small group: purpose of Christmas

Our small group is a funny group. We’ve got 11 adults and about a bajillion kids… we don’t get together as often as we would like… when we do, it’s loud, there are lots of interruptions and usually a few tears from the playroom. It’s our group… and we like it! I love our time together.

Over the next three weeks, we’re going to study The Purpose of Christmas. With all that flashes on the tv screen and screams from my inbox about what I should spend my money on this Christmas, I’m looking forward to focusing on God’s original purpose of sending his Son to earth.

What are you doing to prepare yourself for Christmas this year?

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what was I thinking?

At midnight on thanksgiving night, I along with a thousand other people decided that the doorbuster bargains at our local ToysRUs were too good to pass up. Now let me make it clear: I am not one who does this kind of stuff. I tend to spend time at the front of the store looking at the new products, not at the back rumaging through the bargain sale rack…not that there’s anything wrong with that!

Well this was an experience like no other. These people are serious…and honestly they scared me just q little bit. Don’t try to cut through a line of a mom with a cart full of bargains on her way to the check out line. She might crush you underneath her cart.

The good news is that I survived. In the end I stood in lines outside and inside the store for over an hour and a half and only ended up with one of the items I went in for. And all that to save $10. Obviously I’m an amateur!

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giving thanks

my life is good…I have so many things to be thankful for. some are big, some are small, most are random! so here’s a list of some of the things cause me to give thanks…in no particular order of course.

Happy Thanksgiving!

summer vacations Chipotle burritos encouraging friends Sharpie Ultra-Fine Tip markers the Buckle babysitters finishing a book 69¢ Diet Coke Polar Pops with pellet ice from Circle K Christmas music my iPhone a great night out with Lynda the Apple Store good graphic design Sonic big cities (Boston & New York are my favorites) singing harmony God’s grace the beach Twizzlers playing “tickle monster” with my kids faith a long soak in the hot tub under the stars reading “It’s Pajama Time” to Ethan & Addison flying, rather than driving dinner out with good friends and lots of laughter Jimmy John’s subs dancing & singing in the kitchen laughing out loud at stupid tv shows snow days Sunday naps my amazing wife

What are you thankful for?

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book review: Scouting the Divine

I just finished the most amazing book… one of the best I’ve read all year: Scouting the Divine by Margaret Feinberg.

I had the chance to hear Margaret speak briefly at Catalyst in October. I was taken by her interview…this was an author I definitely wanted to read. I quickly jotted down her name and the book title in my iPhone planning to order it when I got home. Then to our surprise, we were given a copy as we left the session.

I was eager to begin reading Scouting the Divine. And boy does this book live up to all I expected. Through time spent with a shepherdess, a farmer, a bee-keeper and a wine-maker, Margaret brought new life to the scriptures for me. She has an amazing way of bring me, the reader, into the story…I could almost smell the sheep barn and taste the wine as I read her words.

This book has been so encouraging to me. I have to confess, I, like her, sometimes read the scriptures and have a hard time connecting with some passages… they seem to be from a distant land I’m not familiar with. I will read these scriptures now with a new understanding of God’s love and care for me and of my life with Him.

Pick this book up…order it…I think you’ll enjoy this just as much as I did.

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what’s up with our family…

that’s my Aubrey. Six years old…1st Grader…freckle-faced…a snuggler…lover of lip gloss…artist.

This week we discovered that Aubrey has Type 1 Diabetes. It has totally rocked our world.

Aubrey is good…we caught it early and have already began to treat it with daily insulin injections. But it was just this thing dropped on us, and we don’t really know much about it.

So we’re learning. And our doctor’s office has been extremely helpful, encouraging and informative.

She is doing amazing with all of it… the 4x a day finger pokes to check her blood glucose level. The 1x a day insulin injection. The doctors visits. The education on diabetes. The new routine at home and at school. Everything…she is taking it all in stride.

And so I can add another descriptor to my list above:

Brave.

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what I’m reading…

Just thought I’d share what I’m reading right now…

Just finished Brennan Manning’s The Furious Longing of God. Great read…Brennan Manning never lets down.

Began reading Margaret Feinberg’s Scouting the Divine. Am really loving her writing… we heard her speak at Catalyst, and then they handed out the book to everyone there. The back of the book says it well:

Join Margaret on a spiritual adventure that moves from reading the Bible to entering stories that can be touched, tasted, heard, seen, smelled and savored — and in the process, discover for yourself the beauty and wonder of Scripture all over again.

I’m really looking forward to finishing this one… It will be one a recommend over and over.

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heading to Harbor of Hope’s 10th party

Oh my…I can’t believe I’m posting this picture!!!

On November 7, 1999, Brent Storms, Toney Salva and I, along with a dedicated core team, planted Harbor of Hope Christian Church at the Doubletree Hotel in downtown Lowell, MA.

This weekend, Lynda and I will be traveling back to MA to attend Harbor’s 10th birthday celebration. We are looking forward to celebrating all that God has done through this great church… I’m so proud of this amazing group of people who love God and love others!

I am thankful to have had the privilege to be a part of planting Harbor and thankful for 10 great years.

If you’re reading this and have been a part of Harbor, I’d love for you to share how God used Harbor in your walk with God.

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a day in St Louis

A couple of weekends ago, Lynda’s brother Eddie came from Dallas for a visit. On Monday, the kids had the day off from school so we all went to St Louis to take Eddie to the airport. But first a stop at the Arch… a first for the kids.

