My Daily Bread

It was a great day today. Over 75 volunteers worked together distributed over 2 1/2 semi-truck loads of water today to the public. I learned on Sunday afternoon that Serve the City wanted New Covenant to take the responsibility for staffing the water distribution site at Sams.

Over two hundred people filled out volunteer forms on Sunday at New Covenant. I handed the forms off to Arliss Bailey, and with the help of Austin Spooner, Arliss input all the data in our Arena data base. Arliss and several others began calling those who indicated an interest in volunteering, and by Sunday evening we had all three shifts for Monday staffed up.

Kudos to Arliss, Austin, those who made phone calls and all from our church family who distributed water on Monday. You all did a great job. I couldn't be more proud of New Covenant and all those who served today! And, we have another great team scheduled to begin work tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM. You can click on the picture above to see a slide show of the day.

We heard countless stories of loss and devastation. I talked to one man who came to pick up water with his adult son. His house is still under water. He said he made his last house payment last March. One of our volunteers and her husband recently moved to Cedar Rapids. They purchased a boat house to live in during the summer. They can't find any trace of the boat house. It's gone with all their belongings. They are without a home.

Serving like this in a time of need helps to keep life in perspective. We have so much and take so much for granted. Reflecting back on the day, I'm reminded of Proverbs 30:7-9

Two things I ask of you, O Lord;
do not refuse me before I die:
Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.
Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

I'm Published!

I just had one of my photos published for the first time and I'm pretty excited. An editor from the Chicago Marathon emailed me several months ago to ask my permission to use one of the photos I took at the 2007 race. I wrote about the marathon last year on a post called 26.2.

I totally forgot about the request until Jason called me this week to tell me that he just received his copy of the Chicago Marathon Results Book and that one of my photos was used. They printed the photo I took of Amy Palmiero Winters and enlarged it on a full-page spread. And of course they credited me with the photo! Pretty exciting!

I was so impressed with Amy Palmiero Winters. I took this photo at a spot in Chinatown, about 21 miles into the race. The humidity and temperatures were sweltering that day and people were dropping out of the race right and left. In fact, one runner did die on the course and race organizers cut the race short because of dangerous conditions.

Amy was running like the race had just begun. She was smiling and waving to the crowd. I couldn't believe it. She finished with a time of 3:23:14, very good under the conditions. You can read more about her at her website See Amy Run.

An above-the-knee amputee running a marathon in horrible conditions. Amy had plenty of reasons to quit, complain or feel sorry for herself. Instead she chose to compete, wave to the crowd and enjoy the experience. All of a sudden a photograph doesn't seem like such a big deal. I took the picture but Amy is the inspiration!

eXchange

I have some great news - the Romans Reading Journals are in! Cedar Graphics delivered them hot off the press this afternoon, just in time for our eXchange message series. Let me encourage you to take a journal and follow along with us during this series that will cover Romans 1-5.

Our readings begin this Saturday with Romans 1:1-17. Pastor Bob will be preaching on this passage on Sunday and then we will be spending time personally reading, reflecting and journaling on this passage the following Monday thru Friday.

And don't forget about signing up for the daily email devotional that will be delivered to your inbox each morning. These devotions will follow the same reading passages and are written by our staff, elders and deacons. If you already receive one of our email newsletters, click on the Update Profile/Email Address at the bottom of the newsletter and you will be able to select the Daily Devotionals - eXchange Series box.

Each day the daily devotionals will also be posted on the eXchange blog. Stop by the blog, leave a comment and join the conversation. Don't miss out on making this summer a time of accelerated spiritual growth.