It rains… I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but stay with me for a moment. This isn’t about a “building your house on the rock” blog. This is something that caught me off-guard.

Recently I was reading Genesis 8 which talks about the rain coming to an end after the flood of the earth and something JUMPED off the page at me. I’ve read this story what seems like hundreds of times, but this time something jumped off that I had never noticed before.

It is in chapter 8 that it talks about Noah sending out the dove after “the waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days” and after an unsuccessful first trip it comes back with a “freshly plucked olive leaf ” and this is where the story took a turn for me. This is why you read your Bible, because it is so easy to just read it and miss so much.

Verses 6 – 14 explains what happens after God turns off the facets of heaven… You probably know the story, Noah after 40 days sends out a raven (not the dove I mentioned)… Anyway, here comes the point… Noah waited 40 days then sends out the raven, then the first failed attempt by the dove was 7 days later, then the successful attempt 7 days after that, then 7 days after that the dove didn’t return. OK so what’s the point?

You see it rains… We will all face storms in our lives, it isn’t a matter of IF, it is a matter of WHEN. And at some point the rain will end, for me I just assumed that meant life goes back to some sort of “new-normal”. I’m sure Noah was sick of the rain, I know I get sick of it after a 1/2 a day, but life for Noah is anything but normal. Noah waits and waits and waits to just simply get off the boat. Literally months go by before Noah steps out on dry land AFTER the rain stops.

I’ve wrestled with what this means for me and I’m not sure what God is trying to tell me through this, I certainly hope selfishly that a storm isn’t brewing, I pray that I don’t live in a season of waiting after the storm, but I also know that whatever God has in store for me will be for His glory. I can say that and follow it up with this statement… That doesn’t mean I want to go through it. Jesus didn’t want to be crucified either by the way.

So… Have you gone through a storm you didn’t think would end only to find yourself in this waiting period? If so you are not alone. The end of the rain is a start, but it doesn’t mean a “new-normal” is coming soon. It just means the rain has stopped.

- Rainey

Warning… I’m on my soapbox.

I’m sure by now you’ve heard about the worst earthquake in over 200 years and the devastation in Haiti. I’ve read reports that as many as 50,000 could have lost their lives… 50,000 people! Now here is one of the many problems… There are so many people that have a hard heart, not because they want one, but because we are so used to seeing and hearing bad news. If you fit this category then go back to the link in the word devastation and look at the pictures, this blog will still be here. BUT when you look at them think of this; These people are Mothers and Fathers… Brothers and Sisters… Sons and Daughters… Grandparents, uncles and aunts, nieces and nephews… When you look at the pictures think of your family… Now look at the pictures.

It is easier to look at pictures when you don’t put names to them, it’s easier if we keep all the news in our head. That isn’t what we are called to do. We are called to live our lives with more than simply knowledge… We have lots of useless knowledge… Knowledge is useless when you aren’t using it. Again if you’re still with me and your heart hasn’t softened then the knowledge you have of this tragedy is useless…

I simply can’t comprehend what it must be like on the ground in Haiti. I have no idea the pain physically, emotionally and spiritually they are experiencing. I’ve been praying for healing, peace, comfort, miracles, relief among others… My most dangerous prayer… For God to absolutely break my heart for the people of Haiti.

We have to help! We have too… You can’t give me a legitimate excuse, I say that with all the confidence in the world. I know our family will help, I’m not sure to what extent yet… To be honest I’m afraid to ask God that question, but I will… Let me remove many of the excuses I’ll try to use. We don’t have the money; Really??? What about the coffee you’ll buy tomorrow or the next day or the next day? What about the lunch you’ll buy instead of packing? What about the candy bar you add in the grocery line? Instead of going out to eat as a family, why not take that money to help with the relief? I could continue with the examples, but I’m sure you get the point. BUT… Don’t stop there. When you decide you are going to make those small sacrifices use that opportunity to gather the family and talk about it. Take time as a family and pray together for the people of Haiti. Be dangerous with me… Ask God to break your heart.

