My guest blogger today is my one of a kind friend Ray Jeske. If you are at all interested in what's happening in the Cornerstone multi-site effort at our Montrose Campus, set to open at the Regal Cinema on Medina Rd. on Feb. 15, check this out. Thanks, Ray!

"Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth . . ."

So yesterday morning I arrive at Regal Cinemas in the Montrose area of west Akron, Ohio about 8:30.  And what a sight awaited me!

A little army of cheerful workers.  Giant color-coded plastic containers like a Tupperware party at Paul Bunyan's house.  Boxes.  Tables.  Brand new skirting.  Cables.  Walkie-talkies.  Toys.  Microphones.  Speakers.  Extension cords.  Laptop computers.

People working in pockets, teams, over here, over there.  Lobby.  Theatre 3.  Theatre 9.  Kids area.

A kind of chaos, yet peaceful.  Fun.  And Pastor Charlie, brooding over it all, clipboards in hand, calling it forth, naming everything, bringing order.  "Beautiful.  OK.  We'll get there.  Good idea.  Write that down.  Who's got the list?  Anyone seen the power cord?  No, the other power cord.  Can you carry this box to Theatre 3? They need it.  And this table?"

Then gather together in theatre, uh, the sanctuary.  Q & A.  "Any problems on your teams?  Someone write that down?  Good.  Don't forget."

Then devotional.  Isaiah 61.  The Spirit of the Lord is upon us. That we might be oaks of righteousness.   The planting of the Lord.  That He might be glorified.

First ever service of sorts.  Tithes and offerings.  Making history.  Ground floor.

Admonition.  Reminders.  Keep inviting.  Let's fill this place.  Holy Spirit brooding over it all.  

"Now let's pack up.  Everyone their detail.  Bring to the storage room.  We've got to get it down to 20 minutes by the 4th time we do it on our opening Sunday.  Don't worry if there are problems.  Just our first time.  We'll get there.  Now ready.  Go!"

First time.

Twenty-two minutes and 30 seconds!

Cornerstone Church.  Montrose Campus.

The King is coming.  Regal Cinemas, indeed.

Kudos to the entire Cornerstone Akron family that is making this act of multiplication happen.  Your sacrifice and willingness to just plain work hard cheerfully is inspiring.

More stories like this and the Living Water Massillon multi-site plant to be shared at this Saturday's Leadership Summit.

And a chance to meet and hear from some of the next generation leaders from The Called.

Be sure to communicate to Bev the names of your team members, and keep inviting the next generation.  Like Charlie would say, "we'll make it work."

Much love,

Ray

 

Band of Brothers

Howard Moomaw, Jim Bailey, Jim Mason

Talking in the lunch room where they eat together every day, Jim Mason reached out and laid his hand on the others' arms. "Looking at us, most people would just think we are simply three old men. But we are more than that. We are three veterans, three brothers, loving each other."

More than that. I would guess. These guys are part of a vanishing breed. They are men whose love of God, family, and country have defined and distinguished them through more than nine decades. All three served with honor in WW II and were decorated for that service.

Howard Moomaw, the group dubbed "baby" of the three, is 91. Jim Bailey, the senior leader of the crew, is 100. Jim Mason is the middle man at 93. Over the years, all three have shared their stories with a bit more reticence and reluctance than now---all of them humble and passing the honor to others. But in these days, they share with more urgency because they know they are the last of the firsthand witnesses to the horrors of world war, personal witnesses to the cost and worth of freedom. Younger generations must know it.

Howard was an Air Force man, a meteorologist. No great surprise he enlisted in the Air Force, as he was always interested in flight. He watched the first flight of the USS Macon in 1932, a rigid airship built and operated for scouting and served as a flying aircraft carrier. In service for less than two years, in 1935 Macon was damaged in a storm and lost off California's coast. Less than 20 ft shorter than the Hindenburg, both the Macon and her sister ship, the USS Akron, hold the world record for helium-filled airships.

