Deurty

HEY! I wanted to let the faithful readers of "deurty" - all 3 of you - to know that I am going on a bit of a fast. I am fasting from web browsing and web use at home. Therefore, I will not be able to update this blog as regularly as I do now. I may end up updating it while I work at some different venues. Why fast from web browsing? For a few reasons: 1) I feel like I am not in a good rhythm at the moment with my schedule So I want to begin to focus on top priorities and getting my schedule in shape 2) I want to create more time to spend with God and family So - feel free to check back in, but understand that I may not be writing regularly until Jan.1st. God Bless and Merry Christmas! sd

Here is a flash made by Brad for Watermark. Enjoy. iam.swf

Today I had the pleasure of watching my daughter perform in her pre-school Christmas "concert." She is hilarious. She gets focused and doesn't always follow the crowd in what to do... Everyone goes low for a song and my daughter is standing tall. I like to think she is a non-conformist. She is standing for all those kids who have been forced down by "the man" to do such nonsense! Go for it honey! Stand up for what is right - as long it is what daddy thinks is right! :) The joys. Otherwise I spent time chasing down little details and doing message preparation. I think this week's talk will be fun to do - neat concepts. (did I just say "neat?") I heard from the guy who sold us the chairs that fall apart... He said that there was a flaw they found in the colors we ordered. That made me feel better. I guess the other ones are fine and hold up well, but our color choice had been in boxes throughout the very hot summer in a very hot s...

Yesterday we had the staff and spouses over for dinner. Steve T. had to stay home with his sick son, but was nice enough to send his wife. It was great to celebrate them and thank them for their service. My wife did an amazing job with the meal, room decor and environment! My wife rocks - and I mean that - because she typically doesn't read this... :) This mid morning I joined other Watermarkers at a food drop off. We sponsored a food drop held at a local church parking lot. Tons of people come out for fresh produce and other goodies... It was great to care for people who are under-resourced (as Takas would say) and just serve. I was proud of the Watermarkers who came - they worked hard and made an impact. The Watermark web site is coming together thanks to Ked and his wife Amelia. Learn about them at: www.ailema.com POMO - A - GO GO! sd

Today was a good day in the life of Watermark and our family. We had a great gathering focussed on spending time with God. We went to lunch with Chris and Ann (friends who come to Watermark - in fact Chris has been a close friend since high school.) Then we attended the Watermark Kids Christmas Musical - which went awesome! Tons of people - the kids did great - the parents were proud - the video cameras were in motion - the servants were serving and God did some cool stuff! Anyways - great day! Great work from our amazing kids people - especially Kristen Jones and Jennifer Smith... SAM X! sd

Had an awesome meal at Wade and Michelle's tonight. Curry pork with oranges. Wade is a master chef and can be hired for all your catering needs. Anyways - we had a lot of fun with them and really enjoy spending time with them and their family. I have to get stuff organized for tomorrow and go over my message. - out sd

Before I hit the showers I wanted to encourage you to support Watermark's efforts to impact the community and world. We are set up in the "community benefits" program at Meijer. When you shop and use your card - a % goes to Watermark for our local and global outreach. Interested? Click on "WATERMARK STORIES" to the left for the details. Thanks! Now I'll shower! sd

Finished up my message a second ago... Needs some more work later to bring a bit of life to it. I need to shower and shave! I have been staying up late and getting up early and as a result I am tired and not so clean. :) This weeks message will be a huge challenge for me... I struggle at stopping activity and entering into God's rest. Tonight we are supposed to go to some friends for dinner. Should be fun! PS - I have a Mike Morgan CD: "A Dream." It is great and I highly recommend it. You can get a CD at Watermark for $10 or email Mike at michaelthomasmorgan@yahoo.com. Hitting the showers! sd

Changed the layout a bit... Not totally satisfied. If this is hard to read or annoying please let me know. steve.deur@iamwatermark.com

I had meeting after meeting today. Good times of encouraging, challenge and connection. More and more I am going into meetings and get togethers prepared... To first of all be real and interested and truly care. Secondly, to list, to question and understand. Finally, to tell stories, cast vision, and speak encouragement. I there is more to it than that, but the care, listen, & share thing is a good start. I used to know I was supposed to meet with people (maybe a leadership book told me that or training from my first full partner JB) but I haven't been a good steward of the time, relationship and opportunity in the past... So - I am trying to proactively be intentional. (The danger comes when it seems like the meeting is about accomplishing a task and not investing in a person. But I definately in my spirit don't feel like that is a problem for me...) Had friends over tonight from our life group - good time and chats about God. Man, I love my life group! W...

