Time to say Goodbye & Hello

A year ago, I started this blog.  It was dabbling really.  I even put it out as Way2Liv so that no one would find it as I learned about this strange new world.  That didn’t work as word snuck out that I was now posting my deep wisdom for all to read.

All kidding aside, it’s time to retire Way2Liv (at least for now). Why, well one BIG reason is that it’s not easy to tell people how to get to the site. The name is a combination of a word, an arabic numeral and then a stylized word. Very confusing to “spell out” to someone.  In fact, the two most direct ways to type out the name on line are already used and one of them I would prefer not to be associated with (knowing of course that some unfortunate reader will now go out and try to find it.  Please sign the waiver below before you leave.)

So is this goodbye?  Au contraire, this is HELLO!  For all of you who for some inexplicable reason choose to read/listen to my ramblings and musings: You can find me at nathanjeter.com Why nathanjeter? Well, it’s my name. There aren’t many of us out there and best I can tell, I’m the oldest nathan jeter around so I’m taking the domain (truth be told, even if I wasn’t the oldest, I’d still take it). Also, even though I’m a BoSox fan, I’m eternally grateful to Sir Derek, who without him, I would still be getting mail addressed to Mr. Jeeter, Rev. Jetter, and Nathan Jester. Thanks, Derek. At least now when I say my last name, most people know how to spell it and hopefully they will be able to find my new blog.

so goodbye way2liv and Hello, nathanjeter.com.  Please stop by and check it out.

This weekend

I had the honor of speaking this weekend at NorthwayChurch and it was phenomenal.  I don’t mean my talk but about the way God used the message.  See, I had the opportunity to talk about something that affects us all.  What did I talk about?  Worry.  WORRY WILL KILL YOU!   Has there ever been a time when we’ve had more things to worry about?

Here’s what I learned as I prepared for this weekend:  

• We all need to hear about what worry will do to us.
• Worry is a sin.  If you have faith in God, why would you be worrying?(Romans 14:23)
• It’s probably a sin to worry about how well-received the message will be when you’re teaching on worry.

How do we break free from worry?  Here’s what I learned:

1. I will do what God asks me to do
2. I will give God what I cannot do
3. No matter what, I will trust God

It’s not easy but God never designed us to worry.  He made us to worship him and to have faith that he wants what’s best for us.

What do you worry about?

Black Friday

I know that I should be posting something about how thankful I am for everything that God has given me but it’s Friday and I’ve been awake since 4:30 due to my ladies leaving the house in a rush to get some Christmas shopping done.  I tried but I just couldn’t go back to sleep.  Oddly enough, Josh slept right through the commotion and is still asleep at 7 a.m.  (a record for him I believe).

Black Friday is a day that as far as shopping goes, I avoid with a passion.  However, Robin and Katie love it and my attitude towards the day after Thanksgiving has changed somewhat because of my daughter.  You see, at Northway Church, we have for a few years now had a project that we call illuminate, “Light up a Child’s Christmas.”  It’s a great program where we buy gifts for children who otherwise wouldn’t have any presents at Christmastime.  Well, last year was the first time that Katie selected a child to sponsor on her own, buying gifts with her own money.  I didn’t think much of it but when Black Friday rolled around last year, Robin and Katie went shopping.  Robin told me later that morning that Katie had been amazing, not working mom over for items that she would want which is what I was expecting to hear.  No, Katie was shopping for the child that she was sponsoring.  She hadn’t said anything about it since the day she had picked out the stars representing the gifts that the child had asked for.  But on Black Friday, my little girl (not so little anymore) was searching out treasures for a different little girl.  The really cool thing about it was what Katie picked out.  If the request was for a Barbie doll, Katie got a deluxe Barbie doll with extra outfits and other goodies.  She didn’t skimp, she didn’t take short cuts, most of all, she didn’t take the cheapest way out.  Katie took the time to get the items that she would have wanted.  Her generosity and sincerity touched me that day in a way that I will not soon forget.  

So I guess this is a Thanksgiving post after all.  I’m thankful for my family.  My wife, my son and for a daughter who a year ago today showed me Christlike love for someone she had never and probably will never meet on this earth.  Way to go, Kate!  Can’t wait to see what you do this year!

50 Years!

My parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on October 25th.  That’s just an incredible achievement.  Their church threw them a surprise party the Sunday before and they decided at the last minute to spend a week in Nashville.

Here’s how it went down.  We found out the day of their party that they were going to Nashville to spend a week. Now, my parents have spent most of their lives living in Tennessee but they have never done more than drive though Nashville, the capital of the state and arguably the capital of the music world.  This was exciting news to me as I’d been trying to convince them to do something cool for their 50th AND because I was hoping that they would go somewhere easier for Robin and I to fly to so that we could punk their party. (Robin was not able to get away for more than a couple of days and no matter how you travel, getting to my parents home takes a full day) We left Friday afternoon after scrambling to get tickets and asking friends to take care of our kids. Friday evening we land in Nashville and Robin turns her phone on.  Katie had left us a detailed message letting us know where my parents were that evening, their room number and what their plans were for Saturday (their actual anniversary) just in case we couldn’t link up with them Friday night. I think my daughter has a future as an undercover agent as she manipulated my parents into having a late dinner and then turned around and let us know exactly where they were.  Robin and I took a cab to the resort where my parents were staying and I then called them feigning anger that they had not communicated that they had arrived safely in Nashville (my parents always want to know exactly where we’re at when we’re on vacation). It was hysterical. The short of it is that we surprised them as they came out of the restaurant.  The look on their faces when they saw us was priceless.  Dumbstruck is not too strong of a word.  That moment was worth all of the hoops that we (Robin mostly) jumped through to get there. We totally blew them away.

