Happy "day after" Easter!

SNOW AGAIN?!?

I’m sure glad that I listened to the wise person who said “Don’t put up your winter clothes until after Easter”. Well, Easter was yesterday and as you can tell by the picture, it looks like we’ll need to keep out the winter clothes for a little bit longer.

The forecast called for snow last week while our mission team from Texas was here. Although the team may have been a little disappointed that we didn’t get any snow, they were excited to see all of the kids who showed up for the after school Kid’s Club. The Lord provided most of the days with plenty of sunshine for all the activities to be held outside. He provided a little rain one day, but it didn’t stop all of the fun inside. Between games, Bible stories, crafts, snacks and more games, all the kids seemed to have had a great week. I know we did.

With the help of Pastor Bruce, we were also able to do several home visits to some home-bound elderly. As it often seems to turn out, the Lord used them to bless us. I know that I thoroughly enjoyed being able to hear about them and their families. I learned a lot about “who is related to whom?” Making home visits was something that I considered way out of my “Comfort Zone”, but once again, the Lord gave me courage to do it. I look forward to visiting again. (It didn’t hurt at all.)

I hope that the Lord will place it upon your heart to do something today that you normally would feel is out of your “Comfort Zone”. I’m sure you will be blessed richly for your obedience to Him.

Rachael

Happy Easter!

We hope you had a joyous celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! We did. Part of our celebration was three arrangements of flowers that Rachael's parents sent us, the Robinsons and the Hawkins. As you can tell, they were gorgeous.

Good shape for an older model

No, I am not talking about myself. I am talking about Austin's "new" truck. A couple of weeks ago Austin and I were running right on time for an appointment when we spotted this little Ford Ranger being driven into the Food City with a For Sale sign in the window. I told Austin that if it was still there when we came back, we would have to check it out. A couple of hours later when we came out, it was still there and we stopped to take a look. It almost seemed too good to be true, because if the odometer was correct (67k) and the condition of the body and interior were good indicators of what kind of shape it was in, it was a remarkable deal, especially for an '84 model.

We called the number on the window, and long story short, three days later we were exchanging cash and the title. The price was...well, let's put it this way; we were able to make the purchase without putting any undue strain on our budget, which isn't exactly overflowing with extra cash waiting to be spent.

We realize that this probably won't be a vehicle Austin can depend on for a really long time or lots of long trips, but for a first vehicle (that we can afford the insurance for), we think it fits the situation perfectly. This was a great deal, and we are surely thankful that it came into our path and the Lord blessed us in this way. Keep on truckin' Austin!

Happy Valentines Day!

18 years ago this week I got down on one knee and asked the prettiest and sweetest girl in the world if she would consider spending the rest of her life with me. She said 'yes' and we have been together ever since. I didn't deserve her then, and I still don't, but God gave her to me anyway. The picture to the left is from a couple of years after we married at a convention we attended.

Our two wonderful children and thousands of cherished memories are the result of our marriage.

The picture to the right is from a banquet we attended in February '04, right before we made the move to Kentucky. Both pictures are of a thorn and a rose :-)

We are looking forward to many more years together as we walk through this life hand-in-hand.

Happy Valentines Day sweetheart!

The Before and After

Last month Heather went for her regular orthodontist appointment. Things were going like usual, with the assistant replacing the wires and rubber bands. The Doctor came in to check things out and then dropped a bomb. "It looks like you will be ready for us to take these off next month." WOW! After almost three years it was time for Heather's braces to come off?!? You can just imagine how excited we all were for Heather, but not nearly as excited as she was for herself.

We didn't share the news with anyone, because we didn't want Heather to have to explain it to everyone if something happened and they weren't able to take them off for some reason. But now, as you can see, the proof of the pudding is in the smile. Needless to say, Heather's first request was that we have corn-on-the-cob for supper. She'll probably spend the next few days experimenting with apples (without slicing), fresh carrots, popcorn and a few other things. Congratulations Heather! Your smile is as gorgeous as ever!

Off again...

Yes, we are off again, this time to a missions conference in South Carolina. Please pray for us as we travel that the Lord would bless us with safety. Pray that we would have opportunities to be a blessing to those we come in contact with this weekend, from the gas station attendant to the waitress, to thos we talk with at the conference. Pray that God would continue to help us see what He is doing around us so that we can join Him in it, and pray that as we share at the conference that He would use us to help others see and hear the call that God has placed on their life.

Thanks so much for your comittment to pray for us. Know that we lift you up daily as well. God bless and have a great weekend!

I'm BACK!

Wow, that's a new record for me! I haven't posted anything here since last year! Actually, it has been 22 days! I have to tell you, though, things really have been a little hectic. Between travel to churches and keeping up with what has to be done here at the Campus on a regular basis, things have been pretty busy.

We enjoyed our "down and back" trip to Montgomery, even though we were only able to stay for about a day and half. Our time with our home church, Thorington Road (http://www.thoringtonroadbaptist.org/), was a great blessing for us. Thank you all so much!

The next few weeks should give us some more time to get things done around here, with just a few speaking times and a couple of missions conferences and a couple of teams. Mission teams will start coming back pretty regularly in the middle of March and then before you know it, summer will be here.

Hope you are doing well. Let us hear from you when you get a chance!