I have been playing with the template and whacked it all out - so I need to redo my links and stuff... I am looking for a more interesting template and how to utilize it... Sorry for the incovenience - we'll get the links back. sd --------------------- Today I just soaked up as much as possible about the subject we are tackling this week in our conversation. It was good and I gained a lot of interesting ideas and things I can use in my personal walk with God. My hope and prayer is that this Sunday - we can - as a church - stop and let God catch up with us. My desire is to see our whole church take time to experience God - to build a sanctuary, an altar, a temple in TIME and allow God to dwell with us. I think if we want to see lives changed we have got to have people meeting with Jesus. To meet with Jesus is not a destination in space, but in time... I AM NOT GOOD AT THAT. I have got to live that out and learn it and champion it - and I am a poor example of stopping an...

Great meetings with the some some of the fellas today over lunch. We also had some good planning for the next few weeks. Anyways - I had a great evening with the family... Tomorrow I have to hit the message hard. Pray it comes quickly. :) sd

Just got back from the movie: "Timeline." It was a fun movie to watch. I am a self declared science fiction geek and nothing is more exciting to me than movies about time travel. Anyways - I read the bookby Michael Crighton that it was based on. The book was awesome and the movie was a decent telling.. One line from the movie was good and interesting. Instead of saying, "The future is what you make of it," they had the line: "The past is what you make of it..." Or maybe it was like: "You make your history" rather than "You make your future." As you can tell - I have a stellar memory... BUT the concept is very cool. I think I like it because when you focus soley on making the future happen you end up looking for the easy way - the pleasure filled way - the get ahead any means possible way... BUT when you look at making your history (or another popular term - LEGACY) you begin to see that our decisions, actions and lives form...

Today I finished the video for our SAM X coversation (series). It is funny - I think...but it may be self-bias... Tonight we got together with a family connected to our daughter through pre-school - so it was fun to get to know them better and build a relationship. It was a lot of fun - we had pizza and then we went over with them to the JINGLE BELL PARADE in downtown Grand Haven. Following the parade we hung out in the coffee shop and listened to Mike Morgan and Sir Wade Breeden as they played songs off Mike's new album entitled: "A Dream." Anyways - it was so cool - tons of Watermarkers and many of my students from my youth pastor days... Very cool. I saw so many people I knew and I felt a warm sense of satisfaction and joy being with these people. It was the picture of what I want my life to be... Living life constantly with one another in unity... Connecting with new people as we live in community together. Anyways - it was one of those nights that makes ...

Hanging out with my daughter today while Vicki and H-Bomb hang with my folks. Vicki is helping my folks with the house they are building. I think Vicki is going to try to start doing more people's homes in the new year. Maybe I'll put together a brochure for her. I love starting and launching things! PS - for those who don't know - my wife is an interior designer. Anyways - I had a great meeting with Dennis J. yesterday. I am trying to set up systems that make my time and schedule relfect the values and priorities that are needed. Well - back to working on the video. Have a great day. Tonight is the open house for our friends SALON... "Gingers." Pretty cool. "If loving the lord is wrong - I don't wanna be right." huh? sd

I had an insight from God about the vision recently that I wanted to write so I won't forget. This is more for me I guess then... Anyways. Our vision statement is a picture of what we are becoming. It describes where we are heading and who we will become. In that statement are descriptions of how we will live... For example: we will constantly live life together in unity; the wider community is being served and transformed; the next generation is a cataylst for the movement and examples to all believers; churches are being planted from Watermark through out the world... etc... Anyways - I want to see these vision marks heated up so that we are passionate about them. I realized that the most important and first priority is to lead people to care and ultimately live out - not the vision marks - but the first line of our statement... JESUS IS THE CENTER OF OUR LIVES AND WE ARE DEVOTED TO HIM. When that happens - life change with Jesus enters the room and makes the marks ...

Picked up my daughter's school picture's today. SHE LOOKS OLD! Scary! I think the hardest thing about being a dad right now is when I hear her tell me that someone says she is not beautiful or she gets called a name or a friend wants to play with a different kid. I just feel like throwing the kid causing her pain across the room. That isn't the way Jesus would do it I don't think... hmmmm... no i don't think so, but that is how this fella feels. You want the best for your kids. I think it gives me insight into how God sees me. He wants what is best for me. He wants to hear me say "I love you." He wants hugs and kisses. He desires to spend time and inspire me and help me understand that I'm special. He wants to be my defender against the enemies of darkness. He wants to throw them across the room. He wants me to trust Him and listen to Him. Daddy knows best. Being a daddy - I get that - but being God's kid I forget that He is the...

Hello. Meeting day yet again. We hammered out the gathering for the next two weeks. We begin the conversation entitled: SAM X. For those who need a little help - that is 'X MAS' backwards. It basically is about a guy who is a Christmas planner who takes you away from the meaning of Christmas. He has Christmas backwards - hence the name. Enjoyed prayer tonight. (I wrote a whole thing about prayer and how it is vital and how I want to pray more and spend more time with God out of love.... BUT I accidently deleted it and I don't want to re-write everything.) I am hoping to get a ton done tomorrow on a bunch of little projects: office stuff, notes, cards, video, orders, etc... All those little annoying things that you put off... Well - have a great sleep and see you in the morning! Keeping the vision fresh, sd