We Have Help Guarding Our Hearts!

I’ve posted before about the importance of guarding our heart. It is the first verse we’ve had our kids memorize and sets up a lot of the parental decisions we make. There are many things we don’t allow our kids to participate in because we feel it would be letting our guard down.

However, over the years the more I’ve thought about this verse the more truth I’ve gotten from it. I ask my kids often, “How’s your heart?” We talk about if anyone has broken a promise to them. If anyone has lied to them. If anyone has hurt their heart. I don’t want my kids to grow up with broken, pain-filled hearts. Because people with broken, pain-filled hearts not only have a hard time in life, but often inflict brokenness and pain on others.

As a dad this gets tricky though and sometimes feels like a daunting task. Pain in many shapes and forms happen. Broken promises and lies happen. Broken hearts are a product of these things. But a few weeks ago I was reading and realized we don’t have to do this all on our own. The peace of God is here to help us.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

– Philippians 4:7 (NIV – emphasis added)

As a dad, and as a Christ follower, it’s good to know that God doesn’t leave this awesome task to us alone. He is here to help our kids… and us.

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Simply Beautiful

Chris Allen was the best on American Idol tonight. He covered Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love.” (Which was also covered by Garth Brooks, Billy Joel and many others, yet the judges kept giving Garth credit for the song.) It reminded me of my new favorite cover of this great song though. I give you Adele:

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The Downside of Facebook

A few years ago I scoffed at social networking. I just couldn’t see any good reason for them. However, in recent months I have seen very real benefits, personally and professionally, from tools like facebook, twitter and cmconnect. Heck, I’ve turned from a non-believer to having over 800 friends on facebook. I’m not sure how that happened, and I sure hope all of my facebook friends don’t show up at my house at the same time! 🙂

Anywhoo, while there are some good reasons for being on social networks, there are some annoying things about it as well. This guy nailed some of the things about facebook that in my opinion serve no purpose.

And just so you know, I never did a 25 things about me!

Thanks Matt for posting this!

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A little UPDATE

We’re getting settled in and finding our way in Lawrenceville. The church folks welcomed us with open arms on Sunday and had a very nice reception for us that night. The people here are great and we look forward to serving with them.

Blake started school yesterday at Grayson Elementary and seemed to really enjoy it. We met his teacher and toured the school. Evie and I are both excited to have in in such a good school. Today was Anna Brooke’s first day in preschool at GUMC Preschool. Someone told Evie earlier today that it was nothing short of a a small miracle that we got her in there. She said, “They NEVER have openings!”

Since we arrived we’ve been very busy and really hit the ground running. In the midst of moving I had a NCLA meeting all day on Monday but was back in time for my first elders meeting that night. Today was my first FULL day in the office. I’ve got a lot done and look forward to meeting all the Wed PM Seekerville (Children’s Ministry) staff tonight and spending some time with the RESCU (Student Ministry) team as well.

Finally, we are going to go down to Tallahassee on Friday to get the rest of our stuff. We think we’ve worked out a short term storage solution. I say short term because… WE FOUND A HOUSE!! We made an offer on it a couple of weeks back but didn’t hear anything until Sunday afternoon. If the inspection goes well, we hope to move into it in the next few weeks. Pray that all of the details come together.

For those of you who are interested… this is our little update. We’ll keep you posted.

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Taking the Train to Georgia

Evie and I have accepted a new ministry assignment at Lawrenceville Church of God (LCOG) in Lawrenceville, Georgia. I will serve as the Family Ministries Pastor and provide leadership to the Nursery, Children, and Youth ministries. We’re extremely excited to join the wonderful staff at LCOG and serve alongside them. Additionally, we’re thrilled for the opportunity to minister with family. Kevin Harris, my brother, is the senior pastor at LCOG. We’re grateful to him and the elders who’ve graciously invited us to be a part of their team.

Leaving GenesisChurch.tv was not an easy decision. We made it after weeks of prayer, fasting, and seeking of wise counsel. When we arrived in Tallahassee a year and a half ago, all the people of Genesis were quick to open their hearts and homes to my family, and for that I’m tremendously thankful. We’ve learned so much from Pastor Brian and the rest of the staff and we’re certainly leaving the richer for it.

On this journey of faith there will be many new challenges, lessons, and victories ahead of us. As they happen, I will continue to share them here. Immediately though, we’re focsued on getting our family moved. So if you know us, and you pray, we’d appreciate your prayers this week. We’ve got a LOT to do and need many logistical things to come together to ensure a smooth move for our family. Today we’re packing up. And on Wednesday (just like in this classic song), we’ll be taking the train to Georgia… WHOO WHOOOOO!

Well figuratively at least. 🙂

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11 years ago today…

… is when it all started! And it just keeps gettin’ better!

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New Year’s Fireworks

Yes… this is me pointing at the little fireworks display gone bad at my brother’s house on New Year’s Eve. It was an exciting display, just in a way we had not planned. The picture looks worse than it actually was though. The fire was gone in like under a minute… but it was an exciting minute! (There are a few more pics on my facebook profile thanks to my sister. She’s always got her phone with her and never misses a photo-op!)

Happy New Year everyone!

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Why I LOVE Christmas

• Unplugging from the daily routine
• Admiring the hills of Tennessee
• Seeing 60+ year old people play Wii (Hilarious!!!)
• The smell of dinner cooking
• Mama’s dressing (BEST EVER!)
• Mac & Cheese (don’t care who makes it… just HAVE SOME!)
• Sleepy time (immediately following dinner… lol)
• Reading the Christmas story in Luke 2 before…
• Opening presents one… by… one…
• Watching the grandkids wait their turn… one… by… one…
• The sounds of laughter and excitement that fill the room
• Being with the group of people who know me best… and still love me most
• Remembering that Jesus is the catalyst for ALL OF IT!!

How about you?

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20,000 Thank Yous

Well last week my little blog got its 20,000th hit. While I’m certain there are many other blogs that get that many hits in a day (and this guy may even get that many hits in an hour), it took me a little over a year to reach this milestone.

When I started this thing a little over a year ago, I was really looking for a way to update the many friends and family God has blessed us with in so many different places. I think we’ve accomplished that! Many of our friends and family continually drop in to check up on us, and this has been a perfect avenue to reach them all at once. I’m sincerely thankful for each of you!

What I didn’t anticipate was how many new friends I would make through my little blog. People I’ve never met have dropped in for comments and some I’ve actually developed ‘online relationships’ with. (As dirty as that sounds, there is absolutely nothing immoral about that statement! lol) For these new relationships I’m extremely grateful.

Moving forward I have no idea where our little blog might take us, or for how long we’ll do it, but I’m excited about the possibilities. In NO way do I claim to have figured this thing out, but I’ve certainly enjoyed sharing my life with my few faithful readers (and you know who you are). So thank YOU! Thank you for dropping in on our lives and contributing to the conversation!

In a short while I’ll have another story to tell you. The funny thing is that if I were 8 years old again, it would probably start with, “One time on Sesame Street…”

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Merry Christmas!

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