Staff Christmas Party

We just wrapped up 3+ hours of wild, zany celebration that was mixed with tears, hugs, and a whole lot of incredible food. Our staff is a group of 60+ people who fill a variety of roles -- some are paid, others are volunteers, but all have accepted the responsibility for shouldering some significant area of oversight within the functioning of our church family.

Today was especially emotional because we took some time to say our farewells to Dave & Sharlene Brewer who have been interns working shoulder-to-shoulder with us for a whole year. Their family of four heads back to Australia at the end of next week.

We also shed some tears as the staff presented Hilary and I with a group-gift for Christmas, thanking us for our leadership and covering. Then, Hilary and I returned the favor by giving out some little presents of our own to each person.

When you can laugh and cry with a group of people, you know you've found your home. May our church family always be that kind of place -- safe enough to laugh and cry freely. And may we always have plenty of things to laugh and cry about.

Pastors' Shopping Trip

Each year we kick off the shopping season with our pastoral team with a day in San Francisco. A few of us came up early and are getting a night away... Here's the view from our Pricelined room at the Hyatt Regency.

FYI... If you're ever looking for the schweet deal on hotel rooms, I have found biddingfortravel.com to be a great resource for help stategizing priceline.com bids.

Decorate Me

Over the last couple weeks we’ve had such fun decorating our house, putting up our tree, hanging ornaments, and listening to Sinatra and Crosby crooning carols. I love the warmth and the fullness of this season. Somehow there seems to be more of everything in it—more goodies, more conversation, and more time with friends and family.

I’m praying that the Lord also fills me up with more of Him.

As the lights are strung on the roof and tree, I’m hearing Jesus’ instruction, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

God wants to teach me how to shine for Him—how to be myself, to love Him freely, to relate with others from my heart, to speak with both passion and intelligence (not mutually exclusive), and to lead with both courage and humility (again, not mutually exclusive). This Christmas I’m asking God for a present—that He will show me more of who He made me to be. I don’t want to be a dull clone of a believer that I would be if I just tried to live up to my own vain imagination. Instead, as I live for Him, I know He will make me shine with a light that’s beyond my own.

As the ornaments are hung like glittering fruit, I’m reminded of the kinds of fruit the Lord wants to hang from my branches—“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).

While fruit-farmers work hard to create the right environment for growth, at the end of the day, it’s God who develops that tasty, nutritious snack-on-the-branch. When I’m not loving, not joyful, and not peaceful, it’s because I’m not trusting and following God. I’ve gotten grumpy because I’ve decided that God just won’t come through for me, so I need to take care of myself. This Christmas I’m asking God to show me where I do not trust Him to lead me and grow me. I want to release myself from my own expectations—the pressure I put on myself to grow—and I want to learn to follow the Holy Spirit one day at a time.

Just as the tree and the house don’t decorate themselves, neither should I. I want to trust God to decorate my life this Christmas. He has a garland to drape across the mantle of my heart, especially in the places where all I can see is ashes (Isaiah 61:3). The “father of Lights” wants to replace my broken bulbs (James 1:17) and give me instructions that will be “a graceful wreath to [my] head and ornaments about [my] neck” (Proverbs 1:9).