If you haven’t met my youngest child, Kennedy, you’re in for a treat someday. She is funny, charming, and gives the best hugs on the planet. That being said, she came out of the womb with a stubborn streak a mile long. She has always wanted things done a certain way and she would fight me to the death to make sure that happened. You can imagine with my stubborn streak the wars that we have had. The first five years of her life were challenging, but I also knew that if God could use that gift, she would be unstoppable.

Within the last year I have seen that attribute begin to mold and shape into one I admire more than anything else in the world. She is beginning to use her stubborn nature in a tenacious and focused way. In gymnastics you will often hear her mutter to herself, “I’m not stopping until I can do it.” You can literally see the determination in her eyes.

The other day she was in the swimming pool, trying to make it from one end to the other. Her sister, Delaney, was doing cannon balls in the middle of the pool, and with each jump, the waves would push Kennedy back farther from her goal. It was painful to watch as her little arms were beginning to ache and her kicks were slowing and becoming erratic. But then, true to who she is, she looked at me at the edge of the pool, and in her sweet voice, said, “I’m never giving up.”

It was one of those proud parent moments where I thought, “That is ALL I want from her. I just never want her to give up. I want her to give it all that she has, because I know that she can get to the other side.” I allowed her to struggle, although I wished desperately that I could help the journey go easier, until she reached the edge. I had to hold back the tears as I told her how proud I was that she didn’t stop.

It’s the same way in our lives as well. I think God looks at us and hopes, above all else, that we display a tenacity that will not quit. I think He just wants us to BELIEVE that we will make it, one way or another. I often wonder how close some people have gotten to something amazing, but gave up an hour to soon, a mile to soon, a moment to soon. What if we bared down and refused to stop short? What if we fought the discouragement for just a little longer? What if we lived life with the “I’m never giving up” attitude?

If you’re thinking about quitting today, why not wait one more day? Why not swim a little harder, try a little longer, focus a little stronger? You might just reach the edge despite the waves wanting to hold you where you are.

How many complaints do you think are sent out into the universe on any given day? Have you ever thought about the ramifications of those complaints? What is the toll on the people who hear complaints? What is the toll on the complainers? It’s an interesting thought to sum up the amount of energy is takes to process a complaint.

I’m sure that there are valid reasons for complaining now and again, but I’m also sure that in my own life there has been VERY few times that complaining has been beneficial. So, if that’s true, the bulk of my complaints have been…well, NOT beneficial. That has lead me to think about just how much of my voice I would like to lend to words that are not a benefit to others or myself.

I’m as guilty as the next guy and I admit it’s a hard one to swallow. I find it easy to justify my pettiness by saying, “I’m just giving my opinion.” or “I just thought they should know what I think because maybe other people are thinking the same thing.” But if I look in the mirror deep enough, I have to admit that at least 9 out of 10 times the world would still spin smoothly if I just shut up. Did you know that the dictionary definition of the word complain includes: “to find fault”? When we complain about someone we are finding fault with them. If we were truly working toward the same goal, we wouldn’t do that. So, every time we compalin, we are saying, “I’m not working with that person towards the goal. They aren’t on my team.”

Being a pastor, I think about the toll that complaining takes on the church and therefore the mission of God. If complaints are mostly without benefit and have a goal of finding fault, then if we choose to complain about the Bride of Christ, what does God think about that? It must grieve God when we use our words to validate that we are not working with each other in the most important mission there will ever be.

So, here’s my challenge. Every time you want to complain – via your mouth, email, text, or whatever, say something encouraging instead. What would our world be like if most of the complaints were exchanged for words that uplifted, united, and validated? What would your marriage be like? How would your pastor lead if he only heard encouragement from his congregation? How would your kids behave if you lead them instead of complained about them? Pretty astounding thought.

Good luck. We’re all going to need it!

This weekend signifies two months into our merge/multisite adventure! It’s going very well and both campuses are getting stronger by the week. Our goal all along has been to be steady and strong at all of our services by September, and I’m pretty sure we are well on our way to that! God has been good!

Emily lead worship at Hazel Dell this weekend and knocked it out of the park! You better watch out, Emily, or we’ll start a whole new campus just for you!!!! Some of you are wondering if I’m joking…

Matt Garner was a guest worship leader for a Men’s Retreat this weekend. Yeah, he’s famous now! He took Lee with him to drum, so I’m sure they had ridiculous amounts of fun.

