The latest...

Life has moved very quick this past semester...
I can't believe that it is almost over. We have only 22 days left in December!

I don't really even remember October or November. Has that ever happened to you? Time can move by so fast...

Here is a great pic of some of our Harker Heights kids at Club last week. Our high school friends are such a joy to us...


Taylor and I decorated our home this year the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We put up about twice as many lights this year...per Taylor's request. I really like the 'star' in our upstairs window along with the tree in the front yard wrapped with 10 strands of lights! Taylor got DIZZY put those on.


But my very most favorite decoration is this one simple sign in our front yard!
Wise Men Still Seek Him!
Absolutely! I truly believe that.


I killed my first buck on Monday (12/7/2009) morning in Milano, Texas. I am really proud of it and love this pic with the cross in the background. By the way, that's a leaf on the deer's neck, not the bullet hole.

Have an Incredible Day!

Please pray for me as I venture to Leakey, Texas, to speak at the Corpus Christi Polar Bear this weekend. I am hopefully going to take a few of our YL Kids which would be really awesome. These guys need to meet Jesus.

During this Christmas Season, Taylor and I are thankful for Emmanuel (God with us)! What an Awesome God we serve who would leave everything perfect to come to a place where perfection is lacking. That He would leave a place of Pure Light to come to a place where Darkness Reigns. That He would leave all of His Royal Privileges behind to become a man birthed by a lowly Jewish girl. That He would leave all Power behind and be put at our Mercy... to love him, care for him, feed him, nurture him, hate him, betray him, punch him, crucify him and kill him!

Yet Jesus STILL came. For You. And Me.

That is where our focus will be. What about yours?

Peace On Earth.

Polar Bear ... HERE WE COME!

This after noon will mark the beginning of our 8th Annual Polar Bear Winter Retreat in Central Texas! We have 67 kids and leaders signed up so far. The bus pulls out in 5 and a half hours an then it will be ON!

The temperatures are droppin', the rain is comin' in and the water is no doubt very frigid! We will be making our Annual Polar Bear Plunge into the water tomorrow afternoon. What EXCITEMENT that will be. Seriously! I am usually the very first one in the water to lead the charge. If kids are gonna follow, we must lead them, right?

I'm praying that I don't get sick this year. I am speaking at a Polar Bear next weekend in Leakey, Texas, for Corpus Christi Young Life. I do not need to be feeling bad for that event!

We would love your prayers.
Pray for Safety and Salvation!
Pray that we would love our high school friends extremely well this weekend.

Bless You...

They come in 'Threes'...

Have you ever heard that before? Have you ever heard that tragedies come in 'threes'? Well, that 'theory' holds true in my life and continues this season...

Thursday, November 5 - Man opens fire at Fort Hood killing 13 and injurying many more.
Thursday, November 12 - Old YL Leaders and dear friends' 3 month old baby stops breathing at babysitters and dies on following Sunday.
Thursday, November 19 - Dear YL friends in Boerne come home from dinner and find their high school son who had committed suicide.

Lots of Questions. No Answers. All Faith. All Trust. It's in these times that we turn to the only guaranteed stable thing in our life. Jesus Christ. Our Rock. Our Foundation. Our Hope. Without Him, we have nothing. With Him, we have everything!

He never promises a pretty and easy road. But He does promise to never ever leave us! And for that I give Thanks during this Thanksgiving Season. Just so you know, Thanksgiving is not a Holiday, it's a WAY OF LIFE! Few people are Thankful. It saddens my heart so much.

Life is full of ups and downs. I'm not sure why tragedies seem to come in Threes. I do know that after Three Days Jesus rose from the Dead though! And He lives today.

Do you know Him?

Happy Turkey Day to you and yours...

Our Children, Part Duece...

It makes me laugh when people are so concerned as to WHEN Taylor and I are going to have children. Simply to suit your 'fancy' this email is for you...

