A Day at the Park

Sunrise over the Platte River

Had to use my old steeplechase skills on this one

Had to use my old limbo skills on this one

So simple and beautiful

Best running partner ever

Benjamin fell three times

The flowers at home: post-run

Time

Sunday's Column...Today

I remember holding a chubby baby yesterday. Or at least it seems like yesterday. He had some fuzz on his head that reminded me of a peach. His eyes were blue like water in a lake. I would touch his soft forearm and softer cheek. His laughter and smile made me laugh and smile. I wondered what his voice would sound like when he began to talk. I wondered what his personality would be like when he matured. 

It doesn’t seem possible, but in just two weeks we will be dropping the boys off at their respective schools. We just picked them up from the last day of school yesterday. Or at least it seems like yesterday. They won’t be allowed to stay up late and sleep in. No more lazy afternoons at the pool. No more early morning runs at Platte River State Park for Benjamin and me. Spelling tests, soccer practices, and schedules too full will be the order of the season.

The Greeks have two words for time: xρόνος (khronos) and καιρός (kairos). The former has to do with calendars and clocks. We can’t do anything about khronos. Nothing. It is predictable and relentless. Kairos is different. It is a moment or a season when something special happens. Kairos has to do with quality. 

The sun will set tonight and rise again tomorrow. That is the khronos. The sands passing through the hourglass. The tick of the clock. The turning of the calendar. It’s going to happen whether I like it or not. 

When I get home this afternoon or early this evening, one of the people I’ll be greeted by is a six-year-old boy. His eyes will be filled with excitement and I’ll receive a challenge to play Mario Cart or an invitation to go swimming. Hopefully I’ll be able to be his dad and nothing else. Not having a care in the world besides loving him and being loved by him. If David and I can pull if off – it’s kairos – the moment when something special happens. Otherwise it is just khronos – each individual sand passing through the hourglass. 

John the Baptist was speaking in Mark 1:15 – “The time promised by God has come at last!” He didn’t use the word khronos. He used kairos. 

Sometimes I feel life is passing by too fast. And then I remember God’s promise of kairos. Life isn’t about the number of years we live, but the life that exists in those years. So take time today to create those special moments that will never happen again. Enjoy God’s sacred and blessed gift of kairos. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig

Vlog: Burying the Past and Managing Time

Summer Vacation: Losing Your Baggage

50 Days of Prayer Introduction

Vacation Bible School, 50 Days of Prayer, and Losing Your Baggage

Sunday's column...today.

It’s Sunday, July 21st. Today is a big day at The Water’s Edge! A really big day!

Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me. –Mark 9:37 

Tonight is the beginning of three days of fun, friends, family, and faith. It’s Vacation Bible School! At press time on Wednesday afternoon, we had over 160 kids registered. We expect lots more registrations. As long as the child is between the ages 4 and middle school – he or she is welcome. We can always use volunteers as too! You can register on Sunday morning at Millard West or on Sunday evening at Russell Middle School. Vacation Bible School runs from 6:15 to 8:30 Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday evenings.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. –Colossians 4:2 

Today also marks the beginning of our 50 Days of Prayer campaign. We mailed the booklets in the middle of the week and will be passing them out in worship this morning and at Vacation Bible School tonight. And you will also have access to it wherever you are - online. 

We will have individual time with God. We’ll pray for our church. And we’ll pray for our city and world. Couples and friends and families will be encouraged to pray together. You will read a short Scripture and have a thought or two to ponder each day. I believe this is one of the most important things we will do as a church in 2013. I also believe these 50 days can be a real spiritual breakthrough for individuals and will help families begin praying together and talking about some of life’s most important and essential issues. 

I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. –Philippians 3:13

One of the things I’ve been praying a lot about is our worship experiences this morning. We continue our sermon series Summer Vacation. The message is Losing Your Baggage. As people we unnecessary hold on to life’s baggage and are burdened with our past. My prayer is that, this morning, we lose the baggage that is holding us back and get past our past. God wants us to trade our baggage in for something else. 

• Our failures and our fears will become faith, forgiveness, and freedom. 
• Our brokenness and our boredom will become belief, blessings, and bravery. 

Serving and loving kids, praying and depending on God, and putting our past in the past…I really do believe the best is yet to come… 

Craig

Vlog: 50 Days of Prayer, Losing Your Baggage, and Vacation Bible School

US Senior Open

Tom Watson, took the time to ask Benjamin if he played golf.

Colin Montgomerie teeing off

Colin Montgomerie photobombing a picture of Benjamin

Just wanted to get a photo of golf as I usually play if

Perfect father - son day

Fifty Days of Prayer

The Water’s Edge is entering into a season of prayer beginning on Sunday, July 21st and ending on Sunday, September 8th. We will devote 50 days to praying, learning, and growing. WE will pray as individuals, families, friends, and as a church.

Fifty days is significant. Pentēkostē is the Greek word for Pentecost which means fiftieth day. In the church calendar, Pentecost occurs fifty days, or seven weeks, after Easter. It is specifically the day the Church was given the Holy Spirit. 

On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. -Acts 2:1-4 

We will pray that God fills us with the Holy Spirit and gives us the ability to do things we have never done before, to accomplished goals we have never completed, and to dream new dreams. 

The Hebrew Scriptures talk about the significance of fifty days as well—bringing their best offering to God after fifty days. 

Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. –Leviticus 23:16 

Although only a few people at The Water’s Edge are farmers (I know of two!) who can actually bring grain, we all have an offering we can bring God. For some it may be time, for others it may be energy, for others it may be a skill, and for others it may be a new level of commitment to discipleship. 

The fifty days begins on one of the most important days of year for The Water’s Edge—the first day of Vacation Bible School. The fifty days ends on one of the most important days of the year for The Water’s Edge—the launching of our new Sunday evening worship experience. Each day will be different. Some will focus on the church. Others will be deeply personal. Some will be comforting and pastoral. Others will be challenging and prophetic. 

My prayer is that after these fifty days, WE will have a much deeper understanding of prayer and a much richer experience of prayer. My prayer is also that God will use this understanding and experience to fuel our ministry this fall and for years and decades to come. 

I am blessed to be taking this journey of prayer with you, 

Craig

Vlog - Detours

Summer Vacation: Vlog

Pray. Plan. Prioritize. Prepare.

Most good things in life come because of planning. Not all, but most. Praying and planning help us prioritize and prepare. I have seen people obsessively plan for things like vacations and weddings. And the results were amazing. A near perfect week or a night they will never forget. 

Life is a lot like a vacation or a wedding. Better planning usually means better results. Some of life’s most important questions are questions like this:

• What do I want my relationship with God to look like one year from today and how am I going to get to that place? 
• What do we want our marriage to be like in five years and what steps are we going to take to make this vision a reality? 
• What can I do to invest in my children today so that they will have a better future tomorrow? 
• What is a dream or a goal I have that hasn’t come to fruition yet and how can I accomplish this goal or make this dream come true?

1. Pray. Listen. Discern. Dream. Vision. 

I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. 
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
 Your old men will dream dreams,
 and your young men will see visions. -Joel 2:28 

2. Make a plan

A goal without a plan is just a wish. -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

3. Prepare to work the plan

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe. -Abraham Lincoln

4. Work the plan 

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity,
 but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty. -Proverbs 21:5 

5. Keep working the plan 

The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare. –Juma Ikangaa 

Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and become wise! Though they have no prince
 or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter. -Proverbs 6:6-8

Dream. Pray. Plan. Pray some more. Prepare. Work. Pray some more. Keep working. Succeed. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig