Taylor is at Centrikid Camp this week with our Kids Ministry. He is having a great time…just called us from Pastor Tim’s phone a few minutes ago. He said he was “a little home sick.” I said I was too! Check out some of the goings on at Pastor Tim’s tumblr site at kidspastor.tumblr.com. I am really thankful for such a good leader to have my kids being poured into their lives. 
This is a picture of Taylor and Patrick during devotionals…very cool.
Wow, what an awesome day for our church and the Glades community! Our first ever Easter Egg Drop was a HUGE success!
We had several hundred kids come through and EGGchange their plastic eggs for a big bag of candy at The Great EGGchange! (Get it, EGGchange?! Pretty pun-y, huh?) Our children’s pastor, Tim, says that by his best count, we gave out 1153 bags of candy! (That’s a LOT of candy!)
We think we had close to a thousand kiddos who attended the event for sure. (There may have been a few that made a couple of “EGGchanges,” if you know what I mean.)
A HUGE thank you to everyone who helped us pull off this massive event!
A HUGE thank you to Phil and Sugar Cane Golf Club hosting us.
A HUGE thank you to John Kandel and his piloting skills.
A HUGE thank you to our church staff who served for weeks in planning and implementing the vision for this community event.
A HUGE thank you to all of our volunteers who gave up their time and energy to show the love of God to our community!
YOU ALL are the BEST!!
Here are some pictures and a very short video taken by Chuck from the helicopter as they were dropping eggs.
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Here is a slideshow of pictures from last night’s outreach party we had at church called NEEWOLLAH. I am so thankful for a great group of volunteers who love Jesus and love this community. You will get a chance to see some of the great people who make up this great community in the Glades.
BTW, the camera adds 40 pounds! Actually, I need to lay off the Southern food and sweet tea! Also, there are several of Taylor’s football teammates in the pictures wearing their red Bears jerseys. There is also a sighting of Keith Stone as well. Enjoy!
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Check out this pilot’s story of the 9/11 tragedy. It is a powerful testimony and God-honoring. Well worth the 15 minutes for sure!
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The college football season just started last weekend with a bang. The Glades Day School Gators had their first home game last Friday night. And Taylor boy had his first several tackle football practices this week. It is going to be a great time for him…and me as an assistant coach. (Huge difference between assistant coach and head coach, for sure!) Oh, and the Rolling Stones are rolling along again starting tonight! We are headed for another season as a perinial cellar-dweller in my fantasy league with friends from SW MO. Here are some pics of Taylor’s first practice in full pads! He is so grown up!! Amazing!
We have our first day of school under our belts down here in South Florida! Taylor said he had “the best first day ever!” That is funny if you know our tender-hearted Taylor. He cried on his first day in Ozark and Carthage in all four grades, “just because mom cried and I didn’t want her to be alone.”
Tuck walked into Kindergarten like he owned the place. His teacher stuck out her hand to shake his hand and he kind of high fived her….classic. Here are some pics from yesterday.
We are getting our oil changed at Jiffy Lube as we are gearing up for our move to Florida. I hate coming to a place like this because they high pressure sale you to death in front of everybody else in the lobby. I feel a lot like Jerry Seinfeld and this conversation…classic! “See this gasket…I have no confidence in that gasket!” Awesome!!
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Today is Jenny and my 16th wedding anniversary! Where has the time gone? We are going to have to celebrate after we get down to Florida as we are busy in moving and getting ready to head down this next week.
I am so thankful to Jesus for Jenny’s friendship and support for all these years! I am blessed!
We have received and accepted the call today to be the new senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Belle Glade, Florida! We are very excited for the future and very grateful to Jesus for bringing us through a very difficult 14-16 months.
We feel like it is a perfect fit for us in a whole lot of ways. First, God had us both grow up in First Baptist Church in Springfield, MO and I served in two other Read more
A lot of things have happened since my last post, for sure. We have moved in with Jenny’s parents, been on a major week-long job interview in Florida (stepping toward a major burning bush in our lives), and the boys have started summer school here in Springfield. Needless to say, I haven’t been able to keep up with my blog.
The end of the world was to be at 6:00 p.m. on May 21st. It didn’t happen as Camper predicted, but the world was definitely changed for many people in Joplin and Duenwig, MO in less than 24 hours from his prediction. We were in our bathroom with our weather radio on when the storm went through Joplin. The storm track was about 10 miles to the south of us in Carthage. We had big chunks of debris in our yard following the storm.
I was able to go over and help out some on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday following the tornado. Words can’t describe the destruction that happened. There was also an indescribable force at work following the storm…the Church…busy helping rescue, recover, and restore. The amazing thing is that it the entire body of Christ irregardless of denomination–Convoy of Hope (Assemblies of God), Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, Samaritan’s Purse, and the list goes on and on.
At Forest Park Baptist Church, there has been over ten thousand volunteers come through to help with Disaster Relief, all funneled through the great ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. Forest Park turned their “bus barn” into an amazing place called “Mission Joplin” that is basically a store without cash registers for people to come and receive help. I talked to a former colleague of mine yesterday that tells story after story after story of God’s hand through the entire process. They have had a major outpouring of money and donations that they have had to ask people to stop sending donated goods because they were simply overwhelmed and didn’t have anywhere for them to store the donations. Amazing what happens when people rally around a cause.
My prayer is that in the next two to three months, the Church will continue to be there to help people in the recovery process. I have several friends that are have major trouble dealing with their insurance company over both their cars as well as their house. There is also a great difficulty in finding suitable rental houses as well as the sheer amount of debris to remove. Plus, as always, when the government gets involved, there are always a lot of red tape and hoops to jump through to get help.
If you have opportunity, you need to donate to the cause to a reputable organization. Several of those which I have total confidence in are Forest Park Baptist Church (donate here), Convoy of Hope (donate here), or Samaritan’s Purse (donate here.) You can also come and volunteer with each of these groups as well. You can also dial 211 on any touch tone phone to talk with the coordinated relief effort . They can help you find the best place for you to serve. There is also a official site for the recovery at rebuildjoplin.org. It is a very helpful site with two main options at the home page, “I have been affected and I have a need” or “I want to give to meet a need.” Check it out and get involved. While we are waiting on our next assignment (more details later) we are planning on going down to help volunteer.
Here is an amazing video of the storm and destruction. As you watch it, please pray for Joplin and Duenwig.
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