Random thought of the day: I feel so blessed to be able to do ministry with the people I love and respect. I love the fact that I get to do a job that makes my dreams come true while making the dreams of others come true at the same time.
God has blessed Dara and I so much to be able to do what we love!
I took Max to work with me for the first time yesterday. It was so much fun! I used to dream of the day that my kids were old enough (and calm enough) to spend days with me at work.
We spent the morning setting up our kids church equipment, toys, curtains and gates at Mallard Creek Elementary in preparation for our first service there on Sunday. Max was SUCH a big helper!
After we finished I let Max decide where he wanted to eat lunch. Of course, McDonald’s was the choice of the day. We had such a great time together. He’s a great, great kid. Love him so much.
On a side note, I don’t know when I will actually learn to let my kids eat McDonald’s and let myself just observe the process. I felt so incredibly gross after thoroughly enjoying that Big Mac and fries!
I have found that getting into the flow of a consistent routine in my time with God is what brings life, energy, love, creativity, peace and so much more in my life. For the past couple of years, I have been pretty adamant about fighting for a specific routine in my personal time with God. I would read from the beginning of one book of the Bible, take my time (sometimes up to a couple of months in one book of the Bible) and journal.
Recently, I have found a new rhythm of routine in my devotions. It has been a great change of pace in my personal time with God. I found a devotional book that Dara has had for years. It is a Greek word study devotional that takes key words out of one or two scriptures at a time and breaks down what the Greek interpretation is for these words.
This has been much more of a reading and reflection time each day. I will return, eventually, to my normal rhythm, but this has been a great departure. I’m finding that my intrigue is higher than it’s ever been each day to learn and grow.
Find a routine. Stay faithful to that routine, even if it’s only 10 minutes a day and one scripture read. Once you been in the same routine for a significant amount of time, look back over your spiritual, physical and mental health and see that time spent with God brings life to every area of our world when we consistently spend time with him.
If you haven’t found the rhythm of routine, start today. Then continue tomorrow.
I believe that yesterday may have been the most significant Sunday in the brief history of Hope Church. We had our final service at the Starlight Theater. It was great, but that in itself was not what I found to be so telling of where we are at as a church and how far we have come in eight months.
We asked our people to stick around and help pack everything up and make the move to Mallard Creek Elementary school. We had well over 50 people stay to help load the U-Haul. Another 35-40 people actually made the drive to the school to help us unload.
We came to Charlotte with no official core group of people that completely believed in us or our vision. We started Hope with around 25-30 people that found us through word of mouth and recommendation of friends. We had to build relationships and let people get to know us on the fly as we continued to grow. Sunday showed us that God has truly brought together a core of people that love and believe in Hope Church. They serve faithfully and with a great spirit.
Our move to Mallard Creek feels, in many ways, like we are launching a new church again. Only this time we have unity, like spirits, motivation and a LOT more equipment 🙂
I love what I do. I love Hope Church. I love the people that fill our world. What a great, great day in the life of our church.
Saturday was quite a day. Let me explain…
1. Performed the wedding ceremony for Jeff and Jess Senechal. Went amazing (see pics in previous post).
2. Left immediately after the wedding ceremony because I had to catch a flight out of Buffalo, NY. Drove through the back country of Canada. Got lost. Then found my way (thanks to the handy Google maps application on my phone).
3. Finally arrived at the Canadian border at Niagara Falls. Had to return my rental car on the Canadian side of the Falls because you can’t return a Canadian-rented car in America without astronomical charges.
4. Found out that it was going to cost $90 for me to get from the Canadian border to Buffalo via taxi (30 minute drive).
5. I went to two different hotels and asked if their concierge could help me find a cheaper way to the airport. The nice lady at the Double Tree Hotel suggested that I walk across the Canadian/American border and then get a cab from America.
6. To get across the Canadian/American border, I had to cross over the Rainbow Bridge. Turns out that you need $0.50 to get across the bridge. I had just spent my final Canadian coins on a cup of Starbucks and had ZERO cash left.
7. I asked three different strangers for $0.50 (I was pretty motivated to get home). One guy said no immediately, then turned around (I think he felt bad because I was sweating profusely) and gave me two quarters.
8. The Rainbow Bridge is one of the most breathtaking sights I have ever seen. It crosses over the Niagara River with Niagara Falls beautifully positioned to my right. Check out my view:
9. Went through customs. This was surprisingly uneventful.
10. Found a cab right across the border. $60! Totally saved $29.50 – including the bridge fee 🙂
11. Got to chatting with the cab driver. He was a really nice guy from Pakistan. He gave me his business card halfway to Buffalo. It said “Love for all, hatred for none.” Call me sensitive, but I always figured that it was kind of a given that cab drivers didn’t hate me. So then I was a little creeped out.
12. Got to Buffalo with 50 minutes to spare.
13. Flew Buffalo-Atlanta-Charlotte.
14. Got home at 1:30am.
What a day!
