Dear People who Keep Company with God,
Below is a letter from the Architect that I read in the first service Sunday. I wanted to share it with you as it is very meaningful to me, in fact I cried when I first read it. I believe this letter testifies to the “The Father’s House” vision being born in the heart of the Father. As soon as we receive the phase 1 document from Jeff we will share them with you. Lastly, I am reminded of something Hudson Taylor said, “God’s work done God’s way never lacks God’s supply”. As we move forward we are seeking God’s wisdom each step of the way and I know He gives wisdom when we ask Him with a sincere heart. Please pray and ask God to speak to you as to how we should proceed.
Many Blessings, BW
“Pastor,
I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know how much I enjoyed the charette this week. It was a long time coming but in my opinion at least, it was worth the wait.
I’ve never felt as appreciated as I was by you and your committee. We always open our meetings with prayer but I can honestly say that I can’t remember the last time I was personally the subject of the prayer and I have never had the experience of having a bunch of guys laying hands on you and praying for your personal safety, health and prosperity. I was very touched. (and not just by you guys).
As I said, I now have a new understanding of how we at BGW can be ‘successfull’ in our work. I used to define success as efforts that result in a building being built and that anything less was failure. For this reason, I fully expected for you guys to send me home after the first night, the results of the financial analysis were so far below where we had hoped they would be and construction seemed so far out. Please express my appreciation to Andy for igniting the fire that got us all to continue the efforts of the next two nights. I now understand that we can be successful when we help our clients to define their corporate vision and establish a common goal to work towards. I know you will eventually build the Father’s House and that the efforts of the past couple of days were critical first steps in moving us toward that goal. I count this charette a success.
Lastly, I’d like to share with you something of a more personal note. When I read your vision statement for Father’s House, I was touched by the scripture verses from John 14. My father passed away a year ago this past August 24 and while he was very active in his church in his later years, as a child I remember being sent to church on the bus on Sunday morning but can never remember my Dad or Mom going to church with us. Due to my responsibilities at BGW, I was able to visit my Dad about once a month for the last year or more of his time on this earth and I thank God for that time. We mostly sat in his living room, looking out the window but on one occasion, he told me about the scripture verse he had read the night before and as you might guess it was John 14: 1-3. I remember my Dad being impressed and even excited by the thought that our Father has a house in heaven with many, wonderful rooms, enough for all of us to have one and that Jesus himself was there, getting it ready for us.
I was able to be with my Dad when he passed away and I remember being at his bedside, thinking of this, one of the only ‘deep’ conversations I ever had with my Dad and I took tremendous comfort in reliving those moments and knowing that my Dad was soon to see the room that his Father had prepared for him. How happy he must have been to get there, see the room and run through the grass, up the front lawn. (My Dad from a number of problems with his lungs and hadn’t run for years, despite having been quite an athlete in his younger years.)
Well, I don’t know why I felt led to share all of this with you except to say that this whole week has served to strengthen me personally and my own connection to what you are trying to do at RiverLife. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you guys move this project along and rest assured I will do everything in my power to get the Phase 1 documents done quickly and to a high level of quality so that you can use the results to get things going.
Thanks again for a great week and I look forward to working with you guys now and in the future.
Jeff Forrest, Architect