Encouraged

I just spoke with a pastor from Pittsburgh. His church is a planting church. They've planted seven churches out of their church over the last few years. He talked with me personally and asked about some indicators of our first year. He was very complimentary of where we are in our journey. He made a statement that was enlightening he said that in a situation like ours it will take about two years to get to where a launch team would be out of a mothered church situation. Now that's church planter lingo, but in other words if we had come out of a large church that strategically was looking to start a church, they would have sent out many more people and a lot more money. Starting the church like we did is a different animal, but when he heard our progress he let me know that we're doing great.

--Ben

Graduation

I'm realizing that there is a sort of graduation that I'm experiencing. This Church Planters conference is really where I was last year. However, it's not where I am now. The speakers are good and say informative things, but I'm realizing that I need to hear different voices now. Neither starting out or established, I'm in between, and looking for leaders who will challenge me to the next steps for my leadership.

It's been a good conference, but I'm much more interested in hearing from God, so I've slipped away from the plenary sessions (dealing with how to mother new churches) and I'm back at my room. Turning off the computer and taking time to just hear from God. I think he's been speaking to me, and I want to hear him clearly. He is so gentle. Gentleness is power under control. Sometimes I feel like I wish he'd be less gentle and more confrontational. But I don't know that I could handle the slap upside the head that I sometimes crave.

In the mean time, I think I'll just settle down and try to listen to a still small voice.

--Ben

Slightly Overcast, Chance of Rain

I just talked with a friend of mine and he asked about the weather. It smells like Spring out here. It is overcast and has already drizzled a little. You know how that smells.

But it's gorgeous out here. The church that I'm at is Radiant Church in Surprise, AZ. The church has over 5000 members I think. They have an incredible story, with a great Pastor who left Microsoft to plant this church.

You know those speaker systems in gardens at places like Kings Dominion? When you pull on this campus and open your car door you hear praise music pumped to every part of the property. It's really cool.

More later...

--Ben

Some thoughts from Herbert Cooper (abridged)

1. You’ve got to have a God sized vision. (share your vision all the time)
2. You’ve got to structure your church for growth.
3. You must keep it simple.
4. Measure your progress.
1. How many attended weekend services
   
2. How many guests do we have a week?
3. New believers class and in small group
4. How many involved in Ministry?
5. You must learn to delegate authority not just responsibility.
6. You attract who you are, not what you want.
   
7. Dealing with financial issues is one of the top five jobs of a senior pastor. Having financial accountability is the key to your long term success.
8. Your church can only grow beyond the pain that you can endure.
9. Every church that is not growing either has an attraction problem or a retention problem.
10. Enjoy the ministry.

One random thought he mentioned about paying his staff...

If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

--Ben

Alan Hirsch

Some thoughts from Alan Hirsch:

X (Christology) à Mission à Expression of the Church

This is a necessary formula. We must always go back to Christ.

“Show me your Jesus, and I’ll show who you are.”

Other side of the equation:

Christianity minus Christ equals Religion

Back Online

This church has an open Wireless network that requires a user name and password registration free. Then they can update people on things happening at the church via email, and they give away free wifi. Awesome.

Great speakers so far. We hear 30 minutes each from three speakers. Then we breakout for an hour with one of those speakers of our choice. So much information.

PS. Mark Batterson is a virtual mentor of mine. He shared a video I've seen at least 25 times. It is of a baptism they did. It brought tears to my eyes again. Every time. It's because that is the story of what we're doing. That's why I think the highlight of our first year was the baptism of four people last year. Nelson Searcy said this, "The day will come when you baptize as many people in a year as you had on your first Sunday." I look forward to that.

--Ben

The Preaching Calendar

In every field there are diverse approaches to particular skills. The same is true of preachers. There are a variety of sermon styles such as Topical (covering a topic with an overview of what the Bible says about said topic), Expository (expounding on a specific text), and Evangelistic (has the specific end of presenting salvation through Jesus Christ). There are variety of speaking styles verse-by-verse, narrative, or (could we include) monotonous.

Then there's the whole issue of preparation. For instance, some ministers preach out of a lexical book that prescribes which passage to use and what to say about that passage so that every so many years you've heard sermons on the whole Bible. Others focus on Topics with steps like "Three steps to overcoming time change", "Seven steps for sleeping well without your spouse with you", or "4,583,822.22 steps to get home from here". Some ministers prepare for hours, days, and some not at all (not recommended).

