BLeach

30

It's not my waist size anymore.

It's my age.

Today I am charging into a new decade of life, and I am pumped!  Seriously, no whining or feeling sorry for myself today!  I'm celebrating!

I'm living my dream.  When I was in junior high, Jesus called me to serve him at a youth convention in Lansing.  The title of the sermon: "The Few, the Proud, the Ministers."  When I surrendered my future at the end of that message, Jesus gave me a dream to change a city.  Today I'm still pursuing the same dream, giving my life to see Metro Detroit transformed.

I'm married to the girl of my dreams.  I feel so grateful today that I met Leah twenty months ago. Today is my first birthday to share with her.  And the thought of having her in my life for the entirety of my thirties makes my heart beat a little faster.

I don't have any regrets.  I gave my twenties my very best.  I made some mistakes.  But I feel so grateful for what God did through my life in the past ten years.  I took risks.  I planted a church.  We planted another church.  I grew as a disciple, as a son, as a brother, as a leader, as a friend, and as a husband. And now I'm eager to invest the lessons from every success and failure into the next ten years of life.

I'm resolved.  I'm resolved to grow in my love for God and the people around me.  I'm resolved to honor my wedding vows and value Leah as the gift that she is.  I'm resolved to invest more time into people; to serve, encourage, equip, empower, and release.  I'm resolved to seek the transformation of Metro Detroit by building Church of the King and planting churches all over our region.  And I'm resolved to run over the hill in ten years still pointed in the direction of these dreams.

Thank you for reading this blog and being a part of my journey.  You honor me.

40, here I come!

Seven Years

On Sunday, our church turns seven!  To celebrate, we're turning the service into a party.  You're not going to want to miss it!  And trust me, you're not going to want to be late.

Yesterday we put the final touches on the service details.  I won't let the cat out of the bag, but let me just say that it will be one of the most unique services we've ever had.  We're expecting a packed house, so make sure you're there a little early.  And use it as an opportunity to invite a friend!

Let's get ready to party!

To Every Destination, A Journey

I've really enjoyed teaching through the Book of Exodus the past seven weeks.  Here are the themes we've covered so far.

• God of the Journey
• Words for the Journey
• Forward in the Journey
• Provision for the Journey
• Help for the Journey

I felt a bit like a dad as I shared this past weekend's message.  I felt like a little family correction was needed.  For some reason it seems more spiritual to help someone else then it does to receive help yourself.  But spiritual community depends on your ability to both help someone else in need as well as receive it yourself when you have a need. 

Some of us are like Moses.  Even though we've experienced the value of someone holding up our arms, we're still trying to do it alone.  Disappearing for a few months because you're going through a tough time is like the foot saying to the hand, "I don't need you."  Give your local church a chance to share your burdens with you.

If you're interested, you can listen to the message here, or subscribe to the podcast.

For what it's worth, we've got three more messages to go in the series. 

• Celebration for the Journey
• Worship for the Journey
• The Glorious Journey

Life is a journey toward a place of promise.  So in the words of the blue fish from Finding Nemo, Just Keep Swimming...

My Fantasies

Today was a packed day back in the office after taking a few days off this week to get away with Leah. So I've been looking forward to the NFL kicking off tonight.  I'm pumped!  I'm in four fantasy football leagues this year, with...

• Some guys from class
• Guys from the church 
• My extended family (on the Leach side) 
• Some pastor friends    

Leah and I get to manage our family team together, so I'm sure that will involve many solid marriage building moments.  We already had a small debate over whether or not to start Andre Johnson or Jericho Cotchery this weekend.

I've really grown to love fantasy football over the past four years.  Not sure why, but it may have something to do with the fact that my team in real life is kind of on a bad streak recently (like for the past 50 years).