I have 3 little girls that mean everything to me and I can tell you if something happened to them I’d do anything to help them. I know if your still reading this you would do the same for anyone you loved. We are called to love our neighbor (people we know, those we don’t and those not like us). So I ask… How will you show your love?

- Rainey

I was 13 and I can remember hearing scores on the radio and the sound of excitement from the personalities on the radio. I knew something special was going on, but couldn’t really put it all together. I remember hearing the name Ickey Woods and seeing the Ickey Shuffle on the news and I was hooked! That was it… We went 12-4 and I don’t think I watched a single regular season game, I didn’t catch a playoff game on the tv or the radio, but I remember this comment; “The Bengals seem to have a hard time beating the teams they should beat”. I remember the Bills crying about our no huddle offense (only to steal the offense and advance to 4 straight Super Bowls, I call that irony). I watched the Super Bowl that year and can almost recite it play by play… Lewis Billups having a ball hit him between the 2 and the 4 dropping an interception in the endzonc (It would have been Joe Montana’s only Super Bowl interception). We lost the game by 4 points and I was devastated…

That is where it all started… As a kid during the magical year of 1988. I was hooked, it was like a drug… The Orange and Black became more than just a game, it became a passion!

We went to the playoffs in 1990 and lost to the Raiders and then proceeded to be the laughing stock of all of sports for the next decade plus. During those years the Bengals ruined, yes I mean ruined, most Sunday’s.

Then in 2003 a childhood dream came true… I became a Bengals season ticket holder! I can’t begin to explain the excitement I have every year when those tickets come in the mail. It’s like reliving the dream all over again…

I love them! I really do… I know it is only a game, I know we have arguably the worst owner in all of sports, I know all the odds are staked against us… But you can’t help who you fall in love with. I love almost everything about them… I believe the Bengals have the best helmets in football, over the years Orange has become my favorite color, I’ve become obsessed with them and I’m OK with that.

So as the 2009 season ends for my beloved Bengals I’m disappointed, but proud. We made huge strides this year… We exceed everybody’s expectations, but most fans are/will talk about all the short comings this team has and there are more than I’d like to talk about… However I’m extremely optimistic about the future… We have a tremendous amount of young talent and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this team.

However tomorrow will end a streak of 164 days straight of wearing something Bengals and I’m more than a little sad about it. I’m sure people will read this and won’t understand and that is OK, I don’t care. You can hate them, talk bad about them, tell me all the reasons why I shouldn’t like them, point out every short coming they have and it doesn’t matter…  No matter what, I love my Bengals and every year I get to fulfill a childhood dream… How many people can say that?

- Rainey

I remember as a kid I couldn’t wait to be a “grown up”, whatever that meant. Growth as a kid was easy as I look back on it, I mean you didn’t really have a choice and not just in the physical meaning of growth. The accountability of school all but forced you to learn, the social interactions with your classmates and friends helped with your maturity, no matter how slow the growth. Physically during those years you didn’t have much choice in the matter, you were going to grow.

Growth is a natural part of life, we are designed for growth. We want to grow… Who doesn’t want to be a better Man/Woman, husband/wife, father/mother, employee, friend, son/daughter, etc. However I’ve found as I get older, the harder growth is. Not because I learn at a different pace, although there could be some truth to that. But because I’m finding my life packed with so much activity that I don’t schedule time to learn and grow.

How sad is that? I know I have so much room for growth as a parent. Abi turned 9 last month and I’m losing time with her, I mean if I don’t create a relationship with her that moves from “rules” to “relationship” I’m not going to earn the right to be heard during her teenage years and beyond or it will be much more difficult to do. I have a lot of growth as a husband as well. I love my wife, but there is so much more I need to do especially in the area of spiritual growth. I have a responsibility as the spiritual leader. I haven’t even touched on the growth areas I have/need as a friend, son, brother, Pastor, leader, servant, etc.

