I ALMOST MISSED IT!

Got to be honest...I've been a little disappointed that I wasn't able to go to the Catalyst Conference this year. Three years ago I went to my first Catalyst Conference and it rocked my world. Since than I haven't been able to attend but this year I was determined to make it and at the last minute my schedule changed. So I was being a little whiny yesterday. The problem is that I almost missed an amazing opportunity yesterday.

I got to hang out with my son all day long! You see my evening work schedule and everything that has been going on at the church has been crazy lately and I haven't been able to hang out with him as much as I would like to. But yesterday during the day it was all about "daddy and the Josiah". After my wife got home from work we got ready and went to Chili's for dinner. On our way to Chili's we drove by the Cumming Fair and my wife mentioned she would love to go and take our son to his first Fair. Honestly...I wasn't in the mood to go to the Fair and walk around and buy over priced funnel cakes and corn dogs so we continued to Chili's.

After dinner we did a little shopping and on our way home I drove by the Fair again and saw my son's and wife's face and I couldn't take it any more so I parked and we went to the Fair. Once again I ALMOST MISSED an opportunity to create a memory with my family. We had a blast at the Fair! It was our son's first fair and it was so funny seeing his face as he took everything in. My wife (the prepared one) had the camera locked and loaded to take pictures and yes we did buy the over priced corn dogs, lemonade, and funnel cakes and they were amazing delicious!!! I also bought my son an overpriced light up toy that he already broke today but it was totally worth seeing his face.

I can't believe it I ALMOST MISSED IT! I almost missed creating this unforgettable memory with my family. I would have love to had been at the Catalyst Conference this year and hopefully I can make it to next years conference but I learned the most important life lesson yesterday...FAMILY FIRST before ministry.

The greatest impact I can make for Jesus on this earth is investing TIME...not just time but "QUALITY TIME" into my family. I realize this statement sounds simplistic and obvious but the problem is that many Pastors MISS THESE KINDS OF MEMORIES because we put "others & church stuff" in front of our families.

Listen I'm all about conferences and leadership training. We have got to invest into ourselves to become better leaders but not at the expense of our families.

Whether you're a pastor or not STOP MISSING OPPORTUNITIES WITH YOUR FAMILY. The greatest leadership lesson I learned this year wasn't at Catalyst while being surrounded by some of the most amazing and creative leaders in America but at the Cumming Country Fair surrounded by my family. Don't miss your opportunity!

thanks for the prayers

I just wanted to thank you for the prayers and calls regarding Josiah. He is doing so much better. DAG you guys are amazing! Believe me when I say that you prayers helped our son and us. This was our first time taking him to the hospital since his birth. So as you can image we were a little overwhelmed. Below is a post that I wrote during the time Josiah was really sick but never had a chance to post it.

The last couple of days have been crazy. A couple of nights ago we had to take our son to the ER at the Children's Hospital in Atlanta. His temp was at 104 and was not coming down at all even after we gave him medicine. They checked out his ears and throat, they found a little redness in his throat but they couldn't determined why he had a high fever. At the end they basically told us that it was a viral infection. We were a little frustrated with the hospital. We felt like we didn't get the attention our son needed. In fact we were discharged and on our way out the room when the nurse came back because they "forgot" to take my son's vitals. We basically paid the hospital to tell us to keep doing what we were already doing. I guess what I am saying is it would have been nice for the folks at the Children's Hospital to show a little more love, patience, and compassion.


Anyway after our long and frustrating night at the ER we finally got home around 1AM. After some medicine and some tossing and turning our little boy finally fell asleep. As you can imagine it was a long night with him. Around 9:30am his doctor called to check on him. We shared with them our experience we had at the ER we shared felt that they did really pin point the issue so they told us to come in so they could check him out. So here we go to the doctors again.

Just so ya'll know Josiah freaks out with anyone wearing a lab coat or scrubs. If your a parent you know the "freak out" cry...they mouth is wide out, nothings coming out, their face is turning red, and they stop breathing. It's kind of funny but it still breaks your heart to see your kid "freak out" like this.

Anyway the nurse comes in the room checks his ears and throat...she notices some redness in his throat and runs a quick test for strep. What do you know...Josiah has strep. So his doctor gave us a prescription for an antibiotic and we pray within the next couple of days he will feel a lot better.

Please keep our little boy in your thoughts and prayers.

