FUN Morning!

Church was CRAZY for me this morning! I worked in the Great Adventurer’s at 9:00, the Little Adventurer’s at 10:30 am and managed to video tape 13 out of our 15 baptism testimonies in the meantime! I’m not normally that spread around, but nonetheless, it was a fun morning! So here’s my recap:

Mike and Alecia do a great job with our kids ministry. Mike teaches about once a month and he is very gifted! He doesn’t speak down to the kids, he knows all the motions to the songs, and he takes the time to look each kid in the eye. Pretty cool.

Liana was scheduled to teach the Little Adventurer’s today, but her son broke his arm. Like really broke it…bone through skin…he’s gonna have a good story to tell for the rest of his life. Aren’t 5 year old boys so cool? We’re praying for his quick recovery and we missed their family today.

I taught a 5th grade girl how to find a book, chapter, and verse in her Bible. I say “her” Bible with great pride. North Creek gave her that Bible this morning. It’s her first one. I wish you could have seen the look of accomplishment when she looked up Proverbs 16:5. Thank you for those of you who give your hard earned money to North Creek. Buying Bibles for people is one of the places we spend it and it’s so awesome!

Angela has 7 people signed up for Starting Point, which is our class for people who have questions about Jesus and Christianity. It’s a great place to get some answers and make some decisions about how you want to live your life. She’s the perfect teacher. She loves people in just the right way to allow them to decide for themselves and not be judgmental.

Sandy co-taught with me in the Little Adventurer’s. She LOVES kids. And she’s naturally gifted with them. It was her first time in that class, but it won’t be her last. I want my kids being impacted by her love for Jesus and her love for them.

Mark preached on baptism. We now have 15 people getting baptized at Klineline next week and I’m really thrilled with every one of them. They are quality adults, teens, and kids.

I looked into the eyes of 13 of those lives that have been dramatically changed by Jesus while I videotaped their stories. I know those stories. I know that when they talk about the love of Jesus, some of them are speaking from a profound place. They’ve experienced the world’s awfulness and have found refuge in Jesus.

Being in the business of changing lives is an honor. It’s all God, I know that, but we get to play a part in that. So humbling and so refreshing.

I cannot wait until next Sunday where we’ll baptize people at Klineline Park. What a great day to be a part of the family of God! Show up at 10:00 am for scones and 10:45 for baptisms. See you there! I’ll be the one with tears of joy streaming down my face!

Happy Birthday, Delaney!

I have a 5 year old! My oldest daughter, Delaney, has stepped out of the toddler phase and jumped in with two feet to the elementary phase as of 6:56 am this morning.

Delaney is sweet, kind, helpful, sensitive, and responsible. She was born with a fierce independence, but her independence comes across in such a loving way. I vividly remember the day that she got potty trained. She figured it out, got her sticker, and was never going back to diapers. That night I went to put on a diaper before bedtime, assuming that the overnight thing would take a while. As a 2 1/2 year old, she looked up at me and said, “I don’t need diapers anymore. I’m not going to wear that.” I relented, figuring that wetting the bed may be a good lesson. It was about 2:00 am when I heard her little feet patter down the hallway. She reached up, turned on the bathroom light, did her business, washed her hands, turned off the light, and went back to bed. It was at that moment that I knew raising her would be a tug-of-war of letting her have her independence and still being “mommy”.

Delaney has a heart for God already. She asks incredibly deep questions and then ponders the answers for days. She is artisitic, creative, and loves music. She can hear a song and remember it immediately. She will then grace our home with the same song for the next week.

She is a true girly-girl. She loves makeup, dress up, barbies, and anything pink. At the same time, one of her favorite past times is to collect earthworms and play with them for a while. There are always two sides to every woman!

So, to my firstborn, Happy Birthday. Thank you for making me a mother. And thank you for making this journey such a pleasant one. I love to be around you! I love to hear your voice and talk with you about all the deep and wonderful things in this world. I love to watch your face light up when you experience something new. I love that you are so responsible that I have literally never worried about you running in the street or wandering off in the store. You make me laugh all of the time and I am grateful that God gave me you.

