Fuel.

The definition of fuel is: anything that creates power or energy when fire is set to it.

There it goes...$38.00 down the tank of my "Amigo"(friend), which is not living up to it's name at the moment. I'll say this though, if there's been one benefit to the recent increase in gas prices, it's been a new appreciation of the value of fuel in our lives. And not just the fuel we put in our cars, but those things that fuel us, that keep us going in life. As I look over my life I can pick out several things that helped to keep me going: My wife...She's always pushed me forward when I wanted to take a step back in life and quit. Fear...Just being real, reality is I have a huge fear of failure that often drives me, hey, I never said that all the fuel in our lives is the best fuel for us. Hope...that sense that God is working in the midst of my life, the good and the bad, to do something bigger than I could ever imagine or expect. That's just a few of things that fuel my life, especially when the temperature at work, in ministry, in life is turned up. So what is it for you? What are some things in your life that God works through to keep you going?

A Few SideDishes:

Guys don't forget...the Fishers Landing Mens Retreat is coming up June 8 & 9th at Canby Grove Retreat Center. The cost is $85.00, and it's sure to be great time just to relax, get away, and get recharged as we hear from various men about the fuel in their lives. You can sign-up at the Welcome Center at the Wy'East Campus or contact me at sethm@lvinghopechurch.com.

Speaking of fuel, I thought I'd conduct a very unscientific poll as to what fuels us most through the day. Here are the options you have to choose from:

1) Coffee
2) Chocolate
3) Energy Drink
4) Water
5) Excercise

The Future of Transportation...A Canoe?

Here I was enjoying a relaxing mini-vacation in Sunriver, when my wife kicked out with the c-word...no, not cooking or cleaning, worse...canoeing. Now, I don't really know why I'm not much of a fan, oh wait, now I remember...mosquitoes, sunburns, and a sore back. Oh, and yes, the pace... there is a reason we all don't travel by canoe...we'd still be in the Stone Age. Let's be honest in a world of cellphones, Blackberrys, and e-mail...canoes just don't seem to fit in. In fact, to be away from all of lifes technologies, and trapped in a canoe it felt like I was missing so much. And yet as I drifted down a river at the blurring speed of 1 mph I came to discover that just the opposite was true. As I watched the grass blow in the afternoon breeze, as I gazed at a hovering falcon, as I joked with my wife...I came to see all that I had been missing in my world of high-speed internet, and wi-fi connections. By the way, it was at that moment that I also came to see the solution to our world's oil crisis. Hear me out...maybe the answer to the crisis is not something to be discovered tomorrow through investing in Ethanol, or more public transportation, but the answer is in this relic of the past. You laugh...I know...and yes it is a crazy thought...but really, maybe the world would be a little better off if we learned to canoe through life a little more rather than rush through it. Learning to enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Taking time to breath, to talk, to laugh with others. Slowing down enough to notice the blessings, and work of God around you. So what do you think? "National Association to Bring Back Canoes" has a catchy ring to it, don't you think?.

A Few Other Reflections From The Canoe...

Fishers Campus...While the recent changes have created for some of the most hectic weeks of my life, it's been also some of the most rewarding. There's no question that God is doing an amazing work at this new campus location, and with the added service. The campus has grown by about a 100 people in the past two months, and has been over 400 in attendance over the past several weeks, two weeks ago we had a boy visit Kidsworld for the first time and commit his life to the Lord...how awesome is that! And as God continues to stretch our campus, it seems to just enlarge my respect, appreciation, and love for the group of friends and ministers I get to serve alongside each week...thank you guys!!!

My Wife...This time away has been great... if nothing less than to take a step back, and be reminded of what an amazing woman I've been married to for the past 8 years. Sometimes in the life and rush of ministry, too often I take her support, her words of encouragement, and joyful spirit for granted. And as I take a step back, I find myself turning around only to see the arms of a wife whose been pushing me forward all these years, when I've wanted to quit, when I've wanted give up, or when I doubted it could be done.

God...It's been so great just taking time to stare at the "complex simplicites" of God...to stare into the stars He created, the mountains He formed, the air He breathed into existence. I don't take enough time in my life just enjoy the realities of God.

A Few Firsts.

A week of firsts...

1) We had our first service at Wy'east Middle School.
2) We had our first services at 9 & 11a.m.
3) I watched as a local cat had her first litter of kittens in my car this morning (I know I can't believe it myself, not sure if I'll ever beable to look at my car in the same way)
4) I experienced the first week of the weather being warm enough to kick out with the shorts.

Firsts are interesting...firsts speak of newness, of anticipation, of a road ahead. Firsts are exciting...they're at the same time awkward, unfamiliar, and sometimes even a little overwhelming. The new Wy'East location, and new service is a first for our campus. And while exciting and new it can also feel a little awkward and uncomfortable...because it takes us to a place we've never been, and in that stretches us beyond what we know, and through that brings us to a place of having to trust, and lean on others and God like never before. I'm excited to see what God is going to do through this new location in Cascade Park, knowing that it's only when we're willing to risk, to take some big first steps that we make room for God's big finish. It was so neat to hear of two girls who were simply riding their bikes by the school, and when they saw the signs, and the excitement of what was going on at Wy'East...visited Kidsworld for the first time, and in taking a first step of their own opened room in their hearts for God to do a work in their lives.

God Messed Up My Sunday...Only to Make My Day!

My Sunday Morning was going great until God stepped in. I was looking forward to celebrating our final service at the theater until God stepped in. I was ready to make the highlight of my morning a stop off at Starbucks for a Grande Coffee until God stepped in. I was content to just go through the motions until God stepped in. See God messed up my Sunday, and yet made my day. To be honest the last thing I felt prepared to do was preach a message last Sunday, and yet with the projector blowing up, and the sound system going haywire...that's exactly what it came down to. And it's a weird thing preaching, they always say a preacher often speaks about what he needs to hear most in his own life. I know that was true for me last Sunday...as I don't think I realized just how much I needed to hear and see of God's strength being made perfect in our weakness...until then. And that's exactly what happened for me...I saw God show up even in the absence of a projector... I saw God show up in the grace given me from everyones kindness and encouragement as I spoke...I saw God show up in doing a work in the lives of so many in spite of the fraility of the words spoken. Thank you Jesus...for messing up my Sunday, and making my day...by reminding once again of just how true your words and promises are for our lives.

Do you have a time or story to share of when God messed up your schedule or your plans, only to make your day?

Pr 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.