I’m blessed. So much of the time when I’m complaining for feeling sorry for myself (which isn’t often, although Keao may disagree) I remind myself that I’m blessed. I have a job that I love and a wife that I love even more. Who could ask for anything more?

Actually, for all the great parts of my job, there are also parts of my job that aren’t too fun. My job requires flexibility and the hours are all over the place. This makes planning “date nights” hard because so many nights are taken up with meetings or other church related outings. So whenever I do complain about my job to Keao, she’ll often reply, “so hard, praying to Jesus”.

Of course being a pastor is very rewarding as well. In my line of work I get to meet some really great people and I have made some really great friends all over the world. But as you may know, many times, it’s the small things that mean the most to people. A phone call here or a kind word there can go a long way.

Last Saturday was Jasen’s birthday. Jasen came to our church a few years ago because he saw the big Hope Chapel banner hanging on the fence on the highway and decided to check it out. He came to my MiniChurch on the recommendation of one of his friends and literally just showed up one night. He didn’t know anyone, but showed up anyway. He’s been my friend ever since.

But back to last Saturday. It was his birthday so I texted him in the morning to wish him a happy birthday and ask him if he had any plans. He replied “no” so I decided to see if I could throw him a little impromptu party. I texted a bunch of his friends and we met up at California Pizza Kitchen ASAP in Kailua.

That’s the birthday boy with the balloon

Natalie, Abby and John help celebrate

Even Rachel and Steve made a rare appearance

The great thing about church are all the relationships that are formed. I can honestly say that without church (or more accurately God) I probably wouldn’t be friends with 90% of the people that I’m friends with now. Not to say that they’re terrible people or that I’m special or anything like that, but realistically we just wouldn’t be in the same circles. We wouldn’t have too much in common. That’s the beauty of it all. Our common link, God, places us together as a family and help foster these relationships.

And relationships are what it’s all about. When Jasen got to CPK ASAP, the first thing he said when he saw all of us was “hey, all of my friends are here”. Even though it probably wasn’t a big deal to us, it was huge for him. Being there with his friends was the gift.

Liz and Haley share in the celebration

Jasen thinking, “gee, I’m so special”

Had to put this in because we’re so cute!

When I first agreed to take over Ignite (our singles and couples ministry), one of the conditions I set down was that God would give me a clear mission. After much prayer I really believe that God told me to connect people to him and to connect them to each other. That’s what drives me in my ministry. If I can do that, I believe that we’ll see growth and we’ll see success.

Seeing Jasen light up when he saw his friends gathering to celebrate his birthday showed me that we’re what we’re supposed to. Here’s the text he sent to us later that night, “Thank you all for hanging out with me and making this day special and memorable. I appreciate all of you in my life. Take care and God bless.” That’s why I’m blessed.