July 30, 2004

Going camping tonight and tommorow just down the road at Sessions Lake State Recreation Area with my sister's family- Melissa, Nick, & Kelsey. It's raining now, Hoping it stops soon. Doris will participate with all the fun except she plans to go home to sleep. Sleeping in a bed right now is hard enough with the pregnancy.

We invited my parents to come down for the weekend too. They didn't decided until this morning if they would. They are coming down tommorrow morning I guess. Mom wanted to come to spend time with the grandkids, but Dad wasn't as excited about the long 3.5 hour trip down here. I guess he told my mom, "Whatever makes you happy". It's disappointing to me. Had there been a Christmas Tree Growers Convention in town, he would have had reservations made months ago. My brother may also be coming. Was invited, but last I knew, it was still undecided. We'll hopefully have a nice time with all. Hopefully.

I ussually find myself dreading the interaction time with my extended family (we always enjoy time with my sisters family though). It drains me. I'd rather be bowhunting, but it's a little early to start obsessing on that topic ;-)Maybe this will be the weekend Spencer figures out the bike- minus training wheels. That would be cool.D

July 28, 2004

Spiritual-  God is challenging me and the other leadership team members at HCC as we work through seeking and knowing God's will for our church.  I thank God for the process.  I believe we are all growing as a result.  I love the body of Christ.  I have true friends- finally.
 
Family-  Will bumped his head yesterday and had a small scratch.  Today, while Doris was talking on the phone, he and Spencer worked together to put not one, but three spiderman band-aids across his face, including covering one of his eyes.  He didn't want to take them off, even though he couldn't see right.  FUNNY!  My boys have an insatiable appetite for wrestling.  Doris' back and hips have been bothering her a lot this pregnancy.  A week or so ago she needed help getting out of bed and off the floor several times.  She has been doing much better for the last couple days.

Work-  Still plugging away with the details of contract renewal time.  Going fairly smoothely so far.  Supervisor has been away on vacation for most of it, so I've been mostly on my own.

That's all for now.

go & be salt,

D 

July 26, 2004

Woke up tired today.  Was dragging until the coffee "did a work in me".  Here's the thing though- it was a good tired!  Yesterday was a long day, but I received joy as God worked in my heart and the hearts of others.   The joy of the LORD IS my strength.

The day began with the Holy Spirit working powerfully through Wade's message called "Perspectives...".   The main scripture passage used was "The Sermon on the Plains" (Luke 6:20-26), although there was a ton of scripture in his message:

Luke 6:20-26

Looking at his disciples, he said:

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.    
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.    
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets. 
But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. 
Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets."

We are aliens and strangers!  We should expected persecution.  If we are looking through the correct set of spiritual lenses- persecution, sacrifice, and a life of servanthood are actually a source of joy.  "The joy of the Lord is my strength!"  It makes no sense to those outside the faith.  In truth, it makes very little sense to most of us who do claim Christ!  I'm actually starting to experience it.  Praise God!

 I was challenged personally and I talked with and witnessed several others after service that were sharing how the Holy Spirit was gripping them.  Thank you Lord.  Thank you Wade for being His vessel.

Typically, I protect Sunday afternoons for family nap time.  Instead we joined Pastor Wade and the worship team in going about an hour and a half away to minister to a group of people from another church in an outdoor service.  Eric Curtis felt led to share from his heart on how God is transforming his life.  It was genuine, unpolished, and moving as we witnessed him share.  The group we ministered to was a mixed crowd.  It was difficult to know whether or not they were impacted by God or not as, for the most part, they did not seem to "engage".  It felt like "church" as I used to experience it growing up--We are here; we like our routine; I'm "saved"; lets enjoy some "fellowship", but leave me alone spiritually... I'm comfortable just where I am.

Yet I am thankful for the opportunity that we had. Doris and I had a great talk in the car on the way home.  Another opportunity to minister was good for our team, and I trust that seeds were planted.  It was good for Eric to be obedient to God's leading in asking him to give his testimony.  Wade commented to me afterward- something like "I really like our church".  I don't think I grasped what he was really saying at that moment, but I think I do now.

Perspectives....