Again this isn’t because of a lack of knowledge… I (we) have lots of knowledge. I know how I can grow, heck I even know many things I should do without any new knowledge. However I’m pretty good at excuses as to why I don’t. My flesh tells me that is OK, but when I look through the lens of Christ… Well those same arguments don’t hold water.

Which brings me full circle to my growth. I can no longer use the excuse that I have too much on my calendar, it is such a lame excuse. I certainly find the time to watch every Bengals game. So I’m going to make it a priority to learn and grow and I want people to hold me accountable, I want to see it in my parenting, my marriage, my friendships, my work, etc. Because if in 6 months I look back and nothing has changed, I’m failing and the enemy is winning. He doesn’t want us to grow, he likes us to be content right where we are.

What about you? How are you growing? What are you doing to continue to learn? Can people see your growth, if not I’m not sure much is changing…

I’d love to hear your thoughts…

-Rainey

There is something about a new year that brings hope, excitement and a sense that anything is possible. I’m not a big “New Years Resolution” guy, but I’m starting to be more of a reflection kinda guy… So here are 4 of my reflections of 2009.

My first reflection comes from February of 09 in Monterrey Mexico on my 2nd Mission trip. It was a Tuesday and we were off to the Rio III the dumps where I have been several times, but this wouldn’t be any normal visit. We were going to give away new shoes and clothes, but a young girl would change the course of the day. We had a doctor come with us and he was doing check-ups and this particular girl had severe burns on both feet when something exploded in a fire and the bandages had been on for days and had now stuck to her. The doctor started to remove them and all of the sudden I found myself over her praying on her behalf for her pain, her comfort, her peace, her life… Her soul. I remember looking up and seeing my friend Tim Anderson praying with me. It was and is a day I won’t soon forget…

The 2nd reflection is an easy one to talk about… Paige! Wow I’m tearing up simply typing her name… I am blessed to have 3 girls and Paige is so sweet and words don’t adequately state how I feel, but she is the best baby in the history of babies. She is extremely cute, easy going, sleeps through the night (almost from birth)…  But she brings me so much happiness and so much joy. When I look at her and she smiles it all I can do not to break out in a song, which I do most times and it isn’t pretty, but Paige likes it. I sing silly things to her and she just smiles and I melt… I’m a sucker and I’m crazy about her.

3rd… This is probably the hardest one… Wild At Heart – Boot Camp! I’ll simply provide the link to my Blog Post of that experience Wild at Heart « Andy Rainey

4th… The 4+ months my wife was home. My wife was able to stay home for over 4 months when Paige was born and I’m so grateful that time that she had with the girls, not to mention how much nicer life was in general on all of us, you know besides that whole no paycheck thing. It was during those months that for the first time realized that we really would like to work toward having her stay home and we hope to make 2010 a year that helps get us closer to that goal.

What are your reflections of 2009? Maybe it is overwhelming to pick 4, then pick 1 and write it down or share it with someone. If we don’t take time out to look back we will never know how far we have come and we will miss so much…

2009 was a tremendous year for me personally and professionally. There was so much that was accomplish at LifePoint that I didn’t even touch and I’m looking forward to what God has in store in 2010.

Rainey

I’m not really sure how to start this so I’ll just start writing…

I left for Colorado for the Wild at Heart Boot Camp and had low expectations, along with this sense that I would rather stay home with the family and baby Paige than go. On the one hand I was looking forward to unplugging and spending time with some friends and particularly God, but on the other I was in place a spiritually that I didn’t think I had much to work through in regard to the Ransom Heart message. Man was I wrong…

Here is the best way I know how to explain it and then I’ll talk a little about the impact it has had on me. Imagine your heart healthy with no sores or wounds… Now imagine over time you taking some hits and/or arrows (As Eldredge says) from life, whether it is from decisions you have made, things that have happened to you or things that have been said to/of you. Now lets just say your looking at your heart with all these scars, wounds and arrows; most of which you know exactly how you got them, when they happened and how they are or aren’t healing…

Well that is where I was prior to the trip. I felt like I had it all in pretty good control and knew I had a few things I needed to work through, but felt as if “I was good”. Then as the sessions continued and time alone with God went on I quickly realized I didn’t have all the scars, wounds and arrows accounted for. There were/are so many that I had never seen… There were/are so many that I’d rather leave alone, but God wants to do something with/in them.

