Highlight of the week:  Youth Summer Camp!  Our junior and senior highers were gone all week at camp and they had an amazing time!  God does deep work in our hearts and lives during camp and this year was no exception.  I think it is even more profound for this generation of students who have to turn off their phones and computers for five days to focus on their relationship with Jesus and each other.  Maybe that would be good for all of us!

THANK YOU to all of you who gave scholarships or provided work opportunities for our kids and teens to go to camp.  We had students who WORKED for the privilege of camp, but some still needed additional help to make it.  We appreciate a church that stands behind our young people.

We will have almost 60 people at camp this summer when all is said and done.  That’s 17% of our people experiencing God at camp.

In the same vein…on BIG BAPTISM BASH (that’s not the name, but it’s sure an epic one!) is August 17.  If you haven’t been baptized, mark your calendars because this is the summer celebration where we pull together both hearing campuses and our deaf church for an incredible morning.  You can fill out a baptism registration at www.coffeechurch.com.  The sooner the better because we usually have a lot of baptisms, so it requires a bit of planning on our part!  Never a bad problem to have!!!

I’m hiding in my air conditioning today.  I’m too Irish for this much sun! 🙂

Sunday was great!  Mat Marbrey jumped over to Hazel Dell to preach on God being with us, while Mark and Jim finished up the Man Card series at Battle Ground.

Did I mention that our worship teams are one of the biggest blessings in my life?  Such great people with astounding talent.

I have an equal love for our kid’s workers and leaders!  Right now in Kid City we have some student teachers for the month of July.  My oldest daughter will be teaching the Bible for the first time and I have to say that is pretty moving for this mom!  I love when we spread out the responsibility of sharing the gospel.  I think that God designed to church to be broad and deep in service!

Well, I hope that your day is filled with lemonade and cool shade.  Trust in Jesus today and let Him guide you.  The adventure you will live is worth it!  Be blessed.

Happy Father’s Day!  We had a full house on Sunday as we celebrated the men of North Creek.  We handed all the men a Big Daddy Size Dad’s Root Beer.  Mark added his to some vanilla ice cream and had an awesome float!

We preached our Man Card series at both hearing campuses.  We spoke on integrity at Hazel Dell and courage at Battle Ground.  Our Deaf Church had a men’s retreat, so Dawn Smith spoke out of Ruth.  All three churches had great Sundays and we are blessed by some incredible leadership all around!

Small groups are clicking away and enjoying getting to know each other.  Our small group spoke about not living in fear.  Such a relevant topic for so many of us!

Our teenagers head to camp next Monday.   Would you take some time and pray for the 30 students who are going to spend a week focusing on their relationship with Jesus?  This generation needs a powerful move of God.

Mark was in Haiti this week learning what Convoy of Hope is doing in that country.  He’ll be sharing later this summer about his trip and asking us all to give up a day’s wages as a donation to help Haiti.  You’ll be inspired by his stories!

While he was gone I renovated the garage for him for Father’s Day.  I painted the floor, walls, and all the cabinets/shelves.  I cleaned and dusted and I AM SO EXCITED about it!  It was one of those projects that was hanging over our heads for too long and now it’s done!  Such a relief and now we can enjoy it all summer.

We also had a shower at my house for baby Pust on Saturday.  I looked around and was so blessed by the people in my world.  We are surrounded by such amazing people who are committed to living for Jesus and I consider it an honor to grow old with each of you!

My prayer lately for North Creek is twofold: 1.  That we would be people who read our Bibles. 2.  That we would do what it says.  Our culture says a lot of things are OK, but they aren’t…we’ve got to arm ourselves with a Biblical worldview or we will not know what pleases God.  We, as Christians, cannot go around promoting a false doctrine because it is socially acceptable.  We all must aim to be obedient regardless of the popularity of the issue.

On that note, let’s change the world!  So many people to impact, so much to do!  Be blessed1

As I write my highlights this week, the news of another school shooting is blasting through the news.  Just last week Seattle Pacific University faced the same horror.  My nephew was on the SPU campus at the time and now Troutdale is just too close, so I understand the shock.  That being said, I implore you to use these moments to further your resolve to live for Christ and lead your family to do the same.  We will never be able to completely stop tragedy, but we can live our lives with an eternal perspective, which is the road to hope.  Reynolds High School, we are praying for you!

Now on to my Sunday Highlights:

It was Graduation Sunday for our 2014 High School Grads!  We had 13 graduates between our two campuses, so there was plenty to celebrate.  I am very proud of the diversity that is represented in that group of grads!  God has brought us people from all walks of life and we were thrilled to be a part of their journey in Christ.

We also got to welcome baby Pust at Hazel Dell!  Nate and Emily are enjoying getting to their new little one and are doing well.  Thank you to those of you who are bringing meals to all of our new babies!  We very much appreciate being a part of a church that is there for people during the lows and the highs.

Speaking of being there, our small groups are all started and doing well.  I heard that Chris is torturing people in the men’s workout group, and they are loving it!  I personally feel that if you vomit at a small group, that’s a failure, but the guys must see it differently…

Summer Camp is just around the corner, so would you be praying for our teens and kids?  We have about 36 going to youth camp and the kid’s camp registrations are due in a couple of weeks.  There is NOTHING like camp to change a life!  If you can, would you give scholarship money?  We are helping a lot of attenders out this year with a $50 scholarship, which is key in many of them being about to attend!

We usually do our big baptism weekend in July, but we are moving it to August this year.  Join us on August 17 for a wonderful morning to celebrate with people whose lives are being changed.  Also, if you’d like to get baptized that day, you can register at www.coffeechurch.com

Here’s the key to success in life:  do what the Bible says.  Not what you think it says, but what it actually says.  It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever take on, but in the end, it will pay out in dividends of changed lives!

Be blessed!