destinychurch

I Think The Devil Made Me Do It!

The Devil always gets far more credit than he deserves… In a moment of weakness, I decided to blame him instead of admitting I was the one who went crazy with the pecan pie.

I feel sick – but man was it fun getting there.

Crafty Cousins

After the family feast today Jayme and her cousin Jessie crashed… apparently in the middle of some kind of artistic project. Both are super-academic, super-athlete types who have something going on nearly every day of the week. It was nice to see them take a break and get some rest.

Next to the "sleeping beauties" was paper and scissors. I'm not sure what they were working on but I wasn't about to wake them. Not because they looked so cute resting… rather because the idea of waking two exhausted teenage girls with scissors within reach scared me! :o)

Psalms 91:1-2 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

 

 

God is Good!!!

This is how my family rolls on Thanksgiving. We do Turkey on Friday, but Thursday is steak, twice baked potato, and pecan pie day. My dad cooks a steak like no other (probably because he's the one who buys them – something about that always makes them taste better).

OH MY!!! Somebody say grace and let's get this party started… God is so good!

Crash

I don't know if the driver was reaching for a cell phone, changing radio stations, or just wasn't paying attention. All I saw was the little white car clip a trailer, and then go spinning out of control. On I-74 W between Champagne and Farmer City, Illinois, parts of a Pontiac were flying everywhere as I repeated "In Jesus Name!"

The car disappeared down in the center median… still spinning.

After calling 911, I made my way across traffic to the car. Incredibly, the car had spun back onto the highway and never flipped.

I hated the feeling of not knowing what I was about to see inside the car that was missing much of its front end.

I found the driver already out and standing next to the car. Miraculously, she didn't seem to be hurt. Her car was destroyed, facing the wrong way, and partially blocking oncoming traffic. We made it back to the other side of the road and her first words were, "I think I'm going to be sick…"

The young lady was a college student going home for the weekend. She wasn't sure what had happened and only remembered clipping the trailer. I offered to let her sit in my rental car while I waited outside the car for an Illinois State Trooper.

It took 15 minutes and countless near-accidents before the IHP finally showed up. During that time, I stood on the side of a highway looking around. The whole thing overwhelming – somebody's little girl was in accident. It made me wonder what my little girl is doing right then.

As I waited on the side of the road, I did what all dads do in that situation. I stood with my hands in my pockets, with tears in my eyes, and thought about my daughter, my son, my wife, my friends, my church and those I love most.

Later, I gave the officers my contact information, told them what I had seen and moved out of their way. As I left, I told the young lady that I had prayed for her the moment I saw her car spinning and that I believe that God had kept her safe. She smiled.

As I walked off she caught me, gave me a hug… and said, "thank you" – then went back to the officers.

As reality set in, the OU football game that I was missing didn't seem like that big of a deal. The Papa Del's pizza getting cold in my car wasn't that big of a deal. The stock market that day wasn't that big of a deal. The game would go on, the pizza could be reheated and my pastor friends waiting on me would understand why I was late. I realized that night, many of the things we are consumed by aren't that big of a deal.

Loaves and Fishes – Proud Pastor Moment

Can I just say how proud I am of my church family? This afternoon, Renae updated me via phone about the day's events (I was waiting for a flight in Chicago) and I admit I got really jealous. She told me about the amazing group of volunteers from Destiny that served Loaves and Fishes Ministry. A ministry that helps with a growing need in our community. They, along with others, greeted guests, signed them in, ushered, prayed over, and then gave out boxes of food to feed 343 households this Thanksgiving. I could only look around Gate G2 and wonder how many knew what it was like to not have food on Thanksgiving. Something our friends Milo and Marilyn Reno from Loaves and Fishes Ministry know all too well. 

Renae shared that Al Poncel (one of my heroes) spoke and many responded. She went on about how proud she was of Pamela Harrison and the number of volunteers Pamela had recruited. Though the needs can be overwhelming, Renae loved every minute – like only my ridiculously, hard-working, wife could. She apologized that not more had gotten done around the house, but admitted that it didn't really matter – something amazing had gotten done! I love this woman!

What an amazing weekend! Saturday volunteers from Destiny packed boxes for Loaves and Fishes, Sunday they fed the homeless at John 3:16 Mission, and today they passed out food to hungry families. I am so proud of my church family!

Oh My!

Every man should pop open the hatch on his SUV to something like this at least once in his life. Bonus points if it's in a very public place!

Though I couldn't shut the hatch on the Tahoe fast enough, the contents were just a creative (and uncomfortable) reminder of a church that is all about loving people. The bounty seen in this picture was collected from Monday night's women's bunco. Every month they collect something as an outreach for an area community group or ministry. This month it was Broken Arrow Neighbors… and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what they were collecting. I love this church!

Worth the Trip

Today I drove to Oklahoma City and had lunch with Kirk Pancratz the pastor of the Harvest Church in OKC http://harvestokc.com . Hanging out with a veteran pastor as a newbie was beautiful thing. We had lunch and finished over a cup of Starbucks. Pastor Kirk has been doing this longer than I have. I was honored that he made time to spend with me and I was thankful to glean from him (pastoral language for steal as many cool ideas as I could). He spoke into my life more than he could know.

