25th

Kelli and I are in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The reason we are here is to celebrate our 25th Wedding Anniversary.














It is a beautiful place and when we arrived yesterday it was snowing.














Kelli has already made a friend.














25 years is a long time. It doesn't seem that long in our marriage though.
Outside of my relationship with Christ Kelli is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

She is a great wife.
She is a great friend.
She is a great encourager.
She is a truth teller.
She is a Godly woman.
She is an incredible mother.
She is an incredible daughter.
She is a great mentor.
She is forgiving.
She is giving.
She is "The Love Of My Life".

I would be lost without this woman in my life.
I thank God for giving her to me!
I thank you Kelli for loving me and I look forward to the next 25 years and even more.

This passage describes her best...
Proverbs 31:10-11,28-29
10 Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies.
11 Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.
28 Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:
29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!”

Today I stand and praise my beautiful wife!

I love you Kelli.

HAPPY 25TH!!!

This is our Snowman she named "Gilbert".

The "U" and The "Bishop"

Yesterday was an awesome day! I was in Dallas for the C-3 Conference. It was a great conference and something that I think both my wife and I needed. There were so many great speakers, great worship, great conversations, new relationships made and the enjoyment old relationships. Several from our team "FRC" were able to go and I believe that we all enjoyed it and were stretched. My favorite speaker and I think that would be true for most that were there was Bishop T. D. Jakes. He was incredible!











God knew what so many of us there needed to hear and he used T. D. Jakes to say it. Kelli and I stood in line to get some books signed and meet him and that was great too. He was so humble, kind, and considerate. It was a great moment for both of us to talk with him just for a moment.

When we were at the DFW airport I had another awesome encounter. I am a die-hard UM fan. I have been a fan long before the 5 National Championships and will continue to be one win or lose. The encounter I had was with the one and only UM legend Michael Irvin.







He is definitely one of the UM greats.








I was so pumped to meet him. I showed him my UM tattoo on my ankle and it was as if we were old friends. I talked to him about T. D. Jakes and he took a set of CD's out of his bag to show me. It was a series by T. D. Jakes about life lessons.









He told me I could look at it but I couldn't have it because he was going to listen to it on the plane. I really enjoyed my brief encounter with both of these men. For me it was cool to know that Michael Irvin and I have two things if not more in common....
"The U and The Bishop"

1st

We had a great weekend at FRC this past weekend. You need to check out the Potential Blog where you can find the full story. It tells the story of our first baptism for our internet campus. As far as I know this is the first time this has ever happened.

Here is a picture of Alyssa. She is the one that got baptized. We celebrate with her this great step in her life.














This is so cool because it opens the door to so many people. This is not a substitute for church. It is church. Brian Vasil is our Internet Campus Pastor and led in this great step for Alyssa.
It is awesome to be a part of a church that is always looking for the best way to partner with people to help them reach their God-Potential.

Storms

We had a big storm come through early this morning. It was around 3:30 AM. There was a lot of lightning and thunder. The wind was blowing the rain against our windows. It sounded like they were going to break a couple of times.









Life brings us a storm every once in a while.
I have a friend who is waiting for his wife to pass away. She has cancer and is in the last moments of her life. I met with him and his daughter a few days ago to be ready for when she passes. It was amazing to me the strength that the two of them have in this storm. Their biggest concern was that we share with family and friends how they can have the same relationship with Christ that their wife (and mom) has. I know that the strength they have in their life right now is from God. I really respect and love these people.

Our family got some tough news this week. The doctor shared with my dad that the chemo he has been taking for the past six months has not been very effective. This is disappointing because we were hoping for a good report. They are going to try a couple of other medications and see where that will take us.

When my dad shared this with me he also shared with me how this gave him the opportunity to share with his doctor how important his relationship with Christ is. He told him that he is not worried about what is ahead because of that relationship. Just like my friend (who's name is Arnold by the way) I saw again how in the midst of a storm God brings hope and peace.

I would think that most of us have some type of storm going on in our life right now. I don't know what your storm is but I do know that God offers peace and hope even in the storm.

Riverwalk

Several years ago a friend told me about a fund raiser for the riverfront property in the heart of Downtown Fort Lauderdale along the historic New River. You could buy a brick with a message on it that would support the Riverwalk Trust whose efforts focus on Riverwalk Park advocacy, promotion, and enhancement.
I bought one and put a message on it that I hoped would be treasured in the years to come as a memory for my family.
I also got to support the enhancement of this area that so many enjoy visiting.
I felt like it was an opportunity to invest in my family and our community.

Any time we are in the New River area we stop by and take a look at our brick.
Last night several of us went to Fort Lauderdale IMAX to see the U2-3D extravaganza (Incredible... You should see it!).
While we were waiting for the theater to open we went and looked at our brick.















I love building positive memories for our family.
I think last night was a reminder to me of how important it is.