The plumbers are plumbing HOORAY, hooray!

A quick update, I am guessing you know what is happening here right? Yes at long last the guys with the droopy drawers have shown up to get some pipes installed.

This is the mandatory employee bathroom I had to install for the employees I don't have, but its ok because I love the health department and I love making sure plumbers don't go hungry.

Someone was having fun with their shiny new jackhammer, I bet the lawyer next door decided today was a golf day.

I swear they had to cart this dirt in here... I mean seriously, where did it all come from?

another pic to take up valuable Internet bandwidth

I was actually impressed with what they got done today. When Ray the plumber told me it would only take two days I thought "yeah right" but tomorrow I may have to think "gee mister plumber guy, I'm sorry I doubted you." There is still work to do outside to hook up the drain lines to the sewer and there are water lines to run and a water heater to install but things are moving right along and I am stoked about that.

Go Plumbers!

In the news...

I wanted to put up just a few links to some articles I have been following on worldnetdaily.com.

If you were unaware, there are some subtle moves going on in our country, the UK and in Canada to criminalize our faith and God's Word. Christians are being attacked because of what the Bible says about homosexuality. Homeschooling and parental rights are being attacked. Traditional marriage is being redefined. So far most of the action is happening in isolated pockets of California, Colorado and some north eastern states but I'm sure that it won't stop there.

I didn't post this to start a petition or organize people into a political action campaign, just to inform and encourage people to pray. I have been praying for our state and local leaders here in Alabama, that they would be filled with wisdom and grace from the Lord to;

• Protect our freedom to meet together
• Pray publicly
• Teach the Bible publicly without restrictions
• Worship openly
• Peacefully share our faith with others

Let me quote from 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 :

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. NKJV

Prayer is powerful.

I am not against petitions or political action, I applaud those who can do it in a humble and Godly manner. I am just not cut out for that sort of thing. God says in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that the healing in a land comes from:

• A humble heart
• Prayer
• Seeking his face
• Repentance

Let me encourage you towards simple obedience and trust that God can and will do what He says He will do... Amen?

Oh, here are those links...

San Fran Catholic attack results in lawsuit
'Gay' man sues Bible publishers
Legislator: Law allows banishment of Bible
'Religion in private' OK, declares ACLU
Criminal crackdown targeting Christians
Biblical message now criminalized
Christian photographers fined for refusing same-sex ceremony
Government to pastor: Renounce your faith!
Guv strikes state's gender-specific restrooms
Cover up! Locker rooms going coed
Transgender lobby to intimidate petitioners
Voting rights challenged in 'coed showers' lawsuit
'How-to-be-homo' seminar canceled
Class for kids: How to be homosexual
Parents warned of 'hate speech' during 'gay' promo
Crackdown on biblical speech challenged
Superintendent's orders to worried dad: Butt out!
Citizen revolt forces vote on coed showers
Dad challenging 'manipulation' of kids
Judges: 'Gay' exposure OK for kindergarteners
Judge boots parents from son's schooling
'Gay' lessons violate civil rights, man says
Parents urged to boycott homosexual indoctrination
Student told: 'Leave your faith in the car'
California ripped as 'too queer for school'
2 more 'sexual indoctrination' bills vetoed
Christian-education push goes to states
Sexual indoctrination bill vetoed
Hundreds rally to threaten Gov. Arnold with 'veto'
Gov. Arnold urged to cancel sexual indoctrination
California Christians urged to yank kids
Gov. Arnold tosses school moral codes
Dobson: Tell Arnold to halt 'gay' agenda
California ripped as 'too queer for school'
Judge orders 'gay' agenda taught to Christian children
'State interest' argued in teaching homosexuality
'Gay' groups: We have rights to your children!

Psalm 131

As time for our shop opening is getting closer I have been struggling with our lack of funds to get everything completed. It seems like every morning I have been getting a little anxious and then I remember to pray thru Philippians 4:6-8 and God has been faithful to bring peace. I feel kind of bad that this has been a morning by morning thing for me, like “where is my faith Lord?” but He is gracious and patient and on Friday I felt like He really blessed me in my morning devotions.

LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty. Neither do I concern
myself with great matters, nor with things too profound for me.
2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the LORD From this time forth and forever.
NKJV

At first I was a little mystified by this Psalm (tell me I'm not the only brick in the kingdom please). I didn't understand why David used a weaned child to be his example of hope and trust in great and profound matters. It seems like a nursing child is the better picture of being totally and completely dependent. So I asked the Lord what was being communicated here? He reminded me:

• A weaned child is no longer drinking milk.
• A weaned child has grown a bit and is no longer a baby.
• A weaned child is ready for more solid food.
• A weaned child has seen the faithfulness of his mother and should be able to trust her as she introduces more challenging things, like meat.
  

Slowly I started to understand that He was telling me that I was the weaned child, that I have grown and am ready for more challenging things. He reminded me of His faithfulness and provision in the past that has met all my needs so far. His direction for me is:

• to calm down and quiet my soul
• not worry about great and profound things that I cant understand
• put my hope in Him because he is faithful
  

God is so good. I wanted to share this with you guys so you can be encouraged like I was.
Praise the Lord!

Construction progress

Praise the Lord we are back on track with construction on the coffee shop. After a long wait for the city engineers approval and a re-bid from the plumbing/electrical contractor we are moving forward again. Our contractor is dry walling and has started framing. Here is this weeks update...

