Veteran's Day

By a fluke of the calendar, my first Veteran's Day out of the combat zone fell on a Sunday. So, yesterday during our worship services we honored our vets by projecting the pictures from their years of service during our anthem and had them stand as their service song was sung. Many of our vets wore part or all of their uniforms, and I wore my "blues" instead of the traditional robe.

Veteran's Day this year was different for me. Maybe, for the first time, I felt like a true vet - one who had served in a combat zone. Perhaps for the first time I felt truly like a "Soldier" and not "just" a Reservist. For whatever reason, yesterday was a special day.

In the afternoon I had the opportunity to speak to a group of vets, primarily WW II vets, in Roswell. It's good to still see the inter service rivalry and esprit de corps after so many years away from the service. Our WWII vets are truly a national treasure, and the greatest generation. These are the folks who spent years away from home, had V-mail instead of email, and did not have 15 days mid-tour leave. Unfortunately, we are losing them at a rate of about 1,000 per day. I was also surprised to learn that we still have about 250 WWI vets still living.

I think that when I breathe my last and my eyes close in eternal sleep, I'll look back on my life and one of the things I will be proudest of will be my service over the past year. It was truly an honor to serve with the men and women I was with in Iraq - they are some of the finest people I have ever met.

Happy Veteran's Day.

Then and Now

This is a picture taken this past summer in Balad, Iraq at the Sherpadome, home of the C-23's we used to fly down to Tallil in when not in rotary wing aircraft. I'm on the left, with CPT Josh McConkey in the center and MAJ Joe Kelly on the right. These are two of the finest men, and greatest medical officers in the U.S. Army.

This is what we looked like this past weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado!

All Soldiers, and their spouses, are given the opportunity to attend a Reunion & Reintegration Weekend after deployment. I led 30 of these retreats in the Southeast for the 81st Regional Readiness Command before being deployed to Iraq. We learn how to better communicate, deal with conflict, and reintroduce fun, friendship, sensuality, and spirituality into our relationships. It was great to get reconnected with Joe and osh, along with so many other Soldiers that I served with in Iraq. It was great to meet the spouses of these Soldiers as well.

And 30-50 degree weather beats 110-120 degrees any day!

Parking Lot Update, Part II

The paving is complete! It has been a long journey; felling trees, moving dirt, installing underground utilities and irrigation, drainage, curbs, pouring and rolling gravel. But in one day all the asphalt was put out and rolled.

Today the irrigation system is being completed and the landscaping is being planted.

In addition to the parking lot, the retention pond has been reconfigured. The pond has been hydroseeded, and soon the new fence will be installed. By the end of the week the lot should be striped and ready to be used.

Parking is a huge issue for churches. These additional spaces will give prime parking space for an additional 200-240 participants. Thanks to all the folks who had the vision to add these prime spaces.

Speaking of prime spaces - why not save the best spaces at our church for those who need them most and our visitors? It is an act of servant leadership to park as far from the building as possible and walk to the church. Regardless of what I have planned for the day, I always walk to the church so someone else can have my space. I enjoy the weather, some time alone, and the quiet of the predawn darkness. Why not drop off your family at the door, and then park in the upper lot? Or park up there and and walk down together as a family. Also, consider how many cars you bring to the church. Driving together as a family can be an act of stewardship not only of parking spaces, but of God's resources of oil as well.

Neighborhood Meetings

Over the past two months I have attended 23 neighborhood meetings in our congregation. The experience has enabled me to have some intimate time with 450-500 members and friends of our congregation. It has also helped me learn more about our congregation's strengths, growing edges, and passions. I'll be sharing this with our leadership and using the information gained in the future as we seek to discern God's preferred future for McEachern.

I learned that you are most proud of:

• Our Missions Ministry
• Our Recreation Ministry
• Our Children's Ministry

I learned we need to work on:

• Communication
• Youth Ministry
• Stewardship
• Moving from being a welcoming church to an inviting church

A special word of thanks go out to all the folks who opened their homes and prepared snacks, or even full meals, for anywhere from 10-40 people. And thanks to all those who took time from their schedules to attend one of the meetings.

I have loved almost every moment of the Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons and evenings that I have spent with you; but to be perfectly honest, I'm looking forward to having a little free time now that they're over!

Help Us Be Good Stewards

Most of you probably receive the weekly Senior Pastor letter via email, so this post is not news to you. We are seeking to be better managers of our resources here at McEachern by finding ways to save the resources God has blessed us with without cutting back on the important work we are doing in missions and ministry.

Did you know that each month we send out a 12 page newsletter to over 1,000 households? Think about that cost for a moment: paper, printing, copying, and postage, not to mention the countless volunteer hours spent preparing the newsletter for mailing. The postage alone costs nearly $1,000 per month.

Now, most of the newspapers and newsletters that I receive I get online. We want to do the same with our newsletter, The Vine. You are obviously technically savvy, otherwise you would not be checking this blog. I am asking for all our online folks to email Gwen Harper, Senior Pastor's Secretary, at gwen@mceachernumc.org and ask to be removed from The Vine mailing list. Instead, we will send you a hyperlink each month letting you know that the newsletter is available on line. You can read it online, or print it out at home or your office. You will receive it much faster than through the mail, and know that you are being a good steward as well!

Don't put this on your "to do" list. Do it now!

Autumn

Fall is without a doubt my favorite season, and always has been. There's something about the cool nights and warm days, the fallen leaves skittering across the pavement, and the smell of woodsmoke in the air that evokes memories of earlier times.

Fall is all about reminiscence to me. There is just something so evocative about the season of things past.

And of course there is nowhere better to be than in the mountains!

Today I traveled to the North Georgia mountains with our Older Adult ministry. We stopped to buy apples, eat meals, enjoy the scenery, and be with one another. It was one of the most relaxing days I have had in quite a while.

As soon as I get the group picture I will post it on the blog.

While I am at it, let me say a few words about our older members at McEachern. These are the folks on whose shoulders the current church stands. These men and women came to our congregation when it was much smaller, and were the catalyst for many of the missions and ministries we have today. They are our institutional memory and have the wisdom of folks who have "been there, done that!" I was proud to be asked to be part of their group today - it was an honor to travel, visit, and eat with them.

Random Acts of Kindness

Those of you who have heard me preach, or have heard my "stump speech", know that I often talk about being sent out into the world as disciples. I talk about how we do that in organized ways such as with mission trips, but also how we need to go out individually into our homes, communities, and workplaces as disciples. Something happened today that illustrates what I mean.

With the cooler weather I have begun running during my lunch time. I'm not doing long runs, just a few miles to clear my head, enjoy God's creation, and give myself time to think. I usually run two-thirds of the length of my planned run, turn around and run back for the last third, and then walk back to the church for a cool down.

During my cool down today a truck coming toward me stopped, the window rolled down, and a gentleman stuck his head out of the window and asked, "Are you okay? Do you need a ride?" Well, I guess I looked like I was hurting! I thanked him, told him I was fine, and was just cooling down from a run. He said goodbye and headed on his way.

As I finished my walk I thought, "What a great guy!" and I breathed a quick prayer of thanks and asked God to bless him. I don't know who he is, and I doubt he knows who I am. He just saw a possibility to be of help and acted on it. It didn't matter that he was headed in the opposite direction; he was willing to turn around, pick me up, and take me wherever I needed to go.

That's what it means to be sent out as a disciple of Jesus Christ.