Well. Huh.

So it's been awhile...

In the last two months, Jer and I found out we're having a kid. AND the church reached its funding goal (yay). So last week Jeremy got paid for the first time. And now I find myself drifting off into daydreams of how much we will tithe to the new church and how much we can hide away to send this kid to college someday. Or retire. Or whatever. Because for the last 6 months we have been living on one salary and a couple of generous gifts from friends. Having 2 paychecks again makes me feel like we are really, really rich.

There are two things you should know about my money habits: 1) I love saving money and hiding it away. Love having a safety net for those just-in-case moments. 2) One of my spiritual gifts is giving. I haven't met too many other 20-somethings who like writing out checks to charitable organizations. And these two things don't always line up together so well.

So here's where my mind has been going: in 3 years, we will need to become a self-sustaining church, bringing in money to do ministry and hopefully pay Jeremy the same salary that's set right now. Quite frankly, the Berg's don't really need everything he's being paid because we've learned how to live on less. Not that it's been fun, but we can do it. Our church planting director told us to just tithe back whatever is in excess, which I'm totally cool with.

Right now are launch team hovers around 30 people, but about 80% of those are college kids or young adults. Meaning: not a lot of extra funds. And a lot of young people haven't established budgets or spending habits that include regular tithing. We think throwing $20 into the basket every couple of weeks is good enough. So how can Jer and I model healthy giving habits? When I think about the amount that we are planning to tithe each month, it sounds GIANT to me. But that's mostly because we will be giving from a 2 income family, and I'm used to that anymore. I am also excited to trust God with that, though. It's totally something we can work into our life.

And then there's this kid thing. How do you even know what that will cost? Will I want to go back to work once it's here? If we return to a one income family, can we still tithe the same amount (that would be sacrificial for sure!) MainStreet will need money, and if it's not there, Jeremy won't get paid. And do we keep moving towards the cafe? And will that even help at all or will it become a financial burden? Oh the questions! And wrapped up in this is our desire to share our new excess with our friends in need... bump up our monthly giving to a few of our missionary friends and add a couple others to the list (not kidding - this stuff brings me joy!) But will we set expectations for them with what we give, and what happens if I quite my job and we drop it back down?

I think I'm more aware of this stuff than ever because the last 6 months have made us rely on God for our financial needs each month... 3 times completely and totally needed the gifts our friends gave. And I want to be that kind of friend for others. That, and we've had to raise the church funding ourselves. (I should really say Jeremy did this... I wasn't much of a help). We know what it's like to be on the other side of the fence now.

Anyways... this was a really unconnected post, but that's what's been running through my head this week. How do we live generously but still within our means?

A.W. Tozer

So I'm not one to sit and read theological books. I'm more of a British-Chick-Lit fan. But yesterday I picked up a copy of The Counselor by A.W. Tozer and started reading. Only 4 pages in, I knew I was going to love the book.

If any church is to be a church of Christ, the living, organic member of that redeemed Body of which Christ is the Head, then its teachers and its members must strive earnestly and sacrificially with constant prayer...

The Christian Church ought to be useful to the whole community. A Spirit-filled congregation is useful in the neighborhood.

I would like to see a church become so godly, so Spirit-filled that it would have a spiritual influence on all of the churches in the entire area.

God is funny sometimes.

So yesterday I posted about Jeremy providing by substitute teaching... and today God provided a job for him. Yay. I love God's sense of humor though. Case in point: Jer's not a huge fan of working in elementary schools (high schoolers are more his thing). And actually teaching something is a bit of a stretch too.

Text message exchange between us this morning:

Jer: Ugh. Kindergarten + 1st grade literacy intervention groups all day! Momma Beth would be proud.
Jer: Even the Apostle Paul didn't sacrifice this much! :)
Jer: Lesson plans: "supplement any phonemic awareness activities or letter sound recognition that you feel will be helpful." Shake What?!
Me: Hahaha.
Jer: I'm not laughing.


I, personally, think this is hilarious. I love that while church planting is outside of a normal person's comfort zone, stepping into an elementary school room is the way God asks Jer to break himself. Funny, funny.

Learning to do it together.

Jeremy and I are doing really well.

But there is one aspect of our marriage that isn't so easy lately and I'm not sure why or how it's become such a hot topic. Well... I guess it's the same issue that lots of marriages break up over (and we are by no means anywhere near that point)... but it's still not fun. It's talking about money and paying the bills.

