Luke turns 2!

Today, our youngest turned two years old. It is hard to believe how fast they grow up. We figured there was no better way to celebrate than to get a bunch of adults together that didn't know each other and celebrate. His birthday became our excuse to have our "launch team" for The Net Church get together. Several of us hadn't met yet, and it turned out to be amazing. We met at a park on the Tennessee River that was amazing (as you can see in the photo). There was lots for the kids to do, and a great opportunity to get to know more people that will be joining us on this adventure of church planting. What an amazing group of people! You know it was a success when your four year old pulls the blanket over his head and goes straight to sleep when you get home. I am excited to get to know more and more people in this area as this becomes a little more like home everyday.

Truely random thought...

We were out at our house taking some pictures today, and I took this one of an old crooked tree in our back yard. Tonight, I was looking at the pictures and noticed some things about it. Nothing too deep but pretty obvious. It is incredibly crooked, it has some pretty big scars, and it is very healthy. This is where the random thought process comes in. I started relating my life to this tree. First of all, the scars. All of us have these in our lives. These are the difficult moments life will throw at us. For this tree, it may have been lightning or another tree falling on top of it. Who knows? My life, like any other has had its share of hard times. Next is the crookedness. This is also pretty easy to apply. Our lives never follow a definite straight path. I would have never thought I would be working where I am, living where I am, and doing many of the things I am doing. Life is constantly changing.

This brings me to the final observation. The health of the tree. I asked myself this, "Why is this tree still healthy with all it has been through?" It is simple, no matter what got in its way, this tree never stopped reaching for the light. How does this apply to my life? I am going to have my share of lightning and other trees falling on top of me through life. That is simply life. The question is how do I react to those situations. Hopefully, like this tree, I will keep focused on the light that gives me strength and will overcome these things to remain spiritually healthy.

Too many times, when life is tough, it is easy to lose sight of the light and focus on what has happened. It is important to take note of these things and grow through them, but it is not right to dwell on them and lose sight of the light.

Obviously, for me, that light is the light of Christ. As a believer, I know the importance of staying focused on his light. I would be a liar to say I have always done so. So, if you ever come to visit our new house, take a look at the old crooked tree (which will probably have to bear the weight of others via a swing, but that's another topic all together), and see if it applies to your life as well. You might be surprised, or you might think I'm a little crazy...Either way, you won't be the first.

Sometimes you have to laugh...

Our oldest is very into helicopters. I recently bought a $5 dvd at Best Buy on how helicopters work and the different kinds. He has fallen in love with this video. He asks to watch it every day...could be worse...could be elmo! Afterwards, he always grabs his toy helicopter and is instantly a pilot. This is similar to me watching a Bruce Lee movie growing up and instantly becoming a ninja...That is until my brother (7 years older than me) quickly reminded how powerless I was. Yesterday, Aaron brought me a red crayon and asked me to draw him a red X, because he needed place to have his helicopter land, just like on TV. I drew his X and went on about my business. Today, he once again sat quietly in our bedroom and watched his helicopter movie with toy helicopter in hand. This is where I failed...We later came to our bedroom and found several red X's all over our bed. I had neglected to ensure he no longer had possesion of the red crayon. The blanket and sheets on our bed are now equipped with enough landing pads for a dozen helicopters. All I could do was laugh.

House Update

Quick update on the house. The outside is pretty well done. We just need to have the lighting put up. The inside is having the painting finished up now, and next week, they are staining our hard wood floors and putting in our kitchen cabinets. Last night they were finishing the stone work around our fire place. We are all getting very anxious to get in there. We have met several people in the neighborhood, and it is like our own little Mayberry. More importantly, we will have a yard again to put the kids out in. The will be good for all of us.

It's a small world...with duct tape and smooshmallows!

In the process of preparing to move into our new house, we have been looking into putting up a fence. We had been told by a friend that the guy who put up his fence was really good and had the best prices, so our search began to get in touch with him. My wife called our friend Lolie to get the number for her daughter, who had the number for the fence builder. Hope that makes sense. While she was doing this and having a hard time getting in touch with anyone, and had to leave messages, I was driving home from work.

