The ‘What Up’ at OKC:

• Most of my time spent at the office was devoted to meetings I postponed from last week. Feel like I’m just playing catch up!
• Several leadership opportunities to step into this week with my team. Part of our DNA is operating on a slim team and accomplishing the majority through the people that make up the church. It’s a challenge, but worth it.
• Collaboration among many is the best use of resources. If you’re not meeting with, swapping ideas with or just encouraging someone else in your area of ministry, you’re missing out. Who said churches can’t talk to each other?

At the crashpad:

• The plague continues. Connor has the flu and I’ve spent most of my week home with him. Presents interesting challenges at work… First to suffer is always Communication. Have to work hard to make sure everyone is on the same page.
• Kyle’s birthday is Sunday! Turning 35.
• Frozen sausage biscuit + 90 seconds in the microwave = fire (who knew)
• Josie, “Mom, look at how I look with my purse.” (eyes batting as her hair swooshes to the side) “I look just like a woman… carrying her purse.” She’s such a supermodel.

Hope your weekend is great! See you Monday.

This LG Refrigerator has a computer that will keep track of your groceries and email you when you’re out of milk.

A little housewarming gift for my friend, Cindy B.

Just the picture friend. The thing probably costs as much as your new house.

So I wake up at 6:30am Tuesday morning to Connor crying. Not typical, but he’s been sick.

I find him with a bloody nose… again, not typical, but he’s been sick.

I lay him down on my bed, stop the nosebleed, and help him settle down. He lays on my bed for 30 minutes sleeping on and off and fussing the rest of the time. He asks for juice. We give him juice. I offer him a pop-tart and he ate it. He even gobbled down yogurt that I fed to him.

The only odd thing about it is… the kid won’t open his eyes. In fact, he refuses to open his eyes.

He fusses. He cries. He begs to be held. And the entire time he won’t open his eyes.

After two hours, he falls asleep on the couch.

I call the doctor.

The doctor finds this odd and asks me to call him back if it continues after he wakes up.

Two hours later Connor wakes up. He’s still doing it.

I ask him to open his eyes. He cries.

I attempt to put clothes on him and he screams. He fights with every attempt to dress him… his eyes closed the entire time!

He acts as if he’s uncomfortable but can’t tell me what it is.

The doctor finds this odd and recommends I take him to the ER.

Kyle meets me there. He holds Connor for 5 minutes. He tells Connor, “If you open your eyes, I’ll take you to see the fish.”

Connor opens his eyes. Then he plays in the triage room as we explain to the nurse, “This is NOT how he was acting.”

Was I duped by a 2 year old?

Flashbacks of Ferris Bueller race through my head.

No wonder I’m on happy meds.

It’s not unusual for birthdays, Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations to span a full week. When you factor in the various visits to extended family, immediate family, friends, second cousin-twice-removed… the multiple events easily adds up to a full week of celebration.

I’ve always thought that was a little excessive. When I was a kid, we celebrated my birthday ON my birthday. One time. We celebrated Christmas one time. Thanksgiving… one time.

I worried my kids would be spoiled thinking that their birthday should be a week long event, receiving gifts every other day… birthday cakes, cupcakes, snack cakes, etc.

But reading through Deuteronomy 16, I’m reminded that God knows how to throw a party. In fact, He encourages it!

He commanded the Israelites to celebrate the Passover, the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of the Harvest, the Festival of Shelters, etc, etc, etc.

And these weren’t one-day events. These were long parties! An entire week, to be exact.

So, I guess our week long birthday celebrations are not so unusual after all.

In fact, they’re biblical.

Sweet.

The ‘What Up’ @ OKC:

• What just happened to the last week? And, OH MY WORD! we’re only 4 weeks away from Easter.
• Spent the week working on staff reviews. It’s a grueling process to dig deep and celebrate the successes, affirm their future goals, and identify ‘leadership lids’ that might keep them from accomplishing them. It’s a life-giving process and I love it.
• The plague has hit and attendance is affected. But we’re still seeing a high number of guests. Kids are bringing their friends!
• 4 weeks until Easter! (did i mention that already?)

At the crashpad:

• I’ve spent most of the week at home with sick kids. Kyle spent most of the week in Vegas. hm… how did that happen?
• Momma’s goin’ out tonight! It’s not date night (since the hubby’s in Vegas) but I’m still goin’ out. Love my kids, and it’s time for a break.
• Josie told me she wanted to go live with her friend down the street. After I mopped myself off the floor and withdrew my nomination for Mother of the Year, we had a good conversation about why she wants to go live with her friend. Apparently her friends’ daddy is funnier. Nice
• Time in the Word has been pretty pitiful this week. Prayer time… ditto. No wonder I feel so… uggh.
• You gotta’ check out my friends’ post today.  Funny!
• Single people! I salute you! I’ve spent the past week without Kyle and I’ve found that I have NO boundaries when it comes to work. All I did in the evenings was work. Insane! If you do that… QUIT! It’s not healthy.

That’s it. I have nothing left in the brain.

(Sad, if that’s all there is )

Have a great weekend!

The first time I swung a golf club, it was pretty comical.

It’s still somewhat amusing, but I have improved with practice

My inaugural attempt at Mother’s Day breakfast biscuits didn’t go as planned.

(There’s a difference between Baking Soda and Baking Powder)

But after several tries, I can make some pretty amazing biscuits.

Me behind the wheel at 16 years old was terrifying.

Yet after 20+ years of driving… its only slightly unnerving.

What’s the point?

