Reflections on the First Day of Kindergarten

I remember holding a chubby baby a few years ago. 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. Every once in a while I would kiss his little lips. 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.

This morning, Amber and I dropped the little boy off at Willowdale Elementary for the first time. He was ready to go. He wanted to start last year when his brother was in fifth grade. His spiked hair and blue eyes were full of optimism and excitement. I held his soft, little hand as we walked into the classroom. More for me and less for him. I was holding on for a few more moments. I kissed his lips before I said good-bye. He was fine with that but was also ready for Amber and me to leave so he could get this Kindergarten show on the road. As we walked from the classroom to the car I wondered what things would be like for him as he journeys through the passages of life. 

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 much about khronos. In 365 days we will be dropping David off at Willowdale for first grade. Kairos is different. It is a moment or a season when something special happens. Khronos has to do with quantity. Kairos has to do with quality. One we can’t do a darn thing about. The other is almost entirely up to us. 

I’ll get home late this afternoon or early this evening. 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. 

I’ll most likely be greeted by a five-year-old boy when I get home. His blue eyes will be filled with excitement. We’ll kiss one another and I’ll hold his hand. Hopefully he’ll laugh and smile and tell me about his first day of school. Hopefully I’ll be able to be his dad and nothing else. Not having a care in the world besides loving 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. When those feelings emerge, I remember God’s promise of kairos. I remember that life isn’t about the number of years we live, but the life that exists in those years. 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

WE Serve - Leaving the Building

This Sunday, August 12th will be one of the great days in the history of The Water’s Edge. It may be the greatest so far! We will not be having our regular worship services at 9:00 and 10:30 at Millard West High School. Instead, we will gather at Millard West at 9:00 for a short blessing and then worship God by serving and loving our community. (Note: a few teams will need to go directly to their sites.) So far, over 330 people are registered to serve on Sunday morning. If you haven’t signed up yet, please take a few moments and register now!

7:30 to 10:00 - Boxer 500 Colon Cancer Run – 62 Volunteers so far

Team Leader: Kristi Hicks
Water bottle handout, clean-up, and other duties. 

8:00 to 9:00 – T-Shirt distribution, answers to questions, late registration, and snacks at Millard West High School 

8:30 to 2:00 - Release Ministry Homes – 25 Volunteers so far

Team Leaders: Rick and Margie Schmid 

Landscaping, painting, removing wallpaper, and power washing 

Directions are provided in a separate email 

9:00 – Blessing and send-off at Millard West. We will do this outside, weather permitting. 

9:15 – Serve / Depart for project sites 

Millard West High School – 104 volunteers so far 

Assemble UMCOR Health Kits 

Label Water Bottles for future outreaches 

Assemble Hygiene Kits 

Assemble Back-to-School Packages for Millard West Teachers 

Willowdale Elementary School - 30 volunteers so far

Team Leader Chris Seim
Weed, mulch exterior, pick-up trash, paint mural
Bring garden tools and work gloves 

Rockwell Elementary School – 10 volunteers so far

Team Leader: Heather Hutchinson
Weed, pick-up trash, light landscaping
Bring garden tools and work gloves 

Together Omaha – 15 volunteers so far

Team Leader: Chad Schuchmann
Sorting donations and tearing-down a wall
Bring work gloves 

Lighthouse Assisted Living – 25 volunteers so far

Team Leader: Diane Peck
Activities and resident visitation

Good Samaritan Nursing Home – 25 volunteers so far 

Team Leader: Craig Finnestad 

Lead a worship service, read books to residents, and other resident activities and visitation. 

Hope Center – 32 volunteers so far 

Team Leader: Jeff and Brenna Neuhaus
Painting and cleaning
Bring paint rags 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Q: Can kids participate?
A: Absolutely! The projects at the three schools and two nursing homes are perfect for kids! Release Ministries would not be the best for elementary students or younger. 

Q: Do I have to pre-register? 

A: No. However, online registration is simple and will help us better plan the day. 

Q. Can I register Sunday morning? 

A: Yes. However, online registration is simple and will help us better plan the day. 

Q: I don’t have a t-shirt yet. How do I get one? 

A: Werner Park volunteers will pick up their shirt Sunday morning at Werner Park. Release volunteers will be provided a shirt by their team leader. All other volunteers will get their shirt on Sunday morning on a first-come, first-serve basis. 

Q: Do I need to come to the blessing? 

A: Werner Park and Release Volunteers will already be serving during the blessing. All others are encouraged to attend the blessing at Millard West and then travel to the project locations. Come a little early for fellowship and food.

Q: Can I invite friends to serve with me who aren’t part of The Water’s Edge?

A: Yes. Please do! 

More questions? Email celeste@watersedgeomaha.com

WE are so grateful for the overwhelming response to WE Serve. You will be a blessing to the community and be blessed by God for serving others. Be in prayer over the next few days for this incredible day of love, worship, and service. 

See you Sunday morning!

Despair and Boredom - Hope and Love

Reflections on a Week a Camp

This week I was the leader of a camp for kids. Fourth through six graders. Half were boys and half were girls. Bunk beds, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a few home sick kids, swimming, dirty clothes, bug bites, campfires, and s’mores. You know the drill.

Most camps aren’t thriving in today’s culture. Too much competition for that. Camping seems almost an oddity in our world of comfort and conveniences. We spend most of the day outside. No electronics or cell phones are allowed. Us adults aren’t even supposed to use them unless we have an emergency, like writing a column for the weekend’s bulletin. But after a day of adjusting to our new lifestyle, most of us do just fine. 

The best part of the camp is the kids. Most are from rural Nebraska. They still see the world with a wide-eyed optimism. Some are social. Some are socially awkward. Some are mature eleven year olds. Some are naïve eight year olds. All are trying to find their place in the world. 

