Celebrate

We had an incredible weekend celebrating the first marriage among our children. Benjamin and Anna were married in Estes Park, CO Saturday surrounded by breathtaking Rocky Mountains scenery, an enthusiastic church family, relatives, friends and the Lord. We sang, clapped, prayed, whistled, ate, danced, laughed, and cried together the whole weekend.

Coming home, my wife commented that it didn’t feel too much like Sunday. True enough as we had to leave too early for a flight to attend a worship service. It’s an odd feeling not to be with the people you worship, celebrate, study, learn, and serve with.

I wonder if others feel the same way. A call came in this morning from someone looking for a new small group. A shift change to second shift forced her to drop out of her small group. “I really miss my small group and want to find another one quickly.” I think she understands how much it means to be connected with other Christians.

I’ll start today connecting with everyone in my circle at Crossroads Community Church. The catching up will begin and continue throughout the week. But I’ll have to wait for Sunday to really be part of the celebrating…when we’re together with God and God’s family.

What does it take for you to celebrate?

Counting

What do you count? And maybe it's more important to ask why you're counting. Tony Morgan (http://tonymorgan.typepad.com) posts this week on numbers and I started looking at what I count. Here's my list from April 30's Sunday at Crossroads:

3 – kids I high-fived.

5 – volunteers I thanked.

16 – baptism orientation attendees.

19 – grapes I consumed @ the Crossroads Cafe.

21 – single parents who signed up for connecting/mentoring with parenting couples.

46 – parenting couples who signed up for connecting/mentoring with single parents.

Which numbers from my collection do you think are most important and why? If I was starving, the grapes may be most important. If I'm thinking impact on a future generation, the high-fives may have it. If I'm gauging our impact on nonbelievers in Lenawee County, MI, I like the baptism orientation number. How about helping people embrace the joy of serving? My volunteer appreciation count takes top honors. What about our new venture into connecting/mentoring between married parents and single parents? Maybe the 46/21 count is most important.

At Crossroads, we are committed to counting. Counting helps us discover where we are, where we're heading, and how to gauge our progress toward our mission:

"Helping people take their next step toward Christ by creating irresistible environments where people are encouraged and equipped to pursue:

1. Intimacy with God.

2. Community with other believers.

3. Influence with people outside the faith."