Ministry Monday: Mary Kay, Estrogen Overload, and Priorities

About 4 months ago my wife, Jessica, came home and told me that she was going to sign up and sell Mary Kay. It is not that we needed the money, even though who couldn't use some extra cash, but she wanted to do something. I said great and didn't know exactly what this meant. Last week I spent most of the week in Dallas, TX at the Mary Kay National Seminar with her. Yes, I went to a Mary Kay event and after attending I am proud to say that my wife sells Mary Kay products. Going into the conference I was not sure about the whole thing. You know, the whole business opportunity thing and the idea that Jessica would be told "No" more than should would be told "Yes". So what changed my mind?

Was it seeing the pink Cadillacs in person? No, but I would drive one if I had too.
Was it seeing ladies win diamond rings? No I am not a big jewelry fan
Was it being surrounded by 10,000 ladies? a big NO there
Was it the amount of money that I saw ladies making? another big NO

So what was it?

First it was the companies priorities. Did you know that Mary Kay is a Christian business that believes in God first, Family second, and Career third? Believe it or not it is very true. Almost everyone who stepped foot on stage and spoke somehow quoted scripture. Some churches have a hard time doing this. Seriously, what businesses do you know of that teach these priorities? This was not a passing thing either but one that was quoted over and over and over. I want my wife to have these priorities, in fact I want myself to have these priorities. That being said I want my 2 boys to grow up and have these as well.

The second reason my mind was changed was the level of excellence that I saw everywhere in the organization. Now I know that they had their best foot forward and they were trying their hardest to impress everyone who was there, but again I have been to many companies and churches that even at their best couldn't reach the level I experienced last week. The stage design was incredible, the signs were very, very good, the videos were professional, and the cameras shots were remarkable for being live. Again few places reach this level of excellence even trying their best.

The third reason my mind was changed was the message that I heard from one of the husbands. He was asked, "How do you deal with your wife being so successful?" Now I know that he has had to answer this many times but his answer was incredible and I will steal it in the future. He opened up his Bible and read Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31 if you are not familiar is the chapter in the Bible that talks about the characteristics of a Godly woman. After reading this chapter he said as her husband it is his job to help her become more Godly and that her Mary Kay business is helping them both do that. He went on to preach some more. Believe me when I say it was impressive.

Now don't get me wrong, I did hear of woman making over 8 million dollars and going on trips to Rome and everywhere else in the world. I heard ladies talk about their vacation homes all over the place. I heard a lot about how much money could be made with Mary Kay. Then I heard it explained that if you were there for the money that you weren't going to make it in the business. I heard the most successful lady in the company say that if you aren't willing to be a servant than you should just go ahead and leave. They talked more about helping people than making money. I truly couldn't believe it.

I went into this conference very skeptical looking for all the negatives. I came out thanking God that my wife gets to stay home with the boys, do something that she enjoys, and is told that God must be first. So for all you Mary Kay haters out there, I looked for all the negatives and came up short. The only major problem I saw this past week was that I got Estrogen Overload. Other than that, if you or your wife would like to buy some Mary Kay, I am proud to say that you can go to http://www.marykay.com/jessica.mckee/default.aspx.

Yes, believe it or not I saw ministry happen this past week, tons of ministry. Ministry that was targeted to ladies and somehow even hit me.

Off Topic: You have to want to finish.

It has been 3 full days since I ran the Derby Festival Mini-Marathon in Louisville, KY. I'm still in pain. My legs are still tight and my feet are killing me. I have been described as walking like I'm pregnant or even constipated. Either way I'm not moving normally.

You see, here is the deal. About 4 weeks before the race I strained/pulled my right hamstring. It felt like someone took a knife and cut my leg open and then balled up the muscle and put it back in my leg. Needless to say, it slowed down my training. I wasn't able to actually run much at all after the injury. I could walk but my hamstring would still bug me. Up until the time I injured myself I was running about 20 miles a week. The most though at one time was 6.2 miles. The most I had walked before the mini-marathon was 8 miles. I told myself though that I signed up to do this and I was going to finish. I was prepared the day of the race to walk the whole thing but I really wanted to run at least a mile with my dad and brother. So, we all got together in the crowd of 15,000 people and started the race together. After the first mile my brother took off because he is in the best shape. After about 2.5 miles my dad kept his pace and I slowed down. Right then I had a choice to make. I could tell myself that I was walking the rest of the way or I could want to finish bad enough to keep going. I kept going. Sometimes I would walk and most of the time I would run.

Then mile 8 came and the next obstacle with it. Every step after mile 8 hurt. My hamstring was on fire but that wasn't the most painful part. My feet were not ready to go past 8 miles. My shoes were not ready either. I could feel the blisters forming and my arches falling. I had 5 miles to go and I knew that every step was going to be a struggle. Struggle is an easy way to put it. I walked some and ran some. I was passed by many people. The pats on the back and the words of encouragement helped, but didn't stop the pain.

You know sometimes in life you have to want to finish more than you want to quit. That was me on Saturday April 26th, 2008. I finished my first half marathon. I finished in 2 hours and 21 minutes. Am I proud of my time? If I would have walked the whole thing it would have taken me at least an hour longer, but no I am not proud of the time. I am proud to finish. When I came across mile 13, my brother and my dad joined me. They had already finished the race but were waiting on me. They joined me for the final tenth of a mile. We all finished together and that is something I will never forget.