World War II brought great advances in meteorology as large-scale military land, sea, and air campaigns were highly dependent on weather. He was part of the team supporting the American effort against the Japanese in the China-Burma-India theater of operations. The special operations weather teams in India have been much honored and heralded because of their contribution to the successful outcomes in that period. Besides the obvious forecasting of weather necessary for missions, another significant duty was forecasting the temperature of the tailpipe of a plane for takeoff. If the temperature was high, the plane required a longer stretch of runway for takeoff. If the tailpipe temperature was cold, liftoff would be quicker.

Howard has a quick and winning smile, and laces his stories with humor. He said their assignment was publicly known as CBI--within the ranks they called it "Corned Beef Indefinitely". This was because cows were considered sacred in India, and beef meals were very hard to come by.  Howard said one of his most memorable experiences was on a day when they flew from India towards China, and the plane was very high and very lost,  with limited fuel. The pilot finally found a hole in the under cast and saw the Yangtze River. They were 100 miles north of where they needed to be, dangerous for multiple reasons, and were overwhelmed with relief and gratitude to be able to follow the trail of the river. "By the grace of God, we were able to finally land after a couple of hours," Moomaw said. He said the relief upon landing safely was so great that all the men who were smokers immediately fell on their backs on the ground, lit up, and smoked fast and furiously.

Jim Bailey was in the 1308th Engineer Corps, Regular Army. from 1941-44. One of his adventures was being on a ship that was chased by a German submarine clear to the South Pole, where the sub had to drop pursuit because of submerged ice. The three men laughingly agreed that eating on a ship was always a challenge. Soldiers sat on benches to eat at long tables. The seas frequently were rough, and tipped the ship, causing the food trays to slide. But the soldiers weren't picky. They would just resume eating whatever food was in front of them when the ship righted itself.

Jim was in a storm so severe that all the food and water was ruined. They drank small amounts of rain water they were able to gather and went very hungry until they pulled into port in India days later. A most memorable experience for him was walking one night alone in France when he met a German soldier face to face. Jim could speak German, and in the dark, the Nazi solder (whom Jim said was really just a kid, only about 15) didn't realize he was talking to an American soldier. His compassion was stirred and he walked awhile side by side with the young man, the young man unaware he was walking with the enemy.  Jim was kind to him. He had lived in the prison stockade with captured German soldiers, and they were "like brothers to me." After a bit, the two men just said "goodnight" and parted ways.

Jim Bailey entered the military service as a solid Christian, and God used him in many ways.  In France, he was in charge of German prisoners of war. He found many of them were hungry for God, and that Hitler's prohibition against worship had starved them. He decided to have church for them. The prisoners were not permitted to gather in groups of more than five. He handled that by having them sit in groups of five or less with a few feet separating them. One of the German prisoners had been a preacher before the Hitler regime, and Jim got him preaching again.

Jim Mason is the "convener" of the band of brothers. He was Army, 101st Airborne, enlisting in peacetime 1939. He says one of the most emotional memories of his time in service was the first time he was on the parade ground after enlistment. He says that when the band played, "Stars and Stripes Forever" as the soldiers stood at attention, he was so proud and grateful to serve his country that he felt like he "grew six inches that day."

Jim was at Pearl Harbor when it was bombed, and saw planes flying so low he could see the rising sun logo painted on the sides and even a pilot's goggles. That experience led him to Officer's Candidate School, and then he entered the war on the European front. His most memorable experiences are tied to the Normandy Invasion and D-Day. He stood so close to Winston Churchill "he could have untied his shoelaces" as Churchill wept, and encouraged the men who were preparing for the D-Day invasion that "the hearts and prayers of the whole free world are with you."

Jim dropped into Normandy on D-Day, June 7, 1944, and, with the soldiers he could gather up, defended the area around Carentan, France, helping liberate that area. He served right where the events of the movie The Longest Day occurred. On June 21, he was wounded in 11 places, and was eventually sent to England to recover.

All three men share a common commitment as deeply devoted Christians. Jim Mason has a transforming experience a short while after his return from the war. He spent his lifetime as an ordained minister, serving in many communities long after retirement, starting in Kentucky as he was in seminary and ending up in Ohio. He can't help but exercise his pastoral heart, and has a sense of responsibility and care for the other residents. Jim Bailey was a Sunday School teacher for years, and was a Christian businessman in the Outer Banks for years. Howard Moomaw continued the car sales business his father had begun in 1933. His son is now the 4th generation to run the business, known for it's integrity. The men were faithful family men, Jim Bailey's wife and Jim Mason's wife preceding them to heaven. All three men have the love and respect of all who know them for the commitment and character that emanates from each of them.