I decided to stop by and see what had been done to the house. As I made a left hand turn to go see the house, a mini van pullled through the stop sign and hit the back of my car. We traded insurance the police showed up and it was your usually fender bender. The guy who hit me was incredibly friendly, and we began talking about work. That's when I found out he built fences. Not only did he build fences, but he was the fence builder we were trying to get in touch with. In all of Chattanooga, what are the chances of getting hit by the one guy we were trying to get in touch with. Bad news is, my bumper is being held on by duct tape (as pictured). Good news is, I am pretty sure I am going to get a discount on my fence since he hit my car.

Luke is about to turn 2 on the 31st. Kristina is in the baking mood and bought stuff to make Luke a cake. While looking at the ingredients, Aaron got excited and asked when he could have some "smooshmallows." That would be marshmallows for those who don't know kid talk. Of course when he was on the phone with his grandma, and we tried to get him to say it, he said it correcctly.

That's the latest in my little world.

A Man of Inspiration...

I heard about a local man this weekend that I had to write about. You will have to read it all to get what was so amazing. I was at the Toyota dealership getting my oil changed when I met a local high school football coach. He was an incredibly friendly man who made my time there go by quickly. Our conversation turned to church and he told me about his new pastor. He felt called into ministry years ago. He studied theology and eventually gained his Master's Degree. The church that he was a part of still would not ordain him. He went on to write a book, but his church still would not ordain him. A small local church here was looking for a new pastor and got in contact with him. After joining the church, he was ordained and is currently the pastor there. Recently, there were some kids riding their skate boards in front of the church, and he went out to talk to them. He introduced himself as Justin and asked if they attended church. They said they did not, so he followed it up with another question. "What would get you interested in coming to church?" The boys responded that they would attend if there was a paintball course involved. Pastor Justin has just purchased 13 acres behind the church and is looking into what it would take to put a paintball course and a few other things on it. He is willing to do whatever it takes to make a connection with people. He has also walked around the neighborhood, sometimes by himself, and introduced himself to everyone within 3 miles of the church. He can often be found playing tennis on the Nintendo Wii with the youth group of this church. The most amazing part of him visiting so many on his own and playing tennis on the Wii, is the same reason his original church would not ordain him. He is completely blind. What many would see as a handicap, has not slowed this man down one bit. His heart just wants to make an impact for God, and nothing will stop him. In the words of the football coach, "If you want to see something hilarious, you should see a blind pastor trying to play tennis on a Wii." There is a lot that can be learned from this man. Never give up on what you have been called to do, and no matter what, loving people is the best way to change lives.

Another Busy Weekend in BEAUTIFUL TN

This weekend was time well spent. Friday night, we took the kids to the park where Aaron made some new friends. I don't think they knew it, but Aaron did. They were older than him, and he did his best to keep up, but just couldn't. He didn't care though. He had fun chasing them. Of course, Aaron was also being chased. Luke tries his best to keep up, but also enjoyed trying. Saturday, we took a drive up in the mountains. If I haven't mentioned it in a while, Tennessee is amazing. The view was gorgeous. We attempted to find a park, but ended up down a dirt road. There were some great hiking trails, but we weren't prepared. That will give us something to do later.
Sunday was awesome. There was an awesome service (not as good as The Net will be I'm sure). After church, we hit the local farmer's market for some fresh produce and locally grown honey. There was also some hippie on stage singing. Music wasn't that great, but Aaron enjoyed it. We also enjoyed some great local mexican food from a stand at the market (scared to ask about sanitation, but the food was good).
Today was my first day in class. Not what I would call exciting to sit in class for 11 hours, but it is nice to finally start learning what my job is all about. Only 4 weeks to go (until the 18 months of school that starts in January).
Life is great. We picked out our wall colors and wood stain for our floors. We also decided what we were going to do with the mantle on our fire place. Just picking out lights left. The only bad part is that our date has been pushed back to mid September now.
That is all that is going on out here right now. Just over a month until The Net meetings start and we continue to follow God's plan to change Chattanooga.