A few good men

I don't talk about my job much on this blog. Usually I like to brag on my wife or my kids or talk about our vacations or hobbies. This is more of a personal blog for me, not really something I consider part of my work.

But I have to tell you about something I experienced the other day with this group of pastors. We have these groups that we call "LEAD Teams". The basic idea behind these teams is a group of pastors and local churches working together to plant new churches in their region. I don't lead any of these teams, they are all led by one of the pastors, but I do attend all the meetings and facilitate the team.

At any rate, here is what took place. This was the very first meeting of this particular group of pastors. We asked them to come and try this out one time, and if afterwards they decided to join the team they could do so. To join the team they have to commit to several things. First, they commit their time and energy (we meet 5 times per year for 24 hours per meeting). Second, they commit their leadership at the local church level (they must go back to their churches and help get other leaders on board with the idea of planting new churches). They must also commit to giving money to these new churches (most will give about $4 - $5k per year, which for some of our smaller churches is a big deal). And finally, they must commit to encouraging people to leave their churches and join the new church (this is the one that strikes fear into the heart of most pastors). What do they get in return for all of this investment? Nothing. Their reward is knowing that they and their churches have been used by God to give birth to a new church that will bless people that their own churches could never have touched.

As you can see, this is not an easy sell if you are working with a group of guys who are only interested in growing their own ministries and looking like big shots. What it takes are leaders who care more about the Good News of Christ and getting that message out to as many people as possible than they do about their own comfort and security. It takes leaders who understand that the Christian life is not about what you can accumulate, but what you can give away. It takes generous, open handed leaders who in many cases serve churches under 100 people that are continually strapped for cash and people resources that choose to give anyway.

These are such men. And they have pledged themselves to pour whatever resources God has placed in their hands to bless people in the Grand Ledge area that they will probably never meet through a church that is being planted by Gordon and Lori Kettel called "imagine this" (http://www.imaginethisllc.com/). I am proud to be associated with people of this character, and I pray that God will multiply these types of groups throughout our tribe.

Blue Gill Magic

There is something magical about catching a fish when you are an eight year old boy. Some of my most vivid and cherish memories from childhood revolve around fishing. As a boy I went up to Indian River every summer and we fished just about every day. Sometimes just us kids would sit on the bridge and cast our lines into the channel, and at other times my father would take us out in the boat. Going in the boat was, of course, the most exciting. Not sure whether it was the boat or because Dad was taking us out - mostly because Dad was there I think. At any rate I recall two magical fishing trips with Dad in that little boat. One involved catching a couple of good sized pike. One bit Dad's hand and there was a lot of blood (this was both cool and dangerous, how awesome!). We put the fish on the stringer, and Dad started the engine and off we went. Unfortunately he forgot to move the stringer first (our pike became instant, bite-sized turtle food). The other time was fishing with Dad, my brother and my Grandmother's boyfriend, Bob (who was like a Grandpa to me). It was in the evening and we were bobber fishing for Rock Bass. No lie, we caught a fish on just about every cast. I still have that picture of me holding all of those fish looking like the conqueror of the known world.

Well, last week I took Grant fishing. We were up at Petoskey and I was determined to find a few Blue Gill for the kids to catch. As it turned out, only Grant was able to put some fish on the stringer. And it was a very interesting experience. The lake (more like big pond really) that we found had no boat launch to speak of. We just pulled the truck to the side of the road and slid the boat in the water (visions of grumpy DNR officers were dancing through my head as we climbed in the little boat). The water was so shallow that my oars hit bottom. We were literally in about 8" of water. Have you ever tried rowing a 12' boat in 8" of water? What a work out! Well, we finally get to some deeper water with good weed cover and Grant starts catching fish. First a very small bass (no kidding, smaller than the jitterbug crank bait I was using). We had a good laugh over that fish before tossing him back. And then Grant started catching Blue Gill - and one or two were decent sized ("huge" according to Grant). He caught 7 or 8 fish that night, while Dad caught all of 2! (Nothing a boy loves doing more than showing up his Dad...)

My guess is that Grant will always remember that night. The magic has nothing to do with the fish, of course, it's all about a boy and his Dad (who is still his hero) going on a grand adventure and coming home as victorious warriors carrying the spoils of battle. It's about a boy becoming a man, one Blue Gill at a time.

GO TIGERS

A couple of weeks ago we gathered Sandi's Mom and two sisters together, along with their families, and headed to downtown Detroit to watch our beloved Tigers take on the Royals. It was a beautiful summer's night for a ballgame. Other than having to take out a home equity loan to cover the costs of tickets, parking, and cotton candy it was a perfect night. There were lots of home runs hit, and in the end our boys pulled it out in the bottom of the 10th inning with a 2-run blast in Inge! It was very exciting. And to top it off we stuck around for fireworks.

This was part family reunion, part birthday party for our daughter, Emily (who turned 10 last month, gasp...) and part send off for Sandi's nephew Chris and his family as the move to Chicago-land. Good times!

Petoskey Fun!

Last week we spent three nights camping at Petoskey State Park. This is a great state park only a few minutes walk from Lake Michigan. We had a really good time on this trip! There were two long bike rides (I must find a more cushy bike seat...), fishing, camp fires, lots of swimming, and of course, searching for Petoskey stones. We had lots of good food to eat, the weather was perfect the last two days, and our camper did the job.

I also took my new fishing boat (12' aluminum row boat with a trolling motor) out for her maiden voyage. Well, that's not entirely true - the boat is about 20 years old, but it was the first time we used her! We did manage to catch several Blue Gill and one decent bass. I discovered that trolling motors aren't too good at getting you across big inland lakes like Crooked Lake (just imagine lots of rowing on the return trip). But overall the boat held up great and there is plenty of room for me and two of our kids. Next year we will find some smaller lakes or bring up a larger motor...

Camping has turned out to be one of those things that brings us together as a family. And we have three more trips yet this summer to look forward to.