One of my approaches is to plan the years calendar of messages at the end of the previous year. Now, I don't fill in titles and texts for every week. But my planning is a means to evaluate what kind of series we will do. What individual messages we'll do. When we'll have missionaries, and other guest speakers. I want to have a plan to make sure that the spiritual diet of the church is well balanced. I love having the advantage of planning over longer periods of time for messages coming up.

It is a learning tool for me as well. I learned in 2007 more about the preacher that God has created me to be. I think that there is a specific voice (metaphorically speaking) that he has given me as a sweet spot. I want to lean into that strength. I found that Topics are much harder for me and so while we'll still have some topical series, this year we'll be more balanced with expository series than we were last year. Planning a preaching calendar helps me on both ends, and in the middle too.

So today I am taking some time to go for a walk, pray, and take the first steps in planning. Then I'll head over to the conference. It would be a great day for you to pray for me. That God will speak to me, guiding my decision making according to His plan.

--Ben

The Only Problem...

You all know how much I love it out here. The only problem is that I never have enough time to get used to the time change. It's only a couple hours, but it really keeps me off balance. I keep my computer on Eastern Time and switch my phone to a visiting time. This really plagues me because we're making final plans for Friend Day on Sunday and so I've got to juggle what time is it back home to make calls, and then physically I just feel out of it, cause I couldn't sleep last night, and kept waking up...blah, blah, blah. Anywho!

I'm using my time away to read. I'm working through a repeat Developing the Leader Within You, a borrowed book Next Generation Leader, and a newbie Leading at a Higher Level. I hope to have two out of three finished by Saturday. I'm also inviting friends to friend day from across the country. I just invited someone today over the phone, a first time connection hopefully she'll join us Sunday. Have you invited your friends?

--Ben

Psyched for tomorrow

I was just looking over the list of speakers. I don't know how it might translate into your vocation or interest. I have a friend who is into Drum Corps. I have absolutely no interest there, but he is passionate about it. That's how I feel when I talk about these pastors and the churches they lead. I am inspired by them, and conferences like this fire me up for the vision of what we're doing at SRC.

If there is a wireless signal I'll be posting a lot tomorrow. I'm gonna keep running notes of inspiration.

--Ben

I'm here....

I am in one of my favorite places on earth. I love Phoenix. I told Corie a couple years ago that if we had no family on the east coast, I'd relocate out here. It's beautiful.

But I can't enjoy it right now, because I'm so tired. I was up at 3:30 to catch the flight to Cincinnati, then waited an hour to catch the next one to Phoenix. Arrived here an started looking for the hotel. It's nice, a Quality Inn. I just wish my wife was here to enjoy this experience with me. I used to love traveling. Now it's not as alluring without Corie with me. I got three good kisses from my three girls this morning when they dropped me off at BWI. I miss them a lot. For now, I'm taking a nap. I'll probably post later tonight. Of course with the time difference you might all be in bed....if so, I'll catch you on the flip side.

--Ben

The Latest...

This is why you're the most informed people at Severn River Church. I bring you the news as it happens...

We have a good relationship with the Community College where we meet. In fact, though we've had some struggles, we have a better relationship now than we did a year ago. One of the few drawbacks that we encounter is that each year the campus is closed for three weeks. Two weeks at the end of the year, and one week in the spring. This really wrinkles things. Last year we bumped and skidded our way through. This year we have a better plan. We're going to relocate to a hall in Severna Park for both of those weeks.

I just confirmed the Elks Club for the Sundays, December 23rd and 30th. So we will be having our services there for those two weeks.



--Ben

Memories

Today I got the chance to talk with a great guy who is being interviewed at my former church. For a long time now my friend, Phil, has been looking for a replacement for me. He's been weeding through the applicants and looking for the right guy that God is leading to come. I've talked with a couple of them. Phil gives them my phone number with an invitation to call and ask anything they want.

The guy I talked to today is the son of the pastor who coached me through the church planting boot camp. I traveled to his church when I was in a band in college. It was great to hear from him, and I had a good chat about all things Pasadena. We even reflected on the youth ministry there, and it brought back some great memories as different stories would come up. I'm so glad that God brought me there for the season I served. I know that each season from here will be seasoned with the flavor of that church. You might say Pasadena is the reason for my season.

