Behind Bars For A Good Cause

I got a phone call last week asking for my participation in an MDA fundraiser.  The lady on the phone told me that they wanted to put me behind bars for an hour or so while I attempt to raise “bail money” for their cause.  I wasn’t so sure at first, but as she began to explain what they do I couldn’t say no.  This particular effort is designed to help two kids with MDA that are in wheel chairs and braces go to summer camp.  She said that in order for them to do it they were recruiting the help of a volunteer fire department to assist the kids for the entire week at the camp.  Most of the time, kids with these kinds of difficulties never get the chance to go.  A couple years ago we sent our kids to a summer camp, and they still talk about some of the things they learned and the great experiences they had.  I am a little nervous about reaching the “bail” amount they posted, but I am ready for the challenge and the adventure this offers!

With so much going on in our lives (planting this church, moving into a building, four kids, etc…) and with the economic woes we are all facing, this seems like a crazy time to do something like this.  But I said yes because I have learned: 1. giving away your time to help other people is one of the greatest blessings and joys of all time, 2. no matter how badly I think I have it, someone else’s problems dwarf my own, 3. when I am stingy with my money I never seem to have enough but when I am generous with it I seem to have plenty, 4. I can get stuck in a routine that keeps pulling me back to my self-centered tendencies if I don’t try new things, 5. life is short, help as many people as possible, and finally, 6. God in his graciousness showed me great kindness when I least deserved it, and I am compelled to share the kindness He showed me with others by being kind to them.

So in the next week or so, I may be contacting you to help bail me out for a good cause!

Quick Change

Last night my family decided to go support my Nephew in his last High School basketball game. It was a state tourney, and they were up against tough competition, but we wanted to see him play.

It all changed about 15 minutes in when he came down hard on his knee and wound up taking an ambulance ride to the hospital! We still don’t know how bad it is, bad enough for referrals and specialists.

Life can change quickly, one minute he is enjoying a great passion, the next he is hurt and disappointed for it to end that way. Sometimes life is fickle, it is hard to deal with it’s ups and downs. The struggle continues, but some day it will all be different. I can’t wait for that day.

Values: Do You Know Yours?

A couple times in my past I have done this exercise with the teams I am involved with.  It can be a great eye-opener to how people relate to one another.  If I know what drives you, then I can better relate to you.  Often, though, we don’t even know our own values, so determining someone else’s can be really difficult.  This list helps determine and define values.  Take a minute and think about which of these things really motivates your attitudes, behaviors, and actions.  Values are an internal driving force to how we view the world and what guides our actions.  Think about which of these things really motivates you and helps guide you.  Pick 10-12 to start with, write them down.  Then go through that list and pick you top 5.  Prioritize them from 1-5, and those are most likely the top guiding force to everything you do.  Think about what makes you mad, then think about which of your values has been violated, most likely the things that make you the most angry, or the happiest, will be in your top 5 values!  Enjoy this exercise, and if you are brave enough share your top 5 with us!  (I will share mine at the bottom of this post)

Values:

Accomplishment
Achievement
Adventure
Affection
Affiliation
Ambition
Assisting others
Authority
Autonomy
Beauty
Belonging
Broad-mindedness
Caring
Challenge
Cheerfulness
Cleanliness
Comfortable life
Companionship
Competent
Competitiveness
Contribution to others
Conformity
Contentedness
Control
Cooperation
Courage
Courteousness
Creativity
Dependability
Discipline
Economic security
Effectiveness
Equality
Exciting life
Family happiness
Family security
Forgiving
Free choice
Freedom
Friendship
Fun
Genuineness
Happiness
Health
Helpfulness
Honesty
Independence
Improving society
Innovativeness
Integrity
Intellect
Involvement
Imagination
Joy
Leisure
Logic
Love
Loving
Mature love
National security
Nature
Obedience
Order
Peace
Personal development
Pleasure
Politeness
Power
Pride
Rationality
Recognition
Reliable
Religion
Respect
Responsibility
Restrained
Salvation
Security
Self-control
Self-reliance
Self-respect
Sincerity
Spirituality
Stability
Status
Success
Symbolism
Taking risks
Teamwork
Tidiness
Tenderness
Tranquility
Wealth
Winning
Wisdom
Work/life balance

My top 5:

1. Freedom

2. Adventure

3. Risk Taking (Trying new ways of doing old things)

4. Peace

5. Effectiveness

Get Out Of The Way: When Someone Else Can Do It Better

One of the problems with being a church planter is that you sometimes have to do everything when you start out.  If you are really good at everything, I guess that is okay, but if you are me, that can become a real problem!  I am currently in several situations where I am not the best person to handle a specific task or responsibility.  Stepping out in those weak areas is sometimes required, don’t get me wrong, but as the organization grows, the ownership of others into the success of the organization allows those that are talented in the areas I am not to step up, take leadership and make great things happen.  I am seeing that more and more now with the church plant we are involved in, and I am thrilled!  I am energized when I see others succeed, I love the ownership that occurs in them, and I (and others I am sure) am relieved that I can pass things off to those that can do a really good job rather than do a mediocre job of it myself!

