Check the mirror first!

I wish that I had $100 for every time my students ask me why? Why do we have to do this assignment? Why do I have to write this paper? Why did you GIVE me THAT grade? WHY do I have to have a detention? Why...why...why???? As many of you know...when someone asks me a question, I simply LOVE to send it back at them..."What do you think?" or "Why do you think you EARNED that grade?" AT TIMES it is in that moment that they realize or become honest with themselves and admit what got them the grade or consequence... It is sooooooo easy to see this in my students and my kids...BUT...how often do we...as adults do the same thing...we blame our boss...or better yet...GOD for the situation that WE put ourselves in! We blame him and wonder why he won't change our circumstances...YET the choices we are making are helping to create our circumstances. What would happen if we decided to look in the mirror first...to take responsibility for our actions...if we do that...I bet we would end up BEGGING GOD for forgiveness...and it is then...within our repentance that changes will start to happen...that we will begin to see breakthrough... Let's stop blaming others and God for our circumstances...rather...let's take responsibility for our choices...seek his forgiveness where needed and then take the steps...no matter how difficult that will result in real life change!

A little Competition...or is it!

We are doing a little "friendly" competition between the guys and girls at the church...whoever brings in the most eggs for our Egg Dash on Easter gets to have dinner made and served by the other...WELL...the ladies were in the lead...well...a SIGNIFICANT lead after Sunday morning...

THEN I GET A PHONE CALL today...a lady wants to "drop something by the office..." When she shows up...she has 1000 EGGS (That is the 5 boxes on top of the women's box...which was ALREADY full!!) This is quickly becoming a LANDSIDE advantage for the ladies...GUYS...we have some SERIOUS WORK TO DO!!

The good news is we are well over half-way to our goal of 5000 eggs...maybe we will end up with 10,000 eggs by the time this is over!!!!

Time to step up men!!

Jaden Blake Boucher

Jaden turns 8 today...Many parents have said over the years "to enjoy every moment because they grow up so fast!" That is soooo true! I feel that the last 8 years have just blown by...He is growing up and I am soooo proud of him! Friday was Report Card day!! Nice way to jump into the weekend, eh!? It could have been a long weekend for him...only he is doing an outstanding job...He really does his best on projects...actually I think he has done more projects and presentations already in school than I had to do in all my years in school! He is reading at a high level...very sharp in math...(you bet I'm bragging...it's his birthday!!) Here is the thing though...I love that he is doing so well...that he is excelling at school...But I am the most proud of him for his attitude...he continues to come home with "O's" for outstanding behavior on his report card. His teacher tells us that he is a leader in the room and will do the right thing even when others aren't...THAT is what we are looking for! For him to be a leader in his classroom...to do the right thing and lead others to do the same... 8 years ago I started to pray for him...for the boy...young man and man that he would become. I PRAISE GOD for who he is today and PRAY like crazy for him in the years to come...that he will continue to allow God to shape his life...That Kelsey and I would have wisdom on how best to raise him...that he will find a woman of God to marry...that he will follow Jesus for life! Hey Jaden..."I love you big man and am sooooo proud of the boy that you are! I look forward to continue to watch you grow up and getting to be part of your life! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"

We aren't that poor...

I am on the board for Grace In Action USA...GIA works hard to reach love kids and give them the tools...the life skills...they need to succeed in life...the curriculum is simply FANTASTIC!! (AND NO I'm not the one who wrote it...I'm not that shameless!!) Last week at the board meeting Pastor Mike Tabor from "The Happy Church" shared their story...Sure is a funny name for a church! BUT...it TOTALLY fits their community. They live and minister in one of the poorest areas in our COUNTRY...SO...when they bring in a HAPPY CHURCH it is the perfect name. As he was sharing I was deeply convicted...convicted on how much stuff I have...I know the worldwide stats...the ones that speak to how wealthy we are here in the US...When I was in China, I saw some neighborhoods that were simply "houses" made out of scrap. That affected me, but there was something about hearing stories of things that are happen so much closer to home... His talk is shaping how I make financial decisions today...what do we need vs. what I want...whatelse can we give up to help others? Do I really need something THAT nice or can I be content with less? It was a really good perspective shift for me!

GET MOTIVATED!

What does it take for you to do your personal best? What has to happen for you to "kick into gear" and improve at something. Today at school, as I was heading to the office I passed the gym class...truth be told...I have OFTEN thought that I should have been a P.E. teacher! The class was running the 40 yd. dash in the hallway...OF COURSE...where there is a competition and race happening I HAVE TO STOP and see what is happening...

