We shot a 67

Yesterday I played in a best ball tournament and I did......very well! I did not think any of my balls would get used and that I would do horrible. We actually used a decent amount of my balls and I putted extremely well. It felt good to contribute and I feel like I played very well. My driving still stinks but the rest of my game was pretty good. I know you are thinking my teammates must have been terrible but two of them played in high school. The biggest victory was I did not get upset, I left the course feeling good and I got a little tan. Matter of fact I left feeling so good I might have to play golf a few more times this year. I think all I need is a new driver to take my game to the next level :). I was also nervous about how my back would do and it feels great! Thank you Jesus!

The Driving Range

Sunday night I went a hit some golf balls to prepare for a best ball tournament I was going to be in. This is the first time I hit a golf ball in over a year and it was frustrating. Golf is the one game that frustrates the mess out of me. I actually quit playing golf for a period of time because I would get so mad playing that I wanted to scream bad words and I would leave the golf course ticked off. At that point I realized it's time to take a break. The Bible says if your hand causes you to sin cut it off, well golf was causing me to sin so I cut it off! I also saved myself about 20-30 dollars a round :). Is golfing a sin, no way, my reaction to golf was sinful and so it had to be sliced and diced! Tomorrow I will blog about how I did in the tournament, pray for me!

We're Family

We had staff retreat this week and it was a blast! The food was amazing, the lake was beautiful, the pool was refreshing but nothing was better then the fellowship. We have a ton of fun at staff retreat but my favorite part is connecting and hanging out with my fellow coworkers at People's Church and their families. I work with some amazing people who know how to work hard and play hard. Jamie and I really feel like we are apart of family and even though we have only been here a year and a half, it feels like we've known these people forever. Having a great work atmosphere and feeling apart of a family really makes ministry so much more enjoyable! As Pastor Herbert says "We're Famillllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!!"

Six Flags Over Texas

Last Thursday we took over 40 students and 8 leaders to Six Flags Over Texas. The trip was a blast and we had zero issues, thank you Jesus. There were no lines so we got on every ride we wanted as many times as we wanted. I think I rode the Titan 7 times and once I even rode in the first car. I never do that because I hate to wait in lines and the first car line is always longer then the others. The park was so empty we even walked right on to the first car line, whoohoo! I have to say my favorite ride was the Mr. Freeze, I was talking to Jesus the whole way up and definitely on the way back which was backwards!!! Speaking of Mr. Freeze we could have used him because it was scorching hot that day. I know why Texas has the phrase "don't mess with Texas" because if you do you will get burned. My head is peeling as I speak from the sun burn. All in all, the students had a blast and that always makes the trip a success. I also have to say a big thank you to my adult leaders who went, they were a huge help. See you again next year Six Flags!

Wednesday Night Recap

We had another great night at Epic, here are a few highlights:

1. It was soo hot outside none of our kids hung outside the church before service. That was a first! I believe it was 100 degrees.

2. We showed a powerful testimony of a student who thought she couldn't save her purity til marriage and had very low self esteem before she came to Epic, she shared that after our sex series she realized with God's help she can and will save herself till marriage and God has given her much more self confidence. It was powerful testimony and I was blessed to hear it. Thank you Jesus for life change.

3. Daniel Green has been hooking us up with some great videos. I really appreciate the work he has done.

4. 10 student's made decisions for Christ, thank you Jesus!!!

5. Tonight I shared a message about hearing from God. I shared 3 truths: God is not a God of confusion, God gives confirmation and we can hear God by being close to God.

6. Callie Wood, one of our interns did a great job leading the song Came To My Rescue.

7. After service we finally had our 3 on 3 champs vs Epic leaders game. The Epic leaders won 10-7, I had 4 points which is pretty good since I haven't played bball in a few years but having 6'10 Derek Colvin on my team was definitely the key to our win.

8. I'm am out of my mind excited about what God is doing at Epic Student Ministries, we are growing and seeing lots of life change. God is good!!!

A Lesson from the Deadliest Catch

I'm watching the Deadliest Catch where the deck hands have been breaking ice for four hours. They have to do this because as the ice builds it can add 30 tons of weight to their ship which will make it top heavy, cause it to cap size and then dump the men in the freezing Bering Sea and kill them. Breaking the ice is time consuming and hard work, but it must be done to protect the boat and everyone on it. It makes me wonder is there anything in my life weighing me down that needs to be broken off. Whether it's sin, stress or bad time management Satan will do whatever he can to weigh us down and destroy us. Let's always examine our lives to see if any ice is building up and if there is do whatever it takes to break off the ice. It may take hard work and be time consuming, but in the end it will always be worth it.

