Sometimes people ask me, “Drew, do you ever miss Alabama?” and images such as this pop into my mind, and I think, “You know, sometimes I do.” In suburbia most houses look alike, most people dress alike, and even those “angsty teens” who are so individualistic look amazingly similar. But in Alabama, believe it or not these type of “displays” are not so infrequent as to draw anything other than a second look. Can you imagine the outcry of this Santa ride in some of Frederick’s suburbs? So, yes, there are some things that I sometimes miss about Alabama, like the sound of automotive chains rustling in the breeze, the smell of wedding cake at a wedding of too close of relatives, and the outright creativity that is shown everywhere. We call it “folk art.” Who in suburbia would have thought, “you know I have a car, and it is Christmas, why not make the car a little festive?”

Merry Christmas

PS- Dad, thanks for the picture of your new “display” in our yard.

Mark 4:37-41 “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” ³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. ⁴⁰He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!“

Today it was supposed to be a icy, cold, very bad day.

We face decisions every day. We choose what to eat, what to wear, and even more impacting things like whether or not to have a worship service. There are temporal things to consider like the exertion that goes into setting everything up and breaking it down. We tell ourselves that we are doing it for the Lord, but let’s face it, it’s hard work. There have been two occasions when I decided to have church on an inclement weather day, and the only people that showed were those setting up the service. That’s a morale kick in the pants.

If few people show, then it looks like we are a smaller church than we are to guests. (Yes, perception is important). There is a much smaller offering than normal, and if we cancel then there is none at all. There is the danger of accidents if you don’t and there is a missed opportunity to share the gospel if we do. I used to think that there might be a person, who would have come, and their life may have been changed forever – but we canceled instead.

When making these decisions I have decided to let God be God. If Daybreak were a church located in remote Alaska then snow and icy weather would be a way of life. Even in Maryland we are often not equipped to handle a storm. So, God controls the weather, He knows where we are, He knows what we need, and He is control. If He allows a storm to come, I believe He understands our need to not have a service.

I also believe that storms lead us back to asking the question of, “Why do we assemble anyway?” I mean, “Why have a church worship service?” Many times in life we go through the motions, even things that we have done our whole lives, but forget their purpose.

Obviously, gathering as the body of Christ is important (and commanded). I believe that I will soon do a sermon on this exact question, because storm or not there are those who find something far more insignificant than an ice storm to keep them away. I also become focused on lights, sound, media, chairs, etc…when my focus should be worshiping God instead. Sometimes storms help us to re-focus on what is truly important.

Today was Hannah-Grace’s last day of dance for this cycle. She will start dancing again beginning in January. Today was also the one and only day when the instructors would allow the parents to actually sit in the room and watch them dance. After several of the girls would suddenly bolt and ran back and forth, and back and forth to their parents, I understand the restriction.

In the next round of dance we will have our first recital – I’ll let you know how it goes. But for now Hannah-Grace loves to put on her pink tutu, pink dance shoes, pink dance outfit, pink Cinderella backpack, pink, pink, pink, …. (you get the idea). Her face lights up when it is time to go and to be only three she shows great potential. (I know all parents say that about their children, especially daddies about their little girls.) She wants to get married, and asks Jesus to bring her a special boy soon. I am in the background praying the exact opposite – Lord let it be many, many years from now. I want to hold on the pink ponies and dance lesson Saturdays as long as I can. In a house where the guys outnumber the girls (4-2), Hannah-Grace is all girl, and that’s ok with daddy.

Today was the second annual Gingerbread House Building morning. We had well over 80 people to attend and it was a wonderful morning. Everything went very smoothly, and Karine planned everything exceptionally well. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped to make this a wonderful time for families. There were several requests from people from the community asking, “Are you guys doing this next year?” We had several families that even returned from last year.

Our goal was simply to give families in the community and in our church an opportunity to have fun with their family. So everyone went home with their very own Gingerbread House, smiles on their faces, and a little gift from us. I wanted to give people another entrance to our church other than a Sunday morning worship service.

I also didn’t want to hog all the fun, so Craig G. got to wear the Gingerbread Man outfit. He looks pretty snappy in a giant green bow tie. Our volunteers were outfitted in brown felt aprons, complete with red buttons – very festive. All of my children had a sugar rush at some time during the two hours, and they all crashed in the car on the way home.

I know that there are much larger churches, and far busier pastors than I, but this past weekend was very busy. It’s the end of Monday and I am still pretty tired. Friday evening was the Kris Kringle Parade in downtown Frederick. Saturday was Respite, and this event had two additional hours than normal. Sunday we have our normal two services, there were the regular afternoon meetings, and I attended youth Sunday night. You could say, “Drew, that’s why buy you get the big bucks!”

Yes, perhaps, but there were several people from Daybreak who don’t get any compensation for this high level of involvement. They believe in what we are trying to accomplish so much that they are willing to serve at this level of sacrifice and commitment. I know of one person who came from work, served pretty much the whole weekend and then went back to work on Monday. This person’s weekend had to only have been a blur.

I am so blessed and thankful to be a leader of a church where so many people understand that there is more to life than being compensated or getting personal gain from service. Daybreak people understand that there are eternal issues in everything that we do, especially as a church. This past weekend was a time of physical exertion and eternal kingdom growth. Both seem to go hand-in-hand.