Here is this week’s highlights from our week:

Hunter, one of our toddlers, came in saying, “Is this the Coffee Church?” I said, “Well, yes it is!” He then said, “YAY! It’s the Coffee Church! It’s the COFFEE CHURCH!!!!” Seriously, we start them young around here!

Another lady came and told me she’s pregnant…that makes eight currently expecting and I happen to know that we have three babies due in the same week, but they are all a secret for now! And if you ask me who it is, I’ll say no everytime…

I happen to have had a splitting headache all Sunday. Really had the urge to bang my head against a wall all day to help…not good…

On another note, the price of the building we want dropped a half of a million dollars this week. Now we only need $2 million. Sooner than later would be awesome! We need seats!!!!

I’ve been thinking this week the supernatural element of God is often ignored because we don’t understand it. We have to come to terms with our beliefs on a holistic level. God is not just out to mold and shape our character. He’s also out to use our lives to display His miraculous side. Think about it!

The teenagers have their youth-led worship night tonight. SUPER proud of the hard work they put into this and so excited to watch them learn about ministry and leadership in the midst of it all!

We are grateful for a church that makes ministry a joy! We are constantly flooded with great emails, stories of changed lives, and blessings. It makes us work harder and love deeper!

I feel like God is at work on our behalf as a church. I’ve felt this way for six months and I cannot shake the feeling! When God moves, things change. Get ready and trust God!!!!

On that note, I hope that you are choosing to find the blessings in your life! Have a great week!

We have one of the most incredible pastoral staff teams that I have ever seen! The 15 people that call North Creek their ministry home make up some of the most creative, talented, driven, type A, self-directed people that I have worked with in 15 years of ministry. And perhaps the greatest irony is that they all currently serve for a combined total monthly of $3500 (not including our salary). Although we work towards giving salary increases and hiring full time staff as quickly as possible, I think it’s a remarkable feat to have a team like we do that works for free or close to it. So, how did it happen? Here are my thoughts on team building:

1. We didn’t hire workers, we created a family.

Most of our ministry life people have told us not to make best friends out of our leadership team. There are countless horror stories of division and deep pain associated with letting work environments and personal relationships get muddy. Honestly, I get it and I’ve seen it. The problem is that it just doesn’t work for our particular DNA. We joke with our team, argue with them, discipline each other’s kids, counsel each other’s issues, and celebrate our own idiosyncrasies. Our strength has always been to let people completely into our hearts, lives, strengths and weaknesses. We are fully prepared for the potential negative reality of that over the next 30 years of ministry, but you can’t change who you are!

2. We share wins like candy.

We spend more time each staff meeting talking about what is going well at North Creek than anything else. Of course there is time to sharpen things up and have the hard conversations about what we need to do, but that is secondary to rejoicing in what God is doing. As our staff shares, it also lets us into their realities. If I hear about a toddler that finally stopped crying when mom left and started playing with a friend, it keeps reality in focus for me. Our wins are all the way from a happy 3 year old to someone’s marriage being restored…and it’s ALL equally valuable.

3. We let people struggle with their jobs.

Here’s the truth…if you are in ministry long term, you will have seasons of exhaustion, discouragement, boredom, etc…Sometimes that indicates an end to that season, but sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it means there’s a litany of other issues in our teams lives and they need two things: 1. To keep their paycheck and 2. To have a little room to talk about how they are feeling. There have been seasons of our ministry where we were afraid to talk to our bosses about our emotions because we thought that they may assume we wanted out and help us along the way, if you know what I mean! We allow our team to openly tell us what they are feeling and we are also confident that nobody will just randomly quit with no notice and leave us in the lurch. That open communication allows us to both win, sometimes just by redefining our expectation of responsibility.

There’s more to come on this subject, so stay tuned! Bottom line: we are blessed with the best and we spend everyday grateful for these people and their families!

So much good news to report from a great weekend!

TWO more women told me they are pregnant yesterday…it’s a secret, though, so you’ll have to wait! Yes, we have ALOT of babies on the way at North Creek. Can I just tell you how much I appreciate the nursery workers at our church?!?!?!

On that note, Chris preached yesterday on God’s plan for sex. Apparently a large percentage of our audience has already figured that one out…

Seriously, it was a great sermon on a very difficult subject. Bottom line: sex is designed as a gift for marriage. Anything else comes with guilt, pain, and regret. My favorite line: our spouse is our ONLY outlet to have our sexual needs fulfilled. Is that true for your life? If not, change today!

