One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Youth Camp

On May 19, 2007, I was truly surprised! No, I was shocked, amazed, thrilled and exhausted all at once. In a previous post I mentioned that we are taking the youth to Submerge '07 in Destin, Fl. Well, in order to pull this off, we need lots of cash. So, the plan was to have a church wide yard sale to help some really terrific teens get to camp.

We announced this event for a couple of weeks in advance, and basically had nothing to show for the ink we had seemingly wasted in the weekly Opportunities Guide. Until...the week of the sale...when we were completely buried in stuff (mostly clothes...and books, and ceiling fans and shoes...you get the idea).

(Note for the future: If you have too many piles of clothing, it can overwhelm even the most crazed yard sale fanatic, and they won't bother to dig through it!)

Well, here is the cool part: We raised over $1,500 for the trip! And I was afraid we wouldn't have anything to sell. Now we aren't there yet financially, but I'm a lot more confident now that we're going to make it. Hats off to everyone who participated by donating their stuff, and to those amazing leaders, parents and teens who spent the day sweating and working together!

The best part of this whole deal is that we have a number of students who simply would not have the opportunity to go without the success of this yard sale. God gets ALL the glory! I just know that He has some amazing things in store for these students, and I can't wait to see Him blow their doors off with His glory and love in just a little under a month. Go God!!

At the Speed of Time

Well, it's been 23 days since my first blog entry. It's not that nothing blog-worthy has occurred since my initial post. Actually, I've been doing some cool stuff: counseling a couple who are planning their wedding, developing leaders, connecting people into small groups and areas of ministry, filming a video to promote Submerge (youth camp) etc. It's just that the pace of life seems to take over, and blogging doesn't happen. This is good evidence to me that I need to take more time for reflection. Blogging could be the modern version of the almost lost art of meditation--to mull over ideas like a cow chewing the cud (yuck, I just threw up a little bit in my mouth...).

My blogging history is a testimony to the pace of my life and work. At the Hospital System I thought of life in annual terms revolving around the organizations budget cycle. Now at Seacoast, I tend to think of life in weekly chunks since that's how often Sunday rolls around. I've gone from 365 units of time per year to 52. It's a little like transitioning from riding a tricycle to being strapped to the nose cone of the Space Shuttle. It's an awesome ride, and I love it...but the increased pace of my life demands more reflection, meditation and general cud chewing so that I can be a more effective leader.

It's a matter of cultivating a discipline, and I've generally been pretty good at setting my mind to something and following through. So, my next goal is to reflect and blog again in less than 23 days from now. The question yet unanswered is whether my ruminations will be beneficial or just me 'blowing chunks'.