salsa and chips

I love Jesus,
I love my family,
I love salsa and chips!!!

Recently, someone asked me; "What are your favorite things?" The first 3 things were easy, after that it was kind of hard to come up with things! Why is it when someone asks a question like that we can't come up with an answer? I have a lot of favorite things, but those were the first 3??

Craig Jutila said; "It's the little things that make a little difference that make a big difference." The fact that someone took the time to ask me "what do you like?" is a little thing that made a big difference. It shows they care, and as the saying goes, "People don't care what you know, until they know you care." Children are the same way! If you take the time to show children you care about them, they will want to know what you care about, and if you are serving in children's ministry I would think you care about children knowing Jesus as their Savior! Let me tell you about Madelyn.

Madelyn did not want to leave her mom when she was 3 years old. She was nervous, there was a room full of kids and she is an only child. Each week I would greet her by name at the door and ask her a question or two. "What's your favorite cereal?, What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?, Do you like Dora?" etc. I asked because I wanted her to know I cared about her! She told me she loved oreo cereal, chocolate ice cream and no Dora. The next Sunday I see her beautiful little face and I ask; "Did you have oreo cereal for breakfast this morning?" Her eyes lit up, she ran and gave me a hug. Yes, you read that right a hug! She waved at mom and has been my friend ever since. She is now almost 11 years old. She told me a couple of weeks ago she doesn't eat oreo cereal anymore, but chocolate ice cream is still number one!

It was a little question that made a big difference in a child's life. She knows I care and because of our relationship she was willing to explore a relationship with this Jesus she was learning about. She was baptized this past January, she knows HIM. What a privilege it is to serve His little ones!

a time to laugh, a time to cry, a time to move to Texas

After serving 17 years at Westgate Chapel, the time has come to move on. One of my favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Never in my wildest dreams did I think the Lord would lead us elsewhere, but in three weeks we will be packing up the SUV with 3 teenagers, 2 golden retrievers, a cat (maybe) and a frog (again maybe) and heading south. 23 hours to be exact to serve the Lord in Corpus Christi Texas. I am so thankful I am not privey to the plans the Lord has made for me. I know He is in control and He has called me to this new location to serve Him, but I would be lying if I said it was easy. I love God, I love my family and I love adventure.......I guess a 23 hour drive to a new town to serve God is right up my alley!

The stars at night are big and bright....

My Story Continues....

I confess, leadership stuff always fuels me. I mean really fuels me! I try to see if I am growing as a leader and where I fall in the different categories. I never seem to fit any particular mold or chart which can be frustrating, but then I remember, Psalm 139:14a "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made." That's just so cool! I don't have to fit into anything other than God's plan, and that is comforting! I read an article this morning by Todd Rhoades titled "Four Qualities of Innovative Leaders." (Yes, I was trying to see if that described me, but that's not the point.) Craig Groeschel, the pastor of LifeChurch.tv shared at the Buzz Conference what he thinks are four great qualities of innovative leaders. I think they are pretty interesting, so here is a little of what Todd wrote;

"First, innovative leaders heal the sick. Jesus sought out those in need and met their needs. Unfortunately today, too many churches are inwardly focused and not meeting the needs of non-Christians. Craig said that in order to reach those who aren’t yet being reached, we have to do things that no one else is doing. Our goal is to reach people for Jesus however we can, and in order to do that, we need to teach our people to love people who don’t know Christ. His question to us was, “Who is God calling you to reach that no one around you is reaching?”

Second, innovative leaders break the rules. Jesus broke the Sabbath rules. Craig used the analogy of Nascar: “Go straight, turn left. Go straight, turn left.” Innovative leaders don’t take the common path. They turn right! Every great movement of God was started by a leader making a right turn. Question: What is God calling you to do that’s never been done before?

Third, innovative leaders offend the “Pharisees.” When you do something new to reach people for Jesus, modern Pharisees will attack with a vengeance. But Craig said that we shouldn’t worry when the Pharisees are shooting at us. We should worry when they aren’t. He asked, “What new thing will God call you to create that will be hated today and embraced tomorrow?”

Fourth, innovative leaders redefine success. Instead of talking about how many people they’re reaching and bragging about numbers, innovative leaders are constantly thinking about how many people still need to be reached. We can’t be impressed with ourselves. We need to stop building attendance and start building the kingdom."

Don't you totally want to heal the sick, break the rules, offed the "Pharisees," and redefine success?? I do, as long as it makes Him famous!

Do I hear an AMEN???

Purity, Maturity & Unity

A couple of months ago, I sat around a tree with about 30 children's leaders and listened to Rick Warren talk about how leaders need to make sure they are working on their purity, maturity and unity. The 3 key elements of growth. Personal as well as church growth. He spoke about Achan's sin in Joshua 7. Achan sinned against the Lord by keeping devoted items for himself. He hid them and the Lord spoke to Joshua and told him to rid his troops of this sin. The Lord removed His favor because of the sin problem. There wasn't purity, maturity or unity amongst the troops.

Can you imagine what God can do with a local church body who focuses on purity, maturity and unity? I recently sent out an evaluation to parents of children in our ministry and I was amazed at some of the responses. One responder said; "And when the Jr. High program ramps up and my kids are there, I will be to, only because my wife thinks it is something fun we can do as a family. I'll be one of those smiling faces saying how great and cool it is, and how much fun I'm having. But let me speak now for all those men and women out there that see this circus going on and wonder why in the world we can't get this all done in one shot on Sunday." This was an annonymous evaluation so I have no idea who answered this way, but it certainly sounds like this person is not being honest with himself or with the one true God!

I am so thankful for the incredible volunteers who are serving this family! I pray they continue to focus on "purity, maturity, and unity." I pray that their example will cause the annonymous evaluator to think about how God wants him to act.

Fight to the Finish

I recently sat through a jr. high state track meet and heard a ton of comments about about running a great race. You could hear parents telling their children to get a great start, focus, stay strong, just run, don't worry about people in the other lanes, just do your thing and don't let anyone pass you, but my favorite was "fight to the finish." Are we not called to do the same thing? As leaders, we need to tell our teams to get a great start by preparing for their service, focus on the goal, children knowing Jesus as their Savior, stay strong when you are criticized (it's going to happen), just run your race without worrying about what other volunteers or other churches are doing, God has called you to the ministry you are in, if he wanted you to do what the church in florida's doing, he would move you there. It doesn't mean you can't learn from other ministries, I have learned so much from other ministries and I am so grateful! Iron does sharpen iron. We are all on the same team serving the same God, but you are called by God to fulfill His will at your location. We are supposed to "fight to the finish." Minister to children until, as Craig Jutila says, "Jesus comes back." Oh man, I wish it was Sunday!

On a personal note, my daughter did take second in the state in the 100m, 200m, and 200, low hurdles!

the dip

Seth Godin's new book totally rocks! It's a quick read, the perfect kind for a 2 hour plane ride! Perserverance vs. quitting. Quitting is not a bad thing, in fact, sometimes it's the best thing you can do! "It’s time to quit when you secretly realize you’ve been settling for mediocrity all along. It’s time to quit when the things you’re measuring aren’t improving, and you can’t find anything better to measure." I love to say "Less is More," because it's just plain true! This book hit the spot for me, pick it up you'll be glad you did!