Yes, it's true...Molly and I are headed to Florida tomorrow for a weekend getaway...if I had any real weather-related planning skills, we would be taking this trip in the middle of January, not late September.
But I don't.
-Sigh-
Actually, when I was growing up, my family went to Florida EVERY year for Christmas. My grandparents lived in Sebring...and my other grandparents wintered there, just a couple blocks away. It was always nice to see family...and get out of the snow for a week! I remember missing only two years all the way up through graduating from Cedarville.
However, now that Molly and I coach high school basketball, leaving the state in the middle of the season isn't really an option, so we've had to be creative with our scheduling trips to Grandma's house. About a year and a half ago, we went to Florida for spring break. Now, it's a quick weekend trip. We'll be at Grandma's for two nights...and I can taste the homemade cinnamon rolls already.
In the interest of full disclosure...we will also be attending the Packers/Buccaneers NFL game on Sunday afternoon.
But you probably guessed that already :)
This has been an interesting week so far...the schedule has been a little different with playing for Bob McKinney's funeral on Tuesday and then hosting the Learning to Praise worship seminar on Wednesday. I was really pleased with the great turnout for the seminar; I'm always challenged by what Jim Cato has to say about worship, and I hope our church benefits greatly from the instruction we heard.
Now I've got a day and a half left to try and get as much Christmas work done as I can. I'm so behind...I'm so behind...I'm so behind...
Our pastors' blog has passed the 8,000 visitor mark! Thanks for reading and checking in to see what's going on in our lives. As Sam alluded to in his last post, now that the transition phase has calmed down slightly, both he and I will be making our best effort to get new content up at least once a week.
Feel free to shoot us an e-mail if there's anything specific you'd like us to write about or if you have any other suggestions for the blog. Talk to you soon...
Now that I've been "on the job" for a couple weeks as senior pastor, life is almost calm enough for me to fulfill Tim's weekly blog demand...I mean request. He keeps saying that you really want to hear from me, and since I don't want to accuse him of lying, I decided it was time for me to write.
And it's a good thing, because I have an important clarification to make.
In my first sermon as senior pastor, we looked at Ephesians 5:15-16 and talked about what it means to be intentional. One of the illustrations I gave for how men could intentionally lead their homes in a godly way: taking your wife out on a date.
However, in the past few weeks, I've had discussions with certain men in the congregation (who shall remain nameless) and I feel that it is important to clarify what really qualifies as dating your wife (at least in this pastor's humble opinion).
#1 Double dates don't count. The purpose of dating your wife is to show HER love, do something SHE likes, enjoy conversation with HER, and reconnect one-on-one. If you have kids along (as we discussed in the message), these things are hard to do. If you are with another couple, you are most likely enjoying conversation with THEM and reconnecting with THEM, not focusing solely on your wife. Obviously, this doesn't mean double dates are bad...they just don't count as dating your wife (in the intentional way we are striving for).
#2 Dates require thought and planning. When you and your spouse look at each other in that exhausted way and say "what do you want to eat tonight? I don't know...let's just go out": that is not the kind of connection and result we are talking about. Plan ahead -- pick her favorite restaurant -- her favorite activity -- make her feel special...and remember, the purpose is to become more like the leader God wants you to be in your home.
With those clarifications out of the way, it's time for you (men) to take action! I'm looking forward to hearing stories about the dates you are planning...the love you are showing...and the efforts you are making to serve your Savior and your wife.
Special note: if you don't know what you're going to talk about on this upcoming date, please see me...I am prepared with a copy of "Fifty Questions You Can Ask Your Spouse"...seriously, anything I can do to help you grow as a godly husband and leader, just let me know: I'd be glad to talk to you.
What a great day we had yesterday at the Fall Family Festival! The sun shone, the water balloons and cornhole bags flew, the smiles abounded, and the teaching about God's creation was wonderful. Thank you SO much to everyone who donated their time to make FFF a success!
This great week keeps on rolling with both ladies' Bible studies getting underway (which I have nothing to do with, due to my gender) as well as the first official Prayer AXIS and Worship Choir rehearsal on Wednesday (which I do have a lot to do with!)
I really really really really really hope you'll join us on Wednesdays -- Sam and I are so excited about the new Prayer AXIS format, and we look forward to obeying the Biblical command to pray on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests always for all the saints!
Speaking of Biblical commands, here's a trivia question for you. What do the first verses of Psalm 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150 have in common?
Maybe you should go check.
I'll wait.
Really, I will.
Okay, here's the answer: Each of the above-mentioned verses starts with a command to "Praise the LORD." We're commanded over and over again throughout Scripture to praise the Lord...and that's why I'm so excited about the free worship seminar we're hosting called LEARNING TO PRAISE. If praise is what we're supposed to do, then I think learning to praise is a very important topic!
Learning to Praise is scheduled for Wednesday night, September 24th at 6 pm; we'll replace Prayer AXIS and choir for that one night with an informal coffeehouse seminar led by Jim Cato, director of Cedarville University's HeartSong touring teams. Jim will be teaching about "The Songs of Worship" and "The Postures of Worship". Childcare is provided, and the whole church is encouraged (I won't quite say commanded :) to attend!
As part of this year's Most Wanted List campaign, we're hoping to invite 1,000 friends to attend our Christmas program, The Richest Family in Town, in the 1,000 hours before the first performance. You can find more information about our production at: SpringfieldChristmas.com
Yes, it's true...Molly and I are headed to Florida tomorrow for a weekend getaway...if I had any real weather-related planning skills, we would be taking this trip in the middle of January, not late September.
