This was a rough week. I work for the recruitment center where we staffed 35 employees and on Monday we had to let go 15 of them. Wednesday I encounter one of my famous headaches and found myself out for the next 15 hours sleeping it off. I woke up Thursday morning at 5 am feeling like I had just woke from hibernation, hungry and strangely refreshed after so much pain. I had to manage the recruitment center Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday by myself. I have great support from my boss and colleague and hope I managed it as well as they would have.
The good news I went to the Doctor on Thursday and got medicine to help me through January. We are working at scheduling surgery for me in the new year so the headaches can go away. It's all an insurance issue right now but hopefully this time it will all go through.
Today the recruitment center seem to be starting to return to normal. I went and got a cake to celebrate November birthday's. If you know me, I'm the guy who hides in my cube during these office rituals. But nonetheless, I felt we all could use the pick me up. I cleaned out everyone's desk who had left. It was cleansing and now I feel we all can start moving forward. The team work hard this week to meet one of our client's deadlines.
We keep moving forward at church. It has turned out nothing like I thought, but I'm grateful for that. I could never return to ministry as I once knew it. This has change my life and perspective of how God intended the church to be. I look forward to working it without the other jobs some day and not feel so divided between work, family, and what God has called me to do. On the other hand everything is so intertwined that I can only expect great things to take place as I walk this journey. I pray that God will just continue to send us people who need a place where they can come as they are and find the way of Christ.
We had a couple of fires in the fireplace already has the weather changes. Tomorrow Luke is going to help me plant the fall/winter plants. And if we are lucky Julianne will decide to show up.
I stood in this one!
So this evening I decided since I've been working so hard (yesterday was a very long day!) that I needed some fresh air and something fun to do. It was moderately fun but would have been so much more fun if my wife and son were along. I went to Pier 39 where I enjoyed some ice-cream, a magic show, sea-lions (boy were the loud!), overlooked Alcatraz Island (I really wanted to go see this but they didn't have an evening tour tonight...ahh well), watched the cable cars, looked at the sail boats, and then enjoy a quiet dinner at the crab house. I sat in front of a fire which is the first time I have felt warm in California! So it was all ok but when you are far away from the ones you love most...well...it sucks. However, please enjoy the pictures!
So I’m on my way to San Francisco, California, and it’s a long flight. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to update you all on things that have been going on lately.
I’m going to San Francisco to recruit people for jobs. This was a last minute trip decided on Wednesday because we had somewhat of a crisis on a current project. And so I was asked to make this trip to provide the leadership needed. My boss has call me her ‘star performer’ which I have to admit is always nice for the ego…however big responsibility and sacrifice seems to follow it.
I’d prefer not to travel and be gone for another week from Christie and Luke. They both are very strong and supportive when I’m gone. But today before I left I got to play with Luke and his balloon and well it’s those moments that make it really hard to go do your job.
And this is the first time I’ve flown Southwest and wow I’ve never seen people herd to the gate to get their preferred seat like that before. Lucky me got a window seat with no one beside me!
We had our first baby dedication service at rH. It was really great…it was super! Scott and Jen DeVarne dedicated their child Steven. We had 30 people come and well, yep our building was really crowded. A lot of great connections were made and it was so good for our community to experience the body of Christ together like that.
We have so big outreach events coming up this month and next. We are going to have a booth at Fuquay’s downtown festival where over 10,000 people come. Then in November we are doing another International Quiz night. We are looking for a local bar or pub to sponsor it at. Right now we are searching for a worship leader or least some people who can play instruments to help out our worship. Once we have that in place we are going to look at doing a bigger marketing campaign in the community.
Honestly there are nights I lay awake thinking this will never happen. There's not enough time in the day to get it all done. And somewhere in all of these rushing thoughts of things that I need to do for work, church, and family it all hits me - I can not do it all. And this truth is really quite a relief once you accept it. It's just getting to that point.
There is a lot going on this week. This Sunday we begin Sunday morning worship services at 10:30 AM, we have a cook out this Saturday, and there are so many things that need to be accomplish for both of those things. The good thing, is there is a good team of people at realHope that are ready to work hard to make sure things are ready. It is nice to know that when I realize I can't get it all done, they have already realized that weeks before I do. So everyone is busy getting things done this week and working hard.
If you are in the area I hope you will join us this Sunday morning at 10:30 AM. It will be a great time of worship and fellowship. And I promise you'll find more than just a church, you'll find a family.
