Where's Waldo?

Hey, remember the "Where's Waldo" books? When Waldo first appeared on the scene, everybody thought it was fun to try to pick out the weird guy in the striped shirt in a crowd, in a zoo, in a shopping mall, in an airport...in about a thousand different scenarios. But then after a while...Waldo went AWOL and nobody could seem to find him any longer. I think we all just got fed up with trying to find him everywhere & not to mention the eye-strain and stress it caused us when he was nowhere to be found! That darned Waldo!

Well, I have a new craze for you...it's called where's the Oldsmobile? All you have to do is look at the photos posted below and try to spy where my Olds is located amongst the mess of the tree that fell upon it last night.

No kidding! Last night between 10:30 and 11:00 pm I was chillin on the couch watching a Lifetime movie with my pooch, listening to the rain as it fell hard on the roof [oh and watching it too, my roof leaks when it rains hard - gotta get that fixed soon!] the rain let up, a few minutes of silence went by and then outa nowhere we heard it...thump, thump, THUD! And then the electricity went out followed by silence & darkness.

My first thought was "oh no, terrorist attack!" [no kidding, that's what actually crossed my mind, funny isn't it!]then my 2nd thought was "oh no, I'm being robbed!" [thought the bad guys had cut my power and were about to cut a hole in my roof & repel downwards to steal all of my millions (cue Mission Impossible theme here) - well, maybe not millions...but the last $5 I had in my pocket, anyway!] And then it hit me - THE BIG TREE IN MY FRONT YARD!

I then envisioned downed power lines, sparks igniting the gas tank of my car, a horrific explosion...well, you get the picture. [oh & did I say that I was watching TV, maybe too much TV!]

Long story even longer...stumbled through the house in the dark, called my neighbors, called my mom, called 9-1-1 and the search & rescue [for my car, that is] began. The emergency crews came out really fast and had everything under control within a matter of minutes & the electricity back on in under an hour. Thankfully nobody was injured [although I was not real popular for having caused a power outage on my block on a Saturday night, just before the evening news!] and my nice beautiful deck that my parents just built on the front of my house was still intact.

In retrospect, after laughing at myself and my weird thoughts/reaction to the whole thing, all I can say is that God is SO good! He protects us from the storm and all the dangers that come along with it. We don't have to live in fear, He protects us and gives us a peace that surpasses all understanding.

That peace can be lessend though if we play the "what if game"...

"What if" the tree had fallen hours earlier it would've possibly crushed me inside the car or the neighbor boys as they were playing in their front yard [did I mention the tree almost took out my neighbor's front porch!].

Or "what if" the tree had fallen towards my house instead of my car it would've crushed my new deck, my house and me and Molly inside on the couch watching TV.

The good news is that we don't have to play the "what if game" because God is not a God of "what ifs". He's a God whose always in control & protects those He calls His own. Yeah, I may have been a little freaked out [not to mention a little shaky as I called 9-1-1, don't even really remember what I told the Operator] but in the end I could calm down and rest in His shelter from the storm - knowing that He was in control the whole time & that He will protect me when danger comes my way. Wow!

Here's the photos, prizes will be awarded to those who discover "Where's Waldo" (a/k/a my car)even BIGGER prize for those who discover "Where's God" in all this :)

Gotta go for now, my family's coming over with a chain saw so we can cut out a path to my front door...don't think the mailman will like climbing over the downed tree to get to my mailbox tomorrow.

Give Me Your Eyes

So, have you heard this song?

I absolutely love this song by Brandon Heath, it’s been playing a lot lately on Air 1 [95.3 on the radio dial in the LEX]…and seems to be playing every time I turn on my car radio as I’m heading out to another destination.

Usually songs that get “played to death” get on my nerves & I end up cringing [and sometimes even changing the radio station] when I hear that all-too-familiar tune coming over the radio waves. BUT – this song is different…I can’t get enough of it! AND [yeah, I know you’re not really supposed to begin a sentence with “but” or “and”] I can’t quit singing it everywhere I go – not just in the car, but in the kitchen, in the grocery store, in the coffee shop.

You see, this song is more than a song to me…it’s my PRAYER!