"Thank you" is not enough for the lives they have lived, and the examples they continue to be. This Band of Brothers are all my heroes.

Intentional...the Way I Like to Live

My good friend, Robin McFarren, has asked me several times to share about my "lifeplanner"/journal way of getting and keeping my life and goals on track. I am certainly no expert, but I know it is so easy to get derailed and find yourself a long, long way from where you want to be, unless you live life intentionally. I have found the best way for me is to write my intentions, to document them to keep myself motivated and encouraged. I will share a couple things that help me---I am sure if you experiment a bit, you can design a process that will keep you focused and forward moving. As Andy Stanley says, "Direction, not intention, determines destination." Simply stated, my best intentions won't get me anywhere unless I am actively moving in the direction of those intentions. Several methods help me. I am no where near perfect on this, but I am much closer to who I want to be than I would be without them.

First is what I call my "LIFE PLANNER." I call it my brains. Truth is, I carry it everywhere, and have traveled more than an hour back to get it on an occasion when I forgot it.  For many years I used a Daytimer Brand, and kept my calendar and other pertinent lists in the same place. However, my Daytimer was very large, and was formatted in a way that I was continually trying to refine and personalize. After many changes, about 5 years ago I settled on a very homemade system that fits me fine. It works like this. 

• My iphone calendar syncs with my computer, so I always have it with me (I use the Google calendar system), and all my personal dates and business dates are in the same place so I am very unlikely to overlook anything. It has space to record places and details, and I can set an alarm that reminds me of important dates and times. Because of that, I do not have a paper calendar as part of my life planner.
• My life planner is a spiral notebook with a hardback cover with several hundred lined pages. I get the ones I use at Staples, Markings brand. They are brown or blue and have either "thoughts" or "organize" embossed on the front cover. There are pockets in the inside back where I carry pictures of my family, stamps, and miscellaneous papers that are critical at the moment. One of the pockets carries the WHO I AM IN CHRIST card that I read regularly to keep my focus. The book also has an elastic band around it to keep a grip on other papers I keep temporarily in there, like motivational thoughts I might be using for awhile, ideas I pick up,  or a few notecards or postcards for writing quick notes in spare moments. I also have post-a-notes in there to keep temporary lists.
• At the end of each year (November-December) I set goals for my next year in pertinent areas (work, personal achievement, health, spiritual life, relationships, family, the house...whatever is important to me) and these become my master lists for prioritizing actually moving forward instead of just doing the things that simply have to be done each week. I record these goals under subjects in the back pages of the book and review them weekly when I plan my week to see if there's is something I can or should add to my tasks for the week. It's exciting and motivating to cross them off with a date when they get accomplished. I also keep a list here of where things are stored and how much I have--for instance, when I put away Christmas things, I will tell myself that I have enough Christmas napkins for next year and they are gold, and that I already have enough wrapping paper and ribbon.
• The inside front cover has all my contact info and a few addresses/passwords I use frequently but forget. It has my personal mission statement, our church vision and mission statement.
• Weekly schedules command the most space in the life planner. A week's planning covers both sides of the pages of the opened book.  The pages look like this:
  

