Post Vacation Hurricane
Good grief (as Charlie Brown would say) the amount of work that comes after "vacation" is ridiculous - can anybody feel my pain. 
I do love going away for many reasons, for one – I always take a notebook with me to write down ideas that come to me about any number of things (mostly Elmwood related). I have tried to train my eyes and ears to see things along the way that can transfer to "ministry" environments – i came back with a ton of things – the problem is now going back and implementing them in ways that will be helpful so this week has been late nights and early mornings! Thank the good Lord for my friends at Starbucks.
I can't believe the summer is almost over – very depressing to see the town pools emptied so early, couldn't they wait to at least Labor Day? I am getting really excited about what the fall has in store for the Elmwood Fam! We will be laying some things out here shortly. We are going be creating some new environments and experiences that will allow people to connect deeper with each other and hopefully our Heavenly Father.
One thing that we have to push heavy over the next two weeks is our Roosevelt 65 School Supply Drive. We are going to have the first two Sundays of September (2,9) disignated for this intially and more if needed. We will have a flyer with all the info Sunday for everybody to get. People will be able to go get it or provide the money to purchase the items.
For those who have been thinking about going or you have decided you are going we have made a decision to postpone the trip to the late winter early spring if possible. For mannnnny reasons we need to wait. Two really big reasons are 1. passports being delayed 2. not enough time for people to raise the needed funds. I think it is wise to allow a little more time in order for everybody to get their passports and it will allow for others to prepare and possibly go with us. So thanks everybody who was really jacked about going – we still will go, don't think CR is going anywhere soon!
For those of you who decided to get INVOLVED – thanks! We have your names and hopefully everybody is hearing from a Head Coach of a Special Team. Please forgive us if there is a little delay in processing for some of you, we are little undermaned right now due to many things but we want and will get with EVERYBODY as quickly as possible.
One of the things that I regularly do is go through the Bible during the course of the year. There are many different resources that lay out a daily reading schedule for you such as www.biblegateway.com . The past few days I have read through Esther and now into Job -these are two very interesting stories of people God used in an incredible way. One of the things that I feel is my responsibility as a pastor is to first of all - lead myself in Spiritual Disciplines and to also help and encourage and mobilize others to do the same. True disciples learn to "feed" themselves. It is not easy but it is neccessay and incredibly beneficial. Let me encourage you if could – to start in small bite sized increments. The enemy wants us to stay isolated from the relationship that matters most. We must fight through that inclination and spend time nurturing our relationship with God on a daily basis. Start with 5-10 minutes a day and see what happens!
Echoloud!
