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Our Leadership
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One of the things that we highly value is listening to one another's stories. In particular, we love to hear about how people are encountering Jesus in their day-to-day lives. This might be in big ways...but it also happens most often in smaller ways (sometimes in ways that are really easy to miss.)
On this page you will find a treasure trove of such stories! May your own walk with Jesus be deeply encouraged and nourished by what you read here.
If you are interested in sharing some of your story here, please email us to let us know!
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Celebrating God's Global Family
OK! I admit it! I am a proud American. I don’t just listen to the National Anthem when it is sung at sporting events, I sing along, I religiously fly the Stars and Stripes on every national holiday. In addition, my closet has an array of patriotic apparel for such occasions. What a blast it has been dressing up to cheer on our team in the World Cup and to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday. Seeing others wearing their flag sweaters and USA jerseys prompted the realization
Greg Asimakoupoulos
4 days ago3 min read
Coming Home Part Four
A rule of thumb with problems is that they come in threes. Returning home this year, my problems came in four groups of three. In the Lord’s mercy, they didn’t come all at once. There was the water heater, in-floor heat, the HVAC system, multiple waterfront issues. The last group came in the form of our boat lift cover and the frame that supports it. The boat lift cover is a heavy canvas laid over a light duty frame and attached to the frame with heavy duty cord. The fr
Bob Witty
Jul 103 min read
America the Colorful
The purple mountain majesties and snow-white Mt. Rainier remind me of what's grand to me and you. There's Red Rocks Park and Yellowstone. Mt. Rushmore's hills are black. And add to that our flag's red, white and blue. I recently came across this little rhyme that I penned in my journal a decade ago while pondering our nation’s birthday. At the time it dawned on me that America is not only beautiful. It is also colorful. To the aforementioned American communities of color, I c
Greg Asimakoupoulos
Jul 33 min read
Awesome God
I hurt. I hurt from the injuries I’ve received over the years. Yet I know that the human body has been wonderfully made. Psalm 139:13-14 "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." A few years ago, I was watching some young adults play Frisbee. They had perfect bodies. They were effortlessly catching and throwing the Frisbee. The
Steve Pettijohn
Jun 253 min read
The Father-like Love of God
I attended the Seattle Mariners’ home opener a few weeks ago. Although our team lost the first game of the season, it was a memorable night. The unveiling of the Divisional Championship banner was an awesome sight. The enthusiastic welcome for our team, that came to within eight outs of going to their first World Series, was electric. But it’s what took place just before the opening pitch that stands out in my mind. It touched my heart. It brought tears to my eyes. An eleven-
Greg Asimakoupoulos
Jun 193 min read
Coming Home 3
In earlier posts (Coming Home Parts One and Two), I told about coming home after wintering in Palm Springs to lots of little and large repair projects, including a leaky hot water tank, in-floor water heating that didn’t work, a heat pump that wouldn’t shut off, a damaged boat-lift cover, a sunken water trampoline and a myriad of smaller issues. In time, I addressed or repaired these, and was feeling good that the worst was behind me. Then one night, I awoke about 3:00 in th
Bob Witty
Jun 113 min read
Graduation Day
I spent Thursday morning at a graduation and Summer Send-Off at the Lake and Park School in Seattle. Neither of my grands graduated this year but the younger one played 2 piano pieces, sang in the choir and spoke twice. Was it worth it to hear 8 graduation speeches, so that I could hear all that? Of course! But actually, I enjoyed the graduation speeches very much. These graduates are finishing fifth grade and moving on to middle school. Here are some snippets from the spe
Jani James
Jun 52 min read
One Word Prayer
Thirty-five years ago I found myself in the basement of despair. I was battling clinical depression. If you’ve ever been on the frontlines of that dreaded internal conflict, you can identify. It took every resource I could muster to find the energy to get out of bed. I lacked focus. I lacked feeling. I lacked a reason to live. There I was - a husband, the father of three young girls and the pastor of a dynamic church. Looking back, I can identify factors that resulted in my e
Greg Asimakoupoulos
May 273 min read
Coming Home 2
After a few days home from Palm Springs (and fixing everything imaginable), we left for Cabo for a week. A week later, coming home, I expected everything to be as we left it. Wrong! The water heater continued to leak. The 5-gallon bucket was full to overflowing, there was standing water at the base of the water heater and on the garage floor, and the pilot light was out. Oh, my goodness. Here we go again. I thought this was behind us. I guess not. And so, I go into Bo
Bob Witty
May 213 min read
Meg
