A Chili Night

Tonight we did something extremely fun for some of our students... We had a 'Chili Night' out in our backyard... Now - I know what some of you are thinking - "Chili Night?" Yep - we decided to have a fun, fall evening... I made my (in my mind, at least) World Famous Chili and I grilled hot dogs for (what else) chili dogs... We had one of those 'fire pits' from Lowe's where we roasted marshmallows for S'mores... And - we made an effort to have caramel and apples... It ended up more like delicious 'cement' - but it was a nice effort...

But the students had a great time... They visisted with each other... Some they knew already - and others they got to know better... We sat around on our deck and one of our boys led us in a few worship songs and the National Anthem (that's one of those random moments that someone starts to be goofy, but we all ended up singing it to the end!)... But as we were singing songs like "Marvelous Light" or "How He Loves Us" - I began to see that even in that kind of environment - these kids were worshiping the Lord together... It wasn't perfect - it wasn't even always pretty... But it was beautiful... Psalm 47:6 says, "Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises." And that's what we did...

Nights like these are important for any organization, but especially the Church... We need to be with each other outside 'The Building' to really get to know each other... And when fellowship and worship break out in that type of atmosphere - look out! And may I recommend that you do it with a chili dog in hand. What a tasty night!

Meetin' Time

Almost always in the 'professional world' you will find yourself in a meeting of some kind... Whether it be for professional development, or just a brain-storming session - you are going to be grouped together with your co-workers and peers... As a teacher the first part of my professional career I attended these meetings on a regular basis... They would vary anywhere from our weekly staff meeting on Thursday mornings to periodic Union meetings after school... I must be honest - I usually drifted off to 'a distant land' in several of those gatherings over that five year period... It's not that I didn't care - but I seldom had any direct interest or input, or so I thought at the time... I did enjoy the few moments before the meeting started to get to visit with my colleagues  which (as I look back now) was the most important part of the meeting process... Relationships are key to making an organization work...

As a church staff - we have pastoral meetings semi-regularly... In contrast to my approach on 'teacher meetings' - I have come to look forward to these staff meetings... It's a chance to pray together, do a short study and discussion (which I like very much), take care of logistics, and find out what's happening across the building... I always feel closer to the other pastors every time we close... In that short amount of time we have shared about ourselves and found out about the other people we serve with - Which is important for people on the same team... We need to be of 'one mind'...

 "Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace." 2 Corinthians 13:11

So I look forward to the next 'not so chance' encounter with our pastoral staff in two weeks... Who knows - maybe we'll come up with something that will greatly impact our church, our community, or even - THE WORLD!!!

Rain Will Fall

It's amazing to me that the song from Led Zeppelin (cleverly titled "The Rain Song") has some pretty deep insight into our lives... "Upon us all, a little rain will fall..." I'm reminded of that on days like this - cool, rainy, gloomy... A definite change from the days of 65 degrees and sunny that I was enjoying so much, recently... But you know what's interesting - How could I enjoy those beautiful days as much if there weren't days like this? I wouldn't - I couldn't - I shouldn't (ok - I threw that one in - I was on a roll!) 

Here's a practical example: How would you know how delicious a cold, refreshing, sweet, caffeinated, sugar-filled soda is unless you've tried it's 'diet-substitute' knock off - You can't, right..? You have to have tasted the bad to enjoy the good...

The same is true in life... We all desire easy going, stress-free, trouble-free lives... Here's the catch, though - We have to have those cruddy, 'rainy' days to really appreciate those times in our lives... If everything is great normally - do you know what it becomes? NORMAL! Normal is no fun - it's just... Normal... It's ordinary... Where's the fun in that? I'd rather be able to look forward to those times when God is showering me with His favor - even if I feel like He's not present...

For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)

So - get your umbrella and fedora out and sing and dance around a light pole on this rainy day... Because tomorrow - you've got some rejoicing to do!