This week in the life of The Summit has been an exciting time even though I was on vacation. Our second campus is slated to launch on September 7, 2008 in the Regal Theater (located at 1089 Interstate Parkway in the Akron/Green area) and there has been much progress over the last few days. I have to give a big shout out to Neal Wheeler, our Outreach Pastor, who has done a ton of work behind the scenes. This week he signed the lease for the theater and got many of the necessary details under way. He and a few guys went to the theater today to scope out some measurements and get a better idea of what we will need to make this thing work. I guess what I am saying is that we are officially “in.” Our official launch is in five months and there is so much to do. My main responsibility has been to put together a launch team. Our senior pastor has graciously allowed me to take 25-30 of our wonderful members to help get this thing off the ground. Right now, we have almost 20 people who have committed the next year to reaching out to the community of Green. As I have been sitting down with each person and explaining to them our vision, it has been amazing to see their reaction. (more)

I'm not scared to admit it...I love electronics. My homepage is cnet.com. That pretty much makes me a nerd. For some reason computers, cell phones, televisions, mp3 players, and anything else which can be found in Best Buy catches my attention. Looking back, I'm not even sure where my obsession started, but I think the thing which draws me to electronics is the feeling of connection. The devices I own help me to stay "in the loop" no matter where I am. I recently upgraded to a smartphone so I have the potential to stay connected (even though I didn't subscribe to the ridiculously-priced data package yet). It is weird (or maybe not), but people like to be in the know. We check our e-mail several times a day. Our snail mail boxes are stuffed with communication pieces (mostly pay this or pay that). A phone call from a close friend makes our day. A cell phone beeps with a new text message from our friend. We send a pic message to a family member to help them share in our experiences. Social networking sites are at an all-time high because people like to communicate. Generations prior to mine may not understand or have a hard time comprehending what they see as senselessly wasted time typing an e-mail, sending a text message, or creating a place online about myself. (more)

In my opinion, listening is a hard thing to do…even when someone is talking (and I’m quiet) I am usually thinking of what I am going to say next. Giving someone our full attention does not come naturally to most people because they see more value in what they are saying rather than finding significance in the words of another. However, there is one thing that seems to shut me up every time. Silence has met me on the canals of the River Delta in Argentina as well as the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina in late December. A bus tour through the glorious countryside of Utah and the mountains of Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic also left me speechless. Simple things such as the quietness of falling snow, the boisterous noise of an approaching storm, and the changing colors of the leaves in the fall leave even the most eloquent without words. Even now as I write this entry I am content to listen carefully to the crashing waves against the shore from the ocean in front of me. I am listening…. (more)

I write from a place which epitomizes fine cuisine and dining - CiCi’s Pizza. If you are not familiar with this restaurant, you should be! CiCi’s is an all-you-can-eat buffet which offers a smorgasbord of pizza, pasta, and salad. Usually every Thursday I eat here with our worship pastor, John McCaw. Today he had a busy day so I decided to take my laptop along for some company. John and I started coming here a couple months ago because of a precious gift given to us during Pastor Appreciation month - a CiCi’s community leader card. This card entitles the user to a free adult buffet and drink every visit. To me, that’s free money even though we feel like moochers when we walk to the front counter, show them our card, and begin our walk down the line…I feel kind of embarrassed that I am not paying. I’m not sure what it is that makes people feel ashamed to accept something which is free, but I do know there are not many free things in life. In fact, I’m not sure if anything is truly free because someone always pays the price. Even though the CiCi’s card did not cost me a thing, I get to enjoy the benefits because someone else paid the cost. (more)

Well, my sick day turned into a sick week. Thinking back over the last few years, I do not think I have felt that bad in a long time! My wife convinced me to go to the doctor so I begrudgingly made an appointment and found out I had Influenza B. I’m not really sure what that meant, but I knew I was in pretty bad shape. They gave me some medicine and told me to drink lots of fluid and get rest. As each day passed, I felt more and more tired. Even since I have been back at work this week, I still feel exhausted. In talking to others who have had the flu this season, they were able to confirm the normalcy of my symptoms. (it may sound like I am complaining a lot, but I am headed somewhere with this!) Times of prayer this week have yielded little as I struggled to find the strength to verbalize my thoughts to God. I found my mind wandering and just asking God for strength to make it. Don’t get me wrong…I know there are many people out there facing much more serious situations than myself, but I just felt weak and void of power. I began to contemplate whether God even cared that I was praying because I couldn’t understand myself, so I’m pretty sure He had no clue what I was saying…or did He? (more)

I woke up at 2:30am last night and knew it was my turn to face this hideous monster. I made my way quickly down the stairs of our home and walked into the kitchen. Behind the cabinet doors above the stove was my only hope of defeating this monstrosity. As I pulled the door open, my trembling hands reached for…medicine. Since last Wednesday, a virus had been making it’s way through our family claiming victim after victim. First, my daughter awoke with those fateful words - “I think I’m going to puke!” A day later, our son woke up and said he was sick. We often refer to him as the “little boy who cries wolf” because he is known for saying he is sick when he really is not, so we went through a series of questions to try to catch him in a lie. After a careful cross examination by my wife, we decided that he really was sick. Ty was the second victim of this ugly monster. My wife was the next in this creature’s rampage and I was soon to follow. (more)

Friday night is family night at our house. You can usually find us perusing toy stores, window shopping at the mall, or eating at Friendly's. Tonight is a little different, though, because both of my kids are sick. We stayed at home and just watched TV. Of course, the kids wanted to watch cartoons and I knew it would be useless to try to convince them to watch something on The Travel Channel or National Geographic. I'm game for cartoons because there is a lot of variety (unlike when I was a kid)! I have particularly become fond of a show on Nick Jr. called The BackYardigans. The basic premise of the show is that the characters begin playing in the backyard and imagining some type of far-fetched scenario. Within a few minutes, the backyard is transformed to match their imagination. They may be racing around the world or defending a castle against a scary dragon but their imagination creates a world that only they can see. When I was a kid, I loved using my imagination but, for some reason, when I became an adult I thought an imagination was childish. Age sometimes leads us away from dreaming and imagining what could be... (more)

I recently read an article in USA Today entitled “More Hikers Wind Up Lost” which tells about the yearly increase in the amount of hikers who get lost while enjoying the world around them. The article states: “In thousands of parks and wilderness areas across the nation, inexperienced and unprepared hikers get lost each year — so lost, they have to be rescued.” To me, there would not be many things more terrifying than getting lost and having no hope of finding my way out. Spending my days wandering in unfamiliar territory and my nights in fear would quickly give way to desperation. (more)

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