(Ok, it took a long time to get there, and wasn't as funny as I thought it would be.)

--Ben

The value of quality personnel

Yesterday was an anomaly on our church calendar. The Sunday after Thanksgiving is notoriously low for the attendance of churches. Somewhere between the travel of Thanksgiving and the exhaustion following Black Friday, church people end up missing come Sunday. This week we successfully cut our church in half (I can't wait to share the growth percentage next week. This week we're down 50%; next week is all upside.) Anyway. Days like yesterday make one pause to be thankful for the quality people that we have who fill specific roles for us. It just so happened that almost all of those people ended up away on the same day. Leaving me to get donuts, pick up the trailer, unload, set up, and pull together volunteers to fill positions on the fly. Along the way people joined in to help, and, I'm incredibly thankful for the help yesterday, and the patience of everyone who was involved in our service. I'm looking forward to having everyone back next week.

But one thing that was really cool was the way some people changed their plans to be a part of making yesterday successful. (In one case driving hours from PA to get to church on time to cover the children's church since our scheduled worker inconveniently got pancreatitis. Please plan better next time Sarah...just kidding. We missed you.) Others showed up and asked why no one had called them, they would gladly have come earlier. A sound tech that I expected to not be there, did show up and helped run the tech stuff. I was very thankful for the effort of everyone.

--Ben

The Severn River Effect

I have a particular attraction to things called Severn River... For instance, today I went to help out at Severn River Middle School only a half-mile from the campus that our church meets at. And each morning I'm tempted to glance at the empty offices of the Severn River Business Center wondering if that is where SRC should set up an office suite. It's probably a good thing that there is not a store called Severn River Coffee and Donuts...

--Ben

Big Week

This week is a big week. I have a lot of things to get done in a short amount of time, then a trip to Phoenix to think about it. We're heading into the Christmas season, including a Friend Day this Sunday. So there's a lot to get done, but I'm really excited about the trip that I'm taking this weekend. In Phoenix I'm attending the National Church Planter's Summit. I'll be sitting under the training of a number of the most innovative minds in the Church. People from many denominations and churches coming together to share their best practices. If there was one conference that I'd choose to go to this year, this is the one.

But it all adds up to a big week.

--Ben

Small Groups

If you're looking for a group to connect with for a couple weeks till the New Year, check out the Small Groups page HERE.

--Ben

Thanksgiving...I'm Thankful

Is it Thanksgiving already?

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is here tomorrow. It is just crazy that time is flying so fast. I realized at the beginning of this week that we are almost out of November. Time just seems to be moving in blocks of days at a time.

I know that there are many traveling and busy for the holiday. Be safe and I'll see you back here when you get home at www.benjaminrainey.com

--Ben

Expanding the Operations Team

I work with a team to lead our church. We call them the Operations Team. They oversee the operations of the church, and submit to personal coaching for personal growth. It's the second purpose that makes me the most excited. I love seeing people grow, coming to new discoveries of themselves and their influence of others.

Joining me and Christine Duerling, we are about to add two new members to the OT . Rob Noeth is an up and coming leader among us. You may know him as the bassist in our worship band. He has committed relationship with Christ and a true servant's heart. Alma Soto has also agreed to join the OT. She has been serving in our children's ministry and works diligently each week setting up on Sunday mornings. Both Rob and Alma work full-time in the area and attend school. Their commitment to the church is not an easy one, but both have commented on their excitement to be part of the OT.

We study a book each week and discuss/apply it in our weekly meeting related to areas in the church that we lead. We're going back to the beginning; the book that started the journey of leadership and personal growth in me. Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell was the first book that I ever owned. It was a gift to me from my friend Phil. As a young man he discerned leadership ability in me and gave me that book as a catalyst for personal growth. It made such an impact on me that I've got several parts of the book memorized. I'm so excited to take some young leaders through this. It will be a great time of growth for us.

--Ben

Coming Soon to a Paper Near You

Yesterday I got to go to SPAN and meet the executive director and a photographer from the Severna Park Voice. They were both very nice, and welcomed SRC to the cause of caring for the needs of the less fortunate. I toured the administrative offices, and went downstairs to the basement where the pantry is housed. We staged some photos there, and then talked for a few minutes. It was a very nice trip. The director mentioned that our contribution was much larger than groups usually do at Giant. In fact, we gave so much that SPAN called the North County Emergency Outreach Network to come and get some of the food for their pantry.

