Exciting Stuff Coming Soon!

Coming Soon at Church!

-Memorial Day Service Sunday Morning! (REALLY EXCITED about it!!)
-Soccer Camp June 8-10...over 300 kids registered!!
-Soccer Camp Volunteer Bash!! Friday June 11!!
-Grace Church in Wooster, OH is bring their youth group out again...these teens LOVE to serve!!
-Grillin' & Prayin'! Thursday nights through the summer...starts June 17th...bring food to grill and hang out together (at the church and people's homes!)
-Father's Day...OH BABY it is going to be fun! TOTALLY DIFFERENT this year...more details on Sunday morning!
-Church Camping Trip!! July 8-11 at Southpaw again! IT IS GOING TO BE A BLAST!

Fun in the SUN!

Finished running today and I was SWEATING!! It has been so nice to be able to go outside this week and exercise. THEN I got home to see Jaden and Luke playing in the sprinkler...So I just HAD to join them. Actually I went inside...filled up a bucket...went out the back door and called Jaden. Told him to meet me at the side door. He did! (Got to love it when the kids obey so well!!) While he was looking in the side door...I came up behind him and NAILED both he and Luke with a bucket of water. PRICELESS! Of course this set in motion a 15-20 minute water fight! VERY FUN!!

She said "I do!"

Today is Kelsey and my 14th year of marriage! AMAZING how time passes...this year has been one of our most challenging years...with work and health issues it has really been a challenging year. AND with that...I have to say that it has been our best as a couple. My love for her and SOARED to new heights...God's grace is SO HUGE and overwhelming and we have seen it over and over again this year!

I wrote Kelsey a letter today...a letter expressing how I feel about her and my gratitude for her love, care, encouragement and strength over the past months especially. She is an amazing woman...I am thankful that she has taken the vows she made to me seriously. I look forward to years and years and years more together...LIVING out the stories of our lives together.

Kelsey...I love you and am so proud of the BEAUTIFUL woman you are...THANKS for saying yes 14 years ago!

Monday Reflections

Busy...Busy...Busy weekend! Between family, church, school and sports it was CRAZY AND good this weekend. I'm sure glad that every weekend isn't this busy...Stuff from the weekend...

-Great to see my parents!
-They were FREAKED OUT over a pic they saw of me on Pastor Jim's blog...it was taken is bad lighting and my posture was different as I stood next to Will (our intern) They thought they were going to find me 1/2 dead when they came out. THE RELIEF ON THEIR FACE WHEN THEY SAW ME...Priceless! I'm still alive mom and dad! Doing well! Just 25-30 lbs lighter!!
-Ran a lot last week...
-Had a picnic with my students on Friday...I'm going to miss those kids! (Cooked 40 hamburgers and millions of hot dogs...hardly ate anything!)
-Chloe swam at Notre Dame Friday and Saturday...got to see her Friday night...so proud of her!
-50 METER POOL by the way...IT WAS HUGE!!
-Great elder meeting in Goshen Saturday...got some Father's Day plans starting to stir up!
-EXCITED!
-Jaden scored 6 goals and assisted on a couple of others at his game Saturday morning...love watching that kid compete...LOVE coaching him too!!
-Sunday morning...Great service...Yoder led us to the presence of Jesus...
-My mom said the same thing...she told me later: "Sunday morning was a taste of heaven." How cool is that! Great leadership Yoder!
-Pastor Rich spoke and closed out our "Bucket List" series...Highlights:
*"What am I focusing the best of my efforts on today...will it matter 100 years from now?"
*"What are we going to do with the time we have here on earth?"
*"Intentionally give yourself to others."
*"When Peter was called (In Acts 10), he went!"
*"God blessed Peter's obedience
*The direction of Peter's life was changed forever" when he went

POWERFUL message...I am praying that 6-8 people from our church will rise up and go to China...WHY NOT!!??

After sending my parents off to Ohio (GREAT to see them!) we went home...grabbed some naps and then the kids played in the sprinkler. Kelsey and I closed the weekend with a movie last night. "The Young Victoria" Good movie...below average ending...GREAT just being with Kels relaxing!

Joy in the storm

TOUGH phrase right there..."Joy in the midst of a storm." I have read Phillipians 4 over and over and over..."Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; REJOICE!" We are to have joy within our circumstances...we are to continue to thank God for what he has given us...this has been a struggle for me...to really be thankful. HERE is where it is important to have people in your life who are willing to speak truth...willing to COME AT YOU when it is needed...A friend got in my face 2 weeks back and challenged me to be more grateful. I have encouraged people to do this COUNTLESS times when counseling and encouraging people and now in the midst of mine I was losing sight of it...AND HE NAILED ME! (Oh and was I so happy at the time...ok...I was pretty ticked, but I"m glad now!) So, I have been working on this...being grateful...looking for joy in the storm. And little by little it is changing my mindset!

