October 31 – “Oh Kind Benefactor”

It was another pretty good day at Seaside yesterday.  A few of the ladies who first connected through the Ladies Bible Study were there, and one even brought along her husband.  We were also surprised to see a guy we went to college with way back in the day and his wife.  He was also a rival basketball coach back when I was coaching the homeschool team when our boys were playing.  Their daughter and son-in-law have purchased a beach house as a rental property, so Mom and Dad had a chance to check it out.  Before they left they asked if we had some form of church PR piece that they could put in the house to tell people who stayed there about Seaside.  I gave them one of our new refrigerator magnets that has worship time on it.  Great idea for rental properties, by the way.  Wonder if any other of our local real estate tycoons would be interested …

After church we had a discernment meeting to talk about one of the special offerings we set up several years ago to raise money for one of those electronic signs.  We have been getting reports that those signs are not doing so well on the coast because of the salt air, so we decided to scale back and just renovate our existing sign, keeping its quirky, neighborhood character, but upgrading it if possible so we can have four lines to work with instead of three, safe and operable lighting, and a fresh look for the paint.  We still need to put together a list of exactly what jobs need to be done, but I’m excited about it.  The fund itself was renamed the Capital Expenditures Fund, and the money in it can now be used for other major expenses around the facilities.  And speaking of major expenses, one of our groups that uses the buildings every Friday, the Homeschool Music Co-op, gave us around $1200 as a donation toward replacing the rest of the air conditioners.  We immediately approved getting the second one purchased and installed.  The other action was to define the purpose of one other designated fund.  It is currently called the Seaside Born Again Fund.  We added the words “Events and Evangelism” after that to clarify that the money can be used for any activity that helps us to better connect with our community.  It can also be used if we need it for operating expenses.  The last topic of discussion was the health insurance that the church provides for Chris and me.  We just got word that the monthly premium is skyrocketing to the tune of around $700 a month more than it was.  Way too much for anybody to spend on insurance.  We just wanted the church to know we are looking into an alternative, particularly the Samaritan Ministries and Medi-Share options.  Coincidentally (!), one of the families at the meeting uses Samaritan Ministries now, so we were able to get some insight from them.  We will revisit that one when more of the facts are available.  We all joined hands and prayed together after the meeting.  It was a really positive experience for everybody.

After church we went over to Nate’s with Bryan and Jennifer for lunch.  We all agreed that their hamburgers are among the best we have ever had (Especially the ones with bacon.  Hard to beat bacon).  As we relaxed and talked around the table, the waitress approached and informed us that someone had just come by to pick up a to-go order.  And along with his order he had paid for our table’s meal in full.  That kind of thing doesn’t happen very often.  Thank you from all of us, Oh Kind Benefactor.  We really do appreciate your gesture. 

Galatians 5:25-26 says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

Father, thank you for the order and unity we experienced at that meeting.  And thank you for the guy who purchased our lunch.  Bless him today to honor his action.  Amen.