Prayerful and Hopeful

I am coming very near to a place many like to call "Wit's End!" Elizabeth and I have been looking up and down for a place here in Marble Falls, TX to live and we are having 0% luck! We are both extremely exhausted and know that Donna C., Brad O. and Carrrie-Anne S. are tired out as well as they have been scouring the town with us. I am so appreciative of these loving hearts, but I am astounded that the search has become like 'looking for a needle in a haystack.'

At the same time, we are going in for a more advanced Sonogram because the first one did not deliver the results needed to figure out the reason for abnormalities on the blood tests. We have 3 appointments next Wednesday: one for the Sonogram, one for Genetics Counseling and possibly a 3rd-an Amniocentesis. We are strongly soliciting all the prayers we can get for Elizabeth and the little one.

Please keep us in your prayers as we try to overcome these hurdles while keeping a steady grip on God's unchanging hand.

God In Us

I was touched today to read the blog of one of my students. His life is a testament of freedom, true freedom in Christ, to me and many others. Please take a look at this blog of David Griffin. It will touch you.

Quote Of The Day

"I commend cheerfulness to all who would win souls; not levity and frothiness, but a genial, happy spirit. There are more flies caught with honey than with vinegar, and there will be more souls led to heaven by a man who wears heaven in his face than by one who bears Tartarus in his looks." - C.H. Spurgeon

Quote Of The Day

"Thirsty hearts are those whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them." - A.W. Tozer

Closer

"Some years into our spiritual journey, after the waves of anticipation that mark the beginning of any pilgrimage have begun to ebb into life's middle years of service and busyness, a voice speaks to us in the midst of all we are doing. There is something missing in all of this, it suggests. There is something more.

The voice often comes in the middle of the night or the early hours of morning, when our hearts are most unedited or vulnerable. At first, we mistake the source of this voice and assume it is just our imagination. We fluff up our pillow, roll over, and go back to sleep. Days, weeks, even months go by and the voice speaks to us again: Aren't you thirsty? Listen to your heart. There is something missing."

And with these first 2 paragraphs, Brent Curtis and John Eldredge begin a journey to draw closer to the heart of God in their book, The Sacred Romance. And just these beginning thoughts pricked me to the very core. I don't know where you are on your spiritual journey today, but this intro caught me off guard. It spoke to what has been happening in me as of late.

I have felt the same tug in the middle of the night.

I have cried at the weakness of my own spirituality.

My relationship with God has been lacking. And God's not to blame. He is right where He's always been. I am the one who's moved. I have grown far too comfortable with my life and my things here on earth.

I want to get back to my 'first love!'

I want the joy that I first felt.

The passion and the energy to grow within myself and reach out to others in world changing ways.

Where has it all gone?

If you have struggled with this, send me some thoughts about how you were awakened and what brought you closer to the heart of God.

Eating It Up

I am so proud of the teenagers here in Marble Falls, TX! They have a hunger and thirst for the knowledge of God and they long to share what they know with their friends. They have decided at the start of this school year to live lives of true purpose. Lives that commit to picking up their cross and following Jesus daily. I have seen that spirit growing in each of them over the summer and it is coming to fruition now. It just thrills me to see them bringing friends to class, worship and youth activites. But, even more so, I have been blown over by watching their friends bring friends! I shout AMEN to that. With that joy welling up inside of me, I would like to give you something (one of my earlier blogs) to eat while you "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (II Peter 3:18)

What do you feed your soul with? How do you fill up? Everyone needs to fill their soul with something and it shouldn't be just anything. What does it take for you? I recently read a quote from Jamie Lee Curtis about this. In the December 27 issue of USA Today, Curtis wrote "You can have all the money in the world. You can have everything under the tree that you ever wanted. And if you're sitting there alone, you are the saddest, loneliest human being on the planet, and there is absolutely nothing that money can buy that will fill your soul."

Interesting. A talented, famous, rich actress looks on all that she has and realizes that none of these earthly possessions will fill a person's soul. Our souls long for something that cannot be gained through earthly wealth or fame. The human soul longs for something else. Something that will last forever. None of the aforementioned things last. They all fade away with time and change.

But there is something that will last for eternity and that will fill the soul to the brim. Just 2 words: Jesus Christ! He is the only constant filler in this ever changing world we live in.
Do you have Him? Is your soul sufficiently fed? If you are using wordly things to fill up, you will constantly be hungry and lean. But if you fill up on Jesus, you'll never go hungry again.

Quote Of The Day

"According to one well-known saying, this book [The Gospel of John] is like a pool that's safe for a child to paddle in but deep enough for an elephant to swim in." - Tom Wright/N.T. Wright

Posted

Elizabeth and I were relieved to find out that, according to the sonographer, there are no visible abnormalities with our baby. That takes a huge load off of our minds and we will be able to sleep well this evening unlike the past few nights.

Our little bundle in the womb is very active and is 20 weeks and 6 days along. A little further than we thought! And the baby is a truly active little one! The only thing we don't know is the sex. We are still oblivious. We were told not to paint the room a certain color just yet!

Thank you for all of your calls of concern and prayers! They were heard and answered.

Just thought I would keep you posted.

