Acts 1:12-14

Jealousy can be tough. A lot of people can never overcome it. Jesus family did, though. Earlier in Jesus ministry they tried to come to get him and take him home because they thought he was crazy, or lying, or something. But now they must have realized that He was who He said He was. It's just tough to take sometimes because we knew them growing up. We know all about them. They seem more human to us than anybody else because we know them. So when they start doing great stuff, we have more trouble accepting it.
Taking that even further, the closer we are to somebody the easier it is to not fully appreciate them. If someone I work with everyday accomplishes amazing things, I get used to it and forget just how amazing it is. What if we continually thanked and appreciated people for the things they do everyday from the mundane to the remarkable? I bet people could accomplish more with all of that encouragement. Just a thought. JM

Changing Children

I'm always amazed at how quickly my kids change. I didn't see them for 8 days. Ana came back with about twice the amount of hair that she left with, and Noah looked like he had matured by about 6 months. I just hate being away from my family, but it really makes me appreciate them when I get back around them again. JM

Staff Retreat

I love being able to get away with the rest of our church staff to debate vision, direction, and the overall future of the church. Right now we are struggling through the Simple Church idea by trying to figure out what our core programs would be and ways to eliminate other ones. It's a challenging process for us, especially since we are modeled around the traditional SBC church programming.
We were up in this cabin way up in the North Georgia mountains. It was an awesome view. I got to climb up to the top of our little mountain and look around.
I love being up in the mountains. I can't wait until I get to go camping with my family.
I just hate being away from my family, though. I'd rather see us just do it locally during the day from like 9 - 5 or something like that. That way we get to work through this stuff, hang out a little bit, and we get to spend the night with our families. Less stress on staff with young children. JM

My Wife Left Me

My wife left me this morning. She took the kids. It's all my fault.
Well, really she did leave this morning to go back to St. Louis for the week. I have staff retreat Sunday through Wednesday and then our Crucible retreat Friday through Sunday. So instead of just being by herself all week, she flew home.
It was sad to watch her leave. I watched her go through security and then make her way down the terminal.
I saw Noah as he walked alongside her. As they passed the first gate in the terminal, he looked excitedly out the window and pointed a plane out to mommy. It was really cute to see.
I miss them already. At least I'll be really busy. JM

My Easter Sunday

After church on Sunday we stopped to pick up some food at Dairy Queen. We were going to have a big meal with some friends that evening, so we just needed something to fill us up for a little while. Around 3:00 we called over to confirm our plans and found out that the lady of the house was sick, so the Easter party had been aborted. So for dinner we had Steak 'n Shake.
It was just a sad Easter because you want your kids to have all these great memories of holidays and parties, and for Easter we had fast food twice. Plus it was too cold to go to a park or do anything outside, so we just stayed inside. It was actually pretty frustrating. Oh well. Lesson learned. JM

Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own Part II

The worst part of my job is that there are times when I have to be away from my family for days at a time. It's what makes me know that I'm not cut out for youth ministry. I just can't handle that. Maybe it's part of God preparing me to move onto something else. JM

Ordeal or No Big Deal

Bobby Gruenewald posted about how he got stuck on the interstate in a snowstorm in Pennsylvania with some other guys from lifechurch. It sounds like their circumstances worked out well, and they were able to not be in too much discomfort as they sat in their car without moving for 18 hours. This is one of those potentially terrible moments, though. The difference would have been if their families had been with them. Me and some buddies = no big deal. Me and the wife and kids = a horrific ordeal.
I always wonder what it's like out there for stranded motorists, and Bobby's post is a great insight into it. Great to see the collective spirit take over in survivalist situations. Screw altruism. JM