Been Away

Hey Guys. I know many have been wondering if I've given up on the blog...but let me assure you that is not the case. I've been in GA, away from my computer. I performed the marriage ceremony for my Sister in law, and my mother and grandmother drove 2 1/2 hours to the wedding to see us. I got to spend a little time with them, which was great. However, later that night my grandmother had a heart-attack. They had to do openheart surgery to save her, and her recovery has been hampered by kidney problems, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, and now both of her lungs have collapsed. She is not doing well at all. Please be in prayer for her and my mother...this is her only living parent, and my only living grandparent.

Have you ever gotten to a point in your life where you realized how much you loved someone because of the surrounding circumstances? I've always loved my grandma (MawMaw), but the extent to which that love goes has just been revealed to me in recent days. I've been humbled in a lesson to cherish every second we have, because God's plan is to bring us home with Him one day...and it's sooner than any of us ever plan for. We must have confidence in our relationship with Him, and then extend that relationship to others. How urgent, I've seen recently, our witness to others must be. Everyday sees numerous souls go to hell. Share Jesus! Our time is short.

Over the next 2 weeks I will be in the process of packing and traveling from Atoka, TN to Highland, CA. My posts will be sparse, however, please continue to check back often. I will post as I have access to a computer. Until then, give Him the glory, and worship as if it is your last day on earth. Thank you for your prayers.

Praise & Prayer

Praises - 1) We close on our house today in East Highland
2) Caleb got over a fever that he had this weekend. He's doing much better now
3) My family is safe from their trip to GA
4) I get to see Jody, Abby, and baby Ella this THURSDAY!
5) Ministry is going well at Immanuel
6) I'm making friends, and the staff has seemed to really take me in
7) Caleb loves his new school and is doing well there

Prayer - Please pray for the following:
1) Safe travel for me and Caleb this Thursday to GA, and on Sunday as we return to California
2) For our house in Atoka to sell. If you are interested, God could use you to bless us by buying it!!!! (hint, hint) So quit praying and go sign the contract
3) Safety for Jody and the girls as they travel back to Tennessee next week
4) That someone will buy our house
5) That God will give clarity to me for the vision He has for the ministry here at Immanuel
6) That God will send someone to buy our house because we will make them a great deal on it
7) That God will use me to impact lives for eternity and lead others to a relationship with Him on a daily basis

Thank you for joining me in prayer. If you are praying with me, I'd be encouraged to know that. Just post a comment on this blog....I just never know how many people are reading this thing. I love each of you, and I appreciate your concern for our ministry. God bless!

Random

It just hit me today that I'm in California. California! I think it was when I was driving in to church this morning and saw a new fire at the base of the mountains. Where else do you see that sort of thing? I thought Smokey the Bear was something that had played out when I was 11, until I saw him standing along the roadside (in wooden signage form) throughout our drive in the mountains this weekend. All of this and I haven't even experienced the earthquakes, yet. There are so many things that I want to see....like LA, Hollywood (though I'm told both are not areas I want to be in at night), San Diego, and more of the mountain towns. There are many other areas too, but again, these are just random thoughts. I think I'll wait on the rest of the family to get here, though. I'd hate to make them too jealous. Although, I wouldn't mind hitting a Lakers game with Caleb before the girls get out here. They would just sit at home while I went anyway....unless we get a babysitter and turn it into a romantic rendezvous.........well, anyway. I'd better stop there.

Fun on the Schedule

Today is going to be a great day. I can feel it already. It's Friday! And I'm off today. I've got plans to do the final walk-through on our new house at 10:00am, then I'm off to have lunch with Caleb at his school at 11:30am. This afternoon when I pick him up, we are going to head for the movies. Santa Claus 3, The Escape Claus, comes out today. So, we are going to go watch that. He is really excited. So, it's Father and Son time.

Tomorrow we are planning on driving up into the mountains to an old town that has train rides, apple orchards, restaurants, etc. We are going to spend the whole day together. I'm really excited about it. Although it is really hard being away from the rest of the family, we are enjoying being able to hang out...just the two of us.

