Sunday

i’m not really sure why,  but i woke up totally melancholy this morning.   it had been a relaxing and profitable saturday.   slept in a little.   got a bunch of work completed on my deck.   spent some time with son #2.   dinner with friends at chuy’s in denton.   the fish tacos were okay.

but something was wrong today when i rolled out of bed.   but it didn’t last long.

i think my prayer before the services today was a little half-hearted,  but it seemed to change everything.   i wanted this day to be honorable to god and good for people.   i asked god to be pleased with what we offered.   it’s amazing how that simple prayer can change perspective. it was great to just be a part of the family today.   being in the crowd…listening to dusty preach…taking notes…i didn’t realize how refreshing that was going to be. i love it when our church family gets to hear different voices…and fresh insight.   that definitely happened today. what a great message on the fruit of the spirit.   and a really cool way of taking personal inventory. dusty’s insight into how we roll  was pretty powerful.   i hope people take up his challenge to make a spiritual discipline plan for the next three months.   it was great to have him preach today. the pictures representing the fruit of the spirit by kids in our youth group were very powerful.   i can’t wait for them to receive their permanent home. it is always fun to meet new people on sundays.   i’m still amazed that people continue to find us on the  web and come looking to see if we have any integrity in how we represent.   i’m hoping some of today’s new people decide to come back. good choice of songs by the band today.   holding on to you has a great chorus… “you never change,  you’re still the same”.    our version of the doxology  is sweet…it never gets old.    how he loves us  is one of the best new songs of the past couple of years for us… “we are his portion and he is our prize,  drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes“.    wow.   the earth is yours  may be a song we do for years to come.   gungor hit a home run. i love the days we all do lunch together at the building.   it’s really difficult for us to do “pot lucks”,  with no dining room and no kitchen,  but we have figured out how to do the hamburger/hot dog thing! it was great to see so many people taking responsibility for planning,  serving,  helping,  and cleaning up. don’t know if you caught wind of this,  but we had 87 kids in children’s church today during the 11:15 hour.   87!   we don’t have the facility for this.   we are not staffed for this.   the need is overwhelming.   but the opportunity is mind-blowing.   if all of our regular kids would have showed,  we would have had over 100 children.   is god nudging you to come and make a difference in the lives of kids? sunday night bowling would be a total loser,  if it weren’t for the laughter,  trash talking,  story-telling,  pride-eating,  and dinner afterwards.   i have officially lost my ability to roll a ball.   i may practice this week. here’s my quick weekend sports take:  LSU deserves to be number one.   the OSU-kansas state game was way more fun to watch.   death to the BCS.   i hope OU beats OSU.   i hope LSU loses the SEC title game.   i hope oregon beats stanford.   i hope houston plays boise state in the BCS championship game. the chargers are killing me.   three straight meltdowns by phillip rivers and three straight loses.   and they are still tied for first in their division.   remember i called this two months ago:   little timmy tebow is going to make it.   the only thing nearly as good as a charger win is a raider loss.   i will sleep well tonight. the cowboys  will make the playoffs. i love watching the NBA flounder…but i feel really bad for all the little guys losing money due to the lockout.   maybe some of the owners and players should take care of them.   maybe some some genuine goodness is what is needed in this mess.

i’m flying in the morning to phoenix,  renting a car and driving to globe, arizona…the home of arizona reservation ministries…the organization we are going to partner with for our youth group spring break mission trip.   lots to see.   lots to talk about.   lots to plan.   i’m pretty pumped to get this trip going!

have a great week.