Service Times For Todd Mitchell

Family, friends and co-workers of Todd Mitchell...

Here is a link to the Orchard's blog page with information regarding visitation and memorial/celebration for Todd.

http://orchardblog.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/service-times-for-todd-mitchell/

If you have any questions, please contact our office at 630.897.8888.

Thanks everyone.

Todd Mitchell

First let me say to all of you who have been following the twitter and praying for Todd and his family... thank you. There was a lot of peace and comfort felt as the result of those prayers.

I am confident that God is going to do something great through all of this.

Please check out Scott's blog or the Orchard blog on the latest.

Thank you also for your care, prayers and concern for my wife and I and our family.

Update on Todd

For all of you who have been following along and praying for Todd... I adapted this letter from Scott and echo his thoughts.

I’m writing this from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.

Last Saturday, Todd collapsed at home after unexpectedly suffering a cardiac arrest. Tragically, one thing led to another and it has since been discovered that Todd has suffered severe and irreversible brain damage.

What all of this means is that outside of a miracle, Todd’s prognosis for survival is not good. So as you can imagine, his family is now faced with some pretty tough decisions.

This is obviously a very sad and difficult situation, so please continue to keep Todd, Paula, their kids, family, and loved ones in your prayers today.

At the same time, I want you to know that even in the midst of the shock and grief of the situation, God’s presence and peace is being felt in some very tangible ways right now. Todd’s family is hopeful, and they are steadfastly resting in God’s promise that He will guide them and walk with them through each step of this journey. For that, I am so thankful!

I know so many of you are concerned and would love to be around Todd’s family right now, however, we would like to limit visits to family and close friends only at this time. I would also like to ask that phone calls to the family and hospital be kept at a minimum right now as well.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I know it means so much to the Mitchell family! They are extremely thankful for the outpouring of love they are experiencing from all of you.

Please feel free to leave a comment here on this blog. We will be sure to forward them all to Paula.

And check back periodically for updates.

Love and appreciate you all!

Mike

What About Todd

This is Todd doing what Todd does well.

Among many things Todd is an excellent drummer. There is a professional quality to what the man does on a drum kit and it's almost hard to describe. It's loud but it's amazing!

Though Todd could be defined by 'great drummer' or even 'corporate vice president', I believe his character says so much more about him.

I have known Todd for several years now and I have rarely met another person with so much to offer - so much leadership, so many skills in so many areas - and yet so humble.

Todd is a great example of what it means to be generous. He exudes the qualities of any great encourager; of any great leader. He loves his family and he gives everything he has to whatever he sets his mind on.

Above all of these things, he is one of my best friends.

They say a person ever really has but a few close friends in their entire lifetime, so I consider myself very blessed. Since the day I first met Todd, he has been an encourager to me, no matter what I have faced. He has walked with me as a friend in good times and rough times.

Now he is fighting for life.

If you've been following the twitter on this blog you know Todd is really sick right now. All I can do is stand by, and try to encourage him, pray for him and let him know that I love him like one of my brothers. I feel helpless, yet not hopeless. I am confident in what God is doing in Todd's situation - something that has a far reaching effect, typical of Todd's style.

Thank you to all of you who are praying. You are a part of Todd's story in overcoming this adversity. Todd has a fire and a zest for life. He has a lot to live for.

Continue to pray for him. Please. I know his wife and sons appreciate it and Todd does as well.

If you want to know more, check out my twitter page here.

My Wife and Her Camera

Here's some shots from our latest photo expedition. My wife is a great photographer but she's spent a while away from it. So I picked her up a new camera and I'm trying to get her back into it.

Let me know what you think.

Highlight of my weekend

This last weekend, I had the honor and privilege of baptizing my son.

I have baptized my wife and both my daughters, among many others. Each one was special, but I have cried with my family's public decisions - tears of joy.

I swore I wouldn't cry this time, but I bawled like a baby :)

Very proud of him!

Coldplay, BBQ, and a Waterpark

What a weekend!

Finished our message series at the Orchard called At The Movies, where we used clips from different films to talk about things like injustice, creativity, courage, prayer, significance and the power of a story. The weekend was incredible! My arts teams did a phenomenal job with lighting, transitions, media, and music.

We used the song Fix You by Coldplay, which was probably one of the hardest songs I've ever sung. It's not just a vocally challenging song but it is so emotionally tied with a video we did in 2006 that it is hard to listen to, let alone sing without tearing up - powerful song. My instrumentalists and vocalists did an excellent job though!

The weekend continued from there.

Teams of volunteers setup for our annual BBQ and Baptism event, with a live bluegrass band, catered BBQ, and a collage of games for the kids. Everyone seemed to have a great time. We had beautiful weather and 600+ people to enjoy it.

After we all ate, we walked over the to the waterpark next door and we baptized around 140 people... men, women, children, couples, moms, dads, entire families. If you've never witnessed anything like this, let me tell you - it was amazing! And the stories! They way that God has moved in the lives of these people is inspiring.

Videos, pics and more on this later.

It's Gone!

The dollar movie theater (which actually cost two dollars everyday other than Tuesday) my wife and I go to is gone.

No more seeing a movie in the theater, except on special occasions (too expensive).


No more taking the kids to the theater - with four it really adds up.

Bummed about this... still and it's ben gone since July 5th. They are tearing it down to put up a mega-gigantic theater instead. Wish I hadn't bought Kristen a bunch of gift cards to the place at Christmas time (we liked going to the movies together on our date night).

Anyway, just had to express my sadness in regards to this. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things but a fun activity for us now out of reach.

Unless you all know of another one :)

Weekend Setlist (07.12.08 and 07.13.08)

Marvelous Light - Charlie Hall
Filled With Your Glory - Starfield
Came To My Rescue - Hillsong United
Leave Out All The Rest - Linkin Park

Great start to our new summer series, At The Movies.
Our lighting enthusiasts took things to the next level this weekend with great transitions and color mixing, not to mention some cool effects.

What's New?

Let's see...

My wife had a great post on her blog about my daughter, her money management and her newest responsibility. I am very proud of her - almost makes you feel like you are doing some right things as a parent, though she has really done this all on her own.

Finishing our series at the Orchard called OnePrayer. This week we are honored to be hosting Perry Noble from NewSpring Church in Andersen, SC (via video). I have had the chance to meet and talk with Perry in person and share a meal with him... he is as funny in person as he was on the screen this weekend! The music team totally rocked the house so far this weekend too - can't wait for tomorrow (ok... a few short hours from now).

Starting a new series next weekend (July 12/13) called At The Movies. We're kicking off the summer in a series taking clips from some mainstream and indie films to teach some great life lessons. Great speakers part of this. Should be a lot of fun and leads us into our BBQ and Baptism in August - very exciting time for us! We so far have over 60 people signed up to be baptized this year as of last weekend! Amazing!

Working on some song writing along with two handfuls of other projects :) . We continue to tweak or new lighting system and have really been enjoying the color mixing and creativity with now have with our lights - makes a huge difference! I remember making my own par-can lights with some friends using stove pipe (innovation at its finest).

That's it for now. Working on trying to get some stuff out to you on the blog, so stay tuned.

Peace.