The sun always comes out after the storm.  I know that.  I trust that. I’m ready for that.

Bring the sun, Lord Jesus!

Some good change is in the air around here.  I, for one, am hoping to change several things about myself and my ministry in the coming months and years. Here’s just a few:

*I want to get over the feeling that I am working against people that don’t agree with me. We are all on the same team. We all love the same Jesus.

*I am working hard to become as passionate about Bible study and reading as I am service projects.  I want to read the Bible as an opportunity to learn more about the character of God and to better find my place in His majestic story.

*I desire to pray more.  I want to be diligent and consistent about spending time with God in prayer.  Not just talking either but listening.  I have absolute faith he will speak if I am willing to sit and listen.

*I need to do a better job of loving the people at church and being with them.  I still feel so pulled sometimes at church to see and visit with the most people possible and I don’t like that.  I “see” everyone but feel like I don’t really “know” anyone.  I want to focus in on people and really listen and be with them and not feel that rush to have to go see more people.  Shaking hands and smiling does not equal ministering to them.

*Most of all, I want to feel like I know God better at the end of 2008 than I do now.  Just like anything in life, I want to work hard and be diligent about being close to my Father.  For too many years I have just hoped this was something that would happen but I know that it does not work that way.  It is a journey but one we have to be willing to take.  We can crawl, walk, or run and I am ready to put the time and effort into being the best that I can be to honor God and know Him more.

Sometimes I think I have this church thing pretty well figured out.  Silly me.

I’m grateful for those times that God gently (and sometimes less gently) reminds me that I really have no idea what I am doing.  But it’s that reality that gives me peace as well.

So I am just trying to love people as much as I can.  Journey with those who want to journey.  And keep calling people to faithfulness as I seek the same in my life.

In the end, it’s all I can really do.  Praise God for that!

Honestly, it’s been a pretty tough couple of weeks. But God has sure been good to me through it all.

He is molding and shaping and refining me more every day.

He is reminding me whose I am and whose approval I seek.

He is teaching me what happens to prophetic voices.

He is showing me that I have a lot of growth to do before I am ready to speak for him on a weekly basis.

It’s been tough. But really good. Isn’t it funny how that works?

Off to Nashville in the morning with 12 high schoolers and 3 fellow chaperones. We will be working with the Nashville Inner City Ministry there and hoping to live out our youth group motto of “helping the kingdom of God break out in new places.”

Prayers are appreciated. Be blessed my friends.

What if I greeted every person I met with the love and compassion of Jesus?

What would have to change in my day?
What would I have to do with my formal schedule and completely booked planner?
What kind of attitude would I have to have?
What kind of words would I speak?
What would happen to my neatly outlined budget?
What kind of prayers would I pray?

What if?

It has been quite a busy last few weeks for me, Stacey, and the ccoc youth group.  But it has been a good last couple of weeks.

We had a great time at Camp of the Hills and I was blessed by seeing our kids step up to the challenge of not just being there but being there with the sole purpose of loving the kids in their proximity as much as possible.  I am immeasurably blessed that we have kids in the youth group that have bought into the vision and dream of making this world more than just about them and of being committed to making the world a better place. In short, I love having kids that really want to “help the kingdom of God break out in new places” (our youth group motto). Thank you for that inspiration Jesus!

And yesterday we had a great trip down to Schlitterbahn.  Even poison ivy and 101′ temperatures couldn’t quell the fun we had being together all day.  I am so grateful to have a group that gets along and enjoys spending time with one another.  It was one of only 3 or 4 times in the last 10 months that we have done something just for us but even in that I appreciate the Christian community of love and concern that is forming between our kids.  They are not just kids who go to the same church; they are becoming one.  Praise God!

Thanks for hanging in there with my inconsistency…

After a week of serving with our youth group at Camp of the Hills, we are blessed. Exhausted but blessed.

More to come tomorrow.

Sorry for the week plus hiatus after what had been a pretty consistent couple of months of blogging.  Stacey and I went to NYC last weekend for a short vacation and had a great time.  There are several things I want to write about our trip there and some other things so I will get back on track in the next couple of days.  Thanks for still checking in.

Blessings.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the day approaching…remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.” Hebrews 10:24-25; 32-34

This will be the text I preach from at church on June 1st. My question has been, and will continue to be, “what must we start doing at church to be a changed people when we leave?”

How would you answer that question?