A Day of Twos....

Ever have one of those days where everything seems to happen in twos?

Well, that was my day...

Went to the hospital TWO times to visit TWO friends of mine, who are courageously battling cancer... both have defied the doctors pronouncement!

Spent TWO times in the day buthering the TWO deer that I got the other day. Once deboning all the meat and the other time grinding and packaging the meat.

Found TWO tiny little deer ticks sucking my blood... boy did those things hurt!

Had no choice... after several days of rain and a Sunday (which I refuse to do yard work on!) had to mow TWO lawns... mine and the neighbor's.

My Life Transformation Group that usually consists of three guys... was only TWO today!

Several times in the day, I had TWO phone calls coming in at once and one time on TWO different lines!

At the end of this day of TWO's I am looking forward to my TWO sessions of sleep... one before Caroline gets home from work (she is there till close tonight -- which could mean midnight) and the one after she opens our door and lets us know she is home safely!

Rain, Rain and More Rain....

Gotta love this rain! It has come in such a gentle way. Not much of it running off... most of it is soaking into the parched earth...and that is great!

I spent some time in the deer woods the last two nights and I gotta tell you... the deer and turkeys are loving the rain. They were out early Friday night and last night not as early. If you listen, you can even hear the earth singing praises to God for the rain!

Thanks God for the awesome rain you provided!

A Franciscan Blessing...

I saw this recently and realy like it....

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

First Board Meeting...

Got an invite to be on the Board of Trustees for The Hazel Farm Property Foundation and today was our first meeting. I am very honored to be on this board.

The task of the board is to use the property and funds that Mr. Richard (Dick) Hazel and his wife Pat Hazel left to create a place where kids of all ages, especially youth, of all races and socio-economic backgrounds can experience the great outdoors and all that it offers. We are really in the begining stages of helping Dick's vision bloom and I think it will be exciting to see what it becomes. The property is about 500 acres of trees, foodplots (for the wildlife), ponds, nature trails, a residence, and a very nice building that serves as a Meeting Place. It is open to groups like, churches, boy scouts, girl scouts, 4-H, wildlife groups, etc.

Looking forward to seeing this great thing become a reality and bloom in Eden, MD!

(the picture is Mr. Hazel and a young man who in 07 while at an event at the Hazel Farm, came up to personally thank Mr. Hazel for allowing him to come to the farm-- he did this without his parents!)

And what's a pork roast with out a chef?

Here is Master Chef, Walt Townsend, with his famous pulled pork! (notice the apron!)

And Roger Jones of Jones Signs (our sign guy!) getting set to sample some of the pork.

And then there are the Dessert Servers, who appear to be advance tasting! Thanks to Mimi, Fran and Connie.

And the results of all the hard work... our neighbors and friends enjoying the food!

Some Fun and a Funny....

It is no secret that I love to play the corn hole game! It is similar to horshoes, but much more fun or so it seems.... so, I thought we ought to have a set or two at CoJ, especially for the Pork Roast and for the youth. It was a hit on Sunday... the only time I saw them not being used was when most folks were eating and when the sun got around and was shining straight down on them. Otherwise it was the magnet I thought it would be.

The funny is... Miss Tami -- who knows LOTS of people-- almost as many as Waving Walt!, she emailed me one day last week and said she had gotten us an offer to have an antique tractor there too. She said, "Can't have corn hole without an antique tractor!" So, I emailed her back and said "that's great... BUT it can only come if it is green and yellow!!!!" I never heard back from her at all! So on Sunday, when I was welcoming folks to the pork roast, I was looking toward Bethany Lutheran Church and here coming up Camden Avenue was a John Deere Tractor! YEAH green and yellow!!!! Thanks to Miss Tami and especially to Mr. Tom and Mrs. Patti Miller for bringing their BEAUTIFUL John Deere tractor. It was an AWESOME addition to our corn hole game set up!

Couldn't have turned out better...

