Busy, Busy, Busy

I just feel so tired and busy right now. I had a nice couple of days at a Church Planter's Wives retreat in Texas. It was nice to meet so many people who have been where we are right now and to hear their stories. I also got to spend quality time with the wife of another planter here in Bakersfield. They planted four years ago and have a neat story and are reaching amazing people from very difficult backgrounds. I just had fun hanging out with her and getting to know her better.

I finished reading Raising Kids for True Greatness, and I still think it was a great read. It was not difficult to get through and was scripturally sound. I have recommended it to several people who I think could be encouraged or challenged by it. I have a strong desire to forget about success with my kids and just strive for True Greatness. We really do get focused on the wrong things at times. I want my kids to be the best they can be, but if that does not include loving God and loving others, it just does not matter, so I pray they will have a strong sense of that love and a desire to be a true servant for Christ. I pray that I can model that, particularly during such a stressful time in our lives, and I know I did not demonstrate it tonight. Even as we sat and did our prayer time together, I had to apologize for being so cranky, even though I was still feeling cranky inside. (I can't even identify why I feel so crabby today, which is frustrating for me. I even went to bed about 2 1/2 hours earlier than usual last night, so I can't blame lack of sleep.)

We have a crazy week in front of us, actually just a crazy rest of the month. We have a lot going on with the church plant, including a party this weekend, a rehearsal service the next weekend, and a serving event the last weekend. I am really looking forward to the serving event. We are going to go to an area of town that the city is trying to clean up because homes are not up to code and try to help with some houses. We are hoping that with this event we will actually be able to talk to the people and encourage them. It should be really great! We are working with another church, the one I mentioned above, on a Sunday morning for our "Inside Out" service. (We think that is what we will call them. Any thoughts?) We will be having these once a month, even after we have launched. We will gather on the fourth Sunday morning of each month and head out into the community to do good. We are trying to get it started before we even begin meeting regularly. I am excited for this opportunity because we were trying to find ways that we could serve people in practical ways while still being able to talk to them and hopefully make a spiritual impact. I think we will be able to do it through this project. We are definitely in need of prayers for our time management. There is too much to get done in too little time. I don't like being so busy and need to keep balance, so that is another prayer. We don't want to be so busy that we miss important things that are right in front of our faces, but there is so much to get done. I'm sure many of you can relate.