Jace Update

Jace is growing up very fast. Being a dad gets better and better and I'm loving every moment I have with Jace. Here are a few new things he's doing and saying:

1. Jace has finally learned to say please! Although it sounds like mease. He also says milk and yuck and puts a heavy emphasis on the K, it kind of sounds Russian, haha. Mease sounds so much better then mine which is one of his favorite words.

2. After we pray for Jace in put him in bed he tells us night, night before we leave his room.

3. When we sing "You Are My Sunshine" or any slow sadder sounding sound Jace gets very sad. His bottom lip pops out and tears start to well up in his eyes. He is sensitive.

4. Yesterday he said bubble for the first time and he loves playing in the pool. A few months ago he hated the water, yesterday he jumped into a baby pool with all his clothes on. He dropped his cookie in the pool so he had to save it, haha. That's my boy!

5. Jace loves babies and is very gentle with them. I think his favorite baby is Nessa, he's very sweet and gentle with her.

6. The car has also turned into a roller coaster, whenever we go fast or up and down hills Jace says Whoa!

7. Jace also loves to throw and play with balls. His favorite to say and play with are basketballs, watch out Kobe!

Random Thoughts

1. I can't believe the Magic blew game 4. I would love to see a comeback but I don't think that's happening.

2. Last night I watched game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and I enjoyed it. It's the only hockey game I watched this season. I'm happy for the Pens but kind of annoyed that the city of Pittsburgh keeps winning championships. At least I know they won't win the World Series :)

3. Speaking of baseball I saw the Yankees win the most random game ever. With 2 outs and 2 on in the 9th, AROD popped up and the 2nd basemen dropped the routine pop up. Two runs scored and the Yankees win 9-8. For those that think the Yankees ghosts were left in the old stadium, they were wrong!

4. I feel bad for Jace who is getting his back teeth in. Every time he eats or drinks he is in pain and it stinks!

5. Jamie and I watched Valkyrie this week on a date night and thought it was ok. The best part was we only paid a dollar for the movie. Gotta love Redbox. We also enjoyed $1 sundae's from Sonic.

6. I wish I never started shaving and I wish I could dance.

Learning How To Take A Vacation

Taking vacations time to visit family can be very interesting especially when you are your spouse's families both live in the same city. Jamie and I's family both live in Indy and previous vacations have been at times stressful and tiring. Jamie and I both come from divorced families so we have 4 families to visit instead of just two and since Jace has been born we have done everything we can to make sure all the grandparents and family see him as much as possible. With that we've turned into Jeff Gordan trying to drive to different homes to squeeze in as many visits as possible and have ended our vacation feeling tired and stressed at times. This last vacation we knew we had to make a change so this time we made sure all the family saw Jace but we still made plenty of time for us to have some rest and relaxation. We gave every grandparent one full night, one extra visit and took one overnight trip for Jamie and I and 2 nights for Jamie, Jace and I. We did not see our family as much but we left Indy feeling refreshed, restored and relaxed. It was one of our best vacations. We love our family and want them to see Jace but we also need time for ourselves. Plus it should give them more incentive to come visit us in OKC. :)

Wednesday Night Recap

Here are a few highlights from Epic tonight:

1. Tonight was our promotions Wednesday where all students officially moved up to the next grade. Our Juniors became Seniors, Seniors became Graduates and we welcomed our new 6th graders. We had 18 first time 6th graders, who seemed to really enjoy Epic and I look forward to getting to know these students.

2. I also had a great meeting with 6th grade parents to share with them the vision, purpose and info about Epic. I love having parents involved and helping them mold and shape their students into all that God desires for them to be.

2. Jamie and the worship band tore it up tonight. They did three of my favorite worship songs: Let God Arise, All Because of Jesus and Always.

3. I have a great team of leaders who did a ton of extra work tonight to get Epic ready and torn down. I appreciate all their extra help and I'm truly blessed to work with such great people. They are awesome!!!

4. Tonight I read the poem "The Fellowship Committed To Do Whatever It Takes" for one of my illustrations. This is one of my favorite poems and is very powerful. I will post it tomorrow in my blog.

5. 6 students made commitments to Christ tonight. I'm praying for these students and excited for all that God has in store for them.

6. It was another great night at Epic and I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited about the future. Thank you Lord for enlarging our territory!

Random Thoughts

1. I'm excited to have my brother in town. I haven't seen him since Thanksgiving and probably won't see him again til Christmas or maybe even next summer. He is training to be a youth pastor at the Fort Meyer's Masters Commission. Next year will be his third year.