A couple weeks ago, I visited Laura Jones at her home in Bellevue. Laura is a fairly new addition to a Thursday morning Bible study group at Creekside. We walked Laura's pair of English Cream Retrievers, Hank and Hazel, around Lake Boren and then sat down for a cup of tea at her kitchen table. My intention was to record Laura’s story of God restoring her eyesight for the Creekside blog. Instead, I got to meet Laura’s son Luke and his wife, Meg. Luke made me a very delicio
Jani James
May 153 min read
The Hands of a Mother
Like you, I’m thinking about my mom this weekend. Although she passed away six years ago, deposits in my memory bank over the years continue to compound with interest. One of my final memories of my mother is watching her play the piano a couple weeks before she died. In spite of her dementia, she could still make those eighty-eight keys sing beautifully. As I listened to her play hymns she taught me as a boy, I looked at those familiar hands. Those gnarled age-spotted finger
Greg Asimakoupoulos
May 63 min read
Coming Home
Palm Springs is nice if you like hot, dry weather with periodic dust storms, and lots of golf. I love it there. But there is no place like home (cloudy, wet, cold). After three months, we came back to Seattle. But I came back with a sense of foreboding. I learned that the water trampoline sunk in a windstorm; the boat canopy was damaged in another storm and dangling precariously over the water; the front door wouldn’t unlock; the garage door wouldn’t open; the bulkhead w
Bob Witty
May 13 min read
Good Shepherd
On May 23, 2002, Pope John Paul II held a mass in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is the only time a pope has ever visited Azerbaijan. Kent and I were there to hear him.
Jani James
Apr 243 min read
The Face of War
The day after Israel and the United States dropped bombs on Iran, I was watching coverage of the conflict on my television. A most disturbing image caught my attention. In the smoke rising above the smoldering debris, I saw the image of a face. I grabbed my iPhone and snapped a photo. I wondered if anyone else viewing this coverage of the war saw what I saw. In the days that followed the initial invasion, that eerie countenance on my iPhone continued to haunt me. Ironically,
Greg Asimakoupoulos
Apr 93 min read
Ask the Question
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.” (Matt. 28:19, 20) This command weighs heavily on my heart because I am not a natural evangelist. I treasure my faith and my walk with Jesus, and I’m not afraid to share it with others. If someone confronts me about it, I willingly and unapologetically defend my beliefs. But I’m not good about taking the initiative and sharing my belief
Bob Witty
Apr 83 min read
An Unforgettable Parade
The Seahawks victory parade following this year’s Super Bowl Championship was one for the history books. The crowd that gathered in the downtown streets of Seattle was estimated to be anywhere from 750,000 to a million strong. Children were hoisted on parents’ shoulders. Adolescents shimmied up street signs to get a better view. Workers stood at open windows in office buildings. And even rooftops served as parade-watching venues. As I walked up 4 th Avenue to capture video of
Greg Asimakoupoulos
Mar 253 min read
Spreading My Wings . . Under God's Wings
A year and a half ago, I set out on my first solo RV trip. I’ve camped/RV’d before. I wasn’t worried about that part of it. It was the open road, safety, aloneness. I prepared myself as best I could through research and the right supplies. I had a “loosy-goosy” plan -Thanksgiving in Texas with my oldest, and Christmas with my youngest’s new little family and his in-laws in North Dakota. People to see along the way, and National Parks to visit. But how would these experiences
Colette Aguirre
Mar 243 min read
Life-Transforming Walk
I have the distinct privilege of being a part of the Pastoral Search Team. I get a front row seat to what God has in store for Creekside in a new lead pastor! This is a privilege I don’t take lightly, and I’m constantly praying that God will keep me SO tuned into His voice and guidance - please pray for this for me (and for us as a team)! One of the things that the Pastoral Search Team has been doing, that I love, is to start our meetings with a short devotional based on o
April Petersen
Mar 193 min read
Count the Cost
Many years ago, I had an encounter with a mop. I was part of a coalition to restore parole to Washington State’s criminal justice code. One of our projects was an awareness-raising event for the broader community. I booked the Rainier Arts Center for a Saturday afternoon. The large hall was filled to overflowing. Roger Goodman, Washington Representative for the 45th district was our keynote speaker. We heard from formerly incarcerated men and women, and family members of in
Jani James
Mar 133 min read
Reflection on Psalm 51
I think of David as a superhero in the Old Testament. He took down a giant with a single stone. He showed tremendous restraint in honoring God’s appointment of Saul as king by not killing him even though Saul tried to kill him. He was a great and mighty warrior. While David sought God in the big battles, he took his eyes off God in the quiet of his palace. Instead of leading his soldiers to battle, David decided to relax and stay at home, leading to adultery and then murder
Ron Stevens
Mar 42 min read
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