Once again thank you for praying for Josiah. It's great to know that we have an amazing support system in place.

please pray

My wife just called me and told me that our son just woke up and burning up with a 104 temp. Apparently he had a really hard day at daycare today. just a little frustrated it seems every time we take him to daycare his gets really sick. I think we are done with daycare this year! Thankfully my in-laws have offered to watch him when we are at work. Thank God for grandparents!!! Seriously please pray for our son Josiah...it's going to be a long night.

Sunday Night Reflections

• We had a great service today!
• Pastor Blake and the worship team did a great job.
• One of my favorite thing about being a Pastor is helping folks discover their potential and watching them use it.
• I am so proud of our girls ministry leaders and girls they had a yard sale yesterday and did a great job.
• Thanks ladies for working hard this weekend. I promise those girls will never forget your commitment.
• Today I preached on one of my favorite topic...dreams!
• I preached about how Caleb never forgot the dream that God gave him.
• At the age of 85 Caleb made it very clear to Joshua that regardless of his age and the obstacles he was ready and willing to walk into his God given dream.
• Too often WE give up on our dreams because of time, inexperience, obstacles, people, or lack of faith.
• The greatest lesson we learn from the life of Caleb is that he believed with all of his heart that if God said it was possible that nothing would stop him from walking into the dream.
• I am looking forward to the next two weeks. I will be taking a much needed speaking sabbatical.
• Next Sunday one of my great friends, Chris Lewis, will be speaking. He and his wife are getting ready to plant a church in Conyers Georgia. Check out his blog here.
• In two weeks we are going to be celebrating our 32 anniversary at DAG. I'm really excited about this weekend.
• It's great to remember the past but it's much more exciting to dream of the future!
• Finally we went to a birthday party this afternoon. I love sharing these life moments with people. It is such an honor for me and my family to share these special moments with our church families. I love pastoring DAG!!!

Great Quote!

“The devil doesn’t care how big your church is - he cares how influential it is.”
- Brian Houston, Pastor, Hillsong Church, Sydney, Australia

I GOT ISSUES

It's been a little hard to blog lately. Life has been interesting in the Trevino household. Even as I write this post I have a ton of things running through my mind. Everything from family issues, work issues, church issues, personal issues, I think ya'll get the idea. I GOT ISSUES!

Honestly...my first reaction to my "issues" is to separate myself from everyone and everything (including blogging) and to find a dark room to hide in. I call this the Elijah syndrome:). The reality is that I will always have "issues" so i can't hide in some dark room. Eventually my "issues" will invade my dark room so the question is how do I deal with my issues...I face them and walk right through them! I know what a simple concept but it's easier said then done.

This past Sunday as I was teaching I asked the question "is God in the desert?". People's responses were all over the board. I quickly realizes that my peps had some issues and they needed some direction. We looked at the Exodus story. I pointed out that every time the people would start to crying about their desert experience God would always remind them that He was with them. When they were hungry He feed them, when they were thirsty He gave them something to drink, when they were being attack, He protected them. When the Israelites faced their issues and walked through them (even when they whined about it) they learned about the faithfulness of God. I am so thankful that God thought this was an important event that He inspired man to write it down so that one day people with issues (like me) can read, examine, and take a closer look and learn how I can face my issues and walk through them.

Today I am reminded that blogging helps me face my issues. I guess it's therapeutic for me. As I blog about my issues I'm able to analyze them. I think far to often we miss out when ever we go through "stuff" and rush right through it so we can move on with life. Which is totally understandable but when we do this we miss critical life lessons that God wants us to face them so we can learn to walk through them with Him. I got issues and I'm okay with it!!!

Expresso Yourself...

One of my favorite places to go and relax is Starbucks. There's something about a coffee shop that puts me at ease. Maybe it's the smell of the coffee being brewed or maybe it's the clam colors of the space or maybe it's the relaxing vibe in the environment. Whether I'm studying, writing a message or having a conversation with someone it seems easier to "expresso" myself. But no trip to Starbucks is complete without having your favorite cup of joe.

Personally, I prefer a tall java chip frap with whip cream. Now one drink I can't do any more is a straight shot of espresso. I discovered that a straight shot of espresso is for the serious coffee drinker. Just a tiny cup of it packs a powerful caffeinated punch. In much the same way, our lives can make a powerful impact on those around us.

This new teaching series promises to caffeinate your life as you understand what it means to “Expresso Yourself” in ways that connect to God and with others. So I hope ya'll join us this Sunday at 10:30am at Dahlonega Assembly of God in Dahlonega Georgia as we learn how to "Expresso Ourself!"