My pace has been pretty fast the last few weeks, so I’ve been awol from the blog since mid September. I know you’ve all been dying with anticipation – so here’s a quick rundown of the past month:
- Weekend of September 24th — I travelled back to my hometown in Campbellsburg, IN to reconnect with old High School classmates for my 20th High School Reunion. It was great fun to see old friends. I missed that Sunday at Calvary, but we were blessed to have Phil Ling preach for us on Sunday morning.
- Sunday, the 25th – 28th — I remained in Louisville, KY as a presenter for something called “The Equipping Institute” during the 3rd Annual “National LifeServe Conference.” This conference is put on every year by Group Publishing, out of Loveland, CO. I’ve been a presenter off and on for various ministry events for Group Publishing since the fall of 2005. Group has asked me to add a few more events to my calendar in 2012, and I look forward to doing so. I am blessed to have this opportunity, humbled by it, and thankful to be allowed this creative outlet to share with other churches around the country.
- October 2nd – 5th – Nealy and the kids were on Fall Break. (Yes, I know the public school didn’t have a fall break this year – but we kept it in the schedule at Calvary Christian School). Nealy took advantage of a few
days off to pamper herself. I came home on Thursday – she left on Saturday for Florida. Being home for 5 days with the kids – without mom – really knocked me out of rythm, but in a good way. I had to gravitate toward “Dad” roles instead of “Pastor” roles for those 5 days, and i found myself realizing that in a typical week (when I’m counting on Nealy to pick up the parenting slack) I miss out on a lot of cool moments with the kids. My favorite moment was a simple one with my Brayden (5 years old). I was making myself some toast, and he wanted one. I had some homemade strawberry preserves made by our good friend Donna Cantrell from our first ministry (First Christian Church; Etowah, TN). I was putting the preserves on my toast, and asked Bray if he wanted some. He said “No way Dad, GROSS!” In true Dad fashion, I forced him to try some on his toast anyway. He took a bite, his eyes got big, and he said, “Man Dad! You really know what you’re talking about!” Priceless! That’s a moment I probably would have missed in a typical week. I’m working on that. - Weekend of October 7, 8, & 9 — We took a team of people up to spend the weekend at our Clear Fork Campus. We camped out (my whole family went – it was an unforgettable weekend for our family), and worked in the community all weekend. We had campfire sings, roasted hot dogs, ate homemade food, fixed up the church building, did some work for a local family, held a “free” yard sale, and had two worship services. Nearly 75 different people from Winchester went up for at least part of the weekend. It was fantastic. This represented the first Sunday that the sermon was “LIVE” and in person at the Clear Fork Campus on Sunday morning while on Video back in Winchester. Thanks to all for embracing the switch for one weekend.
- The Week of October 10th — My last post stressed how close we are to having a community Teen Center, and yet how far we have to go. This has been an issue of prayer, meetings, conversations, and no small amount of stress over the past months. We are into the project too far to stop, but still have a very long way to go financially. The Cairn Project is far more expensive than we originally estimated. There’s just no way to sugar coat that. We’ve needed God to move – and move in a BIG way. Last week HE did! It is not official yet, and so I can’t announce it. I don’t want to mess it up. We all need to keep praying – keep giving. But if the development goes thru – and it moved ahead even further today. If this continues forward, We will have the Cairn (Coffee House on the 1st Floor, Teen Center on the 2nd Floor) open as fast as the contractors can get it done. Perhaps sometime in January!
- Saturday, October 15th — This was a BIG day for Calvary Christian School. The school hosted its’ annual “Fall Festival” event, but with BIG changes this year. We held it outside, and on the church property on Boonesboro Road. There was a HUGE crowd, I have no idea at all how many. It was a great day, lots of fun. The school raised approximately $20,000 for itself, and designated approximately $2,000 that will go to charities that the students from each classroom selected. To give you an idea, this is about double what usually happens. My “smokin’ hot wife” Nealy was one of the organizers of the event. So, as proud of their efforts as I am, I am GLAD it’s over!
- Today: We took some baby steps forward technology wise for both the church and school. We launched a website today at www.serveky.net. On this new site we are hosting a volunteer sign-up software that makes it easier to volunteer for events and ministries online. We are using it right now to recruit Jesus Prom volunteers. We put it on a neutral website because we actually want to offer it to every non-profit, church, school, agency, etc. in Clark County & Eastern KY. The site is set up in such a way that multiple organizations and churches can use it. Pray for this – and talk it up. We are hoping that this eventually becomes a central place to facilitate and communciation volunteerism in our community. Likewise, today during parent teacher conferences, the school gave parents login access to their new online grading program called “Grade Link.” Parents will now have access to their child’s grades at any time and can do all kinds of cool things to manage their kids accounts.
Ok – there you go. I’m all caught up now. If you are reading this, live near Clark County, KY, and don’t already attend another church – I hope to see you at Calvary this Sunday. During the sermon on Sunday I will be taking a few minutes to interview a young man who, as a child, was sponsored thru Compassion International. Come hear how $38/month forever transformed his life!
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