This is Alex, Chase, Mullens and Stefan at our 1st Annual Jell-O-A-Rama-A-Thon that we did with First Baptist Church. We were supposed to do Jell-O and Pudding Wrestling, but the rain moved us inside. We had to flex a whole bunch. We threw down Drop Clothes and had a Night Full 'O Jell-O! It was a blast. I was so thankful that no one got seriously hurt.
Not to self ... Jell-O on a tarp like substance becomes like Black Ice! Watch your step...


This is a pic of some of our group last night from Capture The Pumpkin at Conder Park. This is an annual event that we do around Halloween to break up the semester. It was extremely fun as always. The seniors took on the underclassmen. The seniors won the first game. Underclassmen the second and the Seniors pulled out the 2 out of 3 victory by winning the 3rd game! It was intense. Now we move on to our Polar Bear Winter Retreat December 4 - 6.


On to our 'other' children...

This is picture of Bourne sleeping ON ME! He is such an affectionate cat. He loves to lay on, near and around me when night falls. It is rather funny. Taylor snapped this picture before she got in bed the other night.


This is a close up of Bourne's right leg / paw. On Saturday, we are not sure what happened, but Bourne began limping on his right leg. All you had to do was look at it and tell that something was wrong. It looked like he was wearing a cast. It was so funny looking. He is better now and the swelling has subsided.
My assumption is that while he was digging around in the flower bed, he got bit or stung by something. The swelling lasted about 12 hours. He is all back to normal now and rowdier than ever!


Bourne and Bauer LOVE to be outside! They have fresh food and fresh water inside the house at all times, but they insist on drinking out of the Bird Bath in the backyard! This may be the cutest picture that Tay has snapped yet...

So there ya have it. Those are our kids. No 'kids' on the way yet. We will let all know when those days are nigh...

Enjoy this day that the Lord has made!

In the middle...

We are in the middle of Banquet season in Central Texas and I need some OXYGEN!!!
Last night was Copperas Cove's very first Banquet. What a true blessing. We started YL in Cove 3 years ago and it has been growing ever since. They have always been a part of 'Killeen's' banquet, but not any longer! I am so proud of them and the work that God is doing in Copperas Cove.

We have our banquet in just 6 days. Monday is the night! The is our 8th Annual Banquet. It's really hard to believe that we have been doing this for 7 years. Ten years total. Time flies when you are having fun, right? Well, I am STILL having fun and Jesus is still working on me...

November 16, is Belton's Banquet! Belton? What? That's right... On June 1, we hired Matt Lambro straight outta Abilene Christian University to be our full time YL Staff Guy in Belton. He is doing a wonderful job and has strategically surrounded himself with some stellar people. He is a very smart young man.

So, in all of that, life is crazy right now. It's a great day to be ALIVE!

Make today count...

Awkward...

Have you ever let something go by for so long that whenever you get around to doing it, it can be awkward? Returning a phone call. Saying you're sorry. Not writing on your blog.

Exactly. That how I feel right now. I haven't written in over a month. What have I been DOING? Gosh. Where does time go? But have no fear, I have made time in my Palm Pilot Treo 755p to blog once a week. Let's see how that is gonna work out.

Bourne and Bauer are great. I must admit, these cats have brought Taylor and I so much joy, laughter and excitement to our every day life. I didn't see this coming. I was laying in bed reading last night with my wife asleep next to me and the cats in between us sleeping and I just stared at all three of them and smiled. Was this possible? Am I REALLY married? It is still so fresh. So New. Even after 2 years! I love it. I still ask Taylor, 'Can you believe that we are married?' I still think it is so cool! And I have cats. And they are sleeping in bed with us. How bizaar. I love watching and playing with them. They are so full of life. I can't even imagine what it's gonna be like for us to have children. Speaking of children, just kidding...

This picture of Bourne of makes his tail seem like it is 4 feet long. I thought it was funny. He is definitely the most energetic, curious and loving of the two.