I want to take a minute to thank all of you that are so willing to step in and make this church successful!  You are doing incredible things, and it is a huge relief to me!  You know who you are, so I won’t use your names here, but please know I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart!  Together we can make this a great church to be a part of, and continue to have an incredible impact in this community!  Thank you for putting yourselves out there, for your willingness to stretch and grow, and your stepping up to be used by God!  We are truly blessed to be surrounded by you all!  If you are reading this, are in the Colorado Springs area, and are looking to be a part of an amazing community doing amazing things in the community, please come join us!  We are only just getting started, but already we have seen God doing incredible things in us and through us!

I am more than willing to get out of the way, because I know together we can do this better than I can alone, and I absolutely love doing this with you!

An Awesome Weekend

I do not understand how Ty Pennington and the folks at Extreme Home Makeover can build an entire house and occupy it in 7 days; this will make the second week of final inspections and we are still waiting on occupancy!  It is hard to walk through a building that is ready to go and know we cannot use it until the powers that be give their blessings!  All that being said, Sunday was a great service!  We had 106 people show up, an all time high, and that is so great to see when you are used to 30-40 a weekend.  It seems there is a momentum building buzz around that is really exciting! Growth is happening, numerically and spiritually!  We ended the service with a baptism celebration at an undisclosed and top secret location, kept that way because we weren’t really supposed to be there, but it was awesome to see two people publicly showing their commitment to Christ.  The water was not warm, it was in a less than ideal baptism tank, but it was beautiful none-the-less. (I will post pictures as soon as I get them)

The tank was one of these:

and yes it had the logo right on the front!

When we set out to start this church, we didn’t want to just be filled with “churched” people; baptisms are a key indicator that God is reaching people and calling them to a relationship with Him.  We have many that are coming from all different backgrounds and stages of God-Consciousness, and I love it!  We have people stepping up and serving in a variety of ways, and I am relieved and proud of them all at the same time.  We are building community, healthy, authentic, real community.  I cannot imagine doing anything else and feeling this satisfied!

Inspections Revealed:

So this week we are in our final building inspections.  We have had inspections on the elevator, fire, building, zoning, plumbing, and many more.  Every time an inspector comes you expect something to be not quite right.  The difference between all the technical and engineered drawings and reality can be huge, sometimes it is only inches…  We have had to build door enclosures for the elevator that were 1000 degree heat rated, non-penetrable surfaces behind all the toilets, and an elevator sump pump, all of which were not on the city approved plans, and all of which added significant costs and time to the project.  With the inspections this week there is always the possibility of other big things being sprung on the contractor, but so far things are actually going well.  We were hoping to move in this weekend, but it looks more likely next week will be our first service.

The inspections we have had this week have revealed minor deficiencies including; a toilet that needs to be moved 2 inches and a bathroom divider needs to be moved 2 inches, both for ADA requirements.  We also have to add 2 fire extinguishers, 7 emergency exit lights, a pebble walk from the 2nd floor emergency exit landing to the sidewalk, overall not huge problems.  We are hoping these things can be corrected quickly and inexpensively so we can bring the inspector back and get occupancy – hopefully Monday or Tuesday.

I told someone recently it is like searching for the end of a rope in the fog.  You cannot see 2 feet in front of you, and you are desperately trying to find the end of this long and tedious process so you can get to the part you started the whole thing for.  I hate telling people “next week” because it seems like I have been saying “next week” for the past month!  I am ready for it to be over, the tension of the building process, inspections and balancing construction budgets, (lets face it construction is ALWAYS more expensive than you plan on). We have been at this for over a year now, and many of us are ready for it to end!  Then I hope to take Trish, and maybe the kids, away for a night or two so I can remember what it is like to have a life when there is no building project and reconnect!  Hopefully soon… really soon!

Should Government Limit Unnecessary Trips?

The Big Three executives were hit hard with their travel expenses when they came before congress not long ago; the outcry was huge for excessive spending and unnecessary luxuries.  In light of that, Government officials, including President Obama, have been flying expensive jets and traveling all over seemingly unnecessarily; do you believe they should limit these trips and watch their expenses to the same level as we expect everyone else to?

Waiting On Occupancy

This week, we are waiting on the occupancy inspections. three main inspections were pushed back to this week because the Fire Inspector wasn’t available until this week. So now we are in a holding pattern, hoping to move in this weekend, but not sure we will be able to. We have everyone on pins and needles waiting for an email Friday that will tell them where we are meeting for church this week! If we get occupancy, there are tons of things to do too, so I am planning on a really busy end of the week!

It is getting exciting, we had 85 people Sunday morning! It is good to see the buzz around, and the excitement in the people! I cannot wait to see what God is doing here!

Routine Turns To Chaos

My daily routine this week turned to chaos, so all the things that I normally do in a day haven’t been done lately. My blogging has slipped, my workouts have slipped, and my study time slipped. All these things were replaced by good things, meeting, time with people, etc, but I am looking forward to next week to get back to my normally scheduled program!

The Recession and You: Share Your Position