As I watched student after student run down the hall, it became QUITE obvious that they were NOT giving much effort...one young man...a 7th grader...about as big as me and he was OBVIOUSLY an athlete ran the 40 in 6.7 seconds...REALLY!?!?!?!?!?!?! 6.7! Of course being the very mild-mannered...quiet person I am...(Sarcasm for those you who may not know me well!!) I told him that I could beat that time EASILY wearing my dress shirt...dress pants...AND dress shoes.

OF COURSE...after I said this I went down the hall to run the 40...LET ME REMIND YOU that the students are in their gym clothes and I am in my dress pants AND DRESS SHOES! I might add that I already ran 3 miles this morning before I went to school! (Just have to make sure you have all of my disclaimers out there!! ;)

I got to the starting line...those nervous feelings were there...CAUSE the music teacher HAS to be under 6 seconds or it will be COMPLETE embarrassment! I took off running...with my cell phone-keys and wallet still on me...and ran it in 5.4 seconds...not bad for the old guy!

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IS HUGE...You should have SEEN the students run after I got the fastest time...they were FLYING down the hallway! A little motivation...can't let the "old teacher" MUCH LESS the music teacher beat you...Well...no one did until the young man who had the 6.7 sec. time went again...only this time...he finished with a 5.2! He was MOTIVATED to do his personal best!

A couple things hit me when this happened...

FIRST...WHY do we wait for others to bring out the best in us? When will we STEP UP and take responsibility for ourselves...for our lives...to be the best we can be...to give our best! Not wait for someone else to motivate us! Because when we start to take responsibility for our lives and work to be our best...THE SKY IS THE LIMIT for what we may accomplish!

SECOND...Are you bringing out the best in others? By the way you are living your life...are you bringing out the best in other people...today I did in a race...but I have been really challenged to make sure that I am doing what I can to pull the VERY BEST out of people...the very best!

You just NEVER KNOW what lessons you might learn when you are just trying to walk the halls...

Take Aim!

Our church turned 4 years old this month...we launched our South Bend Campus from our church in Goshen that has been there "forever!" For much of the first 3 years we had a split direction...and a lot of that happened because of our locations...we had our services in Movies 14 in Mishawaka and then our office in Downtown S. Bend...about 10 minutes away. Now 10 minutes doesn't seem to be much if your from a town like I grew up in in Ohio...we had a McDonalds...and an AMAZING pizza place and we drove for everything else! But here, those 10 minutes are a change in culture!

The deal is...we really tried to impact both areas and did to some level...but the truth is...we were making a random and not overly focused impact...if you have a split direction...you aren't going to maximize your influence...So...we have mapped out a 1 mile radius around our building...there are 14,975 people in that 1 mile...and 3,598 households...our target is to focus our energy and resources into this area...THEN we can have a maximum influence.

NO...we aren't going door to door and "attacking" people...but we will be OUT in our community and finding ways to love people and do things for them. We have had a HUGE opportunity open for us with a school that we partner with...the principal is VERY open to community partners and we are blessed to have someone working at the school! This summer we will be doing a Field Days camp at the school...For the 3 weeks after the camp we are having Community Family nights (OK...we will be coming up with a better name than that, but it works for today!!)...including a WATER FIGHT...possible an outdoor movie night...and we talked about creating portable walls and providing paint for kids to come and create "stuff" on the walls...constructive graffiti! We ended our Community Hope food vouchers and are transitioning it to help families right here within a mile of our building...We are also dreaming of doing an after school program that engages kids in fun...learning about practical life skills...AND about Jesus! We have some AMAZING curriculum for this! Can't wait to see who God raises up to lead it!!

Oh...and we will be going Egging too! Passing out 1 dozen eggs to 500 homes in our target area...giving people something practical that they can use and letting them know that Grace Community is around! At Easter we will have our 5th Easter Egg Dash...with 5,000 eggs! We call it a dash because there just aren't any eggs hidden!! We are giving away a prizes, including a family of 4 trip to a water park!! Hope we win!

Our church MUST focus in on a target...Jaden played a Wii archery game during the service...in the first round he shot all over the place...up in the mountains...at a waterfall...random shots...I bet he hit SOMETHING! BUT...in round 2 he took aim at a target...he NAILED all three of his arrows on the target...Bottom line...we will have MAXIMUM influence when we focus our energy, gifts/abilities, $ and resources on a focused target...

Random Reflections from the weekend....

Random things from the past weekend...

