I’m absolutely thrilled to welcome Maggie Mangeac to the staff of Capital.  Maggie serves as my Executive Assistant and our Capital Kids Ministry Coordinator.

With over 8 years of experience in executive assisting presidents of different companies, she has taken on the full-time task of helping Capital be more accessible to all of your needs.  If you would like questions answered or appointments made, Maggie is the one to assist you with your requests.

A native Romanian, Maggie enjoys spending time with and being serenaded by her husband Matthew, who she met in a car accident (his fault, not hers). She is also grateful that God gave her a love for babies, kids, children and all sorts of little tots. This comes in handy as she is one of seven children and Matthew is one of thirteen children. (They are both known as the  “favorite aunt and uncle”, and have 29 nieces and nephews – and counting!)

With the title of “favorite aunt”, she decided to use her love for kids to the fullest extent.  She is now going on 10 years of children’s ministry teaching and will be putting her organizational ideas to use in the role of Kids Ministry Coordinator.

Maggie is an answer to prayer for the Leadership Team and the church—but especially for me. You’ll see what I mean…

So last weekend, I decided to be helpful.  About twenty minutes before the 10:30am service on Sunday, I stepped back into the café to chat with the baristas.  While discussing life with Katie and Amber, I observed a cup of water left behind by someone from the Saturday Café service.  In my attempt to discard it, the contents of the cup made it neither to the sink nor the trash can.  As if ordained by a higher power, the particles of H2O affixed themselves to my flat front Gap khakis in such a way as to question my continence. 

A couple lessons learned:

1.     Learn to laugh at yourself (Everyone else is laughing at you, so you might as well join in).

2.     There’s a reason the baristas wear aprons.

As our church continues to grow as we approach the fall, we’ll need more help in the Capital Café at all of our services.  If you’re interested in volunteering, please email us at volunteer@capitalchurch.com.

Psalm 19:1-5

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

Did you see him?  This morning, when you drove to the office—did you see him?  While you were mowing your lawn this weekend—did you see him?  Theologians speak of omnipresence: God is everywhere.  But too often, I race through my day distracted by to-do lists, appointments, meetings and messages.  I want to see him.

Psalm 19 gives a voice to creation.  Our planet sings a song about the essence of God.  Every tree, every rock is the ceaseless proclamation of who God is and what he’s doing.  This proclamation transcends language; it transcends dialects.  There is no location on the face of the earth that can escape that cry of the cosmos declaring God is here and God is good.

I want to see him.  If I see him—truly see him—then I cannot help but be changed. I cannot help but be inspired to be a better husband, father, pastor and friend.  So why am I so easily distracted by the mundane?

Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:

        Earth’s crammed with heaven,
        And every common bush afire with God;
        And only he who sees takes off his shoes.
        The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries

So may you stop settling for blackberries.  May you take off your shoes and open your eyes to see the glory of God all around you.  May he give you eyes to see and ears to hear that you might discover the presence of God in your life today.