Construction is done

I am so excited. After a year and a half, the construction on our building and renovations are finally over. Our C3'ers are now working hard to get all the finishing touches of decorating and new kids stuff in place. All of this will culminated Feb 6th for our big Friend Day. After each service, we will have an "open house" feel, with tours through our new building. We are now in the place to be able to grow to the next level as a church. I feel that God is about to take us to a whole notha level!

in hiding

Tonight, our house was host to Chicks Chat and Chocolate, which is a monthly get together with our C3 ladies. The only privileged information that I know is that they talk and eat chocolate goodies for long periods of time. So tonight, my 3 kids and myself barricaded ourselves upstairs in a bedroom with a TV and some video games...oh and popcorn too. We tried to stay hidden and let a house full of ladies carry on, laugh and chat. Most likely, my house will be occupied and loud until after midnight.

un-inpiring

How many people do you have in your life that are truly UN-INSPIRING? Those who suck the life and anything positive from your life. They have a way of turning even good things into a negative. Nothing is ever good enough and the glass is always half-empty. People like this have a way making life miserable. But....it is their choice!

Choose wisely.

moving

Today, we are getting a couple guys together and moving all our office and some kids furniture out of storage and to the church. We are now only days away from being completely finished with our building. NO MORE DRYWALL DUST! I haven't had an office in about a year and half, but should by the end of this week. I'm so pumped.

door openers

Today I attended the viewing of the wife of one of the men who believed in me enough to open a door that has been pivitol in my life. I had a chance again to thank him and his beloved wife for seeing something in me, that I may have not been able to see in myself. I think it is amazing how God uses those in authority to open doors for the next generation and for that I am eternally grateful. As I reflect on how influential others have been in my life, I must ask myself, "who can I open a door for?"

Friend Day

We are pumped about February 6th which is our Friend Day! Our building and renovated kids space will finally be finished! We are celebrating as a church and inviting our friends to be a part of it. We will have open house tours of the newly renovated kids rooms and offices. For the first time in over a year and a half, we are now in the position to grow by loving more people to LifeChange. To sum it up in one word.....BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

comparison

I think it is human nature to compare with each other. We compare everything from our looks to finances to talents. The sad thing with comparison is, it hardly ever has a positive outcome. The outcome is usually either pride or low self-esteem. Pride, for the fact that in our heads we place ourselves on a higher level than others. Low self-esteem for the fact that we usually compare our weakness to others strengths. So, JUST BE YOU AND ENJOY WHAT YOU HAVE.

pressures or priorities

It's been said, we either live by pressures by priorities. Do we allow the pressures of everything to bombard us and and stress to our lives, or do we give of ourselves to only what is priority?

milk

Humans and animals start off their lives with milk. The Bible talks about us as baby Christians drinking milk rather than real food. All babies start out on milk, but can't stay there as they grow. Milk is pre-digested food. We must learn to feed ourselves and digest our own food and not be dependent on others forever. So...what have you eaten spiritually this week and has it been pre-digested food?

What does Jesus think

People ask each other all the time how they are doing. The other persons response is almost always, "good" or "fine." Maybe the better question would be, "How does Jesus think you are doing?" Chew on that for a while...I know I am.

action

I've heard it said, "true commitment only begins when you take action." If there is no commitment without action, what are you truly committed to?

tweaking our vision statement

A vision statement sets the direction. It is the reason for being, it's the goal, and what is trying to be accomplished. As a church, we really feel that God is leading us to tweak our vision statement to better reveal who we are and why we exist. Our old one was, "Leading people to LifeChange." But our new one will soon be, "Loving people to LifeChange." This is why we exist as a church! As a church in love with Jesus, love should be what distinguishes us from the world. Our lives should be so different because of our relationship with Jesus and our love for others that it should compel people to Jesus. Our heart is to LOVE others to Jesus Christ and He will bring the LifeChange.

keep kids side only

As I pulled into the parking lot this morning, I read on our church sign reader board, "keep kids side only." I'm scratching my head and wondering if some kid picked the lock and change the words around. Every week, I tell our admn, what to have a C3 volunteer put on the sign. I had told her to keep the one side the same, that says our newly renovated kids space is almost done. She relayed the message to the one who put up..."keep kids side only." and shared what to put on the other side. We all got a good chuckle out of the misunderstanding.

I think it reveals a great point that, even though it may be clearly communicated and understood, as the information gets passed farther from the source, it can get clouded.

honest

I was talking to our contractor Rob this morning as the drywall in our new kids rooms are going up. We were talking about inspectors and how they can make your life easy or tough. Rob says he gets along with all of them because he's honest with them. He said the key is to not "act" honest, but "be" honest. What a great quote. If our honesty is only an act, when exposed it will do more damage than if we had not tried to mask our lack of integrity. So don't "act," just "be."

conflict

I want to give you the best conflict conversation opening I have found. It is non accusing or threatening and can lead to an easier conflict resolution. By starting off the conversation with, "help me understand...why or what." If that is said with the right body language, it can help diffuse many of the issues and ill feelings in order to keep them from escalating and hopefully lead to a peaceful and calm resolution.

offense

Why do we get offended? Personally, when I feel attacked or take offense to something that was said or done, the first thing I look at is ME. Why did that offend me? It offended me b/c I have a piece of my "flesh" (carnal / sinful nature) for the offense to grasp onto. If I am totally "hidden" in Christ, then there is no offense. In fact, I can tell how spiritually mature someone is, by how much it takes to offend them. I'm having a dialog with another maturing believer right now, about a point of tension that could easily lead to offense on my part or his. But, because Jesus is bigger in both of us, we can have a discussion in love without being offended. How refreshing! Honestly, we probably won't agree, but we can agree to disagree, agreeably. So put your "flesh" to death and lose the offense!.....sorry if I offended you...lol

love God

This morning in my reading, I came across the quote, "IF you have trouble loving others, you have trouble loving God."
- Jesus said, we would be know by our love. My true love for Jesus is lived out in my love for others. If I truly love Jesus, then I will love what He loves....and that is people. People are the reason He went to the cross.
Are you really in love with Jesus? Then prove it, with your love for others.