Really Tough Week!

For a week that was supposed to let me focus on getting some good rest, it was one of the most stressful weeks in a long time!

It's no real story that with all of my medical issues, I am having some nerve problems in my legs which is making the hair fall out (great for girls, but lousy for a hairy guy!), and I have a lump in my arm that needs to be removed (no worries).

The big surprise was that the big medical stress this week was for Paige. Here's the story. Last fall and winter, she had a few episodes of numbness in her face and arms. We went to the Dr. and he had her get an MRI. They found a pineal cyst and sent her to a neurologist. After a second MRI two months later for comparison, and an EEG, we got the news that the cyst is a little over an inch long, and the neurologist didn't like what he saw (Thursday), so he sent her for a second opinion with a neurosurgeon (Friday). The fact that they got her in so quickly added to the concern.

We had many people all over the country praying, which we really appreciated!

The appointment could only have been better of the cyst had vanished! Unfortunately, it is still there and she will have to get regular MRI's and watch for symptoms to make sure that she doesn't have future problems with the cyst. The good news is that the problems she was having are most likely a variation on her migraines that she regularly gets (in this case that's very good news!).

We never doubted that God was in control and that he would give us the strength to face whatever the outcome, but our humanness was filled with worry of the unknown.

It was a huge scare for us, and she will have to live with this cyst, but prayerfully it will never be an issue. Thanks for the prayers!

Long Time No Post!

OK, I just realized how long it has been since my last post. I would attribute that to three reasons:



1. I have been crazy busy. Between the carnival, Easter, video shoots, New Believer Growth Group, curriculum... I just haven't had time.

2. I have been burnt out! With the focus on curriculum and video shoots the past few weeks, along with everything else. I just am out of energy. I took Wednesday through Saturday this week (it was nice to not be there tonight, but I missed it) to rest and recharge. It hasn't been all that restful, which I'll do a separate post on, but today was nice!

3. With everything else and some medical stuff added on, blogging just hasn't made it very high on the priority list.


That said:

1. For pics of the carnival you can go to Greg's blog or to You-Tube and search for palmvalleychurch and watch the carnival video that Mike did.


2. Easter was awesome! God was very present. 38 people indicated that they had accepted Christ or were re-dedicating their lives to Him. There were 17 first time decisions! The Kid Zone "Zooplosion" set-up is very cool! We had something like 75+ families visit for the first time. Many came because they were invited by friends, or because of the mailer (way to go Julie!).

3. I just finished the first New Believer Growth Group using the new Connecting Point video based curriculum. It was cool, and it's going to be really good, but it was weird watching myself on video and then leading the discussion. The next session will be led by one of our Fresh Start coaches (Mark) and I am anxious to get feedback from him, then we'll make changes and to the final material.

That's enough for now.

Holy Moment

There are moments in life when God shows you what He's been up to. He shows you that is has been working through you and others around you. Today I got to see how He has been working through the people at Palm Valley Church. Today we had a pre-Easter carnival which included rides, free food, bounce houses, and 30,000 Easter eggs with several thousand being dropped from a helicopter (I'll post pics as soon as I get them). It was very cool that I got to be in the helicopter dropping the eggs!

It was really fun riding in the helicopter, but that wasn't the holy moment. It was a beautiful day, and the view was spectacular, but that wasn't it either. We were able to fly over the church property and that was really cool, but that wasn't it either.

We were dropping the eggs on the football field at the high school where we meet. Our plan was to have all of the people in the bleachers during the drop, then come onto the field to collect eggs. As we approached the field in the helicopter I could see people in the stands on the other side of the field. I figured that it was probably too hard to get the people to go to the one side, so they decided to let them sit on either side.

When we swung around and started across the field I could see why there were people on the other side. The stands were nearly full on both sides, and people were standing along the fence. WOW! Such a holy moment to realize that God had brought all of those people, more than I had imagined would be there. It was such a special moment to see the hand of God in action.

I found out later that over 260 families who came didn't attend PVC! What a God thing! That was our purpose for the event. We wanted to introduce people to PVC, invite them to Easter services, and show them that church could be fun. We also wanted to show them that PVC really did care about them and their children.

The people came because people from Palm Valley invited them! In just the little that I was there, I met several people who were with the PVC'ers who brought them. That was really cool!

By the way, Adrienne rocks! I don't know many people who work as hard as she does! In addition to all of the other ministry she does, she led this event. It was outstanding! Once I was on the ground and back to the campus, I heard so many people commenting about how great it was and how much fun they were having. Thanks Adrienne!

Anyway, praise God! I can't wait to see what He does on Easter (as if He hasn't done enough already!)!

Route 66 - Biblical Culture

In today's reading there were several things that stood out, but one passage struck me as odd.

In Numbers 6:9-12 it is talking about the Nazirite vow. It is a serious commitment to the Lord. This passage begins bu saying, "If someone falls dead beside them..." How weird is that! What kind of place do you have to be living in where people just fall dead beside you? Talk about culture shock! I can't even imagine what that is like. I am sure that there are places, even in our world today, where this happens, and the people don't think that much about it, but it has never happened anyplace I have been. That would totally freak me out!

Further in the passage it says that if this happens, the days of their vow before this event don't count, and they have to start all over again. Imagine if this is the last day of your vow! Some vows were as short as 30 days, and they are to the Lord, but a long vow what ever commitment was made, that could be really tough! Imagine Lent (if you follow that) for an extended period of time.

A weird as this is, we take to take from it how serious it is to make a vow to God. We need to fulfill it at any cost, no matter how long it takes. If we commit to doing something for a number of consecutive days, and something interrupts those days (no matter what it is, even someones death), then you need to start over. Always fulfill your vows to God!

Two Minute Tuesday

How are you doing on your Route 66 daily reading? If you are behind, either make it a priority and catch up, or skip to today's reading and get going! It is so important to be in God's Word every day. How can you lead others toward Christ if you aren't drawing closer to Him yourself?

If we are going to "Lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ", don't we need to be fully devoted to Him ourselves? Doesn't being fully devoted to Him include spending time with Him, learning more about Him, and becoming more like Him?

I encourage you to spend time every day with God through His Word. I also want to encourage you to start journaling. We are using the SOAP method and it makes journaling so easy!

I made a commitment to start journaling at the beginning of the year when we started the Route 66 focus. I have never been one to journal, but I have come to love it. I love writing down what God is speaking to me through His Word and the Holy Spirit. I will be honest and say that I have missed a day or two hear and there, weekends are tough for me! But, I pick it right back up and don't let myself feel guilty for what I have missed, I just press on to become more consistent.

I challeng you to get into God's Word, expect to hear from Him every day, and journal what He is teaching you so that you can look back and reflect on it and celebrate!