We served a little over 200 people yesterday in addition to the ones at the Christian Shelter, hospital, and a few other people that benefited from the left overs. The food was DELICIOUS and PLENTIFUL! The weather was spectacular. The day was lots of FUN for all ages... even those who worked so hard and were dead tired at day's end are saying what a GREAT Day it was! Thanks to all!

We sowed many positive seeds in our neighborhood and even those that drove by noticed something was up... the only way you could miss that something was up ... was to be sleeping!

I'm praying that God will water and grow the seeds we planted on his behalf yesterday! Only time will tell!

One INCREDIBLE day!

Today was an AWESOME day! I am anxious to write more and post some pics (got to get some from others... didn't take many myself because I was too busy visiting with guests). In fact, all I want to do right now is prop my feet up... took some gout medicine and the pain is subsiding but my legs really hurt...I am sure I am not the only one that feels that way! LOTS of our folks put in lots of time on their feet and worked so hard being servants! What a JOY it is to be part of such a serving, loving group of people.

Over and over I heard people say today, how nice it was for us to do this kind of thing... to invite our neighbors and to host a fun and awesome event for people to come and enjoy for free....

More tomorrow when I am not so tired... Started my day at 5 a.m. and got home from the clean up at 5:30 p.m.... know Walt and Tri put in about the same hours.... more clean up tomorrow... but all in all ... well worth it all!

Living our mission....

Our Neighborhood Pork Roast and Fun Fest gives us a great opportunity to live our mission -- "being the hands and feet of Jesus in the world"!

As our neighbors and friends respond to our invitations to join us... we have the opportunity to serve them with a generous love... the kind of love that Jesus offers us. This is our time to let Jesus shine through us... which means that we will all need an extra measure of servanthood Jesus style. Through the welcome and hospitality we show, through the good food and taking time to connect with our neighbors, we are the hands and feet of Jesus... we shine his light for them to see.

Sure we all want to enjoy the festivities, and we will have the opportunity, but that is not our purpose -- our purpose is to show the neighbors Jesus' love and hospitality. I am excited... because this is what we do best at Community of Joy... that is why our sign says... "where relationships matter!"

Sounds like the weather will be AWESOME and hope the crowd is huge as well!

Excitment builds....

Heard a neat story last night... one of our folks invited their son to join us Sunday for the Pork Roast. She then said that he saw that we were playing corn hole and had invited a friend of his to join him so that they could have fun playing corn hole! So Cool!

Things are falling into place.... I will work at the ministry center today so that I can put the pig out for folks to see as they drive and walk by!

Sunday is our time to shine...

So excited about our Pork Roast and Fun Fest on Sunday! It is great to invite the neighborhood to a free event with the purpose of promoting goodwill in the neighborhood. Last year's turnout was awesome... sure hope more folks come out on Sunday! It should be lots of fun!

Paid for the Big Bounce yesterday, corn hole game boards are done (though the paint has issues! I am afraid it will peel off), invitations are out, clean-up is scheduled, shopping lists are compiled, Louise's famous cole slaw sauce is made and ready to add to cabbage, awesome weather predicted, classic cars coming, volunteers ready to serve, it's beginning to look a lot like a Pork Roast and Fun Fest for the Neighborhood!

Did something today that I haven't done in a while...

Took the ENTIRE day off! Enjoyed it thoroghly! I haven't been taking a regular day off and really need to get back to doing that!

I also, hunted the morning at Assateague Island... didn't see a sika at all! Not much sign there. Then hunted a new peice of property that I have been invited to enjoy! And that I did... saw 16 deer, 4 gobblers, and about 32 hens and young turkeys. It was a great night. Also, used my (new to me) video camera to film some of what I saw... that was fun too!

Back to work tomorrow!

It's like Christmas eve around here...

Yep... I am so excited tonight... I hope I can sleep. Gonna get up at 3:45 a.m. to travel to Assateague Island to hunt sika deer with my friend, Ted. Tomorrow is a day I have been waiting for all summer! Been shooting my bow in the back yard and very happy about the way I am shooting. I absolutely love this time of year!

