Celebrating every win...

They say, that in church planting, you should celebrate EVERY win.

I think the principle holds true in any entrepreneurial endeavor.  Starting anything from scratch--trying to build something from nothing--is about the hardest thing you can imagine doing.

I have several friends who've built companies from nothing.  Every single one of them is highly imaginative, tenacious, hard-working, tough and passionate.  Each one had to deal with significant stresses on their way to getting established.  Now that each of their enterprises are well over the million dollar per year mark (as small business) they continue to have to leverage their afore-mentioned skills and work ethic to keep pursuing the dream.

Same deal with Church.

When I planted my first church, back in 2001, I became friends with several other guys who were planting at the same time.  Lemme' name a few of 'em and contrast 'where they were then' with 'where they are now'.

Mark.  Then, 250-300 people. Now, 10,000+.

Darren.  Then, 15 people. Now, 3,000+.

Ethan.  Then, 35 people. Now, 350+.

David.  Then, 80 people.  Now, 800+.

And I'm here to tell you, from knowing them and watching their work, they celebrated EVERY WIN along the way.

Like our (very small and humble) 'win' today.

Today, THE WELL passed 50 people per week in regular attendance.  One the one hand it's such a small number that I laugh as I write it.  On the other, I know that it takes the average church more than four years to pass 100 in regular attendance so I'm encouraged by our pace 13 weeks in.  Also, 13 weeks ago THE WELL didn't exist.  Today, it exists in the hearts and minds of 50 people--people who have been invited exclusively by word or mouth.

And if we had six people (my family) when we started, and have 50 today who are beginning to 'own' this little dream, I feel very encouraged as to where we might be 13 weeks from today.

So, to celebrate todays 'win' I went out and bought an ice cream cake (my kids favorite) and we're going to eat it now, to celebrate God's goodness and His mercy to us.

Teaching them to love the journey and dream their own impossible dreams some day.

Happy 50th everybody.

T