I love you, DK.

Michael Jackson and Jesus

Unless you live under a rock, you know that Michael Jackson died yesterday. The articles are nothing short of fascinating to read. The most interesting for me was the reaction that the internet sites had…one man’s death crashed sites all over the world. Twitter, Google, and many other “giants” struggled to keep up with the pace. A man that lived for 50 years and defined so much of modern day music held a power that is difficult to describe. That power transcended horrific allegations, disfiguring surgeries, and an eccentricness that is unmatched even by most celebrities.

It got me thinking about what it’s going to be like when Jesus comes back. Will the world react in shock and internet frenzy? Will the search engines falter at the searches for “Jesus Christ”, “Rapture”, or “Lord of Lords”? Will there be gobs of reporters stacked in front of churches everywhere? Crying people building shrines and hugging teddy bears?

Obviously Michael Jackson left his fingerprint on many lives in the world. I mourn for his family as they suffer the loss of their son and sibling. But now, in the light of reality, my challenge is to allow Jesus Christ to leave His fingerprint on your lives as well. His power, His glory, His awesomeness far outshines all of us…including our celebrities. He deserves our worship and our adoration. He deserves our web searches and He deserves our hearts. He’s not just the King of Pop…He’s the King of Kings.

There’s Something in the Water

Mark and I installed a pond this spring. It’s been quite a hysterical process. We’ve been wrestling with the water and have seen every color from neon green to murky sludge. Four brave goldfish have lost their lives and we’ve unclogged the fountain about 40 times. Then we began breeding mosquitoes, which was horrifying for me. We have stood multiple times, looking upon the pond with great disdain, and yet not ready to give up the battle.

Just in the last week I felt like we may be turning a corner. I got some pond plants that are algae eaters and they seem to be doing their fair share. The flowers at the edge of my pond are beginning to spill over and the horror of the past is beginning to subside. I think we may have even mastered the pH levels of which I am now an expert…

And then yesterday, just to top off the feeling of success, my girls and I discovered a frog peeping out from the lily pads. I love wildlife and my little friend proves that life is possible in my pond of scum…I’m pretty excited about the whole thing. My girls named him Froggy…not creative, but you’ll never confuse him with another species…He was still there this morning and Kennedy took the picture below to prove his existence.

That frog is my silly reminder of the week to look beyond the current scum of your situation and work towards making your life balanced and in order. Some things need to be removed (like dead fish) and some things need to be added (like algae plants). Do some research into your situations and solve your problems. Good luck! And may there be sweet frogs in your future…

Labor of Love

I’m working on our upcoming baptisms on July 5. This is a labor of love for me! There is nothing I enjoy more than watching people make a public commitment to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives. I know all of their stories. I’ve watched them struggle, grow, learn, make choices, and ultimately they have arrived at a place that is sacred…yes, I will bring all of my imperfect self to the edge of the water and let Jesus make me clean and holy.

We currently have 9 people signed up to get baptized, which is awesome! Five elementary age kids, one teenager, and three adults. Each life represents so much to me. They are each a piece of why Mark and I leveraged our lives for this church. They are a piece of my heart. They are a piece of God’s greater plan for our community and our world. They are potential and hope. They are companions on a journey that is long, difficult, but very rewarding. They are family.

If you are ready to follow Jesus, it’s time to get baptized. Mark is teaching about it’s plan and purpose next Sunday. Join us to learn more about it and begin to pray now about what God is saying to you about this issue!

Father’s Day Highlights

Summer has a way of tricking you regarding days. It seems like they are longer and shorter all at the same time…anyway, my favorite day of the week has rolled around once again and it was a great one!

It’s Father’s Day, so we had our traditional grill out front with hot dogs and Dad’s Root Beer. There’s nothing more manly than seeing a bunch of guys standing around eating hot dogs for breakfast. It is very clear that it’s not Mother’s Day.

