So I obviously haven't updated in quite a while. No small wonder with two boys needing bottles, changing, and trying to be in a routine. In any case, it has been a bit crazy over the last few months. I have been working at Blue Ridge UMC coming up on three months now and things seem to be humming along. I've got around 10 kids that show up regularly, and we are starting to show signs of maybe growing just a little bit. Considering my first night I was here we had five kids, I think that this is a bit of an accomplishment. I also feel like we are making an impact within the church itself. While it isn't part of my job description to read scripture, greet people, or to sing in the choir, I have always done this in whatever church we have been at. I just feel more complete as a churchgoer to do this. Honestly, I don't feel that it takes away from the youth, either. Pretty much I feel like this is one of those great examples of follow my lead. It most certainly falls into our new slogan of "Seeking Jesus, Serving Jesus, Giving Jesus" within our own church.
In any case, I have been reading some blogs about different aspects of church ministry, and I find it funny sometimes how some ministers try to put a blanket idea over all churches because that is what they feel comfortable in. I recently read a particular post about an evaluation of a church in Oklahoma where a pastor from here in Georgia had gone out. Knowing how this particular minister is and what kind of church he has had, I found it a little amusing that essentially he was telling this church that they needed to make a church just like his out in Oklahoma. One major thing that he did not address, though, was how people would connect more deeply with God through the church. It was all surface stuff rather than anything deeper than just the aesthetics of the church or the flow of the worship service. This, of course, was the major flaw at his church and was one of the reasons why he ended up leaving his ministry. While extraordinarily talented at creating an atmosphere that was inviting and new, he lacked the skill to move new Christians away from the baby food and onto the meat of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps what is saddest, though, is that he does not realize that he is lacking badly in this.
I guess what I am trying to say for myself and those who read this who are in ministry is that we must always strive to be inclusive towards others, but also that we must address the deeper needs of those that we are trying to reach. I might have a ministry that is overwhelmingly attractive towards youth in Blue Ridge, but if I am not meeting their spiritual needs, then what am I doing in the first place?
Oh well, rant over. :D More later!
1/11/12
8/16/11
Changed the background
As some of you may have noticed, I changed the background of my blog here. One of the reasons that I had it the way that it was was a defense mechanism. When we lost our two children the last time that we did IVF, needless to say I was pretty depressed. Finding that template that had the birds flying just seemed to be symbolic for me to know that it was ok. However, I didn't want to have the colors other than black for mourning on here...just somehow it all made me feel somewhat better about the whole situation.
In any case, the new template is of the world. I can't wait until the boys are here and can explore their new world. I know that it will be limited to their cribs, the house, and church for a while, but I know in all too little time, they will be able to go anywhere they want to go in the world. Only 7 1/2 more weeks until they are here (hopefully no less).
Ok, got to get to bed. More later!
In any case, the new template is of the world. I can't wait until the boys are here and can explore their new world. I know that it will be limited to their cribs, the house, and church for a while, but I know in all too little time, they will be able to go anywhere they want to go in the world. Only 7 1/2 more weeks until they are here (hopefully no less).
Ok, got to get to bed. More later!
7/18/11
New post...only 2 months late...
It seems that when I am working on school things that I don't blog quite as often as I would like to. I suppose that's because I'm already writing so much during the week that I don't really want to write too much otherwise. Anywho...in the previous two months, I've been ordained and had a job interview with a company a friend works at. Needless to say, one went much better than the other. :D
The ordination service was really great because it truly felt like I am doing exactly what God wants me to be doing in my life. I don't know if I'll end up in a church or not, but I know that being a pastor is truly what I am called to do.
As for the interview, it was not with a Christian company or church. It just didn't go as well as I thought it would. We'll see what happens over the next few days. I'll post something here when I know something. :D
For now, that's it. More later.
The ordination service was really great because it truly felt like I am doing exactly what God wants me to be doing in my life. I don't know if I'll end up in a church or not, but I know that being a pastor is truly what I am called to do.
As for the interview, it was not with a Christian company or church. It just didn't go as well as I thought it would. We'll see what happens over the next few days. I'll post something here when I know something. :D
For now, that's it. More later.
5/8/11
Finally updating.
