You mean for Jesus, right?

I've been wrestling with some big stuff lately. Last night, someone said something to me that caught me off guard, made me feel a little uncomfortable and ashamed, and certainly gave me something to think about. Here's what happened:

I was at a dinner party with some friends and a senior pastor (Pastor Wayne) from our church. We were talking about work and I said things have been a little crazy lately doing my regular job and so much work on the 12 days of Christmas "for the church". To which he replied, "you mean for Jesus, right?" He stopped me right in my tracks. "Of course... you know what I mean", is what I remember replying, but honestly my head started spinning at that point and it's all I've thought about since then.

I've been going and going and going lately. Work meetings, YMCA meetings, church meetings, sending dozens and dozens of emails each week for the "12 Days of Christmas", feeling like I'm falling behind in YMCA commitments, and trying to squeeze in time with Matt, our families, and our friends. There are days when I look a week ahead in my calendar and can only find a couple of hours of unscheduled time. Individually speaking I am committed and looking forward to each of my activities, but collectively it gets overwhelming and so sometimes I end up dreading things instead of enjoying them. (I can't believe I just put that in writing.) And then someone comes along and says to me "You mean for Jesus, right?" and all of sudden my world looks completely different. Now as I'm thinking about the things on my to-do list, I'm thinking "This is for Jesus, right?". If what I'm doing is for Jesus, then I should be doing it to my best abililty, full of joy, with a servant's heart, feeling good about doing it for the right reasons. If it's for Jesus and my attitude isn't quite in line with what I just described, then I should probably check myself. But, if what I'm doing is NOT for Jesus, then I need to examine my motives. Am I doing it just to please others? Or for approval? Or to meet what I think others' expectations of me are? I fall into those traps all the time.

I plan to start making a lot of decisions based on "You mean for Jesus, right?". I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

More Life Wisdom from the Wizard of Ads...

My Holiday Gift to You... For Real

Tom Hennen has a line in his poem, The Life of a Day, that says, “We examine each day before us with barely a glance and say, ‘no, this isn’t one I’ve been looking for,’ and wait in a bored sort of way for the next, when we are convinced, our lives will start for real.”

That line is a little bit frightening because you read it and realize you’re guilty. You’ve been waiting for that day when your life will start “for real.” The trouble with life is that it’s just so daily. I share this with you because I’ve been thinking about my two grandfathers who are dead and my father who is likewise and I’ve come to the obvious conclusion: Live while you have the chance.

“Papa was a rolling stone. Wherever he laid his hat was his home…” - The Temptations, 1971. In the final moments of his life, my father scribbled a note for me to find. In barely legible pencil he scrawled, “All the little things in life add up to your life. If you don't get it right then nothing else matters. It gets lonely in the promised land by yourself.” My Dad died lonely, I think, because he never made deep commitments. My father’s confession of his loneliness makes me sad, but his scribbled note tells me he wanted me to learn from his mistake. I meet a lot of people who sigh deeply and say they’re looking for their passion, something to set their souls on fire and send beams of light shining out through their eyes. But the people with light shining from their eyes know this: Passion does not produce commitment. Commitment produces passion. Solomon, that wise king, spent years of his life searching for passion. In chapter 9 of the chronicle of that search, the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.”

People read that and think Solomon is saying, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die," but that's not it at all. He's saying, "Throw your whole heart into whatever you do. Live while you have the chance."

This is my Holiday gift to you, I hope you will receive it: Find something that needs to be done and throw yourself headlong into it. Let today be the day your life begins for real.

Roy H. Williams

"May you live all the days of your life."- Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels

12 Ways to Serve Others this Season

I've been working on "The 12 Days of Christmas" for Point of Grace and yesterday we started presenting it to our congregation. We've chosen 12 opportunities for people to serve others this holiday season. I challenge everyone to make this Christmas season their family's best ever by experiencing the joy of giving to other people. What may seem like a small gesture to you, may make all the difference in the world to someone else.

Here are the 12 Days of Christmas opportunities...

