Church was CRAZY for me this morning! I worked in the Great Adventurer’s at 9:00, the Little Adventurer’s at 10:30 am and managed to video tape 13 out of our 15 baptism testimonies in the meantime! I’m not normally that spread around, but nonetheless, it was a fun morning! So here’s my recap:

Mike and Alecia do a great job with our kids ministry. Mike teaches about once a month and he is very gifted! He doesn’t speak down to the kids, he knows all the motions to the songs, and he takes the time to look each kid in the eye. Pretty cool.

Liana was scheduled to teach the Little Adventurer’s today, but her son broke his arm. Like really broke it…bone through skin…he’s gonna have a good story to tell for the rest of his life. Aren’t 5 year old boys so cool? We’re praying for his quick recovery and we missed their family today.

I taught a 5th grade girl how to find a book, chapter, and verse in her Bible. I say “her” Bible with great pride. North Creek gave her that Bible this morning. It’s her first one. I wish you could have seen the look of accomplishment when she looked up Proverbs 16:5. Thank you for those of you who give your hard earned money to North Creek. Buying Bibles for people is one of the places we spend it and it’s so awesome!

Angela has 7 people signed up for Starting Point, which is our class for people who have questions about Jesus and Christianity. It’s a great place to get some answers and make some decisions about how you want to live your life. She’s the perfect teacher. She loves people in just the right way to allow them to decide for themselves and not be judgmental.

Sandy co-taught with me in the Little Adventurer’s. She LOVES kids. And she’s naturally gifted with them. It was her first time in that class, but it won’t be her last. I want my kids being impacted by her love for Jesus and her love for them.

Mark preached on baptism. We now have 15 people getting baptized at Klineline next week and I’m really thrilled with every one of them. They are quality adults, teens, and kids.

I looked into the eyes of 13 of those lives that have been dramatically changed by Jesus while I videotaped their stories. I know those stories. I know that when they talk about the love of Jesus, some of them are speaking from a profound place. They’ve experienced the world’s awfulness and have found refuge in Jesus.

Being in the business of changing lives is an honor. It’s all God, I know that, but we get to play a part in that. So humbling and so refreshing.

I cannot wait until next Sunday where we’ll baptize people at Klineline Park. What a great day to be a part of the family of God! Show up at 10:00 am for scones and 10:45 for baptisms. See you there! I’ll be the one with tears of joy streaming down my face!

I have a 5 year old! My oldest daughter, Delaney, has stepped out of the toddler phase and jumped in with two feet to the elementary phase as of 6:56 am this morning.

Delaney is sweet, kind, helpful, sensitive, and responsible. She was born with a fierce independence, but her independence comes across in such a loving way. I vividly remember the day that she got potty trained. She figured it out, got her sticker, and was never going back to diapers. That night I went to put on a diaper before bedtime, assuming that the overnight thing would take a while. As a 2 1/2 year old, she looked up at me and said, “I don’t need diapers anymore. I’m not going to wear that.” I relented, figuring that wetting the bed may be a good lesson. It was about 2:00 am when I heard her little feet patter down the hallway. She reached up, turned on the bathroom light, did her business, washed her hands, turned off the light, and went back to bed. It was at that moment that I knew raising her would be a tug-of-war of letting her have her independence and still being “mommy”.

Delaney has a heart for God already. She asks incredibly deep questions and then ponders the answers for days. She is artisitic, creative, and loves music. She can hear a song and remember it immediately. She will then grace our home with the same song for the next week.

She is a true girly-girl. She loves makeup, dress up, barbies, and anything pink. At the same time, one of her favorite past times is to collect earthworms and play with them for a while. There are always two sides to every woman!

So, to my firstborn, Happy Birthday. Thank you for making me a mother. And thank you for making this journey such a pleasant one. I love to be around you! I love to hear your voice and talk with you about all the deep and wonderful things in this world. I love to watch your face light up when you experience something new. I love that you are so responsible that I have literally never worried about you running in the street or wandering off in the store. You make me laugh all of the time and I am grateful that God gave me you.

I love you, DK.

Unless you live under a rock, you know that Michael Jackson died yesterday. The articles are nothing short of fascinating to read. The most interesting for me was the reaction that the internet sites had…one man’s death crashed sites all over the world. Twitter, Google, and many other “giants” struggled to keep up with the pace. A man that lived for 50 years and defined so much of modern day music held a power that is difficult to describe. That power transcended horrific allegations, disfiguring surgeries, and an eccentricness that is unmatched even by most celebrities.

It got me thinking about what it’s going to be like when Jesus comes back. Will the world react in shock and internet frenzy? Will the search engines falter at the searches for “Jesus Christ”, “Rapture”, or “Lord of Lords”? Will there be gobs of reporters stacked in front of churches everywhere? Crying people building shrines and hugging teddy bears?

Obviously Michael Jackson left his fingerprint on many lives in the world. I mourn for his family as they suffer the loss of their son and sibling. But now, in the light of reality, my challenge is to allow Jesus Christ to leave His fingerprint on your lives as well. His power, His glory, His awesomeness far outshines all of us…including our celebrities. He deserves our worship and our adoration. He deserves our web searches and He deserves our hearts. He’s not just the King of Pop…He’s the King of Kings.

Mark and I installed a pond this spring. It’s been quite a hysterical process. We’ve been wrestling with the water and have seen every color from neon green to murky sludge. Four brave goldfish have lost their lives and we’ve unclogged the fountain about 40 times. Then we began breeding mosquitoes, which was horrifying for me. We have stood multiple times, looking upon the pond with great disdain, and yet not ready to give up the battle.

Just in the last week I felt like we may be turning a corner. I got some pond plants that are algae eaters and they seem to be doing their fair share. The flowers at the edge of my pond are beginning to spill over and the horror of the past is beginning to subside. I think we may have even mastered the pH levels of which I am now an expert…

And then yesterday, just to top off the feeling of success, my girls and I discovered a frog peeping out from the lily pads. I love wildlife and my little friend proves that life is possible in my pond of scum…I’m pretty excited about the whole thing. My girls named him Froggy…not creative, but you’ll never confuse him with another species…He was still there this morning and Kennedy took the picture below to prove his existence.

That frog is my silly reminder of the week to look beyond the current scum of your situation and work towards making your life balanced and in order. Some things need to be removed (like dead fish) and some things need to be added (like algae plants). Do some research into your situations and solve your problems. Good luck! And may there be sweet frogs in your future…

I’m working on our upcoming baptisms on July 5. This is a labor of love for me! There is nothing I enjoy more than watching people make a public commitment to follow Jesus for the rest of their lives. I know all of their stories. I’ve watched them struggle, grow, learn, make choices, and ultimately they have arrived at a place that is sacred…yes, I will bring all of my imperfect self to the edge of the water and let Jesus make me clean and holy.

We currently have 9 people signed up to get baptized, which is awesome! Five elementary age kids, one teenager, and three adults. Each life represents so much to me. They are each a piece of why Mark and I leveraged our lives for this church. They are a piece of my heart. They are a piece of God’s greater plan for our community and our world. They are potential and hope. They are companions on a journey that is long, difficult, but very rewarding. They are family.

If you are ready to follow Jesus, it’s time to get baptized. Mark is teaching about it’s plan and purpose next Sunday. Join us to learn more about it and begin to pray now about what God is saying to you about this issue!