On the Brink of something LARGE

What keeps on moving?

Well - my wife and I are buying our first home.  So we are moving.  I am just months away from 40 and buying a home, but I thank God that we are able to do this.

I keep trying to work on the areas in the previous post and someitmes I move forward and sometimes back but I am moving.  Yesterday I failed at not being frustrated with my kids and lost it.  I love them but sometimes I just get off focus on what is important.  I did apologize last evening and all is good again.

Lots of good stuff is moving right along in my life and in the church where I serve.  This is good stuff that is moving right along.

All in all, God is so good to me and so faithful to me in times when I just fail time after time.  It does lead me to repentance!  This keeps me moving!

Areas to work on in Life. 

(Leadership, Personal, Relationships, and Spiritual)

Be More Confident

1. Believe in what God has called me to do
2. Act more confident
3. Voice what I believe

Delegate More (Trusting People)

1. Ask others to be involved.
2. Believe that people will do a great job.

Thanks You Notes (Let people Know I Appreciate them)

1. Send email “Thank You” note within 24 hours.
2. Mail “Thank You” note within two days.

Adding Value to People (Let People Know they are Important)

1. By treating people with kindness, both to their face and behind their back.
2. By being positive with people in look and in word
3. By actively listening to them

Grow in Knowledge of God and His Word (be more consistent with both)

1. Reading Bible Daily
2. Studying Areas intently and intentionally

Pray More Consistently

1. Pray with integrity – for those things I said I would
2. Pray consistently throughout my day

Do Not Yell – Be More Patient

1. Talk to Mckayla and Luke, not yell

Let my Wife Always Know that I Love Her

1. Tell her how much I do appreciate her.
2. Tell her how much I love her.
3. Tell her how beautiful she is

Let Friends Know I Appreciate Them

1. Be more vocal, telling friends I appreciate them.
2. Send note to them letting them know
3. Be more generous with friends

The past month has been a real killer.  The Lead Pastor has been on sabbatical this month and trying to do my job and part of his has been tough.  It has been hard but I got to do some extra speaking which I do not normally get but love.  The problem is though that when you get out of the groove of speaking and doing the prep it is very hard to get back in.  I have had a great time with it but I am glad to be back and taking care of the things that I need to.  My normal duties have suffered some but I have made good headway today to get them back on track. 

Next time I post I might put in some stuff on this past Sunday’s message which was “Prayer…When you are speechless”.  It seems to have been both helpful and challenging to those we minister to here. 

 God Bless All!

Let me begin by saying thanks to Lon for getting me kick started on writing.

 Things around here are getting busy but life is a fun adventure.  Let me share a little about what is happening.  My wife has started working full time ( 2nd grade teacher) which has caused us all (myself and two kids to do more around the home).  We are searching for a home to buy ( taking some time to find the place that fits our needs).   I have decided I want to be healthy in 2008 so I know workout an hour a day ( I would do it in the morning but I hate to workout in the morning, much more motivated after work).  The Lead Pastor is on Sabbatical for the month to write his dissertation ( I have all my normal work plus part of his and all his meetings).  So things around here are crazy busy but to be honest it is a blast!  I am seeing God work and move through all of it in ways I would have never imagined.  He is teaching things about myself and Him that amaze me.  I must say - I love this non-stop adventure called life!

Lost a great friend this week.  He was 86 and one of those special Christian people who just live it out.  I came to this church six years ago and that is where our relationship began.  He became like a grandfather to me here where I have no family.  He would go to school on grandparents day for my daughter when my parents and my wife’s parents could not make it.  He told me he loved me every time he saw me.  He drove 30 minutes to work (yes he worked at the church as an assistant to the senior pastor) everyday and would be there every morning to give me a big hug.  I got to give him a hug one last time at the hospice on Wednesday morning.  He told me nearly everyday that he has been so blessed that he has everything anyone could ever want this side of heaven.  He was an older man who when we went to two services and one contemporary that was growing that he was so excited to see all the new faces.  He would say it was a sad day when he knew everyone at the church.

I will miss him and be sad about not seeing him now but I do take great comfort to know “Mr. Bill” is with the Jesus he loves so much. 

Ministry recently has been more stressful.  As I just read in another blog “seasons” of stress come and go.  I have found in these stressful weeks that I have really enjoyed life.  The key is that I have learned to enjoy all aspects of life.  I enjoy work, play, love, and life in gerneral.  I have also found little things can be great fun. 