That's My Boy!

Let me just say that I have been extremely concerned for Caleb with his first week of school, and all of the adjustments that come with that. However, I am concerned no longer. He came home from school one day and said "there's this girl in my class that loves me." What? What do you mean "she loves you?" So, I very calmly asked him, "how do you know she loves you?" He answered, "because she lays her head on my arm and says 'I like you already'."

That's my boy! Although, if it were my girl it would be a totally different situation. But, for now, (praise God) it is not my girl. It's my son. And get this; he told me her name is Ashley. Now, would you believe this if I told you? When I was in first grade, I had a little girlfriend named Ashley, too. ............That's my Boy!

What's in a Mask?

Last night, many of us saw everything from power rangers to Frankenstein show up on our door step wanting a piece of candy. Perhaps some of you reading right now were one of those in costume wanting that quick sugar rush. My son and I were fortunate enough to attend our first ever Immanuel Baptist Harvest Festival. It was absolutely incredible. For those of you who have never had the experience, there was everything from pizza to mexican food, from pony rides to hayrides, from bounce houses to 40 foot tall rock climbing walls. Not to mention the 75 game booths that surrounded the lot. A live band was onstage throughout providing entertainment for those who were resting and/or eating on the numerous haybails that littered the lot infront of the stage. But as I looked, I saw many other things, as well.

I noticed many unchurced people in attendance. And with a crowd of over 10,000 people, I'm sure I only saw a small percentage of them. Many of them were in costume, and some were not. But what I noticed about most of them, was a sense of uncomfortableness just being on the grounds of the church. Now granted, some of them had no sense of where they were. But for most of them, I could tell that as I talked with them they were acting in extreme opposition to their normal life. Many would look away, or hang their head. One even put his mask back on and walked away. That's when it hit me. Even as Christians, we behave the same way. When God's conviction falls on us, or when we are face to face with the Savior (which happens simultaneously), we hang our heads and do all that we can to avoid the issue. Many of us avoid that meeting with Him as best we can because we know what our lives are really "littered" with. No matter what "mask" we wear we are stripped of it before the Father. He sees beyond our false identity and calls us to be honest with ourselves. That is where we have to make the decision. Will we hide our true identity even from ourselves? or will we allow God to make us into who He has created us to be? Many of us continue to wear mask far beyond October 31st. Are you one of those?

The First Day

Wow. My head is spinning. Today was my first day in the office. Need I say more? I think I've had about 23 make shift meetings. However, it was a great day. The staff here are going above and beyond to make this transition as smooth as possible for us. We have been blessed at every turn.

Today was also a first for Caleb. Although his first official day of school is tomorrow, we were able to get him registered today. When we walked into the office, the receptionist sat typing at her desk to our right. Chairs lined the wall on our left, and desks and offices were in the background. Caleb stepped right up to the receptionist and said "hello. my name is Caleb and I'm here to start school". I was so proud. As they got me all of the needed paperwork, we sat down at a table nearby to fill it out. Caleb got a book from a nearby end-table and began reading aloud. Soon, the secretary approached us with paper and crayons. "Would you like to draw a picture and color while dad fills out all of that paperwork?" she asked. In a very Caleb-like moment he responded, "no. I can learn a lot more from reading than drawing." I didn't know how to react, so I just said nothing. But in my mind I was leaping around and exclaiming "That's my boy!"

The cool thing about our time here in these early days is that Caleb and I are experiencing all of this together. We lay awake at night just talking about our day. We are both discussing things from a different perspective, yet each of our experiences are just as vital. Just think of the memories we will have from starting this new life together in California. I can't wait to get the 3 ladies of my life out here to experience all of this with us.

