Family

time flies when you’re… busy!

kevinhaglund Leave a comment

I can’t believe it has been a month since my last post! It is amazing how busy you can be without a full-time job! Here’s a few thoughts and updates on what’s been happening:

I’ve been leading worship a couple of times a month during May and June at First Baptist Church of West Monroe, LA. It has been a great experience for me and one that has confirmed some things in my own heart. I now know that God is not asking me to lay down the gift of leading worship that He has given me to pursue solely an administrative and organizational role. It has also provided some much needed income for us.

After flying back to Atlanta after one of these weekends leading worship in Louisiana, we took the family to see Pixar’s “UP.” It was a great movie and I was struck by some of the parallels to our family. First, one of the characters was named Ellie (our eldest daughter’s name). Second, the dog in the story was sentenced to wear the “cone of shame.” For those of you who have followed my blog or my Facebook profile, you might remember that our miniature schnauzer was attacked by a german shepherd and had to wear a cone on his head for more than a month. Third, the married couple in the movie had a shared passion which led to an exciting adventure much the way Suzanne and I have stepped out on faith to start browns mill church–an amazing adventure. There was also a broken arm. Our daughter Sarah broke her arm on May 29th. I could go on! It was a great movie and I highly recommend it! What I’m dealing with: Jesus told us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Well, after over 4 months without a regular paycheck, I now know that prayer well! The trouble is, I don’t know that I want to keep living this way. I want God to give me the “sure thing” (whatever that is in this economy!). Health insurance would be really nice–especially with 3 active kids who seem prone to various injuries. But God has been faithful. We have not missed a meal or a payment. At the same time, it’s easy to watch the shrinking bank account balance and wonder what’s going to happen if I don’t get some sort of regular income soon. Please pray for God’s provision for our family. I guess you can pray for our “daily bread,” but it sure would be nice to have the security of something a little longer term!

browns mill church continues to plug along! It is exciting to see what God is doing to change lives literally right before our eyes! We’re averaging about 54 people since we began holding weekly gatherings on March 15th, 2009. This past Sunday, we had our first Parent/Child Dedication and it was a precious time. We don’t have to set up or tear down for the summer, but the school is an absolute mess right now because they are doing some remodeling. All the desks and classroom equipment is piled up in the hallways. Not exactly the look we’re trying to achieve for our first time guests. Oh well! What can you do!

As I write this, I am about to head out the door for a 2nd interview with a local computer IT company. It is a commission only sales position. The optimistic part of me says, “hey! It’s an unlimited income potential!” But the other part of me worries about doing a lot of work for no pay! Well, that’s all for now!

a summer that counts

kevinhaglund Leave a comment

I came across this article written by Philip Nation and thought it would be great timing since school is almost out.

Seasons all have their official dates that are set by… well, I don’t know who sets them. But they all start on a specific day on my Blackberry. But then there is the other 99.9% of us whose lives are controlled by other factors.

For many, it is the school calendar. Right now, the spring semester is ending and it’s the start of summer vacation. It is the glorious time of the year when children are home all day, vacations are taken, pools are visited, and then we look for something to do on the second week.

Each spring, I hear people making plans for the perfect summer. They vow that this is the year they go camping with the kids, visit the grandparents more, and have more fun than anyone thought possible. Then the new school year rolls around and everyone wonders what just happened to the two months of perfection they had planned. Time seemed to slip away so quickly.

I want to challenge your thinking about summer this year. You can still go on a trip, play in the pool, and camp with the kids. But what if you decided to make it a missional summer? Instead of counting the days until it was over, I want you to make your summer count! It all begins with the “why.” Why should I spend my whole summer or any of my summer on mission? That sounds boring. Even worse, it sounds like work. But if you want to have a memorable summer—then you have to get your mindset right.

When Paul was helping the Corinthian church understand their role in the world, he explained it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, “(18) Now everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: (19) that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. (20) Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us, we plead on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God.’”

Our lives as believers are not about self; which is a tough concept when we are facing the summer months. It seems that summer is designed as a built-in “take a break” time of the year. Take a break from school, work, and even church stuff. But your summer can be the moment that you engage in the mission rather than disengage from the world. Let me give you 8 tips for making your summer count. And I promise that each one of them is possible!

1) Look at people with eternity in mind. Everyone has an eternity in front of them. We need to see them as God does and care for them like it counts.

2) Show some hospitality. Believers should be the people that everyone else wants to be around. So be the person who invites everyone over for a cookout or a game night. Remember, you’re the ambassador for Christ so get into the lives of people living outside the kingdom.

3) Watch for a chance to serve. People give away all of their energy on family, work, and menial chores. Look for ways that you can care for your neighbors—even if it is just cooking a simple dinner for them.

4) Visit someone new. Look around your community and find someone who needs a friend. Maybe it is visiting in a nursing home or rocking babies in the NICU. Make your days count with people who feel they don’t.

5) Go somewhere unexpected. It is not too late to get your family’s name on the list for a mission trip. Leave your inhibitions behind and get going to a place that needs to hear about Jesus whether it’s downtown or to the other side of the globe.

6) Take somebody with you. Whatever you do, don’t do it alone! Take your family, get your Sunday school class involved, or invite the whole church to go out on mission. And make sure to take the kids. They’re ready to change the world, so let them.

7) Be truthful. Missional believers contend for the faith while speaking in a way understandable to the hearer. No matter what—be ready to tell the story of Jesus.

8) Love like Jesus. He lived a robust life of caring for the lost. He did it by meeting their needs and telling them the truth. And I can think of no better way to make your summer count than doing both of those.