Love can be a very difficult path to navigate…

Most people are familiar with 1 Corinthians 13.  It is one of the most quoted and shared passages in all of scripture and you hear it at tons of special events where “love” is celebrated.  When this passage is read at these events, it gives everyone a “feel good” moment.  Over the past month I’ve been living in this passage and it has left me feeling anything but the warm fuzzies :o)

1 Corinthians describes love in a way that is completely self-yielding to everyone around it.  Love is described as ACTION, not just an emotion, and it is the ultimate example of the life of Christ living inside of us.  This is really hard but I love how The Message describes love beginning with verse 4:

q  Love never gives up. q  Love cares more for others than for self. q  Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. q  Love doesn't strut, q  Doesn't have a swelled head, q  Doesn't force itself on others, q  Isn't always "me first," q  Doesn't fly off the handle, q  Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, q  Doesn't revel when others grovel, q  Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, q  Puts up with anything, q  Trusts God always, q  Always looks for the best, q  Never looks back, q  But keeps going to the end.

I’m sure you noticed that I wrote the passage as a checklist.  That’s how I’ve been living this passage over the last month as I’ve had to come face to face with asking myself am I truly filled with love as these verses describe.  Honestly speaking, I can check some of them and some of them I’ve had to leave open as I’m praying that I’ll understand how to love as these beautiful verses detail!

Let me describe what I mean…I’m relatively successful in “always looks for the best”.  I’ve tried to look through whatever facade people present and look for the treasure in which they are, because we all are treasures, uniquely crafted by the ULTIMATE Creator.  However, I’m horrible at “never looks back”!  I’m constantly looking back and trying to remember what happened, remember what was said, remember, remember, remember, etc. trying to figure life out.  It makes me lose my mind on some days!  But this passage gives me the idea that Paul was saying real love, God’s love, accepts life for what it is and keeps marching forward, living without regret!  Is he saying to do this with your own dedicated will?  Of course not, because no one possesses enough will to keep moving forward in the face of regret.  It is only with God's love, living in us, can we be successful... 

The Children’s Ministries Leadership Team recently presented me with a gorgeous canvas of all the kids’ hand prints.  I love it for many reasons!  I love it because it symbolizes TEN years of ministry to kids at Forest Park Church but also because they included my favorite scripture on the canvas, Philippians 3:12-14:

"I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made.  But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me.  Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus.  I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back."

My heart is pointed in the right direction, JESUS.  I’ve just got to remember to look forward and not look back!  How many checks do you have on your “love list”?

Until next time,
Lana

What a month we’ve lived both in Household Neal and Team Forest Park Church! 

109 people left the USA, traveling to Ecuador, South America and 98% of them were from FPC so it left quite the gap in our Elizabeth City.  Scott and I are SO THANKFUL for those of our FPC family who jumped in here at home to make Sunday happen and our ministries continue.  It was also quite the sacrifice for our Camryn, too, as ALL of her family left the country, without HER.  Our kids have to be rising 9^th graders to go with us to Ecuador so she still has one more year, bless her!

This was our 10^th anniversary in taking teams to Ecuador for Global Outreach and it was our largest team, to date!  Pastor Mendoza has challenged us to have 200 with us next Summer so we will see :o) but trusting 2012 to be exactly what God would have it be with whoever needs to be with us.  It was really difficult to leave Ecuador this year.  I think it was due to the fact that we accomplished so much while we were there in all of our Outreach Areas: Construction, Medical, School Assembly and our One Night Street Crusade was the largest we’ve had.  It just felt like that we weren't finished!  We are planning to go into an area next Summer where missionaries have not traveled so I am SUPER excited about a crusade in those streets!

We carry Ecuador in our hearts throughout the year and I love seeing how it impacts new missionaries when they arrive back home.  They begin to see their world with new, fresh eyes and, I dare say, a little more with the compassion of Christ.  It reminds me of this, one of my all-time favorite scriptures: 

Matthew 9:35-38 (Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages.  He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives.  When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke.  So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd.  "What a huge harvest!"  He said to his disciples.  "How few workers!  On your knees and pray for harvest hands!") The Message

Ecuador 2011 Recap VIDEO!

My prayer for my family, my friends and my church is that our hearts would all break when we look at the towns and villages, both here at home and when we travel the world, at their need for a Shepherd and commit to be those harvest hands!

Until next time,

Lana

Commit – Ecuador 2011 - It calls my name!

Commit is defined as “to pledge oneself to a position on an issue.”  This is the word that keeps coming to me today as we prepare to journey with Forest Park Church on our Summer Outreach Trip to Guayaquil, Ecuador.  Our Leadership Team leaves tomorrow from RDU and we have (3) more Teams departing both Friday and Saturday.  We have people traveling from NC, Texas, California and Alabama, all “pledging to a position on an issue.”