2 Life Lessons Here:
1. REJOICE...in the victories, in defeat, in discipline, in physical pain...find ways to rejoice (OH you'll be glad you did!)

2. SURROUND yourself with people who will speak truth into your life...because EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US will hit low points and we NEED people to pick us up! (If you don't have those kinds of friends...start praying for it...God will bring people across your path...but watch out...it won't always be fun!)

Felt good...

I have every Wednesday afternoon off...I teach in the a.m. and then have the afternoon with my family. My parents are coming in this weekend...I haven't seen them in a few months and it will be good to have them over here. So, this afternoon I had a few projects to take care of...I needed to pick some supplies up at Lowes...when I got there I walked to their outside section...OH THE SMELL WAS AMAZING! All of the fresh flowers...and birds were singing...I just took a deep breath...the moment was short, but it was good...relaxing...The day was already going well, but this moment just relaxed my spirit even more!

When I got home I knew that I needed to go for a run this afternoon...Two goals for this run...40 minutes of exercise (run for 35 minutes+5 minute cool-down) AND to pray...praise God and just seek him...to have him bring names to my mind of people that need prayer. It was so good to be in his presence. (It felt good to go 4 miles in under 40 minutes...averaged about a 10 minute mile WITH 5 minutes of walking! My 5k time today was under 30, which is good for right now!) God is so good...in the midst of the storms of life...in the middle of our greatest successes...he is right there cheering us on...longing for us to turn to him...to spend time with him. And it was good to spend the time with him!

Will Dettman!

I am sitting in my office right now across the desk from Will Dettman. He is interning with us this summer and he is full of passion and ideas! We just spent 1 1/2 hours talking about outreach ideas and putting together some plans for this summer. I LOVE THE PASSION and energy of young men who love Jesus and want to make a difference in people's lives. VERY COOL!

The cool thing about Will is that I was his 7th grade choir teacher! How ROCKIN' COOL is it to have a former student now working with you!?!?! REALLY COOL! He has a HUGE heart to serve and get involved...he's finishing his freshman year at Bethel College and was looking for a place where he could get some ministry experience. So this summer he is going to be doing a wide-variety of things...help with the worship team, plan an outreach, speak and coach at soccer camp, help in Kidzone, and simply love on people. I look forward to being challenged by him!

Stuff I'm Learning

Started reading a book "Refresh, Renew, Revive" by H.B. London Jr. GREAT book for pastors...he has several leaders writing in the book and London truly is a pastor for pastors. A couple of key thoughts from my reading today:

"No small places. No small people." The point here is that God doesn't view things in the same way that we do. He sees fruit in our lives and is not as concerned about how "big" your church is or how "powerful" you are...he wants to be in charge of YOU and HIS church!

"...Satan is an extremely intelligent enemy, and if he can't take your foot off the accelerator, he will put it down very hard for you." That is good stuff! Satan knows that some of us love to keep going, going, going...so he encourages that! He gets us so busy that we lose sight of our source of strength and power!


Creating space in my schedule is another thing I'm learning...I have always enjoyed running from task to task...meeting to meeting...project to project...I've always been able to do it and really enjoyed it honestly! I now see that this pace took its toll on me and my body. Listen to this quote from the book I'm reading: "Stress produces a state of emergency in the body-the body is, in effect, in emergency mode. Cholesterol goes up, blood pressure rises, our heart beats faster, and your hands get colder. This accelerated wear and tear eats away at your stomach to produce ulcers, gives you high blood pressure, and even starts to clog your arteries and put you on the road toward heart disease." Before I read that today, I had already realized that the pace I have kept for about 10 years influenced my heart issues...sure the biggest issue here is genetics, BUT along with that I have not paced myself very well! HENSE building in space in my schedule...I had another friend say to me over a week ago when we talked about my schedule: "Well you control that." And he is right...I am VERY confident that with God's direction, he is going to show me the areas I need to adjust...AND he is going to open and close the right doors. So NOW is the time to rewire myself to a more healthy lifestyle!

MY SUGGESTION FOR YOU? (I'm sooooooooo glad you asked!) GET PROACTIVE WITH YOUR LIFE! How are you living? What are you eating? What is your schedule like? How does GOD want you treating the body and mind that HE has given you? Are you TRULY resting in him and allowing him to direct your life. OR are you just going full steam ahead and hoping that God is with you! We will be held accountable one day for what we did in this body and how we treated it...so DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT NOW!

