NHC This Sunday

> Sunday mornings are always draining for me, as I guess they are for most people in church leadership (and, having said that, I'm glad I'm not a pastor/preacher). My day begins at 6am, and I'm usually out of the church building by 12:45. But, it's always a good kind of draining. I love getting to the church building on Sunday, knowing what lies ahead, and I love leaving the church building on Sunday, knowing that (usually), I have nothing important to do for the rest of the day.

> The energy that seemed lacking from last week was back again this morning. The more I do this worship leading thing, the more I discover that the atmosphere for the entire worship gathering seems to be set within the first minute or two. I think I may blog more about this later...

> So, there was supposedly this tropical storm named Cristobal aimed right for our little stretch of islands yesterday evening...we never saw it. The youth group even met at the church building last night instead of their normal spot on the beach because of the forecast, but it was basically the prettiest evening weather we've had here in a long time... Not that tropical storms are anything like full-blown hurricanes, but once again, God protected us (we haven't had many direct hits in the past several years, which is a blessing).

> Next week is "Backpack Sunday"! Yesterday, we challenged all of our folks to wear a backpack to church this coming Sunday to help us create a buzz for Operation Backpack, which is coming up in just a few weeks. We've even got some sweet prizes to give away to the people who show up with the coolest backpack. Don't know what Operation Backpack is? Stayed tuned for more!

> It still cracks me up to hear the kids in Kidmo screaming at the top of their lungs during our worship gatherings. When they're loud enough, we can hear them through the walls, which is awesome! Our Kid's Church Team rocks (as do all of our teams, me thinks).

> A friend of mine brought a coworker with him yesterday. She's from the Ukraine, here for the summer working and experiencing our culture. I met her after the second gathering, and asked her what she thought about our church. "This is a lot of fun...church in the Ukraine is never any fun." It's these kinds of comments (not that church is fun, but that this person, who maybe doesn't have a relationship with God, thinks church is fun) that really make it worth while for us. And, in between the fun stuff, she heard a powerful message about God's desire for her to know and live for Him (not that our sermons aren't any fun).

> We've got two new people who are in the auditioning process with the band. We haven't brought anyone new on in a while, so it's exciting to see the possibility of growing.

> One of the coolest parts of the summer for us is, every week, seeing familiar faces who vacation down here the same time every year. We only see them once a year, but the fact that they choose to continually worship with us on their vacation is cool. And, every now and then, a connection is made that will last a lifetime.

Nate