1. Waukee Adopt a Family - Point of Grace is adopting 40 families from the Waukee School District and our congregation, along with friends and families, will be providing what the children in these families need and want this Christmas.

2. Festival of Trees and Lights - This is an annual fundraiser for Blank Children's Hospital. It takes place Sat 11/25 through Sunday 11/29 and they are always in need of volunteers to work 3-4 hour shifts.

3. Gift Wrapping for the Heart Connection - The Heart Connection is an organization that provides support for children with cancer and their families. One of their biggest fundraisers each year is a gift wrapping station at Valley West Mall. They are in need of lots of volunteers who like to wrap gifts!

4. Hope Ministries/Token for the Broken - Donate bus tokens (10 for $15) for those who are in emergency shelters, so that they can get to appointments, jobs, ect.

5. Christmas Gifts for Friendship Center - One Saturday each month, the Friendship Center (located at MLK and Meek) hosts a dinner for families in their area who are in need. In December, along with dinner, parents will be provided with a $20 gift card to Walmart so they can purchase gifts or food for their family.

6. Miracle of the Bell - Find out when and where you can ring the bell for the Salvation Army at http://www.ringbells.org/

7. Waukee Food Pantry - Monday nights from 6p-8p you can help sort food at the Waukee Food Pantry.

8. Deliver Christmas Dinner with Hope Ministries - From 9am-12noon on Christmas Day, volunteers will be delivering hot meals to those who are unable to leave their homes or afford Christmas Dinner.

9. Des Moines Dream Center Food Distribution - Saturday 11/21, 12/5, and 12/19 from 8:30am to 12:30pm, volunteers pack up bags of groceries at Eastwood church and distribute them at Evelyn Davis Park and Bates Park to people who need the assistance.

10. Christmas Party and Cookie Decorating - This is a great opportunity to show your children a special serving opportunity. The residents of Walden Point Assisted Living Center are hosting a cookie decorating party on Sat, Dec 12th at 1:30. Many of the residents don't get to see their own grandchildren very often and they look forward to sharing this special activity with your families.

11. Teen Challenge Wives Weekend - Teen Challenge is a Christ-based program that helps men who have fallen into addiction and lost their way to find hope again and get their lives moving in the right direction. In January they will have a Wives Weekend where they work on restoring their marriages and their families. We will provide each wife with a gift bag full of items such as lotions, soaps, Christian books and music, and more.

12. Christmas Caroling - Sat 12/12 and Sat 12/19 from 4:30p-8:30p, join us as we set out to visit those who are ill or homebound to brighten their day with Christmas Carols and goodie bags filled with Christmas treats.

If you are interested in being a part of any of these opportunities, let me know! I can give you more information or point you in the right direction.

Blessings for a wonderful holiday season! And may each of us never forget what has been given for us during this season when Christ first came.

Lightbulb Moment!

Our small group is doing a study right now called "Life's Healing Choices" from Pastor Rick Warren. (You know, The Purpose Driven Life guy.) Last night we watched the study video and then we were talking about it when all of a sudden I made a connection I have never made before. The lesson was about letting go of your issues and giving up control to God. He said that the following five things typically stand in the way of giving up control... pride, fear, doubt, guilt, and worry. The more I thought about it, the more I made the connection between those five things and every drama I've ever had in my life. My plan is to write those five words on a card and carrying them in my purse so I can constantly check myself to see which of these is creeping up on me and causing me to react badly to any kind of situation. Ever since last night, I've thought about a long list of arguments with people or stressful times in my life and I can pinpoint every single one of them to one or a combination of pride, fear, doubt, guilt, or worry.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."

Matthew 5:5 (The Message)

Way better than Coldplay.