There's A First Time for Everything

There IS a first time for everything. That first day of school. That first date. That first kiss. (Hopefully each of these fall in that order.) Well, today was my first official day at Immanuel Baptist. I was full of anticipation leading up to this morning. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to sleep well, but that took care of itself. The worship service went well, and I enjoyed every second of it. The choir seemed to be full, and I was excited to see everyone freely worshiping together. I am really looking forward to the rest of my family getting here. In theory, our things are supposed to arrive on December 4th. If everything goes smoothly, we will be moving in our new home then.

We'll try to get Caleb registered in his new school tomorrow, and get rolling with that. God has blessed us with a great family to stay with while we're in transition. Greg and Rayna Pfau have been wonderful. They already seem like "grandparent" types with Caleb. He is excited to see them each morning, and enjoys hanging out with them. As God continues to teach us and prepare us for His work, we are praying that we will be patient and teachable as we strive to stay close and clean.

Bittersweet

Well, it is official. My last Sunday has come and gone at Crosspointe. As the title of this blog states, it really is "bittersweet". It is hard to say "goodbye" to so many people that we have come to know and love. But at the same time, the Lord has put a passion in our hearts for our new ministry, church, and staff. Though we don't even know most of their names, we already have a desire and excitement to partner with them for the Lord. I can't wait to get our feet on the ground there and get going.

Let me take this time to say that we absolutely love Crosspointe Baptist Church. We are going to be praying that God will do an incredible work there, and that He will bless that church with a new pastor and needed staff. Though we are gone physically, our hearts will always have a special place for Crosspointe.

For those of you who do not know, our new Pastor, Rob Zinn, and his wife need your prayers. Sue Zinn has cancer, and is currently going through chemo. Please pray for this family. They have been the perfect example of faithful servants even in the face of this illness. God has done some incredible things through this family, and Jody and I are very excited about partnering with them to see people saved, to see lives changed, and to see families restored.

As we make this HUGE transition in our lives and ministry, please pray for us. And please be a regular on this blog. We'd love to continue sharing with you what God is doing in our ministry, and to hear from you, as well. God bless!

You're Not Going to Believe This

As many of you know, my brother and his family came to visit us this past weekend. If you read my earlier blog, then you already know about the yardsale that we had on Saturday...this blog is a continuation of that. If you have not yet read that blog, then go read it now. I'll wait for you to get back..........................................................................Ok, ready? Here we go.

If you recall, I mentioned how I began piling all of the yardsale stuff we couldn't sell into our trash. Well, as I took the trash out last night, I noticed that there was a lot more room in our trashcan than I had remembered. Upon further investigation, I found out that my brother's wife went through our trash and pulled out items from the yardsale. How gross is that? I have to sanitize my hands just thinking about it (for those of you who don't know me well enough yet, I am a bit obsessive compulsive when it comes to germs). Wow. Someone wanted our old junk after all. As I said before, "One Man's Trash is another (wo)man's treasure."

One Man's Junk...

As a child, I can remember my grandparents having a yardsale every weekend (ok, it wasn't literally every weekend, but as a kid it seemed that way). And it always seemed to be very cold, and extremely early. I recall my brother, Ron, and I trying our best to entertain ourselves. One year, we had buttons that we wore on the front of our jackets that said "Ask me". Where we got them I don't remember, but people began to ask us "what does the button mean?" That was just the response we were looking for. Our answer was short, but precise; "we are selling hot chocolate. Want a cup?" Why should the adults be the only ones to make a little cash. It was these early days of entrepreneur-like adventures that I drew from this morning.

My wife and I rose up early this morning, 5:00am, and added a couple of more nails to the already staple and nail ridden telephone poles around town as we hung signs urging people to come give us money for the same stuff they will probably be selling in a yard sale next month (I know that was a run-on sentence, but it sounded better in one breath). We put our junk on tables in our driveway, and were shocked and amazed as people actually began showing up. We could barely get stuff on the table before people were snatching it off. This lasted for about 15 minutes, and then the crowd of 8 people dissipated. We were relieved that we now had time to display the rest of our forgotten, dust-covered treasures. Finally, we were prepared for the crowds. So, we waited, and waited, and then waited some more. After an hour and a half, a car pulled up. Two ladies got out, made a few humorous remarks about our stuff, and then left with empty arms. I felt like screaming. "What? Why don't you want our trash. Wait. Come back. I'll pay you to take it from us."