What is the issue that we’ve all pledged to?  It is to make the name of Jesus famous all over the world.  Jesus doesn’t call us to make people followers of a person, a church – even our church, a denomination or religious practice.  He calls us to make DISCIPLES of Him!  This is exactly what Jesus spoke to those who were following His teachings in Matthew 28:19 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…”  From this verse we see that He also says go into the places that are different from your own hometown – the nations.  Scott said in Sunday in his message, “God is not white…sorry to disappoint if you though He was!”  God has called us to make disciples of ALL PEOPLE regardless of nationality!

For 10 years, Scott and I have publically broadcasted at FPC that we should “pledge a position on the issue” of Global Outreach!  Over the last 10 years we’ve taken hundreds of people on this journey of a lifetime and this Summer is no different.  I’m honored to be apart of the 108 who will be traveling with us to make the name of Jesus FAMOUS in Guayaquil, Ecuador!

Please pray for safety, courage and the ability to recognize every ministry opportunity that comes our way.

Until next time,

Lana

VBS + FPC = Life-change for everyone who experienced it!

To say that PandaMania was a success is the ultimate understatement.  If you’re confused, PandaMania was our Vacation Bible School event that was conducted at Forest Park Church last week.  We knew that we were going to have a great group of kids because of the record number of pre-registered kids but we were completely blown away by an attendance of more than 350 people each night with kids and volunteers.  Our Auditorium only seats 200 – do the math :o)

So, as I’m a dedicated student of leadership, here are my “take-aways” from leading this type of event:

1. Any event will only be as successful as volunteer buy-in.  If you want any project or event to be produced with passion and excellence, you – as leader – must understand how to empower your volunteer team to be as passionate and committed to pulling it off with excellence, as you are!  PandaMania was incredible because the volunteers believed it was an incredible.
2. There can NEVER be enough emphasis placed on organization.  I sometimes feel that my commitment to organizing everything can be over the top.  However, when you have almost 400 people crammed into a building that is not nearly large enough and you have children, ages 2 – 18, in every square inch of that space, you better be organized in order to keep everyone safe and your volunteers from losing their minds!
3. My leadership mantra has always been, “I’ll never ask you to do something that I haven’t done or that I’m not willing to do.”  It may seem simple to say something like this but if you’re not willing to live it, don’t even bother trying to lead.  Seriously, don’t do it to yourself or those that you’re asking to follow you.  Integrity is key and volunteers will only give you one chance to blow it.  If they see that they can’t trust you to jump in and serve alongside of them then why should they bother?  I will never lead from an “ivory tower” – I want to be exactly where YOU are, if you’re serving with me!

As many of you have seen on Facebook or on the Forest Park Church website (www.fplive.org) we are recruiting for a Director of Children’s Ministries.  As I walked away from this year’s VBS experience I was keenly aware that this would most likely be the last year for me and I’m okay with that!  I’m certain that God is preparing the perfect person to support the vision and passion of Forest Park Church and take our Children’s Ministries to the next level.  That person must ready to learn, teach, pray and LEAD!

Until next time,

Lana Neal

What are you up to this Summer?!?!

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve even had time to blog so I decided that it was time to jump back in since I’m entering my favorite season of the year:  Leading Forest Park Church’s Vacation Bible School experience and our 10^th trip to Guayaquil, Ecuador!

Just saying those two events in the same sentence is representative of HOURS of preparation and prayer.  My mind is always moving but today I’m feeling so in awe of what God has accomplished over the past 10 years of pastoring FPC and wanted to share some of what I’m thinking…

·         I’m so thankful that God has sent hundreds of volunteers to support our VBS experience and help us to build the faith of kids!  This year we have an all time high number of VBS volunteers – more than 150!  Scott and I were talking about the numerous families that have found us as a result of this one FPC ministry – was it yours?

·         Lisa Meads is one of my all-time heroes!  Lisa leads our Community and Global Outreach Team at FPC and is the person who handles all of the “behind the scenes” stuff that makes Ecuador happen each year.  Over the past 10 years you would not believe all of the ideas I have thrown her way about what I’d like to do and bring to Ecuador and she has done her very best to support my “madness” – including getting more than 500 pairs of shoes there this Summer!  I would never want to do ministry without Lisa.

·         Teri Phthisic is the most creative person I know!  With each new VBS curriculum I only send her an email detailing the theme and she turns FPC into a paradise for children that says, “You are valued!”  They are so important that for one Sunday of every year – it’s all about them – and Teri makes that happen, not me.

·         I love my boss!  Lois has supported my ministry at FPC over the past 7 years while also allowing me to thrive, professionally.  I couldn’t do it without her!

·         Ecuador has been forever impacted by Forest Park Church.  When you take a team into the same city each year, relationships are built that are lasting, effective and can change the course of a community.  I’m so thankful that our AMAZING Pastor, my sweet Scott, shared the vision 10 years ago for this local church to do just that:  create relationships that create change. 

