Why a Daughter Needs a Dad

One of the gifts Amberly got me for Christmas was the book Why a Daughter Needs a Dad. I started reading the 100 reasons a daughter needs a dad and became a babbling brook of tears as I thought of my beautiful almost three-year old girl. Here were some of my favorite reasons:

• A daughter needs a dad who doesn't mind when she steps on his shoes while dancing.
• A daughter needs a dad so she'll know what it's like to be somebody's favorite.
• A daughter needs a dad to tell her truthfully that she is the most beautiful of all.
• A daughter needs a dad to be the standard against which she will judge all men.
• A daughter needs a dad so that she'll have at least one hero who will not let her down.
• A daughter needs a dad so that when no one else is there for her, she can close her eyes and see him.
• A daughter needs a dad to carry her just because she wants to be carried.
• A daughter needs a dad to build a loving house on a foundation of wisdom and understanding.
• A daughter needs a dad to stand with her on the day she marries the man she hopes will be just like her father.

It's Christmas Time at the Reynolds

What a beautiful Christmas Eve service! The sanctuary was filled with candlelight and hundreds of people celebrating Christmas. I love the Christmas Eve service because it's an opportunity to invite friends and family who might not normally attend church.

After Candles, Carols, and Christmas Eve, we headed over to Amberly's parents for Christmas dinner with her family--her brother Gentry and his wife Kelly along with their two kids (Adrian and Aidan) came in from Indiana. It was great. Santa even stopped by and surprised everyone!

It was a great day for celebrating with family.

The next morning we woke up and opened gifts together, just the five of us, when all the sudden the door bell rang. It was Steve Davidson bearing gifts--delicious homemade cinnamon roles from his wife Angela. It was a great Christmas morning surprise--and tasty, too!

Iowa Supreme Court

What a great honor I had yesterday to witness the investiture of Brent Appel as the newest justice of the Iowa Supreme Court. Brent has served Christian Life Assembly as our church's attorney for the past couple of years.

Governor Vilsack appointed him to the court in October with the installation yesterday. Governor Vilsack administered the oath of office in front of the entire Iowa Supreme Court, Lt. Governor Sally Pederson, Governor-elect Chet Culver, Lt. Governor-elect Patty Judge, district judges, court of appeals judges, federal court judges, and Brent's family and friends.

I had never been in the courtroom of the Iowa Supreme Court, but it is beautiful room in a gorgeous new building across from the Iowa Capitol building.

Merry Christmas!

We thought we'd have fun with this year's Christmas card. See you at Candles, Carols, and Christmas Eve, Sunday at 4 PM.

A King is Coming to Town

If there is a more hilarious, high energy, high-impact children's presentation around, I dare you to show it to me. Those kids did great. And, the kid dressed up like the Elvis impersonator. Whose kid was that? I bet he got it from his mother. Look for pictures to be posted tomorrow. They did a great job. Plus, people made decisions for Christ. That's what it's all about.

The 12 Days of Christmas Have Begun!

I'm starting a new tradition this year. I'm getting Amberly a gift for every day of the 12 Days of Christmas. It started today with a $5 gift card to Sonic Drive In. There is nothing more exciting to my girl from Texas than a Route 44 Big Drink Dr. Pepper with extra ice. If she play it right, she should be able to get three with the gift card and think of me with every sweet, sugary, sip!

Toys for Tots Was Tremendous

We had over 1,700 people attend the four presentations of Christmastime this past weekend, gave out nearly 2,000 toys, and over 300 people responded to the altar calls. It was a great weekend! The presentation was filled with fun and beauty. I loved hearing the "oohs" and "ahs" when the snow machine started up. It was phenomenal!

Special thanks to everyone who made it possible.

Confessions of a Pastor

In his new book, Craig Groeschel shares some amazing stuff on dropping the pose and getting real with God.

Here are some of his confessions:

1. I can't stand a lot of Christians.

2. I have to work to stay sexually pure.

3. I worry almost all the time.

4. I hate prayer meetings.

He's so real and so funny at the same time, then he gives great lessons that he's learned to overcome the things that he's talking about. I'm loving it!

Toys for Tots

Our Toys for Tots outreach is this weekend. So far, we have registered nearly 800 kids to receive two toys each. We rented a Ryder truck to pick up the toys. We're doing the giveaway at two different services this Saturday, 4 PM and 6 PM. I can't wait!

Five Brackets for Tournament of Books

So, I need 80 books to start out with to get down to the five I'm going to read on the Spiritual Renewal Retreat. Since the purpose of the retreat deals with mind, spirit, and bodyI want books that deal with all three areas. Instead of East, West, Midwest, and South, we need five brackets to match the retreat theme, with one book winning out of each bracket. Here are some ideas for the five brackets:

Spirituality
Leadership
Personal Development
Relationships
Culture
Biography/History/Philosophy
Church Life

We'll have to first narrow down the brackets and then fill each of the five with 16 seeds and let the tournament begin.

I Love December

Here are a few things I love about December at CLA:

The Leading Ladies Tea (December 2)
The Lighting of the Christmas Tree (December 3)
Toys for Tots Giveaway (December 9)
Christmastime (December 10)
Kids Christmas Musical (December 17)
Candles, Carols, and Christmas Eve (December 24)

I can't wait! We're up to 750 kids signed up for Toys for Tots. I bet we get to 1,000 before it's done! If you want to volunteer to help, e-mail Vanessa at clagsecretary@aol.com. Thanks.

Books for Spiritual Renewal Retreat

I'm thinking about what books to read during my spiritual renewal retreat, January 23-February 28. I want to do a book a week, so that would be five books. I should set up a tournament of books to get down to the final five. Here are some I'm looking at:

Off Road Disciplines by Earl Creps
Spiritual Leadership by Henry Blackaby
A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards
Christ Plays in 10,000 Places: A Conversation on Spiritual Theology by Eugene Peterson
Creating Community: Five Keys to Building Small Group Culture by Andy Stanley
Holy Ambition: What it Takes to Make a Difference for God by Chip Ingram
Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives by Leonard Sweet, Andy Crouch, Michael Horton, Brian McLaren, and Erwin McManus

Well, there are the first eight for our field of 80 that will get narrowed down to five. I can't wait for the brackets to come out!