I’m in flight heading back to San Diego. I received several emails & notes on this blog that lots of you were praying for the weekend. I’m very grateful. It was a FANTASTIC, but a little bit crazy weekend.
The weekend laid out like this: I was speaking at the fall retreat for the High School ministry of Brookside Church in Omaha. I have done this for quite few years. John Alford was the Youth pastor there & is a good friend of mine, having worked with me when I was serving at Christ Community Church in Omaha. John is now the executive pastor there, but the guy who took over for John, Jeff Dart, has become of friend & he decided, “Hey, lets keep this going”.
Here’s the twist: John & Jeff decided that they also wanted me to speak in their weekend services. SOOOOO… I spoke on Friday night at the retreat, 3x on Saturday, got in a car & drove through snow & fog back to Omaha, getting in at about 2:30 a.m. and got up & spoke at both their services. Crazy! But it went great & was lots of fun. God was faithful & really moving in the lives of the kids that went. It’s a great High School ministry & I’m happy to be a part of it for a weekend. Here are a few highlights that I wrote in my Journal.
THE RETREAT WAS GREAT
– You gave me good talks that fit great
– Answered prayer for CONNECTION
– There was cool stuff that came to me during each talk
– Great reports throughout the weekend & today about the stuff that kids were getting out of the retreat, how you were speaking to them in the talks
– Kisha – wondering if THIS is REAL or is my life without God that I live at home real. That’s like a challenge that You can’t resist, huh? You blew her away with Your reality.
– SAT NIGHT – Sat night at retreats never grows old to me, I never seem to marvel at how You break through & give people moments of interruption, healing, granting gifts of repentance.
o The talk on the calls was great – the illustration stuff you gave me for M$EvÎw d∞Dy Yad Vashem & little Uzziel Spiegel
o Each of “the Calls” were apropos
o It was fun using the illustration for Dave Busby – though he’s dead yet he speaks
o Then you moved greatly as we had a cool invitation time
– SALVATION IS HERE! Jeff told me today that in the Sunday share time that 6 – 8 kids jumped up when he asked those that accepted Christ over the weekend to stand, that the group celebrated big time
– Thanks for how you used me at this retreat
– SNOW – thanks for the beauty of the snow. It is so pretty to see it snow & then to see the white on the trees & bushes, then seeing those 5 bright red cardinals on the snow dusted tree outside the window. It was very cool. I tried to calculate – I hadn’t seen it snow for over 10 years.
– Thanks for healing that girl – for making that a little bit of a faith down payment – Ed, I’m going to change lives. This is nothing. BELIEVE!
SPEAKING AT BROOKSIDE CHURCH (click here for their website)
– I think you helped me. I picked the right You helped me w/ a lot of spontaneous stuff
– You gave me some connection
– In the shower you re-gave me my Pascal story – FIRE
– It was great to reconnect w/ so many people & be able to bless them in the speaking – Boris & Dawn, Dave & Karen, Dan & Sheri & their parents, Chad & Tera, Tom Ostrom, Ken & Jamie Kalen
– The drive home from Camp – safe but crazy. At some point it is beyond ridiculous & you just laugh.
o You gave me the grace to recognize that inconvenience for the sake of serving You is a privilege. Thanks for that, for not letting my attitude go too south.
o I’m thankful for that program on my phone that enabled me to read over Ex 33 a couple of times in the car.
FRIENDS & OMAHA – It seems like every year that goes by, my appreciation for the gift of long term friends grows. There is something cool about people that you’ve done life with at one point & now, despite the distance you remain friends.
The house we used to live in
– It really was fun seeing friends, reconnecting w/ Bill & Teri, staying with them was great
– The city was beautiful this time – chilly, but fun
– Clarke’s Sunday night party was ultra-fun.
– I’m glad Dori Kuspa & Shirley & Lorraine were able to come by. That was cool.
– Steve Sivige – how fun was it to bump into him
– It’s always great spending time w/ Mark Arant. (Click here for Marks thoughts on the retreat)
O God, I’m filled with thankfulness. It’s like I took a tiny risk, did something, broke the routine, whatever… and experienced the thrill of You coming through.