This is when I suddenly realized… Wow I am way more broken than I thought I was… I underestimated my wounds much like I underestimated The Screamer (You’ll have to ask about that one).

I went there as a man who was living a dream that God had for my life and is loving it, a man who is blessed beyond measure. A man who has a great wife, 3 beautiful healthy kids, a great job, great friends, in good health and no real complaints with life… I left a man with all these same things, but a man that now sees life through a different set of lenses.

What if you could experience something that would not only allow you to see your wounds, but start to heal them? What if you came to the realization that there is a God that believes in you? What if you could dig deep inside to those places you have long been hiding, so much so that you had forgotten you had or maybe you didn’t even know they were there? What if you could allow yourself to let go and allow God to touch these areas without knowing what He wants to do? What if you simply sat on the side of a mountain that God Himself created and allowed Him to love you like a Father? What if you were able to see where you have made agreements with the enemy in regard to the person you are, the man you are, the father you are, the husband you are, the employee you are, the leader you are? What if you realized those agreements become self-fulfilling and are lies straight from hell?

Well I had 4 days of God answering/revealing these things and much more… I had a cry on the side of a mountain that was so life giving I can’t adequately put into words… I had moments with God that I pray I never forget and that I get to experience over and over in my life.

What if you were able to go somewhere, experience something that gives you this lease on life, this outlook that things can be so much better… Even when you thought things were great… What if you were able to get a key that opens up so many answers, but brings so many questions? What if you could see with such clarity that God doesn’t just call us to passivity, but calls us to fight for what was ours. What if you left with a better understanding at what is at stake and what is needed to fight this battle we call life?

Imagine the impact of that type of experience… When you do I’ll say keep dreaming, because I’m not sure all that gives justice to what was experienced in 4 short days on the side of a mountain in Colorado.

- Rainey

I accepted Christ about 9 years ago and early in my faith I felt a prompting to get into Ministry full-time and struggled for years trying to figure out what that meant. As I continued to wrestle with that idea I started to get discouraged that I was wrong and after many failed attempts I started to wonder if I had ever really felt the prompting at all…

Well it was a year ago today that I officially started in full-time Ministry. It was one year ago that I fulfilled a God given dream and started an adventure that has been so life giving that I often wonder “why me”? This past year has been simply amazing for so many reasons and one of those is the growth I’ve experienced.

As I reflect this past year I can’t help, but think about all that I am learning… I’m learning how to be more in-tune with God and how to listen to His subtle, but clear voice. I’m learning how to act when prompted by the Spirit to do something, more now than ever before. I’m learning how to listen and lead better. I’m learning how to be a better father, husband, friend and teammate. I’m learning how to seek out those who have gone before me and ask for advise and help. One of the most important things I’m learning is humility…

Humility is key… I’m learning without it you can only go so far in Ministry, because without it you will be too worried that someone else is going to do something better than you and get all the “credit”. But once we realize that God gets the credit and we are only asked to do our part and encourage those who are better gifted in some areas than we are to do His work, then we start to hit the sweet spot. It is then momentum happens…

I’ve also learned trust… Not just trusting in God and others, but trusting me… Trusting that God has called me and that has been on of the biggest growth areas this past year.

