Thoughts for Today and Random To Do List

• Baptisms this weekend - AMAZING! Don't know total #s yet, but know the pool was c-o-l-d!
• I love kids!
• 'Kids love candy
• Candy is an essential element of negotiating for good behavior (aka bribery).
• To Do: Buy more candy for next weekend's experiences.
• Teenage boys are aliens from some other universe!
• Things I Need to Learn: How to communicate with aliens, especially regarding answering the cell phone when Mom calls, and making sure said alien has a ride home when Mom is at work.
• To Do: Find a book on common forms of alien communication, both written and verbal.
• Thankful List:
• Alien from another universe.
• Amazing date night - teriyaki salmon...yum yum!
• My campus pastor - I love him very much - he's the greatest guy in the world (he told me to write this).
• You - cuz you read this to the end.

What about you - can you make teriyaki salmon?

Honor God and Inspire People

This weekend we had 3,088 people, 539 kids and 43 salvations at the Tulsa campus of LifeChurch.tv. It gets even better – throughout all of LC, more than 31,000 people heard about Christ, and 483 people were saved! Many churches throughout the nation don’t see this many salvations in an entire year – yet God used LC to reach these people in one single weekend!

Our Senior Pastor, Craig Groeschel, talked about our “cause” in his message this weekend – although the message was geared towards men, women are not excused because of our gender. God requires all of us to step up and be warriors for Him - and every warrior has a cause to fight for!

If you don’t have a personal “cause,” then I invite you to join me in mine…to honor God and inspire people! Of course, there are a number of things that I will fight to the death for – my son, LifeKIDs ministry, family, friends, my life group - by fighting for these, I believe I am honoring God’s plan for my life. So – I challenge each of you to ask the question - What am I willing to fight for…if even to the death? Please share - I'd love to hear your cause!

More About Easter

If you follow Swerve, you know that Craig has called the staff to fast. During one of my stomach-growling, grumpy phases this afternoon, I was praying and pulled out The Message. I was praying that God would give me and all of the staff focus on this symbolic weekend. As always, God delivered:

"But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: "In the last days there will be people who don't take these things seriously anymore. They'll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts." ... "But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God's love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life! Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin." Jude 17-23

Focus delivered, now bring on the people!

Easter

Are you ready for one of the most amazing weekends of the entire year? We as a society are so blessed to be able to celebrate the risen King at any church of our choosing, without oppression and without fear of being arrested…or even worst!! Living in a country that protects freedom of religion, we have the open opportunity to share with everyone we meet about the redeeming life, death and resurrection of our savior Jesus Christ. So, since we have this freedom…who are you inviting to church this Easter weekend?

Day Center

As part of our KONNECT program at LifeChurch.tv, our kids have an opportunity to earn a patch for participating in a micromission. Last Friday, 18 of the Tulsa KONNECT kids, and 41 adults went to the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless. We took tons of fried chicken, biscuits and all the fixins and fed the homeless.

To say I was apprehensive about how the kids would handle this experience would be an understatement. Truth is - I was terrified! How would the kids respond to the homeless clients? Would they stare? Would they run scared? Would they refuse to even go into the place? And would they be able to hold out and not eat the chicken and biscuits themselves?

As usual, God surprised me! We set out the ground rules before we reached our destination: Stay with an adult at all times, no wandering around the center by yourself, don't eat the food because it's for those less fortunate, and...no staring! The kids walked in and it was obvious that God had prepared their hearts. Their job was to carry full plates of food to the clients who could not walk to the food line. Well, the kids were so amazing that they served every client - so no one had to serve themselves. Also - we had more than enough food - so the kids began carrying plates full of chicken and biscuits, offering seconds and thirds. Some even went around "taking orders," then rushing back to the kitchen and shouting them out like a short-order diner! It was awesome!

Best story of the event - one of our 7 yr olds went home to Mom and Dad and asked if they could invite a different homeless person to come to their house every night for dinner and to sleep. When asked where the homeless person would sleep, the child said he would give up his bed. When asked where he would sleep, he said "in your bed Dad." How stinkin' cool is that?

