easy for us to do life together. And the auditorium is beautiful. Fixed seats so we don’t have to worry about rows getting shifted and moved. A center aisle for . . . big occasions. A room designed for live sound so we can actually do church and have it sound good. Beautiful wood and natural lighting to enhance the atmosphere of the service.

So, we are building a new church not because of bigger, better, newer. We are building because it fits who we are and the way we do life. It is home.

Not unlike how I feel after 3 years on the building committee. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great group of guys and I love serving alongside them; learning from them, growing with them and all of us working together to obtain the end result of a new building to worship God and serve Him in. But the truth is we have been dealing with a mesquite tree. Wanting to move from concept and design to real, tangible architecture. Having to deal with a design that, everytime we thought it was complete, always had a knack for coming back to us out of budget. Enduring the stinging pain of having to make hard decisions and hard cuts in order to get the building back in budget.

Look again at the picture. See beyond the mesquite tree? See that structure sitting on a leveled piece of land? That is the main headquarters for the construction superintendent, project manager and our very own project manager, Tom Beard. Still out of focus, but if we could get that mesquite tree out of the way it would be clear as day. And come February, the mesquite tree is out of the way and we move from concept and design, to real, tangible architecture. Keep track of the progress by joining us here or just north of Midland Classical Academy on Whitman Drive.

Please join us as we celebrate what God is doing at MBC!

The day will look like this:

The Worship Service will be at MBC, as is normal, as well as the time of Fellowship & Coffee. (If you know anything about MBC, you know we love hanging out and visiting, and coffee!) The Celebration & Ground Breaking will be at the New Building location.

Here are some things to make note of:

- New Building Address – The address is 5900 Whitman Dr., but you’ll notice that places like Google Maps seem to say that’s where MCA is. It seems to have not caught up with the new development yet. So, keep in mind that our New Building location is just North of MCA. And, please, keep in mind that the first part of the morning is at the current MBC facility.

- Parking – Please consider parking at MCA (located just South of the New Building location) and walking. Currently, the only place to park at the new location is on the curb. We want to be considerate to our future neighbors and try to limit how much of their street we take up for this Celebration Service. If, however, you need to park closer (handicap, elderly, etc.), you are welcome to do so.