Tuesday

Man Sunday was awesome for the Heartland kick-off. Pastor Jeff is an amazing communicator and always bring a great word Sunday mornings! I wore my Garth Brooks lookin' shirt and a straw cowboy illegal alien lookin' hat, it was great! Sunday night communion went good as well. We had a time of worship and just hung out in God's presence! Yesterday we all cleaned the house and just hung out being a little lazy, at least I did! I got about half the lawn mowed and my wheel fell off the lawnmower. I have to get another nut for the bolt, somehow it came loose and fell off. So I ended that journey and went back inside the cool air. At least I got the back mowed, I will do the front here soon! Later on today we are going to Fort Smith to get paint for the cafe, stencils, materials, price some items, search for backdrop ideas, couch ideas, bar ideas, rugs, lighting and more. So we have a lot to do over there today preparing for a whole bunch of projects. Tomorrow I am going to start building the stage and this week we will paint the cafe. We have a pretty good scheduled deadline for all these projects, but it will be cutting it close for the September kick-off for youth! We have lots and lots to do just to get things rolling for the school year. This year is going to be a huge step forward for us as a youth group we can't wait!!!

Frontier City, Baby, and Good Times Ahead!

Man we are tired! We took almost 30 students to Frontier City Wednesday and we had a BLAST! The nearest 15 passenger vans we can get is in Tulsa so Tuesday evening me, my wife, Zion and Pastor Tony went to pick them up and came straight back! Then Wednesday morning we left at 8am with 32 people ready to ride rides and buy $10 waters! We saw some great magic shows, rode some awesome gut wrenching rides and ate good ole' amusement park food! We got home about 10pm and unloaded and finally made it home by 11 or so! Then today we got up at 5:15am and headed back to Tulsa to return the vans! Zion slept the whole way there! Today was a great day we got some of the church decorated for Heartland this Sunday which is going to be AMAZING! I am even going to be wearing a western shirt that Pastor Jeff bought me! And I mean western, it's like an old school Garth Brooks shirt (at least I hear). This Sunday is going to be a lot of fun and meaningful! Tonight we are just hanging out at the house and taking a night easy watching a family movie together!

Oh, and bye the way Erin is pregnant with our new child! She is one month along and we are going to have a new little one with the Barrett family! Zion will have a playmate and sibling and we will have another beautiful baby to call our own!!! I am pretty excited about having another child, but it hasn't fully set it yet that it is actually happening! I wasn't sure if I was ready or not for another one but then again I don't think I ever would have been. So God just said I'll make the decision for you I guess! What is crazy is that like 10 people have either asked if Erin is pregnant or have given us a prophetic word that she was or is going to be. Actually at camp Brian Fields came up to her and told her that he believed the Lord gave him a word that she was going to have another one. I guess it was God's way of prophesying this baby into existence! We are so excited!!!

Good times ahead!!!

Zion's birthday, House Stuff, & Family Time

Well, my family is BACK and it is great! Friday night Erin, Zion and my mother and father-in law made it! Saturday we all worked on the house: Hanging curtains, sowing things, decorating, hauling a bed for Zion's room, dug out all the old landscape in front of the house (Dewayne and I attached straps to the trees and to his car and pulled them out), digging up the rock bed, making a rock bed in our back yard, hanging peg board in the garage, installing a dimmer on the lights, and grilled out for dinner! It was a busy day to say the least, but very fun to be doing it with family!

Today Pastor Tony and Mrs. Erin did the services at church and they did a great job! It was a journey kids Sunday and they led the whole service! It is so great to have awesome friends and fellow co-workers in the Kingdom of God! We love them so much and are so glad God brought our lives together!

Well, Today is Zion's birthday and we went out to eat, to the mall (she loves the playground at the Fort Smith mall) and hung out! Then we came home and painted and just hung around the house! Zion is 3 years old, my how time flies! She is the best little girl we could have dreamed of! I can't wait to see what God does with her and she grows up in His destiny for her! My family is the BEST! Tomorrow we are going to clean and keep working on the house I suppose so for now I am going to rest and chill!

Painting

Well today me, Sara McLanahan, & Payson sprayed the whole ceiling in the zone jet black. I mean duct work, metal, chords, you name it we sprayed it! It looks awesome. We were covered in black paint, I mean covered from head to toe! We had a lift that was fun driving around and it got us 20 feet in the air! The floor is covered with black. It looked like it was raining black paint! I am worn out from spraying that thing all day! I will sleep good tonight!We are on the way though to getting the zone all ready for the school year! This semester is going to be amazing! WE are believing God for great things! Well, I am tired and miss my family like no other! Tomorrow they will be here though and I feel like it's Christmas!!! I can't wait to see them and hug them all night!!!