It's been quite a while since I have written in here because I have not had a ton of time to write at all. Let's start back with Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving - We had a great trip up to the mountains and had nearly everyone from the family up at Bonnie and Jim's house. What the real surprise was, though, was when we went to TubaChristmas. Tasha had been acting strange most of that day, and I just figured that she was trying to be squirrelly. I really kind of got irritated with her because I was hungry and nobody would give me an answer on where we were going to eat. Well, what Tasha was up to was a surprise party for me at Mercier's Orchards. It was truly a great surprise, considering that I haven't had that kind of party for me I think ever. :D
Christmas - we went up to the mountains while Tasha's family went down to Florida. What was supposed to be a fun Christmas day ended up being quite scary, frankly. Tasha and I had gone to her parent's house with our cats and to take care of the two dogs up there. We knew that there was going to be a bit of snow. Most reporters and websites were saying at worst, we'd have three inches. Well, we had that when we got the Accent stuck into the snow and mud on the side of the road at Deep Gap in Fannin County. Luckily, we caught a ride from a good Samaritan that let us hitch over to Home Depot. Dad came down from the house to pick us up there.
The sad thing is, this should have been the end of the day at that point. There was around six inches of snow on the ground already. Well, we realized that the dogs (both Tasha's parents and grandparent's dogs were at the house across the county at this point), and they weren't going to 1) have enough food for two days, and 2) weren't going to make it for the bathroom for those two days either. We got a break from the snow for a while, and so BJ, Dad, and I piled into Dad's van to go down to the Bonnie and Jim's house. Well, we were doing well until we got out of the one set of tracks that went down to the house. We ended up in a ditch that was just low enough to put one tire up from the ground. While BJ and I hiked down to the house in the snow, Dad waited on a tow truck. We were able to let the dogs out, put out food and for the dogs and put out enough food and water for our cats as well. I got enough clothes for a couple of days, my computer, and our toiletries. Dad had come down and as we started to walk back, a person picked us up and took us to the van. We luckily got someone to stop with his Toyota Tacoma, and actually pulled us out of the ditch! When we got the van out, we realized that if we had gone off the road another 30-60 feet further, we would have dropped around 30 feet, and if we had gone off the road about 40 feet earlier, we would have been into heavier trees than we did hit. We finally pulled Tasha and I's car out two days later. We ended up with a full foot of snow! Needless to say, if we think there's going to be snow for Christmas, we may not go out.. :D
January - Started out the New Year at our friend's house, Kerri and Michael. We ended up getting home around 2:30. Who'd have thought that, right?! :) We began to do shots in secret for another round of IVF. Both Tasha and I felt bad about keeping everything secret from everyone, but we didn't want to have the same thing to have happen like last time and everyone be disappointed. We didn't take a trip like we usually did on MLK weekend because poor Tasha was getting progesterone shots. We did get to travel a bit, though. We also did have another major snowstorm that knocked Tasha out of school for a whole week. This made things a bit dicey because we knew we were going to have to do a transfer on the 18th of February, and that was originally a day off for her. Well, we did lose that day, but Tasha was able to take the day off later.
Also what happened in January were two important events for me. First of all, I was licensed for the ministry by Morganton Baptist Church on the first Sunday of the month. This was the first major step towards ordination for me, and made it where I could marry my first couple. That happened over MLK weekend! Kara Vick and Robert Boyer asked me to marry them at Seney-Stovall Chapel in Athens on that weekend. We nearly didn't make it because of all the ice that was still on the road after five days of it being on the roads and trees. Even when we were driving over, we still hit ice patches, especially when we picked up some of Tasha's medicine at our doctors in Sandy Springs. We ended up going sideways for a while until I could get us stopped spinning. It ended up taking us five hours to get to Athens from Emerson, a trip that usually takes only at most 2. We stayed at the Holiday Inn right next to campus and had just a wonderful time while we were there. I even danced quite a bit while we were there! :) (Btw, one of the cool things that I just found out about Seney-Stoval is that REM filmed there before. I was on the same stage as REM...just not at the same time. :D )
On a sadder note, Papaw passed away after his long battle with Alzheimer's. We ended up having a gorgeous set of funerals down in Milledgeville and up in the mountains. It was of course hard on the family, but it was definitely a release since Papaw had been sick for so long.