• I know. Unbelievably simple. But it's all I need to keep me on track. The Contacts section lists all the people I need to touch base with in any way this week--Thank you notes, sympathy cards,  etc. I have the life planner with me on Sundays, and jot names during/between services so I don't forget. The Calls section is just for phone calls with numbers, unless they are in my phone. Go/Get/See is for errands, things I need I need to pick up, places I need to go, or a specific visit I need to make. There's always a place for "Dad 1-2-3", and I x out the number every time I see him. :-) Things like groceries, gas, the bank are regular items, but stamps, a hospital visit---those are the kinds of things that need to get added or I actually will forget them. The Stuff list is for those things that HAVE to happen, but don't fit naturally and easily in another place. For instance, I write this blog, but I can procrastinate and not get it done so when I need to do one, so it gets listed here. I also do some other writing and when a project needs some work, it's the kind of thing that will show up here. Or, community/denominational irregular things. Because I am director of Clearblue Global Water Project, a non-profit raising money for clean, safe water around the world, I have regular weekly contacts and work to do for that. Those items go in the Clear Blue section. You might have an avocation or hobby of your own here. Or, you could put a project like Kitchen Redo here, and list the steps you hope to take that week. Or, if you are a very full-time volunteer at a school or church, it could be the place you put those tasks. On the opposite side, the whole page is devoted to the two main time consumers in my week---the Church, the things I need to do as lead pastor, and Home, the things I need to do as wife, mother, grandmother, and homemaker, and personal tasks.
• I create these lists every Sunday afternoon or evening with what I know I need to do, and have space to keep adding new items as they arise. I mark off each task as I accomplish it. It's very motivational to see what I have done. I rarely get everything done I have hoped for each week, and the leftovers give me the starting place for the next week.
• I keep all the pages in the book for the whole year. It keeps a very helpful record of who I have contacted and what I have done through the year. I simply paper clip the top of the current page so my week is easy to find. I skim over these pages at night so I go to bed aware of what my first tasks will be in the morning.
• I have a section near the back also clipped with a blue paper clip. It is the section where I keep the most updated information about ClearBlue finances, needs, and current projects so I will have information on the spot if I am questioned.
• I also keep a list of needs we have at the church so if anyone asks me what they might help us with I am not caught without an answer to get maximum benefit from the opportunity.
• At the end of the year I go back over my goals for evaluation, to celebrate what has been done, to plan for a new year, and to pray. 

Very simple. Perhaps not the way you would do it. But I can guarantee this--if you figure out a system and stick with it for 28 days, the time research tells us it takes to start a new habit, I promise you will find yourself happier, more fulfilled, more motivated, and accomplishing much more pretty quickly.

While we are at it, let me tell you a couple of other things that help me.
Next, there is Journaling. In the past, I have kept separate journals for my own devotional, personal thoughts. My son Jacob does it differently, and having watched him, I love his system, and am beginning it. I am using one journal starting January 1 to record personal thoughts and devotional insights and events in my life--not every day, but as I have the insight and urge to write something. My blog and Facebook page document much day to day things, but if I want to keep them for posterity, I need to also store them on my computer. Many people use computer, ipad, or some kind of portable electronic device for all journaling. That is good, too. I like the old-fashioned feel of paper in my hands. :-) This is a small journal that travels with me so I can also take sermon, book, and seminar notes in it, ending up with a spiritual journal of my year. It usually requires several journals per year.

Another book that has become indispensable to us is the budget book. Every year we get a $2.50 budget book from the family dollar store. It has a lined page per month, with a pocket for each month to store the bills as they come in. In the back I post any debts we have that it will take us awhile to pay off, such as medical bills. I also keep a running account of what we have saved specifically for vacation, etc. We learned through Dave Ramsey to tell our money  where to go, rather than to wonder where it went. :-) So, on the last couple days of a month, we go through the month's upcoming pays and list out where out money needs to go. We pay ourselves each an allowance so we don't dip into our money for paying bills, saving, and giving for personal stuff. Today I am doing it pay by pay for January. After a few months, you know exactly what needs to happen, and you discover you actually have more money than you thought when it was disappearing a dollar or two at a time. As we pay off any bill or achieve a goal, it is celebrated with big RED letters--PAID IN FULL! or DONE!

The last thing I will share is the LOSE IT app for phone and computer. I use mine on my phone, and the built in accountability and ease of following a calorie limitation that is automatically added for me as soon as I enter the food has helped me lose 49 pounds this year--just 1 pound off of my year's goal. Who knows? I might make it yet before 2014 is over! Following the discipline has become such a part of my daily routine, I have confidence I will not get out of a healthy place again. It also tracks all the other elements of health I allow, including exercise and numbers. Just google LOSE IT--it's free.

Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. ;-) Truly, the only way to get where you want to go is by intentional decisions and actions. I am looking forward to 2015. I am getting where I believe God is calling and preparing me to go.

