Compassion

"Compassion costs. It is easy enough to argue, criticize and condemn, but redemption is costly, and comfort draws from the deep. Brains can argue, but it takes heart to comfort."

(Samuel Chadwick)

Emily and Baseball

Here's some video of Emily from the last time we visited Busch stadium... right before we left the St. Louis area. She does my heart proud.

More Catching Up...

Emily's birthday party...

Cards vs. Cubs at Wrigley in April... my first trip to Wrigley.

The kids and me at the St. Louis Zoo.

My beautiful family...

The carousel at the zoo...

Better Late Than Never...

While I am in a 'holding' pattern about getting pictures of our new house up...

Here are a few pictures from before our move that I never had a chance to post.

Emily's preschool Easter Egg Hunt...

Great brother and sister picture...

Emily and the Easter Bunny...

Aaron's first sucker... by the way, his shirt says 'I tried to be good but I got bored.'

Good Ole Fashioned Update

I knew eventually it would happen. I knew that eventually I would have a week full of unexpected ministry opportunities; a week that would test my commitment to the people of this church and test my ability to remain flexible in the midst of a busy schedule. This week was that kind of week. I can’t give specifics here on a public forum… but I received two emergency phone calls that needed my immediate attention.

I always wondered how I would respond emotionally to weeks like this one. But I really feel like I was able to roll with the punches and try to minister to hurting people. It’s been interesting to see how God has equipped me specifically for this kind of ministry. I’m not sure if this will make sense: But I just feel like God has been telling me over and over since arriving here: ‘THIS is what I created you to do. Staff positions were beneficial in certain ways and you learned tons in that capacity… but THIS role is what you are best equipped for.’

I never felt ‘put out’ this week by emergency requests. It was an opportunity to minister to people and to connect with them through their pain. I only hope that I said the right things and made the right decisions. While it was a stressful week for me, it was also such a rewarding week.

I used a Transformer illustration this week that seemed to really connect with my generation. Yes, I actually showed a picture of a set of Transformers called the ‘Constructicons’ and somehow used them to illustrate the Church as a Unit or Body. It’s been very fun to try and figure out how to explain things with illustrations. Speaking of, I have an ‘appointment’ with one of my trustees and his son to see Transformers this Saturday. I also have an ‘appointment’ with one of my Sunday School teachers and his wife to see ‘Harry Potter 5’ this Sunday. I am looking forward to these times.

I am also starting to find a rhythm in sermon prep. Early in the week I try to get my study time in… reading select books, studying select passages, doing exegesis… and getting a basic outline done. Then I let it stew in my head until Friday… which is my writing day. I try to completely close off Friday from any appointments and just write it all out that day. It seems to be working for me so far.

My series on the church is concluding next week… after which I have no idea what direction I need to go. I have some ideas, but nothing concrete. I will have six weeks till September… so the question is whether I should start a six part series… or just mix and match until the fall.

I will also be officiating my first funeral this week… on Wednesday. Various people have really surrounded me to help me put this together and figure out what needs to be done on a day like this. We’ll see how it goes.

I know I promised a video walk through of the house this past week. The house just never seems to be quite in order… but I am hoping for this week. We’ll see. I will continue to post updates like this for awhile… it’s helpful for me to recap things in my own head. Just another change (of many) of direction that this blog has taken in the past three years!

Aaron Walking

Wheaton Update

Things are starting to normalize here. All the boxes are unpacked. Most of the blinds are hanged. We still have a bunch of curtain rods to put up. The house is slowly coming together. My brother visited last weekend and helped me put together a huge wooden swingset for the kids. It really turned out nice.

I promise to get some footage of the house up this week. I have decided that I’ll do a quick video walk through of both the house and the church at different points throughout the week.

Things have been very busy, but I have really loved the new position. Some of the things on the radar are to craft various job descriptions for our leadership positions; launch a few new small groups in the fall; find a few guys to play fantasy football; figure out what my next sermon series will be about; and figure out a way to re-launch the children’s ministry here without many church kids to draw from.

I have also been re-thinking home visitations. They have been very beneficial in regards to getting to know the older people in the congregation… but I have been wondering if my generation really wants that type of interaction. If I was just an attendee of a church and my pastor wanted to come visit me, I’m not sure I would be completely comfortable with that. I feel like there has to be a better way to connect with the younger generation. As I explore and think on this, I’ll post on here.

I have also done away with random visitation. I call ahead now for all of my visits. I do this for a variety of reasons… but the two biggest are 1) If I go by their house and they aren’t home, I’ve just wasted time that is very valuable right now. 2) If I go by their house unannounced, who is to say that they don’t have something planned during that timeframe… and most people have a hard time turning a pastor away. So no more random visits.

Planning worship services has been a blast for me. This is something that I rarely got an opportunity to do at either of my last two positions. I was usually able to pick the songs when I was leading worship… but not the actual order. This has been so much fun for me. To tweak and adjust and figure out how to make the service flow a little better. I stole an idea from St. Peters… where I do a quick introduction to the theme very early in the service. I tried that for the first time last week and got positive feedback in return.

Life is moving much quicker now. It’s still a struggle to figure out balance. I have a goal of how many hours I feel like I need to get in each week… but I also don’t want to leave my family in the dust. So that will continue to be a concern to me.

By the way, Aaron is pretty much walking now. I am hoping to get some video of that up this week as well. He also turned one last week. Hard to believe that he’s been here over a year now. Both kids had to go in for doctor’s visits this week and they had seven shots between the two of them. Not fun at all…

Well, that’s all I have for now.