I loved Mark’s sermon. It was about doing the little things for your kids. He’s really good at that. He takes the kids on silly errands and doesn’t see them as a burden. He saw changing diapers as an opportunity to look his girls in the eyes and tell them how much he loved them. He goes for park visits, bike rides, and reads books. And I know it will make a difference…both now and when he has a 14 year old staring back at him.

We gave every dad a wrench as a reminder that a little tool has a great impact on a project.

We had a new couple at church today. The husband said, “We visited a lot of churches and this one is by far the most interesting.” That was before service. Ironically, he won a roll of duct tape, so he probably left feeling the same way. Who wins duct tape at church??? I love that our church is different and interesting. I think Jesus was probably different and interesting, too.

Kennedy was in a good mood at church today. Thank you, God! I’ll admit that she slept in her purple velvet dress so that I wouldn’t have to wake her up so early…I’m not sure whether that makes me a good mom or a bad one…either way, she was a happy camper. She even quoted me her memory verse at lunch, so thank you to LeeAnn and Rachael for teaching my little girl. All three year olds should quote Scripture.

Keegan and Drew grilled hot dogs all morning for our dads. They are teenagers. How cool is that? By the way, the hot dogs were from Cash and Carry. Never had so many people ask before…

We estimate that we’re going to have over 30 kids and youth going to camp. That’s amazing! The ones who need scholarships are actually working for their money by delivering postcards for advertisment. They really want to go to Bible camp and that makes me excited. Anytime a teenager will work for something, that’s a win!

Mark showed a great video at church today of how precious the little things are to our kids. You can watch it here, if you missed it: Watch Delaney’s Video

Thank you to all of the men in our church. You are making an effort to be the best men and dads on the planet and it’s gonna pay off. You’re the best!

Father’s Day

Sunday is Father’s Day…first of all, where did the first six months of this year go? It certainly isn’t half over already?!?!?!

Second, I love Father’s Day at church! Honoring our men is important to me. Our society is good at making men look like incompetent idiots on sitcoms, commercials, and talk shows. So often they are the blundering baffoons. That’s not what God thinks! He made men the head of our households, the strong leaders, and our rocks.

I am so glad to have a husband who lives up to that! I see the value of Mark’s role in my kids lives. They need him. They look to him for love, support, goofiness…he plays a different role than I do and that is important. He is currently the only one worthy of pushing them on the swings. Apparently I don’t push them right…hmmmm…

I also carry with me the weight of many tragic stories of the kids and youth in our church. Many of their dads don’t live with them and they have very little contact. These kids need the men of North Creek desperately to play a valuable role in their lives. They don’t need pity, they need a man’s presence…in the kid’s classroom, in youth group, worshipping next to them, modeling for them what a Godly dad looks like.

So, whether you have the best dad in the world or you are the tragic story, we hope to see you on Sunday. The room will be filled with the most amazing guys on the planet. They will be the ones with the hot dogs and root beers in their hands!

My favorite blog post

OK, so below is one of my all time favorite blog posts. Enjoy!

http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2008/05/231-drinking-coffee-in-church.html

#231. Drinking coffee in church.

Ten years ago, if you drank coffee during the middle of a church service you were known as “that coffee guy” or “that tea lady.” It’s not that it was unheard of, but it certainly wasn’t as popular as it is today. Now, forgetting your coffee cup before service is like leaving your Bible at home. While the rest of the people sitting near you enjoy Triple foam Hazelnut Creme Flavor Mocha Venti Explosions, you sit there like some sort of drinkless hobo. It’s embarrassing.

When I open up the SCL gift shop, which will have all 6 promise products, I’m going to sell a Bible with a hollowed out spine that you can put coffee in. There will be a little screw top spout at the top and anytime you need a sip you can just tip your Bible back. I’ll call it, “the bean of God” or the “JAVA edition of the Bible” or “hot coffee hidden inside a Bible.” The last one lacks pizazz but they can’t all be winners.