Des Moines Dream Center

Matt and I helped the Des Moines Dream Center with their food distribution program on Saturday. We have never worked with this organization before but I was VERY impressed. Their volunteers were so nice and made Matt and I feel very welcome. And considering the task of putting together 170 bags of food, they were very organized. The first thing we did was assemble the bags which basically meant putting one brown paper bag inside of another, putting a Dream Center stick on it, and then stacking half of them on one side of the room and half on the other. Then we packed half of them with dry foods and the other half with frozen foods. We had all of the food on tables and then we walked along the tables putting the food in. I only packed the dry foods so I can't tell you for sure what was in the frozen bags. In the dry bags, they received 1 large can of juice, 2 cans of veggies, 2 cans of fruit, 1 bag of rice krispies, 2 small cans of tuna, 1 can of tomato sauce, 1 jar of italian seasoning, and a box of pasta. In the frozen bags they put in a combination of pork patties, scrambled egg squares, cheese, hamburger, sausage, and chicken. I think there might have been some bread too. After we got the bags all packed, we loaded them onto a truck and drove over to Evelyn Davis Park. At the park, those in need would come up to the tent and provide us with information about their family size, names, address, ect, and we would give them food in accordance with their family size. If they had 1-4 people they received one dry bag and one frozen bag. If they had 5+ members in their household they received 2 dry bags and 2 frozen bags. Many people are regulars at this distribution and their information is already compiled so we just checked them off. The Dream Center does food distribution like this twice per month. They mail flyers to everyone who uses their services to let them know what dates and times they will be at the park. My job was to greet people and either check them off the list or help them fill out the correct form. I had so much fun! Every person I met was so friendly. They were funny and sweet and very grateful for the help. It was a wonderful experience and I look forward to my next visit with the Dream Center.

PEACE, LOVE, CURE

Our Race for the Cure team is called "Peace Love Cure" this year. We have a team of over 20 people, but the really cool thing about our team is that we designed these t-shirts from Smash and we've almost sold 100! The t-shirts are $20 each and each purchase includes a $10 donation for breast cancer research via Susan G Komen for the Cure. Do the math people... we've almost raised an extra $1000 through these t-shirt sales! That's so cool. If you want to order one, let me know. Tomorrow is our last day for placing orders!

"Contemplation"

Twenty-five years ago, my friend Richard Exley read me some words I've never forgotten.

Here they are:

If I had my life to live over, I’d try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been on this trip. I would be crazier. I would be less hygienic. I would take more chances. I would take more trips. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets.

I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would have more real troubles and fewer imaginary ones. You see, I am one of these people who lives prophylactically and sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day.

Oh, I have had my moments and, if I had it to do over again, I’d have more of them. In fact, I’d try to have nothing else - just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead each day.

I have been one of those people who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle, a raincoat and a parachute.

If I had it to do over again, I would go and do and travel lighter.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefooted earlier in the spring and stay that way until later in the fall. I would play hooky more. I would ride on more merry-go-rounds.

I’d pick more daisies.

(These words have been attributed to Nadine Stair, Don Herold, an unnamed monk and countless other authors. The only person that I’m sure didn’t write them is me. - RHW)


Richard's reading of those words still echoes in my mind. I can hear his unique inflection on every syllable.

I was twenty-four when he read to me. We were sitting in his office, working on an ad campaign. On Saturday I'll be fifty.

I consider those words to be some of the most wondrous I was ever given.

And now I've given them to you.

Roy H. Williams (Wizard of Ads)
From the Monday Morning Memo - March 24, 2008

Created Not To be Broken

Last Saturday, I went with a group of 15 other people from my church to do a service and mission project for Hope Ministries. Hope Ministries is an organization in Des Moines that serves homeless men, women, and children through a variety of programs. They offer shelter and recovery programs that are all Christ based. They also run the Hope Bargain Center which takes donations similar to a Goodwill and either sells, recycles, or gives away items to those in need. Our group worked for two hours at the Bargain Center on Saturday, then we ate lunch with the community at Hope Cafe, and then we took supplies to homeless tent camps along the river. It was an eye opening and heart breaking experience. People who live in the tent camps usually choose to do so because they are struggling with alcohol or drug addiction. They have shelter available to them, but they don't want to have to follow rules or give up their addiction. You can see the sadness and hopelessness on their faces and you want so badly to shake them and tell them that there's a better way. Instead we brought new socks and underwear, beef stew, sandwiches, bottled water, and cookies we baked and we sat down and talked with them for a little while. They are used to having people come visit them on Saturdays so they were open to us being there and they were pretty friendly. A few of them wouldn't come out of their tents, but they allowed us to leave supplies for them and pray over their tent and camp.