Tuesday, Going At It!

It's Tuesday and we are ready to go another good week! I miss my wife and z like crazy! I need them here with me NOW! I have gotten a lot done though since I have some extra alone time! I have been painting a lot too! I have done like 4 canvases and am ready for more! It is really fun painting and learning these skills. I love to learn new things and stretch my creativity. Well this week is going to be busy with getting ready for our new series here at church and working on the zone! We have so much to do and it is weighing heavy on me! hopefully I can paint the whole ceiling black this week with the spray gun! I am waiting on a lift so we can get up there and shoot that thing! Then we will paint, build and decorate for the new semester. The goal is to have it done by the very 1st of September so we can have a big kick-off night! Well, I need to get back to work and start putting my hand to the plow!

Fun Days!

Transformers was awesome! I was not expecting a good movie, but I was blown away, I loved it! It is a must see in the theater. Today I woke up and saw that it was sunny for once and started mowing!!! Our grass in the backyard was up to my knees. It took me almost 4 hours to mow everything. I had to push the lawnmower back on the back wheels and get the blade in the air just to chop down some of it because it wouldn't cut that much grass at once! It was still wet so the mower kept getting clogged and I had to scrap it out every few minutes! But with much perseverance I finally got it done and I trimmed the house and yard by 1:00pm! Then I went to the Wolf's house to help with the project elevation! We are remodeling this families house as an outreach for all that has happened to them. It is great to be a blessing to others. The house looks great and Pastor Jeff has done an amazing job at championing this whole project (as a matter of fact he was there ALL day today working HARD) I respect a Pastor that is hands on even when he has a huge day tomorrow with preaching both services! Journey we have a great pastor that casts vision but will also jump in and live the vision, sometimes that is rare! Since I hadn't eaten all day I was wasting away to nothing (hah) and thought I had better eat something. So I got in my van to head home and it was dead! The battery has been going out over the last month or so and I had to jump it with Pastor Tony's car. Finally after 20 minutes I got it started then took it to Wal-Mart and got the oil changed and battery changed. After that I went home got a shower and finally had something to eat by 7:30pm or so! Then I finally got around to painting with Bob Ross. I set everything up and turned on Bob and followed his lead! It only takes him like 20 minutes to do a whole painting, but for me it was about 2 hours. I had to stop every few minutes and figure out what he was doing and how to do it. The picture turned out pretty good. Foliage is HARD to paint. He seems to do it perfect but it is going to take me a bit to get that skill down. Everything else was fairly doable but those close bushes and tress were a little hard. I had a lot of fun though, I can't wait to show Erin and Zion and work on some more stuff! I miss the snot out of my wife and child but they will be home soon (yea!). Tomorrow I get to lead worship since Chad is out of town and I am excited about that! Worship is my passion and I love to get together with others and see what God does as we enter in HIS presence! I am blessed and I love serving my AWESOME God!

Transformers

Well, it's Friday night and Daryn and I are going to see Transformers. I figured since I am single this week what not better to watch than a good ole' guy movie! We have started remodeling the zone and it is going to get busy! I am now on project zone and we have a lot to do! I am so glad God put us here in Sallisaw among such amazing people! We love Journey and all the students God has entrusted to us! I am so excited to get the zone done so we can move into the school year and reach students for Christ! The zone is a big part of reaching students, we have to have a place that will attract students and a place where they can be teenagers! It is also great to have a place where our students can be proud of and enable them to WANT to invite their friends to encounter God's presence in their lives!

Tomorrow I am going to work all day on the house since Erin is gone! Hopefully I can mow and do some yard work as well as inside stuff! We have a lot of projects with our house so there is always something to be done! Also, I hope to do a little oil painting while the family is gone. I have set up all my stuff and am ready to go! I bought a good canvas and me and Bob Ross are going to hang out for a while! Well, Daryn is ready and it is time to go!

Our Trip Home!