Anticipation

I did not blog yesterday because I was scatterbrained. Well, more so than usual! Elizabeth and I are going to find out how our baby is doing. You see, we found out this past Friday evening that her testing came back with an abnormality and we don't know what that means. We will find out this morning at 11:00. Please keep us in your prayers this morning. We are a little nervous about the abnormalities. I will keep you posted.

Great Singers and Performers

The drive back from Austin yesterday got me thinking about great musicians and the music that has left lasting impressions on many people. Being a singer myself, more precisely a light, lyric tenor, I usually listen more to the vocal prowess or lack thereof in the singer rather than the guitar riffs and piano licks. I am going to list some of my all time favorite singers and musicians(be it Rock, Pop, Jazz, Opera, etc.) and I want to hear from you. It can be vocalist or instrumentalist. Whoever has left an indelible mark on you.

1. Freddie Mercury from Queen. Wow! Amazing voice.
2. The Beatles.
3. Roy Orbison. Quite an outstanding range.
4. Fritz Wunderlich (Opera). Beautiful Lyric Tenor.
5. The Eagles.
6. Alison Kraus.
7. Louis Prima.

This is just a few of the greats in my book. There are so many more, but the blog would go on for days. What do you think? Who do you like?

More To Say

The class last night was a smashing success!! It went over so well that the class ended well past its 7:50 stopping point. We wound up closing in prayer beyond 8:30. Many came to me thanking me for allowing them the chance to share what the Lord has done in their lives and to grow closer to their Christian family as they begin this new school year. Even some of my tougher critics were impressed with the openness and honesty of the evening. I am glad to see God in the hearts of these young believers.

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This morning my colleague, Allan S, and I drove Mandy, Trae and Tori G to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. The preacher man and his family are now gone to California to start a new work. It was hard to watch them go as we all waved a fond, tearful farewell. May God bless the Gardner family as they embark on this new journey. I miss them too much already!

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My buddy, Allan Stanglin, is a pretty cool guy. I think I can stomach working with him for another stretch. Maybe!

Please keep the Marble Falls Church in your prayers as we look for someone to fill the shoes of Jim Gardner and keep us moving in a strong, positive direction.

Truth Or Dare

Tonight in class we are going to do something that I learned from a fellow youth minister: We are going to take part in a Truth or Dare Worship. Each of us will have a card that states we must tell a Truth (what God has done in our lives, what we like about Christian fellowship, etc.) or take a Dare (read our favorite Bible verse, lead our favorite song, etc.). It should be a very encouraging and uplifting time of worship! I can't wait!!

Prayer Requests

Please pray for Elizabeth and me as we await the results of our baby's Spina Bifida and Down's Syndrome tests and as we look for a place to live here in Marble Falls! We want something that will hold all of our stuff from the house in the Village and that will be great for raising a baby. We covet your prayers!

Explosion Of Thought

Well, I was unable to access the internet while I was away. I am sorry that it has been so long since my last blog. Elizabeth and I had a great time visiting my sister, mother, brother-in-law and 2 nephews. They were very gracious hosts and had many stories to share. I miss them already. I am not too sad because I know that they will be coming this January to see the newborn and share in our new beginning!

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We hit the ground running when we got back to Marble Falls! We had a great class Sunday morning about blessings that continually come from our heavenly Father.

Sunday evening we had a night of singing praise and reading from the Word followed by a great game of "Scene It"-the DVD Trivia Game.

Following that, some of us headed over to watch our own Ryan Smith play in the Community Coed Championship Softball Game at Johnson Park. Man, Ryan, you are a hard and great player! Good hits and catches!

And then yesterday morning, a group of teens traveled to the #1 Waterpark in the nation: Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels. We spent our last day of summer freedom swimming, floating, sliding and boogie boarding before school started back up today! We stopped by Taco Cabana for dinner on the way back and then proceeded to come home and crash at around 9:00 last night. What a great day of fun!

During all of that, Elizabeth and I were able to sell our house in Hot Springs Village, AR. The perfect ending of a perfect time.

Now I am finally back in the office to play catch up on all of my emails and messages.

I will be back today with more blogging. I feel that I should make up for lost time.

Greetings From LA

I send this blog post from a room in the La Quinta Inn in Baton Rouge (Red Stick) Louisiana. Elizabeth, the Belly, Peanut and I are en route to Tallahassee, FL to visit my sister, Misti-my mom, Jean-my brother-in-law, Jeff-and my nephews, Kameron and Brenden. It will be a great time of R and R for both of us before we come back ready to hit the ground running once again in our Marble Falls ministry. We will be out of pocket for a week and I will try to blog as much as I can. Please forgive me, though, if they are sporadic for the next days.

In The Aftermath

I feel very strange because my friend and colleague of many years has left and his absence is now weighing on me.

I miss Jim Gardner.

When I came into full time ministry, he took me under his wing and guided me to be the best. I was truly wet behind the ears and he dried that off quickly.

When I didn't quite grasp the Word I was reading, he had thought provoking insight.

When I started to understand that churches come with bureaucratic red tape, he was there with uplifting words of wisdom.

When I was ready to get married, he was a listening ear to my thoughts.

When I was hurt by friends and family members, he was a shoulder to lean on for comfort and encouragement.

Whenever I needed a true friend, he was always there.

Now, he is not there. And I wonder if I will ever get to spend quality time with him in the future. I am having a difficult time in the process.

More on this later...