10 Year Anniversary

Okay, I finally found the one picture of us on my computer without one or both girls in it! This was our graduation from seminary in December 2005! This is a fitting picture because what first brought us together many years ago was a deep desire for God and to see him work in our lives. nearly six years into our marriage we were still rabidly pursing God and each other. Four more years and two children later we are still passionate about God and one another. I believe that has been the key to our marriage relationship, and the fact that I have the most incredible and beautiful wife on the planet. Thanks for the first 10 years! Can't wait to see what God does the next 63 years!!!

Papa and Claire

I was looking for a good picture to put up of Cyd and I since yesterday was our 10th anniversary....when I came across this picture of Claire napping with Papa Ted. I missed him yesterday with thinking about what happened 10 years ago in his life and mine. I still remember going to eat at Carey Hilliard's (of course) with him to ask for Cyd's hand in marriage. I still remember the wise counsel he gave me about life and marriage. I also thought about him a lot last night as Claire graduated from FBC Preschool!

Bulloch Academy Baccalaureate

Last night I had the privilege and honor of getting to speak at Bulloch Academy's Baccalaureate Ceremony! It was such an incredible experience for me to get to share in a special moment with graduates and their families. I am grateful to the senior class as well as Anne Lomax and Deborah Carico for giving me the opportunity to share my heart and advice on such a special occasion.

It's strange to me to think about graduating from high school and getting to start a new part of life's journey as you begin college. In many ways, because of my own experience at Mercer University and the people (faculty, staff, students, community) I would love to get to do it all over again, except for the studying part. The years that Cyd and I spent at Mercer formed us and shaped us more than any other time period in our lives. We are so grateful for parents who sacrificed to put us at Mercer, the wonderful people (too many to name) who poured into our lives, and the churches that reached out to us and feed us spiritually, thanks hardly seems sufficient.

To all of my incredible students who are part of the class of 2010 I wish you the best of luck and God's richest blessings on your life as you continue along your journey with Him!! Thanks for letting me be a part of your lives the last 4 years!!

Radical The Book

I received a preview copy of David Platt's book Radical a few weeks ago. I eagerly digested it, although at times the call to a radical life of discipleship hit me so hard that I wanted to put the book down. I had hoped to actually post something before it went on sale earlier in May but I just haven't had the chance. You can learn more about the book, David Platt, and The Church at Brook Hills by clicking on these links:

http://www.facebook.com/plattdavid
http://twitter.com/plattdavid
http://www.brookhills.org/
http://www.radicalthebook.com/

Radical is an engaging, yet challenging look at the status of western Christianity, particularly in America. It served as a wake up call for me, a not-so-gentle reminder that the Christian life is not about doing things the easy way, rather it is about the call to pick up our cross and follow Jesus daily. A call that quite frankly most Christians, including myself, would rather not answer most days.

If the status quo of your relationship with God is leaving you wanting more then pick this book up to be reminded of the words of Bonhoeffer, "when Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."

Walker Percy: Twenty Years Later

I don't consider myself a fan of Russell Moore, nor do I agree with him on some issues theologically, but this is a great post about a significant writer and cultural critic of the 20th century. Made me want to go buy a book!
Walker Percy: Twenty Years Later

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Girls' Conference 2010 Slideshow

Well, our first ever Girls' Conference has come and gone...whew! It was an incredible weekend for our students and adult volunteers! Thanks for your prayers. As a side note I heard 4 sermons this weekend and preached another one myself and I can honestly say that the best three came from my better half, Cyd, with the best coming Saturday night. A huge thank you shout out to all of the wonderful people from moms, dads, breakout session leaders, church staff who helped make this weekend a great success!

FBC Girls' Conference

Here it is! Finally! The first ever Girls' Conference at First Baptist Statesboro is this weekend! There have been countless hours put into planning, preparing, and practicing for this incredible weekend. My prayer since its inception in the fall has been that God will use this weekend to speak to the lives of teenage girls here in Bulloch county.

This weekend will be a time for girls to encounter God through worship, Bible Study and breakout sessions led by godly women in our community who have a deep passion for girls seeing themselves as God sees them. Did I mention that my beautiful wife is the keynote speaker, which I am pumped about because truth be told she is the better preacher in the family! The worship band will be amazing too!

This weekend is also going to give these young ladies an opportunity to encourage one another and learn from women who don't have all the answers but they are pursuing the very one who does. I think one of the things that impresses me most about this weekend is that church and denominational lines have been set aside not just among the attendees but among the folks teaching the breakout sessions too! A true picture of unity in the gospel this weekend, how cool!!

I certainly can't leave out the great volunteers who have put so much effort into this weekend, people like Kate Foil, Julie Lavender, Debbie Hagan, and Julie Anderson plus countless others. Better than that though is the way this idea originated among our 12th grade girls and the work that they have done to create this opportunity for young women to encounter God and grow in their relationship with him.

Saturday we are featuring a fashion show with http://www.nationsoutfitters.com/ that we are also really excited to share clothing that helps young adults focus on others and not themselves!

Be praying for this weekend...I know that God is ready to do some exceedingly, abundantly more than we could ever hope or imagine.

Date Night!

Friday Cyd and I got to enjoy a rare treat, a date! Life has been crazy for us the last four months for obvious reasons and lately we have both been some consumed with ministry, that we needed a break in order to invest in each other. So I asked our friends Kate and Keith if they would babysit for us so we could go out. The only problem with us is that we aren't movie people so we didn't want to spend 2 hours together sitting in silence nor did we want to chunk out money to see Tim McGraw who was in Statesboro Friday night, so we headed to McAlister's and enjoyed conversation and dinner without two precious little girls, indeed a very rare treat.

I absolutely love spending time with my wife and my girls! So to get to have a few hours of just Cyd and I was amazing! I still get that feeling when I am in her presence that the chaos around me can go you know where because I have the one person I love and care about the most by my side. Of course, it is next to impossible to spend time together if you don't have great babysitters! Thanks Keith and Kate!

"Tell me why
I love you like I do
Tell me who,
Can stop my heart as much as you
I don't have the answers
I don't have a plan
I'm Mad About You Baby
So let's take each others' hand
As we jump into the Final Frontier"

Mad About You Theme Song
written by Don Was