The Shinn Digs

It’s March Madness! I’m sorry to say I’ve probably seen fewer college basketball games this year than any other year, but it’s time to take up the slack and get serious about hoops! The men’s brackets are out, and women’s brackets come out this evening. If you would like to join our bracketology, see below:

Men’s 2008 March Madness Bracketology

click here (password is thenuthouse).

Women’s 2008 March Madness Bracketology

click here (group is 133 Walnut Lane, password is thenuthouse)

Let me start out by saying, “No. I’m not pregnant.” But I bet I had you going! (Garth probably had heart failure as he read this … believe me … I would as well!)

No … I’m talking about the Lord adding to our church numbers. You see, as of February 24th, my church, Santa Barbara Community Church, officially merged with Trinity Baptist Church. In this day of church splits, satellites, and other divisions (both good and bad), a church merger is perhaps quite unusual. It’s been very fun to be a part of this process and watch our church navigate the uncharted territory. It’s an exciting time for all of us! This Sunday is the first Sunday we will all be together (in three different services) as a merged church! No doubt, there will be MANY fascinating stories over the next year, but it’s exciting to be a part of this process. For the first time in the history of Santa Barbara Community, we will not be renters … Trinity “owned” their own land and campus, totally debt free! (I put “owned” in quotations because I just went through a Crown Financial Seminar on Saturday, and one of the points was “God owns EVERYTHING” … maybe just semantics, but a great perspective reminder that we are simply stewards of what God puts in our lives). It’s a position (and a possession) our church has never been privileged with, and it’s very exciting to think of the ministry opportunities we might have! Imagine all the meetings, gatherings, Bible studies, worship team practice, etc that typically take place in church life each week … We’ve been used to renting space for such activities for over 25 years!

With the addition of a third service (we will now have a morning service, rather than just two afternoon services), there is some need for more Sunday School teachers. I’ve really missed doing this the past 6 months, so I’m excited to be participating in the 10 am service in the Children’s Ministries program. This particular Sunday, our first as a merged church on the “new” campus, I’ll actually be at all 3 services … 10 am for Sunday School, 4 pm for Child Care help, and 6 pm to be in the service … that’s a full church day, but I’m looking forward to being a part of all the “firsts” in the life of our church!

This is too good to not share (and was the original reason for this blog!) A talented, whacky, funny fella in our church, Chris Mundell, did a video we’ve shown the last few Sundays at church. If you’re church is interested in purchasing the Church Merger Kit (or any other kits), please contact Chris directly! Check out the video!

It hasn’t escaped my attention that we have a new month on the calendar. I just flipped my calendar over to March today, so in my world, this is the first day of the month, despite the fact you’ve been writing “March” on your checks for 6 days already!  I have thought about my New Month’s Resolutions since the first day of the month, so in a way (again, in my world) that counts. Here they are:

1. Drink 2 Nalgene bottles of water every day (I think I’m half way there at this point in the month … meaning, I’ve drank two bottles in six days. If you don’t hear from me in a few days … check the bathrooms … I’ll probably be in there).
2. Get up in the 5s. What does this mean? Get up sometime such that the first number on my alarm clock is a five … 5:59 am counts. 6:01 am does not.*
3. Make one meal a week that is vegetarian, or more specifically, “semi-vegetarian” (no meat, but can include dairy and/or eggs). I’ve actually done this several times already … snuck it right past most of them. Kinsley and Garth were aware last night’s grilled burgers were Veggie burgers … Keaton has no idea. Thankfully he doesn’t read this blog either. Next week I’m sneaking tofu in. I need a challenge in my life.

*This might sound like a repeater from last month. But last month my goal was to get up at 5:00 am. Impossible. I tried. I really did. I’m just not as young as I used to be. So this goal is an effort to be successful.

What are your goals for March?