Deurty

My daughter turned 4 today! The statement that "time flies" is overstated, but never fully understood until you have a moment of clarity and reflection. Today was such a day... My little princess who identifies herself with Disney Princesses is growing older. She dreams of princes. She is still at an age where she wants me to be the prince. Some day she will call me the court jester and ask me to give her more space. Now she calls out for one more Bible story, one more hug, one more kiss, one more moment together.... I just want to get back to my book, computer, television show, conversation, etc... BUT BUT BUT!!!!!! There will never be this moment again! The times of her asking for me - wanting me - hoping to be with me are numbered as she grows older. Independence shows up and slaps a parent in the face. Anyways - I say this all to make me think about how I am spending my time with my family... I say this to shake my self to wake myself - to be in the moment an...

Last night we had a core meeting. We had a powerful time of worship even though it was brief. We sang: "I could sing of your love forever" and the spirit of what was happening went deep quickly. In this whole church planting process it seems like there is a heightened sense of the presence of God and a feeling of surrender to Him. Dennis S. led us through a turbo version of SHAPE (a spiritual gifts assesment tool). He did a great job getting a ton of info out to us in a short amount of time. I love seeing people who find their niche in the church. Dennis is a great example of this. Anyways - we can't move into the high school until late sept./early oct. We will have to meet at the YMCA until then. This is kinda a bummer, because we wanted a few weeks in the school before public launch and now we will have a shorter learning curve there. But everything will work great! This is God's gig. Quick shout out to Dennis Jackson (since he told me he read thi...

We had a double header in softball tonight and got spanked twice. I typically don't get overly frustrated and worked up over losing, but I played terrible. Some how the fun gets lost in the anger. Especially when the other team is cocky. Sports tends to give you an opportunity to be real. Anyways - I did have fun and hanging with the fellas is always great. We'll get em next time. After all it is only SOFTBALL! :) We have a follow up vision chat tomorrow night. Finishing up looking at spiritual gifts. Hopefully we will be able to line people up in areas of service. Had an awesome meeting with Nate and a guy named Jay - chatting about kids ministry. Great ideas and investing into our lives. We really want to make the kids a huge priority for Watermark. ** Just a quick note to say that we had an amazing send off at Spring Lake Wesleyan Church this past Sunday. Very meaningful! I again praise God for this awesome church with remarkable leadership! ** ...

Wow - I had a day off today and actually took it! :) Anyways - I went golfing with a bunch of friends and did not do too shabby. I am not an epic golfer. We played best ball in pairs and actually used some of my shots. Before I sign up for the PGA tour I need to be reminded that I still haven't shot better than a 50 for nine holes! Some how along the way I self destruct. Maybe it is the fact I play the other fair ways... Maybe it is the fact I've played twice a year leading up to this year... Maybe it is the fact that I am not good. Oh well - the cool thing about golf is... (wait! an obvious statement is about to be shared!) in golf you always feel like your best shots are the norm and the continual stream of bad shots are the anomaly. When I have a good shot I think, "it is about time I start playing normal," instead of saying, "that was lucky." I wonder if in life we do the same thing... Just kidding - I am not going to spiritualize this littl...

We had a great night of worship and prayer last night! We do a thing called a "Hungry Service." This is a stolen title from a church in Australia, but they are a giving people... :) Anyways - we gathered with a small group of people to worship, pray and share. It was a time to experience God and go to God. The coolest part for me was when my cousin from out of town shared how he has been clean from substance abuse for the past 100 days and gives praise to God for it. I have spent time trying to see my cousin "change," but only God could do it. What a great example that God can change a life! Only God can change a life! Anyways - it renewed my desire to help others encounter the life changing God. It is so easy to give up hope and release people, but I have got to go after people far from God with my prayers, my love and above all - my God. Praise God! sd

YIKES! It has been a while since I posted something on this thing... Way too much to talk about - so I will not even try to bring you up to speed. I will however mention two times that were significant in the past week - relating to Watermark (the new church). On Wednesday, last week, we had a core team meeting and focussed on learning our Spiritual Gifts and talked about the fact that everyone who follows Jesus is a minister and God is calling them to follow His lead and serve. (sorry about the run on sentence) Anyways - Dennis S. (a core member) led us through that time. It was awesome to see this guy, who is not a "professional" pastor, take us through the teaching time. What followed after this teaching time was significant for me. We have been in a decision making time regarding where we should locate our Sunday morning gatherings. There has been great discussion and varying points of view on the subject, but all in a great spirit. In this meeting we opened...

Finished the Leadership Summit today - great time of refreshing and team. Went and hung out at Tim and Julie's cottage in the evening - went on a Sea Doo with Autumn. "Not too fast daddy..." Don't worry - I am a wuss. On our way we got on the subject of children. Autumn was interested in us having another baby - especially a girl. Her reason, I think, is because she could share a room and have a bunk bed. I think she would change her tune if she was older than 3. We told her that we would have to check with God to see what he thinks on adding another baby some day. She immediately declared that she would ask - right then. So she - in Autumn fashion - lifts the top of her shirt over her nose and mumbles a prayer into her shirt. (For those who wonder - I explained this earlier in the blog - the idea is that she is talking to Jesus in her heart), So after some mumbling we hear a deeper voice coming from inside her shirt saying, "Yes have another ba...

The last two days I have been at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit - Grand Rapids site. There are 10 other Watermarkers. It has been a fantastic growing and retooling time. I have been challenged in a lot of areas, but one the most. That area is our focus. Watermark is just getting off the starting blocks and already it can be easy to slide into a comfortable trot, follow every opportunity that jumps in our path and compromise what we are all about. I sense a renewed sense of motivation and urgency in what we are about in our community and how we MUST see God's vision for Watermark fulfilled or this area and the world will not be changed. Anyways - we finish up tomorrow. I am looking forward to putting this stuff in motion in advancing our mission and vision. By the way, our mission is as follows (forgive me if I've repeated this): Watermark: Being the Church. Making Disciples. I am pumped to be going public with this! The vision statement is in draft sta...

Coast Guard festival service project went amazing! We handed out 3,000 bottles of water to the thirsty (sometimes grabby) crowd. It was a memorable moment when we turned the corner to enter the parade and the lines of people. I said to Nate Smith as he walked beside me - "this is really happening!" I was in awe. Awe that God has taken this dream of Watermark (a dream that started with Him) and put it in motion. It was one of those moments where you realize that dreams are becoming reality. Anyways - our hope and prayer is that people sensed that they were loved and served and that God would receive the glory... Awesome team headed up by Mike Takas made it happen! Thanks team! Vicki and I followed up the high with a trip to Chicago with my sister Jody and her husband Brian (who I will from now on refer to as Bif). We went to tour a Frank Llyod Wright home and church. It was very inspirational and fun. Vicki (my wife) is an interior designer and loves stuff like ...

We are back from a vacation in northern michigan. It was at a cottage I grew up going to as a kid. It looks a lot smaller than I remember it... Maybe because it is shrinking. Anyways - it was an awesome time with the family! Turtle hunting, row boats, fishing, swimming, snorkeling the weeds, reading and eating. It was the recipe for fun. I burned badly at the beginning of the week and now find myself peeling... Anyways - just wanted to say hello - more to come in the days ahead! Tomorrow Watermark is in the Coast Guard Parade - act of kindness - passing out water! Should be fun! We have an awesome group of people! The thompsons are finally living here - which rocks! See ya - thanks for checking back, Refreshed - sd