What A Weekend!!! May 28, 2006

I just got back from Charleston…wow…where do I begin–oh yeah–Friday…

If you remember I mentioned that I had a “little eight mile run” this past Friday. Well…uh, yeah, you see, what happened was I wasn’t used to running in that type of humidity…and so I did do eight miles…but I thought I was just about to meet Jesus face to face before it was over!

Anyway–this week is a tapering week and I am pumped and ready for the marathon next Sunday! I will give a report of how I feel after the race right here…IF I can type!

After the run on Friday Lucretia and I took off to Charleston, SC (along with everyone else in the world) for a wedding. (Pudge, our elementary school pastor, and Meghan, a singer here at NewSpring tied the knot!)

Let me just say this before going on…why do people drive slow in the fast lane–FOR THE LOVE PEOPLE!!! Sorry…

The rehearsal was fun…and the wedding on Saturday was a blast–except for the mild monsoon that swept through. It was a 3:00 wedding–the grandmothers were seated, and then the mothers, then Pudge, his best man, and the other minister and I went to the front. (Keep in mind this was an outside wedding.)

Right when we were in place and ready for the rest of the wedding party to come forward–the bottom fell out!!! Seriously, I don’t think I’ve seen it rain that hard in a while. The cool thing is–nobody moved. I am serious–everyone stayed seated and put their programs over their heads to shield them–which I equate to the Coyote putting an umbrella over his head to stop the boulder from crushing him!

We moved inside…waited…and then came back out and did the ceremony. I thought the rain was a beautiful metaphor of how, though the world will throw storms at us…it can’t stop God’s gift of marriage as long as both people are committed to going through with it…no matter what!

After the wedding Lucretia and I zipped over to Seacoast Church! We had gotten some rain–they had gotten some lightening. And so…they had no power. I was supposed to speak for them…but since they had no power they were planning on doing about a 30 minute acoustic session and then going home. Props to the staff and volunteers down there–wow–these guys were making it happen.

BUT–Greg, the pastor, asked the prayer team to pray so that we could have a “normal service.” The prayed team guaranteed that the power would be back on…and then went and began speaking to the “Master Electrician” who has ALL the power.

Well…a few minutes later the power came back on–oh yeah, who’s your DADDY!?

Let me say this about Seacoast Church and Greg Surratt…these people are the real deal. First of all–I bonded instantly with Greg. I love this guy–he was doing the multi-site thing when no one else was doing it…and they are seeing some incredible things happen all over the state. He is an excellent leader–AND he paid for my meal last night–which makes him a godly man!

I was so impressed with Seacoast…and I had the privilege of walking through their new facilities that they should be moving into in about a month or two! WOW! All I can say is that if you live in Charleston…or nearby…then go and check out their new place when they get in…it was built with VISION and PURPOSE!

The lead team here at NewSpring will be doing a short retreat over the next few days–please pray for us…ask that God would give us the wisdom to know what’s right and the courage to do what’s right! Due to the retreat–I will be taking a blogging vacation over the next several days…but I will be back on Thursday–and I think I will have a new format.

ALSO–pray for me and this marathon coming up…also pray for the people who are running it with me–that we will have a safe trip and do well…the names of the people crazy enough to do this are…

It’s going to be awesome–check back Thursday for an update! :-)