Catching Up

Here are a few quick sound bites from the past two weeks:

1. I spent June 16-18 in Orlando being part of a national conference of pastors with the PCA. I went there hoping to connect with some new financial supporters for our work of church planting in Las Vegas. God had others plans. I'm not sure if I made any connections that will grow into partnership with our work, but I my soul was deeply nourished through the preaching at the evening services of worship and in a couple of the breakout sessions. I also treasured the opportunity to catch up with some dear friends I've not seen in a year or more.
2. After the conference I headed down to Ft. Myers with Eric Phillips. We drove through several rain storms. That was nice. While in Ft. Myers we met with an older pastor who told us that he has only a few days remaining before his body concedes to the cancer he's been fighting for a few years. It was a rare opportunity to receive a life's worth of wisdom that's been refined and focused by these few years of suffering. This man is dying well because his faith is strong and his love for family is evident. I was honored to be a guest in his home that day.
3. Before we flew home Eric drug me out onto a 20' to go shark fishing with some of his buddies from the area. I ended up dragging in a 4' black tip shark. Amazing! I'm still waiting on the picture to be emailed.
4. Weight loss continues to be a steady fight. I weighed in Monday morning at 208, 14 lbs lighter than I was six weeks ago when this journey began. Angie and I are almost a combined 30 lbs lighter. Most importantly, the lifestyle changes regarding food are becoming second nature and our energy levels are starting to rise. I hope this translates into more stamina for service to our neighbors.
5. I continue to play basketball on Monday evenings with a group of guys from CWR, some employees from the Venetian Hotel and Casino, and a regular group of men from the surrounding neighborhoods. I'm pretty excited about where some of these relationships are going.
6. People at CWR are doing an amazing job of loving each other. I could tell stories for hours about the ways that folks simply recognize needs and work together to find solutions, trusting God for the necessary resources instead of being paralyzed by thinking that everything depends on their efforts alone.
7. Our missions trip to Haiti is only 10 days away. I'm really beginning to feel pumped about this time to serve, learn, and to do it all with my oldest son. Our church family is growing in their vision to be used of Jesus for kingdom expansion and witness. Again, amazing!
8. We are in the middle of a three-week project to sort through all of our five-year old's Legos. Slow going, but we are getting there.
9. I'm looking forward to the series on Ruth that begins in two weeks.
10. We praying for Jesus to send more workers into his fields in Las Vegas. We are especially hoping for some men and women who will more actively pursue the middle and high school kids in our community. They are very hungry for relationship, the gospel, and discipleship. Pray with us about these opportunities.
11. I'm in the middle of a book called, "Family Driven Faith." So far it gets a "Highly Recommend" rating from me.
12. We've had two cars break down in as many days. The immediate temptation is to go and buy a new car. I'm fighting through it and hope to have both cars repaired by week's end. I'm still not sure what the $ damage will be for the van.

Life goes on. The mission continues to move forward. We are growing in faith. To God be the glory!