June 2006 seems like a long time ago. I’ve had two kids since then. And moved to another county. Then I was 25; now I’m 28. 28 seems much older. In June 2006, The Vine was an idea. A concept. A vision. A burden for specific people in a specific community that seemed rural and undeveloped. Everything definitive about the organization was contained in a 5 page Word document. But the prospects were huge. I knew without a doubt that the vision in David’s heart was God-inspired, and I couldn’t believe I was getting the chance to be a part of it. Everything was surreal.

I remember being nervous about pre-launch meetings…would anyone come? What would they be like? I remember literally praying that God would send computer-savvy people to be on our team, and that (in my introvertedness) I’d meet them…and lo and behold, Kris Jones showed up at the first meeting (thank you, Jesus.)

I remember our first Christmas Eve service in December ’06, an attempt to turn a fish-camp-looking golf pavilion into a worship center. Let’s just say we tried really hard. We had a really cool video that was half of the message…great idea until we lost power in half of the building. Lights out. Projector out. Everyone turning awkwardly to look at one projector across the room. Our first “real” service on Easter ’07 wasn’t much better, from a technical standpoint. We weren’t set up until the very last minute so the band hardly ever practiced, and we had major video issues…again. But somehow I managed to not pull my hair out and continued to learn…because I believed in the vision. I believed in the vision when I hauled our 50-pound Mac Pro and cumbersome 20” flat screen all the way from Loganville, every week. I believed in the vision when I had to schedule different worship leaders and an entire band every week for 3 months before we found Gregg. I believed in the vision when we stacked 900 bazillion chairs in the black box, week after week. I believed in the vision when we no longer fit, and had to scramble to come up with a plan for overflow. I believed in the vision when we decided to have a family Easter festival the day before Easter, and 1,000 people showed up. That was one busy weekend. We believed in the vision enough to sell our house and move our kids to Braselton. I believed in the vision enough to leave my secular job – which I loved – and risk moving to a new job, just to be closer to Braselton. I believe in the vision enough to use all of my “free” time to make sure Sunday mornings are as excellent as possible. Sometimes I believe in the vision to the point of tears. And though the vision is about people, and a church is not a facility but a group of people, something about opening a facility felt like fulfillment of a dream. Not that we’ve arrived – nor will we ever – but it’s a great next step. It will enable us to take more next steps. It will enable us to reach more people, and become a hub for ministry throughout the community. It remains surreal. And when I look back on the nights I’ve questioned everything, and wondered why I was here and if it was all worth it – I know that it was. And it continues to be. Every life that is redeemed and restored – every person who lives in freedom – makes it worth it. Every single life that is changed because they enter into a relationship with Jesus makes it worth it, over and over again. Salvation never gets less exciting!

And though it would seem that our fun new equipment and nice chairs in the new worship center are most exciting to me, they are not. I’m most excited for our children. As I lay awake Saturday night, all I could think about was the likelihood that our children will meet Jesus in this place. Each Sunday they’ll learn about Him there, and worship him corporately there. The Kidzu worship room is my favorite place in the entire facility, because the kids get to sing and dance and worship, and be EXCITED about Jesus! I’m so thankful that our kids have a place to learn and grow and have fun under the leadership of adults who love Jesus. I couldn’t believe what I saw when I visited Kidzu Worship on Sunday – the atmosphere was electric and the Spirit was so clearly present – and I am thankful. Thankful for a place where we can fill people up and send them out into a hurting world to be Jesus for people…to be the church as it was intended…and gather on the weekends to celebrate who God is and all that He has done.

Praying that the name of Jesus is always lifted high, above all other things,
Rebecca