Praise Report - Update On My Grandma

Here is an update of my grandma, it's a little late but God is sooo good!

A week ago my grandma got the results concerning her cancer, here is the report:

My grandma's tumor has shrunk a lot and the doctor believes that the rest of it is scar tissue. He said the scan showed that the tumor was continuing to disintegrate. It has moved quite a bit away from her eye and out of the skull area. He is very pleased with the results. My grandma will just need to be rescanned every 3 months for a year to make sure that it has not started growing again. This is normal protocol for anybody who has had cancer. After a year, if it has not grown, than her scans will be spaced out further. If it were to grow again, she would need surgery but it would not be evasive or should would not lose her eye.

Thank you Jesus! And thanks for all your prayers. Please continue to pray that she would have a quick recovery from the discomfort of radiation. It’s all done but the side effects can last for a month or two after it’s finished. Thanks again for your prayers. God is faithful!

Weekend Update

1. I watched most of the NFL draft Saturday and enjoyed it! I love the NFL and can't wait for the season to start. However I did not understand the Colts 1st pick. I thought we needed defense but I do trust Bill Polian so we'll see what happens.

2. Jamie and I both have hoarse voices and are coughing up junk. She lost hers last Sunday and I lost mine while preaching Wed. Both of us are feeling better, hopefully Jace won't get what we have.

3. Yesterday was our last Sunday morning experiences in our I guess old auditorium and this Sunday we are in our new auditorium. This is very exciting and I can't believe it's already here! God is doing an amazing work at People's Church and we are so blessed to be apart of it.

4. Sunday night we watched the Amazing Race and The Apprentice, all I have to say is drama, drama, drama!

5. We also skyped my mom this weekend so she could see Jace and he said Nina for the very first time. Nina = Grandma. My mom's face lit up and I know it made her day. Jamie and I both get excited when we see Jace bring joy and happiness to others. He's a great kid and we are so blessed to have him.

6. Last, it feels good to finally blog a little more consistently. There is more to come this week so I hope you enjoy.

Track Meets

Recently I've been going to a few track meets to watch some of my students from Epic participate. Our students have done awesome and to my surprise at every meet I have seen students I had no idea were in track. Matter of fact I think the whole Santa Fe girls shot put and discus team attends Epic, they are awesome! I think we could have an Epic Track Invitational and have some heavy competition. I love all of our students and am very proud of them all. Tomorrow Jamie, Jace and I are going to the All City Track Invitational at Douglas High School to watch some more students. I never was in track but have enjoyed every meet I've been to and I enjoy supporting our students. Going to the track meets, games and events of my students is one of my favorite parts of student ministry.

Epic Leadership Team

Monday night we had most of our leader's at our house to hang out. We chilled, I burned some burgers and we played two mean games of Catch Phrase. Wednesday night's are all about the students so it was nice just to hang out with my leaders and thank them for all they do. I have an amazing team and am thankful for each one of them. Their hard work has played a huge part in our growth and our students have some amazing people investing in their lives. I feel like I have the dream team and look forward to future years of ministry with these people. They make Wednesday night's amazing for our students and our best days are ahead of us. I believe it's very hard to have youth ministy that is successful and one that lasts without a quality leadership team. Thanks team, you guys are awesome!!!

My Life Lately

Well I guess I'm either a liar or well intentioned. I will go with well intentioned, it has been my intention to blog more but recently I just have been terrible with it. Anyway here is another update of my life:

1. The youth ministry has been doing amazing. Over the last 4 weeks our numbers have grown every week and we had double the amount of students last Wed then we had last year at this time. God is doing some amazing stuff and I'm humbled to be apart of it.

2. My leadership team has also been amazing. They have been knocking it out the park with extra phone calls, being flexible, their committment and helping us put on an amazing experience for our students every Wed. I love my team and am humbled to work with them. You guys rock!!!

3. Jace had tubes put in his ears last week, I hated the fact he had to be put to sleep but he's been getting back to back double ear infections and with every ear infection he would get a fever so it had to be done before any damage was done . I love this little guy so much and I absolutely hate to see him in pain and hurting. Even thinking about it now hurts my heart, I never knew I could love someone in this way, being a dad is amazing.

4. Jamie has been sick so yesterday I picked up Jace from the daycare and took him to a track meet so she could rest, this is something I need to do more often. Jamie is an amazing wife, mom, worker and she deserves a break here and there.

5. I'm looking forward to the NFL draft this weekend, I can't wait for football to start. I'm not too interested in the NBA playoffs but I'm sure I will get into the finals. I'm hoping for all upsets. I'd love to see the Nuggets or Trail Blazers in the finals vs the Magic or the Bulls.

Weekend Update

1. Saturday we went to take Jace to his first ever Easter Egg hunt only to find him passed out in his car seat when we arrived. So much for our first ever Easter Egg hunt, we turned around and took him home. I should of known because the night before he woke up numerous times during the night crying. Our little guy was wiped out and took a great nap.