It was a great experience and it really made me want to do more to support Hope Ministries and all that God is doing through this wonderful organization! More than that though it made me so thankful that I understand that all things are possible through Christ and nothing is too hard to overcome through Him. It breaks my heart to see people struggling through life when they don't have to. According to the book of Ephesians, "even before God made the world He loved us and chose us to be Holy in Christ and without fault in His eyes." God didn't create anyone to be miserable and broken, he's given us a way to be complete and perfect in his eyes and all we have to do is accept the free gift of salvation that Jesus offers us. If we can humble ourselves before the Lord and confess that we mess up and we need help, the Holy Spirit is available to us and Jesus is there for us. I saw my father struggle through alcohol addiction and I saw the shame and hurt that he felt and even thinking about it now makes my heart hurt. He wrote a letter before he passed away detailing the things that he was most proud of in his life. Events or accomplishments that to him showed he was worthy of having lived. I wish I could have told him that even if he'd never accomplished any of those things, God found him worthy and there was nothing he could do to earn God's love. It's a free gift. No matter how much we believe or don't believe in God, God believes in us. My dad and I didn't have many heart to heart conversations, but I wish I would have told him about God's love for him because maybe it would have made a difference. That experience and that memory is one of the things that really makes me want to help people and really makes me want to share the message of Christ. I don't want to see people hurting and I don't want them to miss out on the greatest relationship of all time... a relationship with the creator of the universe who says he chose you before he even created the world. Wow, that's powerful.

Your Life Changes the Moment You Decide It.

I watched a Tony Robbins web video a few weeks ago. He said "Your life changes the moment you decide it." So true.

Stop and Think

Jolynn's Birthday Photo

We celebrated Jolynn's golden birthday over the weekend. She turned 27 on the 27th!

You Are the Best Thing

I discovered this song around July 4th. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Ray LaMontagne's voice. I would love to see this guy in concert. Thanks to Wikipedia, here's the story on this guy. He's 36 years old and he lives in Maine with his wife and his two kids. One day he heard a Stephen Stills' song "Hilltop Flyer" on the radio. He bought the album and decided he wanted to be a singer-songwriter. He quit his job at a shoe factory and in 1999 went on tour, keeping a side job as a carpenter. Now he has three albums. He has such a classic kind of voice. I think I might have to download some more of his music on iTunes. So far I only have this one, but everything I've heard him sing is great. So my tip for the day, download some Ray LaMontagne, sit back with a glass of wine, take it easy, and soak in the relaxing, mellowness of it all.

A Little Pain Makes a Big Difference

Yesterday was a big day! I conquered my fear of needles and blood. I decided to VOLUNTEER to get poked with a big needle and give blood at the Red Cross Blood Drive at my church. Unless you're deathly afraid of blood and needles, donating blood is a pretty simple way to give back to the world. It only takes 10 minutes to pump out the blood and within 20-30 minutes you could be in and out and on with your day. If you're afraid of needles and blood and pain, like I am, then donating blood is a bit more of a big deal. I really had to psych myself up for this one. I knew I was going to volunteer about a week ago. So every day I pictured myself walking in and laying down and giving the blood like it was no big deal. I think my strategy worked! When I walked in yesterday I was a little nervous, but not too bad. The lady who helped me, Tammy, was the NICEST woman in the world. She knew it was my first time, so I think she was extra careful with me. There was also another very nice volunteer named Joleen who stayed with me the whole time and they both talked to me while I donated. I told Tammy that I didn't want to see the needle or the blood and I did NOT want her to tell me what she was doing or when she was going to poke me. I will say that it really hurt when she stuck me, but it didn't last long. And I didn't cry and I didn't even wince. She had to remind me to keep breathing, but other than that I was a pro. She said she wouldn't have known it was my first time if I hadn't told her. (I think she was just being kind.) All in all, I would say it was a successful experience and I would do it again. I won't be a regular, every 8 week kind of donor, but I would donate again sometime. It was very rewarding to know that just for enduring a little anxiety and a little pinch of pain, I helped save three lives!

