When I was about eight years old, I wanted to be an architect.  Other boys wanted to be baseball players, cowboys or rock stars.  I'm not sure what that says about me.  I would draw up plans of the house I was going to build some day.  (Anybody who knows me well is laughing right now, because building my own house is about the last thing I could ever do.)  It was always a one level rambler.  It went on and on with several bedrooms and baths, a couple of offices, living space and a three or four car garage.  My father was in the building trades, so maybe it was in the Zabel blood.  It's a good thing I quit after about a year though, because, among other things, I can't draw a straight line.  Ever hear of starving artists?  I would have been a starving architect.

Being a church planter, forty some years hence, its funny how I'm an architect once more.  Don't need to know how to draw straight lines. It's more like connecting the dots.  Connecting people in the church to people in the community.  Making a connection with city council members, United Methodist Conference leaders, the parade committee, boosters, musicians and such.

Our launch team has a "blueprint" team, whose task it is to determine a floor plan, pick paint colors, purchase furniture, put up window treatments and decide fun things like where to put the coat racks and waste paper baskets. They must know something about my lack of design experience, because they didn't invite me to join them.  Good call.  I'll just be trying to make sure we all remain connected to the master architect.  And if any of you on that team end up reading this, I'd like small medium sized office with a bathroom just off to the left.   And my favorite color is blue.