7300 N IH 35

It’s amazing how and when God brings things full circle.

Spring 2004. My second semester of grad school at UT. A time when sports and marketing ruled my academic universe, and my career goals looked more like those of a corporate superstar than a vocational ministry-worker concerned with the restoration of one of the most unchurched cities in America. Not that either of those is necessarily any better or worse than the other. It just further illustrates that in 2004, I had no idea what God had for me in 2008.

I lived in North Austin and would have to drive down I-35 every afternoon to go to class at UT. Not the most scenic of drives, unless your idea of scenic is less Norman Rockwell and more Bennigan’s and Fast Freddy’s Hair Salon. But traffic generally wasn’t terrible that time of day, so I didn’t mind. After completing this often mindless drive for the first seven months or so of living in Austin, I began to be more intentional about noticing my surroundings. Just something to break up the monotony of the drive. Looking for something new every day.

After a short time, I began to use this time to be even more intentional to pray or to listen to God. That’s the great thing about IH 35; I was a captive audience with nothing beautiful or exciting to distract me. (And, trust me, I’m pretty good at getting distracted.)

One day, I looked out the window and noticed a tarot card reader. The building caught my attention, because it looked pretty new compared to the rest of the neighborhood. Also, there was a bright neon sign on the front of the pale stone building. Couldn’t miss it. But, somehow, I had missed it for the previous seven months. As I was passing the building, I heard the voice of the Lord tell me to pray for that place. I felt impressed to pray for the people who worked there, that they would know the Lord and that He would reveal Himself to them and bring them from darkness to light- that He would break the chains that bound them and rescue them from a life apart from Him. I also felt impressed to pray against the darkness that bound that place and that the Lord would be known there. It was a strong impression that I could not ignore.

And so, for the next 5 months or so, that’s what I faithfully prayed, every day, as I passed the little tarot card reader.

Then, something happened one day as I drove past. I was praying my normal prayer, and I suddenly felt a shift in my spirit. I felt the Lord telling me to start praying that His house would be built on this land. (Some of you already know where I’m going with this, and so to you I say, every time I get to this part of the story- even just thinking about it- I get giddy with excitement and teary-eyed and ridiculously joyful, all at the same time. If you know me well, that probably doesn’t surprise you.)

God was telling me to pray that His kingdom would replace the kingdom of darkness in that place and that a building would be built there where people could worship Him. He was telling me to pray for a church to be built on that land.

And so, for the next year or so, I prayed, every time I drove down IH 35, that God would build His church on that land. That His kingdom would come there. That His will would be done there.

At this time, I had no affiliation with the Stone. I had never even heard of it. I was attending another church in a completely different part of town, with no thought of ever having anything to do with this restoration myself. But I was still excited to pray. I remember there being a little “jump” in my spirit. Little did I realize how big that “jump” would feel four years later. (Think sumo wrestlers and trampolines.)

See, at that time, the Lord didn’t need for me to know how intimately I would be involved with this project in the future. He just needed me to be faithful. And obedient. And pray. And I was and did.

And now, four years after God told me to pray for His church to come to that place, the Austin Stone has bought that very piece of property with the desire to build something that will be a tool for city-wide renewal. That very same piece of land I had no connection to but passionately prayed for every day for 18 months, four years ago. And now I get to be a part of seeing that prayer come to fruition. God is amazing! And awesome. And a million other things I can come nowhere close to describing this side of Heaven.

It’s not that I think my prayer was the catalyst that caused us to choose this land. Or that I could somehow influence God’s sovereign and ordained plan for this little piece of earth. But I am thankful that, because I was listening and because I chose to be obedient when I heard God’s voice, I have gotten to be a small part of a huge movement before it was even on the map, so to speak.

That creates more faith and excitement and hope in me than I can even express. It’s pretty darn cool.

There are a few more places around town God has had me praying for for awhile now. A couple of which I have no tie to or personal investment in whatsoever. I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do in those places. Or what Austin will be like in twenty years. Or ten. Or five.

Like I said before, full circle.