Signed, Sealed and will be delivered in August

Tuesday was a big day for our family.  Even though John had already given his verbal commitment (which is just as important), to play baseball at SMC, he signed his letter of intent on Tuesday.  He made that decision himself after weighing other options and thinking through what would be the best fit for him and praying over where God wanted him to be.  He was great at blocking out all the other noise and opinions in his ear and making a mature decision for himself. I'm so proud of him for all the different things he considered and taking his time to pray over it.  SMC is a great place for baseball players for LOTS of reasons and I'm sure it will be for him.  Stephen couldn't get away for the day with classes and practice but Jessica and Chrissie jumped in the car together and made the trek to Aiken to be here to celebrate with the brother.  It was special for him to be able to sign along with good friend Blue Sanderson. Those boys have played together since they were very young and to get to do the college thing together is extra special.
As proud of John as we all are with the baseball opportunity and the player that he is, we are even more proud of the person that he is.  Our prayer for him is that baseball will be a platform and a tool to give God much glory.  As crazed as our society is about sports, we are praying it be used as a witnessing tool at every opportunity.  For John personally, just like it was with Stephen, to be able to play college ball and yet be balanced in other areas, keeping God first and not allowing baseball to become a god, is the thing we are all most thankful for.  Keep working John, in some ways the work has just begun!!

Monday Morning Perspective

We took a look at our walk yesterday as pointed out in 1John 1:5-7.  We saw how we start the walk, how we stray in the walk, and how we stay in the walk.
I love how Eddie pointed out how John uses the phrase "if we claim" a lot.  Unfortunately we are pretenders.  We do a lot of pretending when we are young and sad to say it carries on into our life so often.  Eddie asked several thought-provoking questions...Does our lifestyle match what we say?, How can I know I'm a Christian? Several things to consider as we judge ourselves in light of scripture is whether or not we are comfortable in our sin.  We shouldn't be if we are a new creation in Christ.  Has our beliefs and behavior changed?  Christianity is not a belief system it's a lifestyle.  We have a new nature. He changes our desires and our
want-tos!!  As Christians we should never be comfortable in darkness so why is it we spend so much of our life there cycling in and out of sin instead of fleeing temptation as we are told to do?  Soooo, how is your walk?
I have a feeling 1John is going to continue to be very challenging...I sure hope so!!

Monday Morning Perspective

New series in 1John, Walk in Light, Live in Love, got off to a great start!!  Absolutely love getting the background that Eddie gave us on John himself.  What a reminder of the sweet relationship John had with Jesus and to know that we can have that same sweet relationship with Him today as we walk with Him.
My favorite part had to be on Real Joy.  As Eddie pointed out joy is an inside job that can only come through our relationship with Christ.  It doesn't have to have anything to do with our circumstances.  As he preached on this my mind kept going back to our weekend.  We had the opportunity to attend a bible study in downtown Greenville.  What a conglomeration of people...college kids, adults my age, and some homeless believers.  As we talked to and listened to one of the homeless men after the bible study talk about his own relationship with Jesus and to see such joy in his eyes and the glimmer of hope that ONLY Jesus can give, it just reconfirmed that we can have nothing on this earth but if we have a personal relationship with Jesus, there is much joy!!  He is everything!! For those of us that think we need "stuff" and that joy and happiness are the same, we have missed it.  To be in a room with those who have nothing but what's on their back and they are praising Jesus and their eyes are filled with tears of joy and hope was such a blessing and such conviction all at the same time. God have mercy on us and grow us up in Your Word and what You have to say to us through the book of 1John!!

This and That 2012, oh my!!

What an incredibly busy but fabulous time it has been over the past few weeks.  Christmas was a blast as we did much celebrating around here, lifting Jesus high and proclaiming His goodness and reclaiming His special day!  The time we spent away was refreshing and much needed. Very rarely do we take things in small doses and I have to say we all overdosed on laughter!!  There are some funny people around here and I'm talking bend over with the tears squirting out of your eyes and laughing just as hard later when it comes back to your mind.  I'm so glad God loves laughter and is the giver of much joy!!  Actually had one of those mornings and it was much needed!! Eddie and I are definitely sleep deprived at this point but honestly I don't think either of us are missing it.  Since the kids came home from school and John got out we have stayed up much too late at night just squeezing out every moment we have with them.  Only problem is they turn around and sleep til lunch and we are still up early.  Lack of sleep continued as we went with our MBC students to Passion 2012 with the cherry on top being that Michael and Chrissie brought their students and we got to worship along with them.  That's probably an entirely new blog post but just let me say I've been to many conferences, conventions, retreats, camps, call em what you want...never been to anything like Passion.  Many times I sat and just tried to grasp it and wrap my mind around it.  45,000 students ages 18-25 gathered to worship Jesus, and oh my soul, do they know how to worship. I'm talking wreckless abandon, don't care who's looking, kind of worship.  I was one big goosebump with my heart pounding so hard at times I wondered if I would survive.  I couldn't quit looking around thinking what a mighty force they are and if even a small fraction goes away with that much passion, what a work God will do.  Yes, I know it's a spiritual high time.  And there were probably those that were there last year on fire and fizzled out during the year deciding to cycle back into a stronghold of sin again just like I've seen many others do after spiritual high times.  But I know God's arms are long and He never lets go even if we try to get away.  I'm praying that each and every one will hold fast to what God did in their life last week and it will only be the beginning of what He is going to do in them and through them. Definitely a precious time that Eddie and I got to enjoy with all of our kids and our church kids who stay heavy on our hearts as well.
State of the Church was awesome.  If you're a MBC member, check it out online. EXCITING days ahead for us as a church!!  I've been about to burst waiting for Eddie to share it all! I have no idea the specifics of what 2012 holds for us as a church or as a family but I'm resting in His great love for us all and knowing that there won't be one moment we walk alone or celebrate alone.

A few pics added, hope you enjoy!