·         I won’t be able to do Ecuador this Summer without acknowledging that our precious Charlie White will not be with us.  Ecuador changed him – made him aware of humanity in a new way.  I challenge each of my 108 missionaries to allow God to change you as it did our Charlie.  Let’s celebrate Ecuador in a new way as we remember that sweet man and love his sweet Holly because she will be right in the middle of Guayaquil with us!

Over the next 6 weeks I hope to blog weekly to keep you informed of what God is doing throughout FPC, throughout Ecuador and throughout the Neal family!  Te quiero :o)

Until next time,

Lana

I need to be BRAVE!

I’m astounded at where God is taking our church, Forest Park Church – that is :o).  www.fplive.org   Yes, we’ve had tremendous growth, people everywhere, no room anywhere and we are doing the proverbial “busting at the seams” thing, but that’s not what I’m talking about.  I am astounded at what God is doing in the hearts and lives of people!

27 of our volunteers and staff attended the Unleash Conference at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC, last week.  I love this conference because it is PERFECT for volunteer staff as they have to take minimal time off work and it is an immensely challenging experience for a 1 – day.  Plus, being the overachievers that Scott and I are, we push to get there early so we can be one of the very few churches NewSpring allows into their student service so our gang can experience that, too!

As we got there “super early” on Thursday to find seats for everyone of our FPC gang to sit at the front of the 2500 seat auditorium that makes up the main auditorium of NewSpring Church, I found myself feeling so in awe of what God can actually do, when you trust.  That local church has grown from 70 to 11,000 in a little over 10 years - astounding – and they really can’t explain HOW it happened.  We, along with 3,000 other people, were attending the conference to hear a little of that story but the staff is very up front about the fact that they really don’t know HOW it happened.  However, what I took away from this Unleash Conference is the fact that we, FOREST PARK CHURCH, need to be brave.  We need to be brave to believe that God wants to impact Elizabeth City just as he impacted Anderson, SC, to create life change.  As God began to grow NewSpring, the leadership had to be brave to borrow money, expand and trust God to create more life change – it has happened!

I shared with a friend yesterday that I’m finding myself at a point in my life of ultimate frustration.  When I walk into the doors at FPC, I always think, “Where are we going to put all these people?  Is everyone going to find a seat today?  I hope no one is going to be standing!  Will there be enough seats back in Adventure Park today?  It goes on and on…”  As my sweet friend reminded me of how far God has brought us over the last few years and that He placed within Scott and me the vision that we have – it hit me WE NEED TO BE BRAVE…I need to be brave to believe that God will complete what He has begun in our ministry at Forest Park Church and it will be what He wants it to be!

At our Community Group last night we talked about what steps that we, individually, need to do, to begin to open our eyes to see hurting people.  As I sat there, listened to each of those people share, I realized that what God has done at FPC is absolutely astounding because lives have been changed.  We need space, we need bathrooms, we need a larger hallway and a bigger auditorium – I know all that – but God is really changing people.  That’s the win and I need to be brave to believe that this will be exactly what HE wants in HIS time.

When you pastor, really pastor, people – life change is all that matters.

Until next time,

Lana

Do you really trust your FRIENDS?

Friendship is a peculiar concept to people who are quite adept at handling life on their own – like me.  I mean, we know we need friends but we are so used to tackling situations, solo, that we forget to garner the support that friendship would afford us, if we would only take advantage of it.

Over the years, God has blessed my life with some AMAZING friends who have walked into my life for just a few months or some who have set up camp alongside of me and remained for years.  Regardless, we’ve shared treasured moments of conversation, love, tears – even disagreements.  However, all of those encounters are what makes real friends incapable of being lived without.  When I’ve been at my most vulnerable my friends have loved me enough to forget about their own issues, stop thinking about what’s happening in their lives and for a few short moments, I am the focus.  I can’t explain how important those times were for me because I have a very difficult time with that kind of vulnerability.  But when I know someone really loves me – I can do it.

At the same time, when I don’t feel completely accepted or valued – I can be guilty of “stiff-arming” or giving the “cold shoulder”.  It’s not because that I don’t like the person or don’t want to spend time with someone; it’s just because I don’t “trust” the relationship.  I don’t trust the person to be in the relationship for me – it’s for them and what they can get from me and that really hurts! 

Unfortunately, we do the same thing in our relationship/friendship with Christ.  Does that even make sense – not trusting the Creator of this world with my heart, my struggles, and my life?  No, it doesn’t make sense but we all do it because we struggle so vastly with TRUST.  Therefore, we tackle all that life has to throw at us independently - not even consulting His wisdom, expertise and compassion.  Just as a friend would be greatly wounded at our ignoring their presence in our lives, how much more so must be Christ?  I can sense that it breaks His heart because I know how much I hurt when I’m rejected by people I love so desperately, especially when I know that I could help if they would  only let me.

Just what I’m thinking today…busy, busy, busy day working out of town, away from my family and alone – independent of everyone but Him.  It’s always in those times when He reminds me of just how close He is - when I stop long enough to sense and know that He is near, on my lunch hour, of course :o)

Until next time,

Lana