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Today, I enjoyed some great food at Faith & Life Bookstore for Pastor Appreciation Month.  Way to go, Bethany!  It was fun to talk with some Newton pastors that we bumped into while eating.  And of course, a coupon is always a great addition. After eating, Brad and I stayed at the bookstore to discuss a book we are reading as a staff.  It is The Legacy Path by Brian Haynes.  I have written a review of the book and highly recommend it to pastors and parents.  We are only in Chapter 2 and we cannot ever finish a chapter as it is so full of great thoughts and ideas.  Today, our discussion was on abiding.  We had a great conversation about what this means and what it looks like and how to share it with others. Haynes asks this question, "How do you currently abide in Christ?"  How would you respond?  I look forward to our discussion of that question when our Discipleship Ministries Committee meets next Tuesday. Yesterday, I was at t...

Yesterday was a good day for marriage conversations.  I had two separate meetings where the topic was strengthening marriages & helping marriages in crisis.  I am excited about these new ministries within Hesston MB Church.  My first conversation was regarding a ministry called Marriage 911.  This curriculum is used by churches to help those in crisis in their marriage.  It allows the church to walk alongside couples and become a place people turn to rather than avoid.  For more information, check out the website at here . During this meeting, we also began planning a marriage seminar called "The Art of Marriage".  We will be hosting this seminar in February 2012.  We are looking at dates and locations as well as beginning to work on publicity.  This will be a Friday night and all day Saturday seminar that will help strengthen marriages.  My hope is that it will be well attended by the Hesston community.  My afternoon ...

Tonight, after we finished supper, the girls were in a hurry to leave the table.  I decided it would be fun to have some more conversation.  The girls looked at me like I was crazy.  By the way, Mitchell was at a birthday party at Pizza Hut.  So, I started by asking Would You Rather be a princess or President of the United States?  Or how about this one, would you rather be a hairy gorilla or slimy snake?  Or would you rather be an armpit or slimy mud (Molly's word for toe jam)?  The girls finally got into the conversation and came up with some good ones as well.  We all had some good laughs and  it was a fun way to spend a little extra time together as a family.  Try it tonight and see what your kids come up with.

Typically, on a day off from school, I will take the kids to Lincoln Perk, the park, or Wellness Center Pool.  Today, I wanted to do something a little different.  As I was praying about this, I felt led by the Holy Spirit to find a way for the kids to serve on their day off from school.  I felt led to contact the Hesston Resource Center to see what we could do for them.  It so happened (or better yet God orchestrated) that our church had just finished a food drive for the Resource Center for Thanksgiving.   So, we were able to take all of the bags of food donated and deliver them to the Resource Center. At the Resource Center, the kids weighed, counted, and sorted the donated food.  The kids had a great time doing it and it only took us about an hour.  Thank you Hesston MB for your donation of 388 items which amounted to 373 pounds of food for Thanksgiving bags for our community!

I finished reading Intentional Integrity by Garnett Reid today.  The cover of the book states, "Ten Life Strategies For Wholeness From the Book of Job."  In the book, Reid looks specifically at Job Chapter 31 where he sees ten areas of integrity that should be present in our lives.  These ten areas include: purity, honesty, contentment, loyalty, equity, compassion, worship, forgiveness, confession, & stewardship. Each chapter has the same format: What Job Says, What We Face (our culture), & What We Must Do.  The format made the book easy to read in many aspects.  However, I kept wondering to whom would I recommend this book.  The first part of each chapter at times became cumbersome and difficult to wade through.  However, due to the predictability of each chapter, I kept going to the less academic sections which looked to culture and application.  Reid is an Old Testament scholar and it shows in those sections of the book.  But I k...

Today, I am dragging.  I just could not get out of bed today.  Part of it is the change in weather and it still being dark outside when I wake up.  The other part is a cold that I am battling right now.  Either way, I could use a boost today. What are things you do to get a boost on those slow start mornings?  Coffee, Running, Loud Music, Conversation with Friends,  Lifting Weights, Projects Around the House or Office, etc. As we continue our study on being Holy Spirit Empowered, I am reminded of the word, "power", as it is used in relation to the Holy Spirit.  Many times we are told that we receive power from the Holy Spirit.  So, today I am going to ask for the Holy Spirit to give me a boost. Not just so I can get moving, but so I can be available to be used by Him as I go through my day.

Here are pictures from Sterling College Homecoming 2011.  All of the ladies in this picture were roommates during their years at Sterling.  Ed & I roomed together all 4 years.  Ed, Barry, Jenia & I all were business majors so we had a ton of classes together.  Robin & Barry have an RP Church connection.  That is all to say, we were connected to each other in many ways and are good friends. These are the kids from these 3 marriages.  Molly & Gracie (in green Sterling shirts) & Sydney (red Sterling shirt on right) are Barry & Jenia's kids.   Caden (only other boy except Mitchell), Lydia (in pink on front row) & Kelsey (back row in red shirt) are Ed & Robin's kids.  The other four are mine.  They had fun playing together today on inflatables, games on Cooper Lawn, at petting zoos, at a football game, and a cookout after the game. It was a beautiful day to spend with friends.  Needless to say, the ...