“For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work: at the works fo your hands I sing for Joy.”

Psalms 92:4

Big news!!! We are having a baby!!! Our little one is expected to arrive on October 4th. This is a huge praise, because Erin has had some health problems and we were not sure we would be able to have children. Please keep us in your prayers as Erin has had all day nausea for a month straight, which is taking its toll on her. Looking forward to the addition to our family, we will be hitting the support trail this spring and summer. Please, pray that God would sustain us during this time and supply all of our needs. Thank you for rejoicing with us during this time.

The ministry has been going very well. We had a Teen Lock In on New Year’s Eve that was a huge success – 146 teens attended and all heard about the love of Christ. For our FCA girls, we held a Valentine’s Day dinner and craft night. This was a lot of fun, as Erin did a devotional about the love of Jesus and what true love is. There was a great discussion with the teen girls about lies the world tells them about love. This talk seemed to really hit home with some of these young women. Our prayer is that God would continue to use that evening in their lives. Things at the Rec Center are continuing to progress. We started our Biggest Loser Contest in January and have had about 20 faithful contestants. This winter, we have had a Bible study develop from the ministry in the Fitness Center. It has been a tremendous blessing to see individuals not only get more physically fit but also more spiritually fit.

Thank you for your faithful partnership in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are hoping to see many of you face to face this spring and summer!

Praise & Prayer

· Praise God for the child we are expecting. Please pray for good health for Mom and Baby.

· Praise God for a successful New Year’s Eve Teen Lock In & that 146 teens heard the Gospel.

· Praise God for the development of two new Bible studies this winter, a teen boys study and a Fitness Center Bible Study.

· Please pray for our support development and new support contacts, as we share our ministry.

· Pray for people to come into relationship with Jesus and that He would be glorified through our ministry.

Don’t worry, I know from the title of this blog entry it sounds like I am planning on partying to much tonight or something of that nature but that’s not the case. Tonight, I am getting ready to watch UK play for the right to go to the Final Four. While there are days that people always will remember where they were at when certain events occurred, ususally those are bad things. For instance I remember exactly where I was on 9/11, the start of the first Gulf War and various other events. However, in a more happier genre, I can remembe exactly was during Kentucky’s glory days in the 1990’s as they won elite eight games, final four games, and National championships. I remember jumping on my parents counch heart broken when they lost to Duke in 1992 and then being so mad at my folks for making me go to church in 1998 as Kentucky mounted and epic comeback to upset #1 Duke in the elite 8. I remembe watching from a hotel room in Indiana when UK beat UMass in the 1996 final four. All these great memories as a team that I bleed blue for pulled out some amazing games. Then for the past 12 years I have watched as they have slowly slid away from the elite of college basketball. Listening to friends in college and around the country give me a hard time as UK made early tournament exits or worst of all missed the tourney all together last year. So tonight I sit here on my couch with the anticipation of another trip to the Final Four. An anticipation I really haven’t felt confident in since 1998. Hopefully I will remember tonight and the next two games of the tournament for a long time as well!

Over the past couple of days I have been going through old cd’s and looking at various pictures from the past as I hunt out pictures for Erin to use in a support presentation we are working on putting together. As I have looked through many pictures I find myself being very thankful. First of all I am thankful for the many friends and people that God has allowed me to come into contact with over the years. I am especially thankful for those friendships that have lasted and are close even today! I am also very thankful for the places that God has allowed me to visit during my life. I have definitely had a lot of unique opportunities. As I looked through pictures I found myself thankful for relationships that didn’t work out. For over 27 years of singleness it hurt when a relationship ended or I just found myself alone in my singleness. But now with the wonderful wife I have in Erin am so thankful God new better than I who the perfect woman for me was. Old pictures definitely have a way of making us count our blessings!

This morning we held our weekly FCA huddle at the local high school. There were reasons to be both encouraged and discouraged. Encouraging was the fact that we had two new students who haven’t been before who came and joined us for our huddle. Discouraging was the fact that so many of our “regulars” have stopped coming. As I did a lesson with the students in attendance today I couldn’t help but think about how it was a message our missing students needed to hear. The lesson was called You Can’t Do It All. It talked about commitment and how when we spread ourselves so thin we aren’t excelling in any area. Many of the students we work with God has gifted in so many areas. However as they spread themselves thin across various school activities their walk with Christ slips on the priority list and they really don’t have a strong testimony at all. Things like quiet time, church attendance, prayer, witnessing, and yes even attending FCA really just don’t happen for them. I hope you will join me in praying for our students that they would wake up and really realize their need for a solid constantly growing walk with Christ. I am really fearful for many of them who will be graduating this spring and heading out into the temptations and trials of college life and being on their own for the first time. I pray they realize their need for constant walking with God asap!!

On Friday morning Erin and I were getting ready to get up to get ready for her maternity check up at the Doctors. A few minutes before our alarms were scheduled to go off we were awakened with a phone call from Erin’s dad informing us that her Grandma Lorene had passed away. While this wasn’t totally unexpected it was a bit of a shock as we had just been visiting with her the previous Sunday.

So after working a full weekend at the Rec Center as snack bar boy, Erin and I left bright and early on Sunday morning to head to WV for the visitation and funeral. While the funeral was definitley a sad time there were some happy moments too. First of all, over a year and a half ago we were told Erin’s Grandma only had a few weeks to live. However with living so much longer we had several opportunities to spend time with her including our wedding day and the short visit the previous Sunday. So all the time God gave was with her was truly a gift. Secondly it always nice knowing that someone who passed had such a strong relationship with the Lord and now they are in Heaven with no more suffering. Also, this weekend we were able to see our niece Piper for the first time. So while celebrating the life of her Grandmother we were able to celebrate new life as well.

Today as I am back at home in KY trying desperately to get caught up on work in my office I have had a lot of time to think about all the family and friends that God has blessed me with. This weekend through all the sadness I find myself very thankful for my new family I have been given through my inlaws and just how I am blessed that so many of them know and love the Lord.

Erin and I had been talking about some people we knew who were raised in families that don’t know God and how they have struggled in so many areas of their lives from bad finances, to messed up relationships to various sinful lifestyles. While growing up as a kid some aspects of my christian family may have seemed to cause me to have a lack of “fun” looking back I am so thankful for the family God gave me and Erin and how we were protected.

Thank God for faithful Christ following family!!!