The Crucial 'Hello'

 Hello Church,

There is a short list of church matters that I rivet my eyes upon--that I pay extreme attention toward every time we have a worship service or ministry event....

The Crucial Hello is on that list.

Few things break my heart more than a visitor who doesn't feel welcomed.  It isn't always intentional.  It is rarely intentional, but that is my point.  Welcoming others should never be accidental.  It should be intentional.  It is the front end of ministry that can be tragic for the rest of a church's ministry if hospitality isn't an intentional priority.

A first-time visitor decides in the first 20 minutes whether they are returning or not.  This does not include the sermon, prayer time or even the music.  This does include the parking conditions, the landscaping, the greeter, the lobby, the ushers, the bulletin and the general look of the environment.  It does include the people who sit around them and how they do or do not say 'hello'.  This does include the liturgist and/or Pastor who looks like they want to be there.

The Crucial Hello is the intentional attempt to help another genuinely feel welcomed.  It is the authentic expression of being glad they decided to visit.  It is what leads to a return visit and a new worship attender.  It is what leads to other things like baptism, communion, membership and new friends.  These things rarely happen without the Crucial Hello.

So be on the look-out.  Put a smile on your face as if you are glad Jesus loves you.  Welcome others as if you want them to know Jesus loves them.  You might be the reason they come back.  

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Cool Dads and Boo Hooey Moms

 Hello Church,

Kim and I are seasoned veterans....

We met Hope's roommate and her family yesterday.  Tressa seems like a really nice girl, a good fit for Hope and her transition to the college life.  Meeting Tressa's parents was fun too.... and it took me back in time.

Sending a kid away to college is a big deal.  When it's your first time sending one away, like it is for Tressa's parents, it is a REALLY big deal.  Kim and I were reminded of the especially high anxiety of moving Leah to Otterbein.  It always seems to be tougher on Mom, but Dads do get anxious as well.  We just don't show it as much because we are trying to be cool.

This is our 5th time of watching a kid move away.  There is a certain 'blah, blah, blah' about the experience.  At the same time it is our last.  It will be interesting on move-in day (August 19th).  I'm sure I'll be the cool dad.  Mom will be a blubbering mess...... 'blah, blah, blah'.

I wonder if this is anything like God felt when He decided to give us free will?.....   Sending us off into the world, giving us instruction, but knowing we are going to do what we want now.  I wonder if He got anxious.  I wonder if He still does.

In some ways all of us are still in college, trying to figure out how to live life on our own.  We go about learning and partying and find those moments when we need to decide which decision is the best versus which decision we really want to make.  I wonder if God just sits back and tries to be cool.  Or does God become a blubbering mess?  And does it ever become 'blah, blah, blah' for Him?  

I hope Hope chooses well.  God hopes we choose well also...... every single day.  And if Hope doesn't choose well, cool dad and anxious mom will come to the rescue.  And if we don't choose well, God will be there for us.  He always has been.  God loves us and cares for us and hopes fo.......blah, blah, blah.....

God is Good

Pastor Joe

When Small Tables Become Big Again

 Hello Church,

Our kitchen table is smaller.

At the risk of making my wife cry, our table has shrunk over the years.  It used to be fully folded out with all the leaves inserted.  This is because we had 5 kids + 2 adults sitting around it.  The table would take up a lot of space, so much so that we would actually use the dining room in which to eat.  A whole box of spaghetti wouldn't be enough and the skillet would never be large enough to fry all the hamburgers at one time.

Years come and go.  High chairs get put away.  Booster seats get sold at yard sales.  Kids become teens who become young adults and move to college....

The table gets smaller.

I'm sadder than I thought I'd be as I adjust to our empty nest.  However, I also admit that I'd be more sad if all those kids came back home to live with us.  There are not too many good reasons for that to happen.  Our goal as parents is to help our kids learn how to be self-sufficient.  I proudly say that they are doing a pretty good job.  I'd take all the credit, but we all know better, don't we?

While this blog may make you sad too, take heart!  There are rewards to pushing the baby bird out of the nest.  Life changes, but that doesn't mean it gets worse.  Indeed, it can get better!

Kim and I can eat whatever we want without moaning and groaning from others.  Only 2 plates get dirty at a time.  The trash gets taken out less often.  There is no fighting over the tv.  I get the basement all to myself.  Kim gets the upstairs all to herself.  There are no 3.5 hours of t-ball games.  Best of all, we get to laugh at all our kids who are complaining about what we used to complain about.  It's fantastic!

and now.?????...... 

there are grandkids!!!!!......

......which makes the table get big again.

God is Good,

Pastor Joe

Holes In Our Walls

 Hello Church,

A picture says a thousand words.  Holes in walls also talk.  Which one do you prefer?

We are nearly all unpacked and settled.  Our last steps are to put up wall hangings.  This is my least favorite step of all.  Why?  I don't like putting holes in walls.  It ruins a perfectly smooth, freshly painted wall.  It seems destructive (or maybe it triggers my memory of kicking a hole in the wall as a teen because I was mad at my parents..... a story for another day...)

My wife gets annoyed with me on this.  Yes, I know, there are other ways to hang things such as with hooks that 'stick' to the walls.  Our experience is that those things can bring down paint and drywall when it is time to take them off.  Just as bad.... maybe worse.

So I am trying to work my way around this.  On one hand, a hole in the wall is not natural.  On the other, we are hanging something that is intended to speak to the kind of home that we want.  We have lots of sentimental hangings, some of which I adore and some that I find humorous.

I guess none of us are perfectly smooth.  We all have blemishes, many of which are not natural.  I guess the trick is to find ways to use our blemishes to hang something that people adore..... or better yet.... that God adores.

For example, some of you have already experienced my sarcasm and attempt at dry humor.  While some appreciate it, I have been known to use it as an unfair tactic for arguing..... a blemish... not good.

So over the years I have tried to use it as a way to help people relax in tense situations.... a form of comedy that can get people to loosen up a bit.  Being loose helps when being the Church.  God has given us reason to not be so high strung.

So what is your blemish?  How can you use it to hang something that people can use toward the good?

God is Good,

Pastor Joe