The Real Christmas Story...As Told By Dad

When I was a little girl, my father took me "calling" with him on a regular basis, seeing the sick and elderly. He would always have me sing for the people we visited, and he would share scriptures and then pray with them. At first I loved to go because he would tell me, "There might be a little something in it for you!" (I knew it would be an ice cream cone--yummy!) As I got a little older, I really enjoyed it because one on one time with Dad was always so memorable. I loved his humor, stories, the one of a kind experiences with people,  and the lessons I learned. Then, eventually I looked forward to these times because Dad had helped foster in me a desire and love to serve people, and to water thirsty hearts.

These days, I am getting to accompany Dad again. He had a young friend named Mark, paralyzed and speechless from a high school car accident, he wanted to visit for Christmas. We drove to his home, and Mark signed "I love you" with his one hand that still semi-works, and Dad kissed his face several times. He chatted a couple of moments, and then he was the pastor in charge. He asked me to sing "Away in a Manger", and "Silent Night". When the last notes evaporated, he said, "Now, please sing about the Cross---how about 'Jesus Paid it All'?"

As I finished that, he was ready with a final request, "Now please sing about heaven...'When They Ring Those Golden Bells' and 'When We All Get to Heaven'. "

The moment I was finished, Dad squeezed Mark's hand tightly and said, "Mark---Brenda just sang the Christmas story to you. Now, most people think the only songs that were the Christmas story are the first ones, 'Away in a Manger' and 'Silent Night'. But that's not true. If that was all there was to the Christmas story, it would just be a sweet tale about a baby that was born. But this baby was Jesus, born for a reason. If it wasn't for the cross and the sacrificial death of Jesus, there would be no Christmas to celebrate. The cross of Jesus and his willingness to pay the debt of our sin and set us right makes God's gift of heaven possible. The story of Christmas starts in a manger, but it doesn't end there, Mark. Because it doesn't, we know your Father is in heaven, my wife is with Jesus in heaven, and one day we will be there, too. That's the REAL Christmas story, Mark. Now let's pray and thank Jesus for what he did for us."

True story. If the only part of Christmas you get is the baby in the manger, you don't know squat about Christmas. Jesus left a place of kingship and authority in a place more awesome than we can imagine and came as a helpless baby into a dirty, hostile, and broken world to pay a debt he did not owe and we could not pay. When our huge debt of sin was paid by his death on the cross, it opened the doors to heaven, a future beyond our wildest dreams. THAT'S the Christmas story. It sure makes a holiday worth celebrating. More than that, it makes a happy new year and fulfilling life possible.

I helped Dad out to the car, and as I held the door for him, I said, "Daddy, you are still so good at what you do---serving God and people."

With a twinkle in his eyes, he looked up from the careful attention he was paying to the placement of his feet and said, "Well, Brendy, who dreamed all those years ago we'd end up like this?"

Merry Christmas to me.

THE LONG GOODBYE--Reprise

 

This re-post has been graciously requested by numerous friends. It is even more true today than the day I wrote it. I hope it helps you on your journey.

Ronald Reagan famously described his descent into Alzheimer's disease as "the long goodbye." So sadly appropriate, but one doesn't need to have a loved one lose mental capacity to see and sense the footprints down the path to life's earthly farewell. Simple aging will do it.

This morning my heart feels the agony of knowing that good bye has begun. Oh, it could be some time, even years, I suppose, but my awesome father, the greatest Daddy a girl could ever have, has been very aware he is on the path home. His 93rd birthday is May 1, so we are all aware and profoundly grateful we have already been blessed to have him share the journey with us far past the biblical standard of threescore and ten.

The winter has been hard on Dad, and two falls in the last month have given him new struggles to face, and new decisions to consider, decisions none of us want to make. Not driving, and letting his car go,  was a tough one, though he did it with grace. Considering permanently leaving his home, the place he shared with his sweetheart Marie (our precious Mother), longer than any other place they had shared--well, it's a shot to the heart. Some people say, "Make him do it. You have to choose for him now." They don't understand the reverence I have for my Father. Control and power have never been in the cards in our relationship in any way, shape, or form, and I can not picture introducing them now, as long as he can think and choose. I know his Father will lead him. He will get to the right decision in the right time.

