Happy Mother’s Day!

It’s now VERY early on Sunday morning.  I’m winding down to go to bed . . .

But, It’s now Mother’s Day, so I am giving a shout-out to all you mothers out there!

This year, this holiday means somthing more to me than ever before.

I always appreciate my mother.  I owe a lot of my spiritual life to the nurturing she provided as I was growing up.  She offers a great bit of knowledge and wisdom to my life even as a grown adult.

But this year, my wife is becoming a mother. Since we believe that life begins at conception, the little baby Katie growing inside of Emily’s womb makes Emily a mother.  Happy first Mother’s Day to you, Emily!

Emily is going to be a great mom.  One of my favorite special little things I did for Emily was to write each verse of Proverbs 31 on a post-it note, along with an explanation of how I believed she lived out that verse.  It then hid the post-its all over the house.

One huge example is how she manages our household.  We went to Casey Graham’s ReThink Money seminar today.  One of the suggestions is to eat at home more.  We made that decision a while ago.  Since then, Emily has found several HEALTHY, VERY good, filling meals that she can make for us that are EXTREMELY BUDGET FRIENDLY.  If you want to save money by eating at home more, but aren’t a savvy cook . . . none of Emily’s recipes take more than 40 minutes to make, and they are generally between $6-$12 per 4 servings (That’s $1.50-$3.00 per person!)  Yeah, so if you need help, my wonderful wife would be more than willing to offer some suggestions!

Off to bed.

Project Generosity & other stuff

Hey Journey Folks!

If you missed it, you missed it!  We gave away over $1,000 in the service yesterday.  The only catch:  give away the money you got and tell us about it on THIS WEB SITE.  Emily and I are already brainstorming ideas of what we are going to do.  I can’t wait to hear everyone elses’ stories!

We’re also signed up for the ReThink Money seminar.  If you haven’t signed up yet, call the church office RIGHT NOW!  Time is running out, and this could totally change your life.

Growth Groups are going to ROCK this week.  Exciting things are happening. Auburn will never be the same.

I’m also pumped about our new series starting this Sunday.  It’s mothers day  . . . the ONE Sunday of the year any mother can convince her husband and/or sons to come to church.  Who are you going to invite.

I met one of my new neighbors yesterday.  Talked about getting together to barbeque sometime.  New neighbors means new opportunities to get to know folks and share God’s love.  Cool stuff.

2:30am!?!?!?!

Oh my goodness!  It’s almost 2:30am and I just finished the Travel Guide for this week!  A little extra work tonight, because we several groups are having first-time Discussion Leaders this week.  I am really pumped to see what God is going to do.

• I’m pumped because I know what’s going to happen during the service in the morning.
• I’m pumped because JourneyKidz is starting a new series and I like the graphics for this one much more than the last series.
• I’m pumped because I’m thinking through ways to simplify the setup in JourneyKidz while improving the end product.
• I’m pumped because first-time Discussion Leaders means potential new Growth Group Leaders!
• I’m pumped because new Growth Group Leaders means more Growth Groups!
• I’m pumped because Emily says Katie is moving around noticably now.
• I’m pumped because Emily and I had an open and candid conversation about taking our marriage to the next level.  Even great marriages can be improved!

Another Rainy Saturday

Well, I managed to get out of bed, make Emily breakfast, and run around the lawn with the lawnmower before it came . . . but it came.

We’re in this crazy cycle lately of beautiful weather throughout the week, with some form of rain on the weekend.

Emily is hanging out with a friend watching some scary movie, so I’m getting an unusual earlier-than-normal start on the Growth Groups material for this week.  We have something truly awesome planned for tomorrow, so I’m really pumped to see how everyone reacts.  What we’re going to do has the potential to not only change the lives of folks at Joruney, but to genuinely change our city.  It’s going to be awesome.

It’s actually a good thing I’m getting started a little early.  Emily and I realized last night that we forgot to get the backdrops ready for JourneyKidz’s new series.  That means we need to take another run all the way to Montgomery to finish getting stuff printed out.  I sent most of it to the office in the middle of the night, but we still need to go pick it up, bring it home, and put it together.  We wanted an excuse to go to BabyDepot at Burlington Coat Factory, anyway.  Oh well.  Not so fun with gas prices where they are.

Tuesday Night

It’s after 5pm on a Tuesday night . . .

That means I’m winding down at the office and looking forward to Growth Group tonight!

We’re probably gonna have a full house tonight.

I’m pumped.

