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ilovesharla
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Name: Cameron
Country: United States
State: Missouri
Gender: Male
Interests: God, faith, my wife, my kids, the church, football, reading, learning, and lots of other stuff
Expertise: I like to think so
Occupation: Other
Industry: Nonprofit
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
2/23/2006
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| a productive week for us. my mom and dad are going to be moving out here in august, maybe even a little earlier. tuesday adn wednesday just flew by. they are my longest working days where i go from morning to evening doing ministry. the two small groups that meet in those evenings are really doing well. i still have a hard time with how long our staff meetings are, but that will have to be addressed at another time.
sunday night we had about 30 people for our young leader's meeting. it is a group that is meeting to learn about servant leadership. fred, stephen, and i are leading it. fred started it up this week and i am taking hte next one. stephen leads worship adn will teach a couple of times also. it is exciting to be at a place with such youth adn passion and also with a real servant's spirit.
i am reading a book called living in the freedom in the spirit by tom marshall. it is about receiving and giving forgiveness. it is amazing how many christians, myself included, have allowed ourselves to hold onto bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts against others and ourselves. it really creates bondage and takes away the freedom that God wants us to experience in our lives. i am about a third through the book and recommend it so far. spent a good amount of time in prayer yesterday just confessing my sin to God. when i am really honest i can see how greed, pride, lust, anger, envy, etc. just grips me and holds me back from experiencing His love and living the life that i really want to live. it is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
i visited a young man in the hospital yesterday that is dealing with intense anger issues. wednesday is my day for hospital visits and seeing him and the power of God through prayer in his life is great. God is opening up my eyes to the true power of loving people and ministering to them. there is a lot to learn still, but i am thankful for the opportunity to be a messenger of His love to someone. good stuff.
i wrestled with caleb adn kiersten for a long time last night after getting home from work. man, they are so fun. it melts my heart to be with them and i miss them so much when i am away. caleb is so full of energy and keirsten so full of grace. you can't beat that stuff.
well, back to work... i love my family | | |
| well it has actually happened. my dad just signed the papers to
buy the house here in kansas city. there is the possibility of
something going wierd, but it looks like they are moving out here. it
really is their dream home. they can do everything they have
always wanted. plus, they will be around a lot of really healthy people
at the church. i pray that God really gets a hold of them and does some
radical change in their lives. to be honest, they don't have too much
life left and i would love for it to be joyful.
shar is doing the last gathering at the ymca. i am glad it is
almost over. it took too much time from the family and the ministry we
have been given now. i am glad that she is so passionate about doing
these things, though. she has a heart to love on people.
tonight i take my dad for kansas city barbeque. the really good ones
are in the parts of town that are probably not good to go to at night.
so, a quandary. great food + bad part of town or pretty good food
+ safety. it is still a tossup. i am calling around to see
if there are other places that are great without the danger.
craig swanson just called me. it will be Gates BBQ on emmanuell
cleaver II blvd. great food and a pretty safe place. so, tonight is the
night of celebration for my parents moving to kc this summer. i have to
say that i am surprised it is happening. but, God has a way of
working things out to bless us.
i read body by God at borders a couple of days ago. not bad
stuff. i don't usually get into that kind of book, but i need to
get into shape. maybe some bbq will help.
sharla is not feeling well today. kiersten cried more than i can
ever remember while we wer driving. it has been a wierd
day. houses being bought. bbq eaten, people being sick. oh well,
such is life.
now i must go and get the blessed barbeque,
love the family
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| Today is my day off. Friday and Monday end up being the official days
for me since I work on the weekends. we are going to do some fixing up
around the house since my dad is coming tomorrow. Bryan has
almost gotten all of his stuff out of the basement and that will be
open to us. it is wierd having him leave now. he is like a family
member, but at the same time an outsider. maybe it is that he was here
for a year and a half. it is surprising that so much time has
gone by. i pray that he will look back on this time as a
postitive and challenging one. i pray that it will have made an
impact in his life.
yesterday i was sick. days like that are such a waste. i wasn't
able to concentrate on work and ended up sleeping all afternoon until
we went to pick up a young adult from teh hospital. she needed a ride
to the school since someone had broken into her car and also given her
a flat tire. she is from Kenya and will be having her baby
Monday. her boyfriend left her and the baby so she is basically alone.
my mother-in-law met her and asked her why she looked so sad at the
supermarket. (that is one of the things I appreciate about my
mother-in-law. she will act upon what needs to be done) so Sunday this
stranger will be having a baby shower from teh ladies at the church and
support after teh baby is born. cool stuff. hard situation, but that is
what the church is for.
