Sunday Night Thoughts...

I just finished studying for my licensure test (a test to get licensed by our district of churches) and the section that I was working on is talking about the Holy Spirit. It is sooooooo important that we all stay filled with the Spirit...that we take time with God and allow him to work in us...to keep our spiritual gas tank filled up...I can get caught up in doing things and many of them good things and forget to take the time needed with my Savior.

This week I plan to take time to do that...there is a spot in our city that I call "mine"...I think it was made just for me. The cement slab has just the right lean to fit my back and it is right on the St. Joe River...I LOVE THAT SPOT! I try to get there to spend time praying and thinking about how I'm doing with God and stuff...I can't wait to take that time. (Sure hope it isn't under water...the river is VERY high right now!!)

I had a GREAT time playing with my boys tonight. Kelsey and Chloe went to a birthday party and Jaden, Luke and I got to play Stars/Guns/Battle...The bad guys are gone and we definitely won! It is so fun to watch Luke trying to act like his big brother...I was sweating while we were running through the house battling! Good stuff and a great way to wrap up the weekend!

Oh the feeling...

I sure remember last year at this time...It was the night before our launch...just hours before we kicked off Grace Community Church's 2nd campus...Many hours of prayer and planning went into this...It was the night before a dream come true for me and something that I sensed God had wanted me to be involved with for a few years. The best part of our first launch Sunday is that 2 people expressed faith in Christ that morning...NOW THAT IS A GOOD START!!

A year later, I see even more clearly that this is a dream that continues to come true. I do not want to be involved with a church that appears for a year and then fades away. I long to be involved with a community of people that is still making a HUGE impact on this community when my grandkids and their grandkids are living...that in 3-5 years, if our church were to be removed from this area...that we would be missed...missed because we loved on people that other people wouldn't love...missed because we were deeply rooted in the community...missed because we loved Jesus and represented him well here in SB/Mishawaka...tall order for sure, but WHY NOT!?!?!

Facing your fear...

I love my kids...so for me when a man broke into our offices last week and my sons were with me...it really got to me...I really struggled with it. Tonight was a special moment for me though. My 4 year old Jaden went back to the office for the first time since we found the man in the office...He has been talking to mom about it all week...but tonight he went with me early to the office and walked right in...he asked me a lot of questions about the guy and if the locks were changed and who changed the locks and if we have found the man yet...but he went in...he faced his fear...So, we walked through the office and then prayed...prayed for the man, prayed for us to face our fear and to allow the all powerful God to give us strength...What an amazing moment with my little-big man...He is growing up so fast and I sure love him and am proud of him...I am thankful that nothing happened to him or Luke last week...

God blew our minds...

110 expressions of faith in Jesus Christ...400 kids and their families touched...What a soccer camp we had in our first year. We prayed for God to send us 100 kids and have 15 kids give their lives to Christ and he did that and so much more! We consistently pray Eph. 3: 18-20..."God to do more than we could ask or imagine." Then BAM...He blows us away! God is good!

Humble Man Of God...

Another one of my favorite moments in our first year was during our communion service near the end of '07. Clarence is an elderly man who loves Jesus and is an amazing example for all of us. We did foot washing during our communion and Clarence got out of his wheelchair, knelt down and washed another man's feet. OH MY WORD...I was in tears...What an act of humility...here is a man that we all should be serving and caring for, stepping out and serving us. WOW! I pray often that 50 years from now that I will have the same heart as Clarence...

Kids are the church of TODAY!

One year ago this week we were about to launch our church! Excitement was in the air...we anticipated chances to pour ourselves into people and our community. We have had the chance to do that this year.

So, this week I'm going to share some highlights from our first year. The first one is one of my favorites...The Kids Kare & Share Blitz. (NO I didn't spell it wrong, the spelling was on purpose!) The kids came up with the idea to pass out school boxes to kids...they gave money to buy the supplies, picked what would go in the boxes, packed the boxes and took the boxes to people on the street, coming out of stores, kids in hospitals, and anywhere else that kids were...HOW COOL THAT OUR KIDS WERE SERVING OUR COMMUNITY! I have long believed that our kids are the church of TODAY and not just the generation of the future! Great job youngins!

Playing Balloonie...

I love playing balloonie with my kids. It's the fun game of seeing how long you can keep a balloon in the air without it touching the floor...We do a good job at this game when we work together and when there are only 1 or 2 balloons...more than that and it gets crazy. WELCOME TO OUR LIVES!! WE get so many things going...WE get so many areas of our lives that WE want to work on that WE can't keep them all going...WE can't keep all of the balloons of our lives up in the air...So what do WE usually do...WE quit! WE stop altogether and go back to how WE used to be...I say...Let's ask the GOD of the universe...the GOD that promises to come through for us...the God who says that we can "do ANYTHING through HIM (Christ) who gives us strenght" to play balloonie with us. Let's let other people come and help us too...God wants to use his people to help us through the good and tough times...Imagine what WE can do when the WE includes God! Let's go play balloonie with God!

Ahhhhhhhh.....

That is exactly how I feel after our service this morning...."ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." The goal of the morning was to have everyone leave feeling and knowing that God can carry the load for them. Our theme for the year is "Raise the Bar" and we have set goals in different areas...Here is the thing...setting goals is fun - living the goals out is TOUGH. We ended our service with a video of sunrises and sunsets with the Rush of Fools song Peace Be Still... Oh that was an AWESOME ending...

Another thing...we had sooooooooooo many people helping this week with set up and tear down. We meet in a movie theater and set up A LOT of stuff...Man, it is fun to serve with such a great group of people...

I lost to a 9 year old!

Kelsey and I had some friends over tonight for dinner...WHAT A BLAST and just what I needed. A chance to just hang out, talk and play American Idol dance-game-thing...yes I was dancing on the dance pad-video-game-deal and YES I LOST TO A 9 YEAR OLD...But I had fun doing it...(OK, so I even hate to lose at that!!) This week has been a wild one so it was cool just to be with friends...

I am excited about our service tomorrow. As a campus pastor, I get to preach live 1x every monthish. This is the time...here is what is cool though...whether we are on video or live, I LOVE OUR SERVICES. Just love being with people who want to figure out how to follow Jesus better today than yesterday. I cannot wait to wake up early tomorrow, set-up and meet with our church...BRING IT ON!!!!

Thick skin, but a soft heart

I read that quote this week and little did I know how much I would have to live it...This week our church office was broken into and we had 2 projectors and a laptop stolen. The day after this happened I went to the office with my 2 boys and found the guy in there again trying to steal more stuff! (He somehow got in the door and locked it behind him) I have felt like 2 different people over the past 2 days...one side is VERY angry...wanting justice and then some! My boys were there!!!!The other side is broken for this guy who needs to find Jesus...I just go back and forth...IT IS A BATTLE WITHIN ME RIGHT NOW! My boys were with me!!!! (Did I mention that!?!?)

Here is the deal though...no matter what happens to me...no matter how hard it is at times...I can't stop loving and helping people...I have to keep my heart soft and be willing to help people...I confess that it is hard right now, but that is the road I'm working to walk down.

Today, I'm thankful that my boys are o.k.!