happy birthday Lynda!

In the words of Ricky Bobby, today is my “smokin’ hot” wife’s birthday… she’s 35! And still gets mistaken for a fresh grad from nursing school!!!

I love you, babe! Happy Birthday.

some Easter family photos

stage pic

here’s a pic of the stage for Easter… gotta love the IKEA lights!

Easter services at RCC

Here is a video from the Easter service. Colin took this on our new Flip camera that Lynda got as an early birthday present.

more about “Easter services at RCC“, posted with vodpod

a great Easter weekend

We just wrapped up four services for this Easter weekend. And all I can say is, “wow!” What a great way to celebrate our risen Jesus. We started things off with an amazing video of Phil Wickham’s “True Love” (Thanks Dan Stevers for letting us use your creation!). And then it just kept getting better from there. And I can truly say the team, the musicians, vocalists, worship choir, tech team…they all did an incredible job. Thanks team for making my job fun and easy this weekend…

more about “a great Easter weekend“, posted with vodpod

preparing for Easter

Now, I’ve been known to be a bit cynical when it comes to Christian culture. I guess that’s why I so enjoy reading Stuff Christians Like. When I walk into a Christian bookstore, I usually scoff at all the ’stuff’ that, ironically, is not usually books but somehow always is at the front of the bookstore.

So I can say that I surprised even myself this past week when I made my way out to the local Christian store to pick up an item I had heard about for several years but always seemed to dismiss as corny.

This week in our staff devotions, we talked about preparing ourselves and our families for Easter. The whole month of December we sing songs and tell the story of Christmas in preparation for that day. But when it comes to Easter, most of us don’t sing the Easter songs or really prepare ourselves all that much for the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. And I have to admit that I have done very little to prepare my kids to celebrate and understand what Easter is all about…

So that night, the kids and I headed out in the van and purchased something known as Resurrection Eggs. And you know what, it has been an amazing experience for our family. Each night, as we put Aubrey and Colin to bed, we are opening an egg and reading the Easter story. And they are LOVING it. Even before dinner, they are asking what the egg for that night will contain. There is anticipation and excitement as they learn and recount what they already know. And it’s blowing me away!

So I’ve been thinking…from this day on, maybe I’ll stop making fun of the stuff they sell at the Christian bookstores…maybe.

our 2nd grade star

Colin at Lego DiscoveryCentre

So, this week Colin is the ’star of the week’ in his class. We took Panera in to him for lunch on Wednesday (Broccoli Cheddar soup for Colin, please!). Lynda brought in his prized Lego creation today to show the class. And for Friday, we’re sending in a special letter. Here’s what I wrote:

Lots of words describe our Star of the Week. We thought we would share a few that we think best describes him.

Courageously cares for others
Older brother to Aubrey, Ethan & Addison
Lego creator
Inventor
New England born

Baseball player
Often makes us laugh
Roller coaster rider
Tastebuds, his are adventurous (sushi, clam chowder, broccoli cheddar soup, just to name a few)
MarioKart fanatic
Enjoys soccer too!
Somersault traveler
Super cool kid!

We love you Colin and are so proud of you!

words on worship from Nancy Ortberg

“Something happened here in this room last night, there’s no doubt about it. There was an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm and response. Some are calling it worship. I”m not yet convinced.

“When the day comes that this community has the same amount of energy, enthusiasm, and responsiveness for the poor, the marginalized, and those far away from God and each other, then I will believe that what I witnessed last night was worship.

“Until then, I think what we saw last night was compartmentalized emotional catharsis, which while it might been enjoyable, was not worship in any sense of the word.”

Looking for God, Nancy Ortberg, page 172

OUCH!