As I drove home Mother’s Day night my phone rang.

My wife was calling and since we’d gone in separate vehicles I assumed she was going to ask that I pick up a few grocery items on the way.

Her voice was flat and emotionless.

“Andy, I’ve been in an accident. I’m on 224^th.”

That was it; she hung up.

That’s all I knew (and all I needed to know).

Without hesitation I pulled a quick u-turn and raced down the road towards my wife and kids.

As I sped through the dark rural roads adrenaline raced through my body.

Where exactly on 224^th were they? Was anyone hurt? What was I about to see?

Three minutes later I got to the scene and saw a very unwelcoming sight.

Our black Suburban was on its side in a ditch tilted at about 30 degrees.

It wasn’t coming out on its own.

I went to the driver’s side window to check on Stacey and there she was calmly awaiting my arrival.

I opened the door to start getting our three kids out and because of the steep angle it kept closing on my legs.

A man who had stopped to help, held the door open as I retrieved the children and their car seats.

“Are you guys okay?” I asked once inside the cab.

Hailey (4) and Lincoln (1) sat quietly, seemingly stunned.

Andrea (6) was beginning to panic and tear up.

We quickly got them out and into the car I had driven over in.

After Stacey and our three kids were safely out of the vehicle the same guy who held the door helped me light road flares (which I didn’t even know I had) as we waited for police.

Statements were given, a tow truck was called and the street was hastily cleared of debris.

Basically the accident went like this:

As Stacey was driving home on a long straightaway, another driver rolled through a stop sign to turn left directly in front our Suburban.

With little time to react, Stacey decelerated and veered right. The other driver sped up to avoid the inevitable collision but it was too little too late.

Veering right and the impact of the collision sent Stacey and our kids on a short, bumpy ride into the right shoulder’s ditch.

After their ride had come to a complete stop Stacey looked back at them and asked, “Is everyone okay?”

Hailey smiling proudly replied, “Mom, I didn’t even cry.”

With everyone now safe and sound, if not a little startled I sent my family home.

I waited around for an hour for the tow company to arrive.

When I called to my parent’s home to ask for a ride who showed up and waited with me?

My mom.

That’s what I really want to highlight in the fender bender story.

Moms. In this case, two moms that saved the day for their children.

First Stacey:

I thought it was odd that she hadn’t moved when I arrived at the scene of the accident.

When I asked why she was still in the car, she said that she wanted to stay with our children and keep them as calm as possible.

Her heart was for her kids first.

Next my mom, Katie:

I can’t imagine she pictured her Mother’s Day ending sitting for an hour plus on a dark rural road waiting for a tow truck.

Yet because of her love for her kid, that’s exactly how her night ended.

I’m thankful the two most important moms in my life.

This was a Mother’s Day to remember.

DJ and I discuss coaching and ministry.

We also share our favorite text abbreviations:

• IDK
• TBH
• ROTFL
• HMU
• SMH

Be honest, how many of those did you actually know?

Youth ministry does not happen on it’s own.

Yet, in my first couple years as a youth pastor I led as if it was.

The truth is we are connected and are a part of something bigger, the local church.

If students love youth night and won’t attend on Sundays, something isn’t working.

The churches that house our youth ministries are places full of people who believe in what the youth team is doing.

People in your church give money to pay your salary or stipend.

It’s not young verses old. Religious verses new converts. Entrenched ideals verses fresh ones.

We are part of one body.

The older people in our churches need the students’ energy and excitement.

Likewise our young people need their wisdom and life experience.

The church was God’s idea; we’re a beautiful collection of misfits.

“For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of… The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part.” (1 Corinthians 12.20,25 MSG)

We belong together.

And…

We are better together.

I introduce you to another NWLife team member and we have a conversation that the NRA would definitely be in favor of.

I hope you enjoy getting to know “Christopher” as much as I have.

It’s pretty amazing when you stop and begin to digest this passage.

When you investigate the claim made by Paul you begin to realize that he’s really not stretching the truth at all.

Paul’s own life is the perfect example of this.

He was the number one persecutor of Christ followers in his day.

Then, God got a hold of him one day and knocked him off his… uh… donkey.

After Paul’s (then called Saul) encounter with Jesus his life was forever changed.

He went from persecutor to preacher seemingly overnight.

If it were me, I think I’d make Paul wait and prove himself to be not a persecutor for at least a week or something.

I mean seriously, a day before his encounter with Christ, Paul is on a mission to arrest more followers of, “The Way.”