Once a month at rH we have what we call Owner's Breakfast. This is an opportunity for us to come together and fellowship, pray, discuss, and dream about our plans for the church. We are calling our members 'owners' because we want our members of rH to understand that we are heirs of the kingdom of God and each have a role to play in His kingdom. Membership in our culture has come to imply a consumer attitude - get your membership card, enjoy the services, and leave. At rH we want people to really to participate in the body of Christ. Christie and I came to this term after visiting Vintage 21 a church in Raleigh, NC. I'm excited that we are creating in our DNA a place where people we not just join but really become a part of the body and use their unique gifts to serve God's Kingdom.
This week at rH we continue our study in Colossians, You've Got Style. Hope to see you there and stop by Saturday at our Owner's Breakfast (9 AM).
Tomorrow night Sunday at 6 PM will have thegathering, a place for anyone and everyone who is seeking out the way of Christ. We are starting a new message series entitled, "You've Got Style." It is a study through the book of Colossians, a New Testament book in the Bible. I'm really excited about it and hope you'll join us if you are in the area.
As I posted earlier we ran out of chairs last week, but got some more, so come and don't hesitate to bring along a friend. Make sure you check out the rH website for all the great events coming up (Scrapbooking night, International quiz night).
Hey, if you come by thegathering I'll make this promise, I won't tell you the ending of the new Harry Potter book! See ya then!
Yeah, it's one of those just 'great stuff' happening weeks. Those are good to have ever now and then. This week I started at Headway Corporate Resources as project manager of the Resource Center. I have a learning curve to get pass but confident that I swing through it. I'm excited about the company - they really seem to know their stuff and how to do it. They treat people with care - it's not just your normal staffing company, they are a mark above the rest. So if you need a job, let me know or your company needs lots of jobs, let me know. I can help.
realHope had record attendance Sunday night. We had a great call this week and well the short of it all....we're growing! We ran out of chairs and are not sure what we will do this coming Sunday! We gave the rH website a fresh update so check it out. I really please with the results so far. We are also working on a new feature to allow people to donate online, so yeah, you no what that means friends and family....
Christie's mom, sister, two nieces, and cousin are here for a couple of days so we have a full house! Also, last Friday we found out we are going to have a girl (I'm still not sure what to think about that one!) But, in the end of it all it's all really great stuff!
Well this week I'm enjoying some rest and catch up on somethings around the homestead and for rH before I begin my new job at Headway. I started the week off doing some premarriage counseling and visiting the zoo with Christie and Luke. Luke just wanted to see Giraffes and luckily at the very end we saw them. It was a lot of fun but really hot!
I finally got a calendar put together for rH for the next couple of months and started putting together a preaching series calendar together as well. Our big project that we are starting to get underway is to get morning Sunday services going. We feel like more people will choose this time to visit us and well frankly we like to grow.
The biggest challenge is what do with worship. We really need a gifted worship leader so please pray that God will lead us to the right person to do this.
It seems this is the week for people from the past to check in. At least its been people I still like to hear from! Well that's all the update for now, maybe something of more interest later.
Ahh yes, some last things that I will ever have to do have come. Today was my last day at the hotel, my last day standing on my feet for eight hours checking in people who don't understand rates and are to cheap to pay for parking, my last day eating the nasty food in the employee cafeteria, my last day doing airlines, my last day doing a room move, or taking luggage to a room. Ahh yes, some last feel good.
Today was also the last day in the week where I completed working out. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday's I committed to working out. Always feels good to complete the first week.
So on now to some first and even more familiar things, like having evenings back and weekends, and having more time for rH.
So today I ran the mile again...well sort of. I thought it would be good to take Soleil, my dog with me. She likes to run...really she loves to run especially when you don't want her too. So off we went this afternoon, but surprise, surprise, she was slowing me down. She actually wanted to stop half way through. Guess I'm not the only one who needs to get in shape.
This week at thegathering we continue in our Revolution series searching for answers on how to face obstacles in our journey. The fact is everyone of us will face obstacles in our journey. Our aim is to finish the journey well. How do we do that? Find out this weekend at thegathering, Sunday @ 6 PM.
Want to know what other great events are happening at realHope? Check it out on the web (www.realhopechristian.org).
See you Sunday and if I don't lift up a prayer for us!
