Taylor sings at “Steadley Idol” Talent Show

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Here is our new rock star singing Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” at his talent show on Tuesday.? He did an AWESOME job and we are SO PROUD of him!? He was originally the 53rd act out of 56 acts!? Crazy!? They didn’t turn ANYONE down…the ultimate “ALL SKATE!”? So, three hours later, Taylor finally got to get on stage and show his stuff!? He actually missed his first baseball game because of this.? He could have played in both the 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. games and STILL gotten to the talent show to perform with time to spare!

I can’t wait until we get into our new building which we share a property line with!? My heart would be to offer up our auditorium to them to have a great facility and better sound system for their special events.? We really want to be a good neighbor and they can definitely use the help it seems.

Hope you love it like we do!!

Haircuts and Chick-fil-A Fridays

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We went to Joplin for some Chick-fil-A and Tucker and I do get a haircut. Also, a perfect way to put off painting the office!

Tuck wanted his hair to be “spiky.” He also wants to wear it like a faux-hawk. Check out Noah McBride’s twin…

Alltop.com and Pocket Bacon!

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alltopOk, so I have been totally enamored by Guy Kawasaki’s blog and twitter.? I have read some of his books and his blogs for several years now, but the other day I listened to an interview of him on the Catalyst Leadership Podcast and became really interested in what he is doing.

He is a former Apple Fellow, “Mac Evangelist,” software developer, and entreprenuer.? Read more about him in this well written bio.

So here is where it gets interesting.? He has started this thing called “Alltop.”? Basically, it is like an “online magazine rack.”? Go check it out and begin searching all of your favorite topics…and maybe find some new topics you are interested in!? Actually, there is a whole topic on just BACON–what?? Come to find out, there are who blogs and websites dedicated to the greatness of bacon!bacontop

Here is where it gets even crazier!? There is an app for the iPhone called “Pocket Bacon!”? Check it out.? Wow, there is some amazing passion…all for bacon!? That is amazing!pocketbacon

Enjoy!

Remembering Columbine

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A friend of mine, John Hill, posted about being close to Columbine on a business trip the day the massacre happened ten years ago.? It brings back to my mind the next year when I had the opportunity to bring in Darrell and Craig Scott to speak at several rallies at our church.? Darrell is Rachel Scott’s father and Craig is her brother.? Craig and Rachel were both in the library when the two gunmen came in and began their shooting spree.? Craig survived the shootings, but sadly, Rachel did not.

However, it seems that a whole lot of good has happened from this trajedy.? Darrell started a crusade across America to prevent what happened at Columbine for ever happening again.? You can check out their organization here.? Her brother is an amazing young man that is the video director for the organization.

I remember that week of “Columbine Redemption” rallies like it was yesterday.? It is hard to believe that it was almost a decade ago.? The beautiful thing about the Lord is that He always seems to help bring beauty out of trajedy.? That is the gospel–namely that God took me and my mess and is making “all things new.” What was cool was that God used Rachel’s testimony to help many students find Christ in the Springfield area. We hate for tragedy to happen, but we know that a soveriegn God who “holds all things in his hands” will bring glory to his name.? Much like the statement in John 11, the tragedy of Lazarus’ death was to “bring Glory to God.”? As we see photos and video of the Columbine tragedy, let us remember to thank God for his soveriegnty and his redemptive purpose in all of our lives.

Dave Ramsey’s Town Hall Meeting for Hope

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Connect with families across the nation for a truly radical message: HOPE.

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Tired of hearing the fear, doom and gloom that?s filling the airwaves? Join Dave Ramsey for a nationwide town hall meeting and discover what?s happening with the economy, how we got here, and where we?re going. Plus, Dave will answer your questions live throughout the event!

Join us at Forest Park Carthage at the Bykota Community Center for this free event April 23 at 7:00 p.m. CST in one of the thousands of venues across the country as we stand together to reignite the fire of hope!

Check out this video to see what it is all about!!

Happy Birthday, Taylor Quinn!

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At this time 8 years ago, I was just getting back to the hospital from a pretty crazy afternoon.? Jenny was teaching K-12 vocal music at Clever, MO and was gearing up for her spring concert.? It was the day after Easter…Tax Day that year.? I had made the trip out to Clever to take something to Jenny for her concert that was coming up.? A fellow teacher came over to me and said, “I think Jenny needs to go to the hospital, but she won’t do it.”? She thought that the “back pain” Jenny was having was actually contractions.? Jenny obviously has a high pain tolerance we would soon find out.

I got a call from Jenny’s teacher friend about 3:15-3:30 informing me that I was to meet Jenny at the hospital.? She was going to drive herself to the hospital…and she couldn’t call herself because her cell phone battery was dead!? In less than an hour, at 4:33 p.m., Taylor Quinn entered in the world via emergency C-section.? My buddy Brad Daily rushed home to get my cameras and the “dads” went to take Jenny’s car back home.? My dad still to this day gives Jenny a hard time that her car was on fumes when she pulled into the hospital…and her cell phone battery was dead–not a good combination.

