First, I have to brag on my kids. I woke up and got ready for the service and went out to the kitchen where Kristen was making me pancakes for breakfast! Then Mark gave me an 8GB Zune. I'm still loading my favorite songs, 2 days later!
We had a great time during our Mother's Day service. Greg decided to keep in more intimate, just the leadership team and our Small Group. The mothers were honored with seven red roses each and the mothers to be got 1 red rose each. Our children got up shared a special memory of their mom, or why they loved their mom.
Mark shared how I would hold him before bedtime when he was little and rock him and sing silent night. Kristen shared how I was always there for her during her medical procedures and how hard it was to raise 2 kids as a single mom.
Afterwards we had muffins. Then it was off to take Kristen to her play, a quick lunch, then back to the play to sell tickets and see it a second time. Then Greg took us all out for a Mother's Day dinner at Red Robbin. I fell asleep on the sofa at 8:00 and didn't get up until Greg woke me at 9:30 to go to bed. So much fun pooped me out!
I hope your Mother's Day was wonderful too! Blessings on this breezy, sunny Tuesday.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
A Great One-Liner
There are times when I feel I don't have anything worthwhile to say. Then something comes across my path that I have to share. Today is one of those days.
I received my WorldVision magazine today (you can download the entire magazine free here)and read a brief article about a church in Texas. I love it when the lightbulb goes on for a church. I've included the text here for your convenience.
When Springcreek Church of Garland, Texas, ran a full-page ad in The Dallas Morning News headlined, “We Were Wrong,” the vigorous reaction shattered expectations.
The local TV station sent a camera, The Dallas Morning News ran a story, TV director and author David Burchett blogged, and fiery AIDS activist David Miller called to congratulate the church.
So what was the big deal? Underneath the headline, the ad copy ran: “We live in the land of plenty, denying ourselves nothing, while ignoring our neighbors who actually have nothing. We sat on the sidelines doing nothing while AIDS ravaged Africa.”
Springcreek senior pastor Keith Stewart says the line about Africa was prompted after church members joined a World Vision trip to Katito—an AIDS-devastated region in central Kenya. Afterward, church members were so moved that they began sponsoring more than 500 children in the community to improve their nutrition, health, and education.
The church also became more active locally in the high-crime, low income
neighborhood of Glynnhill, assisting elderly people and single moms and cleaning up rubbish-strewn parks and alleyways.
Despite the good works, Keith says he felt God prompting him to apologize
for former times when the church was preoccupied with serving itself rather than others. “Jesus said the gospel is first and foremost good news to the poor. We were not that,” he says.
“I really felt the ad was the best way to tell the community we were
wrong, because the people we have hurt are all outside the church.”
In response, one blogger wrote: “I wish more churches and their congregations would think this way, then maybe the wounded sheep (including myself) would venture back in.”
There were some negative reactions, mostly from Christians complaining about wasting money on the ad. But Keith says that had the church spent the money on a self-serving promotion, nobody would have objected.
He feels the ad touched a raw nerve because Springcreek has not been alone in its neglect of the poor. “When something gets close enough to convict, then people either confess it or find a way to invalidate it,” he says. ■
Keith Stewart
I received my WorldVision magazine today (you can download the entire magazine free here)and read a brief article about a church in Texas. I love it when the lightbulb goes on for a church. I've included the text here for your convenience.
When Springcreek Church of Garland, Texas, ran a full-page ad in The Dallas Morning News headlined, “We Were Wrong,” the vigorous reaction shattered expectations.
The local TV station sent a camera, The Dallas Morning News ran a story, TV director and author David Burchett blogged, and fiery AIDS activist David Miller called to congratulate the church.
So what was the big deal? Underneath the headline, the ad copy ran: “We live in the land of plenty, denying ourselves nothing, while ignoring our neighbors who actually have nothing. We sat on the sidelines doing nothing while AIDS ravaged Africa.”
Springcreek senior pastor Keith Stewart says the line about Africa was prompted after church members joined a World Vision trip to Katito—an AIDS-devastated region in central Kenya. Afterward, church members were so moved that they began sponsoring more than 500 children in the community to improve their nutrition, health, and education.
The church also became more active locally in the high-crime, low income
neighborhood of Glynnhill, assisting elderly people and single moms and cleaning up rubbish-strewn parks and alleyways.
Despite the good works, Keith says he felt God prompting him to apologize
for former times when the church was preoccupied with serving itself rather than others. “Jesus said the gospel is first and foremost good news to the poor. We were not that,” he says.
“I really felt the ad was the best way to tell the community we were
wrong, because the people we have hurt are all outside the church.”
In response, one blogger wrote: “I wish more churches and their congregations would think this way, then maybe the wounded sheep (including myself) would venture back in.”
There were some negative reactions, mostly from Christians complaining about wasting money on the ad. But Keith says that had the church spent the money on a self-serving promotion, nobody would have objected.
He feels the ad touched a raw nerve because Springcreek has not been alone in its neglect of the poor. “When something gets close enough to convict, then people either confess it or find a way to invalidate it,” he says. ■
Keith Stewart
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