We have had to cancel Crud War twice this semester because of rain. So, it place of Crud War this year, we had a Dodgeball Tournament. Kids had an Incredible time and really loved it. I did too. I just can't feel my lower back and neck. Am I too old for this?


Here is Marky and Charis listening intently at Young Life Club last Monday. Club is wild and crazy, but when it comes time for a YL Leader to speak about Jesus, the room falls silent. It is simply a miracle to get 40 high schoolers quiet!


Todd Kenneth Schmales and his Ladies. Todd is a Safety Director and he has been visiting our club this semester. I must admit, he is really funny!

Alex, Stefan and Chase 'cheese it up' for the camera. I love to see kids being kids. I love to see kids smile. I love to see kids laugh. And to laugh hard. We get to see this often on Monday nights.

Tuesday evenings have become a time where Taylor and I are meeting with some other couples and going through the Truth Project. Have you ever heard of the Truth Project? It is an apologetic study about 'Truth.' What is Truth? Is there such thing as Truth? Does Truth still exist. It's a flippin' great series put out by Focus on the Family!

In our world, Truth is relative and is whatever you want it to be...

That is a lie and simply NOT the Truth!

Our Children...

Taylor and I finally have decided to have children... Well, not human children, but rather feline children. We adopted a boy (Bourne) and a girl (Bauer) from the Second Chance Animal Shelter in Killeen and we have fallen in love with our two kitties!

These are pics from the first day that we brought them home. They made themselves at home very quick and love they people! We got them declawed and fixed up with shots last week and now they can stay 'out' in the house (rather than being put up in the laundry room at night or when we leave). They love staying out and they roam around all day long ... if they are not sleeping!

They are not brother and sister, but they sure play like it! They have slept in our bed the last two nights and that has been so much fun. Bourne literally sleeps with half of his body on Taylor's pillow and half of his body on top of her head!!! I tell no lies... It may be one of the cutest things you have seen this year!

We would love for you to come and meet our new kids. Luckily they walk on 4 legs rather than 2...

Bourne Chillin'...


This is one of Bourne's favorite spots to lay in the living room


Bauer getting ready to 'wreck shop' on Bourne


Let the games begin!

Have a GREAT DAY today...

Sharptop Cove 2009...

After getting back from Frontier Ranch, we had almost exactly 2 weeks before we took our Central Texas high schoolers to Sharptop Cove in Jasper, Georgia...

You would think that it would taken nothin' to get a high schooler to leave Killeen and go to camp... Noooooooooooooooooooooo, not this year. Not ANY year! I know that this is part of the Spiritual Battle that goes on all around us each and every day, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The Enemy NEVER stops!

But the busses pulled up, we loaded 40 kids and 9 leaders on 1 bus and some Belton and Marble Falls folks on another and off we went! It was a wonderful bus ride. Not one problem which is unusual. I did think to myself around 1 a.m. as I was trying to doze off and get an hour of sleep before our crazy week of camp starts tomorrow, 'At what age am I told old to be riding this bus each and every year?' I turn 33 years old on September 3, 2009. Taylor told me that I am already too old to ride the bus and that we need to fly next year. I think she was just acting silly and selfish ... wink, wink!

Of the 40 kids that we took to camp, 16 made a decision to follow Jesus!!! Now the Fun begins as we arrive back home, get kids plugged in and start their Spiritual Root System. We met every single day from 10-11:30 a.m. for two weeks and it was STRONG! Probably our best after camp follow up that we have ever done. Such a joy to see kids grow in the Lord!

I sure wish that you could experience a week at a Young Life Resort!

This is a group shot of our CenTex friends. We are all wearing our commemorative Camp Shirt honoring the year of the 'Flying Pig Flu' a.k.a. Swine Flu...


This is Night 3 at the Carnival. One of the kids won some money and chose to take me to 'Pie in the Eye!' I know it's coming, so I might as well make faces and talk trash, right?