Worship was excellent! Matt was on the keys for the first time at North Creek. It was pretty cool! We sang an old hymn called “It is Well”. And yes, it is well.

After so long in ministry, I can say with certainty that there will always be people in our lives struggling. It is a part of the journey and one that I now find joy in as I watch God work in the midst of it. Struggles often equate to birthing something new and amazing in our lives. Not easy, but always worth it. Keep your eyes on Jesus and you’ll be alright.

Looking forward to 2012! We sense that God has an interesting year for us!

Alex Malone spoke in the kid’s ministry yesterday. He’s in junior high and clearly anointed by God to use his mouth for His glory! Way to go, Alex!

We had one of our highest attendances ever this weekend. When we start putting chairs back to the Kid’s Checkin desk, I’ll be the one giggling behind you, pressed against the back wall. I find this hilarious and can’t wait to see God’s solution to our “problem!”

Make sure you vote today! If you want a nation that honors Christ, use your vote to do so!

And last, but not least, it is Kim Goodrich’s 40th birthday!!!!! She’s an awesome friend, kid’s pastor, leader, wife, and mom! And yes, I just blogged her age for the world to see! We love you, Kim, and can’t wait to grow even older with you!

North Creek is leaving the country in 2012! We are in full swing as we prepare for our missions trip 2012 to the Dominican Republic. We currently support missionaries, Jamie and Berly Bello, who work with teenagers in the DR. So, we will be spending seven days helping them with ANYTHING that they need to make their ministry and outreach easier, more reaching, and more impactful. Sometimes making a difference means using your mouth and sometimes it means using a toilet brush! Whatever the challenge – we are up for it!

If you are interested in a truly life changing trip, you can click on the green link below to see the PDF flyer. This trip is designed for adults and teenagers, although junior high students must be accompanied by a parent, so you will need to plan for that.

If you are fairly sure about pursuing this, I encourage you to email Vanessa Thalhofer at vanessa@coffeechurch.com to tell her you are interested! That is not an official sign up, but it will start the ball rolling. However, the first down payment is due January 1, so we encourage you to decide quickly. By the way, we offer North Creek Gift Vouchers that you can purchase for Christmas gifts to help a loved one get to the DR!

I am a big fan of missions trips and exposing your heart to people who come from a different culture and perspective. I am also a big believer in the fact that you make time and money for what is important to you. Don’t the money determine your reality, but rather get a plan for earning/raising the funds to make this trip happen. It’ll change your life.

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Being a part of a church community is the best part of my life! I find immense joy in the faces I see on Sunday and throughout the week, knowing that together we are all working to make each other better people. I fully understand why God loves the church so much. It’s His opportunity to make us face who we are and be encouraged when we fall short.

This weekend was BUSY! We have grown by an average of 32 people in the last eight weeks, so it’s a process of assimilating and getting to know a lot of people at one time. Super fun!

Our board voted to get a new electronic kid’s checkin system, so that will be coming soon! It should help us to know names, parents, and pertinent details (like allergies) on a more efficient basis. We are pretty excited!

I like the fact that we have teenagers all over the place constantly. It makes me giggle! There was such a mass of them in between services that they blocked the main walkway in the foyer. I asked them to move and it was like watching the Red Sea part! I’m so glad they see North Creek as family.

One of my favorite things to do on Sundays is to seek out Grandma Dix and give her a hug. She’s in her nineties and when you ask her how she’s doing, she says, “Well, I’m still alive!” She likes our music because she can hear it…priceless! She told me once that she’s still here because God must have a plan for her life. Yep, He sure does. You’re never to old to discover something new that God has for you!

Make sure that you vote this week! I am a big proponent of using your vote. We live in a free country and we need to be thankful for that! I’m not into which party you vote for, but I do encourage you to vote Biblically. Find out the issues, pray, seek out Scripture, and vote whatever you feel like Jesus would vote.

Mark spoke on God’s plan for our money this Sunday! I have to tell you that I love giving money to His church. I see the heart, the sacrifice and the passion in our team and I know what the number is on their paycheck (or their imaginary paycheck, since most of them work for free). I also hear our board talk about generosity in and outside of our church and get excited! Their hearts are priceless and it makes me want to shove money in their pockets. But that would be awkward.

Carrying a lot of burdens for people this week in prayer. Please pray for the people of North Creek to have wisdom, be blessed, and to have divine God-moments.

Here’s my challenge of the day: Pray for the Holy Spirit to convict you of sin this week. Should be fun!

Thanks for listening to my Sunday rants! Have a great week!