Christmastime is here. It's our first Christmas away from family. We have enjoyed the holiday. The boys are excited with all of their new toys. Amelia has been doing all of the cooking and everything has been awesome. I help when I am asked, but she does really well so I don't get asked for help much. We have pictures of the boys that I will put on our main website. Also I am going to send out a special Christmas newsletter sometime today.
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift. - 2 Corinthians 9:15

Well, the Christmas season is upon us. We are spending our first Christmas ever away from family, but we are excited about what God is doing in our life. Our year has been an incredible journey of faith with God proving Himself faithful over and over again. I am humbled beyond measure at what God has done with us this year.

God is so good. I got the job offer today so I will start training a week from Monday. Everything is moving in perfect timing. Thanks for your prayers as we have gone through this time of God's faithful provision. Make no mistake, God is faithful. We have received almost $1900 this month. Most of that was not expected when the month started. A special thank you to Concord Baptist Church, our church family in Arkansas, who have been generous beyond words this month. We love everyone there and we do miss you all. But God has called us to a special place and we feel priviledged to serve Him here in South Dakota. You guys are welcome to visit us here anytime. Just call ahead and we will put you up in our house if you want.

Well, I had a good job interview this morning. I will know by Monday if I got the job. Training would start on the 29th, and my insurance would begin on March 1st. Which is of course, perfect timing. God is so good. I will keep you updated here.

Good news on the job front. I have a second interview tomorrow at ASI. I will post an update tomorrow night to let everyone know how it goes. Also, we found out we have until the middle of January to get moved to a new place. Once again, God is right on time with everything that is going on. Thanks for your prayers.

I have finished the newsletter for the month. I meant to get it by the end of November, but I got sidetracked by Thanksgiving and family visiting and all. I went to the REAP revival service at Temple Baptist Church tonight. God touched my heart in a special way. I felt very priviledged to have been a part of a great time of worship this evening. I feel a renewed sense of purpose as we wind down this year and start 2004.
Dr. Freeman Burns is in town as a possible Intentional Interim Pastor for Westside Baptist. I spent part of the day at the church boxing up books in my office in preparation for a move. Things look very positive and I can't wait to meet him tomorrow. There is a real sense that God is moving and bringing us forward again, after we spun our wheels for a bit.
I want to record a special thank you our church family at Concord Baptist Church in Van Buren, AR for their extraordinary giving during this month. Also, I want to include a thank you to First Baptist Church in Springdale, AR for their gift to our ministry this month. God has used these gifts in His perfect timing to get us just what we needed; right when we need it most.

I have had a tough time finding a chance to update here, between a job search, the Thanksgiving holiday, ect. So I am going to try and get this caught up. I have done some skills testing for a local Temp agency so hopefully that will result in some work soon. I am still applying for other jobs as I find them. I went by another place today. Pray that God would put me in the right place. Still no headway on the support network. We have just two churches supporting us at the present.
I am planning on getting our next newsletter out this week, so keep your eyes open for that.
My sister and parents were here for Thanksgiving which was a great boost to me. It was so good to have them here for a few days. I know the boys and Amelia also enjoyed the visit very much.
Thanks for your continued prayers and support. We feel so priviledged to be called by God to be a part of His work in South Dakota, and you are a part of this ministry with your prayers and financial support.

Sorry I have been so long in updating. I am preaching tomorrow morning and tomorrow night, so it looks to be a busy but fun day. Today they had Santa's Helpers at the church which means that Amelia and I got 5 hours of time without the boys to just hang out and have a date day.
I am still looking for a job. I have had another interview but that didn't pan out at all. Plus it is definitely looking as though we will need to find a place in town within the next month and be moved by Christmas. Please be praying for us in this matter. I will get another newsletter put together for e-mail and snail mail.
Thanks for your prayers and support.

