Quantity vs Quality

My job has some down time, where I'll sit somewhere and finish paperwork. Usually I end up people watching, or as I like to call it, observing and studying the human race. Today I witnessed a "family" time outing that went something like this. From my observation dad was on his lunch break and decided to have lunch with his wife and child. Which is a great way to catch some time with your family if things are generally hectic. However, what it seemed was only the mom and son were engaged and the dad was just occupying space. The child had an imagination and was full of life and energy. He and the mom were able to laugh and joke through the entire meal. The dad, however was engaged, but not in his family. He was engaged with his phone, sendng and receiving messages. His son had asked him to partake in the game, but dad replied "I don't want to", and looked back at the screen. He spent about a total of five minutes in conversation, or lack there of, with his child and that was merely to tell him to keep his voice down and clean up his mess. He actually invested more time in conversation with another patron who sat down at the table next to him, that he apparently new from business. When the family finished, he managed to pat his child on the head and get into his truck and go on with his day. Hmmm, did he just check off another item on his to do list? My question to you, how many times have you acted the same way? How many "get togethers", conversations or meetings have you called but then actually made no eye contact, typed on your lap top or phone and remained just as disengaged as if you weren't there at all. What message are you sending? I know I am guilty of this same thing. In the world of multi tasking and trying to get ahead, we miss out on building relationships. Then we wonder why some of our relationships are left empty......

Listening through the chatter....

I had every intention when I signed up, to attend both days of the Leadership Summit. FRC was a host site and telecast the two day event via HD. Unfortunately, my work schedule only allowed me 1/2 a day. I missed Craig Groeschel and Bill Hybels, BUT those I did see had great things to say. One speaker stands out to me more than the others. Her, that's right HER name is Catherine Rohr. She is the Founder and CEO of Prison Entrepreneurs Program. You have to check out the website http://www.pep.org/ and read the story. AMAZING!!! She stands in her obedience to His calling, and even when it seemed like the wrong choice, she trusted in Her Father. So many of us ask God "Why won't you talk to me?" "What do you want me to do with my life?" "What is my calling?". I bet that one of two things have happened or are happening. (1) you aren't quieting yourself to hear Him or (2) you heard Him but weren't obedient. Some people hear God but because it's not what they want, they dismiss it, therefore dismissing the opportunity to take a step closer to reaching their God Potential. For me I'm both. I'm talking so loud, that when He does talk, I ask Him to be quiet so I can hear myself more. Or I hear Him and feel the nudge, but stand paralyzed in fear of what He is asking me to do. And the last time I checked "fear" was not a fruit of the Spirit. Fear is man-made. Fear is the enemy grabbing hold and speaking all those untruths over and over again. When I am going to stand in total Faith and Trust in My Father? I hear stories like that of Ms. Rohr and ask, wow, I wish that was me, then I hear God say, Kim, I've been nudging you all along, when are you going to hand me your fears? Not now God, I'm trying to have a conversation with myself........

XWeek '08!!!

Holy Cow Xweek was AMAZING!!! I was so emotional all week: tired, excited, frustrated, scared, HAPPY (Oh Happy Days, Happy Days....) If I "SPIN" one more time I think I am going to pass out, oh right, I almost did LOL!! We had on average 47 kids everyday. That is Awesome! You go God! It was my first year putting this shin dig together and let me tell you, it was an EXPERIENCE!! Worship was soo much fun and I got a cardio workout also. Rec time was wet, sticky crazy, the stupid rain couldn't keep us down! The lesson was great, my team leaders stepped up and really connected with their kids. The theme was Journey to the Deep and Angie Blue and her team really made you feel like you were in the ocean! Tech was there everyday at 4pm setting up and Pastor Scot, was, well Pastor Scot, high energy and tons of fun!!!! THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR ALL YOUR HELP AND SUPPORT!!!!. I feel I have grown closer to some of you and have established new friendships with others. FRC SAWGRASS ROCKS!!!!!
PS: If someone has pictures they want to share with me so I can post them on my blog it would be really nice!!!