It's so exciting to be part of something bigger than yourself. Compassion lived out moves us from selfish living to selfless giving.

--Ben

Not An Endorsement

I am not endorsing anyone for the presidential nomination. In fact, until last week I hadn't even heard of this candidate, and still don't know anything about him. But if you keep track of the most watched videos on Youtube.com you'll find this like I did. I think that it's hilarious. This is not an endorsement by me.

It feels good to get moving.

A couple weeks ago I was talking about my upcoming school schedule (including the presession reading) and they commented that it was a lot of sitting. You know what? That person was right. I was just noticing how nice it feels to not have to sit for 8 hours a day.

In fact, I'm going for a little walk right now to celebrate.

--Ben

(No insensitivity intended to my father, who has been recovering from hip surgery and has done a lot of sitting lately. We're praying for his healing from infection. I love you, Dad.)

A Sunday Without Matt

It wasn't mentioned yesterday, but I missed Matt. Several people have asked me how I'm doing, and I think that it's hard to express. For those of you new to the site Matt is a good friend of mine that helped launch Severn River Church. He resigned this month and is pursuing his next steps of faith. It affects me with feelings of loneliness in that I feel like so much more is dependent on me. It affects me with feelings of hope, because I believe it was neccessary for us to grow. In some Divine Arithmetic God needed to subtract before he could multiply. And I am personally evaluating myself through new lenses of experience to become a better leader. So that's kinda how it is. That's how I'm doing I guess. Overall the biggest lesson is that we were created by God for union not separation, so it is always painful to go through these things.

I want to thank the church. They have been very supportive over the last couple weeks through this season. And their optimism is inspiring.

--Ben

A Refreshing Swim

My daughter is a fish. She loves the water, and all summer long she is swimming and loving it. I feel bad for her when we pack up the swimmys (inflatables) at the end of the summer. That's why we decided that with all the time I've been working we should slip away for some family time, and we should end up someplace with a pool.

So I did the research, found a local hotel with an indoor pool, and booked it. All week I would talk to Syd on the phone and say, "What are we gonna do when I come home?" She knew right away that we were going swimming. We rehearsed it each night, and last night we got to go.

After we checked into the hotel, we got changed and headed to the pool. That's when we found out that the heater was broken in the pool. The water temperature was 62 degrees. (yikes). And there we are in our bathing suits with a three year old that has been looking forward to swimming all week. So guess what we did.

Yes it was freezing.

Very refreshing.

--Ben

It's A Beautiful Morning

I packed up my stuff this morning and headed out from my friends' house. We are wrapping up today, early I hope. I'd like to get out of here before any traffic. Corie and I have planned a short get away tonight. The family is headed way out to the BWI area to check into a hotel with an indoor pool. Sydney and I have been talking about it all week on the phone. She is so excited to go swimming with Daddy and Mommy tonight. Last night she said "Couple Days, Daddy?" (That's what I've been telling her each night, that I'll come home in a couple days.) I told her, "Nope, just one night. I'll be home tomorrow."

I can't wait.

--Ben

Too Much

I have learned so much about Islam over the last several weeks, this one in particular that I never knew before. My perspective has dramatically changed. I often find myself with so much information that I just can't find the time to unpack it all. I hope to do some unpacking with you, but in case I don't get to it, I give you permission to remind me. This week I heard someone say, "The only good Muslim, is a dead Muslim." My heart broke, because I believe that Jesus loves all people, and is willing that none should perish, that all should come to repentance. After the things I've been learning this week, I'm filled with hope for that to happen among Muslims.

--Ben

Day is Done, Gone the Sun

The words of my title are actually the beginning lyrics to "Taps", but I'm tapped out. Papers are in, class is over, and I'm headed to the couch in my friend's basement to grab some shut eye. While I had my eyes open today, I did get to talk with my friends Ron Hall and Daniel McNaughton. They both expressed interest in hearing about the church plant, and were both very affirming at where we are. I count it a privilege to have them as friends.

--Ben

The morning after after....

Well, last night was a late one. I had book reviews due today, and was up late writing them. (Corie is shaking her head disapprovingly) I will finish them up today at lunch and turn them in. But I'm dragging a little bit today. Pray for me. I have turned to coffee to keep me up. I usually abstain from stimulants, but today I'm a two fisted drinker.