Maybe God got it wrong, maybe Paul/Saul slipped through His screening process, maybe one of the angels made a mistake when passing along resumes to the almighty…

Or.

Maybe God’s just gracious like that.

Maybe God’s willing to take us and use us in our current condition.

He’s willing to accept us for who we are and see potential in us that we didn’t see in ourselves.

He did that with Paul and He’s shown a propensity to use the unqualified for amazing miracles.

I love this verse in 1 Corinthians chapter one where Paul writes, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are.”

It’s pretty amazing when you stop and begin to digest this passage.

When you investigate the claim made by Paul you begin to realize that he’s really not stretching the truth at all.

Paul’s own life is the perfect example of this.

He was the number one persecutor of Christ followers in his day.

Then, God got a hold of him one day and knocked him off his… uh… donkey.

After Paul’s (then called Saul) encounter with Jesus his life was forever changed.

He went from persecutor to preacher seemingly overnight.

If it were me, I think I’d make Paul wait and prove himself to be not a persecutor for at least a week or something.

I mean seriously, a day before his encounter with Christ, Paul is on a mission to arrest more followers of, “The Way.”

Maybe God got it wrong, maybe Paul/Saul slipped through His screening process, maybe one of the angels made a mistake when passing along resumes to the almighty…

Or.

Maybe God’s just gracious like that.

Maybe God’s willing to take us and use us in our current condition.

He’s willing to accept us for who we are and see potential in us that we didn’t see in ourselves.

He did that with Paul and He’s shown a propensity to use the unqualified for amazing miracles.

Abraham
Liar, Elderly & Sterile…
…Father of Nations

Jacob
Thief, Liar & Deceiver…
…Father of the 12 Tribes of Israel

Moses
Murderer & Stutterer…
…Led the God’s people out of slavery

Rahab
Prostitute, call girl, street walker…
…Helped Israelite spies escape Jericho

Sampson
Covenant breaker…
…Hero God used to save Israel

Gideon
Coward, least in his family…
…Hero who once again saves Israel

David
Scrawny musician, youngest brother…
…Became Israel’s King

David (Part 2)
Adulterer, Assassin & Conspirator…
…A man after God’s own heart?

Solomon
Love child (conceived in affair)…
…Built God’s Temple

Israel’s Kings
Each one virtually worse than the previous…
…Placed in authority by God

Prophets
Cooked food using dung for fuel, married prostitute, lying around naked…
…Chosen to Speak for God

Mary
Unwed Teen Pregnancy…
…Gave birth to the Savior of all mankind

John the Baptist
Locust eater w/ no fashion sense…
…Prepared the way for Jesus & baptized Him

Jesus
Plain looking, unassuming homeless man…
…Savior and Lord of All

Disciples
Uneducated fishermen, crooked tax collectors, anarchist, dishonest, stiff necked & unbelieving…
…Chosen by Jesus to change the world

Peter

Quick tempered, potty-mouthed, Christ denying no good…
…Cornerstone for the NT church

Paul
Working to arrest all Christ followers in his path…
…Author of most of the NT, Evangelist, Church Planter

And the list could go on.

God’s will always gets accomplished. The question is, “Are you in? Do you want to be used by God to bring about His purposes?”

I do.

I’m really happy to know that I’m qualified to start now, just as I am.

I was excited and ready to get the season underway.

I like competing, being active and hanging / making new friends.

We were the home team, which to the softball novice means we were in the field, playing defense first.

I took my usual spot at shortstop, my favorite position.

The first ball hit was a routine ground ball to me… E6.

Again, if you’re not familiar with softball, when scorekeeping a game, that’s how you record an error by the shortstop.

That was the first play of the season. Lame.

My first at bat came with two runners on.

Here was a great opportunity for me to redeem myself.

So what did I do? Popped out to shallow left field. Ugh.

Unfortunately, there was plenty more where that came from.

Individually, I played terrible. As a team, we played terrible.

We lost the first game 22-2.

The good news is we played much better in the second game; we only lost by 10.

It seemed like nothing went right all night.

It was frustrating.

Every time I tried to correct a mistake I made another one.

Have you felt like that before?

Everything that could go wrong, does?

It’s a bit of a helpless feeling.

So how do you respond when it all goes wrong? What do you do? What do you say?

Last night, all I could do was laugh.

In the past I probably would have kicked something or swore… or both.

Call it what you will: maturity, lack of competitive spirit, or something else.

For me it was refreshing.

