So, I was searching around for a good leadership blog to begin reading and I came across "the leadership blog". On it, I found a post called "60 Great Leaders I've had the opportunity to interview." Right there on the list is my senior pastor, John Ed Mathison!
Here is a link to the interview.
I know John Ed is a wonderful leader because he really cares for people. Way to go John Ed!
Well if you like OK GO, then you will like this video. These kids did a great job at their High School talent show by copying OK GO's famous treadmill dance. I wonder if some of my youth group could pull this off??? Hmmm....
I just want to say thank you all for all the gifts, prayers, and encouragement you have given Lauran and I. We are excited and can't wait for Elizabeth Anne to be born!
She is right around the corner! Everyone has been so generous to her and us. Here are a couple of photos of the nursery. We are ready! (so I think)
The disciplines in our 7 Day Challenge were nothing new for me, except that I was writing about the results here. However, writing out the results taught me something, so I thought I would share.
PRAYER LIFE I do pray, every day. But I noticed a couple of things.
1) The majority of my prayers are usually about the same thing every day. There is nothing wrong with this, and in fact, Jesus taught and supports persistence in prayer. See Luke 11:1-13
2) I am not really praying for something BIG, that if it happens, I know it had to be from God. I usually stay in the every day worries of life. Not that there is anything wrong with that either. But I'd like to add in some God size stuff also.
READING I would say this is where I am most comfortable. I enjoy reading, studying, gaining insight, etc. I love reading the Bible. I like to read for application and not simply knowledge. I think we all should read with questions in mind like, "What does this tell me to do? Why should I do this? How will it impact me or someone else if I do this?" etc..
COMMUNITY It's amazing to see how a whole week can fly by without at least one time spent with friends. I miss community. I miss having a time where real friends talk about real stuff. I miss that fraternity type fun. I think as life goes by, if we aren't intentional, we could actually find ourselves totally without community in our life. Especially men - most men can count on 2 fingers how many real friends we have, and we probably see them 5 times a year! I am pledging to be intentional this year to make time for real friends. (Now family is different. They are forced to spend time with me!) :)
TELL SOMEONE ABOUT GOD A good friend, who I haven't been in touch with in a while, wrote me a note about this one. He said this blog tells people about God. He said more people read this than I think. He said this blog inspired him. I really appreciated that! I think there are tons of ways we can communicate God's love and God's message - blogging is one way! I do want my life to communicate just how much God loves people and what he did to save them. I hope that I will always be intentional about it, either through blogging, teaching, conversations, or just by living my life the best way I can. God's "blogs" to us are full of love, grace, and hope - there is no better message out there.
Anyway, I hope you will contine on with Prayer, Reading, Fellowship, and Witnessing! These life habits are wonderful, enriching, challenging, and most of all rewarding for you - both internally and externally!
And on the 7th day, they rested....
I will post final thoughts on this tomorrow.
Today we didn't have a lesson. Instead we were visited by the folks at INVISIBLE CHILDREN.
They shared with us an incredible story of the displaced children in Uganda. These are kids who have been abandonded, face fear of being abducted, and have no chance without us. My heart goes out to these kids. Invisible Children, Inc's goal is to spread awareness and raise money to help. See the clip below. There is a serious injustice going on against children in Uganda - anything you can do to help would be great. Visit the site, get involved if you can.
MSNBC won an emmy for their report on the issue. Read the article here.
Invisible Children: Rough Cut Trailer
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Hey!
Colonial Bank is ringing the bell at the NYSE Monday morning!
We are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year! Go Colonial!
