jayhardwick.com

Reason #998,763 To Love My Job

Ministry, like so many other jobs, carries with it a ton of peaks and valleys. One of the key differences in ministry is the emotional, 24/7, "can't ever turn it off" attachment to your work. That's why encouragement never gets old...especially from people who have been through all those peaks and valleys with you.

One of the first families to get on board with the vision for Catalyst just sent me an email that serves as my encouragement for the day:

"We are so excited about Sunday and Catalyst Church. I still thank God for allowing us to be a part of Catalyst. We love you! And you are always in our prayers."

THANK YOU...you have no idea how much it means!

Enough Said

Love getting emails like this one from CCers...

I just wanted to say thank you. I've meant to do this for a while, but I just haven't. After never being able to experience a church like Catalyst it is wonderful to finally have a place to look forward to on a regular basis. (This was supposed to be much more drawn out but a few sentences is the best I can do right now)

Enough said. And carries more weight than you'll ever know.

Encouragement is a good thing!

Buzz at the Dentist

Just got back from the dentist and three of the employees asked me about the Egg Drop. This viral marketing thing makes me so nervous because there is no way to control or monitor it.  But when dentist office employees whom I have never met are hearing about it, and somehow connect me with it, it must be working!

CC'ers...this is possibly the EASIEST thing you could ever invite people to attend.  What kid wouldn't want the chance to win a Nintendo Wii while collecting his/her share of 25,000 easter eggs that were dropped out of a helicopter?  You're doing a great job already...now keep it up! 

8 days and counting...

I Love Getting Up @ 5:00am

Our Production Team has really stretched in the past 3 months. While we have been pushing the bar to increase the quality and creativity in our worship environment, our volunteers have been asked to give and do a lot. They arrive between 5:45 and 6:00 every Sunday morning. Most of them have to serve during both services. Most of them stay until everything is packed up, stored up, and cleaned up on Sunday afternoons.

In the midst of them giving and serving more, an interesting thing has happened - I have seen some of them get even more engaged with our mission and more passionate about inviting their friends...or, as in the story I am about to share with you, their family.

Check out this email I received from one of our production volunteers:

Just as a weird sort of side note...It's funny how refreshed and excited I am about waking up on Sunday mornings now that my family is attending. My mom really feels like she's where she needs to be for once, and my brother, sister and their kids (who love Waumba Land and Upstreet) are all going to Church again on their own volition. I don't mean for this to sound selfish or anything but the work really seems like it's worth doing (even more-so than before) because it's almost as if I have a more personal, vested interest in what goes on. I realize it's important for ALL of those people to be there, but having my family in attendance hits closer to home and makes it all seem a little more real.

It's helped me to want the production to be as good as it possibly can be. When you have family or friends attending, you're suddenly much more aware of all of the little stuff that might distract them and you just want everything to be perfect. Feeling what that's like is making me a better member of the production team.

Oh yeah! Only people beginning a relationship with Jesus gets me more fired up than this kind of story. This guy is proof of something we say all the time..."You serve better when you're actively investing and inviting."