Love is work. To love a city, a people, a church community, well, it takes thought, action, and determination. It comes with failure and fatigue. It wears you out and gives you grays. {Okay, so the grays are a personal testimony}. Nonetheless, if you are expressing love in action to the people in your zip code and the folks sitting in the same worship space, you can testify with me…love is work. I spent 18 months researching the place we were soon to call home. Then when we moved, I spent the first 31 days intentionally learning the ins and outs. The city got the best of me and the worst of me. But my three kids and myself came out with laughter and tears, parking tickets, and some new friends. Those who labor to love might have their doubts and certainly their moments in the process, but those who labor to love never have regrets. For every labor of love born of a pure heart reaps eternal rewards. The love that God put in your heart that only comes from Him is intended to be given away. For the Scriptures tell us that we will lose it anyway if we don’t give it away. And many of us busy ourselves with everything else under the sun because love just takes too much out of us. However, God so loved us and designed love to indeed take work, but He supernaturally heaps rewards that far outnumber the hours and sweat we put into love.
So how will you and I love our city, our people, and our church community in 2015?
We all love a good plan at the beginning of a year! Have I got a plan for you! One that is sure to grow your love for where you live and those who live around you. While I can guarantee adventure and new relationships, the heart that goes in it is entirely up to you! Live Sent – 31 Days in the City was compiled and lived out in our first 31 days in San Francisco, where we moved to plant a church and engage in a culture far different from what we had known. It’s a planned adventure for how we met our neighbors and experienced with a diverse culture and began opening our home to others. Every chapter is a day and every day is a leap of courage. The book is filled with my personal journal entries and the stories of struggle and deep joy. You can literally use this as a guide in a month when the kids are on summer vacation or spread it out over the course of a few months. Take your top 7 and make a stay-cation out of it. The possibilities are limitless.
I believe this to be true: the most alert you will ever be to your town or city is right when you arrive. And call it a ‘move‘ if you must, but by the end of these 31 days, I hope you see it as ‘sent.’ It takes us humans time to figure out why God does what He does. For us stubborn ones, we might not figure it out this side of heaven. That’s where perspective comes in. Sent is a move with purpose. This is the perspective I want you to see. The job, the family circumstances, the opportunity, the fill-in-the-blank, that has uprooted you and plopped you down again, has purpose. Your new zip code. New address. New neighbors. New surroundings. They matter in perspective. – Excerpt from Live Sent – 31 Days in the City
Here’s the exciting part. SEND Network believes in this concept and in seeing ministry families and Gospel-centered families thrive in the places we call home. They are gifting this book as a resource to you for FREE! You can download it at www.sendnetwork.com. It released January 13, 2015. But wait, there’s more! Want more than 31 days? Live Sent extended version is on sale at www.shaunapilgreen.com for a low price beginning January 13! Get more of an insider’s view into how this can be lived out and be the first to receive future templates and ideas. Over 10 additional chapters with highly practical and useful ideas for Live Sent:
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31 Days of Prayer
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Craft ideas and Recipes
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Templates for neighbor gatherings
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Family structures and Celebrations
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Practical ways to invest in school
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Teaching lesson called, God of the City
I’m a sojourner with you on this earth to live sent for His purpose and Kingdom. Just as the rope was extended to me, I boldly and excitedly extend it to you. Whatever coast, mountain, farmland, valley, or dessert you are in. Whatever zip code that is now assigned you. Whatever color the sky. Whatever challenges and adventures await. — Excerpt from Live Sent – 31 Days in the City
To you, the new ones to your town or city…may God grant you the courage to explore. To embrace a new culture, a new process on how things operate, a new community. To you, the ones who are comfortable where you live…may God give you a fresh new look at your surroundings. What’s that part of town that still needs your footprints? Excerpt from Live Sent – 31 Days in the City
What are other resources that encourage you to live sent?
Published January 16, 2015
