KAVANAUGH UPDATE

I was born into ministry. My father, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, began his ministry in his early 20’s and is still going at it today. I can remember going to his office after school…nosing around in all that he had going on. I looked through Bible studies. But not just the member book but the leader guide. I always thought the leader guide suited me. ;) I watched everything from how he laid out a newsletter (at that time is was the scissors and glue method) to how he produced a musical. It’s all in my DNA.

Fast forward *ahem* many years to my first full time ministry job as an assistant. Steve was my boss and assimilation was our main focus. Before this point in my life I had never even heard the word assimilation. I learned a lot from Steve about this big word with a simple mission: helping people plug into a church. I watched at Steve built relationships with people out of genuine care and concern. Then, he integrated them into the lives of other solid members…resulting in relationships being built. Other natural steps in the process followed that…connection to Sunday school classes, service areas and ultimately to the church body. He was a natural.

My second boss at the same church was Stephen. I have volumes of notebooks containing what I learned from him but one thing has become part of my nature. No one could tell Stephen that something couldn’t be done. “It’s not possible” was never a phrase that existed in his vocabulary. While this started out as a huge frustration for me, ultimately, I bought into that mindset...and it’s one I live by. If God has put a dream in your heart…no matter how big or impossible it seems…He will make it happen. Stephen also taught me to dream BIG. It doesn’t take a lot of “guts” to be status quo…but when you want to be someone who shakes the status quo for the cause of Christ, dreaming big is a necessity. (By the way…so are “guts”) ;)

Fast forward again to September ’09. I remember calling my friend, Tracy, one afternoon to share my heart. I ended the conversation with this statement: “Tracy, mark my words…God is about to shake up the Kavanaughs. I don’t know specifics but I know its coming.” There were a few events that occurred after that conversation that gave me a small peak into what the shake up was going to be and in November God made it crystal clear – He was calling me to another church to oversee Assimilation, Prayer Ministry (also a previous area I worked in with a church body that is characterized by their discipline in intercession) and Women’s Ministry (God changed this woman’s heart and I’ve has a passion for helping women grow ever since). God had taken my passions and training and compiled them into one position. I was floored. I was blessed.

I’ve been on the job since January 1 and all I can say is it has been one wild and crazy ride so far! We have kicked off our prayer ministry. We are in the process of building the framework for assimilation. We are kicking off small groups AND the women’s ministry in just a few short weeks. My heart is FULL!!!!

Allow me one more paragraph or two to tell about our small groups. We will have three main groups: Men, Women and one group that fits everyone. Out of each of these main groups we will created 4 or 5 missional subgroups whose main purpose is to do missions in our community. We want to shake this city up with the love of Christ by living out authentic, godly lives. This means we must grow in the Word and serve. Small groups accomplishes both!
So, if you do not have a church home…you are officially invited to Greenbriar Church. If you are a woman who is seeking to connect with other Christian women through Bible study and service…join me on March 24 as we kick off Transformed…Greenbriar Women.

Thanks for allowing me to tell my story and where we are as a family. By the way, Scott Kavanaugh is in his zone as well. He is now the Service Production Director which means he is responsible for making sure everything goes well for services. Now, those who really know him will know this is his sweet spot. I'm glad he has found his sweet spot in ministry! I love him tremendously! :)

CONVICTION

Greenbriar Church staff meetings. There really is no way to describe them. I am the only female in a room full of males. Needless to say, things can become pretty comical! (And most of the time they are laughing but I’m clueless.) I love our time together for many reasons…obviously, laughter is one of them. Another reason is that my family “does life” with these guys and their families…that results in a special bond that doesn’t always happen among church staff. We care for one another. We encourage one another. We teach one another. We hold each other accountable.

Which brings me to today’s staff meeting. Johnny, our College Minister, brought the devotional. To sum it all up it was about the necessity of abiding in Jesus Christ (the Vine) and bearing our own fruit instead of living on the fruit that someone else gets from abiding in Him. The main way we depend on the fruit of others to satisfy us is in the area of Bible study. So often we hear a sermon or lesson that someone else has prepared and we try to live off that instead of going to the Word on our own to see what God has specifically for us. Johnny gave everyone an index card and instructed us to begin writing all of the scriptures we knew…verbatim, with references. Talk about convicting!!!! My poor, pathetic card!

I can find any scripture in the Bible that I need. I’m not talking about going to the concordance. I mean that I know the vicinity of what I’m looking for and can dig for it. BUT, that is not good enough!!!! As we were talking about Johnny’s challenge, I recalled all of the times I have wondered what would happen if the Bible was outlawed in America. What if I had no tangible copy in my hand? I shudder to think about it.

Needless to say, today, I have been convicted. And, today, I must begin doing something about it. My plan? I am adding daily scripture memorization to my Personal Growth Plan. I am beginning tomorrow with the book of James. My goal is to really get it into my heart…not just my head. Anyone up for the challenge?