An Encouraging Trip

A couple weekends ago, I went to the CE National spring board meetings in Washington DC. Good meetings where some really good things were discussed. My report, which did not need to be long, was over and done with and I fulfilled my role as official note-taker for the weekend. Some might remember the visit to the White House as the highlight of the trip (George and Laura said to say hi). That was very cool--especially for a history buff like me. But I'll remember seeing Hyla at a church we visited as a highlight.

National Community Church has a very cool concept--multiple locations and use of video-- and we wanted to check it out. As we met in the basement of the Ebenezer coffee shop the church owns we enjoyed a great service. That's when Hyla came up (okay--charged up) to say hello. How random to have people she knows from IN walk into her cutting-edge church in DC on a Saturday night? Hyla was on ob in 1995 and was on my So Cal team. Nice gal from Western PA with a great smile and a positive spirit.

It was an absolute refreshment to hear her story: been in DC for about three years now and very involved with the church. In fact, if I caught it right, she is one of the main teachers in the small groups/teaching program at the church. Faithfully serving God where she is at and making a difference.

After being involved with teens for a long period of time like I have, what is refreshing is when you see a teen with which you have worked following Jesus and then taking positive roles in ministry for the good of the kingdom.

So while seeing George and Laura's house, at least the downstairs, was something I have always wanted to do, that weekend will serve a great encouragement going into this summer of ministry.

Mother's Day

This Sunday is Mother's Day so I should write about that. But my mom doesn't read my blog so, technically, I guess I don't need to.

The youth pastor at our church and I have been talking about developing a student leadership program. It has been fun talking through what things would be good outcomes, how to implement it, etc. The thing that always stands out to me in these discussions is that the Christ-like quality that I want students to walk away with is that Jesus, and good leaders, are first and foremost servants. A lot of teaching that I do in leadership development centers on this important concept.

The more I think about it, the more grateful I am for my wife, Dana, who does lots and lots of "behind the scenes" stuff --at home, at church, at Warsaw Christian School. I am grateful for my mom. She has modeled "putting others before self" my whole life--and probably a lot longer than that. While cards are nice and flowers and candy is a good idea, (not to mention the cold toast and soggy cereal Dana had to eat each Mother's day morning as part of the special things that happen that day...) I think heaven will reveal that there are a lot of mom's who get special crowns and gifts--and they will be people that the majority of us have never heard of before.

So, see, this blog did eventually get back around to mother's day... some of the best examples of servants I know.