Then I was off to the OU Medical Center to visit a young man. I was Billy's youth pastor back in the day. I know youth pastors aren't suppose to have favorites, but Billy has always been one of mine. Always a big smile, as laid back as they come, and this kid was amazing on basketball court. Somewhere I even have a video tape of me waking him up early on a Saturday morning when he was a young teen. Banging pots inches from his sleepyhead was how we got him out bed and hijacked him for breakfast where we negotiated about showing the video to whole youth group.It was so good to see my ol' buddy Billy, I wished it were under different circumstances.

The problem began last December when Billy went to his wife and said he wasn't feeling well and he was soon admitted in the hospital. One hospital turned to two and the list has grown. It has now been virtually a year since Billy was first admitted. Billy is suffering from a mysterious disease currently doctors neither understand nor have identified. 11 months later, Billy and his family have moved from Hospital to Hospital. It's hard to watch people you know and love suffer, but there is no doubt in my mind that God has a plan for the 29 year old man's life.

Today I met his wife Nikki (what a gem) and saw pictures of their two beautiful girls while sitting in their room at the OU Medical Center. If you would like to meet Billy or better yet send him and his wife an encouraging note, I know he'd love to hear from you – just make sure you introduce yourself as being from Destiny and don't ask a bunch of questions – just love on them, that's what really they need... that and a miracle with their name is on its way!

See their myspace - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=422563617 and again make sure you let him know where are from and that you are praying for him.

Return of the Wannabe Gearhead!

I've always been a "wannabe" gearhead. A gearhead is one those guys who builds street rods in their garage and can fix anything on any car?

And though I'm no mechanic, today I had the chance to do some repairs on my daughter's car, and that got me excited. This was something I could actually do and I had promised Jaymz that I would fix her bumper, so after the last deliver of parts topped the small mountain of cardboard boxes in the garage – I was ready to dust off a few tools. After I found them…

I love my little girl and today I was going to show her just how much. First project on Jayme's car was a rear bumper rebuild. I was elated that I was saving hundreds of dollars doing the repairs myself and buying Taiwanese aftermarket parts online. I'm off on Mondays, the weather today was gorgeous so this seemed as good a time as any to make a mess. Not since I owned a '69 GTO have I been this excited to peel open boxes loaded with chrome. I guess I've missed bloodying my knuckles and hospital co-pays. But really, how hard can one bumper be?

Sobriety soon replaced euphoria. Do you have any idea how much stuff has to come off to fix a bumper these days? What use to take four bolts and a hammer on an old Pontiac is far more involved on a 4Runner. Dude, things are different on a Toyota compared my ol' Goat.

What should have taken two hours took the better part of eight.

With a old parts pile next to my house (my neighbors will love that) I retired for the day and went in to see if I could score some Ibuprofen. I can't exactly say that my work looks like it was done by a professional – but it was a blast none the less… and saving money is always nice.

A few things I was reminded of today; I can still set a tool down instantly lose it, my fingers still bleed, and there is definitely a difference between budget-internet parts and the one's Toyota sells. And I'm still just a wannabe gearhead…

BTW – the first real gearhead at church who pulls out a micrometer (to measure gaps on my work) gets punched… jk, jk. :-)

Little Things – Proof That God is Good

It's funny… those things that can put us in a great mood. What do you make of the picture to the left? I see a thing of beauty that replaced something that has been bugging me for a long time. Another blessing in a morning full of blessings…

Filling my "completely empty" gas tank for less than $20 bucks made me grateful. Stuffing my guts with a room full of guys from church at a men's breakfast was a blast and gave me a sense of contentment. Then seeing the new curtains in the back of the auditorium put a huge goofy smile on my face. By ten o'clock this morning it was official, I was in a great mood. Usually, I'm not even conscious by this time on a typical Saturday :-) God is good, and it's going to be a great weekend!

It’s early, and I want my coffee!

Wow! I (Renae) have been thinking a lot about "Worship" lately, as we are in the series "Beyond – A Journey Into Worship".  Mike's definition (in my own words) from last weekend's message was: "Those things we have full confidence in are what we end up worshipping."  In mulling this thought over this week, I took the definition a step further, realizing that whatever seems to be consuming my thoughts may be something that I am worshipping as well.  (Especially if I am following my feelings.)

Let me give you an example of what I'm thinking.  When my alarm goes off in the morning, sometimes my first thought is, "Oh, I need my coffee!"  That thought is based on my feelings. Wow, I'm pretty sure that means I am somewhat putting my confidence in coffee to start my day off right.  Ouch!  I genuinely know that "The joy of the Lord is my strength" (Ps. 21:1)  Now I'm going to work on living and walking out what I KNOW.  Knowing something doesn't do us any good if we don't "do" or "live" it. 

Tomorrow is a new day. Yes, I'll probably enjoy a cup of coffee or green tea, but I choose to acknowledge my Savior with my first thoughts. I will give Him glory for "This is the day that the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it." I want to worship Him and Him alone!

This is just one of my thoughts for the week and thought I'd share.  – Renae Goolsbay