Looking for Amazing Things

I just completed an AMAZING week at St. Andrew.  We had so much fun at our VBS!  We had about 500 people in the building (children, youth, and volunteers).

It was a week that was full of many things.  As the children's pastor, it is easy to view things in "how can we do this better next year" attitude.   Every day we looked on what happened each day and how we can make it better next year.  The problem with this perspective is that you don't focus on the amazing things that are happening.  You focus on what needs to be changed.

When I changed my perspective I saw:

- Children experiencing faith in a new and exciting way
- Volunteers putting their whole heart into make this week wonderful
- New families to the area getting connected to a church home
- All different generations working together (our volunteers ranges from teenagers to grandmothers)
- Over a thousand toiletry items donated to the Plus One Mission for our church.
- Our children's teams working together like clockwork
- (Personal note) A husband that came home from work early to cook dinner so I could just sit.

The week of VBS is an amazing week. What will you see this week when you change your perspective and look for Amazing things happening all around you?!?

May Madness…..June bliss?

I don't know who I was kidding when I said….when May is so crazy- I can't wait until June.  May might be crazy but this June is really no different; we are moving out of our first home, VBS is the end of the month, the boys have baseball tournaments, birthdays, etc. etc.

Why do we always want what is next?  My goal: I want to stop saying, I can't wait until…..

It is such an easy thing to say…..

"I can't wait until the kids are out of diapers."-----This might translate in your head that you clean less poop, but when you do…. it is everywhere from the toes to the nose!  You must also have 2 changes of clothing with you at all times for about 2 years.  This also means that pretty soon they will not fit in your lap after you pick them up from school......

"I can't wait until finals are over (you really can insert anything into "finals").  Yes, I might have a few weeks off school, but it is not long before I get  my book list for the next class and that list always takes my breath away!

"I can't wait until summer!"  This sentence last for about 2 weeks and then it changes to…."I can't wait for school to start."  Ok....that might be a stretch........but you get my point.

Ok, you get the picture…we can always wait for, wish for, the next big thing.   OR we can enjoy the moment that we are in.

I am not saying that every phase of our lives is always awesome…in fact at times it really stinks!  The picture above was a horrible Christmas when Dan was in the hospital.  But, thankfully I can now look back and find the good that was buried in the bad.  When you live into that moment it will turn into: a memory that you are happy to leave in your past, or a memory that you will treasure.

My perspective:  Keep your eyes on what is happening now.  Live into it…. the moments are so fast and every day is a blessing.  Honestly, even the bad ones they are a part of who you are.

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, MSG After looking at the way things are on this earth, here’s what I’ve decided is the best way to live: Take care of yourself, have a good time, and make the most of whatever job you have for as long as God gives you life. And that’s about it. That’s the human lot. Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what’s given and delighting in the work. It’s God’s gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now. It’s useless to brood over how long we might live.