I spent the day with my mom today. So much fun. Took her to Cracker Barrel in the morning and then spent the rest of the day wandering around Charlotte. She is so much fun! The only problem is that I have to give her back to my sister and brother in Orlando tomorrow.

I absolutely love my kids. We pray over them every night and pray that they would love God with all their hearts for all the days of their lives. We know that it's our responsibility to raise them up to love God. It's our role to model for them lives that are genuinely following God. I never want the fact that we are in full-time ministry to be a hindrance to their walk with God. Sometime pastor's kids can get really sick and tired of being at church and church taking Mommy and Daddy away throughout the week.Ever since Max was old enough to talk, I started doing something that I still do to...

I am quite grateful for Dara. Especially tonight. We have spent our evening putting together over 150+ letters that will be going out to every person we know (if we have their address). We are doing another round of fundraising that will go out tomorrow and then more by the end of the week.I love doing this together. I love being able to share life with Dara. She inspires me. And she's really organized, so it makes nights like tonight MUCH easier :-)We are praying for God's continued provision. If you pray, pray for us 🙂

If you haven't checked out the Desperation Band yet, please do. They are writing worship music right now that is passionate and spot on for the church today.They are out of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO. Their writing reflects the heartbeat of a local church that God is doing amazing things in and through.And they rock.

I made a very interesting observation while I was visiting with family in Michigan two weeks ago. Everyone on my dad's side of the family can play ping pong. Not just play, but PLAY. Even my aunts were showing people up. They are like 5'2" and wailing the ball back and forth. Really an amazing sight to see. I didn't know that you could inherit a ping pong gene, but I guess it's true.I talked smack for the last two years to my dad that he was old, rickety, weak, etc. I told him he couldn't hang with the powerful pong master that I had become. Then he beat me. Repeatedly. I was humbled. And...

I am so intrigued to see the results of the survey we did this weekend at Hope. We took five minutes out of the service and had the people in attendance fill out a survey of their thoughts and views about Hope Church. This is going to be a great indicator of what people are looking for at Hope and another way to make sure we are hitting the right target. So many times we think we are speaking to the needs of people, yet we totally miss the mark. This will help.Some sample questions:- What zip code do you live in?- When we move to two services, would you be willing to attend the earlier...

Tonight we were eating dinner and I asked Max, "Do you love Daddy or Indiana Jones (his favorite Wii game) more?" His answer? "Both the same."Ugh. My son loves a fictitious Wii character that is technically made of Legos the same as he loves his Daddy. Maybe I should ground him from the Wii 🙂

We started off the month with around $200 in our fundraising account. This was our lowest amount since we have moved to Charlotte. There was no guarantee of our February paycheck.I remember blogging a couple of weeks ago that I cannot wait to see how God would provide. As promised, God came through again.We received multiple gifts from people all across the country, some small and some big. The total for this month has just passed the amount that we needed to receive a full February paycheck! Praise God! I have been so encouraged to see how God faithfully provides. I realized today that we...

Daniel chapter nine has been an incredible read for me the past two days. Daniel serves as an amazing example of a man of God that desperately prays for his city. He lays his heart out before God. He begs God for undeserved mercy. I love verses 18-19:O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city - the city that bears your name - lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy. O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act!I have had a picture in my head recently that matches this passage. When I...

Every night before we go to bed Max asks the same question: "Daddy, what's tomorrow? Is it a work day or a hang out day?" It's so cute. Hang out days consist of basically anything the kids want to do. It's my day off that I devote completely to the family.I love hang out days 🙂