If you are in children's ministry, have you taken kids on a community mission? What has been your experience - I'd love to know!

Family

In the previous blog, I failed to mention my Family in my list of blessings. I’d love to say that it was purposeful because I planned to create another post about family, but that wouldn’t be truthful. The truth is – I take my family for granted! I have the most amazing parents! I am blessed with more than the standard Mom and Dad because I have a Stepmom and Stepdad as well. All four of my parents have been extremely instrumental in molding and shaping me into who I am today. Oh, and I have two sisters, who are both married, and I have 9 nieces and nephews between them. Whew – they are busy women – and I admire both of them for their accomplishments – God knew what He was doing when He gave me one child for certain!!

Okay – here’s another list – How my parents have blessed me:

Mom: Created in me a solid work ethic. Although she wanted to be home with us, she braved the work force and taught me that you push through and never quit. She also taught me to enjoy the sun and the beauty of nature – she has a remarkable green thumb. And don’t even get me started on what an amazing artist she is – no matter what medium she works in, she is incredible! Finally, she continually demonstrates grace…she has been through a lot in her life, and she approaches everyone with grace and dignity.

Dad: Demonstrated and encouraged leadership. No matter what he takes on, he always shakes out as the leader. His knowledge of God’s Word is impressive, and his passion for living out a life for Him is inspiring. Mom introduced me into a relationship with God, but my Dad and Stepmom watered and fed the relationship so it would bloom.

Stepmom: In one word – FUN! She always knows how to have fun. I love watching her with my son and my nieces and nephews – her house is where every kid wants to be! Even when there’s nothing to do, my son just loves to be at their house because somehow, some way, he’s going to enjoy himself. How many grandparents have a giant waterslide, a bounce house and a swing set all set up in the back yard? (Yes, my Dad has to put them all up, but it’s my Stepmom secretly prods the kids to ask grandpa.)

Stepdad: Independence – as a woman, I can do anything I set my mind to. From drywall and pouring concrete to changing my own oil – he taught us how to do it all. Of course, he appreciated us as girls too, but there’s no reason we shouldn’t learn how to correctly use a level and to set a chalk line!

Previously, I talked about us being the sum of all our parts – well, these are some of my parts. What parts has your family blessed you with?

How Did I Get Here?

Here goes - my first real blog post. Be gentle!

Life is good - and it makes me wonder How did I get here? I believe we are the sum of all of our parts - meaning that all of our past experiences, whether victories or failures, help to make us who we are today. There have been many failures in my past...certainly it seems more than the victories...but today, I wonder with all of the mistakes and stupidity, why does God still chose to bless me so enormously?

Today's blessings seem infinite! Don't get me wrong, the memories of mistakes and failures are still there and I pray that I will never stop learning from them. "But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed." 1 Peter 3:13 There is another scripture that says something like "I consider it pure joy to suffer in Christ" (that's obviously a paraphrase cuz my brain can't remember where to find it). So here's the deal - even though I don't deserve them, here are the blessings I am counting today:

• That He works through me to change lives for His Kingdom;
• My incredible son who makes me laugh and makes me crazy at the same time - his big green eyes just make me melt;
• An amazing relationship in my life - not sure where it's going but I'm filled with almost explosive anticipation, enjoying every moment;
• Unbelievable friends and accountability partners who love me no matter what;
• The best place in the whole world to work, with the the strongest team of family sharing the most important purpose;
• Relationships with hundreds of children, parents and the best volunteers in the universe;
• Sunshine (although it's just barely peaking through the clouds today);
• And YOU - cuz if you are reading this, and got this far, then I haven't bored you to death and that makes me happy!

Now that I've thought about it a bit, I guess I can stop asking "How Did I Get Here" and start asking "What am I going to do now that I'm here." What about you? Now that you're here, what are your blessings, and what are you going to do?