This is one of our guy cabins before their ropes course. The Ropes Course is such a Powerful Tool to challenge kids, have them step out in faith and learn how to trust something or someone other than themselves! It's like we have to Deprogram people from the world before they can learn to listen to the still small whisper of our Heavenly Father.


Sharptop Cove...

This is my cabin right before our Volleyball Tournament. They were a great group of guys!

Thanks for supporting Young Life in Central Texas.

Because High Schoolers are WORTH IT...

Frontier Ranch 2009

Wow! I can't believe that it has been over a month since we have returned from our 2nd Session Assignment for Young Life at Frontier Ranch in Buena Vista, Colorado.

Our time at Frontier was Incredible. We got to see Amazing things happen! We got to see a hundred kids each week step from Death to Life, from Perishable to Imperishable! It doesn't get any better than that.

One thing that made our Assignment very Unique and Different was the dreaded Swine Flu of 2009. So Wild. So Crazy. We experienced the Brunt of the Joke at Frontier Ranch. Kids were infected. Our Assigned Team was infected. Everyone was exposed to it. Our first week, we had to send 160 folks from Houston home on Day 3 of 7 at camp. On Day 5, we sent the rest of camp home. It was SO Bizaar! Never before have I had 2 days 'off' at the end of Week 1 to prepare for Week 2.

Week 2 was less hectic and the Swine Flu surfaced at the end of the week, but it really didn't affect our week. Weeks 3 and 4 were free and clear! Such a blessing. It was excellent to finish strong and know that Jesus moved mountains in spite of all that went on.

Our biggest challenge came at the end of Week 3 during the last night. Our Camp Director's, Lynn Barclay, husband Paul was supposed to come and visit us on Week 2, but he had gotten sich and did not want to travel. In the span of a week, he stayed sick with random symptoms and on the last night of camp of Week 3, Lynn got a phone call from the North Carolina Police saying that her husband had passed away! Totally Insane. I will never forget getting the news. I was on stage celebrating after 'Say-So' when Elise Austell came up to me and told me this tragic news. Here we had just experienced 100 kids step spiritually into eternity and now we are dealing with Paul Barclay physically stepping into Eternity?!? It was a real hard time for everyone on our Assignment. Lynn Barclay is a great mom, wife, Regional Director, lady and Leader! Lord, Bless Her...

Here are some pics for your enjoyment. I know that pictures are worth a thousand words ... or so the saying goes!

On our way home from Colorado, we stopped at the Royal Gorge at BOY, it was awesome! Have you ever been there? I like to stop and random places during a trip and sightsee and this was a Great Treasure. This picture is of the tram that go across the entire valley and is some 2,000 feet in the air or something ludicrous like that. We rode it and it was a blast! We spent 2 hours at the Royal Gorge. What a gift. We then drove 7 hours to Amarillo to eat at the Big Texan (a famous restaurant that offers you a free 72 oounce steak and 'trimmings' if you can eat it all in under an hour! It's the Disney Land for Rednecks! We LOVED it...


These are some girls from Lake Highlands that I really connected with on the very first day of their specific week. They were so great and so precious to me. I told them that the thing I wanted most out of there week (besides them coming to know Jesus) is to stand atop Mount Chrysolite at 12,822 feet with them! They really knew I was crazy then. They hemmed and hawed, but said that they would give it a try. This day was the most draining day in all of our Assignment. I literally pushed one girl up the mountain. After we got about 60% of the way up, a couple of the girls would sit down (which you should never do), cry and say that they were not going any higher. It was TOUGH! God showed up that day. Each and every kids made it to the top of the mountain. We were the last folks to the top and were received by 400 others cheering us on. It was SO Powerful...


Taylor and I snuck away from camp one afternoon and I took her to St. Elmo. This is a really fun old mining town where you can feed the Chipmunks. They would crawl all over you and eat the seeds you had set out. It was really fun. Taylor loves animals and wildlife!