Well I got back from Indiana Monday night and I am home alone! Erin and Zion are coming back with my mother and father in law in a week and a half. Erin wanted to have more time visiting family and friends since we haven't been back home since we moved here 4 months ago or so! We went back cause my big brother got married! He got married Saturday and the wedding went great! My father married them and now has been in each of his 4 children's weddings, how cool! We had a BUSY visit! We got there Thursday late night and saw some friends then went to Erin's moms house and stayed the night. Friday morning we got up went to Columbus and ate at Johnny Carrino's since there isn't one close here (we figured we better make use of it) then we went to Target since there isn't one around here (but will be soon). After that we went to the rehearsal Friday night and had the dinner afterwards. We stayed at my parents house and stayed up and talked visiting! Saturday we got up and I picked up the wedding cake with my brother in law then went to the wedding and reception. Saturday night we stayed at my parents house and played games and cooked out. The fire works for Brown County was Saturday night because it rained Wednesday the 4th and they rescheduled them. Sunday we went to 2nd service at New Life and Erin's brother and wife dedicated their new baby girl. After church we had a family lunch to celebrate the dedication. We had to leave early before we even ate to get back to my sister's daughter's birthday! It just happened that we were able to be home for Kayla's birthday and that was very special! Sunday afternoon we played games met with friends then went our old Associate Pastors reception. He had stepped down and the reception happened to be when we were home so that worked out good as well. Then we went to Erin's moms to stay the night. Monday morning I got up and headed back to our home here in Sallisaw! It was a very busy visit but it was great to see family and friends. I miss the snot out of my wife and daughter!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to do some extra work around the house and spend extra time on ministry stuff since I am single this week! Well, that was our trip and now I am going to pray and read my bible before I go to bed, so adios!

4th of July

We just got done eating dinner with the Peters and we had a great time! It is so good to have friends and fellow church members that you can relax with and share stories and life! Erin made a great meal, like always. Now we are hanging out baking some cookies and just enjoying a night at home! Tomorrow is the 4th of July event and it is going to be great! God has GIVEN us a great opportunity to be LIGHT in the community! Whenever open doors like this happen we as the church should ALWAYS jump right on it! Jesus WENT to where the darkness is, He never boycotted or shunned opportunities to love people and be around them. To say that the church should take a stand and boycott something would be the same as watching a soul walk down the path to hell and say we aren't going to say anything because we need to show them what "righteousness" is! Jesus said how will they know unless they hear. People can't hear when you stay silent in your religious bubble. Sometimes I get spiritually lazy and become so inward focused that I forget there are people who are crying out for hope! Today a young man came in the office and wanted to play music for the church. He proceeded to say he was not "religious" but left his band and wanted a place to play. I though it weird that he came to a church he knew nothing about and asked just to jump in and play! Anyway, I talked with him about an hour or so about his life and what he believed. He was one who thought to believe in God was just a coping mechanism that was scientifically proven. His thought was so wrapped around science, philosophy, and other things that he was confusing himself. After a while I said look bottom line you have a 50/50 chance if you are right in your thinking then life is pointless you just rot when you die and everything is for nothing! Or if I am right and you are wrong you loose everything and will stand in judgment before a living real God! We talked a lot more than that but basically it was a great opportunity to share hope, truth, and the reality of God with him! I thank God that he gives me opportunity to share with people and I pray that I never be silent or pass when my time comes to love people into Jesus!!! That's what we get to do tomorrow night at the 4th of July event, PRAISE GOD!!!

Romans 12:10-11

Pastor Jeff had a great message this morning at church and we had stomp practice for the freedom fest here in town on the 4th! After that Erin, Zion and I went to Fort Smith to eat and hang out, then came home and rested as we caught up on season 4 of the 4400! That is an awesome show, I suggest watching it starting with season 1! Anyway, a scripture that Pastor Jeff read today stood out to me especially after getting back from Infusion this week. Romans 12:10-11

"Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

What a fitting challenge, to never be lacking in our zeal but keeping our spiritual fervor. The dictionary says zeal is:fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor. How cool is that? Now check out what fervor is: 1. Great warmth and intensity of emotion. See Synonyms at passion. 2. Intense heat. Wow! Intense HEAT! Talk about being of fire for God! So I find it cool that one ingredient for zeal is fervor. You can't have a zeal for God (which is fervor for something) without having an intense heat for it! So Paul encourages us to NEVER lose our heat or fire for the things of God! Man, I have become guilty of being a boring follower of Christ! So many times I am so caught up in everyday things and trying to exist without an intense FIRE for the things of God! Now I don't think we have to be jumping off the walls to have fire for God, but I do think it means we need our intensity and desire to be boiling in our hearts! I mean we are the only ones that know how we truly feel in the inside! Only we can be the temperature gauge of our hearts. I know that sometimes how I feel on the inside isn't what truly comes out on the outside, but I know where my heart is and sometimes it isn't an intense fire for the things of God it is a flicker at best! I don't know about you but I accept the challenge from Paul and God's word to never be lacking in zeal and fervor, but to follow hard after the things of God because that is where LIFE, POWER, FREEDOM, WISDOM, TRUTH, COMPASSION, STRENGTH, PEACE, JOY, PURPOSE, ETC.. is found!!! God let my life be an example of zeal and fervor for YOU! May my fire never run low but teach me to fan into flame the gifts, and calling you have for my life, AMEN!