Here's why this topic is a hard one for us: Jeremy is a full time pastor. A full time church planting pastor. A full time pastor that doesn't get paid for any of the work he's doing (at least not yet). So he's been delivering papers (yuck) to help with the bills. Right now he's transitioning into substitute teaching to help out. He's sacrificing a lot of time and creating a crazy schedule to help out.

But as a wife, and as the one who writes out the checks for our monthly bills and watches the bank balances and all that other stuff... I know that we can't live on my salary alone. And I'm willing to work, don't get me wrong, but I don't/can't bring in enough to give us enough breathing room so that Jeremy can give up the other stuff to concentrate on the church.

And he is tired. And he wants a break. And I feel awful asking him to take sub jobs when they are available because I know if he doesn't, and there aren't any available jobs the next day... we're stuck. I want him to be able to take a day off and not feel guilty. But somehow asking him to use his Saturdays for Sabbath that doesn't reconcile...

I don't like being in this spot. I would like to be a fully funded church plant as much as he would, but that's not where we're at right now and sometimes God has us endure the tough stuff to receive the blessings (thinking of Job, here...)

So we have to learn how to endure this season together so we can come out on the other side together. It's not a me thing. It's not a him thing. It's an 'us' thing, and we need to learn how to talk about it freely and openly. Without guilt and without shame.

Yep. Keep Walking.

From my brother-in-law after sending an email related to my last post:

I don’t know why I thought of this, but I feel like the Holy Spirit might have given me this picture for you guys. It’s the scene from Braveheart where William Wallace asks Robert the Bruce to unite the clans because it’s the only way they’re going to defeat the English. And eventually, after taking a winding path, he did. He did. And they won their freedom.

I feel like God might be saying that you guys might just be Mound’s Robert the Bruce. If there’s one thing missing in the church, it’s unity. And if you can, in any way, help the church unite with God, itself and the people it’s trying to reach, that’s no small task.

I keep having Joshua 1:9 run through my head for you guys too: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Keep walking towards...

Yesterday was a bit of a weird day. We received news of yet another fully funded, bright and shiny church transplant that could potentially be coming to Mound. River Valley launched in August, this new one is aiming for sometime in 2011.

Jeremy met with the planting pastor and told him about all the great spaces in Mound that would be ideal for them. And then it hit us: with other Jesus-focused attractional churches in this town, is MainStreet really needed? After about 4 minutes of doubt, the answer came back as a resounding 'Yes!' Part of that comes from what our friend Rob shared in our MainStreet Voices video: we don't want to be just another church. We want to be a church that unites all churches. We can already see how that is happening, too.

The vision God gave us wasn't to start another Sunday morning community. It was to be in the marketplace daily. To serve, to love, to care, and to draw people to Jesus everyday. People outside the church walls.

And so it was my husband yesterday, not me, who realized that the cafe' is really the best way to be in intentional relationships and community all week long. And not just for our launch team, not just for our church, but to create relationships by creating space for everyone to honor Him.

Happy Tears

Sunday was a great day.


Jeremy and I were invited to Excelsior Covenant to share the vision of MainStreet and about how we have seen our prayers answered. We played the video that Jeremy put together in July as an introduction. I haven't watched it since then, but seeing it on Sunday and realizing that it's actually in motion gave me happy tears.


And then Jer asked me to share about the ways God is providing and how we have seen Him show up. So of course I cried more happy tears (actually, I would say tears of amazement and thankfulness and gratefulness). I got to talk about our meeting space, our team, our prayer warriors, our marriage... it was great. We received a lot of affirmation, encouragement and support. It was all a little overwhelming because they have already done SO much to support this vision, and we were finally getting to say thanks for the first time. Oh man.

Sunday night was our first public worship rally. I can't believe how smoothly it went. We had our entire team there, our Fusion kids came to help be greeters (oh the happy tears at getting to see their faces!), we had 100+ show up, but the best part was that God showed up. I felt His presence, His peace, and His provision.



Jeremy had two other local pastors pray for the city, and Dave Abernathy prayed for our marriage. Holy moly. That was wonderful. Nick Reitenour made some amazing paintings for the evening, my friend Chris donated coffee from Caribou, and I realized that Gene & Laurie Whitbeck are the most gifted greeters I have ever met.


We are blessed. So glad that God asked us to go beyond ourselves and follow Him. So thankful He calls us out of our comfort zones so we can know He provides abundantly more than we could ever know or imagine. He gives me happy tears.