Most of you already know that Nola and I moved back to Oklahoma City the first week in June.  Since then, we have been looking for jobs and rejoining Graceway Baptist Church, where we met, and where I served in the Youth Ministry for 11 years before moving to Georgia.  Nola has joined the choir, I’m teaching the Middle School Guy’s Sunday School class and playing bass in the services.  God was gracious and allowed me to go to camp with the youth group 2 weeks ago, back to Camp Buckner near Marble Falls, Texas.  My nephew Taylor led the worship music, and I played guitar and sang backup, as well as being the official camp videographer/photographer.  This is the same campground we did 2 Spring Break Retreats at when I was at High Pointe in Austin,

Nola worked part-time for a few weeks at Chico’s, a women’s clothing boutique, before being offered a full-time position to be trained as an Assistant Manager at Dress Barn (for all you Tim Hawkins fans: yes, THAT Dress Barn!)  She started there on July 27th, and is doing an incredible job.  The next day, I started with Lifetouch Church Directories.  I’ll be traveling with a team to various churches in Oklahoma, doing the church directory photography and selling portraits.

I am continuing to send out my resume to churches, and have been in contact with a few.  But, that is typically a slow process, and some churches take resumes for as long as 2 to 3 months before beginning their search in earnest.  So, while I wait, I’m serving where I can and really enjoying it, and resting in the knowledge that God will move me where He wants, when He wants, and that it will bring Him the most glory and us the most joy.

I want to thank all of you that have prayed for us as we’ve started our new ministry.  Our training was intense, to say the very least.  Lots of good information, all of it very helpful and necessary; but having it all crammed into 2-1/2 weeks, along with our time “shadowing” in the 2 cottages we will be serving in, made it very physically and emotionally draining.  But, we’ve also had our first 10-day break, which has been wonderful.  We visited family in Oklahoma City last weekend, and have had several days back in here Austin to get more settled into our apartment and just relax.

When asked how we like it so far, I’ve answered that we don’t really know, because we haven’t done it “for real” yet.  Our time last month was full of training, classes, videos, getting to know the houseparents and kids in each house, and trying to learn how each house is run.  This next time will be very different, and Nola and I are really looking forward to going back on duty tomorrow at 2 p.m. and just doing the job.  We are literally surrounded by ministry opportunities, and are excited and eager to be used by God.  So again, thank you for praying for us, and for the encouraging emails, texts, and “tweets”, and please pray for us this month as the Lord brings us to mind.

Christ was all anguish
that I might be all joy,

cast off
that I might be brought in,

trodden down as an enemy
that I might be welcomed as a friend,

surrendered to hell’s worst
that I might attain heaven’s best,

stripped
that I might be clothed,

wounded
that I might be healed,

athirst
that I might drink,

tormented
that I might be comforted,

made a shame
that I might inherit glory,

entered darkness
that I might have eternal light.

My Saviour wept
that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,

groaned
that I might have endless song,

endured all pain
that I might have unfading health,

bore a thorny crown
that I might have a glory-diadem,

bowed his head
that I might uplift mine,

experienced reproach
that I might receive welcome,

closed his eyes in death
that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,

expired
that I might for ever live.

O Father, who spared not thine only Son that thou mightest spare me,
All this transfer thy love designed and accomplished;
Help me to adore thee by lips and life.
O that my every breath might be ecstatic praise, my every step buoyant with delight.

From The Valley of Vision

Experience the Passion of Christ — in 140-character bursts. In a marriage of Christian tradition and digital technology, Wall Street’s Trinity Church is using the micro-blogging service Twitter to perform the story of Jesus Christ.

The main characters will tweet the Passion play for three hours beginning at noon on Good Friday. The feed also can be delivered to mobile devices or e-mail addresses.

The lower Manhattan Episcopal parish also is offering a Web version of the Stations of the Cross. The church was founded by a small group of Anglicans in 1697.

Why do most Christians refer to the day of Christ’s resurrection, when His victory over death, hell and the grave was won and his atoning sacrifice was shown to be sufficient to remove God’s wrath and the penalty of sin, with a name that comes from pagan goddess worship?

“The true meaning and definition of the word Easter points to a pagan godess and a pagan celebration. The apostles would have never associated the name Easter with their risen savior, so why should I; why should you?”

Some may think it’s being picky about semantics, but for me this is a much better way to go.