HUGE WEEKEND!!

You ever plan things thinking it would be "fun" then realize "What were were we thinking"? We planned a huge weekend this past weekend. But MAN did it go well. Starting Saturday with the gas buy down and ending last night with an Element Memorial Day BBQ at our house we made some great connections. It was CRAZY busy but I'd do it all over again.

Grant had to work yesterday morning with his frito lay gig. He wore his Element volunteer t-shirt and headed out to deliver chips. Working actually turned out to be a blessing. People were talking all over about the gas buy down and when they saw his shirt it opened up conversations. One lady in particular at Albertson's struck up a conversation. Don't know exactly how it went but something to the effect of "Thank you so much for doing what you did. My granddaughter was one of the last ones you guy's let through the line. They have had some medical issues lately and this .50 cents off meant a lot to them." Grant said "I bet that was 'so and so'" and remembered the names of a young lady and friend who were some of the last through the line. It was this ladies granddaughter and she was blown away. WAY TO GO GRANT! Community Connections Pastor at it's greatest. lol

Saturday Night we turned around and had a UFC fight night at our house. We had Almost 30 people here. One of the families who came turned around Sunday night and attended our Memorial Day BBQ. They are a young couple with 2 children. They filled out a connection card to start receiving info about Element.

Sunday night we had 35 people at our house for our BBQ. It was a lot of fun. People who were already connected to Element provided all the food and we invited folks who have yet to connect to attend. One young couple we have been working on literally from the day we arrived here attended last night and they said they had a great time. They are a good Christian couple from the Air Force who cannot find a church home. They said last night how great it was to be able and hang out with good Christian people. They also filled out a connection card and said after they get back from vacation next week they'd be at our events.

Church planting is a blast! And WOW is it stressful, scary and challenging. I've been more busy than I ever was at an established church. The gravity of the task sometimes seems overwhelming but it's in those moments that the presence of God overwhelms as well. Grant and I have talked several times about how BIG this is and how we can't imagine NOT doing it. I hope 10 years from now Element is still buying gas for people but instead of .50 cents at 2 hours what if we did it for an entire day, or paid $1 or gave it away? HA, that would be sweet.

We're heading down to Denver today to go to the Cardinals vs. Rockies game with my Dad. Jonah has a b-ball game tonight here in Cheyenne. We'll get a good day of rest and fun in today and hit the church planting trail again tomorrow.

Following Christ,

Jeff