But how did this happen? How did coffee mount such a successful assault on churches? I have a few ideas:

1. Caffeine is good.
Pastors realized that a well-caffeinated audience isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The idea of having wide awake people in the crowd listening to what you are saying is pretty good.

2. Coffee cartel.
I can’t prove this, but maybe a secret body of churches got together with Starbucks. They agreed to allow coffee in church as long as Starbucks stopped printing cups with those “the way I see it” statements on them. We hate those. Those deserve their own post.

3. Coffee became an accessory.
A lot of my friends don’t drink coffee because they like it. They drink it because they like the idea of coffee. They like being associated with the Starbucks brand, which is kind of hip I guess. So it’s like putting on a watch or wearing a certain pair of shoes. It says something about you.

4. Hand clapping.
Drinking coffee gives you the perfect excuse not to clap your hands. “Awww, I would love to clap awkwardly right now but as you can see, my hands are full. Shucks.”

I’m sure there are a lot of other reasons why we’re trying to make Juan Valdez the newest disciple, but those are the only ones I can think of right now. I haven’t had enough coffee yet.

Great Day!

Another Sunday has come and gone with great excitement!

Pastor Chris preached a message that will definitely live on throughout the week. It’s just been one of those topics that sticks with you from Sunday to Sunday. The way we use our words is important and highlighting that sure reminds us how often we mess up! I’m thankful for a patient God and the words, “I’m sorry.”

McKenna Torres quoted a good chunk of Psalm 19 to me. Hello. She’s four years old. Way to go, Rockstar!

I’m doing good with my 14 memory verses as well. I’m a little shaky, but with some hints, I can get about 13 verses solid. I’ll finish up this week easy.

My mom helped me teach in the Little Adventurer’s class. She’s here visiting from Montana, so I wanted to show her how much the kids love their class and how much fun they have. Kennedy picked today to throw a fit and cling to me like rubber cement on construction paper…it wasn’t the best picture of how wonderful my kids are and how much they love church….”No, really, I swear they love this class.” Not a good intro…Oh well, grandmas have all been there, too.

Worship was good today. It was a strange moment to realize that all 5 people on stage have been at our church for 6 months or less. We’ve doubled in the last 8 months and it’s been our priority to get people plugged in and involved. It’s been a daunting task, but we are beginning to see the fruit of that.

Kyra helped out in the Little A’s class with me as well. She’s 6. It’s time to start serving! It was cute to watch her lead and be a good example for the little kids. I’m proud of her. We’ve got to teach our kids at a young age that they can invest into someone who’s not as far along as them. No matter what flaws you have, you also have something to offer.

There were a lot of new faces again today. It’s a challenge to keep up and get names down!

My girls are going to Keenan’s 5th birthday party this afternoon. His parents were in birth class with Mark and I. We literally have pictures of our kids together throughout their whole lives…from belly to Kindergarten. I look forward to the day when Katie and I are coordinating their graduation parties. You never know when and where you’ll meet important people in your life!

I hope you had a good day at church. I did!

Psalm 19

Nearly two weeks ago, Pastor Chris challenged us to memorize Psalm 19 at the pace of one verse a day. I have taken that challenge to heart and have enjoyed it immensely. I’m a little shaky towards the end, but I am continuing to work on it daily and let it get in my spirit.

Memorizing scripture is something that I have done regularily in the past, but have not done recently. This was a great reminder of how much I enjoy this method of studying the Bible. It makes you think about how the verse is phrased and how it connects to the verses around it. It also forces you to think about one portion of scripture regularily, which is a way to mold and shape your mind.

I challenge each of you to not only do this homework, but change how you are speaking about it. Don’t say, “I can’t memorize scripture” or “I just have a bad memory”. Really? God can’t help you with that??? Of course He can…and will. He’s a big God who can do all things. Let Him help you to remember His word and let it become a part of you. YOU CAN DO IT! I bleieve in you!

Psalm 19

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard. [a]

4 Their voice [b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

7 The law of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure
and altogether righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.

11 By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

12 Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.

13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.