• Katy and I have really enjoyed leading our new small group.  This is allowing us to form deeper relationships with some great young couples.
• I’m contemplating going back to school to finish my Master’s degree.  This most likely would mean I take a class or two at a time online.
• Our time-line for planting Freedom Church is still on hold but the church’s website is up and you can now give online.  There have already been a couple donations from the site.
• Katy and I have been having some great conversations lately as we are learning how to effectively deal with conflict and are discussing our dreams about life and family.
• I’m pretty excited that we will be taking a week off at Thanksgiving and going to visit my family in Ohio.
• We really feel a burden to be more involved in ministry and are currently praying and seeking just what that may look like for us in the near future.

As always, your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

Anything new going on in your life?

1. Chattanooga, Tennessee
2. Billings, Montana
3. Atlanta, Georgia
4. Cleveland, Ohio
5. Charleston, South Carolina

The 5 cities I most want to visit are:

1. Las Vegas, Nevada
2. San Diego, California
3. Honolulu, Hawaii
4. New York, New York
5. Denver, Colorado

What are yours?

September 10^th – 14^th I will be in Ohio to visit family and friends.  I have not been up there since Christmas and am excited to see everyone.  On the 12^th I will be in Cincinnati for my friend Sherri’s wedding and the rest of the time will be spent in Canton (That’s right…..the home of the Football Hall of Fame and Relient K).  I will go to church at my home church on the 13^th.  Canton Baptist Temple is a very conservative church though they are working hard to not be as traditional.  They have been able to go through a transition few other churches have been willing and able to do successfully.  They have even launched a second campus 20 miles north that meets in a movie theatre and boasts a much more casual and contemporary style.

November 21^st – Donald Miller will be in Chattanooga to give a lecture in correlation with the release of his new book.  Donald has emerged in the past few years as a voice for emerging young believers and has been able to infiltrate a Christian voice within the Democratic Party.  Every time I hear him speak I am challenged to reevaluate my motives for ministry and the model of church we have created.  You can buy tickets here after they are released.

Also, our church is currently doing the “You Asked For It”.  This popular series being done by many contemporary churches in America allows the attendees to pick the subjects they would most like to hear discussed from the stage.  I still think my pastor should let me speak the week alcohol is on topic.  I actually received the preaching award at my college graduation for a message I gave on that subject in Preaching Workshop even though I took a position opposite my professor.

My retreat this time consisted of taking a friend for a few days in Orlando, Florida.  As a child I had never experienced that “once in a lifetime” magical Disney World experience; my family opted to go to Niagara instead.  Upon arrival in Orlando though, we found out that my vacation pass provided us with a variety of park pass choices.  So after an in-depth study of the posters on the wall we decided the models posed at Universal Studios appeared to be having the most fun.  We spent a full day at each park and several nights on the town.  I learned that apparently blowing your horn fixes all traffic problems and running from ride to ride for 14 hours a day does not feel like the vacation I have come to long for.

I then swapped traveling buddies and headed to Ft. Lauderdale where friend #2 and I set out on what was my first ever cruise – a much more casual and relaxing getaway headed for the Bahamas.  I learned several useful tips that may come in handy should I choose to cruise again, such as take advantage of the buffets, bring lots of sunscreen, there is no power-flush like that on a cruise, and I should leave my cash on the boat so the locals won’t force their “just like the original” products on me.

All and all though the time away gave me a chance to clear my head and focus on my life as well as how I fit in to the life around me.  It gave me some time to spend with God sitting in the pool with my Ipod playing.  I don’t think that God spoke louder to me on the open sea, but somehow it was easier to hear Him.  I evaluated my direction, my passion, and my purpose.  I began to long for more, not materially for those I met who traveled the most seemed to be the most scattered, but for a fuller, richer life that make for stories that challenge and inspire others.

I give myself an A for not using the current state of our country and economy as an excuse to sit at home and tuck my money under my mattress.  For me I believe the best thing I could do is to get away regularly as a time of stepping back, evaluating, and just getting refreshed about life.  Maybe it’s been too long since you have done that.  I’m not giving anyone excuse to live beyond their means, but in some way do some thing that revives that little push from the inside we all need to keep moving forward.

The furthest west I had been was Salt Lake city in High School which was actually a summer mission trip.  I have a list of US cities I want to visit and one of them is Denver, Colorado because I had heard about the vast natural beauty in that part of the country.  Even the words I heard or pictures I saw online though could not describe the atmosphere I enjoyed once arriving in Billings.  So often it’s the hustle and bustle, business driven, fast pace side of America we focus on or discuss.  It was as though I realized there is another way to live and that cities not trying to immolate New York still survive and contain people who are happy.

The cities we toured where peaceful and rich.  The states population is almost equal with that of just the city of Chattanooga and its immediate suburbs.  There was less pollution, with snow capped mountains as the backdrop for every view and high school students who walked home after school let out.  The economy there needs no government assistance because their culture is not that of being so desperate for people to move in and bloom the national business chains that they are willing to approve just anyone for a loan.  We walked the streets of downtown at night, passing groups of friendly strangers and officers on peddle bikes.  I went to a casino where I lost $40 playing Texas Hold ‘Em but left feeling like that money was a steal for the culture and entertainment I received.  And just when we felt we were so removed from an awareness or concern for pop culture or media awareness, we passed the trade center which boasted a sign that Larry the Cable Guy would be performing next month.

We drove through a small town and ate at a sports bar where our waiter explained how every business in the less than 5,000 member city was privately owned.  As we wondered the historic themed streets of the city we came upon the school where many families were gathered for a community BBQ and some soccer.  We drove on to the capital of Helena where we arrived just in time for everything to close because all the residents stay at home on Saturday evenings to be with their families.  My camera continued to click throughout the entire trip in hopes I would somehow be able to capture and revisit not only the images of natural and clear creation, but the perfectly matching lifestyle that came with it.  I could spend my money on many different things that will one day fade, but perhaps there is no better purchase than an experience; an experience that exposes you to a place and life you didn’t know existed, a culture that enriches your life, and a little time away that causes you to question why you have become so engulfed in a self-destructing system of competition and pressure rather than rest and content.