We just finished our first Sunday morning service at Hope Church. What an incredible experience. As I was walking around the school cleaning up the last little bit today I had a realization: this was my favorite day of church in my life.Let me put that in context for you. I was born in Westland, MI. I truly believe I was born, my parents kissed me and then took me straight to church. I have been there since. However...this was my favorite day. I loved that fact that I was up at 6:30am. I love the fact that we had to set everything up. I loved leading worship and then listening to Mike preach...

My new e-mail address is [email protected].

We are getting unpacked (slowly) and this week has been going great. I am, however, adjusting to life without internet service...NO INTERNET!!!! I may survive...This week has been filled with connecting with some great friends...it's almost like a reunion of sorts as we work towards our first Sunday service at Hope Church tomorrow morning. Clark and Salina Beasley have come from Atlanta to join us on Sunday. Mike and Denise (our lead pastor) just came in from Raleigh. Dayne Shope (former MC student) is down from Ohio. Dara and I came from Orlando. So much fun! I found myself driving around...

We endured the longest 8-hour drive in history yesterday. That's how long it's SUPPOSED to take to get to Charlotte from Orlando. Throw 3 kids 4 years and younger into that mix and you get a 12-hour drive instead.It was so exciting to cross the NC state line last night. The kids were so excited. Dara and I both had the sense that we had just arrived home. I am reminded of something our dear friend, Malcolm du Plessis, once told us: home is where God has you. God has us in Charlotte and it definitely feels like home.Justin and Melody Leedy came over today to give us a hand moving in to the...

I was running some errands today that brought me right by my old high school, Lake Brantly HS. So many good memories there with Paul Golin, Nick Scott and so many others. I ended up taking a 10 minute detour and took the long way home. I drove by where Dara and I lived early on in our marriage and the apartment I lived in as a teenager.I have lived in Orlando for 20 years and it's coming to a close. That's a good thing, but it is an interesting feeling leaving everything that is familiar. Somewhat surreal.I'm glad I took the long way home today.

Anyone who knows me knows this: I love coffee.I love coffee even more when sharing it with people I love. I had a great time this morning (and a great cup of coffee) with Jim Stewart. He owned and operated several Dunkin Donuts for the past 35 years (which would explain why we met at DD this morning).Jim and Moni (his wife) have played a major role in our lives the last several years. They have invested into our lives on multiple levels during our time at Calvary. I am so grateful that God gives us people who have "been there before" to help us see the road we are traveling with more...

As we are packing up our house for the big move on Monday, I keep asking myself this question:How on earth do three kids under the age of 4 have SO MUCH STUFF to pack up? Just a thought...

That title pretty much epitomizes my life these days.I started off this morning and spent a couple hours with a very close friend, Sasha Golin. It is so surreal wrapping up our time here in Orlando. Sasha and his entire family have been a huge part of my life since I was a teenager. It is still hard to believe that the goodbyes are really happening.Max, Mary and I went to a couple liquor stores today...to get boxes of course. It was quite comical to hear Max go up to Dara tonight and say "Mommy, I'm going to the liquor store with Daddy." We had so much fun cleaning out the boxes from the...

Ok...this is starting to sink in now.It started the other day when we said goodbye to Andrew and Alicia. They have been such a big part of our lives. This is one of two couples that we ask to keep our kids when we're not in town. I looked at them and realized that we were saying goodbye to people that we love dearly. Such a strange sensation.It happened again when the Alcaidinho's came by the house to see us one last time. Their family is the other family that we leave our kids with. They have 5 kids in their family and our babies absolutely love them. So do we. When Melissa hugged me it...

We're taking the kids on a little breakaway vacation for a couple of days. This will be nice to get away right before the move 🙂