It seems to have an earth-shattering blog these days, one must be acutely aware of all things pop culture. References to prime time television and movie clips suitable for use on the Sunday morning PowerPoint seem to be essential in crafting of a high readership blog.
So...what if one happens to be the father of two young daughters and the extent of his pop culture knowledge is Hannah Montana and Drake & Josh? What if the pop culture highlight of his summer is the anticipation of High School Musical 2 tomorrow night?
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As for the debut of High School Musical 2, I'll have to take a rain check (or watch it via the DVR, which has been set by my oldest daughter for a week now) because the Woodward Park softball team ends its season tomorrow night.
We plowed through the season undefeated but lost in the winner's bracket final to New Covenant last Friday.
Tomorrow night at 7:00 at Bethany, we play in the loser's bracket final. Win that and we'll turn around and play New Covenant twice in order to win the league tournament. All games will be played in succession, meaning we'll play at 7:00, then 8:00, and finally 9:00. Hopefully, by the 10:00 news tomorrow night, Woodward Park will be crowned champions.
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For all you Clovisites (or is it Clovisians? or maybe Clovisonians?), who will win the 2007 TRAC football championship this year?
Defending TRAC Champ Clovis West? Defending Valley Champ Clovis East? Perennial power Clovis High? Or Trent Powers and the Buchanan Bears?
Email me with your prediction (jim@wpcoc.com).
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Two Saturdays ago, a group from Woodward Park were once again downtown serving the less fortunate. As we cleaned up following lunch, one of the gentlemen, Steve, asked me for a ride to the north side of the city. Frankly, being with Steve was my first prolonged opportunity to rub elbows with a person who typified the lives God is bringing to our doorstep on their turf.
As we visited on the drive, Steve told me how that a divorce and the proceeding court resolution had left him destitute. Living behind a shopping center on the north side, Steve envisioned a future with a brighter tomorrow than yesterday while struggling to maintain some semblance of dignity in the face of his present crisis.
Since our time together, Steve has worshipped with us the last two Sundays. Well, that's not quite right. The first week, the person who was to pick up Steve for worship was ill. Steve caught the bus for a $1 but transfers put his arrival at our building just as we were leaving. Last Sunday, he made it on time.
Yesterday, Steve showed up at the church office with a young Hispanic mother. The mother has three children and her husband has been back in Mexico for two months caring for extended family. Consequently, with dad receiving no income, mom is struggling to survive and provide for her children in a minimum wage job. With school beginning Monday, clothes and school supplies are simply wishes.
Steve's needs are great. And Lillie and her family have great needs.
And thankfully, this morning I am grateful to be in union with a great God who is able to do abundantly more than we ask or imagine! The longer I live in Fresno the more aware I become of the needs that exist on our doorstep and the more overwhelmed I become with the necessity of asking God to do more than we can imagine.
Frankly, I can't imagine how we'll ever be qualified to meet and serve all the needs around us. But Paul reminds me that God's work in our world isn't contingent on our imagination!
Thank God!
