We are about to begin a new decade!!! 2010 is just a few days off! 10 years ago we were talking about Y2K and all the hype about everything in the world crashing (which it didn’t). Fortunately, I didn’t waste time stockpiling weapons and food for the cataclysmic event. But it feels like it was just the other day. It was actually 10 YEARS AGO!!! 10 YEARS!! Is time moving faster?
Do you remember what you were doing on December 31, 1999 waiting for the big Y2K?
I’m sitting in a St. Louis Bread Company (Panera Bread in St. Louis) resoluting for 2010. Yea…I’m a HUGE resolution guy. That doesn’t mean I accomplish my resolutions, it just means I absolutely LOVE making them. Lists, goals, plans, agendas for everything. Don’t be jealous of my personality 
.
Part of the process is looking at the 2009 resolutions. Brutal. And yet, I LOVE this sadistic work.
Observations:
Dear Living Stoners (or anyone else who would like to participate),
Wanting to continue in the mission God has given us to make a difference on the South Side of South Bend, we have taken up a special Christmas Eve offering in which every penny of it will be earmarked and given to two places:
1. Monroe Primary Center. After a conversation with Principal Jill VanDriessche, we are in a position to help with some much needed afterschool program resources that include book binding materials (so the kids have experience being authentic writers and publishing their books, logic games, problem-solving kits (real life problems that they need to solve), and a Wii enabling the kids to play some “brain games.”
2. Broadway Christian Parish. They do amazing work in our community among those who are in greatest need. And they do so with very little resources and with little fanfare. We are big fans. They don’t know we are doing this (and hopefully they won’t read my blog). Let’s surprise them with a generous Kingdom investment!
So that we might be known for our spirit of generosity, I’m asking you to give. Many of you already did at our Christmas Eve service, but if you missed the opportunity, we will still receive your offering over the next two Sundays. Simply make your check out to the Living Stones Church and in the memo mark “Christmas Eve offering.”
Thank you in advance for your generous spirits!!!
Last week was a very bittersweet week. Great things going on in regards to the Christmas season and at the Living Stones Church. But in the middle of it, we had to say good-bye to David & Cynthia Kneip. They loaded a truck on Monday and headed to Abilene, Texas, where David is taking a position as a professor at Abilene Christian University. We knew when they got here that there would be a good chance that when David finished his Ph.D at Notre Dame that they would be leaving. But it still sucks. So many great things have happened at the Living Stones Church over the past five years. David & Cynthia were such a critical part of it all!! We will miss you friends…but send you with gratitude, love, thanks, and blessing!
December 27, 2009 – 9:30 & 11:30
January 3, 2010 – 9:30 & 11:30 a.m.
Drove to St. Louis yesterday. Yes…on Christmas morning! Note to self: do not expect to stop at a Cracker Barrel on Christmas Day for a delicious meal. It is closed. Further, any and all restaurants from South Bend to St. Louis via I-55 are closed. Unless you pack it, you will be microwaving a cheese/sausage/croissant from 7-eleven for breakfast (Merry Christmas!!!). We finally found an open Arby’s (attached to a gas station) 60 miles past Bloomington/Normal, IL.
We were making the best time ever (no traffic, and nowhere to stop!). Then we were nearing I-255 close to St. Louis and we came up a hill and out of nowhere…light snow and ice EVERYWHERE (not to mention strong winds)!! There were literally dozens (yes…I know I’m prone to exaggeration, but this is all true ) of cars, SUVs, and trucks in ditches and medians like crazy. I had never seen anything like it. It was so bad emergency vehicles could only place a wooden stake with a pink tag in front of the vehicle and move on. It looked like most were simply sitting in their cars and having to wait hours for their turn to be pulled out of the ditch. We traveled 10 MPH with hazards on. Then, we got on I-255 and…it was all gone. Weird.
What was interesting was that most of the vehicles in the ditch were SUVs and trucks. You may feel invincible…but your tires can’t beat ice at high rates of speed.