Make it so today is not like yesterday and tomorrow will be different forever.

- Tony Robbins

I HEART JOURNEY!

Matt and I went to the Heart/Journey concert last night at the fair. We had the best time! It was my first time seeing Heart in concert. They were awesome! The lead singer might be the greatest singer I've ever heard. She was belting the songs out! It was my 3rd time seeing Journey and they never disappoint. My favorite part was towards the end when they sang "Faithfully" and "Don't Stop Believin'" back to back. I would say 99% of the crowd was singing as loud as they could. I know I was:)

It was the official end to the 2009 Iowa State Fair. I have to say, it was my favorite ending ever. Let's see if they can top it next year.

Speaking Louder than Before

I got to see Jeremy Camp LIVE at the Iowa State Fair last night and it was all that and MORE! I've been a fan for quite awhile and have a lot of his music on iPod, so I was really looking forward to the concert. He did not disappoint! He shared a lot of his personal story and testimony throughout the concert. It was really cool to hear where he was coming from when he wrote his songs. It gave me a new perspective on some of them. My favorite song that he sang last night was "Speaking Louder than Before".

Here are some of the lyrics that really speak to me...

We are the hope that's been forgotten
We have the love that will be brought and
We are speaking louder than before

Take every chance that you can
Move together taking a stand
Never losing heart, we'll speak as one

We need to be the image of Christ
Show love and serve at all times
We can make a difference in these lands

This song gives me a lot of inspiration. I'm working really hard to find as many opportunities as I can for our small groups at Point of Grace to get out into the community and show people what following Jesus is all about. It's not just about going to church on Sunday, it's about showing people who are hungry, who are lonely, who are struggling with addictions or depression, who feel like something is missing in their life that we care and that more importantly God cares. He cares so much that He sent His one and only Son to pay the penalty for our screw ups and through faith in Jesus Christ we are able to live our lives with the hope and love that only Jesus can provide. For me it's not about preaching or trying to save people, it's about showing another person that I hear their struggles and I see their needs and I'm here to help them. I truly think that if we each dug down deep and looked around, we could find someone who needs us and make a difference in their life. In South Africa, I experienced unbelievable joy from helping others. It's that joy that has lit this fire in me and I so want to see everyone I know experience the same joy in their lives. God can do and will do, amazing things through us.

Love this song. Love the Muppets.

I love Elton John's music and I'd love to see him in concert sometime. But something tells me that seeing him now and having seen him back in the days of this video would be two totally different experiences. I would love to see a concert like the one in this video where completely unexpected things happen with crazy costumes and crazy characters. And just as a side note, I really miss the muppets.

Meeting Rockstars

Ed Rolland from Collective Soul is an amazing musician and he seems like a really great guy. We got to see him perform live accoustically at Flemings Steakhouse over the lunch hour a few weeks ago. The radio station I used to work for was hosting a special event and they invited us to come. Gotta love the perks of working in the entertainment business:)

We got to meet Gavin Degraw that same day. He was sooooo great! I have loved Gavin Degraw for a long time so it was cool to finally see him live and get a chance to meet him.

Top Ten: Iowa State Fair

The Iowa State Fair starts this Thursday! Here's the top ten things I'm most excited about seeing/doing/eating...

1. Definitely gotta have a corndog.
2. Homemade, freshly shaken lemonade (to wash down the corndog)
3. Jeremy Camp concert
4. Matt Nathanson on the free stage
5. Journey/Heart concert
6. The butter cow
7. Seeing the GIANT vegetables that win blue ribbons
8. The BIGGEST bull and the HUGEST hog (I know technically that's two)
9. People watching
10. Seeing almost everyone I know on the First Friday