On the road again

Well Mindy and I are getting back into blogging and we reconfigured the setup so it looks SWEET now! Check her's out Smile Out Loud and obviously Mine! I think that I might try and make start a routine with my week, like Sermon Sunday's where I listen to a sermon during the week and post it on Sunday. Something like that. We'll see what happens, got any suggestions?

We're getting ready to pack up our stuff for a month on the road where we'll travel to Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Missouri (maybe Tennessee but we'll just have to see). I think this time will be better as far as our packing goes since we're a little more settled and know where things are. I'm hoping to narrow it down to the point we have a little wiggle room. It's nice to have a minivan when you're wanting to load enough stuff to live off of. I'm positive that we'll take some stuff out and add some stuff in.

One thing we're going to try and do different is eat at Subway and split a flatbread sandwich and then have our own chips and water. This way we don't have to have meat and stuff on hand, but still don't have to pay for a full meal. It may be cheap but that's how we roll.

I'm definitely excited to get back on the road, I don't really feel useful unless I'm preaching and since it's been a while I'm chomping at the bit. It's funny because before I started preaching if you told me that I would be driving 15 + hours to preach for 4 days I'd call you crazy. Now I'll do that no problem and even tack on a few hours. I guess I just love to share Jesus with people.

Well it's off to bed now so we can get up early and hit it hard with packing, loading, unloading, calculating, and laundry!!

Where I'm at and Where I want to be.

Ever feel like you're at a cross road in life and you need to make some major decisions that will determine the outcome of your future. Yeah I'm there. I wish there was some sort of logic I could put this equation of a life into and it would pop out the most logical answer and we would take it. But as I've found if I'm able to accomplish whatever it is on my own then God seems to go the other direction. Which makes sense because if I could do it then why would I need God, right? Well we're "home" over winter in Kalamazoo, MI. I can't say it's one of my most favorite places to be but it's "home" for now.



I've found myself with a lot of time on my hands as I search for a job until February. In that free time I seem to be taking a step back in my life and analyzing what seems to be most important in life: Car, House, Job, Family...Jesus. It's interesting because at first I thought of the first things on my short list then Jesus. But as I'm waking up when I want and accomplishing the little tasks that make the house run and my wife happy, I'm finding more and more that first part of the list is seeming to fade and Jesus is becoming more and more the entire list! I know that sounds cheesy and very much a preacher answer, however it's true. I am not fixed on income (although it's nice to have), a house, cars, starting a family. Rather I'm finding myself looking more towards the Savior who laid His life down for me.



Now don't get me wrong it's not as though I was not fixing myself on Jesus before, but it just seems to be that I am wanting MORE. I find myself often in the company of men and women who know the scripture much better than me and seem to be very intelligent. I'm not saying that I'm a dumb man or even middle of the road, I'm smart. Not brilliant, but smart, smart enough to realize when I want MORE of something for the right reason.



I'm finding that I'm wanting more of Jesus in my life because I want my relationship with Him to grow. I want to be more sensitive of His voice. I want to know when He's speaking to me and when it's Satan. I want to know where He is wanting me to go and what He is wanting me to do. I am wanting more of that and I know that the only way to grow deeper with Him is to read scripture, pray, search for answers not because of a study, or because of a sermon. But because I want to know Him more.



I want to be able to see Jesus in the falling snow, blades of grass, in the wind and all the natural beauties that are around me all the time. I want to be able to see Jesus in every aspect of my life and take the time to do that. When is the last time you stopped to smell the roses, not for the smell, but to smell what He might smell like in them? When is the last time you stopped to watch the sunset or sunrise to see what was created by God in the beginning? Let's take time to realize these things and to have a want inside of us that yearns for Jesus because you want your relationship to be better.



Mind you everything I've said above is a late night/early morning rant and I'm probably going to be after this, but it's my heart and it's out there. Bottom line is that I love Jesus and want to love Him more. Would you join me in this effort to love Jesus like you've never loved Him before?

Just a Maine Pic

Planes, Trains and Automobiles Part 2

So we get on the train in Fargo but not before we were unable to bring all of our things we had packed with us. We also found out that the train going to Cincinnati didn't allow for checked bags so the bigger things we would take with us wouldn't be able to make the entire trip. So we ended up with the plan to take the train to Chicago, after rearranging things, and then get a rental car in Chicago and drive back. Well while we were on the train I called to check and see how much it would be to drive back and it was something crazy like over 2,000. So we booked a flight from Chicago to Nashville, then Nashville to Columbus. Now there is a direct flight from Chicago however we couldn't get that one because we wanted to make sure we actually got on the flight and it was leaving earlier. So as we arrive in Chicago off the train of interesting people from a room that a man of my size should never sleep in. We got a taxi which was the most normal thing of the trip because nothing really went crazy with it. We arrived at the airport and while we were at the ticket counter the lady made sure that we were going to go through since there was an outside chance that we would not get on the flight. As we got on the plane I am normally scared to death of flying but this time I was so tired I just didn't care.

