Tomorrow Morning 51 elementary kids along with 10 group leaders and 14 staff will leave Santa Clarita driving to Camp Cedar Crest to participate in "All 4 One" summer camp!

Months of planning have gone into making this years camp, memorable and life changing to all of our kids and leaders. 

As a community of believers we are in need of your prayers for the next 4 days.  Pastor Marty is our guest speaker and even our own Pastor Jonathan is playing drums on the worship team led by Dave White.  Please pray that all of us will have a special encounter with our Heavenly Father! 

If you want to see what is happening while we are at camp you can check out photo's at our camp website at: www.socalkidscamp.com .

Check out our camp logo:

If you haven't signed up yet for our Tuesday outings, it's not too late!  We had an amazing time at our Kick Off BBQ at the church on June 10th.  There was nearly 85 people there!  Wow!

This past week we went on the Metro Link to Union Station in downtown LA and spent some time at Olvera Street!  Here is a photo gallery of all the fun we had.

Don't miss the upcoming trips!  It is a great way to get to know new people and invite your neighbors so they can see that the Sanctuary is a safe place for them to come!

Our Very own, Mrs. Donaldson! 

I wish I had a dollar for each time someone starts a conversation with me with this intro; “I know you are really busy but… or I know your schedule is full, but…”

This sentence has bothered me for so long that I feel compelled to try to shed a new light on when you say that to me, how I hear it and how I wish people would stop saying it.

When you say; “I know you are really busy but…” I instantly hear, I know I am not very important and you have better things to do or there are others who need your attention more. Or, I’m pretty sure you won’t think that what I have to say matters.  Or worse yet, I wish you weren’t so busy, so that I could just have a few minutes to talk to you.

I have decided that ALL of us say this, me included, because we think at times so little of ourselves.  We discount who we are and devalue what we have to say might be important enough to have someone else hear us.  So instead of feeling like we might be rejected, we frontload our conversation with; “I know you are really busy but…” in hopes that the person hearing it, will have mercy on you, or say, I’m not too busy to listen or???

Now before you start feeling like I’m trying to beat you up, please continue to read the rest of what I have to say.

I LOVE people!  I love talking to people, hanging out with people, getting to know people, praying for people and best yet, I LOVE listening to people.  I am not busier than YOU!  We all have full lives, we all have daily priorities, we all move at the speed of light on some days. In the end if we don’t have each other, we have nothing.  Remember the definition of community?  Living our lives together!  If I or anyone else is too busy to talk or listen, that is NOT community. 

Now, there are times that I might be in the middle of something and say I’ll have to call you back, or if I’m talking to someone, that you might have to wait till I’m done, but it does NOT mean that others are more important and it does NOT mean that TASK are more important!  Oh, let me say that one again, TASK are not more important than YOU are! 

I know I am just one person.  God has blessed me with an amazing church family, an amazing ministry with a spectacular volunteer group of people. We have fantastic families in our church.  Why would I be too busy to have a conversation with any of you?

For the record – I’m NOT!  So the next time you call me, or see me in the Champs wing or walking around our town, try to catch yourself before you begin the conversation with; “I know you are really busy but…”  YOU are valuable, YOU are worth it and I enjoy hearing what YOU have to say! 

As Pastor Marty says; “Live as Loved!” If we truly are doing this, we would not say…” I know you…” I think you get the point!

Pastor Julie

This Sunday is the last day you can sign up and pay for Summer Camp!  Don't miss an opportunity for your child to "GROW!"

COMPASSION IS NOT EARNED, IT'S FREELY GIVEN!

Just a thought!!!

The news was not what I wanted to hear.  My range of motion has DECREASED since my last assessment with her.  You can imagine my discouragement with those words!  She asked me if I have been continuing to do my shoulder exercises with my shoulder kit tools.  I told her with my travel and work schedule I have not but…I’m going to the gym 4 to 5 days a week and I have begun to incorporate the machines that will strengthen my biceps and triceps.  She explained to me that those will not keep my tendons loose and what is happening is that my tendons are “shortening up” and limiting my range of motion.

With that she put me on a regiment of doing my daily exercises, stretching and coming to see her weekly for a workout routine and closer assessment of where I’m at.  I only have 6 weeks of authorization left from my insurance company and she wants to be sure I get the most out of it.

As I left the office and walked down the stairs this is what went through my mind:

I have been traveling, carrying luggage and supplies, I am back to the gym on my weekly routine, I can reach for things without pain (though reaching behind my back is still very limited), I’m self sufficient, not needing too much help unless things are really heavy, people say I look better, act better and it’s been 6 months, long enough to be healed.

After all those thoughts went through my mind, loudly I heard this:  Isn’t it amazing how on the outside, on the surface you can look good, act good and skate by with the basics, but when someone begins to do a deeper inspection and put pressure on you, a different result is seen?  The truth of what is going on can not be hidden or talked away with words.

While walking to my car (which was a good walk) I quickly began asking God why is it so hard for me to continue to do my exercises especially when I know they are necessary and will bring complete healing to me.  I whined about how well I’ve done with so many other disciplines, reading the Bible almost daily, praying, going to the gym, journaling etc.  Yet because I don’t have someone 3 times a week checking in with me, I try to skate by, and I have no one to be accountable to.  It didn’t take rocket science to see the bigger picture.  Accountability is NECESSARY for us to have growth and healing in our lives, whether it is on a physical or spiritual level.  So a little bit of healing doesn’t mean complete healing!  I will have to make a choice to press forward get back to the basics so in the end I will experience total healing!  Sound familiar??

Pastor Julie