February-now - The last couple of months have been sort of a blur because they have gone by so quick. Why not just combine them, right?! I started classes again just before February, and just ended them this last weekend. I took a leadership class, Old Testament (which I hated because of the teacher) and a New Testament class (which was interesting, but hard b/c of the teacher's hard grading). I also changed majors to Master's of Religious Education. I finished my degree for Christian Leadership, so when I do graduate from Liberty, I'll have two Master's degrees.
On February 18th, we had two embryos implanted into Tasha. Obviously we were very nervous about going through this process again, but we trusted in God completely. We honestly felt that God led us to do IVF one more time. Well, after two weeks, we went back for our pregnancy test and were confirmed pregnant! After a couple more weeks, we actually had our first ultrasound and were able to hear our babies heartbeats. Yes, we are having TWINS! :D It was absolutely amazing to be able to hear the heartbeats, see their little bodies already growing, and know that God had blessed us so greatly. We have since heard the heartbeats grow steadily stronger, seen some of their facial features begin, and hopefully in a few weeks we'll know if we're having boys, girls, or one of each. We are also in high-speed planning mode. We already have quite a few outfits, the crib that all of Heather's kids used, a brand new crib for later for our second baby, and a list of things that I have to get done before the babies get here. :P
One other major thing that we did last weekend was to trade in the Accent for a 2004 Honda Odyssey van. I have officially joined the daddy van club. :P But at least it's the EX-L model van from that year - it has all leather, DVD system, cruise control, heated front seats, and tons of other stuff. It's a really sweet vehicle. :D
Also, I have been preaching quite a bit over the last couple of months at New Vision Baptist and Trinity Baptist here in Cartersville and once back up at Morganton. It's been amazing to be able to hone my skills as a preacher and feel much more confident while in front of lots of people. I still haven't really had a bite on a job, but I feel that one is coming very soon.
Hope that fills everyone in on all that's happened since I last posted. :D I'll try to post more often, but for now, all I have to say is that I will write more later...:D
Thanksgiving - We had a great trip up to the mountains and had nearly everyone from the family up at Bonnie and Jim's house. What the real surprise was, though, was when we went to TubaChristmas. Tasha had been acting strange most of that day, and I just figured that she was trying to be squirrelly. I really kind of got irritated with her because I was hungry and nobody would give me an answer on where we were going to eat. Well, what Tasha was up to was a surprise party for me at Mercier's Orchards. It was truly a great surprise, considering that I haven't had that kind of party for me I think ever. :D
Christmas - we went up to the mountains while Tasha's family went down to Florida. What was supposed to be a fun Christmas day ended up being quite scary, frankly. Tasha and I had gone to her parent's house with our cats and to take care of the two dogs up there. We knew that there was going to be a bit of snow. Most reporters and websites were saying at worst, we'd have three inches. Well, we had that when we got the Accent stuck into the snow and mud on the side of the road at Deep Gap in Fannin County. Luckily, we caught a ride from a good Samaritan that let us hitch over to Home Depot. Dad came down from the house to pick us up there.
The sad thing is, this should have been the end of the day at that point. There was around six inches of snow on the ground already. Well, we realized that the dogs (both Tasha's parents and grandparent's dogs were at the house across the county at this point), and they weren't going to 1) have enough food for two days, and 2) weren't going to make it for the bathroom for those two days either. We got a break from the snow for a while, and so BJ, Dad, and I piled into Dad's van to go down to the Bonnie and Jim's house. Well, we were doing well until we got out of the one set of tracks that went down to the house. We ended up in a ditch that was just low enough to put one tire up from the ground. While BJ and I hiked down to the house in the snow, Dad waited on a tow truck. We were able to let the dogs out, put out food and for the dogs and put out enough food and water for our cats as well. I got enough clothes for a couple of days, my computer, and our toiletries. Dad had come down and as we started to walk back, a person picked us up and took us to the van. We luckily got someone to stop with his Toyota Tacoma, and actually pulled us out of the ditch! When we got the van out, we realized that if we had gone off the road another 30-60 feet further, we would have dropped around 30 feet, and if we had gone off the road about 40 feet earlier, we would have been into heavier trees than we did hit. We finally pulled Tasha and I's car out two days later. We ended up with a full foot of snow! Needless to say, if we think there's going to be snow for Christmas, we may not go out.. :D
January - Started out the New Year at our friend's house, Kerri and Michael. We ended up getting home around 2:30. Who'd have thought that, right?! :) We began to do shots in secret for another round of IVF. Both Tasha and I felt bad about keeping everything secret from everyone, but we didn't want to have the same thing to have happen like last time and everyone be disappointed. We didn't take a trip like we usually did on MLK weekend because poor Tasha was getting progesterone shots. We did get to travel a bit, though. We also did have another major snowstorm that knocked Tasha out of school for a whole week. This made things a bit dicey because we knew we were going to have to do a transfer on the 18th of February, and that was originally a day off for her. Well, we did lose that day, but Tasha was able to take the day off later.
