Wow, what a Week!!!

Hey everyone, I’m so excited to be back in SW FL.  Sarah and I just finished an amazing / whirlwind week of ministry consulting, downtime, edification, and networking!  The last 8 days have been incredible!  It’s amazing to see how God is using all that we are learning through Next Level Church to impact so many!  AND… we just keep learning more!  Here’s the last week in a nutshell:

• Friday, Feb. 8th – Flew to Orange County, CA.  Made it to Dallas.  Then flight cancelled.  Rerouted to Las Vegas.  Ran to catch the plane.  Realized we were on Pacific time, not Mountain time.  Actually had an extra hour.  Felt like Idiots.  Caught our breath.  Arrived in OC, CA @ 7 pm PST (10 pm EST).  Had dinner with Church Planters.  Told our story.  Went to bed at 2 am EST.
• Saturday, Feb. 9th – Had breakfast at the hotel.  Ate too much.  Slept for 2 hours.  Met up with Scott & Mary Turner, incredible church planters in Irvine, CA.  Shopped.  Ate at PF Changs.  Heard their story.  Went back to their house.  Talked til 10 pm PST (1 am EST).  Slept at hotel. 
• Sunday, Feb. 10th – Arrived at theSummit Church which at 8:30 PST (Do I need to keep doing the EST reference?) Watched set up.  Took notes.  Preached at 11 am PST.  Grabbed a sandwich.  Debriefed at their house for 3 hours.  At 6 pm, a dozen of their leaders arrived.  Taught Church planting leadership & philosophy til 9:30 pm.  Drove to our new hotel on Laguna Beach, CA at 10:30 pm (1:30 am EST).  Slept.
• Monday, Feb. 11th – Had 9 am PST Video Conference Call with Pastor Scott and Quigs about the upcoming week at NLC.  (I love iChat by the way…) Drove to Saddleback Church, founded by Rick Warren.  Toured Saddleback.  Was blown away.  Had lunch.  Did some Geocaching. (Ask me later).  Back to hotel.  Slept.  Went to a movie.  Had Pizza at BJ’s Italian Restaurant on Laguna Beach at 10:30 PST (1:30 am EST).  
• Tuesday, Feb. 12th –  Had breakfast overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  Walked on the beach.  Slept. Listen to a couple of LifeChurch.tv podcasts.  Read by the pool.  Ate Mexican.  Saw another movie.  Slept.
• Wednesday, Feb. 13th – Woke up at 8 am PST.  Drove to Scott & Mary Turner’s house to return their car.  (Thanks by the way…)  Drove to Airport.  Talked with Scott for another hour.  Flew to Dallas.  Flew to Ft. Myers, FL.  Arrived home at 9:30 pm EST (6:30 pm PST).  Did some laundry. (Okay, Sarah did.)  Watch American Idol.  Still on West Coast time.  Bed by midnight.
• Thursday, Feb. 14th – Valentine’s Day.  Woke up 6:30 am.  Checked e-mail, (1st time all week.)  Repacked.  9 am drove to Fort Lauderdale.  Arrived 11:30 am.  Got Starbucks.  Checked into hotel.  Attended lunch at the Book of Hope Missions Roundtable Event.  (Talk about a great ministry… oh my goodness, they’re incredible.  More on that later too.)  Last afternoon session at 4:30 pm.  Took a cat nap.  Dinner at 6 pm.   Watched the sunset over Fort Lauderdale skyline with my wife. (Come on Somebody!!!)  Attended night session.  9:30 pm had dessert at Cheesecake Factory with Peter and Carolyn Haas (Substance Church in Minneapolis, MN).  Incredible couple that we totally hit it off with.  Back to hotel at  12:30 am.  Asleep by 1 am.
• Friday, Feb. 15th – Woke up at 8:30 am.  Went to the Red Door Spa at The Galleria in Fort Lauderdale.  (yeah, I did.  So what???  It was awesome!)  10:30 am – watched SportsCenter in the Men’s Dressing Room. (Hey I wasn’t about to go out there with a bunch of women and pretend I was actually comfortable!!!  I do have boundaries, you know.)  11 am – 80 minute hot rock massage.  1 pm – Lunch with my wife.  2 – 5 pm – shopping at the Galleria with Peter and Carolyn Haas.  Back to hotel.  Cat nap.  6 pm – Dinner with RoundTable Pastors.  9:30 pm – Last Session ends.  10 pm – Dessert at the Cheesecake Factory with Chris and Jan Beard, Pastors in DownTown Cincinnati.  Incredible story. 1:30 am – back to hotel.  2 am – sleep.
• Saturday – Feb. 16th – 8 am – Wake up.  Check out of hotel.  Get boys a present.  Get Starbucks.  Get Krispy Kremes. (yeah, I did!)  Drive across Alligator Alley.  Home at 12:15 pm.  2 pm Birthday Party at Gator Lanes for Will’s friend.  5:30 pm ate something. (I can’t remember)  8 pm – Boys in bed.  8:10 pm – practice message for tomorrow.  8:57 pm – finish writing this blog.  9:05 pm – Probably will pass out.

Man, what an amazing & refreshing time we had.  It was just great to relax and do nothing, you know???Seriously, we love that!  It’s God’s calling for us, and there’s nothing we’d rather do together! Can’t wait for God to move tomorrow at NLC! Pastor Matt