What a Great Hot Morning....

11 of us met at CoJ this morning at 10 a.m. to go out into the neighborhood to issue invitations to our Neoghborhood Pork Roast and Fun Fest next Sunday. The stories were great... lots of us were well received and others just left flyers on doors. It will be a great time again this year! It's a fun way to get to know our neighbors and be neighborly! Really looking forward to the Pork Roast! -- September 21 @ 12:30 p.m. at the CoJ Ministry Center.

Just got a call from the Mortgage Company....

That's right, I just got a call from John at our Mortgage Company. NO NOT THAT kind of call.

He called to thank me for being such a great customer and encourage me to refinance my mortgage. When I asked him, why I would want to refinance my mortgage, he told me about the low rates they are offering right now. So, I asked John if I could do any better than 5.25%... he said no. So, I said, you see I've already got a low rate. He also thought I might need to consolidate debt into my mortgage. He didn't quite know what to say when I told him that the only other debt I owe is on my vehicles and real soon one will be paid for and that money will be rolled into paying off the other and then we will roll that money into paying off our mortgage.

Then John asked if I had a home equity loan. I asked what I needed that for... he said, "in case of emergencies." I told him that that was why I had cash in my savings account... for emergencies.

I am grateful that we are not in debt too deep (which I call healthy debt... car and house) and that we have a plan to pay off the little that we have as well as a plan not to incur debt. That plan is only buy what you need and pay cash for it when you do or make sure if you charge it, you have the cash to pay for it when the bill comes. To be a good steward of what God has given us, means that we keep debt under control and more than manageable and that we plan for emergencies and that we tithe (or more than tithe) what we have toward the efforts to build God's kingdom here on earth.

Getting Noticed...

When a church goes outside it's building... it gets noticed!

Sharon had two separate encounters yesterday with folks who live in the neighborhood of our Ministry Center and they both remarked about the difference we are bringing to the neighborhood. They both indicated that more activity is seen at our location in the last year or so than they have seen in the total of many years before! When a church goes outside it's building it gets noticed!

Today, I had a conversation with a person who said that every Sunday when they drive by, on their way to church, it is always such a joy to see Waving Walt out there. They even commented on seeing him waving under an umbrella! (you know that was a while ago, and the memory still sticks!) When a church goes outside it's building it gets noticed!

And a couple of weeks ago, while giving our mail lady some outgoing mail, she remarked about being "Flocked" by our youth groups flamingos and how much she loved that! When a church goes outside it's building it gets noticed!

Beyond Default!

I recently was given two advance copies of Mark Batterson’s new book “Wild Goose Chaise: Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God.” (It is now out in stores and is a good read!) I finished reading it on vacation… when I was mostly sleeping, eating, reading, relaxing, and reflecting on my life. In the book, Mark made a comment that caught my attention (actually, he made lots of them, that caught my attention)… he said, “too many of us live by default rather than by design.”

Take a moment or two to read that again and think about it.

Which way are you living? By default – just taking life as it comes – not making plans or using the gifts God has given you. Or, by design – living out of the gifts God has given you and making an impact in the world.

One thing I know… we are each one created (designed by God) with different interests, gifts, abilities and when we use them, we are living into the designs God has for us. And when we do that, life can be pretty exciting and fulfilling.

What would your life look like if you were living it by design?

It's coming...

Corn Hole Competition... September 21 @ our Neighborhood Pork Roast and Fun Fest!

Here are the completed game boards! Aren't they lovely?!

The Hardest Bible Verse for Me!

I love the book of James. It is so practical and helpful... however it also contains the most disturbing verse of the whole bible for me!

As a preacher, I understand the great responsibility that God has entrusted to me and I don't take it lightly at all! Yet it is so easy to get tangled in words and say something that is not really what you mean to say.

The hardest verse in the Bible for me is this... James 3:1 "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness."