As I have been reflecting I decided to skim through my journal from my Two Mexico Mission Trips and I ran across something… I received my official offer letter the day before I left for my First ever Mission Trip in July of 08. So I knew going down that I was going to accept the offer and fulfill this dream God had given me years ago… And on the first morning during our quiet time I was simply looking at the beautiful view of the mountain range and I felt like God spoke to me and I wrote these words down; “Haven’t I given you your hearts desires? Then desire the things of My heart”.

Ouch! Those words crushed me and for the last year that has been my prayer… I feel like the more I pray that, the more He changes me… But that isn’t all… I’ve told many people about that morning and it is so vivid in my memory that I can recall how those words were received by me, but I NEVER knew I had written these other 7 words until today. These 7 words reinforce my trust growth.

They are; “And do what you know to be true”… And do what I know to be true… What I know to be true is this; God has called me do spread the Good News of Christ, to love those who have been forgotten, to speak for those who don’t have a voice, to walk with those who are lost and to encourage those who need it.

I know that as I seek God He will help me seek others, because that is what Gods heart desires… Gods heart is for those who don’t know Him and my job is to serve Him in helping close that gap. If you know Him then my job is to equip you to do the same.

I absolutely have the best job going… I have this statement that sums up my life; I’m living the dream, but it isn’t mine… It’s better!

Trust me friends… It is true…

- Rainey

So my wife is pregnant with our Third child, which could arrive any day now and it has me feeling many emotions. On one hand I am so excited I can barely contain myself, because I love babies… Especially mine. But on the other hand I’m concerned about what life is going to look like trying to readjust our lives with a baby in the house. We haven’t had to do that in sometime.

Then the other day I was driving to a meeting and I started to think about when Morgan was born and all the emotions that I felt. I remember that moment when she made her arrival and I quickly counted her fingers and toes, and how I waited to hear her cry to tell me everything was going to be OK. I remember Janna holding her for the first time as I cried with joy. I remember holding her thinking to myself; “I am responsible for raising this child” and it shaking me. I remember being so proud to be her father. I also remember thinking; “I can’t believe how much I love her… already”.

Ever since that day I have had the belief that unless you have children you can’t understand the love a parent has for a child. I tell my girls all the time, that they will never understand the love I have for them and they won’t. They will never know how a father feels about their daughter(s) simply because they will never be a father.

As I reflected on all those sleepless nights, all the crying, the hundreds of dirty diapers, the first cold, the first bath, starting to crawl, her first step, her first word, etc. I can’t help but wonder about Paige… I can’t help, but wonder how much I will love her…

Well during my drive as I was thinking about all these things I felt like God said; “Imagine how I feel when someone makes the decision to follow me, imagine how I felt Andy (Insert your name here) when you made the decision to call me Father, when you were born (again)”.

It was a powerful moment… I started to look at my walk with God and I reflected on my spiritual journey and I started to wonder… How does God feel when we cry, when we start to grow in our faith. I wonder how God feels when we make a mess and He cleans it up, but we don’t realize what He has done. I wonder how much He loves me (us)?

Just as my daughters will never understand how much a father loves a daughter(s), I will never know how much God loves me (us)…

When Paige comes into this world we will celebrate, but it will be nothing like the celebration that happens in heaven when someone accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior.

- Rainey

I just wrapped up a great week at SOS which is a week where over 900 students from 14 different states blitzed the city to show God’s love in practical ways.

To say it was a great week would be an understatement, but it was also a venue to be in a position to hear God’s voice. I say “in a position” only to say this; For me it is much easier to hear God when I put myself in a position where there are “set times” to listen for God and SOS provided many avenues to do that.

I’ll share two… One was when we were practicing hearing from God (The instructor pointed out that when we practice God doesn’t… Love that) and we would stand in a circle and one by one we would stand in the middle and pray for about 30 seconds. Then the person in the middle would turn to each person as they shared what they thought they heard God tell them about that person, and it was so encouraging to hear the students speak life giving things to each other. It was also encouraging to hear the students confirm that most of what was shared was true.

