Today was my first full day back into the swing of things. It was great to be back with the Watermark gang during the gathering. I love the sense of movement and direction that comes from living life together with the people of Watermark. I love being a part of something that is bigger than any of us on our own. Today was a good day and I really enjoyed being with the kids all day - since it had been a bit over a week without them.

So... our gathering had a cool moment. I spoke on the topic of Zachaeus and answering the question of "for whom did Jesus die for?" And more specifically - "was Jesus' death for people like Zachaeus?" Don't know the story? Read Luke 19 and know that tax collectors like Zachaeus was a moral leper, thief and traitor.

Anyways - we spent time following the message writing names on the bottom of our newly purchased chairs of people in our lives that need God. We also encouraged those who were searching for God themselves to write their name on the chair. We moved the room around to help people fill in more of the seating and made it easier for them to come in and out.

Well - the vacation was wonderful. I spent a lot of time in the sun and my chest is as red as a tomato. I enjoyed my time of relaxation and being in other cultures. Being in other countries feeds me in a unique way. It may be that my first spiritual gift identified is: missionary. So getting into new cultures is a recharger.

I'll write more on the trip later. One thought from the message today that kinda came out and I want to think about more. Understanding that the crowd following Jesus hated Zachaeus and crowded him out, but Jesus stopped to notice him and call him by name... The crowd complained about Jesus showing mercy to Zachaeus. Am I being more 'crowd-like' or Christ-like with the Zachaeus' in my life?

Adios amigos,
sd