I feel as if I am about to bust! All of the sudden I am completely beside myself about what is getting ready to happen at The ROCK on December 16th. Over the past 24 hours I have watched in amazement as every available nook and cranny in the church building has become home to props, presents, clothing, stars, flyers, posters, postcards, Christmas trees. It’s everywhere!!!! I have had 3 people walk in my office today, eyes big as saucers saying how they really had no idea the scope of what was happening with Imagine Christmas.

We are down to the last 3 weeks. Now is crunch time for rehearsals and promotion. Today I have been printing 3,000 flyers for Leslie Averitt to be inserted in Good Life and distributed all over Wilmington. Our copier has a tendency to chew up quite a few copies, and I bought all the blue paper Staples had. It was only exactly enough and no more for what I needed for Leslie. As I sorted the misfits from the acceptable, throwing pieces of ragged paper in the trash, I began to deeply resent what I was doing. I began to see each scrap of paper as a person; someone who is a ragged, crooked, crinkled up mess who feels like they’ve just been thrown away; someone who has believed the lie that they are not good enough for God to love unconditionally; someone who has been damaged by life and is desperately, perhaps secretly, needing peace in their heart — or else. No lie, I teared up as I looked at the copier and growled out loud, “stop it!”.  i haven’t lost a piece of paper since then. I’m really not making that up – - that amazes me. I wish I would have done it 2,000 copies ago.

I ordered 1,000 more invitation cards today because the 1,000 I bought 2 weeks ago are just about gone. People have been inviting their friends and co-workers, putting up signs up in their workplaces and all over town. I’ve ordered almost a week’s worth of radio advertising on WGNI. (My Cumulus sales rep says he wants to come with his family ). 12,000 Postcards are sitting in my office sorted and ready for saturation mailing. It’s going to happen, ya’ll. I have no doubt after what I have seen the past week or so, that we are going to have more people at The ROCK for Imagine Christmas than we have ever had for any service before.

So, are you ready?

Yes, we have been preparing. Yes, we will be ready with all the logistical elements, bells and whistles. But that is not what is going to change people’s lives when they walk through our doors. Did you hear that???? Fancy lights, great music and awesome talent will not change people’s lives. What will change their lives is pure, honest and sincerely authentic love. So, are you ready? How will we love our visitors? I am challenged today more than ever to be on my knees asking God to make me salt and light; to show Himself in all His glory through each and every one of us; to fill us so full of His love that we ooze compassion and excitement; to be so real through us that our guests will leave challenged to imagine their lives with Christ in it. What a gift.

So – -are you ready?

P.S.
OK – - 1,000 Blue sheets just ran crinkle free. I’m printing 500 more on white paper which are about 3/4 of the way through printing. I just have to. It’s only paper. Who cares if it’s blue? I don’t like colored paper anyway.

- – hang on – - let me go check…

Nope, no cast offs (except for the one I messed up pulling it off the copier).

I hope some crinkled up misfit gets one of the white ones and thinks it’s special – just for them.

1. putting a full blown 2 side, full color insert in the newspaper is peanuts in comparison to one, itty, bitty, teeny, tiny 2 x 7″ black and white ad in the local section.
2. i costs a boat load of money to put one little sticky note on the cover of the sunday paper… but it’s still a better deal than that one lonely little ad.
3. i now know how to re-set the frequency on our sennheiser wireless units (i thought i already knew that – i’m sure i should have already known that).
4. my beloved wordpress can, at times, be completely evil…
5. one of our click tracks for imagine christmas has the click in both sides of the track… hmmmmmm. how shall i fix that?
6. if the stage lights stick – try the other wall dimmer. that will work. (after dancing with those lights for this long you’d think i would have figured that out sooner too).
7. time warner cable’s channel 4 telephone number. the phone number that alluded me for a full week – - took me 2 minutes to find today. go figure.
8. the intelix box in the middle of the stage all these years was waaaaaay too easy of a fix for me to just be figuring it out now.
9. 9+6=15; 425-1375≠a postive number; (2+4+1)-2=5; (oi! math… bluchk!!!)
10. imagine christmas is going to be awesome!!! tell everyone you know!!!!!!!! invite a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor!!! (i’d love to tell you to invite them through therockchrismas.com, and that you can even go there to check out the podcast of the first message in our Imagine Christmas series – – but alas… see #4. maybe tomorrow.)

468 Hours and 2 Minutes till Imagine Christmas… tic – toc – tic – toc… You can find more amazing numbers at therockchristmas.com… check it out.

Kem Meyer introduced this guy’s blog a few months ago.  he made my must read list by his second post.  Now he’s up to 6 and it drives me nuts that he doesn’t blog more.

So, start your day with a good laugh and go read his post about having text and our textual relations (yes, it is exactly what it sounds like).  Not only is it funny – it’s spot on.

BTW – might as well read the other 5 posts too.  They’re worth it.  Start with 1 – it’s name is blog so you know what he’s trying to do.

You’re welcome.

(oh, yeah.  kid warning – - you’re gonna find a few cuss words here… )

my brother, jesse…

fire fighter, mechanical whiz, soldier, brother… hero.

i am so thankful i got to share a turkey, tag team a big ‘ol pile of wood and stay up way too late talking to him.  i am a proud sister.   ya’ll please pray for him – he goes back to baghdad on friday.