The weather here is the story of the day. It is in the teens right now with about a half a foot of snow on the ground. I haven't been able to get much done. We have been letting the boys play outside in the snow. And I have made another post to my older blog. The one that I started months ago as a place to vent over politics and life and things.
I am going to try and post pictures tonight. So bear with me. Thanks for all of your prayers on the things that are mentioned here. Please continue to pray for Westside Baptist Church and all of the ministries that God has brought us to there. Pray for my opportunities to help at the Associational level as well. And continue to pray that God will move in people who can support us in this ministry.

Here it is a weekly type of update. The youth ran the annual Praise The Lord Party, an alternative celebration for Halloween, and it went very well. All of the kids who came seemed to have a lot of fun, and I know they all took home a lot of candy.
We had the lock-in over the weekend and it went pretty well. I think more adults than youth made it through the night awake. We started the new youth services last night and it went well. We have been getting snow off and on since Thursday. Tonight the final accumulation for the latest round is estimated to get to 4-7 inches. Of course with the way the roads are maintained around here I will probably still be able to drive into town tomorrow.
Amelia's TeamKid went well Wednesday night. She is very excited, and I know that her efforts are appreciated by all of the folks involved.
I will try and post some of the snow pictures and pictures from other recent events on the website soon.

If nothing else I guess I can at least update weekly. I preached last night and really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to starting the youth services next Sunday night. Amelia starts the preschool TeamKid this week. Please be praying for us, that God will use them for His glory.
It is really windy today. The trailer is getting rocked by the winds and you can hear it howling outside. It is almost 70 degrees but the wind makes if feel much cooler.
The annual meeting in Sioux Falls, SD, was a lot of fun. I got to witness a little history as the Dakota Southern Baptist Fellowship became the Dakota Baptist Convention. There is a lot of excitement about what God is doing here in the Dakotas. I am glad that He considered me worthy to be a part of it.

Had a long week full of ups and downs last week. Tried to update here last night and lost everything I had written with one click. We are doing well. I am going to Sioux Falls on Wednesday for the Annual Meeting of the Dakota Fellowship. I am looking forward to getting to know Bob better as we travel together this week.
Amelia is starting the TeamKid program for preschoolers next Wednesday night and she will be taking Bob's place for the K-6 grade program this Wednesday night, so be sure and pray for her in that. Also, please be praying for our church especially at this time, as there is a lot of things going on.
I will write more later.

Getting ready for the audition today. Not much else going on. Practiced last night with Kevin on music for the upcoming Sunday night youth services. I am really looking forward to those. Also pray for Amelia. She is getting ready to launch the preschool program for TeamKid on Wednesday nights starting on the 29th.

It has been a good week. God is so good. I spent some time with Garvon, our association's Director of Missions, on Thursday. This week coming up will be very busy. I have my audition with the Black Hills Symphony tomorrow night, and then a dinner on Tuesday night concerning collegiate ministry work.
We still need prayers (always) and financial support. We haven't gotten any support sent in through the North American Mission board. See my home page for details on contributing to our support base.

I think this was the first day since we have arrived that I have spent the whole day at the house.

I have to update more often. Lots of exciting things to talk about. We are planning on starting a youth service on Sunday nights beginning in November. So please include that in your prayers. I am still working on job leads. I will be auditioning for the Black Hills Symphony on Monday night.

Things are going great. We had a great service at church last night. There was a deacon ordination, a deacon activation and a commissioning service all in one. I am so excited about the things that God is doing. We are looking to do a youth rally here in New Underwood to help out the church here, and as a thank-you for their generosity in allowing us to stay here. The youth are planning a Praise the Lord party for Oct. 31 for the kids in the church. Afterwards they are having a lock-in which will give me my first good chance to get to know them better. I can't wait.

We finally have internet access at home. So now I will be updating more frequently. I interviewed at KSLT on Tuesday and am still looking at options as far as employment goes, so please keep praying for that.

We are here in South Dakota. We moved last week and all went well. I am settling in here at Westside Baptist Church and looking for a job. We are excited and thankful for all of the prayers and gifts and encouragement. Please pray for God to help me find the right job, that will leave me with time to work with the youth.

Welcome to my ministry weblog. This is where I will do my best to keep family, friends and all others who are praying for us and supporting us finacially up to date on the goings on in our ministry.