PI NEERING
A
s a pastor, I feel a deep sense of responsibility to challenge people to step out beyond their comfort zone and trust God in radical ways. As a husband and father, I can tell you that I know what it feels like to follow God with the weight of life on your shoulders. God called me and my wife to what some would describe as an extreme walk of faith. This journey hasn’t always been easy, but God has always come through for us. Looking back, I can only describe our story one way, “MIRACULOUS.” Janna and I met while attending school at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. We have been married for 12 years, and we knew from the very beginning that our relationship was ordained by heaven. We have been blessed with two amazing children. Our daughter Sophia is a compassionate little girl with an uncommon walk of faith. Then, there is our miracle boy, Grayson. This little guy was born with two heart deformities that would have required open-heart surgeries before his release from the hospital. He was also born with a mass in his kidneys that needed to be removed and tested. However, within two days of Grayson’s birth, the doctors were astonished, as both heart deformities were miraculously corrected and the mass in his kidneys had disappeared.
10
goodlifemagazine.org
From the beginning of our journey, we encountered great trials, but we made it through because of our dependence upon God’s amazing love. This has shaped how we live our lives. We are passionately in love with Jesus, and His love has caused us to be radical in our love for people. Our goal is to lead people into this same kind of lifechanging relationship with Jesus Christ that has brought us through life’s challenges. We are passionate about seeing lives transformed. We believe that we have all been created for a purpose, and we know that our calling is to help people discover that purpose and fulfill those dreams. In fulfilling this calling, God has led us to Georgia to embark on the greatest walk of faith yet. Our journey to Atlanta began years ago as we were driving through the city and God spoke to me, saying ”Atlanta shall be saved.” God deposited in us a profound burden for the people of this city. In January of 2014, we began to feel a stirring in our hearts, and God revealed to us that we were being called into new territory. Through prayer, we began to see that God was calling us to plant a church in the Atlanta area. But metro Atlanta is a very large region, so we began praying for God to narrow down for us exactly where to go. We felt drawn to northwest Cobb
County, and we asked for God to confirm this leading and to direct us on the timing to move. After a few months of prayer, we got a call from a family in Georgia who told us that God had been dealing with them to take a second home that they owned off of the market and offer it to us, free of charge. The home is not only a gorgeous blessing that meets every one of our desires, but it is also located in the very area of Atlanta we felt drawn to. This was the confirmation from the Lord we were looking for, so we moved here and began the process of starting a church. God does not guarantee that the road to your destiny will be easy, but he guarantees that you will make it if you keep your eyes on Him. Two months after moving to Georgia, I found myself lying in a hospital bed on the verge of death. The doctors had given us a very serious diagnosis, so my wife and I turned to God, and again He brought us through miraculously. The doctors were amazed; I was facing multiple surgeries and months of hospital care, but after three short days, I was at home recovering. Then, we had to face the mountain of hospital and doctors’ bills. Because I had left the security of my job, we didn’t have insurance to cover the medical bills. We simply had to trust that the same God that called us here
Would you like to see the rest of our magazine? Click link below to see our digital issue. DIGITAL ISSUE