July 22, 2004

Had a couple talks with Doris yesterday about communication, priorities, and feelings.  She set me straight again and I needed to apologize for loosing perspective and not keeping her a priority in my daily actions.  Often times my actions don't express the state of my true feelings.  Even though my love for her is ROCK SOLID (She's the best!), why do I ignore her, take things for granted, get distracted by all the other matters bouncing around in my head.    I just got back from Promise Keepers and you wouldn't even know it?  It was a good talk.  Thanks Doris.

HCC leadership meeting this afternoon, then worship team practice this evening.  Gone from 12:45 til' 9:30pm.  I want SO bad for God to give our church some marching orders on where he wants to take us next.  Right now I'm trying to be patient, thanking him for working on me, and that his thoughts are so much bigger than mine.  I expect that there's going to be some meaty discussion this afternoon.  Lord, guide our meeting by your spirit.

On the side, we are doing a little rearranging at home to get ready for baby Anna Kay.  Will is now in a toddler bed and sharing a room with Spencer.  I'm repainting a dresser for their room, and may switch spaces with our toy room and office/guest room down stairs.  Also thinking about getting back to work on the unfinished upstairs bath as funds permit.  Would be nice for someone to be able pee upstairs in the middle of the night these days.

Doris' Dude (or dud- I'm not sure),
D

July 20, 2004

Work- Contracts are published and awaiting directors signature before mailing out.  Feels good.
 
Home- In-laws stayed with us a couple days before bringing our neice, Britney back to the airport to return to California after a month stay with them here in Michigan.   Glad for their stay with us.  Doris' back has been giving her fits, and so it was nice to have their help.  They did a bunch of stuff around the house and helped with the boys too.  Thank God for them.
 
Personal / Spiritual- Attended Promise Keepers for the first time ever this past weekend at  the Joe Louis Arena.  The sessions were all good- took a bunch of notes for most of them.  Want to re-visit them in the next couple days to let them settle in.  Music was great!  Grabbed a CD- still owe Greg Wilcox $4 more for it.   Good bonding time with the guys.  Doug Price snores, but the hipe was worse than reality!  The hotel rooms provided vivid memories with carpet that your feet stuck to and other upgrade features too numerous to list. 
 
Wade has WAY too many useless musical lyrics stored in that bald hard drive between his shoulders.  Impressive actually.
 
 Greg Wilcox drives like me- "Doug, Doug McPherson" (radios).  Did some confession sharing with the guys in our van of some of the sin areas that we struggle with.  Greg pointed out the pride issue in me (CD purchase). 

Need to keep seeking God for His will re: the church's future.  My anxiety about the facility needs and financial limitations has dropped a ton.  Hope that is because my faith has increased, and not just because I've been distracted by all the noise in my life in the past week or so.
 
Still praying for Wayne of C&W Tools....
  
learnin' to walk by faith and NOT by sight,
D

July 16, 2004

Work went pretty good yesterday.  I did give it my best, which is more than I can say many days.  I was held up some by printer problems for 1.5 hours or so.  Frustrating.  Making progress though.
 
Doris is having trouble getting around due to back / hip pain.  Probably related to the pregnancy.  She's going to try to get in to see the Dr. later today.  I'm "working" from home today.  Hope she can get in between her 945 piano lesson and 2pm when I leave for P.K.

3 x's now in the last couple weeks I have driven past a place south of Ionia called C&W Tools.  Someone told me a while back that the owners have quite a bit of land in the area.  When I have driven past, I've felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to stop and talk to the owner about our church and that we are praying about a new facility to meet.  Well, the first 2x I did not stop.  Wasn't sure if it was me just trying to find ways to get a new building, or really a "God Thing".  It happened again yesterday when Spencer and I drove past it again and I stopped.  The owners were not in so I left a message explaining who I was, about our church, and that I felt God prompting me to talk with them about it.  This morning I received a call at home around 7:30 am from the wife.  His name is Wayne, and I've already forgotten hers (starts with a "C"- Catherine maybe- C & W Tools).  She was very pleasant on the phone as I talked to her about our church, who I was, and why I was contacting them.  She told me about several parcels of land south of Ionia that they owned.  She also explained that she was a Christian and that her husband was NOT.  She asked me to pray for him.  I will.  She is going to mention this to her husband and said that he may have some ideas of plans that she doesn't even know about for the land.  I don't know where this may lead.  I do know that I'm glad that I obeyed God in this- finally.  It felt very weird to go in there and tell them that I was stopping because God told me too- heart was a poundin'.