When it came to be my turn to stand in the middle I half hoped time would run out… Not because I didn’t want to hear from God, but because I was afraid of what He might say… I have for a while now felt this feeling like God was chasing me to tell me something, but I have felt that I wasn’t ready to hear it.

Well time didn’t run out and God I believe used one of the students to confirm something I have felt for sometime and when it was spoken over me I wanted to let it go and not accept it, but I couldn’t… I can’t. I know, that I know, that I know it is true and I know, that I know, that I know I need to walk in it… It was one word, but it was a GREAT one that I needed to hear.

Number Two… On Wednesday Jeremy Camp led Worship and Beth Gukenburger gave the message that night. After Beth was done with her message she invited students to come forward for prayer and asked the leaders to come up to pray for them. I immediately felt as if I should go and pray for students, but as I looked at the stage there were so many leaders already up that I decided to just stay put.

I was sitting in an auditorium that seats somewhere around 1,500 people arguing with God that I wasn’t needed to go up and pray for anyone. Then somehow Kande Wilson finds me in the mass of people and asks me to go up and pray… Um, OK God I got it.

As I walk on the stage to look for students with their hand raised indicating they need someone to pray for them I felt a sense of excitement and I felt like I needed to run to the gentleman who had his hand raised… And after a quick introduction I asked the standard question; “Is there something specific I can pray for you about?” And it was on…

What God did in those few minutes on that stage, standing 10′ from Jeremy Riddle was amazing… As the tears fell down this young mans face I felt the presence of God. When the prayer ended I was so grateful to play a part of that moment and I was so thankful that Kande found me, but mostly I was in awe that God wouldn’t allow me to sit in my seat.

There are many things that are still swirling around in my head from the past week, but mostly it is all the ways God spoke to me that week. I was again reminded that in order to play apart, you can’t just sit in your seat and watch… You have to get up and do.

- Rainey

We just launched a new series at LPV called The Warrior and during the studying for this series I’ve run up against a lot of John Eldredge stuff that has me thinking a lot about my wound… Eldredge would argue that we all have one and even when I read the book and went through one of the groups I couldn’t really find one??? I certainly felt the pressure to have one, even to make up one, which I probably did. But in all honesty I don’t know what it would have been or what it could be…

Now I do say there is a moment that I remember very vividly when my Dad said to me “I’m so disappointed in you”, but it was a self induced moment… Meaning it is something I probably deserved and since then my Dad has said over and over that He is proud of me. There was a moment in my driveway at my house that will forever be etched into my mind…

I’m also really looking forward to October when I will be joining a group of Men for an Eldredge Boot camp. Perhaps it will be there that my wound is revealed OR perhaps it is there it is confirmed that I don’t have one…

Anyway, all this studying and thinking has me concerned… I have Two unbelievable little girls and in July I’ll be a father to a Third little girl, baby Paige. Now I know this idea of The Wound in the Eldredge since is mainly dedicated to the Father/Son relationship, but I believe it applies to the Parent/Child relationship. Which scares the crap out of me…

I know that I am in a position to speak life into my girls or death… Really if we are honest with ourselves it is the only option we have with our words… LIFE or DEATH?

I try to do as much as I can to tell my girls that I believe in them, that they are beautiful, that I am proud of them, that I am for them… But is it enough? Will I or have I already done something that has caused a wound? Can I repair it? If not will they seek God so that He can repair it? Will they forgive me? Or will they believe the lie?

It is tremendous pressure to think about, but it is also a tremendous honor to be their father.

Abi, Morgan and Paige… One day you may run across this blog for some unknown reason and if you do I want you to know that I am sitting at a Starbucks, tearing up while I type these words… If I have done something to wound you, Please forgive me… I LOVE YOU! I’m not sure you will ever understand a Fathers love… I am so proud of you, I believe in you and there is nothing you can do to prevent me from loving you… I pray you become the Women God has created you to be… I pray that whomever is lucky enough to marry you understands and treats you like the Princess you are.

Love Dad.