Also what happened in January were two important events for me. First of all, I was licensed for the ministry by Morganton Baptist Church on the first Sunday of the month. This was the first major step towards ordination for me, and made it where I could marry my first couple. That happened over MLK weekend! Kara Vick and Robert Boyer asked me to marry them at Seney-Stovall Chapel in Athens on that weekend. We nearly didn't make it because of all the ice that was still on the road after five days of it being on the roads and trees. Even when we were driving over, we still hit ice patches, especially when we picked up some of Tasha's medicine at our doctors in Sandy Springs. We ended up going sideways for a while until I could get us stopped spinning. It ended up taking us five hours to get to Athens from Emerson, a trip that usually takes only at most 2. We stayed at the Holiday Inn right next to campus and had just a wonderful time while we were there. I even danced quite a bit while we were there! :) (Btw, one of the cool things that I just found out about Seney-Stoval is that REM filmed there before. I was on the same stage as REM...just not at the same time. :D )
On a sadder note, Papaw passed away after his long battle with Alzheimer's. We ended up having a gorgeous set of funerals down in Milledgeville and up in the mountains. It was of course hard on the family, but it was definitely a release since Papaw had been sick for so long.
February-now - The last couple of months have been sort of a blur because they have gone by so quick. Why not just combine them, right?! I started classes again just before February, and just ended them this last weekend. I took a leadership class, Old Testament (which I hated because of the teacher) and a New Testament class (which was interesting, but hard b/c of the teacher's hard grading). I also changed majors to Master's of Religious Education. I finished my degree for Christian Leadership, so when I do graduate from Liberty, I'll have two Master's degrees.
On February 18th, we had two embryos implanted into Tasha. Obviously we were very nervous about going through this process again, but we trusted in God completely. We honestly felt that God led us to do IVF one more time. Well, after two weeks, we went back for our pregnancy test and were confirmed pregnant! After a couple more weeks, we actually had our first ultrasound and were able to hear our babies heartbeats. Yes, we are having TWINS! :D It was absolutely amazing to be able to hear the heartbeats, see their little bodies already growing, and know that God had blessed us so greatly. We have since heard the heartbeats grow steadily stronger, seen some of their facial features begin, and hopefully in a few weeks we'll know if we're having boys, girls, or one of each. We are also in high-speed planning mode. We already have quite a few outfits, the crib that all of Heather's kids used, a brand new crib for later for our second baby, and a list of things that I have to get done before the babies get here. :P
One other major thing that we did last weekend was to trade in the Accent for a 2004 Honda Odyssey van. I have officially joined the daddy van club. :P But at least it's the EX-L model van from that year - it has all leather, DVD system, cruise control, heated front seats, and tons of other stuff. It's a really sweet vehicle. :D
Also, I have been preaching quite a bit over the last couple of months at New Vision Baptist and Trinity Baptist here in Cartersville and once back up at Morganton. It's been amazing to be able to hone my skills as a preacher and feel much more confident while in front of lots of people. I still haven't really had a bite on a job, but I feel that one is coming very soon.
Hope that fills everyone in on all that's happened since I last posted. :D I'll try to post more often, but for now, all I have to say is that I will write more later...:D
11/16/10
Crazy
It's been a crazy couple of weeks since I last posted and it's not letting up. First of all, it's a week to Thanksgiving now. We are only 46 days until a new decade (I suppose we'll call them the Teens). It's hard to believe that this year is nearly done, though. I know that God's going to continue to bless us next year.
