appreciation

First of all, the reason I didn't blog last week is that I was out of town at a conference. The conference was one of the best I've ever been to, but I never had any time to update this site.

As for what I got out of this conference:
- Christians should be environmentalists. (I already felt this way, but I didn't know that other people didn't)
- Due to the schedule I keep on Sunday mornings (Kids Church and whatnot), I spend less time in church services than people who only show up on Christmas and Easter.
- I drink too much bottled water. I child dies every 30 seconds from lack of clean water.
- If I take away the time I spend preparing for sermons, my Bible reading time is pretty weak.
- You can stand in an airport and tell who is trying to be a "cutting edge" pastor. They are usually 35-45, and dressed like they are in the 8th grade. It's sad.

Anyhow, the purpose of today's post is that this Sunday is Pastor Appreciation Day. Please don't think I am bringing it up because I am a pastor. I hate being the center of attention, and I am always uncomfortable when people make a fuss about me. I like to think that I am pretty humble (though I guess I seem less humble when I point out how humble I am).

I wanted to take this opportunity to appreciate the pastors that I get to work with. I have only been here a little over 4 years now, but I often wonder how I ever lived without these guys. If you only know Rich, Jay, and Andy from seeing them on stage on Sunday mornings, you are really missing out.

Rich is the reason I took this job. The first time I met him, I went away feeling like I would be doing a disservice to God if I didn't soak up every bit of knowledge that Rich could teach me. I am proud to say that I am infinitely better at what I do because he's invested time into my life. Plus, we disagree a lot (politics, traditions, etc.), and I love to argue. He's never stopped liking me because of my views, and he's swayed my opinion more often than I'm proud of.

Jay is my free therapist. The sky could actually be falling, and he could make me feel good about it. I do some of my best creative work with Jay, and I appreciate that he is always looking for new ways to get out of the box. Plus, he never uses his position as leverage to get his way. That's important, because as I said, I love to argue. Nothing worse than having an argument end with the "Senior Pastor Trump Card". I don't think he even remembers he has it in his pocket.

Andy is like my roommate. We've been sharing a small office for a couple of years. I think we can hear each other think sometimes. He's a good roommate, for the most part, although he talks really loud when he's on the phone and sometimes he puts on headphones and sings along to whatever he's listening to. Still, he's way better at this job than I am, so it's good to have someone within arms reach to ask questions. Andy is by far the friendliest person I've ever met, and he is everyone's best friend.

So, since I am usually grumpy and complainy, things are going to be awkward now. I'm not sure if I've ever said anything nice to these guys before. But, I didn't want another Pastor Appreciation Day to go by without letting everyone know how lucky we are to have these guys leading our church each day.

Stay Awesome

-Jim