- Feed the Bay - March 26 & 27 | Saturday and Sunday - go to feedthebay.org to volunteer
- Prayer Night - March 29 | a time of prayer for our church and community
- Meet the Need Workday - April 9 | helping Bay Lifers and other
- Spring Musical - April 10 | a musical celebration during weekend services
- Baptism - April 16 & 17 | pre baptism meeting after each service at the fountain April 2 & 3
The count down is on – T minus 53 hours (give or take) before we send out our first wave (Saturday night service-goers) to FEED THE BAY! Hope you’ve secured your T-shirts (we sold out of our initial 500 after our first service Sunday – more are on the way...) and clipped some coupons (they really add up!) for our foray into the grocery aisles. As we have over the past couple of years, we are still planning to gather for a regular Sunday service (albeit a slightly shorter one) at all three of our services this weekend, so be sure to join us there before you head for the store (if your serving on Sunday and can’t make those services, this might be a great week to check out our Saturday service - just saying). I am pumped about what God taught me this week as I prepared for our time together – come ready to hear from Him through His word as we open it together this weekend. It’s going to be a great day for our church and the others joining us! Together we truly can do more!
I’m letting you know now – April 3rd weekend is going to be an important one in our history – I am looking forward to explaining where God is leading us as a church in the coming years as I preach that Saturday/Sunday. I’d love to have you all there to hear what’s going on from this horse’s mouth. I refer to myself as a horse in only flattering ways (see: stallion). But anyway, do plan to be here. Thanks.
I have a little time left – care to indulge in my latest family story as we close this out? I need to preface this story with an honest disclaimer – I LOVE my kids, they are each individually awesome, and Eleanor and I are so blessed to be trusted by God in raising them. They, like all kids, make some often comical choices that lend themselves to email fodder, but they are only doing things that their mother and I did at their age. We may have been worse, actually. Check that – I know we were worse at their age. So when I relate a story about them, know that I love them and that they are super-sharp kids who on occasion make mistakes that allow us to teach them important life lessons (and have stories to tell at their weddings – or in an email/blog). Disclaimer over.
So Sunday I’m arriving home after another great welcome lunch with some future Lifers. I pull into my driveway to find that the ‘99 Expedition we recently came into (Eleanor’s parents old car, now our kids ride for the foreseeable future) was parked outside our garage, blocking the left side stall. Eleanor likes to leave the car out of the garage because it’s easier to get out of it if it’s not in the garage. I always point out that we built the garage for the specific purpose of parking cars in there, but hey, I love her, so she can put the car wherever she wants.
Unable to park the vehicle I was driving on that side, I angle for the other stall next to it. Foiled! Hidden from view by the big truck is our 2002 minivan, which has somehow made it into our garage opposite the truck. Stymied, I swerve the car I am driving to the other side of our driveway at the last second, parking at an angle that would make it near impossible for the van to be backed out without hitting one or both of the vehicles outside the garage.
Admittedly miffed by the current car constellation, I shut my door and headed inside. #1 son opened the door into our house as I was reaching for the knob.
“Oh, hey dad. Is it still okay if I vacuum out the cars for some cash?”
We had agreed earlier that he could do the very same as a means of securing funds necessary for a clothing purchase.
“Sure bro.” I was happy to know that if my cars were out of order, they’d at least have clean carpets.
“Okay, I just need to back the van out so I can get the other cars done.” He had finished vacuuming the van prior to my arrival.
“Whoa there, buddy – let me set my things down and I’ll be right out to help you with that.” I knew that the car I had just parked was too close, so I planned to move it so that he could back the van out and pull the truck in. After setting my computer backpack down and issuing a brief greeting to Eleanor, I headed back to the garage.
Glancing at my cell phone, I noticed that Tom (our executive pastor – the guy who beat me at the 5K) had called me, so I mashed the redial button as I headed for the door. Opening it, I looked up from my phone screen to see #1 Son slowing backing the van out of our garage. He was doing a fabulous job – looking over his right shoulder, scrutinizing the space he had from the car on his right.
Problem was that he forgot that there was another vehicle on his other side.
Forgetting for the moment that I was on the phone, I just started yelling. “AAAAAAHHHHHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!!” what he was doing was taking the left side of our van down the right side of our truck. From my perch, it appeared that the cars were already exchanging paint. I waved both hands frantically (live phone call still happening in the one paw) to get his attention. Instinctively, at the sound of my elevated voice, the boy hit the brakes, but his reaction didn’t fit the situation. Scowling, he looked my way and responded with a “What?”, the kind you give when you’re unaware that something is happening around you. I pointed to his left, and he turned that way to see where his meticulous backing out skills had landed him.
When he turned back, his face looked different.