You have to do something more than once to get better at it.

Does repetition make it perfect? (as the adage implies)

Well, maybe not perfect. But certainly improved.

So… if your random, in-the-car-on-the-way-to-WalMart, spiritual conversation about, “Who’s stronger, Superman or God?” didn’t go so well… don’t give up.

If your first attempt to pray as a family resulted in more laughing than praying… don’t give up.

If your initial venture for a Family Night was less than spectacular… don’t give up.

Practice makes it better. Repetition works.

Follow your Family Night Flop with another Family Night Flop.

Lead your family from one laughter-filled prayer to the next laughter-filled prayer.

I promise the next random, in-the-car-on-the-way-to-WalMart, spiritual conversation about, “Who’s stronger, Superman or God?”… will go much better.

Believe it or not, there was a time when Tiger Woods sucked at golf.

Jerry Hurley is part of the Directional Leadership Team of LifeChurch.tv. Jerry is passionate about helping people reach their greatest potential. Here are a few things he’s challenged me with last December. I’m still chewing on it…

• Stewardship demands that I look inside and uncover the talent God has put inside of me
• I am accountable to God to maximize the talents He’s given me

I needed the reminder. Thought you guys would get something out of it also. What talents need to be maximized in your life?

Roger is a friend of mine from LC OKC. I get to serve every week with him and his wife in LifeKIDS. Roger’s pretty great, but (truth be told) I get pretty excited when I get to hang out with his wife.

Roger called me out of the blue one night to share a story about one of his boys. Working in kids ministry, its stories like these that remind me how amazing it is to get to do what I do. Roger agreed to share his story here. This is only the first of 3 posts. To catch the rest, you’ll have to check out Roger’s new blog, RollMentalCamera.

Take some time and join the conversation.  Then visit Roger’s blog and comment there.  Welcome him to the blogging world.

What Would Your Kid Say?

Part 1 of 3

Ever worry about your child’s perception of things? What would you say is most important to them?

Roll mental camera…

I went to my son Connor’s third grade open house at school to check out some of the work they had done. An autobiographical worksheet caught my eye that had all kinds of statements like “My favorite ice cream is ___” and the kids fill in the blank. You get the picture.

There were two statements that stopped me in my tracks.

“I believe in ____.” Which some answered harmlessly enough “parents” or “themselves.” But many put “my Wii” or “Pokemon” or something else just as selfish.

The second and by far the most disturbing was “My final destination is ____” and I began to read things like “Disneyworld”, “Paris, France” or “Los Angeles.” (I felt a bit queezy and blacked out for a second after reading that… But back to the story)

Hope was renewed when I got to Connor’s paper and he answered the 2 questions in big bold letters “I believe in GOD and JESUS” and “My final destination is HEAVEN”. With a huge smile I mumbled “THANK YOU GOD” (should have screamed it) and immediately called Gina and thanked her for the ministry that has helped in Connor’s faith. It wasn’t that we knew this worksheet was going to happen or that we worked on it at home. He did it at school with nobody but himself telling him what to write. It was an awesome sight.

Do you know how your child would answer these questions?

Don’t you think you should?

So, you think the hour they spend in kids church every week will fix them?

Ingrained… Instinctive… Elemental

These words describe the things that come most natural to us. That which is in our DNA.

I laugh at how quickly my mind jumps to sins? My noggin is swarmed with the sins I have the greatest tendency toward?

Man, I give my sin nature too much credit!

Ingrained, Instinctive and Elemental reflect design… not tendency.

Though sin entangles me… I was never designed to be entrapped by it.

Though sin comes so easily… I was not designed to live in it.

I was designed to…

Serve

I can serve God or I can serve things.

Worship

I can worship God or I can worship things.

Glorify

I can glorify God or I can glorify things.

The choice is always mine to make. Do I go against design or go with it? Though the actions take on many different faces, the root remains the same.

Service, Worship & Glory are the ingrained, instinctive, elemental actions of the created toward its Creator.

At the OKC Campus:

Kind of a rough ministry week, but God’s strength is greater than me so I wouldn’t trade it. Here are the challenges I run into when going through a season like this:

• Remain Teachable: When things get tough… stressful, it’s easy to steel up. I steel up for a variety of reasons, but they mostly boil down to self-preservation. Self-preservation can make me defensive. Defensive is the epitome of unteachable.
• Too much in the weeds: Diving into a circumstance is necessary, but I can get lost in the details. I have to step back periodically and make sure that I’m looking at the bigger picture. The situation I’m dealing with is important and should influence future decisions. But it should not be the ONLY filter I use to make those decisions.
• Avoid the Drama Factor: I’m naturally dramatic. It’s part of what makes me who I am. But I don’t need to insert my own drama into a tough situation… there’s enough there as it is. The only reason for me to overdramatize is to bring attention and glory to me. “Whoa is me. Look at what I have to deal with.” Please. It isn’t necessary and takes the focus off of what God is doing.
  
• Be wise when seeking guidance: Just like the Drama Factor, confiding in or seeking advice from the wrong people is gravely detrimental. I have to speak with those that are part of the solution AND can help me lead strong through the circumstances. Confiding in the right people, ultimately, helps me avoid the challenges already mentioned.

At the Crashpad:

Just met with my accountability partner. Shared the final 2%. Here is one thing I’m held accountable to this week.

(Sorry, friends. Not sharing everything )

• Intentional Planning of Family Time: Quit letting things happen as they may. Plan It… then Do It.

Have a great weekend!  See you Monday.