The Summer

Well, summer has unofficially ended and that means things are staring to get normal again.  This summer has been pretty crazy between new responsibilities at the church and the new job (aka getting adjusted to 3rd shift).  The job itself is incredibly easy--it's the sleeping that's difficult.

We are seeing tremendous things happen at the church.  Last month, we baptized 11 people at the public pool.  Then there was a second wave of people who wanted to be baptized (many of them new believers) just last week.  Total, we've baptized 18 men, women, boys, and girls just this summer.  That's about 20% of our church!  God is doing some pretty amazing things.  I know numbers don't tell anything about the success of a church, but as a pastor, when you're able to help someone outwardly commit their lives to Christ, you get a sense of pride in them.  Not yourself.

Here's a story.  A lady visited our church the first time we had our baptism (and the feast we had after).  She was so touched by some of the testimonies she decided to come back.  The third time she came back, her daughter came with her.  That Sunday morning she gave her heart to God and the next week she was baptized right alongside her mother.  After being baptized the mother looked at me and the Lead Pastor in tears saying, "I've never felt so light before.  It's like I'm floating."

That's powerful.

It's incredible how God provides.  This past month we were looking at our budget and things we needed for Discovery Clubs (our Wed. night program).  We wanted to make registration as cheap as possible so we could make it more of an outreach.  The books just weren't adding up.  So we prayed without ceasing while coming up with fundraisers.  The fundraisers tanked.  That's when God spoke to me and said that things were going to be ok.  He doesn't need money to be successful.  So after campaigning for materials, games, etc. we were talking to a couple in the church.  They said they'd like to help us out.  After picking up my jaw off the ground, they gave us $300 specifically for Discovery Clubs.  God provides.

As for life outside the church, things are going pretty well.  Nicole and I have just completed baby step one of getting an emergency fund set up for our finances.  And now we're on to step two of starting the debt snowball.  It's incredible how fast money goes sometimes!  We're using some of the principles Dave Ramsey teaches.  I think he has a lot of great ideas, but not all of them work for us.  For example, he stresses using cash for every purchase (except for bills you mail off).  I don't use cash.  Ever.  Except for buying a pop from a vending machine.  So we don't do the envelopes thing, but instead we just stick to a written budget and track how much we spend.  So far it's working.  having a job that pays more than $8.10 an hour helps too...

Other than that, it's been life as normal.  About 3 weeks ago I preached in big boy church.  It was the first time I felt the Spirit move from what I was saying (I'm not saying that I take ownership of the message, I just happened to be the one God worked through).  What a feeling.  It's almost like a rush.

On a random note, I've officially decided that everyone's favorite topic to talk about is themselves.  It's incredible how long some people can talk about where they've been, a funny story they heard (or experienced), or something that they have accomplished.  Is it wrong?  No.  So I've decided to put my own ambitions of making myself look better than them (face it, we all do it) aside and challenged myself to keep the conversation focused on them.  Occasionally I'll throw in a story that I have, but in a way that is non-threatening to the point they are trying to make.  So far the shortest conversation I've had with this in mind has been an hour and that's because I was on the verge of being late to work.  Crazy stuff.

I've officially written too much and talked about myself too much.  See, I didn't even realize I was doing it until I talked about it, but isn't that the point of a blog?  To talk about yourself?  I say it is, and I'm not ashamed.