2. Some qualities I really appreciate about my brother are his passion for prayer, his servant's heart, he's very loyal and has a huge heart for the lost. He will be a good youth pastor.

3. I'm picking the Magic in 6 but not feeling very good about my prediction after last night's game.

4. Go Pens!!! I watched some of the Stanley Cup Finals last night and enjoyed them.

5. If I don't have a certain team to cheer for in a game I will always root for the underdog unless they are playing a team I hate like the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Cubs, North Carolina Tar Heels, LA Lakers or Michigan.

6. Today I took my brother to Big Ed's Hamburger, in my opinion they have the best burger in OKC for the best price. Only $4.99 for an awesome burger, a basket of fries and a drink. No place in OKC can beat that.

7. My favorite burger place period is Five Guys. The only thing I don't like is they are a little pricey.

8. Come visit People's Church this Sunday at 9 am, 10:30 am or 12 pm, Pastor Herbert is continuing our series called God is. It's gonna be an awesome experience so don't miss it and bring some friends!!!

9. Jamie is making Enchiladas tonight, time to eat!!!

Wednesday Night Recap

Here are a few highlights from Epic Last Night:

1. Last night was Uncensored. Uncensored is where we take questions submitted by our students from previous weeks and then use one night to answer them. The way it works is I run around the auditorium with a mic so the students can answer the question first and then we have a panel of my leaders who give a biblical answer or perspective on the question.

2. Here are the 4 questions we addressed last night: Is abortion a sin? How do we know when God is talking to us? How to do you talk to a homosexual about the word of God when they already know what is right? How do you love somebody?

3. Our students gave some great answers and I thought the night was a big success.

4. 8 students made commitments to Christ last night. Thank you Jesus!!! It never gets old seeing students give their life to Christ.

5. The team of Felton Knighton, Vance Holmes and Kevin Parker won the Epic 3 on 3 Bball Championship. They were given trophies and next week they get to face our Epic Leaders Team. If they beat them they win $150. Our leader's team feature Derek Colvin (he's 6'10), G Pratcher (he's like Charles Barkley) and a mystery leader. It will be a tough game for our students.

6. Big thanks to all of our leaders for their hard work and flexibility. You guys are awesome and there is no way I could do this successfully without you.

7. Lastly I thank God for the life change and growth we are seeing. None of this would be possible without Him!

Jace's First Yankees Game

On Memorial Day we took Jace to his first Yankees game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. This day was filled with firsts. He ate his first ball park dog, attended his first professional event, saw his first home run, got his first Yankees hat, saw his first Yankees win (10-1, they spanked the Rangers) and after the game we ate at Pappasito's (best Mexican restaurant) for the first time as a family. It was a spontaneous trip and we had a ton of fun. I look forward to taking Jace to many more professional games! My dad has taken me to many games and I'm excited to do the same with Jace. They will be great family and father/son outings. The two I look forward to the most are his first Colts game and his first Yankees game at Yankees Stadium. I'm thoroughly convinced that family time is the best time!

3 weeks!!!

Wow, I haven't blogged in 3 weeks...I know I'm a failure, haha. Actually we went on vacation for a week and a half and my week after vacation was a lot of catching up. I know it's not a good excuse but that's all I got. Here are some highlights from our trip home to Indy:

1. On May 15th Jamie and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. We went to Sullivan's for dinner, ate steak and king crab, stayed the night at a hotel that upgraded us to a suite, fell asleep watching Slumdog Millionare and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel in the morning. It was an awesome overnight date and we were thankful to have grandparents near to watch Jace. Jamie is an amazing wife and I can't believe we've already been married for 5 years. It's been the best 5 years of my life and I love Jamie more and more everyday. She is my caucasion queen!

2. Sunday we went to my sister's church and really enjoyed it. The worship and message were very good and we left their feeling refreshed. The church is called New Beginnings Fellowship.

3. We spent at least one night with each of our parents, being from divorced homes that is 4 nights. All the grandparents loved seeing Jace and we had a great time with them.

4. I also preached at my brother in law's youth ministry. It was an honor to speak and one girl got saved who was 1st time guest and was leaving for college later that week. God is sooo good.

5. One of the highlights of the trip was we got to spend time with Jace's great grandparents. My grandma has overcome cancer and was heading back to Europe and we go to see them before they left. My grandma is a hero in my eyes for making it through her battle with cancer and I'm very glad they go to see Jace. They flew back to Brussels, Belgium two days after we flew back to OKC.