Take Two

Ever wonder what all those free meals at Google add up to (I know I have)?  Here’s your answer.

Having ridden the trains in and out of Penn Station in New York, it would take a couple more zeros on the end of $20 to get me to do what this guy did.

At least it would pay for a set of fresh vaccinations. Gross.

I called one of my partners today.  She spent last Thursday, Friday and Saturday in California with one client and was in Milwaukee all day yesterday with a large insurance company who just became our client.  “How are you doing?” I asked.

Exhausted.

I had to agree with her that I also was pooped (I only went to Toledo yesterday but I drove).  The past few months have been absolutely crazy with starting this new firm, all of the administrative things to do, plus servicing our new and existing clients.  We are averaging 50-60 hours per week, every week, for the last 10 weeks.  And yet, it really doesn’t seem like work.

I will caveat this post by saying I have a major advantage in that my commute is going from my bedroom downstairs to my office.  Even when I work late, I open the door and I’m home so  that’s a major plus.  But there have been a lot of trips and driving and such but it has been a ball.  I consider myself very lucky to be doing something that I love.

I was talking to a guy at church the other day about the job market here in Ohio.  To be blunt, it’s bad.  Let me hedge that- for manufacturing and unskilled labor it’s bad.  For RN’s like myself, it couldn’t be better.  But I gained a new appreciation for how blessed I am to be doing what I’m doing with great colleagues and really doing good work.  I took a moment this morning to let it sink all in.

I think I’m getting closer to contentment every day.

Ye Gods!  This is why he is the best player in the NBA.

See, I can’t take three days off.  It’s nuts.  First, I am bookmarking this series by Mark Roberts.  Very interesting reading on ministry and marketplace among Ivy League schools.  Second, The High Calling is a website dealing with marketplace ministry as well.  I did some cursory poking around it this morning.  Good stuff.  Check it out for yourself.

I haven’t offered any books on this blog for some time so let me put a couple out there.  These are especially for folks who are lay ministers who have day jobs in a professional environment or people wanting to let their light shine in the secular marketplace.

The first is Anointed for Business by Ed Silvoso.  I picked this one up at WEC in January when I was in Saint Louis for a board meeting and have been reading it on planes across the east coast.  It is an excellent primer on how God uses professionals in business to advance His Kingdom.  The second is God at Work by Ken Costa.  I actually just ordered this book on the recommendation of Mark Roberts who is one of my favorite authors.  I’ll hopefully have a review of this one soon.

And now, I must be at work.  Lots to do today.  Have a great week.

I have been on a three day blogging hiatus which is about all I can stand.  I wanted to share some thoughts on the evangelistic church in general and our church in particular.  There has been a movement for some time to take church out of the walls of the church and take it to the people.  For the last year or so, we have been putting this theory into practice with good results.  Currently, we have three church extensions that meet either weekly or bi-weekly.  Much of this is geared toward 1) reaching folks who can’t or don’t come to a regularly scheduled service and 2) trying new methods of outreach to be deployed later on a larger scale.  Most start slow but, as with any task, if one plants and another waters God will eventually give the increase.

As a side note, I had forgotten how much I enjoy teaching.  I am doing a four week Bible Study (which will clearly take 6-8 weeks at my current pace) that is a basic Christian living introduction.  Currently, whenever I get asked to preach somewhere, I normally preach (with the foot all the way to the floor).  It’s the nature of what I do.  But I enjoy teaching in a small group environment with a vibrant give and take.  I find that I learn as much as (hopefully) the folks in my class do.

One other thing we’ve been doing is having open gym on the third Monday of the month (which is today).  We will have north of 100 kids, over half of those “bus kids” who will come and be fed and have a great time making more noise than a jumbo jet taking off.  It is truly a sight to see.  Many of the kids who started coming through open gym now come to Sunday School.  It has proven to be an effective outreach method.

Finally, I was taking note of our altar service last night and saw the implementation of something my pastor has been preaching for at least ten years.  We have several licensed ministers in our church (I think 6).  Most are involved in some area of ministry outside the three main services.  We had a vibrant altar service with a number of guests who had made their way to the altar.  Each guest had a minister praying with them.  It was awesome.  One of the goals we had for our revival was to not let attrition bite us, that is have folks come in, experience God, and leave due to lack of follow-up.  I think we’re doing a much better job of addressing this than ever before.  It is encouraging.

These are just a few of the things we’ve been experiencing here.  It has been a great ride thus far.

I spent last night in Pittsburgh, woke up this morning at 5 and couldn’t get back to sleep.  Rather than toss and turn, I packed up, checked up, and headed home; getting back to my house around 9 this morning.  It was still slightly dark when I left Pittsburgh but the drive home today, watching the sun rise, was absolutely gorgeous.  And since this winter has been absolutely brutal (including 20+ inches of snow in one day in March) it was great.  As I write this, it is 74 degrees and sunny.  One of my partners is in San Diego this week and her weather isn’t any better than it is here.

Spring has sprung.  And not a moment too soon.

I don’t even know what to say about this.  Absolutely chilling.

I am again in Pittsburgh, this time from the lovely Doubletree Hotel.  Today’s adventures included an appointment with neurosurgeon in Akron, a meeting with a new client in Grove City, PA, and a meeting with another client in Pittsburgh.  Needless to say, it was a long day.  And how do we reward long days?  Why, with a trip to Morton’s for dinner, of course.  Delicious.

I am leaving first thing in the morning to get home to my family.  For now, I’m going to lay in bed and watch some hockey.  The Penguins are in the playoffs and it’s all the rage here.