after giving her a ride we all went to our Bible study. we are
really going to miss all of them. it is almost time to transition out
of that group. we told them tonight that we will soon leave. we didn't
set a date, but i expect our next gruop to be our last. it is
just time to focus on relationships at teh Vineyard. plus, another
night taken up during the week is just too much right now. i pray that
these will be lifelong friends. sometimes you just know that will
be the case. the type that you can call up after six months and
pick up right where we left off. i already have that with some
people and am thankful for it.
last night caleb came down to see us during the study and peeked his
head in and smiled at me. what a happy kid. he just wanted
to see his daddy. i love that.
i need to get a list of great books to read so caleb and kiersten can
see what i was reading at this time. it will take a while,
though. once i get this blogging thing down a little more i will
have separate sections for stuff like that.
the kids just finished their baths. they have these cool little towels
that the get wrapped into and kierstens is a pretty one and caleb's is
a lion. after their bath they just like to get wrapped up and
snuggle. man, i love that. kids are great!
love em, love the wifey
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| What a great day so far! Man, it is good to have an administrative assistant. i think i did a terrible job at central utilizing Tina's ability as an assistant. if anything, i am learning here how much i did not know at central. not that it is central's fault, but i just did not know how to work well with other people utilizing their strengths. sometimes that happens. i had a ton of energy, but just seemed to get lost in the use of it. i did read a lot, though. that might have been good and bad. too much info and not enough action just creates intellectuals who talk a good game, but play very poorly. anyway, i am glad for what i learned there, and especially for what i am learning and doing here at the vineyard.
one of the things that i am still getting used to is the way that fred interacts with me. he is my boss and my pastor and seems to focus pretty intently on the pastoral role. not that he doesn't do a good job with leading, but he actually cares about me. it is almost wierd. i don't quite know how to deal with it. it is just different. this is not to say that others did a poor job in these areas, but just that fred is really unique. special in a way. when a kid wants to grow up and be like his father he does so because there is a mystery and uniqueness to his dad. his dad is special. well, fred is unique and special like that. i want to be a pastor similar to him. i am too old to want to be just like him, but nonetheless, i would be proud to be as effective in ministry and life.
tonight i lead a bible study in my house. i actually look forward to it. that is not always the case. many times i dread being around people a lot. i am introverted like that. but, God has put a desire in me to be with and minister to others. i hope it lasts a while.
caleb and kiersten came to visit me at the church today. what a great surprise. i will never get tired of their beautiful faces coming to see me. if God loves me more than i love my kids then i am overwhelmed. it almost seems impossible in a great way.
ilovethemsomuch
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| what a day! meeting after meeting after meeting. staff
meeting was pretty uneventful. we prayed a lot and then discussed
business, but i wish we could be a little more focused on things that
affect everyone and cut down on the time in the meeting. we have so
much to do in our own ministry areas that i wonder how much time we
waste in the meeting talking about htings that don't pertain to
us. maybe i am just too time-oriented. But i do enjoy the staff
interaction adn i really like them.
great meetign with steve gillaspie today. he has parkinson's and
is only 50. he wants to lead the large events for our evangelism
ministyr. praise God. it is a huge ministry area and he has the
time to invest in it. i pray that he would be effective. i also pray
for his healing and that his faith is strengthened.
after a bunch of phone calls to prospective ministry people, i went to
lead a small group on finances. it was great. good
discussion and people had a good time. the challenge is good. i
know that we need to get our finances together more tightly. i
feel bad that we have been so loose. thank God for providing in
spite of our foolishness as of late. we are going to get back on it. i
talked with Jessica Kingsbury and her husband Rob about the Young Adult
vision adn future. they are pretty jazzed and it is just fun to
share the vision. i pray that they would buy into the vision. it
will take time, but You are going to build this ministry.
i missed the family today. didn't see them at all hardly.
when i came home Caleb ran in and told me that he loves me. man i
love those kids. bless them and make them amazing servants and
lovers of God. i will forever be thankful for hugs and kisses from
them. nothing is as innocent and genuine.
my parents are serious about moving out here. my dad is even flying out
to kansas city this saturday to see a house that we have found for
him. i pray that this is it. give them wisdom and insight
into htis house. we prayed for him in staff meeting today. both for the
house, but especially for health and a freedom from living like he was
created for unhappiness. freedom from alcohol and freedom to know and
love God. Bring it God!!!
It is too late to continue, but just one more thing... i love sharla, caleb and kiersten
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