It looks like we are going to be back up at Morganton Baptist for a while starting the last weekend of December. Not sure what all I'm going to get involved in yet, but I know it'll be good. :D One thing that I know will happen is that I'm going to try to start a young married and soon to be married class up there. I feel that this is something that God wants me to do.
In any case, got to run for now. Clothes are waiting to be folded and washed. More later!
It looks like we are going to be back up at Morganton Baptist for a while starting the last weekend of December. Not sure what all I'm going to get involved in yet, but I know it'll be good. :D One thing that I know will happen is that I'm going to try to start a young married and soon to be married class up there. I feel that this is something that God wants me to do.
In any case, got to run for now. Clothes are waiting to be folded and washed. More later!
10/20/10
It's been a while...
So, you see the title, no real reason to re-write it. :D In any case, I finished this semester of classes, and it looks like I'm going to have 2 A's in these classes. They weren't as easy as I thought they were going to be. The first was Discipleship 500, which is basically an introduction class to discipleship. The final project is what kicked my butt. Talk about practical learning; we had to come up with a complete discipleship curriculum for a particular group within the church. Mine ended up being youth, and I think that I did a decent job on it. However, I also think that it would have been much better had I not waited until Thursday night to really get working on it. I had worked on it some on Wednesday, but I realized on Thursday that I was doing everything wrong and had to basically scrap everything. In any case, I finished it, got it turned in, and will be reworking it sometime in the near future so that it more represents the kind of youth group that I want. :D
The second class was Team Leadership and Conflict Resolution. Talk about hitting home. What this class did was remind me that even small conflicts can result in separation from God. Not exactly a pretty picture. We had to do a paper on a book called "The Peacemaker", and it was tough. There was some conflict in my life that I liked to hold onto rather than letting God take care of it, but I was able to realize my mistake and correct it.
I could have graduated this semester, but I wanted to take two more classes. I was thinking that I was going to take Prep of the Sermon, but I realized that it was not that practical for me to do so. This is not to say that I don't need it; I just feel that I need help in other areas more so. Also, I have access to the course syllabi if I ever want to find more books to read. So, the first class that I chose was Intro to World Missions. I have long felt that I want to work in home missions more than world, so this may end up being more of a challenge than I anticipate. The kind of cool thing about this class is that there is a 15 page paper that is about people groups and how to reach them. This sort of ties into home missions because there are so many people from all different places in the world right here in the US, so it's important to know where they come from, who has been working with them to know Christ, and how to culturally meet their needs in the name of Christ. I know that I'm probably the only nerd who gets excited for things like that. :D
The other class is sort of a repeat of one of my earlier classes, but I feel that I need more work in it. It is New Testament Introduction, which is similar to New Testament I. The difference is that it is more historical in view, thus quenching my thirst for historical classes. :D That, and I think that it will help me again to focus on the reasons why God chose to send Jesus at that time rather than another.
In any case, I'll be finished with classes sometime in March this coming year. I think that I'm going to enjoy these classes. Y'all keep praying that God leads me to the church that I need to be at and to the place in both Tasha and my lives that he wants us to be in! :D
More later...
The second class was Team Leadership and Conflict Resolution. Talk about hitting home. What this class did was remind me that even small conflicts can result in separation from God. Not exactly a pretty picture. We had to do a paper on a book called "The Peacemaker", and it was tough. There was some conflict in my life that I liked to hold onto rather than letting God take care of it, but I was able to realize my mistake and correct it.
I could have graduated this semester, but I wanted to take two more classes. I was thinking that I was going to take Prep of the Sermon, but I realized that it was not that practical for me to do so. This is not to say that I don't need it; I just feel that I need help in other areas more so. Also, I have access to the course syllabi if I ever want to find more books to read. So, the first class that I chose was Intro to World Missions. I have long felt that I want to work in home missions more than world, so this may end up being more of a challenge than I anticipate. The kind of cool thing about this class is that there is a 15 page paper that is about people groups and how to reach them. This sort of ties into home missions because there are so many people from all different places in the world right here in the US, so it's important to know where they come from, who has been working with them to know Christ, and how to culturally meet their needs in the name of Christ. I know that I'm probably the only nerd who gets excited for things like that. :D
The other class is sort of a repeat of one of my earlier classes, but I feel that I need more work in it. It is New Testament Introduction, which is similar to New Testament I. The difference is that it is more historical in view, thus quenching my thirst for historical classes. :D That, and I think that it will help me again to focus on the reasons why God chose to send Jesus at that time rather than another.
