The last time I had lobster in the United States was in May of 1988. I was at the top of the Space Needle in Seattle having dinner before my senior prom. I don’t remember much about it except thinking that it was very expensive. I’ve had lobster a few times in Mexico where price is much cheaper and lobster much smaller. Well tonight I decided to try it out again. Danielle and I had a gift certificate for way too much money to a seafood restaurant in Carlsbad. I decided to order the lobster. It was $36 and consisted of two frozen (I don’t know why the waitress told me that) lobster tails from Australia. It was pretty good and dipping anything in butter is great. But, not worth that much money. I think a great Salmon dinner is much more appealing and about 1/2 the price. So my conclusion is…..don’t order the lobster or if you do make sure you’re not paying.

I know I haven’t posted in a couple of days but the weather has been so amazing I’ve tried to be outside a lot. The boys and I just got home from the pool. Amazing that its almost November and I’m still able to lay out by the pool.

Today my oldest son is 6. I can’t believe that the years have flown by so fast. We’re hosting a whole bunch of kids over at Castle Rood today for the best Star Wars birthday party you’ve ever seen. Crazy stuff going on as Danielle went all out planning this thing. I’m pretty lucky to have 3 amazing kids. Right now Soren and Kaije are fighting with mini-lightsabers and crying over who gets to play with R2-D2. Oh wait maybe it’s not all so peaceful and loving here.

About 8 months ago a coffee shop opened up near my house. “It’s a Grind” got off to a slow start because the road that it was on didn’t go anywhere until recently. It became my new favorite place to work for 3 reasons. 1. Great coffee (8 different kinds regularly brewed) 2. Free internet, 3. Close to my neighborhood.

Over the years I have mostly gone regularlyl to a couple different coffee shops. When I was in Los Angeles I went almost daily to a Starbucks right at the top of Beverly Glen and Mulholland. It was sort of a “Coffee for the stars” location. At first that’s probably why I went there but after a while I became a regular customer. It still gave me a rush to see someone famous but I mostly went there because the people behind the counter new who I was, what I did and what I liked to drink.

I recently heard the CEO of Starbucks say that they weren’t in the business of selling coffee. What they sold were relationships. Coffee was just a way to do that. I think that statement has quite a few implications for those of us in the Church world. First, we have to be careful to not think that the programs we are running and the services we are providing are what we are about. Just like Starbucks we are in the people business. Our programs are a way of connecting with people and bringing them in but they are just a means to an end. The end is building relationships and introducing people to Jesus. Secondly, we need to realize that creating a “place where everyone knows your name” to quote Cheers is crucial to doing ministry. If someone comes to our churches regularly and isn’t “known” they will probably leave and go find a new place.

I’m guilty of putting more effort into programs than people. Its a natural thing. We get excited about our vision and start brainstorming ways to make it better. Its so easy to lose sight of our purpose.

Lastly, there are tons of coffee shops out there. I went to quite a few before I found one that was my “home.” Churches need to realize that the same thing happens with people who are checking us out. Programs are great but relationships are more important. In order for us to keep people and attract people we need to create an atmosphere of “being known.” We must as leaders teach our congregations why this is so important and show them how this model of outreach is probably more effective than a lot of the “programs” that we have done over the years to attract new people.

At least that’s what I’m thinking as I eat my blueberry bran muffin and sip on my large vanilla nut coffee with a little cream and a packet of splenda.

Last week we went to a pumpkin patch. Part of the patch had pumpkins bigger than my kids. I did what any dad would do. Took 100 photos hoping 1 would turn out. Here’s the best of the lot. Not the greatest shot since I took it with my cell phone.

For those of you without kids this post will probably have little meaning. Today we drove 6 1/2 hours home from Mammoth to San Diego. For about 5 of those hours my daughter was litterally screaming in my ear. I guess we learned that she doesn’t sleep in the car. Anyways we made it home and I’m tired. But, I wouldn’t trade any part of this weekend for anything. I’m blessed with 3 amazing kids a great wife and a dog that wishes he was big. Glad to be home though.