The Return

Lest you be confused by the previous post, I can't wait until Heather gets home.  2 hours and counting.  I am worn out.  The girls are really excited as well that she's coming home. 

The weekend has included the following:

Dunkin Donuts (2x)
Mellow Mushroom
Qudoba
Shane's Barbeque
Chik-Fil-A
...and one large energy drink for me (thanks to Brian).

The beauty of kids

Having taken care of the kids all weekend and taught the 1st-5th graders at CrossPointe this morning, I was reminded of this quote I have posted before.  I think it is quite profound...obviously not from me:

Interestingly, “growing up” is largely a matter of learning to hide our spirit behind our face, eyes, and language so that we can evade and manage others to achieve what we want and avoid what we fear.  By contrast, the child’s face is a constant epiphany because it doesn’t yet know how to do this.  It cannot manage its face.  This is also true of adults in moments of great feeling—which is one reason why feeling is both greatly treasured and greatly feared. 

Those who have attained considerable spiritual stature are frequently noted for their “childlikeness.”  What this really means is that they do not use their face and body to hide their spiritual reality.  In their body they are genuinely present to those around them.  That is a great spiritual attainment or gift.

The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard, p. 76

Dance Party w/Dad

Construction is underway!

Great connections

This week has been quite eventful and encouraging as I've had the opportunity to connect with several leaders in Orlando regarding church planting.  It started off on Monday night at the Vision 360 dinner.  This was the first time Heather and I got to connect with the staff and board members of our sending network.  This truly is a movement of God in our city and around the world.  Can't even put into words the Kingdom heart that these people have--they are so enthusiastic about church planting.  As we heard stories and got a further glimpse of the vision, I had this overwhelming sense that I have no idea what I've stumbled into.  This thing is so much bigger than our church plant.  It was obvious to me that God has put us here and that it has nothing to do with my planning or skill.  It is simply His gift and His grace. 

Then Wednesday I got the opportunity to connect with a pastor named Jason Dukes.  Jason pastors Westpoint Church.  Just love that God keeps allowing me to connect with like-minded leaders who share a vision for our city--I have much to learn from all of these people.  The reason for the meeting was to find out about a very intriguing coffeehouse concept Jason and his church pioneered.  They want to be intentional about being missional and creating points of intersection with the culture.  To that end they started House Blend Cafe.  It is their pilot location and they hope to spread the concept into other contexts.  Well if you take the time to link over to the House Blend Cafe site you will read about an idea that resonates with me because it is one of my hopes for the Winter Park area.  Once I stumbled upon their website I just had to connect with whoever was behind this.  My meeting did not disappoint.  I'll keep you posted, but this is what I want to see happen in our context.  I love the idea of resources, building, etc. being a reflection of a church's desire to live missionally.  It's a very creative and practical expression of how the church is not something one attends on a Sunday morning.

If you're in the Orlando area, and you want to talk more about any of this, I'd love to connect.  Shoot me an email at jamierhart@gmail.com  The information site for the church plant should be live in a few days.  I'll let you know when it's ready to go.  It'll give you more information about the vision and mission of the church plant and how you can get connected and partner with us.

Survival Weekend

Getting my blogging in now, as Heather departs for St. Louis (gone until Sunday night) in a few short hours--which means dad is flying solo with the 2 kids!  Mellow Mushroom and Dunkin Donuts here we come, but probably not much time for blogging.  Hopefully you'll hear from me early next week...if I survive. 

David Wilcox Concert & Podcast

You have no idea how excited I was when I saw a tour update on David Wilcox's website declaring that he will be playing in Florida!  Of course I already have my tickets, and you should get yours.  It's a great, but small venue called Cafe' 11 in St. Augustine.  Can't wait.  If you've never heard him you should definitely check out his music (which you can get on iTunes). 

Was also excited to find a podcast interview with Wilcox.  The link is here.  Started listening to it and very good thus far.