Ok so this has taken long enough to end. We got home, got a rental and then bought our minivan and lived happily ever after. So now it's done and I can move on to more important blogs, with more important topics like say...Jesus!!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles Part 1

So after a crazy good camp in Crystal Springs, ND we were staying with Scot and Crystal in Valley City, ND. We were going to leave on Saturday at around 6 or so in the a.m. to head to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to camp. Now when we're leaving at 5:50 a.m., on a Saturday, in Valley City, ND we got hit from a guy running a stop sign!! THE ONLY DRIVER IN VALLEY CITY, ND, POSSIBLY THE ENTIRE STATE FOUND THE SIDE OF OUR CAR WITH HIS!!!


It was kinda interesting because we had just prayed for traveling mercies and for God to watch out for us and then not even 5 minutes later we got hit. We are both ok (at least from the accident), however my car Rosie is not. She was totaled and now resides in North Dakota somewhere. I'll have to say she was a great car and did everything that we wanted her to do.


So as we were gathering what to do in the midst of the craziness of getting hit that early we were lucky that we were only about 12 blocks from our good buddy Scot's house. So we texted him but got nothing, which we shouldn't have at 5:50 in the AM. So the policeman drove around the corner and got his pickup truck and drove us and our entire car full of stuff to Scot and Crystal's house. Where we proceeded to make home base for the next weekend.


Now in normal cities the auto body shop would be wide open on a Saturday...however in Valley City, ND there is no auto body shop open on Saturdays. So the fun continues. So we contacted out insurance company about the whole thing and the waiting began. We couldn't do anything since there would not be anybody available til Monday morning. Oh and did I mention that Scot gave us a cold?? Well it might have been somebody from camp, but it's more fun to say it was Scot.


So as we're feeling like death and looking not that far behind I got a call from the local pastor to preach at Valley City First Church of the Nazarene. Which I gladly accepted because I love to preach...so it worked out well. So as we're waiting on Sunday we are trying to formulate a plan that makes sense and won't cost an arm and a leg. We checked on rentals out of Fargo, but that would be a ridiculous amount of money for the time and miles we needed the car. They were going to charge something like $2 a mile outside the region for us to use it. Um I don't think so considering we're driving 18 hours away.


So as Monday morning rolled around we are trying to figure out what to do not only to get us home, but our entire car full of stuff home as well. Mindy found that Amtrak would be a good option and that they would let us take 3 checked bags and 2 carry-ons, which we would probably be able to do. We told both insurance companies that was what we were going to finally do. This train departed at 2:30 in the morning so we had to ask Scot how good of friends we were considering we would need a ride at about midnight so we could get to Fargo on time. The train we were taking would be from Fargo to Chicago, then Chicago to Cincinnati...so we thought...

The Spirit Moves on the Dakota Teen Camp

So this past week has been crazy awesome as far as camps go! It has been such a good week for the movement of the Spirit. There is a sense of openness about the kids and counselors there that was incredible. The first night was good and there were a few kids that responded.


The second night came and the altars were flooded and even if the kids didn't come to the altar they were responding in their seats. I did not want to squash the movement of the Spirit so I would not say a closing prayer and end it. I would step in and pray for a continuation of what was going on every once and a while and battles were won, victories claimed and Satan lost that night for sure! Just when you think that night couldn't get any better one of the counselors felt the Lord impressing upon him that we should have a baptism service right then and there! Since there was a lake and we had ministers there we obeyed. That night 26 counselors and kids were baptized and it was a tremendous act of Christ upon us! We were excited to see what else God had in store with us!


The third night Jesus wasn't finished with what work He had started. The altars were so filled that you could hardly walk through to the stage. We did not leave the service until around 11:30 p.m. We were excited for what Jesus had for us the last night and couldn't hardly hold the anticipation!

The last night we had a sorta open mic thing where people could get up and tell how God is working in their life or something that happened at camp. It was very interesting to see how God was molding the teens and counselors. We all loved to hear the stories that were told and how somebody else's story sparked a memory. We had worship and I did not get up to preach until 11 p.m. I can truly say that's the latest I have ever stepped into the pulpit. I preached and gave the invitation to respond and they did! We did not leave the service that started at 8:30 until around 1 a.m. It was incredible and I can look back at the Dakota Teen Camp as a milestone of my life and how the Spirit moved upon the open hearts of a generation! What A Jesus!!

Open Air Preaching Part 2

...and then I preached.

Just kidding, I'll post the remainder of it tomorrow.