Do I want to win? Do I want to play well?

Yes to both.

Sometimes things don’t workout the way you want them to.

What’s your reaction? How do you respond?

When it all goes wrong remember these passages from scripture.

More important than remembering them, apply them to your life.

Pray them.

Act upon them.

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. (Lamentations 3.22-23, NLT)

God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. (Genesis 51.10, MSG)

Does it change what happened last night?

No, we still lost and I played poorly.

But today is a new day.

God has given me a fresh start and a clean slate.

Not just me. You have one too.

Make the most of it today and keep laughing.

DJ is asking me some tough questions in this latest edition of the podcast.

Listen for these topics:

• Watermelon
• Best Slurpee flavor
• Mexican Pizza

Listen, enjoy & share with a friend (or enemy).

It’s based on a passage in 1 Corinthians 12, in which Paul reminds the church that though they are many, they are one in Christ.

He uses the analogy of a body.

He reminds the reader that there are many unique parts that form one body.

On Sunday, my pastor, Brian Dolleman, kicked off the series by talking about “Together” our church is called to move forward.

He talked about how each of us has a unique:

• Form – Shape – gifts, abilities, talents.
• Fit – Connection – spot, unique relationships, place in the church.
• Function – Action – job, calling, a role to play.

Are you enjoying the recap so far?

Now look at Ephesians 2.10:

“We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

This is where it gets very interesting to me.

It strikes me that when we’re saved God has new purpose for us.

A new plan.

A new job for us.

A new role.

When we are saved, we receive a new function.

Our form and fit don’t change much.

This means that when we’re saved, God wants to leverage your unique gifts, talents, and abilities.

He wants to use your specific relationships and connections.

What I’m trying to say is that God wants to use your FORM and FIT to accomplish His purposes (FUNCTION).

DJ Marin, one of our best student leaders, is living proof of what God wants to do in each one of our lives.

Before God changed his life around, he was one of the most notorious partiers in his school.

He was a connector, inviting people to join him every weekend wherever the party was.

He actively recruited under-aged students to join him.

Now, after God has given him a new FUNCTION, he is one of our best inviters and bringers to church.

He is using his FORM (personality, strengths, etc) and his FIT (connections, unique relationships) to live out God’s purpose for his life (FUNCTION).

The same is true for you and me.

We each have a specific form and fit; God wants us to use those as we function in the church.

As we do, the church Moves Forward >> Together.

Together, we talk about our favorite burger joints. Beware, one of the following did NOT make our list:

• Five Guys
• Bob’s Burger
• Red Mill

Be outraged and comment with you favorite spots.

In Pixar’s classic film Finding Nemo, Marlin (Nemo’s dad), reaches his breaking point.

He’s ready to call off the search for his son and give up.

Dory, the fish who’s become his search partner, doesn’t want to hear it.

I love the advice Dory gives to Marlin in the Pixar classic Finding Nemo. Do you remember what she says to him?

Yup, you got it.

Just keep swimming (you probably re-read the title of this post).

Stay after it. Don’t quit. Keep going.

I have been energized and encouraged by the same basic thought.

When I feel like quitting, not contributing, or throwing in the towel; I need to:

Just keep posting.

Keep writing.

Keep learning.

Keep tinkering.

Keep experimenting.

Keep preaching.

I have tried to blog and do the website thing before.

It was alright, I didn’t give up or anything, I just wouldn’t post unless the entry was perfect.

That led to long dry spells in which I produced… well nothing.

Seth Godin, a business author, entrepreneur and highly sought after speaker, describes the, “Just keep swimming” concept at a recent NYC event:

Real leaders ship.

They deliver. They get the job done. They see an idea through to completion.

If you think of yourself as an creative/innovative person, please pay attention.

“You don’t need to be more creative…” Godin says in the video.

He makes the case that we don’t suffer from a shortage of ideas today. What we’re missing is a lack of commitment to seeing those ideas through to completion, what Seth calls “shipping.”

It should be noted that Steve Jobs has been attributed with the quote, “Real artists ship.”

What is Seth saying?

Accomplishing something.

Anything.

Get stuff done.

Follow-through.

It’s not enough to have an idea.

Anyone can do that.

Leaders ship.

I’ve been applying this recently and it’s been a great personal challenge.

Are all my sermons perfect?

Haha, no.

All my posts flawless?

No.

However, my new self-imposed rule is to ship.

Click post.

Keep doing my best.

Even Jesus has something to say about this as well:

“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (Luke 11.9)