2. Saturday we also went to our first Easter Experience of the weekend at People's Church and it was awesome. The place was packed and afterwards we enjoyed a meal with friends the Wynn's at On the Border. On Sundays we typically don't go out to eat after church so this was nice, plus the food was amazing. I had never eaten at On The Border but now I will have to go back.

3. This weekend I finally understood why our NBA team is called the Thunder because Thunder in OKC is unlike any I have ever heard before. The Thunder was so loud it woke me up and felt like it shook my house. It was crazy!!!

4. Our Easter Experiences were awesome, we had over 3000 people attend and many people gave their life to Christ. Pastor Herbert's message was amazing about Jesus being the Ultimate Fighter, I really liked his last illustration, go listen to it on www.peopleschurch.tv, it will challenge you.

5. I don't dress up too often and I didn't really dress up Saturday or Sunday but I wore a bright yellow shirt to our Saturday experience and pink shirt on Sunday. I got many compliments on both shirts, I will have to wear them more often. FYI - my wife picked them both out, I'm horrible with matching and style.

6. After a long Sunday we had dinner with our friends, the Deas, who invited us over. The meal was a huge blessing and nice for us since we don't have any family near. Vernon shared with me some insights on Hip Hop and Jace loved hanging out with Nessa.

7. Jace was very sweet and for the most part gentle with baby Nessa, and for some reason he liked patting her behind. It was hilarious!

8. Jamie and I ended Sunday night with two shows we like: The Amazing Race and Celebrity Apprentice.

My Week In Review

Highlights of my Week:

1. Epic was off the hook Wed. night! We gave away BK Burger Shots to every student during the message, we had over 100 students and 8 decisions for Christ! Jesus was definitely messing some students up, it was awesome! Thank you Jesus.

2. I invited a principal, a janitor and a bunch of facebook peeps to our Easter experiences at People's Church. Praying they both show up and planning on inviting some more people. If you don't have plans come check out Pt. 1 of our Ultimate Fighter series, it's gonna be great! We have 6 experiences: 5 pm on Sat and 8:45 am, 10 am, 11:15 am, 12:30 pm and 1:45 pm.

3. Today I went to a track meet at Carl Albert High School and saw a student from PC West fall and then get stepped on, ouch! "When it rains it pours" or maybe it should be "when you fall you get stepped on." I went to see Felton, one of my students from Epic run for Northeast and he did great. It was cool to see him in his element.

4. This week has been crazy but a good crazy! Being stretched is tough but very rewarding.

5. I visited a student at lunch at Santa Fe and his friends thought I was his dad. Stupid receding hair line. Oh well.

6. Thursday we had a family date at the mall. We ate yummy Sbarro's pizza and took Jace to the play place.

7. I talked to my grandpa, grandma, mom, dad, brother and sister this week. I really try to stay in touch with my family. If you haven't talked to your family in a while, maybe you should give them a call this weekend just to say hello.

The Blog is Back with a Family Update

I just have not been motivated to blog lately but hopefully today I can get back on track. For those who read my blog regularly sorry for slackin, here is a family update:

1. Jace is one and a half and as cute as ever. He is repeating a lot of words and becoming very independent. He has to eat everything on his own now and use a fork or spoon, he also tries to zip up his jacket and will bring us a diaper when we ask for it. He can also climb on the couches and it feels like he can reach everything. He's gets a great report from preschool everyday and we love him to death! He loves to play outside, throw balls, play with his guitar and his drum set even though we lost the drum sticks, bad parents! He is still a flirt and loves to talk on the cell phone. He has been plagued with ear infections and may need to get tubes, please pray for him. We could not have asked for a better child, he is absolutely amazing and we never want to be away from him.

2. Jamie is working at People's Church as a part time worship leader and admin. She loves working at the church and she has been tearing it up leading worship. She is constantly trying out new recipes from the food network and her food is amazing. Tonight she made dessert ravioli's with nutella in them with strawberries, mm! My wife can cook! She is also extremely supportive with the youth ministry and actually preached a month and half ago and did great. Matter of fact yesterday a student told me how they used her application to help someone out. She is also a great mom and does a phenonmenal job with Jace.

3. As for me, ministry is great! I love working at People's Church and feel like I'm continually learning and being stretched. I've also started lifting weights but still have about 10-15 pounds to lose. Since hitting 210 it's been a struggle but I know I will get to under 200 pounds. On the other hand my cholesterol is still good and will remain that way for the rest of my life. My march madness bracket was terrible and I can't wait for the NFL to start back up. I like twitter and facebook, dislike myspace and have obviously been struggling with blogging, but my goal is to keep blogging at least on Mon-Wed-Fri or Monday-Friday. We have been in OKC for over a year now and absolutely love everything about it!