Monday Reflections

Thoughts from the weekend...
-sure don't recover as fast from a slumber party!
-Jaden's team played GREAT soccer on Saturday...fun to watch
-Very proud of Michele Stafford! GRADUATION party on Saturday
-How cool that Chloe is 10 years old! She LOVES her bike!
-Didn't run Friday or Saturday, so today's 3.8 miles felt good!
-Sunday was good...this message series is GREAT!
-Patching up our relationships...are we willing to leave our hurt and bitterness at the cross? Are we?
-MAN...Joseph had amazing perspective! He brothers left him to die...then decided to sell him...AND NOW he has a chance to get them back, BUT HE DOESN'T! AMAZING GRACE!
-we need to withhold NOTHING...we must be generous
-These are EASY things to say...harder to live, BUT WE MUST LIVE THEM!
-Have you made a bucket list yet?
-Two kinds of hurts that need to be left at Jesus' feet:
1. the hurts we have done to others...confess and be forgiven!
2. The hurts that others have done to us...forgive and be free!
-Great message!

My Girl!

(Chloe on her new bike!)



Today is Chloe's 10th birthday...the big double digits!! I can still remember the first moment I saw her...it was the most amazing miracle I had ever witnessed! I was AMAZED that she was mine...and I still am. That cute little baby is growing up! She LOVES Jesus...LOVE ME!...loves playing with her friends...loves to make people happy...loves to help people...and one of my favorite characteristics: she is DETERMINED! She will work to figure anything out...she will work hard when she doesn't understand something. I am so proud of her...I'm proud of her! I CANNOT wait for what this next year holds for her...what the next 50 years hold for her! The sky is the limit for her...



I LOVE YOU CHLOE BOUCHER...with all my heart!

It's hard being a Cleveland Fan!

Sometimes I wish I would have grown up somewhere else! Somewhere where the sports teams actually WON a championship every now and then!! The Cavs blew it last night...LeBron was off his game (what good is a triple double when you put 9 turnovers with it!!)...the team didn't step up! ANOTHER tough Cleveland loss in the playoffs...Now there is a summer of doubt...wondering if LeBron will come back...we'll see! He has a lot of unfinished business, but sometimes you have to make a move and this might be his time...ARGH! I KNOW, I KNOW "It's just a game!" BUT TODAY...it just feels like more than that!! ;)

Outreach

We do a lot of different outreaches every year...one of our best (and one of my favorites!) is Soccer Camp...we put on a free camp for kids in our community...kids have a BLAST playing soccer...and we get to share Jesus and his love with them. Some of the children that come only hear about Jesus 1x a year and it is at this camp! IT IS AWESOME!

I ran the camp the first 3 years and this year I have turned that over to others. They are doing an AMAZING job getting everything together and making it happen!! It is great to see leaders stepping up to make it happen.

Soccer Camp is what I call a "Level 5" outreach...we do different things all year...here is what I mean:

Level 1 Outreach: Sharing Christ's love in a practical way, but no blatant sharing of the gospel. Examples would be: passing out free water, our Valentine's Hershey Bar give-away, passing out free wrapping paper to people at Christmas, making breakfast at our local pee-wee football game. (Sharing Jesus through action...may or may not share the gospel)

Level 3 Outreach: Still practical, but more of a chance to pray or talk with people. A GREAT example of this is the grocery outreach we did last year. We called families in the community (we received their names from Boys and Girls Club) and asked what 5-10 grocery items they needed most. Then we bought them and delivered them to their homes. When we delivered them we were able to pray with the family and many groups had good spiritual conversations as well. Practical, BUT we get to share more of Jesus by AT LEAST praying with people.

Level 5 Outreach: The goal with this type of outreach is to love on people, share the gospel with them and give them an opportunity to respond. We are providing opportunities to love on people AND we are encouraging them to come to Jesus. THIS is soccer camp. We provide an FUN and EXCITING camp for children...AND we share about the Savior of the world and give kids the opportunity to respond. IT IS AWESOME to see God work on children's hearts!

The gospel can be shared at all levels...the biggest difference is on the Level 5...that is GOING to happen! We need a good mix of all of these with our churches...people sometimes just need us to love of them and practically care for them...THEN they will be ready later to hear the gospel, because they see that they matter to you...and honestly...ALL of these outreaches are FUN and renew my passion for Jesus and people!

Alright...some of you are concerned now...you are wondering about Level 2 & 4...WHERE ARE THEY! Hey...I've asked myself the same question! I have just always said Level 1, 3 &5...so I stick with it...I have NO IDEA what level 2 & 4 are!!!! Feel free to fill that in yourself!

Long break!

I'm finally back in the blogging world again! My laptop was being fixed and I hadn't posted anything since that time...so it's been a long break from blogging!

I am amazed at how dependent I have become on technology...my cell phone...my laptop...we show our message on video most Sundays...I was thrown for a loop the past couple of weeks while I was having laptop troubles...my weekly to-do lists...my email and other contacts...spreadsheets...and on and on! CRAZY how dependant I have become.

BUT...this is a new week and I'm thankful to my bud Chris for getting me back on (and maybe "in") line!! It felt good to print out my week to-do list today! Sounds funny, but that printed off sheet keeps me focused most days on what is most important to accomplish!

SO...back at it! I have a BIG stack of sticky notes on my desk that need to be gone through!!