--Ben

More time in the library....

Last night I spent more time in the library than any single trip in my entire undergrad studies. I was here for about three hours writing.

Now you might think that is a terrible commentary on my study habits, and you might be right. But I think it is a commentary on the terrible library that we had when I attended here. It was always damp, and consequently mildewy (is that a word?). I couldn't stay in the old one because of allergies. Allergies to mildew or studying I'm not sure...

--Ben

The Morning After

I had quite an interesting night. I arrived at my host's home an hour and a half earlier than I expected. So I got to take a nap. Then I had dinner with them. IT was a good plate of spaghetti and meatballs. It was very nice. But then I was up until after 11:00 watching football, and could not fall asleep. I think it was the Mt. Dew. But I had a horrible night's sleep. Then this morning I woke up an hour early, couldn't do anything, so I watched SportsCenter and went upstairs to get m\a shower. But there was bad news. No hot water. So it was gold shower morning, followed by a cold shave (I would rather have dry shaved). But I'm in class, and I believe that this day is going to get better. At least I get a free lunch today.

--Ben

The Cold

Many of you have been dealing with a cold over the last couple weeks. It is working its way through my family and I think the girls gave it to me as a parting gift. Sniff, Sniff. I need tissues. I've been rubbing my nose raw today. Gotta find some tonight.

--Ben

Missionary Harry Morin

Professor Morin spent 15 years in Bangladesh working with the Muslim population there, and has dedicated his life to working with Muslims. He now works for the Center for Ministry to Muslims. He does a number of teaching engagements helping missionaries prepare for their work in Muslim countries. He has a wealth of understanding and in one day has totally transformed the way I view the issues of Islam in our world.

That makes it an altogether long day. Not his fault, just the way it is when you squeeze hundreds of years from over 1300 years ago into 8 hours. We have much to cover, so each day I'm sure will be jammed packed.

I'm sharing the class with two others. One is a nurse, the other a former medical student who was healed of cancer and is now a youth pastor in Philly. Both of them are in their first class with AGTS. It is the first trip for the professor in many years, so I'm serving as guide to them, helping them find their way around campus and understanding its history.

I'm tired, and think I'll head out now and try to get a siesta (a little Spanish lingo for you) before dinner. I'm having dinner with my host family the Roberts. Paul and Tonia and their kids welcome me into their home each time I come up. They are a great blessing. They've even offered to feed me to save me additional money. I'm very grateful.

--Ben

At School

This week I'm at Grad. School. I'm in a specialized studies class in Islamic Studies. It is a fascinating class. I look forward to sharing some things that I never knew, and may broaden your understanding. I'm really excited too to host Ariel Rainey missionary to Muslims this Sunday at SRC.

--Ben

Marriage Counseling

From the first week we used the connection cards at SRC, people have been responding to let us know of things they're looking for. It has been a great way to communicate. We got a request early on for marriage counseling. This morning if my first session with the newly engaged couple. I look forward to our time together. To me, the pre-marital counseling relationship is mainly to peel back the hype of the wedding, and look at ongoing issues of marriage. As any married couple can attest the wedding (no matter how stressful) is the easy part. It's the staying married part that takes the work.

It's so exciting.

--Ben

Public School

I'm subbing today for the afternoon half. I'm in a music class at Lake Shore Elementary. Hopefully just videos. We'll see.

--Ben

Google Rules the World

Google has released a program that tracks hits to Severn River Church's website. We can track how many people visit a day, and gather information about when they log on, and what pages they're spending time on. On of the coolest functions is a map that shows what areas the hits are coming from. We get hits in Maryland, of course. But we also get hits from Pennsylvania, California (We hear you Doug and Michelle), Washington (state), Florida, and elsewhere. It's neat to think that people are checking us out from those places, and reading about our staff, beliefs, prayer requests, etc. And quaint that I used the word neat.

--Ben

Think. Speak. Repeat.

Just enjoyed breakfast with my family. Mommy cooked a great breakfast at Sydney's request; Sausage, Eggs, and Pancakes. It was delicious.

During breakfast Corie recounted a story that she was sitting behind another car waiting at a stop sign and said, "Come on, Dude." The next day they came to the same stop sign, and just as they stopped behind another car waiting Sydney says, "Come on, Dude."

They're listening.