I borrowed a friends 4 wheeler and Taylor and I drove out of Frontier Ranch and up the side of one of the Collegiate Peaks known as Mount Princeton that Frontier Ranch actually sits on the side of. It was a great ride and such B-E-A-UTIFUL scenery. This is TayTay on top of the 4 wheeler at our final stopping point. No more vehicles beyond this point...

Tay and I atop Mount Princeton. It was about 15 degrees cooler at the top than it was in camp.

There ya have it. That is the short version of our time in Colorado at Frontier Ranch...

This is my 10 Year Anniversary this summer with Young Life! It's hard to believe that it has been that long...

It's that time of year again...

Welp, it's that time of year again...

Summer is all but gone and we are gearing up for another school year here in Central Texas!

This summer has been an incredible experience. Oh So Unique and Unusual, yet incredible! I shall be writing more about our summer experiences and posting pictures for all to enjoy.

We leave for Sharptop Cove (a Young Life Resort) in Jasper, Georgia, on Saturday evening. Please pray for this time. Pray against Swine Flu and the Enemy trying to derail all that our Father is doing.

I hope this day is your BEST one all week.

Because High Schoolers are Worth It...

Spring is upon us...

It is hard to believe that May is almost gone. Gone. Gone. Gone. Where does the time go? They say it 'flies' when you're having 'fun.' Ever heard that? I am sure you have...

We had our last YL Club and Campaigners last week. Such an incredible semester that we just finished. We had our first ever Semi-Formal Prom... what that means is that you wear 1/2 Formal clothes and 1/2 casual clothes. For instance, I wore a tux shirt with bow tie and cumberbun with my orange Hawaiian swimsuit and flip flops. Get the picture? It was a BLAST!

Taylor, Callen and Tasha


Kids being GOOFY!


With the semester coming to a close, it gives me a little bit more time to do stuff in the lawn. Taylor and I love our home. We are so thankful and grateful for the blessing and ministry tool that it is.

If you look to the left of our Silver Maple (the big tree), you see a little twig in the ground. That is a Dogwood that I just pulled up and planted a Drummond Red Maple in the same spot. The Dogwood was there for 2 1/2 years and never grew at all. I finally gave up on it... Our new tree is twice that size of the old one.



Before Taylor moved in, all I had was a row of Boxwoods. My yard was full of green. Now that I have a female living in the house now, PINK is the new GREEN! We have gone to lots and lots of flowers and such. Taylor is an awesome home decorator. And for that I am SO Thankful!

Thank You to all of the Veterans and those who serve our country in the military. I know that it is a tough job and life and for you I am in debt to...

Have a Wonderful Weekend!

A month of evading...

After over a month of evading us in the Wilderness, The Godfather, Grandpa, Big Beard or whatever you wanna call him is officially ours!!!

It happened this morning. And boy what a RUSH it was. Let me back up just a bit...

A day before opening Turkey Season (April 4), Paul (my father in law) and I went out to scout for turkeys, to watch their behavior and to see how the Toms and Hens are looking and moving this year. It was then that we knew we were in for a BIG Season. There was SO much activity that day that Paul thought there were other hunters in the woods with us! He has been hunting his entire life and had never experienced so much 'talking' before. It was exhilirating! It was this day that we first laid on eyes on The Godfather, Grandpa, Big Beard or whatever you want to call him. We knew he was a big bird and had a beard of between 91/2 and 10 inches! That should have just got you very excited...

So, we invited a friend of ours to go the following day, which would be the first day of Turkey Season. We talked up the hunt and told everyone how much activity there was this year. David was really excited about going. And so we went. And did not hear a SINGLE BIRD nor see any sort of movement! It was embarrasing actually... David never got to go back into the field. Work has gotten him nailed down.

It is amazing the difference one day can make. One day you will hear every animal in the woods and the next day you won't hear a stinkin' peep from a bird.

