Best Staff Ever!

We just finished our annual staff retreat and it is safe to say that we have the best church staff ever!  I’m so proud of our team.  I feel so blessed to be a part of them.  We had a great time of learning to “Guard our Hearts” which was our theme.  Enjoy the pictures!

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Go ‘09 – A Huge Success!

Wow, what a day!!! Over 1500 NewPointe volunteers serving throughout many, many communities.  That’s why we call it “Community Impact Day”!  It rained a bit, but that didn’t stop us.  What a fun day of being the church together in our communities!!

Below are some pictures of where my family, our small group, and others (30 total) served at Skyview ranch.  We tore out fence, made new fence, hauled mulch way into the woods, painted, ran new electric to some cabins, mowed, and weed eated.  The best part was our friends at Skyview fed us snacks and then lunch!!  We had a lot of fun working together and got a bunch of stuff done.

 

Please Welcome…

Wes Feldner, our new Creative Arts Director at NewPointe!

Yes, you can see the brilliance brewing!

When Office Space Gets Tight…

Wow, you thought you had it bad.  Try 7 people in an 8x8 office!

No, its not really that bad, but there are really 3 people sharing this space.  The rest of the name cards just got added for fun!  And we are truly out of office space already in this big new building!

This has been a really, really busy summer for the NewPointe Staff.  But, hey, its exciting and fun to join God in His adventures!!!

Can You Guess Where I’m At?

This is a picture of my foot.  I’ll give you a hint.  My foot is 103 stories above the street below.  Being the astute reader that I know you are, you have already discerned that if my foot is 103 stories above street level, then I am too!

The only thing separating me from my demise is 1” of Plexiglas.

Here’s another hint/picture:

Okay, I’m sure by now you have guessed the “Sears Tower in Chicago” and you are correct.

Last weekend we travelled to Chicago for a basketball tournament that Braden was in.  One day we took the train downtown and saw the sights.  It was a lot of fun.  Chicago is a really big place!

Its a nice place to visit by i wouldn’t want to live there!

Leadership Scuds

If you are around NewPointe for any amount of time you will soon learn that we focus on 3 things:

1. Leadership!
2. Leadership!!
3. Leadership!!!

So we are always tracking people we value as great leaders.  One of those is Andy Stanley from North Point church in Atlanta.  Andy is simply a phenomenal individual.  He recently spoke at a conference and below are some leadership scuds that he dropped.

1. “Leadership is not about making decisions on your own.  It’s about owning decisions once they are made.”
2. “The leader shouldn’t make all the decisions.  The leader should just make sure the decisions are good ones.”
3. “Leaders who refuse to listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing important to say.”
4. “You are probably not the smartest person in the organization.   You’re just the leader.”
5. “Fairness ended in the Garden of Eden.  Never shoot for fair.  When you shoot for fair you will be unjust.  Shoot for Right.”

Wow, that’s just a few of things he said!

Leadership is tough.  Personally, I think leadership is more about your character than your ability.  Give me a “humble person with the courage to do what he/she knows is right” and you will have a great leader.  It sounds simple but few really achieve it.

My goal is to become a better leader at NewPointe.  Every day I pray for God to make me a better leader by giving me clarity, confidence, and courage.

What 3 things do you need to lead better in your life?

Katie’s Graduation

Wow, its really, really hard to believe that my precious little daughter, Katie, has just graduated from college! It really just seems like yesterday that we dropped her off at Indiana Wesleyan for her freshman year.

I’m so proud of Katie. Let me brag about her for just a bit because she has accomplished so much. Katie has:

• Finished at the top of her nursing class of 80 students.


• She was one of only 2 nursing students to graduate summa cum laude which means her GPA was > 3.9


• She received a special award during her pinning ceremony for her academic achievements and her leadership qualities as a nurse.


• Her senior year she worked 12 hr shifts as a student nurse in an ICU at Ball Hospital in Muncie, IN.


• She has recently accepted a full-time position in a large ICU at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis. They only hired two people and Katie was one of them!

So as you can see she has accomplished a lot in her 4 years at college.

We had a great weekend celebrating this time with her. I was surprised how sad I was to see her leave IWU. We really have grown to like that university. It is one of the few “Christian Colleges” that is still “Christian”.

This is Katie’s roommate, Kayleigh. She has been a great friend of Katie’s and is like a daughter to us. Its hard to see them start new journeys in life without each other. This is yet another emotion to deal with! However, I’m sure they will stay connected somehow!

So if you have kids, don’t take any short cuts to keep from spending quality time with them. Time cannot be replaced and you don’t want to regret not spending it with those you love! It really does fly by!