I finally just started piling junk into our trash can...where it belonged. I'm not moving all of this to California, only to store it away in an attic somewhere just to pull it out again for this same early morning experience. 30 bucks. I don't see how that is worth the time and effort. In hindsight, perhaps I should have taken a page out of my early yardsale days and hustled some cups of hot chocolate.

Doctor, Doctor, Have Mercy On Me

I lead a crazy life. That one little statement pretty much sums up my life as a whole. With all that is going on right now, all I need is one more little thing to pop up....so it did. My allergies have kicked into high gear. I know that it is from all of the packing up, attic dwelling, box stuffing, yard-sale getting ready dust that has taken up resident in my head. So, the whole headache, sore throat, yucky stuff has settled in. To top it all off, Caleb woke up this morning with a sore throat. So, he and I headed off to the doctor this morning.

Why is it that when you visit an "Urgent" Care facility that you seem to have to wait the longest? While in the waiting room I noticed family after family getting called back before us. And yes, we were there first. So, after an hour and 11 minutes (yes, I did time it) we were finally called back. Now, before I go any further, let me say that this is your typical urgent care facility. There were more office personnel than patients, yet there was no "urgency" in the care they were providing. So, we continued on back to the room they had for us where we would wait for another 32 minutes (you know you time your visits too).

While waiting, I had the opportunity to read every picture on the walls in the room, and then some. On one wall, there was a huge statement of service for the "urgent" care facility. It mapped out all of the services they provide their patients, and then concluded with the statement "so, your visit with us will be brief. That is what urgent care is all about." WOW! I am so glad that I came to the "urgent" care facility. Had I gone anywhere else it might have cost me my entire day...(wait a minute...I think it did, anyway). My only hope is that "fast" and "urgent" have somehow become opposites that Webster must have forgotten to tell us about, or my next meal at Burger King may take a while.

The Weather Outside is Frightful

Want to hear something ironic. When I first moved to Millington I was blown away by how much it rained. It seemed like my entire first 3 months were pain-soakingly wet (that's a new phrase..I just made it up and plan on copyrighting it....so don't use it). For all of you Millingtonians (that one's mine, too), you know what the weather has been like this week....Rain, Rain, Rain. So, for my entire last official week, I am being rained out in the same way that I was rained in. Isn't that crazy. For those of you with the minds warped enough to grasp that concept, I'm sure you'll appreciate the irony.

In an unrelated story, some of you have checked out my parents' store online at www.talkaboutcool.com . Thanks for visiting the site. If you log-on to their online store you'll find tons of things that would make unique Christmas gifts. Go ahead - try it out. You'll be the hit at Christmas. And Mom and Dad, if you're reading this, there's no need to send me a portion of the proceeds for driving traffic to your site. I owe you.

Packing Up

Dan "The Man" Craddock has been a great friend to our family. God has blessed us with a friend for life. Another benefit that he brings to us other than his friendship is his professional style of marketing our home. Below you will find a link to a virtual tour of our home. Please pass this on to anyone that you feel may be interested in moving to Atoka. It is a great neighborhood, Williamsburg Estates, and literally runs into Blaydes Estates. If you or anyone you know is interested, please let us know. We'll work you out a great deal. Besides, the privilege of living in a home that my family occuppied should be a great deal in and of itself. (I kid, I kid!)

http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=779168

I'll also post this as a link on the right side of this blog under the link section for future viewing.

Mountain Views

Here is a shot of the mountains that I described in my earlier blog. But, I'm telling you. A picture is nothing in comparison with reality. These are not the exact mountains that we saw when we landed, but they're similar. These mountains surround the area that we'll be serving. Pretty cool, huh? I'm told that they're green and snowcapped in the winter. That will be nice to see.