Week in review

A week between posts…kind of describes how busy the week was…

• Last Monday I spent all day hunkered down in my home office working on my 30-day devotional for our fall campaign.  I made great progress…wrote about 11 original writings…about 1/3 of the project…then my home computer I was using locked-up.  After resetting several times and having 3 or 4 computer gurus survey the damage…it ended up with the hard drive being destroyed.  Anyway…not a great start to the week!  Tomorrow I start again… (will back up my file every 5 minutes on a thumb drive!)
• On Tuesday evening we had a great leadership team meeting.  Great energy and discussion and vision.  We are forming a RELOCATION TEAM to focus on getting us to our next church location…something other than a school.  We’re looking for a place that we can use 24/7.  While a school is most affordable, the headaches that we deal with are mounting and most importantly we believe that it is stunting our growth.  It’s time for us to remove that obstacle to growth.  Actually, we need God to do that because finding a place in Woodbridge that is affordable and suitable will be a God-thing…but that is the cool thing – with God all things are possible!
• Wednesday was devoted to sermon prep
• Thursday our youth group took 40 to Lake Anna for the day.  We appreciate Harry & Linda Bradley opening their home and dock to us for the day.  The kids had a great time tubing all day.  Thanks to our 7 adult volunteers who gave their day to our kids.  Our students had a blast!
• On Thursday, I had a great lunch meeting with a Pastor/Mentor/Friend of mine – Dave Rhodenhizer.  I served in his ministry at Calvary Road for 6 years as the youth pastor.  It’s great to have some senior pastor talk and learn from his experience and success.
• On Thursday night and Friday night I was able to attend 2 different Back-2-School nights with my 2 daughters…I cannot believe they start on Monday…the summer is GONE!
• In between all of this I spent some time holding my newborn and watching the USA dominate in the olympics.
• This morning we had an awesome service at LCC.  Josh had been in bed sick with a virus the last 2 days, but he made it to church and did a nice job leading us in worship…way to pull it off and “play hurt” for the team…(reference to last week’s message).
• The crowd was healthy again considering all the families on vacation…cannot wait for the Fall!
• Great business meeting at the end of the service. The annual budget was approved unanimously and we discussed the plans for the relocation team.  There’s a great sense of excitement for what is coming in the next year for our church.  I cannot wait to see what God does
• Loved preaching the STRIVE series…very motivating…imagine what will happen at LCC and in NOVA if all of us get serious about STRIVING to be all that we can be for God.  STREAMLINE.  PERSEVERE.  FOCUS.

Weekend recap

Great weekend…

• Great service yesterday at LCC.  Good crowd, good energy…cannot wait to see what happens this Fall.  The auditorium renovation is way behind in its progress…not sure how long we will have to be holding the service in the cafeteria…but I do know that it’s going to get crowded this Fall…which will be exciting.  I’m still praying for a permanent meeting space!
• Our Students are going to Lake Anna this Thursday…Donald is already running into a good challenge…needing more vehicles…email him if you want to volunteer – donaldbuttram@yahoo.com
• I’m looking forward to our leadership team meeting tomorrow night…we’ve got some exciting things to discuss about our future.
• We are excited about a spiritual growth campaign that we are kicking off in October.  I’ll be revealing more of the details as it gets closer, but one of the facets is a 30 day devotional book that I am writing…  Never done something like this and it is a challenge!  I’m about 60% done…with lots of editing to do before it goes to print.  We praying that all we are planning for the Fall will bring more people into a relationship with Christ.

On a personal note:

• TODAY, August 18th is my 18th Wedding Anniversary.  Sherri is a wonderful wife and mother.  I am loving this journey of life with her.  Wow…18 years already…we’ve just begun!
• Our baby Nic is doing great…gained a pound already and looking forward to his first appearance at church next week.
• The summer is flying by…cannot believe I have 2 back-to-school nights to attend this week!
• Getting pumped for Fantasy Football and the beginning of the NFL season…GO SKINS!

Warren, Obama & McCain

All on the same stage.  Rick Warren will be hosting a forum this Saturday at Saddleback and will be interviewing both presidential candidates.  This live simulcast will be made available to media outlets…I’m not sure yet who is going to be carrying this event.  Here is the link to the story from the New York Times.

Weekend Recap

It was great to be back at church this weekend…

• The new series, STRIVE, kicked off this Sunday. It was a challenging message from Hebrews 12:1. I sensed a great response in the hearts of the people. After being away for a week, I was ready to get back to preaching again.
• The band was awesome yesterday…sounded great! Josh, Cara, Matt, Valerie, Mick & Alex – way to go! Also, Tom did a great job on sound…as always. I appreciate all the hard work!
• We had a little excitement during set-up when the bulb on our main projector burnt out on us…and then what we thought was the back-up was actually not…but we were able to scramble over to the office and grab our spare small projector…and I don’t think anyone knew the difference.
• Great crowd Sunday…new families again at church…I am looking forward to a great Fall.
• Great to have the students back from their Maine Missions Trip. God did a great work in and through them. Donald, our student pastor, will be posting a report from the trip soon.
• It’s amazing how quickly time goes by with an infant in our home…Nic is already 10 days old….

Student Missions Trip!

Our students and leaders arrived safely home this evening a little after 5 pm.  It was great to see my kids!  They all had a great experience and God used them to make a difference in the lives of many people in Calais, Maine.  You’ll be hearing more in the days ahead – check the LCC Students page.  In the meantime, Donald is uploading a ton of pictures from the trip here.

This Week @ LCC

Our new series STRIVE begins this Sunday…click here for info.

Our students missions trip is going very well.  They are having a great time and a great ministry along the coast of Maine.  I look forward to hearing all the details upon their return on Saturday afternoon.  Please pray for safe travel on Friday & Saturday.  (Their internet access has been sketchy so I don’t have more to report.)

Student Missions Trip

The trip is going well…a good first day of ministry on Monday.  They are dealing with rain off and on, but having a great time serving the community.

Donald Buttram posted some pictures on his Facebook.

God is Good!

I’m pretty beat, but wanted to give a quick update…

• Sherri, Nic and I are home from the hospital.  Nic is doing great.  Sherri is doing well though in pain from the c-section…just the normal to be expected stuff.  We are so blessed with a healthy baby boy.
• Our youth made it safely to Maine.  16 studens and 4 adults arrived at their place of service near the Canadian border around 4:30 today.  Lots of driving, but praise God for a safe journey.  Now pray for their first day of ministry on Monday.
• I missed being at church this morning, but heard a great report about the job done by Dan Phillips in my place.  I heard that he had a powerful message and that everything went well without me   Thanks to all who filled in all the gaps.  I look forward to being back next Sunday and starting our new series – STRIVE.

That’s all for now…

Nicholas Steven Markle is here!

God was so good to us today.  Nic came into this world with no complications.  He is a perfectly healthy BIG baby boy.  Here’s the data:

• Born at 10:30 am on August 1
• Weight: 8 pounds 12 ounces
• Length: 21 3/4 inches

Sherri is recovering well from the C-section.  Follow the link below to our photo album.

Thanks for praying for us.

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1138062954&k=YZB5PW54P2ZM5FEETA23VV