Sunday, July 27, 2008
even better weekend
The way I see it, my kids are really God's kids who are on loan to me. I want to do a great job raising God's kids to become God's agents of change in this short life we live. Thank you, Lord, for entrusting the training of another of your agents to Sara and I.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
great weekend
Saturday we took a trip to Hollabaugh's (word's greatest fruit market) and then went to my parents' house for the kids to play on the inflatable water slide. I think they did it for about 4 hours - literally. Followed by some pool time at home.
Today we went to church and came home and played outside. I went to the gym and had a great workout and spent some time with my friend, Frank. I came home and played outside (in the pool,of course) with the boys. I'm watching a wonderful veggi-tales movie now and Sara is out spending some time with her friend, Layla.
Liam has learned how to swing on the swing himself and Colin is not far behind. I love my family and I'm looking forward to my 4th boy, Jude, being born very soon.
He's due in 3 days. Please join me in praying for him to come asap.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Black Coffee!
This is all tongue in cheek, but I have wanted to switch for a while. For no other reason than to skip all the calories and sugar I was dumping into my coffee everyday.
Judges
I just finished the book of Judges and the last statement in the book says it all . . . “Judges 21:25 - In those days Israel had no king, so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” That book is just a collection of stories containing the most bazaar and disturbing human behavior I can imagine. Not that I haven't heard of worse, but what makes it so strange is that these people actually had themselves thinking they were doing right. What a lesson for me as I go through life. I usually feel like I know what to do, but often what “seems right in my eyes” is the opposite of how God ends up having me move. I'm so thankful for the close relationship that's available to God through Christ. I'm sure I'd have been dead long ago if I was still just doing what “seemed right in my own eyes”
Thursday, July 17, 2008
long day
I have some new vision churning around inside me. Some vision for a new thing I've never done before. I'm looking for some clarity, because the thought of it scares me just a bit.
Only 6 days until Jude's due date . . . counting down.
Well, time to let Marty out and go to bed.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
so cynical
I read a blog of an old friend this morning and the writing was really good. But I couldn't enjoy the good writing because the attitude behind it was so cynical. It was the exact same attitude about life that I used to carry and it really struck me how far God has brought me in the last 14 years since I've slowly (way too slowly) turned my life over to Him. I used to be that person who did not trust and thought everyone and everything was fake. I guess the truth was that I was a fake.
Lord, let me remember each day that the things I despise in others are the very things at work in me.
Friday, July 11, 2008
pain in the neck
Funny how life feels when you know you have a new family member about to join you and the rest of the world any day. Life is just in a holding pattern. Every appointment I make has the tag line, "see you then . . . unless Jude is born between now and then." I know Sara's really ready for him to be born. So am I.
I'm also asking God for a financial miracle. Summer giving in churches is not traditionally good and the last 2 weeks have been rough. I'm very concerned that some staff on my team will not get paid this go round. I'm asking God to bring in funds miraculously for that.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
work is fun!
Monday, July 7, 2008
Day Off
Sunday, July 6, 2008
The Shining
Anyway, last night as I'm falling asleep, this movie enters my thoughts. So I'm half asleep and thinking of this movie so I'm just creeped out - mostly from the kids in the movie (the two twin girls who had been murdered years before and the little boy who had "the shining"). So, like I usually do when I'm having a bad dream or if I'm in a half-sleep / half-dream state, I can get control of my thoughts and tell myself, "just wake up". So I did.
One problem. While I was getting all creeped out by these little kids (twins) in the dream, one of my twins had made his way into my room and was just standing by my bed in a half-asleep state himself. So, when I opened my eyes to be rid of the dream, this little boy is standing in front of me staring at me.
It's funny how quickly your body can move when you think you're in danger. I had my hands on his shoulders and was sitting up in way under a second. Funny thing is that he wasn't startled at all. I guess he was too sleepy. I put Colin back to bed and finally fell asleep myself.
Besides being pretty funny this morning, the moral of this story is that the stuff I take into my brain and spirit matters. I wish I didn't look at and listen to a whole bunch of stuff . . . but I have. No use crying over that, but at least I can do a much better job as the gatekeeper of my own mind and spirit now. A wise man once told me, "Never look at something you think you might want to forget."
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Vision Day 2.0 (afterglow)
For now, the challenge on the horizon is a boy who will be named Jude Bennett Fitch. He's due to join us in less than 3 weeks and I'm ready to get acquainted.
On the home front, Liam was up every hour (literally) last night with a fever and upset stomach, so that meant he felt the need for me to up with him. Funny how he's not the least bit tired today and I feel like a truck ran over me. Go figure.
Well, I must confess, Liam did sleep through the 3am hour, but my cat, Marty, took care of the wake up then. How kind of him. You get the picture of what last night was like.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Vision Day 2.0
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Vision Day 1.0 (afterglow)
1. All our ministries get together, define their "wins" and publish these in the next 6 months.
2. That our church attendance average for Dec 08 is a solid 1400.
I have some new and very scary vision stirring up in me, so please pray with me that God clarifies that for me soon.
Student ministry vision day is tomorrow. I'm even more excited for this day. Pray with me for some big system-wide breakthroughs.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Vision Day 1.0
We have a student ministries vision day on Thursday where we'll work on this concept in a more pointed way for our particular stuff we do to connect with youth and kids.