Father's Day Celebration & BBQ Picnic

Halfway through June ... can you believe it? Only 193 days left until Christmas! Just amazing that we're already so close!

I know you have lots of things going today, especially for parents with the end of the school year right now upon us. Myself, I am headed for a glorious appointment with an oral surgeon later this morning to have an ill-fated tooth removed! Fun, huh? At least I'll be out for it, so this is my last formal communiqué before I go into the world of not remembering anything for a day or so!

I want to take just a minute to remind you personally about this Sunday's Father's Day Celebration. We're making room to meet together in ONE Celebration at 9:30 am, instead of our normal 8:30 & 10:30 schedule. We'll resume the normal schedule next Sunday, June 25.

For now, we're excited about celebrating our heavenly Father with a kind of "Family Reunion". It's been a long time since we've been together all as one. Please, whatever you do, if you're in town, don't miss it. For those concerned about space and "fighting a crowd", put those thoughts aside. It may be full, but we'll have room. And it will be good to be together as one big family!

Right after the Celebration, you'll walk into the courtyard to some kickin' music, the awesome smell of BBQ Tri-tip and chicken, and some jumpers placed around the property for the kids for our Father's Day BBQ Picnic. That's the other reason to be sure to not miss this Sunday.

Wear your shorts (it's supposed to be hot Sunday ... aren't you glad this is a church where it's OK to wear shorts?) and bring your lawn chairs and picnic blankets. It will also make it a GREAT Sunday to invite your non-churched friends, family, co-workers, and whoever else to join you for church. Could there be an easier easy way to introduce someone to the life of your church?

Tickets for the BBQ are $8 for adults and $5 for kids ages 3-13. The BBQ is a fundraiser for "Building A Blessing". I'll give more of an update about where we stand with our expansion plans on Sunday as we are facing some changes that I believe God is ordaining in it all. Further fundraisers at the BBQ are a snow cone machine, a dunk tank, and just this week we added a pie-in-the-face fundraiser! Bring your money folks! If you want to cream my face, it's gonna cost ya!! But it'll be for a great cause!

Regarding tickets, if you don't have them yet, call Shurie at the Church Office (805.583.3433) or click here to email her and just let her know how many adults and kids tickets you'll need. You can pay for them Sunday, but it's really helpful for us to get a more accurate count by 5:00 pm Friday.

I'm really excited about Sunday and all of us being together!

Are You There Yet?

WHERE, you ask? This Sunday's Father's Day Celebration and BBQ, of course! This weekend, we're celebrating Father's Day with ONE celebration at 9:30 (for this Sunday only; we return to 8:30 & 10:30 next Sunday, June 25).

We're cramming everyone into one celebration to give us a reunion feel. It's been a long time since NewHeart has gathered as one and we thought Father's Day would be a great day to do it. If you're in town, I hope you'll make it a point to be with us at 9:30. Whatever you do, don't miss the fun!

Right after, we're hosting a Father's Day BBQ Picnic on the church campus. It's complete with Tri-tip & Chicken BBQ ($8 for adults; $5 for kids 3-13), jumpers for kids, snow cones, music and dunk tank. The BBQ lunch, snow cones and dunk tank are all fundraisers for "Building A Blessing", our Sanctuary expansion plan (more on that in a day or two).

Tickets for the BBQ are necessary and they'll be available Sunday, BUT .... it would really help us out if you could be sure to purchase them by day's end on Thursday. Come by the Church Office Tuesday-Thursday, 9 am to 5 pm to get them. It'll help us plan accordingly for food.

Bring your lawn chairs and blankets on Sunday, and while you're at it, bring some friends. What a great way to invite some of your non-churched friends to experience NewHeart, family style!

Home and then some ...

Well, we made it home and the trip was fairly uneventful. Until we got home anyway. Upon arrival (literally on the Flyaway bus to Van Nuys from LAX), we received a call informing us that an acquaintance whom we had just seen the day of my car accident (May 23) had passed away that morning (June 5).

Keri Houghtalin, just 43 years old, was a survivor of breast cancer and had apparently been experiencing symptoms that were diagnosed as leukemia just a week before she died. Her daughter's 18th birthday was last Thursday. followed by her High School graduation on Friday. Her son just graduated from Middle School today.

Life just has a way of taking us by surprise, doesn't it? I spoke at church yesterday and will detail here sometime this week some of those twists and turns for us as a Church Family. Nothing nearly as tragic as Keri's death, but unexpected stuff nonetheless.

On The Way Home

Well, it's Monday, June 5, and we'll board our plane home any minute now. It has been an absolutely wonderful family time the last few days. Days we'll never forget. Already, we look forward to our next trip to this area. Our next trip will involve quite a bit more driving throughout the region up into the New England states.

I'll write more tomorrow about some details of the last several days. We covered ALOT of ground and yet still not everything. Today's highlight was the Arlington National Cemetery ... VERY moving, especially the changing of the Gurad at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.

LITERALLY just as our shuttle was picking us up from the hotel today, Martha Lesmes showed up with her grandson to wish us off. We didn't even have a chance to connect with her while we were here, but it was good to at least get in a greeting and a picture or two.

Boarding begins ... I'll write more later!