We were able to spend the whole day with them on Saturday and that night took them to Nashville’s best restaurant.  Sunday we went to church with them and then had to get back to the airport so that we could get home.  Just an incredible weekend and seeing my parents speechless was priceless.

I am so proud of my parents.  50 years together and their love for each other is still going strong.  Way to go!  I love you two!

Customer service

Had a great customer service experience this weekend.  Absolutely fantastic.  Attentive, efficient and very professional.  Made my day.  Especially since earlier in the day our family experienced horrible, terrible, very bad service.  Worse, when I finally had had enough, this person refused to accept any responsibility for it at all.  Drives me crazy.  Fortunately, the supervisor was a little (not a lot) more attentive.

Thanks Robert for restoring my faith that there are people out there who listen.

Robin’s birthday!

Robin had a birthday this weekend.  She turned …. yeah like I’m going to post that.  She reads this thing. We had a lot of fun on her day and I believe she enjoyed it.  Late Saturday afternoon, we came back home and as Robin and I were getting ready so that we could go to NorthwayChurch.Malta, Katie and Joshua got the party ready.  Katie had been working Mom for the past two months finding out what she wanted for her birthday.  Way to go, Kate!  Josh helped by making a card for Mommy.  A special two page card.  As an added bonus, Josh put his prized paper airplane in the card as a gift.  Well Rob loved her gifts but you can guess which one was her FAVORITE.  Katie?!  Why didn’t we think of giving mom a paper airplane???

Happy birthday, babe.  Hope this year is your best yet!

I have a 5 year old

I’m blessed with two children.  One’s nearly 15 and the other is 5.  Very different kids but both are great.  You can see the picture of my beautiful little girl (who’s not so little anymore) on this site but I want to talk about Joshua for a minute.

Over the last couple of weeks, he’s really been putting on the charm.  Get this, I came downstairs the other day and Josh surprised me by making my lunch for me.  How cute is that?  He was so proud of himself.  And a couple of days ago, Robin made a comment to a friend that in just a few minutes she would be alone.  Josh heard his mom and told her “Mommy, I’ll always be with you.”  Rob told me that her heart just melted.  My son is definitely a charmer…. but he’s also an imp.  I’m just waiting to see if he’s setting us up.

Spring in the Northeast

They say boring people talk about the weather but Wow!  The weather the past 10-12 days has really gone a long way to erasing the memories of February and March.  I mean who can complain about the sunshine, blue skies, moderate temps, and no bugs?  Unbelievable….. and we had it for Spring Break to boot.  

It’s weather like this that reminds me of why we put up with four months of cold.  Thank you, God.

22 years ago…….

A beautiful, young lady said the words “I do” when the Rev. Tom Nafziger asked her if she wanted to be my bride.  22 years she has been by my side, through thick and thin, unbelievable joy and unimaginable sadness.  She has supported me in every decision I’ve ever made.  She shows me in so many, many ways how much she loves me and I have been truly blessed to have her in my life.  Not only is she a great wife but she’s an awesome mom to Katie and Josh. I remember like yesterday, a moment over six years ago, sometime after I had delivered the news that I was being transferred to …….upstate New York.  Not exactly my wife’s idea of a dream come true (she’s spent much of her life in Florida) but she gave me a card before I headed out and in that card was a note telling me how much she loved me, how proud she was of me, and that she would follow me no matter where I went.  Robin, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!  You’ve always been there for me and you inspire me to be better today than I was yesterday.  I love you, lady.

Way 2 Go God!

This Easter weekend was off the chain.  At NorthwayChurch we had 10 services, including our grand opening at our third location.  Over 3,000 people heard about God’s desire for us to have life and not just any life but an abundant life.  Pastor Buddy kicked off our “I love the 80s!” series and as usual did a fantastic job.  Once again:  PHENOMENAL!Want to brag on the NorthwayChurch.Clifton Park team a little.  We had three services this weekend with nearly 1,000 people coming through our doors.  On Friday our neighbor, Northern Lights, was hosting a sold-out concert that was to start soon after our Good Friday service was finished.  Over 100 people were standing in line waiting for Northern Lights to open their doors and baby, it was cold outside.  Dozens of people that were in line asked to use our restrooms and we were happy to accommodate.  That was not enough for our team, though, as several of our VIPs (NC-CPs volunteers) made coffee and took it out and served those individuals standing in line waiting for their concert and at the same time inviting them to come to NorthwayChurch on Easter Sunday.  I can’t tell you how proud I was/am of our team.  We’ll never know how many people were touched by that gesture.  Way to go team.  Way to shine Jesus!Other awesome moments from this weekend:  The worship team was absolutely fantastic…….. and at all three services Great, great job guys.  You’re awesome!  Our production team did great with the graphics for our new series.  Kidzway rocked.  Prepared as always and that was with sending several volunteers down to NorthwayChurch.Colonie for our third location’s Grand Opening.  Awesome team.  Awesome results.So many members of our host team came extra special early at each service to make certain everything was ready to go. We rearranged the chairs for each service with the host team and several other volunteers doing an awesome job, setting up the chairs and tearing them down.   No griping, no complaining:  Just serving God and creating a welcome atmosphere for our guests.  Fantastic.Saw multiple instances of regular attenders going out of their way to help guests find their way around.  Not just on the host team either.  Way to go! Everyone stepped up this weekend and it showed.  I am proud of our team and very proud to serve alongside of them.Thank you, God!