To make a long story short, we have been in the field the past 3 mornings and our persistence has finally paid off.
Monday, we went out. The turkeys were active, but they were hanging around Paul (since he was the one 'calling') and I could not shoot them because they were out of range. We had actually taken two guns this day. I had the 12 gauge shotgun and Paul had a rifle. We really wanted this Turkey and we were going double time for him. When the turkeys were around Paul, I was expecting him to shoot at any moment. He must have had at least 20 different shots. Finally when the turkeys meandered off, we both came out of the bushes. I said, 'Why didn't you shoot the Turkey?!?' Paul replied, 'Because I want you to shoot it.' Now THAT'S a hunter! One who passes up a Big Beard for his lowly son-in-law! Thanks Paul!!!
Tuesday, we went out. Paul and I actually switched positions because we thought the turkeys would have the same pattern as the day before. We were wrong! Not a single gobble or anything! 'It's a bad sign when you don't hear a gobble from the roost!' Paul Young.
Today, we went out. And we heard gobbles. Lots and Lots of them! Paul was back in his original spot and I was backed into some Cedars about 20 feet from him standing up. I am getting excited even telling you this story! People are missing out when they don't go Turkey Hunting!!!
We did hear lots of gobbles on the roost (which is a good sign). I knew when we heard the first gobble today that we were going to get Big Beard. I just knew...

And so it happened. Paul was working the 'Slate,' the 'Box Call,' and the 'Gobbler.' I saw 3 Toms from about 100 yards away. I couldn't see their beards or anything, I just saw them running and strutting at the sound of a hen wanting to be bred (which was actually Paul... kind of creepy. It is amazing how fooled men can become when they have 'breeding' on their mind).

And so they came. Big Beard was definitely dominate over the other two birds. We estimated that he would be a 3 year old bird. Two of the birds veered off and were about 50 yards away. Big Beard came in just a little bit closer. 30 yards was the perfect shot. 1 shot. 1 kill. And it was over! My heart was racing. I was shaking. It was Incredible!!!

We walked over to Big Beard to inspect him. He had a 9 3/4 inch beard. My birds beard from last year was 8 1/2 inches long. We were expecting to see 3/4 inch to an inch spur (spikes) on his legs, but there were not any. Come to find out, Big Beard is only a year old bird. He hadn't even started growing his spikes yet. The Spikes are used for fighting. Paul had never seen anything like it. There is some great breeding going on in those woods...

I got to completely clean the bird by myself. I breasted him and cut off his tail. Such a beautiful creation. Thank You Jesus...







I kept the tail, the beard, the feet and the breast meat. This is my second bird this season. I killed one last year and two this year. My first one this year was a Meat Kill. He had a 4 1/2 inch beard.

What a Blast...

What has gone on...

Today may be the most beautiful morning that we have had yet! I love beautiful mornings, don't you? What a joy it is to be alive...

People are upset at the world. Have you noticed this? People look at you strange when you are nice, happy, singing in a gas station, say hello even when you don't know them. This happens to me daily. I pray for those people. My heart aches for people that are unhappy.

Things are going well on this front in Killeen, Texas. Taylor and I are finally open to pets. Probably more so for me right now than Taylor. Which is really surprising! She is an ANIMAL LOVER!!! However, I think she likes not having dog hair around the house more than having dogs. We shall see. We found a dog the other day and that is what spurred this desire in us both. He looked to be like a Scottish Terrier / Pug mix. We started calling him Buddy and hung out with him for an hour. We drove around and found a flyer and low and behold, his name WAS Buddy!!! How crazy is that? The lady started crying on the phone when I told her that we had Buddy. He had been gone a week.

On Easter Eve, we had friends over for drinks, desserts, and an Easter Documentary and our 1st Annual Couples Easter Egg Hunt! IT WAS FUUUUUUUUN! I hid 84 eggs. 50 of them had a 1 dollar coin in it along with some candy and the others were filled with coupons and the such. They did not know there was money in there though or else it may have been too physical! It was 10:30 at night. We started in the front lawn. The girls had the flashlights and were holding their husbands hand leading them and running around the property. The guys were blindfolded and the guys had to pick up the eggs! It was a trip! It was a great lesson on Communication and Trust. Many of the guys got run into trees, columns, bird feeders, etc... because our wives forgot about us!

