• Merry Christmas!
• Yeah you read that right…for Lisa and I Christmas day has finally arrived.
• For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, Lisa and I decided 10+ years ago that one of the major stresses of the Christmas season for each of us was buying gifts for each other (she always returned the ones I bought her anyway). So we decided that we would wait until the week or 2 after Christmas…take a whole day together…eat out a few times…and buy the things for ourselves that we really want.
• Uhhh, this year we kept having 1 thing after another bump it back so this was the first available date we could find…so there you have it…for us today is Christmas!
• Got a lot of stops planned to get the things we want and we’re also using today as a chance to shop for the furniture for our new house.
• By the way, things are progressing nicely with the sale and purchase of our homes. 
• Once everything is done I’ll sum it all up in 1 big post sharing with you how God has been working through this entire process.
• As the week has progressed I’m getting more and more excited about our new series, 3 Wise Monkey’s which launches this Sunday.
• Again, make sure you invite people because I’ll be sharing the Gospel at the end.
• One of the reasons I’m excited is all week long, I’ve had meetings both planned and spontaneous where people were searching for the answers we’re going to be sharing in this series.
• I love it when God is working like this…it helps me to formulate my thoughts a little better and it shows that when I prayed, “God what will our people need to hear during that time” (remember I plan these series out weeks and sometimes months in advance) that I was on track with the leading of the Holy Spirit.  Yea God!
• Speaking of, this week I was doing some prayer and planning for the series which will launch after Easter…it’s going to be incredible!
• At some point, I want to do a series called “The Elephant in the Church.”  You know the subjects that are obviously something we should talk about but most of the time don’t.  As an example, I know one of the messages will be on the topic of pornography.  I’ve got some other ideas, but I’d be interested in your thoughts.  What are some topics that you wish the church addressed but yet often doesn’t?  Use the comments button below…not promising all ideas will get used, but I want to make sure that I don’t forget something that’s obvious.
• Well gotta go…think I hear sleigh bells!

The young man we prayed for on Sunday, Brenton Kauffman has made it through his spinal surgery great. Let’s continue to keep Brenton and his parents Sam and Janel in our prayers over the next few days as he begins his road to recovery.

• What a weird day!
• I woke up early and decided to come into the church early to change some of the lighting that I wasn’t happy with.
• I had no longer gotten into the building when the power throughout the entire building went completely out, disrupting the 8:15am traditional service in the sanctuary. 
• After making sure they were back up and running and getting things done I needed to I was pleased we were on track…
• …until I noticed the hazer was not hazing…turns out we were out of fluid so I went and replaced the jug and turned it back on.
• 10 minutes later I notice it’s still not hazing…Andy went and fixed it.
• 5 minutes later it still wasn’t working…uhhh panic time…as I’ve said before the lights look terrible without the haze.  Finally he figured it out and we decided to go with a slow haze.
• In the meantime, we were still monitoring the power condition.  We have an installed voltage meter which was only running 112V…should be 120V and if it gets down to 110V it means black-out…Andy warned me to be ready for the unexpected and we were praying like crazy that things would hold up for the entire Experience.
• As I came out to start the message I knew the lights were flickering but I elected not to say anything.
• Once the projectors went down though I knew I needed to say something.  Thankfully the audio and lights stayed on so we didn’t have to stop.
• Other than that…great Experience…loved the energy you guys had today in the crowd.
• Did you know the “Let’s get Mikey” commercial was the longest running commerical in TV history.
• All but 4 of the small groups are now completely full…wow that’s awesome!  More people stepped up today and said that if we need more host homes they are willing to do it! 
• I was really inspired to see so many people (30+) come forward to prayer with and for Brenton Kauffman who is having major spinal surgery this Tuesday…please keep praying for him.
• Friday and Saturday night we had training for small group leaders and it was great to see and hear the stories of how God is working.
• I was especially touched by a couple of ladies who each shared that they’ve begun tithing and how God is blessing them financially and in other ways.  Yea God!
• Saturday I also did the wedding ceremony for Jeff and Ruth Graham.  It was very nice…our sanctuary is a great setting for a wedding.
• Tonight we’ll go over to some friends house for a Superbowl party.  Since I’m not a fan of either team, I’m going to root for the Patriots so we can see something historic and hopefully shut up the 72-73 Dolphins once and for all. 

• I hate snow and ice!
• I love Lost!
• I hated practice last night.  We’re doing songs that are really familiar to the team but yet it was if though we had never done them before.
• I love that when we have bad practices God usually shows up big time on Sundays.
• I hate the devil.
• I love the people we’re going to have lunch with today…old friends from the church I used to pastor at in MD.
•  I hate this idea I had to alternate between love and hate…so I’m not doing it anymore.
• Our house inspection it appears went well…we should know the final details by Monday at the latest.
• Everyone is pumped up about small groups and I can’t wait to get started the week of February 10th with them.
• It’s not too late to sign-up to participate.
• We’ve got a bunch of the leaders coming in both this weekend and next to get some training…it’s going to be awesome!
• Dan and Jodi are doing an awesome job getting this all coordinated!
• I’ve got a wedding this weekend for Jeff Graham and Ruth Baughman that have been attending United for a little over a year.  They’re an awesome couple…make sure you congratulate them when they get back.
• I can’t wait for Sunday to share with you how to become “Balcony People.”  It’s one of those things that simple but yet we often fail to do.  However, when we remember, it can literally change people’s lives.
• Don’t forget to invite someone!