The Lease Has Been Signed!!

After 4 months of negotiations - today we signed a long-term lease with Minnesota School of Business for 20,000 square feet of mall space.  Signing this lease will allow us to move full steam ahead with our building campaign and plans for construction.  This step is HUGE!  Still ahead is having a successful building campaign and getting the construction loan.

This 20,000 square feet will be enough for our auditorium, coffee shop, children's center, student center, administrative offices, and a large commons area.  This new facility will allow us to expand ministry beyond what we can even imagine.  There are going to be so many people who will come to know Christ in these walls.  I went for a brief walk through the empty shell and just thought of the people and envisioned all the kids and teens and adults that will be giving life to this space.  I am so there!

How do I feel?  If there was a word to describe being scared, totally pumped, contemplative, and feelings of utterly helplessness - THAT is how I am feeling right now.  It is easy to draw up a site layout.  It is easy to negotiate.  It is easy to organize teams and plan a building campaign - but it becomes very serious when a signature is given that sets in motion plans for this church that could stretch out over the next 30 years.  The implications of signing this lease go beyond my lifetime.

This is so much bigger than I am.  If God doesn't show up, we are doomed to fail.

(And I don't know if God is just messin' with my mind or what, but as I walked out of my office after signing the lease, there on Patti's desk was a brochure someone had dropped in called "Gamblers Relief".)