Drywall near the front door is taped and has its initial mud coat.

Framing around the office/storage area

Bathroom and mop sink area

Storage closet

Keep us in your prayers as we get closer to opening up, we have so many things to do. I am praying for:

• Wisdom to know how to schedule all these tasks
• Ability to do a few things we have never done (like purchase kitchen equipment...)
• Provision to get the work done and equipment purchased without using credit
• Grace and Patience to wait on the Lord (see the devotion on Psalm 131)

What brings you to our State’s Capitol Jenny?

Ok so this post is a bit out of order but…

On July 1st Nate came for a visit. He flew into Montgomery’s regional airport. He was actually supposed to fly in on June 30th but due to the airlines continued woes with scheduling we had to wait an extra day for his arrival. We figured that since we had to drive all the way to Montgomery we may as well see a few of its sights.



To be honest I didn’t know Montgomery was the state capitol – doh! As we drove downtown I quickly realized where we were. We stopped in front of the capitol building and got a quick pic and then went across the street to see the “First White House of the Confederacy.”



Unlike most historical sites this one was not well maintained. I guess the old adage about the winners writing the history books is true. Thus is the fate of the capitol of the losing side. Anyway, it was actually very interesting and had many more artifacts than the more “politically correct” sites I have seen.

With the time we had left we moved onto the Church that Dr. Martin Luther King pastored at. It was around the corner (irony alert!!) and very well maintained. It is still in active use but we couldn’t go inside unless we paid to go through one of the hourly tours. We didn’t have time to wait so all we saw was the outside.

Finally we arrived at the Airport which was much larger than I expected and picked up Nate. Hug, Hug, Kiss, Kiss and we were on our way to get some dinner and head home.

A day on the Emerald Coast

Until CC Enterprise is up and running we are attending Calvary Chapel Emerald Coast in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. I wondered why they called it CC Emerald Coast rather than CC Ft. Walton Beach. As soon as we visited the beach I found out why. As a North Carolinian when I thought of the Gulf of Mexico two words came to mind “flat” and “murky.” Boy was I wrong. The beaches here are beautiful. Clear green water (thus the name emerald) and white sand beaches. I was stunned as we drove around. Even the inland waterways are nice. As much as I loved Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, this place blows them away.

Alas, it is a bit flatter,

On July 6th we set out at the crack of dawn to hit the early service and then spend the day at the beach. We wanted Nate to see it for himself since our pictures never quite do the beach justice.

Nate and Jason playing in the sand

The kids playing with a hermet crab we found while searching for shells

We worshipped and were on the beach by 11:00am. Afterwards we hit a few outlet malls in Destin, stocked up on bagels at Panera Bread and headed home tired and a bit sunburned but content.

What is it about the ocean that makes everything better?

First Fourth

We had a great time on our first “holiday” as residents here in Enterprise. Our usual tradition in Fayetteville was to head out to Ft. Bragg and watch the fireworks, staying with that tradition we went to Ft. Rucker this year.

The Crew we rolled with, Jeremy, Julie and family, us and Sam and Selina and family

Ft. Rucker is where Army aviators are trained so when we arrived we went over to see all the whirly birds. I wanted to hop in the Apache, but they wouldn’t let adults in.

Jason you lucky kid...

As it got dark, we headed over to what I assume was the parade field and staked out a spot. Ft. Rucker put on an excellent show. They had a huge stage set up with two large screens, lights and smoke machines. The “Silver Wings” Army band played a variety of tunes from Swing to Pop and even some Country. Let me tell you, you haven’t heard country music until an Army Sergeant in his Class B uniform (complimented with a totally unauthorized cowboy hat) has sung it for ya. Good times!

As we waited for night to completely fall, Sam took us over to the food vendors to get some “green boiled peanuts.” I was very apprehensive about boiled peanuts. Back when I was in the 82nd, Chaplain Lax walked in to my office one day and offered to share his boiled peanuts. I had seen them on sale in different places but had never tried them. Now I like peanuts as much as the next guy but as soon as that boiled peanut hit my mouth, out it came. I don’t even remember what it tasted like, but it had the consistency of snot and there was no way I was swallowing that thing. I told Sam about my experience with them and he assured me that “green boiled peanuts” were very different. Well I couldn’t very well Pastor in this town and not have experienced one of its local delicacies so I grabbed up that green boiled peanut and popped a couple in. I must admit they were better, but not something I would knock down small children to get more of. They tasted like two mini baked potatoes. If they can figure out how to get some bacon and sour cream in there then I will be all over them.

We returned to our spot and settled in for the fireworks. After the Chaplain prayed and the lights dimmed the sky began to explode with color. I am sure I will never quite understand the thoughts that were going through Francis Scott Key’s mind as he watched Ft. McHenry getting bombarded thru the night but I still get choked up when I hear the verse that says “Our Flag was still there…”

"and the Rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air..."

Thank you Lord for this country where we can worship You and teach others your Word. Thank you for your protection and your provision thru these last 232 years. We praise and worship You for these blessings!

New phone numbers finally!

I love ya Verizon but I just couldn't "hear ya" in Enterprise, perhaps the dude with the glasses needs to take a field trip here. We moved over to Alltel. Here are our new numbers:

Stephen: 334.806.9386
Denise: 334.806.2649
Rebekah: 334:806.9389
Nate: 334.806.9387

Stephen and Nate's numbers are working now, but we had to order Denise and Bek's phones online so they won't be active until Tuesday the 8th.