-NCAA Tourney...I went from best to last...THANKS NOTRE DAME!
-The Buckeyes are ALIVE AND WELL!
-Luke told me on Saturday "I want to die, dad." I was about to respond with "No you don't!!" Then I stopped and asked..."Why?!" Luke: "Because then I get to see Jesus." Love that little man!
-Finished off one of my most challenging weeks of teaching EVER...Glad I'm in a building with some AMAZING principals and staff!
-Sadie best be up to her birth weight...the Bouchers' need some sleep!
-Kelsey is sooooo amazing...the things she accomplishes in one day...I long for her efficiency!
-Hide 'n Go Seek Tag in the yard...with the kids and neighbor kids...I JUST LOVE IT!
-Bought some exercise equipment...after 3 free treadmills...I used my bday $$ and bought some other equipment...NOW to rearrange the basement!!
-Why, oh WHY can't Notre Dame go deeper in the tourney (sorry...I just can't get it out of my mind!)
-Sunday morning...GREAT morning...got ambushed and then had a FANTASTIC service!
-Jaden got to play the Wii during our service...he was my "expert" on hitting a target...he was SOOOOOO excited to help me!!
-I think I drove 10,000 miles on Sunday afternoon...too many places to go!
-Ended Sunday with a GREAT couples group...talking about sex!
-We were all challenged to make sure we talk with our kids about the GOOD of sex...how simply AMAZING it can be if you keep it in marriage...and it can simply be amazing!
-OK...so actually ended my Sunday with my tourney bracket being BLOWN UP by Notre Dame! (yes there is a theme here!!) The Bucks are my only hope!!

I was under attack!!

This morning I was preaching on the direction of our church...the title of my sermon was "Take Aim!" During our announcement time (and without my knowledge!!) A guy (I will not give them the gratification of having their names in print!! :)...he yells from the back of the auditorium "Hey Tim...what is the title of your message this morning?!" THEN 4 or 5 guys pop up around the auditorium and "Take aim" on me with Nerf guns! IT WAS SOOO FUNNY...and a GREAT way to start our service!! I had no idea they were planning this!! (I should mention here that some of them are AWFUL marksmen!!) Then...when it was about done...Colin comes from behind me on stage and gets me from close range! UNBELIEVABLE...our worship leader shoots me from behind...

Paybacks are sweet boys...PAYBACKS ARE SWEET BOYS!!!!

OH...I should mention that I did get hit by one "bullet" from the BACK balcony area...NOW THAT is a Nerf gun!!! LONG RANGE!!

Welcome to Grace Community...where you just NEVER KNOW what is going to happen...
LOVE IT!!!!

Priceless Bday gifts!

I LOVE my kids...and it is always so cool how the simple things make a HUGE difference...Chloe, Jaden and Luke each made me bday cards...they are sooooo very unique and just touched me. Then Luke made me another card and put $1.12 in it! It was sooo cute...he went to his bank and gave me $...And drew a picture of a big storm and a tornado! Quite the interesting bday card I must say!

In the morning, Jaden made me close my eyes...he led me to the garage...I was expecting something that he built or a stick...some sort of contraption! When he told me to open my eyes...I looked up and he had straightened the WHOLE garage! AND IT WAS A MESS BEFORE...HOW cool was that!!?? It really looked good and organized...VERY COOL!

It reminded me again that sometimes...no OFTEN it is the SIMPLE gifts...the ones from our own hands...the ones where we invested part of US in it that make the most impact.

I'll never forget those gifts...the time that Chloe took to make a sign and then a card for me...Luke's card with $$ in it and then Jaden-using up HIS play time to help me and clean up the garage...PRICELESS!

Trust...hard to build...EASY to destroy!

I have been thinking a lot about trust...both the building of trust and the destroying trust...It started with Coach Tressell and his issues at Ohio State...not telling the truth...and trust...a career based on integrity has been brought into question...I have had MANY talks with husbands and wives...where trust was there, but through choices made...it was destroyed...children with their parents...workers with their bosses...students with their teachers...workers with their bosses...and on and on...it is soooooo hard to build trust and it just takes a few moments to destroy it all!

I also believe that trust can be rebuilt...that relationships can be restored...and sometimes even made better than before. A poor decision or MANY poor decisions doesn't have to ruin a life...it may ruin a season of life...maybe even a LONG season of life...but IT DOESN'T HAVE TO DEFINE who you are, who you will be or what your legacy will be.

Live is a way that allows you to build AND KEEP that trust...make choices today...maybe in this VERY MINUTE that allow you to build trust with others. AND make sure you are doing it when no one is watching you too!