In these last years since Mom said her own earthly "goodbyes", Dad has been teaching me so much. He doesn't want to leave the town of Sugarcreek for several magnificent reasons. He told me, "My ministry is here, Brenda. I rock those babies at church. They count on me. There's a couple of people on my street I pray with every day. No one else is doing it. What will they do? My small group---we love each other so much. Here is where I am making a difference. When the day comes you can't serve and you just need to be served--well, that's time for heaven." Wow. I know so many of us who are so healthy and so young yet who could use a dose of Dad.

My sister-in-love Patty told me after his second fall, "Dad said to tell you he is doing better, and is encouraged. I can see he is not really, but he's trying to be." No surprise. One of Dad's mantras and choices in life has always been David's: "And David was greatly distressed...but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God." I Samuel 30:6

He doesn't want to be a burden to anyone, let alone the ones he loves so much. I'm 32 years younger than him, and I can already get that. Just being with him has caused me to take a look at what it will be like for me if I get the incredible privilege of a long goodbye. So, I wanted to write my children a letter and tell them what I have learned, what I know I won't be able to say at that point in the journey.

My beautiful children:

It's no secret that Dad and I are no longer the people who live in your earlier memories...strong, capable of balancing many things, handling life on our own, and even rescuing you from time to time. I am so grateful for your patience and love, but I am asking you to try to go even a little further. Can you try to understand what we're going through?

When we talk, I will probably say the same thing over and over. I may tell the same story again and again. Please don't interrupt me and tell me I already said that. Do you remember how many times we read "Three Billy Goats Gruff" over and over when you were little? The thousands of times you said, "Mommy! Mommy...Mommy...Look!" in one day? It's your turn now. :-)

When my clothes are put together a little strange, a stray hair is sprouting somewhere, my bed head needs serious help, or I smell a little funny, just help me.  Don't be ashamed of me, Please cheerfully help me match my clothes, pluck the hair, help me get my "do" done, and work with me on hygiene. I will STILL know who I am inside, and how I want the world to see and remember me--what I can't do worries me more than it does you. I'll need to know you still are proud to introduce me as your Mom.

When you watch me struggle with grasping how the TV works, or getting the door unlocked, or how the computer works (all right--I admit it. On the computer stuff, I am already there :-) --or anything requiring technical skill--don't laugh at me, roll your eyes, or get annoyed. The most basic tasks in life were patiently taught to you by Dad and I. We have been very competent, capable people in our lives, and it is bewildering to us to not have our fingers and mind work with the dexterity we once had. Hang with us, please. Try to see it from our eyes.

Give me time to remember. I will be your loving, praying Mother every moment I breathe, and I will carry you right to Jesus when I leave you. So, though it may take me longer than it once did to get it out, I bet if you'll wait for it, I'll have something worth saying.

When my tired and shrinking body can't move like it used to, smile at me, and give me your hand to hold or your shoulder to lean on, just like I did for you when you learned to walk, or experienced your hurts. 

Most of all...don't let sadness overwhelm you and keep you from me. Inside the wrinkled old face, I will still be there. Look at my eyes. You will see me there, laughing and dancing, and being me. And remind yourself, we have to say "goodbye" in order to have a great reunion.

As I am writing this, our earthly goodbye seems as though it may be a long time away, and I truly hope so. Your incredible Dad is still cracking us up with his booming stereo speakers and his love of music that makes the floor move. His personal favorite right now is an Eagles' song that says, "There's a hole in the world tonight, there's a cloud of fear and sorrow. There's a hole in the world tonight. Don't let there be a hole in the world tomorrow." Any time that one of us leaves this earth, there will be an unfathomable hole in our world. But, when we know Jesus, we have heaven. Together. Forever. Make sure the highest priority in your life today and tomorrow is knowing Jesus and passing him on to your children and your own grandchildren. We don't want any holes in that world tomorrow.

Love you so much. I cherish and thank God for the privilege of sharing life and eternity with you.

Mom

And to my Father, James L. Mason--what a man. I can't wait to kiss you today, and to remind myself of the truth that, because of Jesus, when we say "goodbye", we will soon say "hello."