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flash forward

I’m a self-confessed tv addict. I have always loved television. Each fall I eagerly await the new series that will premiere that season. This fall I was excited for Flash Forward… and boy has it lived up to that excitement.

The premise of the show is that for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, all of the world blacked out. This of course had profound and tragic effects. But what the story is centering on is the fact that every person had a ‘flash forward’ and saw a glimpse of themselves six months in the future. For some it was a nice picture. For others is was quite disturbing. And as they piece these pictures together, they are searching for the cause/person responsible for the black outs.

I’m finding myself looking forward to the show each week…how they are unveiling things, how the flash forwards are beginning to unfold. And the question that is repeated over and over is: are you able to change the outcome of the flash-forward you saw?

Makes me think… if I were able to see six months in the future, what would I change right now that I’m doing…or not doing. Am I living each day to become the person that I want to be?

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catalyst moment

This was by far the most powerful moment of our Catalyst experience last week. This video introduces us to Jimmy Wambua, a seminary student who was once a Compassion child. Take the time to watch this…and oh, grab some tissues!

more about “catalyst moment“, posted with vodpod

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caption please…

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meeting tweets and bloggers

One of the highlights of attending Catalyst was the opportunity to attend the Bloggers Meetup. Brad Ruggles arranged the place and put out the word, and within a couple of weeks, about a hundred bloggers and twitter users signed up for a night of connection and conversation.

I have to admit I was a bit intimidated as I pulled up to the Loafing Leprechaun restaurant that evening. I was going to be rubbing shoulders with some people that I have followed (or stalked, as Lynda likes to say!) online for quite a while. I didn’t really know what to expect.

What I found was that the conversations were relaxed and easy, that we each have a story to share and that God is doing great things in this world. And for me, it was exciting to meet new people that I may not have had the chance to meet otherwise.

Matt Appling leads a house church in the Kansas City area. D’Art Strickland is making plans to move to Boston to plant a new church (yeah for Boston!) Brandon Smith is a campus minister in Missouri…he also blogged Catalyst for the Christian Standard. Tim Schrader is the communications director at Park Church in Chicago.

I also had the chance to meet Pete Wilson, Faye Bryant, Tony Steward, Scott Williams, Vince Parker (the last three are all from LifeChurch.tv – doing great things for the Kingdom), Michael Trent and a host of others.

I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to rub shoulders with these people for those two hours on that Wednesday evening. Through the power of social media, each of these individuals are sharing their stories…their unique story of what God is doing in their life. What a privilege it was to me to get to meet them face to face.

Yeah, I had a fun time. And I walked away with a great swag bag too! Thanks for a great evening Brad…I’ll look forward to next year.

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post-catalyst

I had originally planned to blog some from Catalyst, but my MacBook Pro’s wireless connection wouldn’t cooperate the entire time I was gone.

What we experienced at Catalyst can summarized with ‘amazing!’ The speakers (Andy Stanley, Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, Priscilla Shirer, Chuck Swindoll and lots of others) and the worship (Fee, Aaron Keyes, Todd Fields, Christy Nockels and again some others) both challenged and encouraged me as a leader.

I took some good notes, had some great conversations about what we heard and saw and have walked away with a renewed sense of mission. What a great experience…I’m so glad that the four of us went. I’m ready to sign up for next year!

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leaving for Catalyst

tomorrow David, Mike, Dustin and I make our way to Atlanta for the Catalyst Conference 2009. I’ve been looking forward to this conference for a long while. I hope to post some great stuff while we’re there… I’m taking along my new Flip video camera that I won from Catalyst!

And really excited about hitting this on Wednesday night! Should be a fun time…

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devotions with the kids

We recently began reading a devotional book with Colin & Aubrey. The Kids’ Book of Devotions has been pretty good bedtime reading and discussion. Love to hear them talk about what they think about scripture…

But with Ethan & Addison, we read different books each night. One that we’ve had since Colin was a toddler is called Thank You Dear God. I love to read it… it’s sing-song rhthym is fun. And each phrasing ends with “Thank you, dear God.” What’s been fun this week is that Ethan has started saying as I finish each page, “Thank you God.”

It reminds me that it’s never too early to begin these spiritual practices with our kids. Many times it’s often Ethan or Addison that remind us at dinner to pray just as Lynda and I are taking our seats!

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

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garden explorers

Ethan and Addison like to go exploring in the backyard garden. I tried to sneak up on them in their adventures this evening. But they caught eye of the camera before I got many pics.

Their adventures usually just end with both of them chowing down some cherry tomatoes and covered in dirt. You can see Ethan’s got a mouthful of tomatoes as I took these.

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family organization done right

My wife rocks!

As a way of helping our family to be more efficient and on the same page, Lynda devised an amazing organizational area in our kitchen/dining area. The wall is complete with our meal plan calendar, the house rules (along with consequences and rewards) and a place for the kids to store their library books and weekly spelling lists.

I love that she has really thought this out…and with a creative design. Eat your heart out Pottery Barn!

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family movie night

this evening we planned for a family movie night. the kids have been talking about it all week.

it started in the kitchen creating ‘bugs in a blanket.’ it ended with us all crammed on the couch, at least for the first ten minutes, watching “Everafter.”

i think Fridays are going to now be our family night.

any good family night ideas out there?

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first day of school

a little bit behind…

Colin & Aubrey headed off to another school year a couple of weeks ago. Back to the routine!

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end of summer

i guess our swing set in 3 pieces is a sign that it’s the end of summer…

time to get a new swing set.

of course, this one was ‘recycled’ last year when Lynda snatched it from someone’s curb!

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