Battle Ground had it’s highest attendance yesterday since the launch. Their kids classes were bursting at the seams, so they are on track to add a service in the near future. In the meantime, if you like to work with kids, jump in!

We started getting baptism forms for the Park Day on July 1. So far we have five…who wants to be #6? Send me an email at stacy@coffeechurch.com and we’ll be glad to get you dunked! Celebrating a life committed to Christ is the BEST!

The High School Graduates were honored at Battle Ground this week and at Hazel Dell next week! What a momentous occasion for a teenager! We are super proud of each of you and trust that you will do amazing things with your lives. We also have some college grads that we have gotten to celebrate with as well!

Would you pray for North Creek this week? Mark is having our staff set aside time each day to pray specifically for our church and we’d love for you to join us. We want God’s will, His blessings, and His provision for what we need to do.

Father’s Day is in two weeks. Invite your dad to church. We’ll feed him a hot dog for breakfast, which sounds awful, but somehow men like it. I don’t get it. If you served women hot dogs on Mother’s Day, we’d be offended.

My small group is about to come over for dinner, so I’ve got to go hang out with some pretty cool people! Have a great week!

One thing that I think is lacking in American parents is planning the spiritual growth of our kids. We schedule appointments regularly for vaccines, dentists, and well-child check ups. We meet quarterly for parent/teacher conferences, and we painstakingly think through sports, practices, equipment and safety. However, when was the last time that we sat down and thought out how to mold and shape our kids as they walk with Jesus? Here are some of the ways that Mark and I are facilitating our children being in environments where they will meet with God and develop relationships with other people trying to be like Jesus:

1. We attend church. I know this is a “Duh” statement as pastors, but if we quit ministry tomorrow, we would be in church the next Sunday because we believe in God’s plan for church. My kids have some freedom within that: they can be in Kid’s class, sit in the main service, or work in Tiny Town. My kids rarely complain about going to church (or school for that matter) and I think the reason is that they know there’s not an option. I know that the average American family only attends church about 25-50% of the time, but from my perspective, it’s the consistency that makes the difference. If my kids aren’t there, they don’t make friends. If they don’t make friends, they struggle when they are there. I know that some families have custody issues that impact regular attendance, but that would just make the “on” weekends all the more valuable in my home.

2. My kids will go to camps, conferences, missions trips, and other “away events” on a regular basis. My kids need to love Jesus on their own and we decided before they were born to make church camp (and other events) a priority. I believe that one week away ever summer facilitates their relationship with God separate from us. Statistics prove that my kids will walk away from Jesus when they are 18 if we don’t allow them the freedom to figure out their own love for God. Although I believe weekly church attendance can play a role in that, I also believe in the power of getting away on planned spiritual retreats.

3. We provide them with Bibles. I did a lot of research about age-appropriate Bibles to find the right ones for the right stages of my kids. If our kids don’t have a Bible in the house that they can read, it is impossible for them to develop that habit of daily being with Jesus. They are never too young to read the Bible! Kennedy has a picture Bible that graphically tells the great stories of the Bible without words. She’s been “reading” it for 4 years and is now ready for the next step.

4. We pray together. Sometimes we pray over meals, sometimes we don’t. We really don’t make one way of praying a priority, but rather we pepper prayer throughout life in general. If there’s a scraped knee, we pray. If someone is angry, we pray. If daddy cooked dinner, we pray ALOT! Just kidding… But we do want to model for our kids how to handle the tough situations in their life and show them the need to immediately turn to God.

So, there’s some of the big ones. I’m not even saying that these should be on your list, but what I am saying is to think through what your list looks like. How are you fitting spirituality into your parenting? Maybe you are really new to Jesus and are still trying to figure out your own spiritual plan…good…let your kids in on that and develop a plan with them! They don’t need you to know it all; they need you to be growing and teach them how to grow as well!

We have a lot of babies happening in our church right now! One of our Worship Leaders and our Children’s Pastor are due the SAME week in July! Everyone is welcome to come and help us celebrate the upcoming birth of Alissa’s daughter and Vanessa’s son THIS Saturday, June 2 at 10:00 am – 11:45 am. We’ll be having scones, fruit, coffee, opening gifts, and praying a blessing over their upcoming additions. All ladies are welcome!

Alissa is registered at Cotton Babies and Target. Vanessa is registered at Babies ‘R Us and Target.

Join us at North Creek Church – Battle Ground Campus – 500 SW Eaton Blvd, Battle Ground, WA 98604 for a great morning!