Well, this is one of those Sundays when most pastors HOPE no one asks them how the attendance, offering or whatever was...

Like most pastors of most churches, for the past several weeks we've been hearing from all of our faithful families and key leadership telling us of their “great plans” for the Memorial Day Weekend "at the lake" - "in the mountains" - "at aunt what's her face's place".

All of our faithful workers and attenders are all going to be WHERE WE WISH WE WERE - but NOOOOOOOOO, we're the Pastors of these wonderful churches and people and we wouldn't think of blipping out on a holiday weekend with everyone else.

I've wondered what would happen if we just canceled church on such weekends - maybe doing a "double header" the week before to make up for the sin of omission (omitting a weekend we wish didn't exist). And to add salt to the wound – for some Pastors who already take Monday as their regular “day off” (I love that term), their “boards” wouldn’t even think of encouraging their pastors to take off Tuesday. No, I bet there’s already a LOT planned for Tuesday...

Wait...I forgot, I don't Pastor that kind of church anymore - whew!!!!!!

OK, so some of it is still true – a lot of our leadership did tell me they were going to be out of town for the holiday weekend. (Good for them.) However, arriving at church this morning, I wasn't expecting much in the way of attendance, or "energy". It was going to be "CHURCH LITE" and I was asking God to help me preach with the same passion I would if we were expecting a record attendance and everyone was "in house".

It's funny, because the key leadership and servants who did arrive early were all sort of feeling the same way and seemed to be praying the same prayer... “Lord, give us the same enthusiasm and energy as every week!”

Well, God was going to teach us a few things...and here's how I was blessed on a weekend when I didn't expect too much in the way of blessing...

(1) Two men showed up early and were not only eager to set up, but their energy inspired me! We even set up in record time. These two men, father and son – are two of the most faithful men I know. It would be hard to "do church" without their efforts and though everyone benefits from their faithfulness - most people don't even think about their hard work - I think about it - and them - a lot! Thanks Tim and Jim.

(2) Our Greet Team leader arrived with his beautiful daughter beside him. Mom and the two sons were out of town at a baseball tournament. Mike and Danielle came to church because everyone they called to take their place was already planning to be out of town too. Mike said they came to church and canceled going to the game because he wouldn't leave us hanging. I asked him why he didn't just call me - he said, "no way, this is my responsibility..." so something like that. Thank God for men and women like Mike and Danielle. (However, next time call me - and we'll work it out. Even Team Leaders need a break! :-) Thanks, Mike and Danielle. (Hope the boys won!!!)

(3) Then there were the two preschool parents who stepped in and ran our Preschool Park program as efficiently as ever - giving Mary, our regular teacher and her family the opportunity to get out of town and still know that the little worshippers would have somewhere to learn about God. Thanks Steve and DeAnna.

(4) Then there were all the new families in church today. I think I counted five or six "new" families. We had at least 100 in church today, we didn't miss a beat. It was so cool to stand by the door and greet new faces and see all the kids and their parents enjoying worship together. Thanks to everyone who invited and bought a friend today!

(5) Our ladies at the Fellowship Cafe were wonderful. They put out a great spread and everyone was blessed. Thanks, Joan and team!

(6) Our Teen Leadership stepped up and REFUSED to give in to the holiday weekend - insisting that both the J-High and Senior groups meet this afternoon. THAT'S FOUR STRAIGHTHOURS OF TEENAGERS AT MATT'S HOUSE!!! Way to go! Thanks Matt & Amber.

(7) Then there was...Rooftop Kid's Worship (thanks Terrie, Joy, Marilyn & Megan) ...Toddler Town (great work Traci and team!)...Benji, Promise & Tim hanging in there with the worship team. (We missed you Clyde and Chris!).

(8) I watched from the front of the auditorium and a lot of our "regulars" reached out to all of the new comers - way cool!

(9) And God blessed the service, even if I did preach too long. I know the topic touched a lot of our hearts and it was great hearing from many of you who told me of the commitments you were making and the encouragement you received from applying God's Word.

(10) And God provided through the tithes and offerings of His people. Once again, ChurchForFamily’s needs were meet this week! God is faithful! Thanks to all of you who havetaken God at His Word and committed your "First Fruits" to Him!

So...what was supposed to be "One of those Sundays" just wasn't so at ChurchForFamily - God blessed with a great Spirit in our midst and great people in church!

I don’t think that it's because we don't have enough faith...I think it's more that we wait to see what God will do - and then are so appreciative of what He does.

And for all of you who DID take this weekend off - I PRAYED FOR YOU! I PRAYED THAT GOD WOULD GIVE YOU A GREAT WEEKEND WITH YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND THAT HE WOULD BRING YOU BACK SAFELY TO US NEXT SUNDAY!

I'm thanking God for His blessings this Sunday!