In any case, I'll be finished with classes sometime in March this coming year. I think that I'm going to enjoy these classes. Y'all keep praying that God leads me to the church that I need to be at and to the place in both Tasha and my lives that he wants us to be in! :D
More later...
9/7/10
Ready for this year to end.
So, I had to go to the doc today. Yesterday I had a bad toothache (so I thought) and just felt sort of cruddy because of it. Last night, my right cheek began to swell, but it looked like I had a sunburn on it, so I didn't really think about it too much. Well, today, I was swollen badly to the point that when I got to the doc, I was beginning to see some of the swelling towards my eye. Needless to say, not good.
Now, I know what most of you are thinking: why didn't you go to a dentist?! It's because while we have dental insurance, the only company around here that will take it is Coast Dental. The last time I was at Coast, I ended up with a poorly fitted crown that I found out that I didn't need. I had discoloring on my teeth that the doctor misdiagnosed as a major cavity. So, without working to make sure that it was just discoloring, he went ahead and starting drilling because this dentist knew he was going to get a big payday on it. In the meantime, he bruised my cheek to the point that it was black and blue and hurt me pretty bad. (Hmm, maybe this is why I avoid dentists like the plague?) So, that's why. That, and by today I was able to close my teeth without any probs.
Well, the doc came in and I described what was hurting me, and of course he was my cheek. He looked in the cheek and also felt along the cheekbone until he found where I was hurting (but gently). What I have is a infected salivary gland with stones likely in it. Like kidney stones, but your face. Who knew, right?! So, he has put me on a STRONG antibiotic (that I have to take 4x a day), gave me a steroid shot 'intermuscually' (i.e.: in my butt), and gave me more steroids to start taking tomorrow, which begins with 6 pills!! Oh, and he told me to chew gum if I can on the side that is hurting because it'll cause the gland to work and push out any grime. Guess what happened when I got gum and started chewing? Of course, grit came out. Yummy.
So, I am chewing gum like it's going out of style, but it's making my face feel better. I'm hoping that these meds work quickly because I was starting to look like Quasimodo. I just don't get how our family keeps getting the weird things this year. Hemorrhoids, tubal pregnancy, infected salivary gland. Ug. No more!
Ok, more later...
Now, I know what most of you are thinking: why didn't you go to a dentist?! It's because while we have dental insurance, the only company around here that will take it is Coast Dental. The last time I was at Coast, I ended up with a poorly fitted crown that I found out that I didn't need. I had discoloring on my teeth that the doctor misdiagnosed as a major cavity. So, without working to make sure that it was just discoloring, he went ahead and starting drilling because this dentist knew he was going to get a big payday on it. In the meantime, he bruised my cheek to the point that it was black and blue and hurt me pretty bad. (Hmm, maybe this is why I avoid dentists like the plague?) So, that's why. That, and by today I was able to close my teeth without any probs.
Well, the doc came in and I described what was hurting me, and of course he was my cheek. He looked in the cheek and also felt along the cheekbone until he found where I was hurting (but gently). What I have is a infected salivary gland with stones likely in it. Like kidney stones, but your face. Who knew, right?! So, he has put me on a STRONG antibiotic (that I have to take 4x a day), gave me a steroid shot 'intermuscually' (i.e.: in my butt), and gave me more steroids to start taking tomorrow, which begins with 6 pills!! Oh, and he told me to chew gum if I can on the side that is hurting because it'll cause the gland to work and push out any grime. Guess what happened when I got gum and started chewing? Of course, grit came out. Yummy.
So, I am chewing gum like it's going out of style, but it's making my face feel better. I'm hoping that these meds work quickly because I was starting to look like Quasimodo. I just don't get how our family keeps getting the weird things this year. Hemorrhoids, tubal pregnancy, infected salivary gland. Ug. No more!
Ok, more later...
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