Mike Edmisten Follower of Jesus. Husband of Nicki. Father of Ryan & Brock. Communicator of the Word.

Card Shopping

My wife and I don't traditionally do big stuff for Valentine's Day. Believe it or not, that's her idea. She doesn't want flowers or candy or anything like that. I'm serious. She actually does not want that stuff. (Sorry guys. She's mine.) We do, however, exchange cards.

I bought my wife a Valentine's Day card today. Yep, today is February 14 and I bought her card today. Nothing like a last minute run to Target. I was pretty surprised how many other people were buying last minute Valentine cards. And an even bigger surprise was that I was the only guy perusing the Valentine cards. There was a bunch of ladies…and me.

Not sure what that means…but it's gotta mean something. Happy Valentine's Day.

An Awesome Send-Off

Our church had a very special dinner last night for Jim, Jenny, & Kaitlyn Willison. Jim is preparing to leave for active duty in Iraq. I was so proud that our turnout last night nearly equaled our attendance yesterday morning. Awesome to see so many people supporting the Willisons last night.

The "Jim Willison Roast" was a ton of fun! The prayer time was powerful. And Jim's remarks at the end were an amazing testament to the strength and faith of this man.

Our church really felt like a family last night. One of the many reasons that I love ACC.

A Groovin' Good Time

A lot of folks from our church got their groove on at last night's Hearts Dinner/Dance. Tons of fun! A lot of people have a side of their personality that is only shown on the dance floor. Very cool to see that side come out of some folks last night!

There was a video camera present, so I'm now living in constant fear of how and when that video will show up. I said that I would NOT do the macarena. I lied…and the unfortunate result of the "mike-arena" is now on video tape. Let's not even talk about the conga line or break dancing.

Finally!

We are finally back to normal at the old Edmisten homestead. Frozen pipes are thawed, holes in walls are fixed, and the washer and dryer are back in their usual spots. We tend to take the normalcy of life for granted until it's disrupted. I'm very thankful that our washer and dryer are running at this very moment and that there is water flowing unhindered through all the pipes in our house. We missed that "normal" stuff this week.

Hearts Dinner/Dance

Really looking forward to our church's Hearts Dinner/Dance tonight. It's awesome to be part of a church that knows how to loosen up and have fun! I can't remember the last time Nicki and I danced. It's been years. Yep, I'm one of the last true romantics. I wonder if tonight's dance will make up for the last ten years?

Details

Haven't blogged about Sunday's Super Bowl yet. Been too busy dealing with all the joys that winter has brought to my life. :o)

I lived in Indy for a few years, so I grew into a Colts fan. Awesome to see my Colts win the big game. Gotta love class acts like Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrision, etc.

But I wanted to post about something I learned during the pregame show. Nothing in the Super Bowl spectacle goes unrehearsed…not even the coin flip to determine who recieves the opening kick-off. If you're chosen to flip the Super Bowl coin, you will have to practice. Doesn't matter that you've been flipping coins your entire life. You will rehearse your flip before gametime. The rationale is that, since the Super Bowl is such a big deal, everything is practiced and prepared down to the smallest detail.

It's interesting that, although we claim that we're "doing it for God," much of what we have done in the church has historically been last-minute, unprepared, and second-rate. We wouldn't just throw something together for work or school, but for some reason it's ok to do that for church. Shouldn't our work in the church be the MOST prepared, MOST practiced, MOST excellent work we do all week…even down to the smallest detail?

What Next?

And now we have no water in our church building due to a water main break. This week keeps getting better! (See my previous post if you wonder why I sound a touch sarcastic.)

I've got a feeling that God is trying to teach me a little patience lesson this week. Sorry to say that I've failed that test a couple of times in the last few days.

Change of Heart

I would like to retract what I wrote in an earlier post about winter. I said that I actually like winter.

Since that time, I have had a change of heart. We've been experiencing temps around zero the last few nights. And because of the extreme cold, we dealt with frozen pipes at our house on Saturday and then again on Monday. Currently we have about seven holes in our wall and a washer and dryer sitting in the middle of our kitchen floor.

And then our electricity went out around 6:30 this morning. Not only was it very dark, but it was also four degrees outside and we had no heat.

So it is now official…I hate winter.

Busy Times

Haven't been able to blog in the last few days. Been slammed with lots of meetings, hospital calls, planning, and prepping for a very happening weekend!

APEX weekends are notoriously busy. They are exhausting and energizing, all at the same time. They're exhausting because of the sheer amount of work involved. These weekends are energizing because we see God move so powerfully through this ministry every month.

Never been to APEX? Time to fix that! Doors open at 5:40 pm on Saturday. See ya then!