Answered Prayers from "Lift" Retreat

I began the New Year in Winter Place, West Virgina speaking at a Winter Retreat with 4 different youth groups from Florida & Georgia. Before I left I asked many people to pray for God to move in a mighty way. Well, this is a picture of one of the kids that gave his life to Christ. (Not the short one, that's me. He's the taller one with the mohawk.) I wanted you to see how real God answers your prayers. This is a real student, with real struggles, who just surrendered his life to a real God. Thank you to those who prayed for me & the students on this trip and thanks for partnering with me to expand His Kingdom!

My Son Riley's first Sermon

Last summer my family got together with a family from Hillsong Church in Australia (one of the most influential churches in the world). Through our time together their ministry to thousands not only inspired TJ & I but it also inspired our kids, both Riley and Callie Joy. Since our time together Riley (who is 6 years old) has said often that He'd like to one day minister to as many kids as Hillsong Kids Ministry does. So for some time He's been working toward speaking in the AZ Theater,which is our environment for 1-5 graders. We'll this past weekend He did just that during our 6 pm service and I couldn't be more proud of him. To see my 6 year old son speak and teach 1-5 graders was a true joy. I pray God continues to use him especially from a young age to glorify our Savior and King Jesus Christ. Thanks Hillsong Crew for your ministry and impact to a 6 year you that's never even been out of the country. May God continue to bless you as you continue to bless others.

Thankful for Martin Luther King

I just got finished watching this video with my kids and explaining to them why Martin Luther King Jr. was so important. Amazingly they couldn't comprehend why people would hate other people just because of the color of their skin. I am grateful for MLK as well as all the other black people before me that suffered and fought for what they knew to be true. Before my kids had their first ever dream, MLK's dream had become a reality. I can't think of how many good black friends I would have never known if his dream had not become a reality. Happy Martin Luther King day! May we as a nation and as a people continue to mature and root ourselves in loving one another as we are called to in the Bible.

Praying for Haiti

By now we are all aware of the horrible wreckage done by the earthquakes in Haiti on Tuesday, Jan 12th. This is horrific and breaks my heart personally, so I do not mean for the following to sound insensitive or belittling to the hugeness of the tragedy.

Last summer July 13 - 18 2009 during our Adventure Week aka LegoLand we challenged are kids & families to collect shoe boxes for kids and fill them with toilet tree stuff, books, toys, etc. We ended up collecting over 400 boxes. We worked through an Orlando based ministry called New Missions, check em out @ http://www.newmissions.org/ The goal was to deliver them for Christmas. But God always has the big picture in mind. Through unforeseen circumstances a team of missionaries headed over to Haiti to deliver our shoe boxes along with 9,600 others this past weekend and yes they are still there (pray for a safe return for them). So a total of 10,000 shoe boxes just arrived just outside Port au Prince just before the earthquakes. How God is that! No one is able to get in or out for aid but God is using our measly old shoe boxes to let Haitian families know they are not alone nor forgotten. I'm not dumb or being insensitive. I realize that a shoe box is a shoe box and it's not going to fix everything in Haiti. But I couldn't help but praise God when I found out that our little notes of love, prayers, and encouragement are hitting the people of Haiti during a time they need it most. Please continue to pray for the victims and families in Haiti and find ways to help by going to New Missions site @ http://www.newmissions.org/

Ski Trip

Lift Ski Trip

I spent last week in West Virginia with 4 youth groups as they came together for their Winter Retreat Ski Trip. I was there as their retreat speaker and had a blast getting to know them and all God is doing in thier lives and communities. Here was the video they collected and showed for day 1 of the trip.

Bring on the New Year!

Toward the end of last year I decided to take a brief leave from the blog for various reasons with the biggest reason being a lack of time. I spent some time praying and processing what this blog will look like in 2010 and what purpose it will serve. Here is what this site will strive to look like in 2010. I initially started a blog to communicate with my family through pictures, videos, and stories. However I am making a switch where the site will have very little personal family updates and will be mostly focused on 3 areas of ministry. 1) To collaborate and communicate with other Children Pastors (aka CM) from around the web. 2) To share with parents & leaders what is happening in & through FOkids. 3) To share personal insight on my own spiritual journey. I've decided to keep family updates to a minimum due to their safety. Might sound weird but I'm just trying to be careful of who is watching my family while anyone can access our website. If this sounds weird to you it's because you don't have the most adorable daughters in the world :) I look forward to moving forward with site. Happy New Year!