When I was younger, I would get aches in my arms and legs and my mother would tell me that they were 'growing pains.' Her analysis didn't make it hurt any less, but the idea of the alternative sure put my pain in perspective! (No one wants to remain 3' tall for the rest of his life!) Believe it or not, churches have growing pains too. But, once again, consider the alternative! Surely none of us want to see the church stop growing. That means no one is getting saved - No ones life is being changed! Lets face it - As long as these kind of things are happening, the church is going to grow and inevitably experience some growing pains! But that's normal! Its to be expected!
Right now, our growing pains are related to parking. We have one means of entering and exiting a parking lot designed to accommodate hundreds of vehicles. Consequently, with a church our size the time it takes to get in your car and off our campus can take up to 15 or 20 minutes. Most of our people are very mature about this and are thankful we have this kind of 'problem.' Others have been less understanding. This week I actually heard about one man who hasn't been to church in over a month because he refuses to get 'stuck' in our parking lot again. Really? I wonder if it took Jesus more than 15 minutes to walk to Golgotha? I'm sure suffering and dying for our sins was a major inconvenience for Him! My prayer is, God please help us to grow up and learn to appreciate what we have and what you've done for us!
What's crazy is no one thinks its unusual to have to endure these types of 'inconveniences' when they go to an LSU game or a concert at the Cajun Dome - They're perfectly content to wait and be directed where to park. So let me get this straight - Its just the church that should have curbside convenience? I suppose otherwise, Jesus just isn't worth it, right? Give me a break!
Now that I've got that off my chest I thought I'd give you a glimpse of our most recent effort to make parking at Crossroads as convenient as possible. Its a 14-passenger shuttle that can get easily in and out of traffic to shuttle people to and from the church. If everyone uses this service like we think they will, we are prepared to buy a second shuttle and have them running before and after each service. Perhaps you noticed our Bio Swale Bridges we've built so our people can easily cross the drainage/green-space features in our new parking lot. The back two bridges are covered to provide shelter while you wait on the shuttle(s). They're fully equipped with lighting and ceiling fans for your convenience!
