I’ll admit, I freaked out a bit.  Don’t tell my wife, but I thought I lost my wedding ring yesterday!  I made it home early, and since I had some good daylight left  I thought I would do some yard work.  Rake in hand I started piling and bagging up leaves.  Just as I was about done I looked at my watch to see what time it was, and as I did I realized my wedding ring was not on my finger!

I panicked, and started looking all over.  I paced back and forth through the yard, I went back through the leaves I had just bagged up, and even recruited Jack to help me look.  I couldn’t find it anywhere.  After about 30 minutes of intense searching I gave up, and resigned that I was going to have to tell Becky I had lost my wedding ring.

When I came inside, however, to my surprise I found my ring sitting on the office desk!  Apparently I hadn’t even put it on in the morning, and managed to make it through the whole day without noticing I wasn’t wearing it (yes, I know that failing to notice I didn’t have my wedding ring on is probably not much better than actually losing it!).

It is one thing to lose a ring, but there are a lot of people looking for even more important things in life.  Maybe they are missing peace, joy, hope, security or fulfillment.  Whatever it is, they are frantically looking everywhere for it.

The problem is like me looking for my ring, they are looking in the wrong places.  What they are looking for isn’t laying on the ground, it isn’t accidentally bagged up with some leaves, it is not even outside in the yard.  What they are looking for can’t be found in shallow relationships, or in success or fame.  It can only be found in God.

They can search for 30 minutes, or 30 years, outside, but they will never find what they are looking for until they come inside and look on the office desk.

Just had the chance to enjoy a luncheon with over 250 of the people who are involved in ministry here at Calvary.  Here at CCC there are 465 people who are serving in ministry.  Some volunteer in our nursery on a rotating basis, some lead prayer meetings or home care groups, many are involved in our Easter or Christmas productions, most are involved in one of the other dozens of ministries at the church.  But 465 people serve in one way, or another.  

I am so appreciative for what each of them do.  It is great to see so many people join the team, and serve in the capacity that God has created them to. I am looking forward to what God is going to do in the life of our church this next year through the faithful service of these awesome people!

Many from the church have been asking how Calvary is going to respond the catastrophe in Haiti.  One way is that we will continue our support of Convoy of Hope, who is already in Haiti distributing food and water.  Another way we are going to respond is by sending a missions team to help in the relief effort.

The details are a little sketchy right now, but we are looking to go to Haiti in late February or early March.  We will be partnering with some of our missionaries who are currently there, along with Convoy of Hope, and assisting in any way we can.  We will most likely be distributing food and water, helping with the cleanup efforts, and partnering with local churches to minister to people in a variety of ways.

If you are interested in being a part of this team please contact me (pastorjamie@lynnfield-ccc.org) or Pastor Clark (pastorclark@lynnfield-ccc.org).  We will be having a orientation meeting for those interested on Sunday, January 24th at 5:00 pm in Room 214 at the church.

If you are not able to be a part of this trip, but would like to support those who are going, please see Pastor Clark or myself about that as well.

And certainly pray for the people of Haiti.

We had a record breaking Sunday this past weekend at Calvary.  This past Sunday there were 986 people in church, which is the highest attended non-Easter weekend service in Calvary’s history.  What made it ever more exciting for me was that out of the 986, 230 were children.   230 kids is obviously more children than I could keep track of myself, so I am so thankful to the dozens of children’s workers that made this past weekend as great as it was for every child.

Looking forward to some more record breaking weeks in 2010!

Becky and I were back in Missouri for Christmas and I had intended on writing a few posts from the Midwest, but spending time with family came first.  So, I am just now getting around to reflecting on some experiences from growing up in Troy, Missouri.

First thought…Sometimes you only get 13 years.  I went to a fairly average high school. There were around 200 kids in my graduating class.  Most of those I graduated with transferred into the school system at some point or another, but there were a few, like me, that completed their entire education in Troy.  Not many, but a few of us toughed it out from kindergarten all the way through our senior year together.

Here is the sad part.  As important as my faith in Christ was to me growing up, I can actually think of some of those kids that I went to school with for 13 years that I never talked to about Christ.  Never mind the hundreds that I knew for shorter amounts of time, there were actually kids that I knew for 13 years that I never once talked to about my faith!

Perhaps a few saw that I lived my life a little differently.  Several of them probably knew that I was the president of my school’s Bible club.  Maybe 20 of them had to listen to my speeches in English class that I chose to give on God & the Christian faith.  But I messed up, as I never took the chance to personally share with them what was the most important aspect of my life.  And now, the chance I had to tell them is gone.

Sometimes you only get 13 years….sometimes less. I had 13 years, kindergarten through 12th grade.  You may only have a few years of working with someone before they take a new job.  Or 4 years together at college.  Will you miss the opportunities liked I did to share what is most important to you?