Saturday, March 10, 2007

1 Week Down...

Hello All,

Well, technically a week! Tuesday and Wednesday I went down to the office in Irvine, while Thursday, Friday and Saturday were spent in beautiful Big Bear City with most of the staff from Calvary Laguna.

We met with the rest of the staff in the mountains and found our rented house. There were eight of us, but plenty of room in this spacious rental. Friday night, Pastor Chris served up a mean tri-tip dinner, while my wife smashed potatoes. We sat around the table and laughed together, getting to know each other in the process through various stories and anecdotes.

After dinner, we decided to play Taboo and Catch Phrase, Men v. Ladies of course. I am proud to say that the Men bested the Ladies in the typical "Best Of 3" format! What a way to begin our weekend. The Ladies said that they did not really care about the competition, which is good because they lost!

Saturday was an extensive time of prayer and study, as Chris "cast out the vision" for us as a staff. The vision for Calvary Laguna is to connect with God, each other and the world. The purpose of the retreat was to cover this concept and brainstorm ideas that could facilitate this vision that's been cast over our church. I admit that what transpired was dizzying, as ideas and concepts began to fly all over the room. It was an exciting and inspiring process to be a part of, as it seems that most anything was open for discussion. Especially exciting was seeing my wife add in significant portions for discussion, thanks mostly to our Mothers, who took turns watching the kids over the weekend. Thanks Moms!

Our final session ended just after midnight on Saturday night, as we discussed making the connection with the world around us. After this session, which lasted almost 4 hours, I was absolutely spent, exhausted, but exhilarated to have the chance to participate in what will be the spiritual bedrock philosophically of our church over the next 5 to 10 years. Kudos to Pastor Chris and Tatum Norman, whose leadership is a true blessing to all who had the chance to make it to this special retreat.

As we came down the mountain though, a vicious reality presented itself to us: Tommorow is the beginning of Daylight Savings Time, otherwise known as "The Bad One!" Yes, we lose some sleep, an hour, which means the commute will be that much more fun tomorrow morning. But with the excitement over this weekend still fresh in my mind, I am sure that I will enjoy it, despite the early hour.

Blessings...To Our Friends,
Frank Sanchez

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