I look back on my first mini-marathon as a great experience. I got to hang out with my dad and my brother. The 3 of us haven't done anything like that in a long time. I got to experience what it mean to run with perseverance and finish the race marked out for you. I got to struggle and I got to finish.

My brother finished the half in 1 hour and 43 minutes. My dad finished in 1 hour and 56 minutes. Our next half is in October. We are running the one in Columbus, OH. You should come and join us.

Go Elf Yourself!

Sorry but I just had to put that as the title. So what am I talking about it? Well you can go to http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1117710275 and see Jessica, Patriot, Azlan, and myself in something that I find hilarious. I am serious. It is that funny. I do warn you though, it is addicting.

By the way, thanks to Joclyn Sutton and Andrea Goslee for sending this to me. I really did laugh out loud.

Family Vacation: Back Home

That's right ladies and gentlemen. I am back! Church was great this morning. Most everyone was back since school starts this week for many. We are back in our normal programming and we started our new fall series today called "Berry Blast Theme Park". It is by Fellowship Church in a curriculum called "Elevation". I will write more about that this week, they made a big improvement and took a step back all at the same time.

Enough about today and on to stats from vacation:

Stat #1: 3 rounds of golf... total score: 291 I know it isn't pretty but the courses were beautiful and I did win the day I shot a 93. My Dad and brother were playing horrible that day.

Stat #2: 1473 miles put on the car. I am worn out. I need a vacation from my vacation.

Stat #3: 7 lbs. gained. I love eating ice cream everyday on vacation.

Stat #4: 7,873 grains of sand brought back in the suitcase. Why can't you ever get sand off of you?

Stat #5: 2 for 12 at the game of Settlers of Catan. I went 0 for 10 and then won the last 2. The game is addicting. If you haven't played this game you are missing out. It is a strategy game that might be better than Risk. It at least ranks up there with it.

Stat #6: 2 miles crawled by our 9 month old son, Azlan. Once he started he didn't stop.

Stat #7: 6 hours of boogie boarding. The waves on the last couple days were incredible. It is always good to see a Red Flag when you have a boogie board in your hand.

Well there you have it. It was a very good week with good food, good laughs, and surrounded by good people. Next time though I think we may leave the kids at home.

Family Vacation: Better than the Griswalds

I hope that you have figured out by now that I am a huge family guy. (Please no comments on the weight.) I love my family. I am not just talking about my wife and kids but my parents, my brother and his family, and Jessica's family. It is amazing how we all get along. Some times it is even quite freaky but we enjoy it anyway. I mean come on... The reason I even moved to Cincinnati was because of them. Why else would you leave a church like Fellowship Church who is averaging over 20,000 people a weekend and come to Horizon who is averaging 500? God has called me to my family and I love it.

Tomorrow we leave for vacation. Who is going? Jessica, Patriot, Azlan, myself, my Mom, my Dad, my brother Daniel, his wife Ashley, and their son Caedmon. We are all staying in the same condo. I know, can you believe it. We are going to North Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and staying at a very nice place on the beach. 4 bedrooms, 3 baths and a 51" HDTV. That's really all you need to know.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I hope that you have been as blessed as I am with your family. I know that many families don't do what my family does. I know that many families fight and bicker more than they love. My family is truly an incredible, unique, and joyful support structure that I take for granted to much.

I probably won't be posting as much over the next week but I will be playing golf, fishing, playing cards, having fun in the sun, and most importantly adding a couple of lbs. to this family guy.

Last thing... I will be going to church somewhere in Myrtle Beach. If you know of a great church down there let me know. I would love to have a great worship experience while on vacation.

Does your family blog?

Does your family blog? I am proud to say that mine does. In fact, my wife just started her own blog. I am so proud. Now if I could only get her to write about Children's Ministry then she would blow your socks off. She too worked at Fellowship Church for 5 years and did incredible things in Children's Ministry while there. When we left, she was the Children's Pastor at one of the satellite campuses. Now her passion is being a wife and a mom and that is what her focus is going to be for her site but I bet you that I get her to talk about how to plan a camp for 500 kids a week or how to do a VBS alternative for 4000 kids over the course of 4 weeks. By the way, I know that you are going to read this Jessica so, I love you.

Not only does my wife blog but so does my father-in-law, my sister-in-law, my sister-in-law's husband (I really don't know what to call him except really smart), and my brother and his wife. All of these have some type of ministry focus. That's right... I will have to say that I am surrounded by an incredible family who is trying to change the world for Jesus.

Now if I could only get my mom, my dad, and my 2 year old to blog. Then we would have something. I can see it now... My mom would write about the adventures in nursing... My dad would write about how to be the best electrician, and my 2 year old would write about how to play a Nintendo Wii and beat your dad at golf.

Now this is what I call great family time.

It's a Boy!

If you haven't noticed I have been a bit lacking in my post recently. The reason is right above. His name is Azlan David McKee and he was born on November 6th. He weighed 9 lbs. 5 oz and measured 21inches long. Of course the name comes from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe but we replaced the S with a Z. This was in hopes that if it gets shortened later in life he will be called AZZ not the other option. My wife is doing great and we are trying to catch as many ZZZZ's as possible right now so off I go to sleep. I hope to put up another curriculum review next week of Elevate the new curriculum from Fellowship Church. Check back and give me your thoughts about their new curriculum.