Standing at a Crossroad

As we approach the two year anniversary of God’s Miracle in Brynn, Amy & I wanted to give you an update on Brynn’s recovery and what has taken place since our last post.

After experiencing God’s Miracle in Brynn, it took about a year for Amy & I to simply catch our breath. The months of 2016 consisted of one amazing story after another of how Brynn’s story had impacted people’s lives. As word continued to spread of God’s Miracle in Brynn, many opportunities became available to share her story. She served as a Miracle Network Child, her story was highlighted in a local magazine, we gave radio interviews, shared her story in churches, and even had the local newspaper cover a surprise visit by Big Al from Tuscaloosa on Brynn’s birthday.

During 2016, Brynn was released from physical therapy, occupational therapy, and audiology test/checkups. Yes, you are reading that correctly! Outside of speech therapy twice a week at her school and a turning in of her left foot, which doctors say should correct itself as she gets older, Brynn is a normal, preschool attending, 4-year-old.

The irony in Brynn’s story is that her return to a normal life has pushed others out of their normal life. It’s similar to biblical accounts like Dorcus in Acts 9:36 or the lame beggar in Acts 3:1-10 when, after seeing God do the miraculous, it moved people to examine their own life.
Our examination has been no different. After witnessing God’s Miracle in Brynn, we saw just how powerful God’s Church can be when she has one common focus. And as 2017 started, Amy & I knew that He was calling us to something different.

Like most of you, I was so moved to be a part of Brynn’s Story that I found myself standing at a CROSSROAD. A crossroad that had several paths, but hinged on one decision. The decision was motivated by the love people had shown and a calling God had placed on my life, so Amy & I said ‘yes.’

Yes to a new calling to plant a life-giving church in our area that would share the same community, love, pursuit of God and people; as Brynn’s story had done the previous year and a half. It was birthed out of a desire to never go back to the norm that was life before Brynn’s fall and a desire to see God move so mightily in His Church on a regular basis.

In April 2017, Amy & I stepped out of our comfortable ministry to launch Crossroads Community Church in Cleveland, TN. Since April, I must declare… “God is as faithful to His Church as He was to His Miracle in Brynn.” Crossroads publicly launched on September 17, 2017. When I stepped out on the stage for that first service I realized, God’s Miracle in Brynn was not the finish line for us, but rather the starting point for us all. It was the catalyst to push us all to something greater. At Crossroads Community it’s worded this way:

CRCC exists to be a life-giving church in our community that helps people:
Know God, Find Freedom, Discover Purpose, and Make a Difference

It’s the essence of Brynn’s Story – LIFE-GIVING!

I believe the tough question for all of us is; “So what do we do with God’s Miracle in Brynn now that we have seen/heard it?” I encourage you to go back to the two accounts mentioned above from the Bible and see how they dealt with them. I know this, Brynn’s Miracle was never meant to be the end!

If anyone were to ask about the little girl that fell off a stool at church, you can answer, “She is still telling her story.” She tells it by walking, hearing, and breathing like a normal student at her school. If by chance you were to visit that school on team spirit day and watch closely, amidst all the orange you will see one little girl sharing her story by a simple Crimson cheerleading outfit with a “Big A” on the front. Stay long enough and you’ll hear most teachers and the principal saying, “Brynn, Go Vols” in which she turns and smiles and replies, “ROLL TIDE!” Yes, even in Big Orange Country, we all need a little Roll Tide.

Let’s Be Life-Giving,
Mickey