We are so grateful for you Taylor Quinn!? You are a great young man that loves other people and is such a good boy!? We are so proud of you and love you so much!

Here are some pictures of his “first round” of gifts…the “official” party doesn’t happen until Saturday.

Sunday Night “Sum Up”–4.12.2009 (Monday Edition)

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Each Sunday night I will be summing up the previous week’s events in a “numbered” list, along with the “sum total” of our attendance for the week…even though “I’m not very good with numbers.”

  1. Had a great Life Group tonight!? Had a game night and really needed to laugh…it was nice!
  2. Finally got most of the mess from the painting of the foyer and hallway cleaned up…mostly, but going to need to put a second coat on . . . stinks.
  3. Yesterday was amazing at FPCarthage!? We had a great crowd with a TON of new faces!? We had 329 people.
  4. The LOST series is going to continue to be AWESOME!
  5. Our FREE Family Portraits were a HUGE hit!? We took a whole lot of pictures and they are turning out really well!
  6. Spent all day on Saturday painting our foyer and upstairs hallway…glad we have an attic fan…some serious fumes going up up in there!? Reminds me of our crazy builder of our house in Ozark.? Walked onto the site and the fumes knocked me over.? Opened the front door, saw his respirator on top of the can of polyurethane.? He sticks his head out of a cabinet he was spraying and was much too giddy for words!? Sad really all of those poor brain cells!
  7. Had a great time at the Jeffries for Easter celebration on Friday night!? The kids got to hunt eggs and we gave Tom and Gwen their anniversary present for their 40th Anniversary! A weekend trip at a condo in Branson with all three families…should be fun!
  8. Taylor went to Grandma Betty’s and Tucker went to Grandma Gwen’s on Thursday night.? Date night for us!!
  9. Taylor dyed Easter eggs with Grandma Betty–an Easter tradition for them!
  10. Tucker wreaked havoc at the Jeffries on Thursday night!
  11. We saw my cousin Mark Sanders and his bride, Michelle at Johnny Carrino’s.? Really like them!? It has been way too long since we had time to sit down and talk.
  12. Eric, Alisha, and Riley Schmidt were at Carrino’s as well.? Those people stinkin’ gave us a free dessert and left before we could thank them!? THANK YOU GUYS!!
  13. Met another neighbor on Wednesday night.? The winds the other night blew our grill cover about 3 acres away in to their yard!? He gave me the “low down” on the whole neighborhood.? Funny stories indeed!
  14. Can’t think of anything else…and you shouldn’t end on 13–bad luck.? Have a great week!

Mailers hit mailboxes tomorrow

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We are kicking off a new series at Forest Park called “LOST: Finding Your Way in a Time of Uncertainty.” I am really excited about this series and this Easter Sunday!? We are going to be offering family FREE Easter Portraits…NO STRINGS ATTACHED!! Make sure you come and be a part of this awesome opportunity to reach out to our community here in Carthage and show them Christ’s love this Easter!

Check out the mailer that is hitting mailboxes tomorrow!

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Sunday Night “Sum Up”–4.5.2009

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Each Sunday night I will be summing up the previous week’s events in a “numbered” list, along with the “sum total” of our attendance for the week…even though “I’m not very good with numbers.”

  1. Had a really great Sunday today!!
  2. The “numbers” weren’t very good, but that is not all we are concerned about.? 220 today.
  3. We had a TON of elementary kids in second service!? We are planning on being PACKED next weekend!
  4. I had a conversation with a new couple that made my week this morning after service!? It is so cool to be able to be the kind of place that people “can’t wait” to come back next week!
  5. We prepared for next week’s worship response time by filming “Cardboard Testimonies.”? Check out an example here.? Ours are AMAZING too!? You NEED to be here in church this SUNDAY to see what God has done in Carthage!
  6. Had a very good crowd for our New Members Class this evening!
  7. We are gearing up for our Free Family Portraits…3 photographers to shoot a TON of pictures!
  8. Taylor had his first baseball practice on Friday night…lots of throwing and catching…if you can throw to a target and catch the ball, you are well on your way to being a good ballplayer!
  9. Supposed to have another practice this afternoon, but was called off–for SLEET!? What in the world??? We need some warm SPRING weather SOON!
  10. Got a lot of Kilz primer on the walls for our “little” (HUGE) painting project here at the house.
  11. Took a group of leaders to KC to Westside Family Church.? It was really good and I think it was awesome to have our folks be able to talk to some of their leaders and observe.? BTW, we are doing a TON of things right!!? Great job FPCers!
  12. Went to SGF to our architect’s office on Thursday.? The new building is going to really, really cool.
  13. Can’t wait for tomorrow night’s game!
  14. And the Masters this weekend!
  15. And MLB starting!
  16. Welcome Spring!

Here is a gallery of pictures that I posted on twitter and from my phone this week (and last week)…

The Week In TwitPics….