Reflections of a Busy Man

I know what you're thinking..."Well it's about time!! Poor Mike--he's got too much going on. He needs help with updating his blog." You have no idea...it's worse than you think! Do you ever feel like life comes at you so fast that you barely have time to keep up with it, much less reflect and record your thoughts on it??? That seems to be the reality of this current season of my life.

We live in a world that thrives on speed and acceleration. Our cars have engines that move them faster. Our computers have chips that increase their speed and reduce our time of waiting. Even our coffee has to be ready in an instant. We suffer from a disease called hurry sickness. It's an epidemic, and our souls diminish because of it. The tragedy in moving so fast is that we skim through life on the surface and never experience any depth. Sometimes we need to slow down, put on the breaks, and call a time-out.

The past couple of weeks have been squeezed with some amazing activity:

**hosting some incredible friends from out-of-town (Gary Clark-London Hillsong,

Scott Steelman-Italy for Christ, Rich Bedayne & Rob Read-HPC California)

**a wonderful time of ministry at our HPC St. Francisville campus (Timmy Straight is my country cowboy hero!!!)

**baptizing over 100 people who decided to go public with their faith

**a beautiful backyard wedding in Plaquemine

**the home-going celebration of 3 precious saints who have stepped into eternity with Christ

**Happy Birthday to my wife Rachel who made 31 on Monday Sept 17th (She doesn't look a

day over 21!!!)

**a family trip to Destin, FL as we held off a tropical storm in the gulf

**2 convincing LSU Tiger victories

**a radical weekend of touching a community through extreme serving--SERVOLUTION!

**the privilege of helping dozens of people in crisis through the Gospel of Jesus

**a trip to New Orleans for chapel and a Tennessee Titans victory in the Superdome

**an LSU Hall of Fame induction for one of my great friends Kevin Mawae

If I'm not careful, I'll be tempted to race through all this activity and jump into the next thing without giving it a single thought. The great tragedy in life is not what men suffer--it's what they miss. Don't speed through life missing what's most important. Speed has a clever way of robbing us. The relationships we never deepen...people we never serve...prayers we never pray...spiritual conversations we never have...gifts we never give...spiritual gifts we never exercise...battles we never fight...victories we never win...tears we never cry...because we're in such a hurry.

You and I were made for so much more. Don't just race through your life. Enjoy it!

Family Life

Quick update on Little Hamanator: T-Rev made his long-awaited debut in church last weekend, looking strong and macho in his camouflage. He's already showing signs of becoming an HPC pastor--he attended multiple services! Life with 3 kids has definitely created a different dynamic for Rachel and me. After trying to taxi children to different places all morning, I consider the day a success if I just make it to the office on time. Oh the joys of parenting!

Mikaela (my 4 year old) and I had an interesting discussion at the breakfast table this morning. After informing me of her plans to be married one day, she could see the look of disgust on my face. I asked her how necessary marriage really was, warning her of the deadly germ all boys carry: cooties! She looked unconcerned. "But Baby," I reasoned, "what about how lonely your Daddy will be if you get married?" "That's ok Daddy, I'll still live with you...besides, I'm not getting married until I'm 50." Needless to say, I love that gameplan...and I will remind her of this conversation in the future!

T-Rev and I are connecting at different levels now that college football season is here. How 'bout them Tigers?!!! Rachel dressed him up in purple and gold for the Mississippi State game--Tiger fan since birth! When LSU played Virginia Tech, T-Rev and I talked strategy, X's and O's all day. Trevor's a good listener-he seemed to agree with all my opinions. I can't wait for the day when I get to bring him to Tiger Stadium for the first time!

Experience of a Lifetime!

We were able to host 30 people from 10 different churches around the country this week in our HPC Experience. What an awesome opportunity to grow the Kingdom! We got together, shared ideas, learned from each other and saw how church is done nationwide. We kicked off the "Experience" at One Way, then they joined us for staff development meetings, personal meetings with pastors & ministry leaders, break-out sessions, round table discussions and even an outreach at the Baton Rouge Dream Center!!

One thing I love about this church is the incredible relationships God has given us. We were able to unpack the heart and DNA of being a healing place for a hurting world. That's the testimony of people committed to the vision! I love what I get to do... my worst day in ministry is better than my best day any where else!