I think Brandon Heath was on to something when he versed this song [I might even do some research on how the song came to be!] but I don’t think he knew the impact it would have on people like me. It sounds as if it might’ve been his personal prayer, but he didn’t know [or maybe he did] that others are praying the same prayer.

When I hear this song, and when I sing this song, I can’t help but feel it down deep in my soul – it resonates within my being & is my heartfelt prayer. I can’t help but belt it out and mean every word of it as I’m singing it to my Creator.

By the second run-through of the chorus, I get so choked up that before I realize it there are tears in my eyes [tears might also be a result of my terrible singing voice, but my dog doesn’t seem to mind all that much!] and a lump in my throat as I think of what the words are REALLY expressing and what it is that I’m praying for.

God, just let me see people – really SEE people, the way YOU see them!

Let me see them, let me reach out to them, let me love them the way that you do, Lord.

Lord, let me be more aware and notice those who are hurting and those who are brokenhearted – those who might go unnoticed, unloved – those that only YOU see.

Lord, give me YOUR eyes so I can see…


Brandon Heath - Give Me Your Eyes
From the album What If We

Chorus
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Power Lab VBS...HUGE Success!

We sure did have a blast this past week with Power Lab VBS! Here are a few photos of the fun...

Sassy the Super Scientist & Professor Pumpernickel



Professor P - "It's Alive!"



Ruby-Jean the Radical Rocket Scientist



The Power Lab



Interactive Light Show & Aquarium (w/things that grow)



Sparki's Yellow Crew #1


Water War



VBS Friends


Dewd's Blue Crew #1


Big Bubbles



Bible Blast Drama

VBS Day 1

VBS Day 1 was a HUGE success! Thanks to everybody who came out and served, it's very obvious when people care about what they are doing & we're very fortunate to have that going on at MCC! I'll have a more detailed post tomorrow, hopefully with some pics if I can remember to bring my camera. Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who came out last night for a fun night of Power Lab, we had 56 kids in attendance (which is more than we expected) which means that 56 kids got to hear about Jesus! Gotta go for now, gotta do my daily challenge...until tomorrow, remember that Jesus gives us the power to be thankful. AHA!

Invasion

Help! My house has been invaded by some alien-looking, bug-eyed robots! Well, one anyway...gotta get working on the other one! I'm in the process of making a couple of robots for VBS, which is only a couple of days away, and as as you can see they are strictly for decor. In other words, they're not working robots! I really wish I'd learned about robotics and could build some real robots...maybe when I get them out to the Power Lab, Professor Pumpernickel can bring them to life for me!

If you're in "the hood" next week, stop by MCC for some fun Power Lab action...6:30-8:30 pm Monday - Thursday.

Gotta go for now, gotta get working on another robot!

12,490

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...suddenly found myself very busy getting ready for VBS and the HUGE changes that are coming our way with KidzTEAM Children's Ministry.

Now, to give you a little update on what I've been up to . . .

As part of the preparations for transitioning our CM to the next level, and as part of keeping up with our Lead Team reads from Pastor J, I'm currently reading 2 new books [the books aren't really new, there just new reads to me!] and both have really inspired me and given me some much needed insight into what it takes to be successful at the next level of ministry. I'll give you more information over the next couple of weeks, just in case you want to read those books. [which I'd highly recommend doing]

In one of the books (a book on CM Leadership) there was this really cool exercise where you had to log on to the census bureau's website and find the estimated number of children in your county...so you would know how many kids in your area need to hear the message of Jesus. When I did this exercise, I realized that there are approximately 12,490 kids in Madison Co. that make up our ministry target of kids between the ages of birth to 11 years. WOW!!!

With such a HUGE number of kids in Madison Co. we are going to need a great plan, a solid TEAM, mobilization, strategy, tactics, direction, energy and "elbow grease" to get in there and get it done. Please PRAY as we tackle this endeavor!

So, with all this in mind - kinda explains why I haven't posted in a while. Been a little busy gettin' things together...gotta go after the 12,490.

Hope to update you soon, until then - Be Blessed.

P.S. Next week will be our VBS week and we are praying for the kids in our area (especially the neighborhoods near our church) to come in and hear about Jesus. Please keep our VBS in your prayers, as it can be an awesome outreach tool for our community.