Matt & Kim searching for eggs

Taylor and Me

While I was hiding the eggs on Saturday, I found a baby easter bunny! How incredible is it that I found a baby bunny on Easter Eve? I think it is Awesome! I named him Peter. He was really cool. Notice that I am talking in the past tense. We kept him in a box the first night and he jumped out. Peter can JUMP HIGH! I taped up the sides the next night and he jumped out again and the next day I spent 45 minutes looking for him twice and could not find him. He finally came out of his hiding spot at night and we caught him. He did not want to be held or fed and so we let him go. Peter was our very first pet... I have come to this conclusion: You can take the bunny out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the bunny! Now THAT is truth.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh...

Young Life is going well. We are gearing up for the end of the semester and we are hosting the 1st Annual Young Life / Outback Steakhouse 9 v 9 Flag Football Tournament for high schoolers only. There has been a lot of talk! I hope we have a great response and turn out...

I will be working at Frontier Ranch this summer for my Summer Assignment for Young Life. I will be doing Program (skits, entertainment, leading kids in all that is fun, etc...) along with two of my friends Dan Alexander (Cedar Park) and Billy Huff (Brenham). They are funny dudes and we are all looking forward to what God is gonna do through us this summer.

More about the Russell animals ... So, Taylor and I head out for a walk around the neighborhood on Tuesday and I spot a large turtle walking down the middle of the street. We pick him up. He is a Red-Eared Slider water turtle and we put him in our backyard. We named him Tortie. We went for an hour walk that night and came home and he was gone. The Russell's are 0 for 2 when it comes to pets this month! I hope this isn't a 'sign' ... Muhahahahahahaaaaaaaaa!

That's the latest scoop on the Russell's. We are enjoying our Nearly / Newly Married class that we are co-leading at church. We are having a Shindig at the house this weekend with about 20 peeps from the class. Wish you could be there.

May the Lord bless you and keep you!

Because High Schoolers are Worth IT!

Snap!

Trust me when I say that there will be new news on this blog before the weeks end...

I am a worthless individual for not keeping this thing up. Please forgive me now!

In awe of the Light...

Welp, it is Spring time (well kinda... almost) in Texas and I am really getting excited about it. My bird feeders are out and are being visited every day. I actually just put up a new one...a finch feeder. It takes Thistle. It is an interesting seed, to say the least. I have yet to see any finches visiting the new feeder. However, I did buy a bird bath and the birds are already using it! At least they are drinking out of it. I think it is still a little cold to be taking a bath outdoors, if you ask me! I LOVE to watch wildlife. I DO! It is so relaxing.

I also bought a few plants this weekend for the house. I bought a Hybiscus, Bromeliad and an Exotic Angel. One thing that is common with each of them is that they all need light! Funny how that works, huh? I think of John 3:19-21 which says, 'This is the verdict: Light has come into the world but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil, hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.' Amen? Amen! For these beautiful plants to survive, they MUST have light! They have to. Some take a lot. Some take a little. But all must have it. Or else death is a in their future.

I think the same is true for us. The above mentioned Scripture is a picture of our world. Our world does not like the Light. We didn't like Him when He was amongst us and we don't like Him now. We don't want accountability. We want to look the other way. To do our own thing! But nature needs the Light! Isn't that funny? Yet, we have been given the choice of what we want and we choose to run or hide from it.

Psalm 63:3 says, 'Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you!'

Karl Barth, the great German theologian said, 'All my theology and teaching can be summed up with: Jesus loves me, this I know.'