Pithy Perceptions

Here’s a quick recap for Sunday night:

• The band rocked this morning.
• We had a pile of stuff in the seats.
• I had to talk through all the stuff during the welcome.
• Was glad to see a few people back for 2nd & 3rd time.
• Pumped to see some relationships growing — makes us “sticky.”
• I almost went “MAD” this morning.
• I think I should have.  It would have fit the series.
• I don’t think I should have.  It wouldn’t really fit me.
• “Relating” to our money got me thinking about some stuff.
• My wife is the cutest pregnant lady ever.
• Katie is the cutest fetus ever.
• Vince’s T-Shirt book has me thinking about some stuff.
• I’m wondering if my theology has created excuses for my complacency at times.
• If it has, my theology is way wrong.
• I think I’ve dropped the ball on a few things lately.
• I need to regroup a little this week.
• I managed to run 3 days last week.
• My knee is hurting a little, and I think I need new shoes.
• I’m gonna try to get up and run tomorrow anyway.
• Emily and I are starting to research baby stuff.
• We started a Target registry.
• Several Growth Groups are really starting to do well.
• I’m going to be real sad when Growth Groups wind down for the semester.
• I really look forward to our Growth Group each week.
• I’m about to challenge some folks to step up to the plate and lead our Growth Groups for a week or two.
• We need some more Growth Group Leaders and Host Homes for the fall.
• If it doesn’t happen, it’s my fault.
• I’m going to be a daddy.
• I’m going to be a daddy?!?!?!?!?!?
• I’m thinking I should spend the next 16 years at the shooting range getting ready for that first boy to ring our doorbell asking to see Katie. . .
• If Katie is as cute as her mother, it probably won’t take 16 years, which is even scarier.
• I had a great conversation about Baltimore and Church Planting with one of our newer couples this morning.  I hope it challenges them as much as it is me.
• Crazy week ahead of me this week.
• Hopefully some important decisions on some major projects will be made soon.
• “Pithy Perceptions” is a really brainy way to say, “I’m having an ADD night and my brain is all over the place.”

Auburn CityFest 2008

Hey folks!  You may have noticed in yesterday’s Worship Guide at Journey Church that there are still some needs for volunteers at Auburn CityFest this Saturday, April 26.

If you or your Growth Group would like to volunteer, you need to get on it fast, because the deadline for applications is TODAY!

Go to: http://www.auburncityfest.com/frmVolunteerInfo.aspx

You can download the application and find more info there.

This is a great Get-Off-The-Couch opportunity!

Thanks!

Not-so-late night . . .

Well, for most people, almost midnight may still be a late night . . . But for me, Saturdays have become after midnight work nights most weeks, as I wait until Emily dozes off before I dive full-force into putting together the Growth Groups material for the week.

Thanks to our friends at Mountain Lake Church for sending Casey Graham to teach us tomorrow, and for providing some supporting material.  It made my Saturday Evening workload much lighter this week.  With the material they sent, I discovered some other discipleship tools they are providing their people.  Eric and I have been talking about raising the bar for discipleship.  I emailed their folks for more help.  This may be a bridge for a new tool is transforming people in Auburn into passionate followers of Jesus Christ.  Let’s move past just knowing God into GROWING into a relationship with Him and his people!

I’m pumped about this series!  I know that lives and lifestyles could change dramatically.  I think we might just make a mark on this town through the impact our lives experience as we change our perspective on our finances.

New Series

I’m pumped about the new series at Journey Church: MAD MONEY

Some people hate when churches talk about money.  Well, if all they are doing is asking for money, I can understand why.  BUT, this series is about helping you deal with money.  The Bible has a lot to say about money.  God knows we all struggle with finances sometimes.

Emily and I have been working hard over the past couple of years to rework our finances and to put ourselves in a position where our debt is really beginning to disappear.  However, it hasn’t always been that way.  Our first year of marriage was not pretty.  We had some expenses we couldn’t control that put us into some debt.  We also made some purchases we probably could have done without.  BUT, we got ourselves on track and have been working hard to do it right.

If you want some REAL practical help in moving toward financial freedom in your family . . .

Come join us for the next three Sundays as we talk about MAD MONEY.  We’re also having a special seminary called “ReThink Money” by the President of ReThink Money, Casey Graham.

If you want more info, email the church.  They’d be glad to get you signed up!

 

Saturday Evening Post

As I write, I am winding down an excellent Saturday.

I spent most of the beautiful day outside either doing stuff in the yard or spending time with Emily.  This is probably the first day in a real long time that I totally unplugged from everything architecture, Journey Church, and church planting . . . just to regroup myself and to reconnect with Emily.

Emily and I have been a little bit short with each other lately.  Some of that is just the emotional issues with her being pregnant.  But I think a lot of it is just how much we have going on.  Having a day to just “BE” every now and then is essential to keep ourselves connected.

With Emily being pregnant, her body tends to wind down a little before mine.  As a result, I was able to put off getting “back to work” until she was ready to sleep.  I just finished this weeks’ Growth Groups Travel Guide.  I’m looking forward to our continuing RockStar challenge to Make Jesus Famous by investing in the lives of people around us and inviting them into relationship with God and the church!