--Ben

A Day off of the Blogosphere

Well, Yesterday I didn't post, and it's not because I didn't think about it. I just never got around to it. And even now I'm not feeling particularly struck with inspiration to write except to say that I'm well, and hope you are too.

By way of announcement we've been invited to join PAG for a Christmas Banquet to benefit the youth ministry there. More details will be coming out via e-bulletin, but you can start marking your calendar for December 8th at 5:30 p.m. I'm excited for SRC and PAG to celebrate like this. Hope you'll come.

--Ben

We're Expanding

We held our last OT meeting last night with Matt. Christine helped the mood by providing cupcakes that served a dual purpose. The first was to celebrate Laurie's birthday (she attended last night). The second was a pastor's appreciation gift. They were very good.

I've contacted several people in the church about growth in leadership. I'm working on expanding our leadership team. It is a mutual investment. I give a good investment of teaching and coaching related to leadership issues. I require reading and weekly meetings for that coaching. So there is a requirement, but also a reward. Nothing can surpass personal growth. I believe that there are things that come to us only by personal growth, and no matter where we are it is vital that we're growing.

--Ben

Eastern Section

This morning I have a meeting with the pastors from Assembly of God churches from around the Baltimore area. I've been asked to speak for 7 minutes about SRC and share the story of what is happening there. I always enjoy the chance to share our story, but I thought that you could probably freshen it up. What do you think is something that I could tell about our church that would inspire and encourage others? Leave a comment to let me know.

--Ben

The look in the eyes.

Sometimes, as a pastor, you notice the reaction to things that you're saying. Sometimes you know when you say something, that people are processing something that isn't jiving. I had that experience this morning.

It relates to the Genesis passage on creation. Genesis contains two (2) accounts of creation. Check it out Genesis 1 and 2 both contain different accounts of creation. What many people fail to note is that Genesis 1 is a poem. Look at your Bible sometime and notice how chapter 1 is indented. That indentation is because it is a poem. And like poems it speaks in literary form, not literal function. For instance, it uses repetition (very prominent tool in Hebrew poetry). By outlining day one = light; day two = sea; day three = land and the same pattern is repeated in day 5,6, and 7. It is a memory tool for Hebrew children. Now, I know many Christians who don't realize that about the passage, and an equal ratio of pastors who don't know that either, but I think if you examine the text you'll find it that way.

I mentioned that this morning and some people I could tell, hadn't heard it before. I passed over it so quickly that I thought I might come on the blog and explain myself further, before I'm accused of heresy.


--Ben

Discover the River

In addition to service this morning, I also hosted a Discover the River class at my house. DTR is our membership 101 class. It outlines the beliefs, story and organization of our church. I had 5 students today, and we had a lot of fun. (At least I did). Unlike my previous class, this class stopped me repeatedly related to doctrine. They asked some great questions, and I enjoyed the conversation. We'll find out in the next couple weeks how many of them will identify as members. I look forward to receiving them in December.

--Ben

Regarding the Announcement

By now I'm sure that many of you have checked in regarding the announcement today. This morning Matt announced that he and Laurie will be moving back to Harrisburg. I have to admit that it has been working on me mentally over the last few weeks, and I'm thankful that it is now public knowledge. It has been a great experience, and I'm thankful for what Matt and Laurie did. I don't know of many people who would take a step of faith like they did.

Thanks Matt for you help this first year.


--Ben

Day Off

Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away...

Actually yesterday was a test of faith. I think that rest can be a test of faith. See, we live in a driven society, and there's always more to do. This is especially true in my life. So when I get to the day of rest (especially recently) I think, "How can I rest when there is still so much to do?" I think it is a test of faith. In the same way God asks us to trust him with a portion of our money, he asks us to trust him with a portion of our time. Work six, rest one. Pretty risky.

I put him to the test though this week (actually it was probably taking the test). I rested yesterday from all my work. It was a great day with my family including a family nap. And it ended in my favorite way; bonfire at my in-laws house.

Now I feel refreshed and ready to finish up some stuff for tomorrow. Resting yesterday wasn't easy, faith seldom is.

--Ben

Great night.

Last night was a good time for the Rainey Family. We went around the neighborhood and let Sydney say "Trick or Treat". Which she knocks out of the park, by the way. She gathered a bunch of candy, came home, got loaded on sugar. Then we put her in bed and helped her go to sleep.

It was a great night.

--Ben