My favorite time is sharing the Gospel with them around the campfire at night. Campfires seem a little out of place when it’s been 100 degrees all day and the air temperature still hovers in the mid 90s, but the Gospel is never out of place. I don’t talk about too much: God’s love, faith, forgiveness, grace, salvation, and their potential are the only things they get to hear which is just as well because if they ever manage to figure out even half these things they just might find their place in the world. 

The boy with autism. The girl who never wanted to be there but did her best the whole time. The boys who always raced to the front of the line when it was time to eat. The four Sudanese girls. The baseball player with the tough exterior and the soft heart. The over-worked and under-paid counselors. God created all of them and even brought all of them together for five days in the drought-stricken prairie. As I was praying to close worship last night, God gave me a glimpse of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Some of the girls were trying to guess how old I was yesterday. I got everything from 25 to 37. Flattery. Then one of the boys said his mom and dad were both 42. A girl replied, “That is so old.” Reality. 

Reality will come tomorrow afternoon and I’m good with that. I have a wife and two kids I miss. I’ll be a week behind on my work at the church and look forward to catching up. I’ll finally get to watch some of the Olympics. 

But the lesson from the week is as profound as it is clear: great and beautiful things happen when a diverse group of people gather to intentionally seek God and live as disciples. I look forward to doing this with you during the next seasons and years of our life. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig

Eight Days

We are starting a two week sermon series this Sunday - Eight Days. I invite you to join us -- either at The Water's Edge or online as we intentionally grow closer to God together. The sermon videos, prayers, daily devotional guide, and communion devotions will be posted online in case you have to miss worship or if you don't live in the area. Visit our website Sunday to join us on this journey.

During the next eight days we will embark on a journey toward healing and wholeness. We will develop a greater understanding of ourselves. We will experience God. And we will begin to dream about the possibilities of what can happen when our passions intersect with God’s power.

Danish philosopher, Søren Kierkegaard, understood anxiety, despair, and boredom to be humanity’s three major problems. Four thousand miles to the west and two hundred years later, not much has changed. We worry about things we have little, if any, control of. Sometimes things seem so hopeless we don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. And, we are uninterested in things we have a suspicion we need the most. 

Jesus talks about anxiety, despair, and boredom: 

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. –Matthew 6:34 

Anything is possible if a person believes. –Mark 9:23 

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. –John 10:10 

God wants to partner with us in overcoming obstacles. He desires to heal our hurts. His dream is that we prevail over our past. He gives us each other and the Church. He blesses us with His presence found in the Holy Spirit. And, He equips us with three gifts that combat and will ultimately conquer anxiety, despair, and boredom: 

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. -1 Corinthians 13:13 

If an unhealthy amount of anxiety is present in your life, if areas of your life seem hopeless, and if life often just seems like you are going through the motions—then the next eight days are for you. Two messages will examine our problems and God’s resources. Prayers will connect us to God: both sharing with God and listening to God. Daily devotions will challenge us and get us thinking about life after these eight days. 

In Acts 9, Saul, a man filled with anxiety, despair, and boredom, has an encounter with God. He spent three days fasting and praying. At the end of his intentional time with God, he began living out the blessed gifts of faith, hope, and love. And the world hasn’t quite been the same ever since. My prayer is after our eight days together, your world will different as well. I look forward to spending the next eight days with you. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig

Anxiety Despair Boredom - Faith Hope Love

Lessons from Life

Playing board games is one of our favorite things to do during vacation. Chess is a favorite. So is Monopoly. Benjamin and I broke out the game of Life yesterday. It had been awhile since I had played the game. After he beat me pretty good, I thought about all the lessons from the game of Life.

1. Rules can change without notice

The new game has different rules than the game I grew up with. The Life Tiles were new. And so was the way a career is determined. I liked the old rules better. But my affinity to tradition didn’t matter. The choice is between adaptability or irrelevance. You know the better option and so do I. 

2. Learning opens doors. 

Learning doesn’t guarantee success in life, but it does open doors. Some careers are available only to those who commit to learning. Personally, interpersonally, or professionally—some habits, achievements, lifestyles, and innovations are available only to those who are willing to learn. 

3. Decisions we make have consequences, but grace exists and so do second chances. 

Decisions made early in life have a direct correlation to what happens later in life. Decisions made later in life have a direct correlation to what happens later in life. We are products of our past. But, in the game of Life and in life, mid-course corrections are possible and they happen. We don’t have to be defined by our past. We can redefine our future. 

4. Choose long-term satisfaction over instant gratification. 

We live in a culture of instant gratification. A better plan is satisfaction over the long haul. Be an investor and not a consumer. Invest in others. Invest in yourself. Invest in God’s Kingdom. Or as Jesus says: Build your house upon the rock.

My office as I wrote this column

5. Enjoy the companions on the journey. 

The best part of playing Life was my opponent. I got to look at his blue eyes and his partially sun-burned, freckled face as he asked me about mortgages and cosmetic surgery. We laughed. We shared. We talked. It wouldn’t be much fun playing Life by yourself. 

6. Bad things happen. 

Flat tires, tornados, and car accidents all happen. So do illnesses, failed relationships, and financial troubles. Jesus tells us such is the case. He also promises he will always be with us. I’ll put up with #1 if I get #2. 

7. Being the first one finished isn't always a good thing. 

David was kind of playing too. He wasn’t making decisions or required to do what was on the spaces he landed on. But he had a car, he got to spin, and he was in it to win it. And he won. He was the first one to finish. And when he was done he wanted to play more. As a six year old he discovered an important rule of life: Sometimes in life we go so fast that we miss out on life. 

The best is yet to come… 

Craig