Time doesn’t permit more elaboration, but suffice to say that we had some very clear communication about looking both ways before we back a car up. If you're wondering the cars are fine – he somehow managed to keep the two from touching – they couldn’t have been a paper’s-width apart. Point? A brief one – sometimes we can be so intent on one thing being right that we forget that there are other things that need our attention. Spending enough time with your spouse? Your kids? Most importantly, your God? Or are the distractions of life keeping your focus from one or all of them? Let this email serve as me standing in the garage of your life, waving my hands and yelling. Look both ways (at all of the important stuff in your life) or you’re bound to do some damage. See you at FEED THE BAY!
I’m letting you know now – April 3rd weekend is going to be an important one in our history – I am looking forward to explaining where God is leading us as a church in the coming years as I preach that Saturday/Sunday. I’d love to have you all there to hear what’s going on from this horse’s mouth. I refer to myself as a horse in only flattering ways (see: stallion). But anyway, do plan to be here. Thanks.
I have a little time left – care to indulge in my latest family story as we close this out? I need to preface this story with an honest disclaimer – I LOVE my kids, they are each individually awesome, and Eleanor and I are so blessed to be trusted by God in raising them. They, like all kids, make some often comical choices that lend themselves to email fodder, but they are only doing things that their mother and I did at their age. We may have been worse, actually. Check that – I know we were worse at their age. So when I relate a story about them, know that I love them and that they are super-sharp kids who on occasion make mistakes that allow us to teach them important life lessons (and have stories to tell at their weddings – or in an email/blog). Disclaimer over.
So Sunday I’m arriving home after another great welcome lunch with some future Lifers. I pull into my driveway to find that the ‘99 Expedition we recently came into (Eleanor’s parents old car, now our kids ride for the foreseeable future) was parked outside our garage, blocking the left side stall. Eleanor likes to leave the car out of the garage because it’s easier to get out of it if it’s not in the garage. I always point out that we built the garage for the specific purpose of parking cars in there, but hey, I love her, so she can put the car wherever she wants.
Unable to park the vehicle I was driving on that side, I angle for the other stall next to it. Foiled! Hidden from view by the big truck is our 2002 minivan, which has somehow made it into our garage opposite the truck. Stymied, I swerve the car I am driving to the other side of our driveway at the last second, parking at an angle that would make it near impossible for the van to be backed out without hitting one or both of the vehicles outside the garage.
Admittedly miffed by the current car constellation, I shut my door and headed inside. #1 son opened the door into our house as I was reaching for the knob.
“Oh, hey dad. Is it still okay if I vacuum out the cars for some cash?”
We had agreed earlier that he could do the very same as a means of securing funds necessary for a clothing purchase.
“Sure bro.” I was happy to know that if my cars were out of order, they’d at least have clean carpets.
“Okay, I just need to back the van out so I can get the other cars done.” He had finished vacuuming the van prior to my arrival.
“Whoa there, buddy – let me set my things down and I’ll be right out to help you with that.” I knew that the car I had just parked was too close, so I planned to move it so that he could back the van out and pull the truck in. After setting my computer backpack down and issuing a brief greeting to Eleanor, I headed back to the garage.
Glancing at my cell phone, I noticed that Tom (our executive pastor – the guy who beat me at the 5K) had called me, so I mashed the redial button as I headed for the door. Opening it, I looked up from my phone screen to see #1 Son slowing backing the van out of our garage. He was doing a fabulous job – looking over his right shoulder, scrutinizing the space he had from the car on his right.
Problem was that he forgot that there was another vehicle on his other side.
Forgetting for the moment that I was on the phone, I just started yelling. “AAAAAAHHHHHH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!!” what he was doing was taking the left side of our van down the right side of our truck. From my perch, it appeared that the cars were already exchanging paint. I waved both hands frantically (live phone call still happening in the one paw) to get his attention. Instinctively, at the sound of my elevated voice, the boy hit the brakes, but his reaction didn’t fit the situation. Scowling, he looked my way and responded with a “What?”, the kind you give when you’re unaware that something is happening around you. I pointed to his left, and he turned that way to see where his meticulous backing out skills had landed him.
When he turned back, his face looked different.
Time doesn’t permit more elaboration, but suffice to say that we had some very clear communication about looking both ways before we back a car up. If you're wondering the cars are fine – he somehow managed to keep the two from touching – they couldn’t have been a paper’s-width apart. Point? A brief one – sometimes we can be so intent on one thing being right that we forget that there are other things that need our attention. Spending enough time with your spouse? Your kids? Most importantly, your God? Or are the distractions of life keeping your focus from one or all of them? Let this email serve as me standing in the garage of your life, waving my hands and yelling. Look both ways (at all of the important stuff in your life) or you’re bound to do some damage. See you at FEED THE BAY!
Free,
Pastor
Bay Life Church