Lord I pray for you to do something great at P.K. this weekend.  Help me to be in tune with your voice as you lead / guide.

Lord, work on Wayne's heart.  Maybe this is more about the salvation of one man's soul than it is about a new church building....

July 15, 2004

Well, got LOTS of work I want to get done today. If there was one day of the year for me that was most key for the paperwork side of renewing all of the contract that I'm responsible for, TODAY would be that day. I pray that I keep the motivation and crank it out so that I can go home later and feel good about what I've accomplished, then enjoy my family.

Preparing my heart for promise keepers this weekend. Never done it before. Looking forward to the bonding time with brothers from church. Looking forward to being open to God's voice as He speaks to me.

D

July 12, 2004

Another first. I'm givin' the blog thing a try! Have enjoyed peeking inside the mind of some others, and need to implement some personal discipline in my own life. Gonna commit to check in regularly here to journal some lines and reflect.

Messed up- I'm feelin' it! It been an interesting past couple weeks- God and I. Feelin' tested, stretched pulled in 3 areas- personal, church,family, work.

Personally, I like to solve problems and whenever possible forecast and prevent them with some good old fashion planning and hard work. Got out debt that way, then set aside a LITTLE in a rainy day fund. Doris has been able to stay home with the kids that way- great! Well, it's been raining- Car fixes, Dog Vet bills, more car fixes, and still more! I was sick for a couple weeks in there too. I'm afraid God's trying to teach me something. My sense is that it's not over. Maybe some more spankin' to come.

Church- same thing. To say that I've been challenged spiritually in the past 1.5 years by P-Dubb Ya is a huge understatement. Learning that God is glorified most when we take steps forward only as we are confident that God has shown each step to us. God receives no glory if we only act in ways where the outcome is easily reached through a well thought out plan that did not necessarily even come from Him or result in what He was trying to accomplish. God's ways are not Man's ways.... Too often, leadership in "The Church" like to forecast, plan, lead-well, and implement "Vision" when, in reality most of that junk came from feeble minded, ego-heavy individuals who have good people skills. Numbers growth may happen and some real ministry too, but it's just not based in the Great Commandment. The Great Commision of tell others about Jesus sometimes is so much easier than the Great Commandment of actually knowing, loving and truly understanding His nature. And so, here at HCC the church funds seem to be quickly drying up, our need for a better facility is soon to become very important with so many babies forecast in the next year. We are focused on pouring in to the small number of individuals that God is completely wrecking in the best possible way, and we pray for God to tell us how He wants us to move forward before doing anything on our own. I'll be honest, it's frightening! I want to "fix" these things right now. But, I can't say that God has given us a specific plan, and so we wait to hear from Him and then plan to feverishly implement our "bias for action". Yet, God is faithful. He is already doing great things in our midst. I thank God for my pastor and for our church. God is planting authentic faith in the hearts of some (mine included), and THAT is worth celebrating!

Family- Just recently went on a weeks vacation. Stayed in a cabin for a week in the U.P. in the middle of the Hiawatha Nat. Forest. It was nothing like I hoped. One word- Mosquitos! Felt trapped in the cabin for a few days, and well, REST doesn't happen much these day with two little boys. Had car trouble. There were good times though. Enjoyed some sun and fun at the beach. Played golf one day (family along in the cart), and the cabin was well-stocked with "monster buck" hunting videos- a highlight of the week!

Work- 75 provider contracts across 9 counties, all needing ammended in the next 3 weeks! Happens 1x/year- now. Here we go.

With a baby girl coming in Sept. Doris is growing. She one HOT Momma! Sharing the bed with lots of pillows these days. It's madness. Truth-I'm so in love with her. God has blessed me richly with my family.

End of blog. See you soon. This is kinda fun.