A Letter....

So I'm sitting here at my desk enjoying being busy. After being in the desert of unemployment for 4 1/2 months, it is nice to have been going non-stop the last 3 weeks.

I've been reading in 2 Corinthians this week....I love that letter. In chapter 3 Paul finds himself being asked to prove that he is who he says he is by some of the people in the church of Corinth.....the very people with whom he had served side by side. These people knew Paul...his strengths; his weaknesses; his victories and his losses, yet they wanted proof that he was who he said he was.

His reply is greatness......."your very lives are a letter that anyone can read by just looking at you. Christ himself wrote it-not with ink, but with God's living spirit; not chiseled in stone, but carved into human lives."

I sat and talked with a friend yesterday. One of those good, solid God talks. We've both had to deal with anger and bitterness this year and got a chance yesterday to reflect on God's guidance through those deserts. It was AWESOME!

God has been redeeming me and showing me what it looks like to "get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger......"(Eph.4:31). He has been working incredibly in the lives of my family. He has given us a new season of ministry in a new church home and it is exciting! Bitterness and anger would do nothing but hinder that ministry and give Satan a stronghold from which to base his covert rebellions in my soul.

Kelly and I have had so many opportunities to talk about these things in the last few months. She has been an incredible support and God ministers to me through her daily. The lessons we have learned on letting God be God, and not take things into our own hands have been unbelievably valuable. It's hard sometimes and we have carried each other through one of the driest, most brutal deserts we have experienced in our 20 years of marriage. God is good and we are so grateful for his patience and faithfullness.

I know my friend will read this and so I say thank you. Thank you for being a letter to the world. In that same passage in 2 Corinthians Paul mentions being a publisher of those letters. I am so thankful that I have had the chance to be publisher and to have people publish my letter.

Think about what we write in that letter on a daily basis. Think about the message we are publishing in others and in ourselves. Edit.......proofread......and correct when necessary.

To my friend....thank you. Your friendship is priceless and means so much to my family. I can't wait to see all of the things God is going to do through you.

Kel....you're unbelievable! I am so thankful that God put us together to do life. I love you.

I'm out.....

Middle School Camp

What a great week we had at middle school camp. We took about 30 to Pineywoods Baptist Encampment for camp. I'm thankful that everything was already planned when I got to Firewheel because Kelly and I just got a chance to hang with the kiddos and start forming some relationships.

Beaux got to be a camper for the first time and had a blast! He made a bunch of new friends and is super excited about church.

These kids are great! I was really impressed with their spiritual maturity, and how respectful and loving they are to other people. They are just 6th-8th grade so that excites me about the future of this student ministry.

One of my new friends, Dominick, got saved this week. I had the opportunity to lead him to Christ and then celebrate with him and all of his friends. He is so excited! And to see his friends be so exicited with him was pretty moving. Several of the kids came to me and told me how much they had been praying for him and for how long they had been praying for him. Awesome!!

We were introduced to the congregation today and had several friends in attendance to support and encourage us as we start this new season of ministry. We are right where God wants us to be and it is such an incredible feeling. To serve a God that is so incredibly redeeming, and gracious is truly humbling.

The relationships we've begun to form with the staff and their families along with the people serving in the student ministry and other areas of the church are exciting. God is working at Firewheel and He's letting us be a part of it.

Thank you Jesus.....

I'm out...

No words.....

It's not often that I am without words, but when I think about the way God has been working in the life of my family over the last 5 months it floors me.

This weekend was our first as Student Pastor at Firewheel Church. It was awesome!! It's incredible how God brought this all together. We are so blessed to be a part of such a great place that is doing so much to further the kingdom here in Garland and around the globe.

It's been a long journey getting here, but we are so excited. For the first time in a long time my family is excited about going to church on the weekends. After being in a desert God is leading us into a new season of ministry in a great place.

God's redeeming power is so incredible. Allowing us to stay right here in Garland is such a blessing. We have experienced a love, support, and encouragement from friends that is completely humbling. People that have walked side by side with us and loved us through the difficulty of transition and hurt have shown us what grace and forgiveness looks like.

Sure there are those that, even to this day, condemn, judge, and do whatever they can to hurt my family. We've seen our kids snubbed, been told our house was not a good environment, gossiped about, and have seen firsthand the antithesis of grace and forgiveness.......but God has shown His love and control over the situation and delivered us.

We are in a great place and ready to do His kingdom's work. I'm reminded of Jesus' words in Luke 9:62 everyday:
"Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for
service in the kingdom of God."

Thank you Jesus for keeping us focused. Make us ready for the work ahead, learning from the past as we go.

I'm out....