Moving Day, 4th of July, and Stuff I'm learning in the Last Week

I have to say that the last week of my life has been crazy, challenging, stressful, & exciting all at the same time. I also have to admit that my "bloggish time" has been limited and difficult. I feel like there are about a dozen transitions happening at the same time right now around my world, and therefore, finding time to generate content for the blogosphere has been a challenge.

We spent the morning of July 4th, finishing packing up our home and preparing to move on Friday. Then we hung out with Scott and Kirsten Drummond, (NLC's Executive Pastor), for the fireworks, etc. On Thursday, I had a couple meetings, and then picked up the moving truck which was an absolute trip! It was a 26 footer, and old. (Trust me, when I say "old" what I mean is Moses actually used this truck when he was moving across the Red Sea.) It had like 199,000 miles on it and was a stick shift. (I haven't driven a stick shift in years by the way... I thought I was back on the farm in IN!!! Yeehaw!)

Anyway, so once I got the truck backed in to the driveway, ready to be loaded in the morning, I took off with Rob Watrous (One of NLC's 20-something leaders) for North Tampa, where I was scheduled to preach the final night of a youth camp for a friend of mine's church! We had a great drive up and back, and I'm glad I got to spend some quality time with Rob. We had a great night at the camp and God moved. But we didn't end up getting back into town until 1:30 am.

So on Friday, we were up and moving at 6:15 am. We packed up the last of the boxes and the moving crew (read a few NLC staff, family, and friends) arrived at 8 am to help us with the move. The good news is we were completely loaded and unloaded at the new house by 10:45 am! We spent the remainder of the day unloading boxes and putting stuff together, etc. Saturday was spent continuing the move in process and putting the finishing touches on making our new house a "home."

Then came Sunday... oh yeah, did I mention that I had to speak on Sunday at NLC? Well, God moved big time. If you were there on Sunday, you know what I'm talking about. It was great to see God moving in people's hearts in a new and fresh way! So needless to say, it's Monday morning and I was anxious to get on my prayer walk in a new location... Here are a few thoughts I had from my time with God this morning...

1. Team is Everything. I definitely witnessed this one first hand this past week. From Rob being willing to drive the "late shift" on our way home from North Tampa, to the crew we had helping us move in to our new house, they spent the whole day just working and sweating, and straining. (wow!) I was reminded this week that Team Matters. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Team will make or break you. Period. Good Team = Good Future! I witnessed that this week!

2. Trust is Huge. In the past week and a half, I have witnessed the trust that people have in me as a leader first hand. There are times in the life of a leader when tough decisions have to be made, and in those moments Trust is required on the part of those around a leader. I've recently walked through one of those times. And I'm so thankful for the trust that I've heard people articulate to me. Thank you, this has been a really hard time.

3. God's Faithfulness is Ridiculous. I love the fact that God is way more faithful to us than we are to Him. He loves and forgives, nurtures and cares for us through every season of our lives. I have sensed and felt that love again in the past week! What a good feeling.

4. Normal is Good. I think that I can see Normal from where I'm standing. I'm not sure but I think it might be living just a day or two away, and I'm excited about that. I'm ready for some routine again. Enough with the boxes, and the moving and the chaos... It felt good to be "home" this morning ... It felt... Normal again.

Just a Bloggish Thought,

Matt