Water Heater Update

I called a few places this morning asking about recommendation for a tankless system, did a little more internet research, called Greenville Utilities to see if they had any "special offers (never know), and then couldn't take it so went to Home Depot, Lowes and Sears to look at regular old water heaters. Guess what? There is only 1 water heater available to me (for LP gas). Yep, one.

Nothings gonna get fixed until Monday now (that's what it looks like) and I found out that this is one of those things that's gonna cost $250 - $350 just for install. And I'm not messing with gas by myself so I guess I need to pay the going rate. Merry Christmas to me.

Not What I Needed

Our family of 7 used to have an extra freezer. It allowed my amazing wife to cook in bulk and store stuff for later (quicker) use and had us always prepared for the ever-present additional guests. Well, months ago it pooped out and we hadn't done anything to replace it. Until now.

My parents graciously offered to front us a little Christmas gift so we could get a freezer before Thanksgiving (since we're hosting my parents, my bro and his family, and who knows who else). Anyhow, freezer came yesterday and when I open up our nice little storage room on the side of the house to move it in, I notice there is water all over the floor. Odd, except for the fact that our water heater is in there.

Long story short, I discovered I have a 16 year old leaking water heater and need to replace it ASAP. So I have a choice to make. Do we spend more and install a on-demand tankless water heater or just go with the conventional tank (but spend more in energy in the long run having to keep the tank heated)? Arrgghhh, this is not what I needed today.

And somethings up with Lora and me and I don't like that either. Haven't gotten to the bottom of it, but I'm guessing I've probably messed up somewhere and don't even realize it. Don't need that right now either. I hate it when we have an argument (thank God it doesn't happen often or last long)

I could use your prayers (and for those living around here, if I don't get this water stuff solved soon, I may need to use your shower!)

Christmas Time

Last year as a new church, we were able to collect over 100 shoeboxes filled with everything from toothbrushes to toys for kids who have next to nothing. It's part of Operation Christmas Child and one of our PARTners actually got to help hand out the gifts in Africa while she was on a mission trip there. If you don't know what it is, just click the link above.

Here's what I'd love to see. I'd love to see Discovery (not even 2 years old yet) collect 200 boxes this year. I also know that is a tall order. We're late getting the word out and we don't have our Christmas Box "Champion" (Tara Dixon) here to help cheer everyone on. But still, let's do all we can to make a difference in the lives of 200 kids this year. All it takes is a little time, effort and investment. Just follow these instructions, print off this label and bring back your box by Nov 19th.

Sexual Thoughts

Still hearing a lot of comments about the message this week.  I'm always encouraged when I can stir up a bunch of discussion, especially when it's centered around what the Bible has to say about it.  That's been the case this week.

For those that don't know, this past week in our Will It Blend? series we were looking at sex, nudity, adultery, casual sex and the like.  It's not often I push the podcast here on my blog, but when I hear a dad tell his son (who missed the message because he was helping somewhere else) that it's mandatory listening for him, I get excited and think others might like it too, so check it out over at the website.

I have a confession to make.  I don't know about other speakers, but I speak from more of an outline than a manuscript, which means I don't always know what I'm going to say or how I'm going to say it, I just know what point I want to make or what story I might want to tell.  Well this week, the best illustration was just given to me AFTER I started speaking.  

Again, you'll have to listen to the message to really appreciate it, but I know it worked because I was with a family earlier and one of the kids was in "big church" and the parent got tied up for most of the service and was a bit concerned that her kid heard all about sex.  So I asked the kid to share what they heard and they nailed it...."the best place for sex is "on the playground" (in marriage) and if you play before you get to the playground, you miss out on all the good stuff and end up feeling less than satisfied (sex before marriage) and if you're on the playground and leave to play somewhere else you ruin it for everybody (adultery)"  Like I said, check out the podcast.  I'm going to bed....think I'll make a trip to the playground tomorrow!  

I don't mean to embarrass you Lora, but we have 5 kids!  People can tell we've already been to the playground quite a few times.

Pictures Are In

I said I'd post a few pictures from our PARTnership Party last week and finally got a few. Like I said, we had a great time. There are more pictures in the gallery online and if you'd like to see them you can by clicking HERE.

Forced to Be Creative

In a few hours, I'll sit down with about 8 other people to pray through and plan a lot of 2008 speaking series. I'm feeling an enormous amount of tension and pressure right now because this is happening so late this year. It's November already. And as Claude pointed out yesterday, even 2010 doesn't seem so far away anymore.

I'm a little concerned that we only have tonight and tomorrow set aside for planning, but I'm excited that we've got some new blood and faces that are going to be part of the process. I'm confident that the people coming are tuned into the community we live in and I'm sure that this whole process will be beneficial. I'm just asking you guys to pray for us and ask God to make sure we're seeking to please him and not men (especially when we have a 'time limit') Thanks.

Brain Dump

I really intended (and still do) to put a few pictures on here from the PARTnership party, but I've come to the realization that I have some other things that NEED to get done first.

First, I need to learn how to prioritize better. I admit, I still have a problem with that whole "prioritization" thing. I took Wednesday off (like I planned) and took the boys fishing (after changing a flat tire and forgetting to teach them how to do it...missed opportunity). Still, I've got a huge list of things that need to be done around the house, piles of things to go through and then there's the whole ministry part because I'm a pastor.

Some days I love the leadership part of being a pastor and other days I wish I could just be a pastor and not think about leadership stuff. It's a tough thing to balance, at least for me. Lora's working today which has me needing to be home because the sitter could only stick around until 1:30. I've got tons to do but 5 awesome kids that in about an hour will be begging for me to play with them. How do you pass that up? Seriously. My oldest is almost 11 - over half way to leaving. They're here for such a short time. I try to err on the family side whenever I can. I don't always, but man I love my kids and once they leave home I want to be sure they still love me and more importantly, they love the Lord and don't resent him for "taking their dad away."