Coming This Weekend!

There are a couple of exciting opportunities for you this weekend that we wanted to let you know about!

1. Saturday (May 2) is Peak Day in downtown Apex. It's a great time when thousands of folks come and hangout in the streets downtown. We'll be there all day and we'd love for you to come and join us. We'll put up the moonwalk and have other games for kids including face painting and we'll be inviting kids to come to VBS this summer in June. If you'd like to come and help send Chuck or Matthew an email.
2. Saturday night (May 2) we're kicking off our "Center" sermon series during the month of May with a men's dinner called IGNITE. Warren Lamb is coming and it will be awesome. If you're a man and you haven't signed up yet send Amanda an email. The dinner starts at 6:00 PM and we'll be done by 8:00.
3. On Sunday, May 3, Hand of Hope Pregnancy Resource Center is hosting its annual Walk For Life from 2:00-4:00 at South Park in Fuquay Varina. Hand of Hope reaches out to young ladies with the hope of Christ and is an invaluable ministry in our neck of the woods. You can read more about Hand of Hope or the Walk For Life by clicking here.
   

Empty Nesters

Peter Dubbelman
Family Life Pastor and Church Administrator



Our last child, Ruth, is getting ready to leave for college this fall. Though we realize that our kids may be in and out of our house during the next several years, Brenda and I are excited about this new adventure that awaits us—being empty nesters. We believe that our best years are still ahead of us.

"Empty Nesters" face unique opportunities and challenges. We typically have more time and finances then we are used to, but we also are navigating new waters; e.g., ageing parents and adult children, a stronger need to be partner focused rather than child focused, and letting go of past disappointments and moving forward.

I want you to know about some exciting, useful opportunities at ABC that apply just to you:

• Roger Repp has started a Life Group class geared to empty nesters. If you are not already a part of a Life Group, please pray about this opportunity. For more information you can reach Roger at his e-mail address or see the above image for more info on the class.

• Brenda and I are reading a book on Empty Nesters: The Second Half of Marriage by David and Claudia Arp. It is published by Zondervan and has a Christian emphasis; and so far we like it. There are other books that address our demographic, but you might want to read it together as a couple.

• Brenda and I are also praying about leading a monthly discussion group on the above book or one similar. Right now, if there is enough interest in the idea, I’m thinking about starting it in either September ’09 or ’10 with a monthly evening meeting around food, fellowship, and book discussion; we’ll then culminate with the group going away for a weekend of fellowship, fun, and worship; however, I am open to suggestions. I’m not only wrestling with the idea but also with whether there is enough interest in doing something like this. So help me out. Ideally, I would prefer you join a community discussion of this idea or whatever else is in your heart with regards to Empty Nesters in the comments below. Simply click on the comments link under this entry and let us know what you think. You may also contact Brenda and I directly.
  

May our Lord continue richly to bless your marriage!

What's Wrong?

Alex Cosio
Pastor of Hispanic Ministries

I heard the story of a young man whose friends played a prank on him. While he was asleep, they rubbed an ointment with a very bad odor on his upper lip underneath his nose. When he woke up he complained: “this room stinks!” So he left the room and went outside. As he was walking through the hallway he said: “this hallway surely stinks.” He got into his car; as he started driving, he noticed the bad odor in his car too, so he complained: “this car is really stinky!” Everywhere he went he complained saying: “This really stinks.” It took him a while to realize that he was the one who stunk!

This story illustrates a problem that is common to many of us. There are people who constantly complain; and complain about everything. They complain about their neighbor, about their friends, their coworkers, their children, their spouse, their boss, their church, the prices, the government, the weather, etc. Do you know anybody like that? It is very easy to see the wrongs and defects on everybody else and never ask ourselves: “Could it be me the one that is wrong?”
The Lord Jesus said: “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness.” (Luke 11:34-35) What a revelation! Could it be that we need to come into the light? What a difference the light makes around us! Jesus said: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

The Lord promises that if we come into his light everything around us will look different. Your neighbor might be the same but will look different because of the light of Jesus. Your spouse might be the same, but it will look different because of the light of Jesus. Before we complain and judge, let us ask ourselves: Am I looking through the light of Jesus or through the darkness of this world? Let us challenge ourselves by asking: Am I walking in the light of Jesus?