I've been in Orange County for one full week now and am still getting acclimated to this west coast culture...I'm lovin' it!  The crew at Mariners Church have welcomed me in as one of their own, and this past weekend I decided to attend their Sunday night service.  Kyle Zimmerman, the official director of all things awesome :), told me that they were going to have a special time of worship in their new chapel that is currently under construction even as I write this. 

I wasn't ready for how the Lord used this special worship time to speaks words of hope and truth...as I was standing in the back corner of the chapel I slowly realized that what i saw before me was a glimpse of what the Lord has been, and is, doing IN me.  This is what I wrote when i got home Sunday night:

The Chapel, My Heart

"The foundation has been laid, the framework is established, the ground around it is tilled and mounds of dirt wait to be evened across this landscape of construction.  It is not what will be.  I've been told of the plans, they are amazing.  But standing in the middle of it all I see is a chaotic disarray of the construction process...hints of what will be dominated by the immediate reality of all that remains to be done.  Yet, even in the lack of completion there is beauty...not just in the hope of what is to come, but in the unfolding of what is becoming new.  And so His promise, once again, comes crashing on the shore of hope, 'that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus!"  It is not, but soon will be...the chapel, my heart."

The New Mariners Chapel

More from the OC soon...Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

LV