#catalystcares

[planterwife-blog]

NEW this week

This week we start our new campaign at Catalyst called 30/30/30. A couple months ago, we began talking about how God could use Catalyst to meet the city's needs, and who He was bringing to Catalyst that could partner with us. Over the past several weeks as we have processed and prayed over our city and our desire to be a church in this city that meets people where they are and lives together in authentic community, this campaign was born. The thought is that we have been praying and are continuing to pray that God brings 30 new people, and 30 new financial partners to Catalyst over the next 30 days. We are looking toward this next month with excitement and anticipation as we know that our God has already done great things through Catalyst and is bringing people to our church that also desire to live authentically with each other. How can you participate? If you live in the San Marcos area, or know someone who does and you do not already have a church home-come check us out. We do not want 30 people who are already involved in other churches. If you do not currently have a church home, if you aren't sure what you believe about God,or if you have been hurt by the church, we would love to have you. If you do not live in San Marcos, or if you do and you already have a church home, please consider partnering with us financially. You can make a recurring donation-or you can give a special gift on our webpage. Because the people we are asking to join Catalyst are mostly people who are not currently familiar with church or how churches become self sufficient, most of them do not give.. and we are ok with that for now. If you are interested in partnering with us, or in finding out more about what we are doing in our community-including our #sandiegofirerelief efforts, just visit our webpage at http://wearecatalyst.org/303030-3/. We would love for you to become part of the Catalyst story!

[planterwife-blog]

The unexpected

This morning at our special service and breakfast, I personally experienced the unexpected. One of the groups that came to our service was from a local group that believes in Psychics, Mediums, and Wicca. This particular lady was not too thrilled that our church was the one hosting this mornings event. She proceeded to become angry, yell and accuse our church of manipulating the fire "victims." As I did my best to explain that this was the farthest thing from the truth, it became clear that this lady, along with many of the other followers, had lost their homes in the fire. Their center had 11 of 12 houses burned, but because of the center owning the houses, there was very little support available to this group of people. A few minutes later another lady from the same group literally pulled me aside (physically) and attempted to apologize for the previous lady and the anger. I told her that I there was nothing to worry about-stresses are high and it has been a long difficult week. The second lady was very upset, and through tears expressed her gratitude for what our church was doing. I did my best to calm her down and let her know that regardless of how we had been treated, Catalyst was here to help. My hope is that somehow God uses this loss to show His truth to this group of people. I hope and pray that somehow our church can be the first church that is shows God's love and kindness to people who assumed we would be angry. This morning, I experienced the unexpected. I pray that through this experience and others like it, God is glorified.

[planterwife-blog]

Hope after the fire

Two nights ago, the marine layer returned. This is the fog that rolls in each night from the ocean and cools our temps as well as brings moisture. This time though, the marine layer also brought hope. Our big fire, named by the media as the Cocos fire, is now 85% contained-although the damage it left will be something our city will take a while to recover from.

This morning our church decided that we would host a breakfast and time of sharing for those affected by the fires. Our hope was that through the sharing of stories, we could see that no one is in this alone. We heard stories from people who lost everything. We heard stories of people who live in our development so they chose to spend every waking moment of this crisis at the shelter helping those who were displaced. We heard stories of those who were displaced for days, and unable to work because their job was in an evacuation zone-and now they are wondering how they will make ends meet. Stories of anxiety, stories of fear, stories of exhaustion, and then-a story of hope.

As San Marcos takes steps to move past the fire, there are some things that will return to normal more quickly than others. Schools resume tomorrow. Roads are now open. Many businesses are reopening in the morning. But, some things will take longer to process. Some families will never get to go back to the house they left. Other families are dealing with the lack of a week’s pay, or having to replace all their groceries that spoiled while the power was out. Other families are trying to help their kids find healing-and the strength to overcome their fear.

We truly appreciate your prayers, support and encouragement over the last week. Please continue to lift us up as the process of healing and hope continue here in San Marcos.

[planterwife-blog]

Reflections from the airport

I cannot fully explain what it feels like to watch your city on national news burning. I cannot put into words the depth of emotion it is for me as I hear the stories from friends, teachers, and church members that have been evacuated and are closely watching the fire maps to see if their neighborhood, their home is still there. There are no words to express my gratitude for the countless men and women who have literally put themselves in the line of the fire to protect our community. My heart is overwhelmed.

We first heard of San Marcos, CA about 18 months ago. I can honestly say that before that time I don’t think I ever knew it existed. We knew where Carlsbad and Escondido were as we had been there on different family vacations, but San Marcos-the city between-usually goes unnoticed. We do not have an amusement park, nor do we have a huge population. But the first time our family visited San Marcos is Sept of 2012, we felt at home. We prayed over this city for months before deciding that this is where we would move. We have spent over a year getting to know the people, and getting involved. We are so passionate about our city that we have shared our vision with others who either have already moved with us or would like to.

So, for me-for my family, San Marcos is more than just a place we live. San Marcos is our home. The last eight and a half months I wake up each day thankful that God orchestrated our story to move here. I wake up thankful for the people, for the parks, for the hills, for our city. The last few days, honestly I have not slept. My heart is breaking for a family I know who saw their neighborhood on the news-houses going up in flames-and each time the camera pans, they look to see if their house was one of them. My heart aches for the family we know whose house was spared, but 3 blocks from them there is utter destruction. I want to DO something for the countless families that are displaced (40k people in total as I write this) with children who are wondering why they can’t go home or play with their toys. Some of these friends have not been in their own homes since Wednesday afternoon.

How do you explain this to a child? How do you give them hope? How can we meet the needs the Red Cross doesn’t? These are the questions we are wrestling with right now. These are the things we are trying to process through. The reality is that for many of the people whose lives are being impacted and changed through these fires, there is very little to no hope. I have been reading posts from churches who have their doors open for those who want to come and while I am truly thankful they have opened their doors, shouldn’t the church GO to the people? Shouldn’t we who know hope, share it?

I have been blown away by the people in our church the last few days. We knew when we hired our children’s lead that she was something pretty incredible, but we were even surprised by the lengths to which she has gone to show our city the hope of Jesus. She has been displaced because of the fires. Her entire family (including her 2 young children) have been staying with friends, while she is at the shelter handing out popscicles, toys, water and hope.

I was blown away by our volunteer lead worshipper who took off work early yesterday to show up at the shelter and lead a time of worship for those who have been evacuated. He has only been with Catalyst for a few weeks, but I am so very thankful that God placed him on our team at just the right time.

We have attenders who were messaging me all day wondering how they can help, stuck at home because of road closures. And we have members who battled traffic to hang out and pray with people all day.

In the midst of the fires, God is working. In the middle of the chaos, the brokenness, He is healing. In the dark places, there is hope. My prayer is that our team (and when we land, us too) will be able to effectively meet the needs that are in front of us in the name and love of Jesus. We spent the last few days at a training talking about the WHY of church planting: bringing the hope of Jesus to a broken world. Now, we get to do that.

[planterwife-blog]

My son took this picture on our way home tonight from my parents house. He was so excited that even through the thick, immense smoke, you could see the sun! We arrived back in SM today, and the fire seems to be calming down. It is now 10% contained, and while there is still obvious fire damage and fire lines, I did not witness the firenados that were there yesterday. As the weather begins to cool, I look forward to our city getting to go home, assess the damage and rebuild. Keep us in your prayers.