Potatoes, Pizza, Penguins, Parties and the Pause Button

Zowee! What a Weekend.

It started at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday when we zipped off to Feed the Children to pack 30,000 pounds of potatoes into 10 lb bags. It was fun but they made me sneeze. Brandon and I took on this one box and conquered it in no time, then off to another. Not a ton of students showed up, about a dozen or two which is totally cool since we had 155+ last weekend. We had a blast and finished by 11:45 p.m.

Then it was off to celebrate the students who did the 3 week Bible Challenge through the book of John at 12:30 p.m. There were nearly 30 of us. We did a CiCi's pizza run where it was fun to hang out for awhile, then it was off to the movie Happy Feet. I didn't do my homework on this movie which makes me want to smack myself. I know most students didn't catch what I caught, but I hated the Penguin spirits, inappropriate song and the adult humor that they tried to slip in to make it fun for parents and kids. However, there was some clean humor that made me laugh out loud and I enjoyed the storyline (incredibly close to Rudolph and the island of misfit toys though). Next time I think it's going to be a 3 week Bible Challenge where we celebrate with Pizza and Bowling.

I didn't think I was going to make it for the 20th year picture for those that have been at GCC forever. It was scheduled to take place at 4 p.m. and we didn't get back until our scheduled time of 4:15 p.m. I called Loretta and she said if I busted it I could still make it. I threw on my shirt and jacket in my office (I didn't think that people would appreciate the sweatshirt I had on that smelled like Potato dirt) and jumped in for the final snap. Good times.

It was off to service that night to celebrate 20 years. Very cool, very cool. God has had GCC on an amazing journey...AMAZING. Even though it's been phenomenal, I really do believe the best is yet to come. I'm glad I get to do the next 20 with my sister by my side.

Among a half a dozen other things on Sunday, we celebrated my sister's birthday. Great fun was had by all at Olive Garden. None of our family discussions ended in a trainwreck which was awesome. At one point I did sense a conversation that was going to quickly tank, so I redirected our topic. Family dynamics...they're a great training ground for life, work and ministry.

I'm looking forward to the next two days. I'm hitting the pause button and devoted them to complete solitude at Oakwood. I'll be working, but it's a different kind of work. It's not the daily rush to address the immediate and important, but a couple of days set aside to address the really important.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.