Precious Moments; Kids and Communion

Legacy...

As you may have noticed, and or been a part of, our children at AC3 have been more involved in our weekly church services. Our leadership's vision is for our kids to know what's happening inside our church, get a sense of what we do, why we're doing it and to be involved themselves. This is all in hope that each child will have their own moments where God is touching their hearts and they can look back upon these moments as they grow. 

If you missed this, please check out the AC3 Video Blog, Rick and Dan's take on worshiping with our "short people" around AC3.

For me, I look back at moments when God was reaching into my life and I didn't have the tools to know what was happening. I made poor decisions and never followed where The Holy Spirit was leading me, I had no clue what that even meant. It's a passion of mine to help my kids and the youth here at AC3 to know that the tools to decipher these interactions are at their disposal. 

Little Ones at Services

Ok so I have to get this public service announcement from the father of two little rambunctious boys off of my chest. Those of us at church who have little guys, we know that they're a distraction, that they're noisy and trust me when I tell you that we know all about anxious feelings that come with the thought of somehow letting our little guys get in the way of someone's moment with God.

I'm certain these distractions will settle as the kids get more and more used to being in there with us. So please try to look at the beauty in sharing these moments with the whole family and know that we're working diligently to get the little ones worshiping with us and limiting distractions.

Communion for my family

Bet (my wife) and I have two little boys, both very different, both incredibly awesome. Our oldest, Liam is 4 and he's already a more spiritual being than I was at age 30. For example, he prays when he "has bad words in his head" for Jesus to take them out of there for him. That's just how Liam rolls. 

Needless to say, Liam loved our first all family communion this past month where the kids walked to the back of the auditorium and met elders there to help them learn about communion as they had juice and a snack. He soaked it up and talked all about how Jesus gave us snacks to symbolize his broken body. He's creating moments that he may remember for the rest of his life, right now. It's incredible to be a part of God reaching his heart at such a young age and I'm looking forward to many more of these amazing moments.

Intergenerational Communion This Weekend!!

So, our leaders have decided we'll do communion in a variety of different ways for the little ones to determine which is best. This weekend, they'll get a "Remember IT" snack pack when they walk in the room equipped with a small booklet for their parents to go through with them.

Hope to see you this weekend!! 

-Jared Galde

Don't Ask, Just Follow

Listening when it doesn't make sense. 

So there I was, managing this coffee stand at the church. Handling the tracking of money and helping with every aspect of the operation. For starters, I don't think that I should even be my own bookkeeper, it's certainly not in me to be a diligent tracker of money for an entity outside of myself. However, there I was, because God needed me to be involved. The coffee stand needed change, Creek Espresso needed management and needed good stewardship. I didn't see myself fit for the job, but God did, so I listened.

I did the best I could and prayed like crazy for God to show me the more permanent answer as to who belonged managing Creek Espresso, it certainly didn't feel like it was me. Since I joined the BAM board (Business As Mission) earlier this year, I felt drawn to this coffee stand. God was pulling me towards it to seemingly set the path for the future, much like he pulled me in to start this blog late last year. As with most things God pulls me to, there was enemy opposition. It was not an easy road but with the help of the BAM board, our volunteers and a HUGE help by our new Creek Espresso Management, Stephanie Moddison, the future is looking bright for Creek Espresso and it's efforts to raise funds for The AC3 Community Center.

The power of prayer

Like I said, the prayers were being sent up in great numbers lately about finding a solution to the problem that I was facing. I needed to step down from this role in the coffee stand, but I needed God to show me the way as surely all of this hard work was for progress in Jesus' name. 

So there I am, praying like crazy. One night, I had a good long talk about it with Bet (aka the awesomest wife in recorded history), told her I was praying about it and asked her to as well. That night before I went to bed I prayed that I'd find balance, that even if I was supposed to manage this coffee stand that I could fit it in where it needed to be fit in as I run a real estate business that supports my family that is clearly #1 on the work priority list. 

How God works in my life.

Well, in the short years I've been a real follower of Jesus, I've learned that The Holy Spirit seriously lacks subtleties when showing me the path that needs to be taken. 

So I'm moping around the house, the very next day after talking to Bet about this coffee stand/time constraint problem and Bet says, "hey honey, I found this in the bag of stuff taken out of your old car, do you want it?"

This is a press pass, made for me by one Nate Crain, an idea straight from God, filtered through Dan Hazen and myself. It was the vision to start this very blog that caused me to take up my passion for writing again, a vision that was seemingly taken from me when business picked up and the coffee stand among other things took all of my time.

At first I didn't think much of her finding the press pass and handing it to me. Then I checked my email. Within an hour of Bet handing me my press pass, I get an email from Creek Espresso's saving grace, Stephanie Moddison. Stephanie and I had been working together to manage Creek Espresso for several months. There's no way that it would be what it is today without her. The email was about how God was putting it on her heart to take over full management of Creek Espresso. How her little guy was just getting old enough where she thought she could take this all on and that her processes for the stand were ready to be in full swing. 

So, I took a step back. Thanked God for working in my life and told Him that I'm listening and that I'm His humble servant and will press forward as he's called me to do. 

Listening forward

So, I listened. Here I am, writing on the blog. I know not where I'll be led in this adventure but I know I'll be led somewhere He wants me to be which makes my heart happier than I could have ever imagined. I'm done asking questions about where He leads me, it's time to just follow because I always end up in the right place at the right time. 

I also know, AC3, that your espresso stand, Creek Espresso is in capable, amazing, loving and caring hands for the foreseeable future in Stephanie Moddison. I will be doing all that I can to support her as she takes on this challenge that God has laid on her plate. So stop in for some java this weekend at church and support the community center at the same time. 

-Jared Galde