Blaise Pascal said, 'The love of Jesus is not a mild benevolence but it is a consuming fire!'
Do you know this light? Are you in the light? Whether we have come to realize it or not, all of who we are longs and desires the light! The Light gives us Life. The Light helps us grow. Through the Light, we are able to feed other people.

Below are some pics for you to enjoy...

At YL Club on Monday


Will and Lucy as dating consultants!


Heather Fizer surfs the crowd against her will


Ellison High School Campaigners on Wednesdays. We are going through the book of Mark...

Life is moving very quick. Are you in? Are you being Intentional? If not, it will soon pass you by...

Because High Schoolers are worth it!

Some things to ponder...

I feel like I have so much to write and don't know where to start. I have pics to share from our visit to Corinth to see my Grandmother from New York...dad's mom. Stories from Young Life. And thoughts on the Word...

Hmmmmmm, where to begin. How's this for starters?
God loves Israel. He hates their disobedience. Moses is gonna be dying soon and he is recapping his years 'in office' as the leader of the Israelites. I love these words of the Lord as He talks about the Land of Canaan (that would be a really sweet kids name!) and how 10 of the 12 spies that went in to check it out did not want to take it over because the people were too big, the walls were too high and the nations were bigger than they were. In Deuteronomy 9, God says, 'Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall—Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?" But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you.

I love that! We don't serve a God of Reason... We serve a God of Faith! It does not make sense to try to conquer the Anakites. It just doesn't. They are Bigger. They are Stronger. But it does make sense if God tells you to do it. Go. Take it by force! I have already given you the land. Absolutely...

And in Deuteronomy 11, God reminds us with these thoughts...'Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the LORD's anger will burn against you, and he will shut the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the LORD is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. Cliff Notes version...Don't FORGET what I have done. Tell your children...

That's where we have fallen short. We have not told our children. Gone are the days when 'most' of our friends go to church. It's more like few of our friends go to church. No one knows what God has done. And no one seems to care. It truly saddens my heart. Lord help us...

Have we been enticed and turned away? That is exactly where we are at.

My Grandmother from New York came to Texas last week and Taylor and I got to go and see her and the family. It was such a sweet time. She is such a sweet, sweet lady. She is 88 years old. I am 32. She was married to my grandpa for 62 years before he died 4 years ago. We are not promised tomorrow...

Enjoy these pics. I will write more manana...

Taylor, Grandma Russell and me


Kris and Krystle Gutierrez (my best friend growing up in Lewisville) and their baby Katelyn Grace. We are claiming Katelyn as our own. You may have seen Kris or Krystle on Fox 4 News or Fox National News. They are movie stars! But SO Real and Genuine... Kris is a Dork!


Sadie, Kennedy, Katelyn, Taylor and Sydney. They belong to David, Wayne, Kris, Wayne and David, respectively...From Left to Right!


Group Russell Pic. Dad is taking a nap!


I thought this was a pretty sunset from David's front porch. God sure is an Artist!


Because High Schoolers are Worth It!

The Bible...

The Bible isn't just an instruction manual or a list of rules to follow. It lives and works its life into us. It has hidden and myserious power to change our life. This book has wrestled with me; this book has slapped me around. This book has comforted me; this book has overwhelmed my heart with the joy of heaven itself. This book has healed me; this book has wounded me. This book has smiled on me; this book has frowned on me. This book has wept with me, and it has sung joyfully to me; it shouts to me, whispers to me, and preaches to me. The idea that a preacher lends life to God's Word is wrong; the only thing a preacher has to give to the Word is a voice. Like a seed, the word of God has a hidden and mysterious power!

I found the above passage while I was preparing for my Campaigners lesson last week. I think it is a great quote. And I believe it to be true...

Coach Eugene Tackleberry and Coach Cletus Coltrain at Club on Monday


Spencer chillin' at Club


Group shot


Jenna and Taylor singing LOUD!

I am headed to the high school.

Why? you ask...

BECAUSE HIGH SCHOOLERS ARE WORTH IT!