I don't want to ever be a stumbling block for someone, nor do I want to mislead someone or misdirect them. That's why I keep this verse before me all the time! And it's why I value the presence of the Holy Spirit and Community! Both can help keep a preacher/ teacher in line and can help prevent misguiding people!

Maybe that is why preachers of old... prayed faithfully before every sermon... "May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my hear be pleasing to you, O God."

And the winner is...

ME! Best Walking Tours of Washington D.C.!

Last night the youth presented me with an award! Yep... The BEST Walking Tour Guide in D.C.! (the top picture is of the award!)

You see, I got Miss Tami to the White House to take this picture LATE on the 4th of July (it is very dark here... was proud of my little camera on this one!).... just because NONE of the youth wanted to go see... they missed out!

Right behind Caroline and me, is the Washington Monument... but also is a band shell where Heuy Lewis was singing (a rehearsal for the evening's concert on the 4th)... I got them right up close, so they could actually see him on stage!

Got them to Union Station from the Lincoln Memorial too! I used the GREATEST motivation tactic on this one... D.C. has LOTS of domed buildings... so, I kept telling them... "see that domed building? It's just past that!" Then the next domed building, I would say the same thing." Finally there it was....right where I said it would be!!!!

We had lots of fun... and it was fun to share the stories last night and hear the stories. GREAT group of youth we have at CoJ!

What if....

Last night Sharon and I watched the Stand Up for a Cure T.V. special that the three major networks joined together to air. It was heartwarming to see three competitors on the same stage and to know that in a fiercely competitive world, the three networks could come together with a common mission.... to find a cure for cancer. It was also heartwarming to hear many people say, what would happen if every player in this game, came together right now? Would we be able to do more than we can do separately?

I couldn't help but think about "What if the church came together in a similar way? What if the churches of Christ joined forces and worked together?" Imagine what we could accomplish? Imagine how different the world would be!

My prayer is that it will be so... soon!

A Wish... NOT really....

Not wanting to make any political comments here... but with both conventions now almost history... last night when comments were made about Palin's speech being written by the RNC committee for a man and some changes that needed to be made to make it more hers... got me thinking...

some days/weeks, I sure wish I had a speech/sermon writer! NOT really... if I did, it would be me!

But the task of crafting a sermon week in and week out gets challenging at times, to say the least! None-the-less, I wouldn't want to try to preach someone else's sermon... done that a time or two and it never flies to my liking!

Youth Tell Their Stories...

Sunday night is The Night... when the Jr. and Sr. High Youth tell their stories and show their pictures of this summer's work camp experiences.

The Sr.'s went to Washington D.C. over the fourth and worked in a soup kitchen and a food bank.

The Jr.'s went to Indianapolis in early August and worked on an Urban Garden.

Great experiences and Great stories! Come hear all about it on Sunday night @ 7:15 p.m. and get some great desserts as well!

19 days and counting....

The signs are pointing to a FUN day for our congregation! On September 21, we will host our second Neighborhood Pork Roast and Fun Fest! It will include the best BBQ pork around, Louise's famous Cole Slaw, a Big Bounce, Face Painting, Yard Games, Corn Hole Competition, a Classic/Custom Car Cruise In, and an opportunity to enjoy getting to know our neighbors.

Don't miss this event!

Labor Day Labors....

What is Labor Day without a little labor?

That was my question to myself when I thought about what I wanted to do with the day.

I had LOTS of things that I have not been able to do and Saturday and Yesterday were the days!

Got the camping things put away until next time. Put together a new gas grill. Cleaned up the garage so that one car can be parked in it again.... it will be a while til both can be. Put together the corn hole sets. Assembled a double person tree stand that my nephew and I will occupy some this fall. Went to the dump. Ran some errands. Readied my bow for hunting season which opens on the 15th and got some much needed practice time in with it. And in the midst of all that, went to visit two people in the hospital.

So grateful for time off to accomplish things that otherwise weren't getting done! Also, we enjoyed some crabs that a friend and I split the cost of! Great labor day 08!