I have also got to the point where I figured out reading is a key.  I love to read books - currently reading “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day” and loving it - but now I also love to read blogs.  I have found entertainment and information locked up in the variety of treasures that are out there.  I know that  your saying but you are writing a blog - yeah but I did not really read others blogs too much. 

 Enjoy your life!

The more I live life and live it in community with other believers, the more messiness I see.  There are situations that are truly messy in the community where I serve, but I would say that is true about all community of believers.  I see how “together” many people look and I see that they work really hard to look that way because it is not the truth.  Some many people living lies.  I know for a fact that I do not have it “all together” and I pray that I do not give that impression to anyone.  What I do know is that I have Jesus and He has made difference in my life.

These thoughts today led me to a point where I have really thought about how God lives in this all the time.  He sees how messy the lives of believers are and how he wants to help, but they try to pretend that all is fine and keep God at bay.  I know how helpless I feel when this happens to me, how much more to the Creator God who could force people to change but allows them to make the choices.

Is pride the issue?  It has been with me in the past.  Pride has kept me from making good choices or decisions or asking for help.  I lost focus that God is a God of  boundless grace. 

I continue to pray for those who are in the community where I serve and pray that the mess continues to come out.  In my estimation, the more the mess comes out in the open, the more God’s boundless grace can make a real difference.

I will post more in detail later about Catalyst.

My initial thoughts:

1) Labs were excellent at least the ones I attended - I did get the CD’s of all and will listen to them.

2)  Conference Day 1 was good.  Red Carpet was not impressive.  The opening stuff was very good.  Stanley and Lencenoni were alright, Some of the other stuff and speakers were not impressive to me.  But then Francis Chan got up and the conference in my mind got rolling in a major way.  He was excellent.  Warren was after that and he was excellent.  I have hear some of what he said in the past but he spoke with an edge I have never heard in him before.  I really did like what he had to say.  The day had some good, some not so good, and some excellent parts.

2)  Music throughout the conference was excellent, the only downside to that was both days they did a song or two too many.  I worshipped and was ready to hear the speaker and they would keep going.  I did really enjoy the worship overall.  Musically and vocally they were all awesome.

3)  Day 2 was outstanding.  Groeshel was awesome, Maxwell was wonderful, and McManus is always excellent.  Did not hear the last session due to having to get to the airport.

4)  The vendors were very excellent.

Overall I think Catalyst was a very good experience for me and those who were with me.   I will have a better feel after I see the sessions again (bought the Main sessions) for the real impact this will have in the ministry in which I serve. I love conferences for the creative juices that get flowing in me and get my batteries recharged. 

It has been several weeks since I wrote something.  Life has been moving at a rapid pace for the past month.  I returned from Africa to a change of job, I am  staying at the same church but switching positions (to some degree) with another Pastor.  I oversaw Ministry and Fellowship which included Youth, but now I will oversee Ministry, Fellowship, Evangelism, and Discipleship.  The Youth has been taken out and now another pastor will take it over as of today and he will do it fulltime which is needed.  There are mixed emotions with it for me, but now is a good time for a change with the teens because the vast majority are new and young. 

I look forward to doing some new things (alot of new things).  My load of work has almost doubled but God has gifted me with administration so I think I will do okay.  I truly need to trust God to help me get things done.  Until I get a pattern together, my posting will be sparce. 

I do love what I do and will be doing.  Everyone should get as much satisfaction out of there job out of what they do as I do. 

 Thanks Lord for the blessings of this life!

Matthew 4:45 -for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best–the sun to warm and the rain to nourish–to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. (Message)

We often think that God is picking on us something when something bad happens.  To me, I think that God allows life to happen to everyone, those who believe in Him and those who do not.

Recently I have seen “Life just happen” to me.  I have seen some really positive things happen in my life and some pretty stinky things happen.  From this I am learning how to act and react as Christ would want.  That to me is why life just happens - so that we can act and react - or be obedient and love God regardless.  I see it as the rain falling on the just and the unjust alike as the King James Version puts it, God is not picking on me but does want me to learn from whatever I go through.

Sometimes when good stuff happens - It is Just Life - sometimes when crappy stuff happens - It is Just Life.  Let us live Life and Enjoy it!