House Update

Well, I had pictures, but the lab seems to have misplaced them. I hope that they find them soon!

For now, here's what's happening. The windows are in and look great. I especially love the 8' picture window that looks out at the White Tanks Mountains.

The topout blumbing is finished and electrical rough in is nearly complete.

We got a great deal on sinks on-line. We have ordered the cabinets.

The roof tiles are sitting in stacks on the roof for framing inspection.

The insulation guy came by today and we are goin to add insulation to the walls between the bedrooms for a little more sound deadening.

We need to meet with the door and trim guy next.

We are working toward choosing paint, tile, and granite (no small challenges!)

My house shall be called a house of prayer!

Refering to Isaiah 56:7, Jesus, when He was clearing the temple in Matthew 21:12-13 said that His house would be a house of prayer. Here at Palm Valley Church it's sometimes hard to think of a high school gymnasium as a house of prayer, but every week it becomes one.

This past Sunday we took that a step further and turned a raw piece of land into a house of prayer. As we prepare to build phase 1 of the PVC campus, we spent some time on the land by having a prayer journey. Over 300 people came to pray and walk around the land where there will soon be buildings. Praying as individuals, couples, families, and small groups, people walked to where different buildings will be and prayed for what God will do in them. It was truly a holy moment! It was awesome to walk onto the land under the "Welcome to Palm Valley Church" banner. Though it is still just snakes (Yes, one was seen along the trail) and desert brush, it is a house of prayer. The land has been prayed for by many for a long time, but now it has been consecrated in prayer by many who walked the one mile journey this weekend.

I had the privilege to help set up for the event. As we were putting up banners, I looked up the road where we were going to be parking on a freeway offramp (not yet opened) and saw cars streaming in nearly an hour before the event would start.

Our family has been blessed by God in seeing and being a part of church plants first hand. I have never had such an experience as this. The feelings were powerful. To see kids placing rocks where the "Kids Fountain" will soon be (See when the Israelites crossed the Jordan into the promised land), and their parents praying with them for how God will use that fountain to draw people to Himself was overwhelming.

To God be the glory,great things He has done, and continues to do among us.

House update

The house looks great. The three a/c systems are nearly complete. The framing changes have been done and the next phase of the plumbing is nearly complete. The framing for the masterbedroom fireplace and tv is done. We got the tv today (It wasn't the plan, but we stumbled onto a deal that saved us about $600, so we went ahead and picked it up). It should come in handy during March Madness!

We'll meet again with the cabinet guy this week to make changes. We'll also meet with the electrician so that he can get going as well. The first picture is of the front porch and the living room. The second is of the workshop and garage. Yes, there are five garage doors.

Ministry to New Believers - Change

This week I was going to write about the materials we use at Palm Valley Church to minister to new believers. Well, it's Thursday night at 10:30pm and I'm just now getting a chance to write. Hopefully, I'll write about materials next week, which will most likely be on Tuesday or Wednesday.

A much bigger topic to address this week is change. That's one reason I am so far behind this week. Change isn't necessarily a bad or good thing, it just is. In this case, the change is very good! Palm Valley Church is adding a service on Sunday mornings. Times will be 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30. I met this week with the ministry lead team for Fresh Start. We'll begin the new service on Easter Sunday. How cool is that, that we will make room for more people who don't know Jesus on the day we celebrate the reason we're making room, because Jesus Christ is risen!

There are plenty of logistical issues that need to be addressed, and a lot of recruiting. We need people to step up and step into minstry.

On Easter we are also beginning our Seize the Moment campaign to stretch the faith of our community and to begin the building process on phase 1 of the new PVC campus.

Once we figure out how we will adapt to the changes with our coaches, I'll share that info.

For now, I'm taking a couple of days off between major projects. Far too many pastors are lost to burnout. I'm glad that getting away is a priority for our staff. We need to rest, play, re-energize often! With the health issues I face, I need to make sure that I don't get overly fatigued. I have felt that this past week, so it's a really good time to take a break. Compared to others of our staff, my job is cake! I'm so glad to see others getting away! We encourage our volunteers to take time as well. We want people to work hard, but we don't want to burn people out and lose htem to the kingdom. So, watch yourself and take breaks when needed, then dive back in and charge ahead.

House Update - Framing

We have a house! Not really, but wow, what a difference a week makes! In one week we went from raw slab to fully framed and skinned and ready for top out plumbing.

Saturday morning was cool. We got to watch them put the trusses up. Half way through the crane broke and they had to wait for another one. Paige was like a little girl she was so excited to watch the house go up! There are few sights as beautiful as she looked with her smile trying to express her joy.

They were short one viga pole so they had to wait on that. It's now in, and so are the 1'X1' beams in the dining room. They look really great!

Steve and Terry's house is coming along as well. There electrical is in, windows and columns are installed, and they are working on the exterior insulation and wrap.

This week will be busy as we make final decisions on framing adjustments, order cabinets, and work through plumbing and electrical plans.

One thing I would recommend is a storage container. Because of some materials in the garage (bath tubs), we had to park the Tahoe in the driveway. Saturday night someone decided they wanted to see what we kept in the glove box (nothing). They also broke into Caleb's car (He's home for spring break) and took all of his music, iPod, stereo faceplate, and his tools (don't ask why these were all in his car, I don't know either).

Ministry to New Believers -

In our ministry to New Believers, our primary ministry is called Fresh Start. We have a table set-up outside of the worship center where people can go after they have made a decision for Christ in one of our services. This is where they meet our coaches.

Our coaches are volunteers with a heart for seeing new believers grow in their faith. They are the core of the ministry and we simply wouldn't have a ministry without them! They are made up primarily of couples who share the same passion. At the table they interact with new believers, encouraging them, giving them a resource packet that includes a Bible (more on resources in a couple of weeks), answering immediate questions that they may have, and praying with them. This is the beginning of their ministry to the people who come to the table.

During the next ninety days, our coaches will call the people they encountered at the FS table about once per month. In the call they seek to encourage the new believer to continue in their newfound faith, read their Bible, and take the next step in their growth.

Our coordinator follows-up with the coaches to care for them and to see what needs they have. She also receives their reports from the calls that they have made.

We have begun meeting quarterly as a whole team so that I can cast vision, hear where we need to grow as a team, to share stories of the lifechange we have seen, and to have some fun together.

There are certainly more details than I have written about here and if you're interested in knowing more, please contact me.

Terry, Linda, Dianne, Larry, Trish, Scott, Susan, Marco, Stephanie, Nick, Cheri, Dean, Mary, Cristina you guys are the best and I love and appreciate you all more than words can say!