The Body

Our church hasn't grown numerically as much as I would have liked in my first year.

We haven't seen as many life commitments as I would have hoped.

But I'll tell you one area of transformation in which our church has made great gains:

Intergenerational unity.

Tonight our faith family got together for our second annual Trunk or Treat. The child-focused event began at 5:30pm. Our Empty Nesters, the group of our members who have about 55 years or more of life experience, usually gather for their monthly gatherings at 5:30pm. Instead this beautiful group of seasoned saints moved their meeting time back an hour to come spend time with the younger families of our congregation. I was so moved by their intentional involvement ... I just couldn't get their "gift of presence" out of my mind.

God is at work in the whole body of Lake Cities. It is a Holy movement.

Friday Night Lights

Some people spent last night on a delightful date wtih their wife (my usual Friday night activity).

Some people spent last night on the sidelines of a great high school football game (my last week activity).

Some people spent last curled up on the couch with family watching a good movie.

There are numerous possible Friday night activities that people would find enjoyable.

Last night I cleaned the garage.

And it was wonderful!

The garage is the one room in the house that can feel like the trash compactor scene from the original Star Wars. You know the one where Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie are in that room where the walls are moving in and it gets smaller and smaller. That is the garage.

So last night I did what I had been wanting to do for more than a month - cleaned the garage.

And it was wonderful!
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Congrats to Mike Cope and oh yeah, the Cardinals. I was listening to game 5 on the radio (a great way to experience the game) while cleaning the garage (did I mention I cleaned the garage) and realized I was not really rooting for the baseball team but was simply pulling for my preacher. Mike has been talking a lot this week in his blog about the '68 series (the year I was born) and I couuld just see him watching the game last night on the couch with a smile the size of the St. Louis Arch.
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My wife is amazing and I love her!

Kim raised money for breast cancer for the DFW walk. However, she did not raise enough ($2500) and so they wouldn't let her walk the 20 miles a day for three days. I thought that was kinda weird (and mean if you want to know the truth) but Kim was not halted. She has been walking 20 miles for the past two days throughout the town. (She is about to head out for another 20 today as I type this) I am a amazed at her dedication. I think that if they had told me that I couldn't walk I would have been like, "oh, what a shame...bummer" and spent my time in other productive ways, like say - oh I don't know...cleaning the garage!

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A quick update on our household:

Emily: turned 10 this month and is loving the fourth grade. Currently she is making a mum for her guinea pig, Calvin.

Laura: turned 16 this year and loves Faith Christian and her 1st boyfriend, Weston. Currently she is sleeping at Ryan's house. Ryan is a girl and the daughter of the school's president.

John: turned 21 this year and is the Systems Administrator for Solona Health Care in Westlake. Currently he is sleeping.

My dad: now living with us and recovering from a broken hip. Currently he is admiring the garage that I cleaned.

Kim: turned 40 this year and is as fine as ever! Works part time at Starbucks and loves it! Currently she is wrapping a gift for a friend.

Joel: In his 2nd year as Senior Minister at Lake Cities. Loves his wife and kids more than ever! Currently blogging about cleaning the garage.
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And finally, I want everyone to know that I'm about to go get gas in the car and pick up a coke and some pumpkin seeds while I'm at it.

I Wish I Was a Gansta?

Kim, Emily and I went to our HomeBuilder's Halloween Party on Sunday. I wrote about it in detail in my weekly newsletter on our church's website so I won't rehash it here. But I did want to share some pics with the world and my friends orbiting said earth in the space station. It is not everyday that you see a pastor with a grill.



















Kim was a New York fashion designer (Manhattan). I was a New York Gangsta (Bronx). Emily was a hippie (Woodstock - Bethel, New York).














Hangin w/ two of my fav homies, Hunter-P and P-squared!















Emily is nuts!