A question for men:

Why why why do you all think it is okay to walk around outside your home with just your boxers on? They are not shorts!!! I have a neighbor that does this and it is blinding, especially in the morning hours. I don't get it! I guess I have to thank our good Lord that they are NOT tightie whities.....

Jesse's thought for the day.....

Hey everyone, check out a great discussion on Jesse's blog posted today.

http://jessefrcsawgrass.blogspot.com/

This is Jesse, he's the Pastor of our Student Ministry at Sawgrass.

When, not if, troubles come your way

"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance" Romans 5:3. I say this all the time to friends and family. Just because we are Christians, doesn't mean that troubles will not find us. They test our strength, they test our endurance, they test our faith. But in the midst of them, we feel alone, or in my case hot and sweaty. You see my "trial" for this time period is that my AC decided it no longer wanted to partake in the daily ritual of cooling my home down. So this is me for the next few days until a new one is replaced......

Don't you all feel sooo sorry for me?? Don't you want to take me out for ice cream so I can cool off, or offer to pay for me to be in a five star hotel????? I am trying to see how I am going to grow through this experience. Endurance: enduring the hot muggy nights? Faith: that the AC people know what they are doing and will cool me off soon? Strength: so that I don't pass out from the heat? Help me out, what do you think the lesson is? How do I rejoice in a time like this?????

Satan's gift....

Satan bought me a gift yesterday.........

Not just the regular pack, but the large pack that holds 24 wafers. He knows my every weakness, please someone save me from this gift!!!!!!!

God's creations

Well, Robbie and I are back from our little July 4th get away. What better way to observe all of God's human creations but at an amusement park and a water park. He definately made things to come in all shapes, sizes and IQ's. It was a learning experience for me to see how people from outside the US interact and it is always a pleasure to "mingle" with those from our own country. As for the waterpark, Aquatica. It is Sea World's waterpark. I don't recommend going anytime soon. The lines for the slides and the food were long. The line to drive into the park was 3-4 lanes merging into one very slow moving lane. But it had an AWESOME jet propelled lazy river that zoomed you around and around. Anyway, back home to work, and get geared up for Extreme Week!!! If you haven't signed up to volunteer or attend, go to flamingoroad.org and click on the Extreme Week logo........

Why is it so hard to be content?

In this day and age especially in South Florida, how come we aren't content with what we have? How many times have you asked yourself, if God would just give me this, or if I was driving this, or if my relationship was like this, or if your like me, if I had a relationship to even ponder, I would be happy. Let's go a step further and say you are blessed with some of those things, you're okay for a day or two, then you find yourself wishing and wanting again....Why can't we just be content? The apostle Paul was. He had it all figured out. He found the way to be content in every situation, and he had many ups and downs. I think if we can learn to be content, we will find peace. How do we start? Well, you stop. Stop looking to material things to fill your void, stop looking for people to make you happy. Our Father fills us with everything we need. The key word however, is need, not want. If we can get our needs and our wants to be the same, we'll be good to go. It's hard when its a consumers world, but if we want peace (contentment), we have to stop looking elsewhere and start building our relationship with our Father.
...and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus....Phil 4:7, this is all we need and therefore all we want....

Communication

What is one of the most important things in ANY relationship? Communication. Clear communication I might add....I was not very clear to my ministry team on the schedule for this weekend, hence I was down two volunteers. Totally my fault. Often what I have going on in my head isn't clearly communicated. Mostly because you really don't want to know what is going on inside of my head, and because I get it all scrambled and totally mess things up. I Probably need to slow down and rest. Because if I can't get out what I mean due to craziness in my head, then I obviously can't clearly hear my Father talking to me......

This is Robbie, is his true form. He is going into his sophmore year at South Plantation High School. He is a wide receiver for their varisty football team and he drives me crazy....

The life of a dog....

This is my dog Rockie (actually a few years ago). He's not very smart. He sleeps all day long, except for the occasional walk to the "cat" food dish (not his own) to eat and drink, then he drools his way back to a different spot to sleep. It's a tough job being a dog......