Sledding with my baby!!

WOW! The snow (and ice) came to town – finally!!!  Being from Miami, I love the snow and even the ice.  Karen and I spent the morning (and late afternoon) chillin, reading and relaxing.  We finally went outside where some neighbors were sledding and Karen and I couldn’t resist!!

Karen is the pretty one!

We had SO much fun.  We really do have some fantastic neighbors.  The sled Karen is holding belongs to a neighbor.  Its a Yankee Clipper.  He’s had it for 49 years and ya’ll – IT WAS FAST!  It actually scared me I went down the hill so fast.  Karen, nothing scares her!

Karen going about 100 mph!

We walked up and down the street sledding with different neighbors and just enjoyed the cold and the snow!

Again, she's the pretty one!

We came inside to warm up and Karen made us a cup of Hot Chocolate and we’re just enjoying the evening wondering how much ice we’ll have on the roads tomorrow.  Not sure we’ll be able to make it to church due to the roads but the beauty of it is that the church isn’t contained in a building but in one’s heart!  The Bible teaches that the Kingdom of God is in our midst – it is in us!  I like the fact that we are “IN CHRIST” so no matter where we are – we can experience His presence!

OK – I’m reading The Shack.  If you haven’t read it, you ought to.  It is a very extraordinary view of the nature  and character of God (and Jesus and the Holy Spirit).  I may blog about it when I finish.  Got about 50 pages left.  Its a pretty gripping story of the murder of a young child and a fathers search for answers.  Yea – a great read!  I’m going back to it now and hoping that I can continue to….

CAUSE GOD JOY!!

BI-LO Center – Newspring Church – CAN’T WAIT!!

Karen and I just got back from the BI-LO Center in Greenville, SC where we went through the Volunteer Training for everyone that will be serving/volunteering tomorrow.  WOW!  There are over 600 VOLUNTEERS! That is bigger…much bigger than most churches in America!

Volunteer Training this morning at the BI-LO Center!

Sherry Moorehead does an incredible job in coordinating and pulling together LOTS of people to serve Jesus!  The beauty of it is that its for His glory – not hers or anyone else’s.  (Matthew 5:16).

Tomorrow will be an incredible experience of CELEBRATION.  The Anderson (main campus) location along with the other locations (Greenville, Columbia and Florence) will all be coming together to meet together for the first time ever to worship the ONE who has changed each of our lives!

Karen and I spoke with Shane Duffey, Joel Yates, Sherry and others on staff and they REAK with excitement about tomorrow.   If you come tomorrow, or watch it on the 6pm webservice (www.newspring.cc), here is a shot of Ryan Siders the drummer in the band and one of Daniel’s best friends – he’s got to be one of the sweetest guys on the universe.

Ryan Siders, Newspring Band drummer and All Around Great Guy!!

If you are a Newspring member, please pray for God to once again intervene and TAKE CHARGE of every detail, but more importantly, that hearts will be touched and changed as they SEE what God HAS DONE, IS DOING and WILL DO in HIS Church.  I believe that OUR BEST DAYS ARE YET TO COME because the Church is His.  He founded it!  He’ll protect it!  And He will use it for His purposes!  Yea, I’m excited about tomorrow because of what it represents!  It represents the past, the present and the future.  Just one of the reasons why my heart is full of JOY!!

After the meeting this morning, we went to Barley’s in Downtown Greenville for lunch with a bunch of Newspring Volunteers.  As Karen and I got up to leave (we have a wedding to go to this afternoon), we went to pay and one of the other volunteers had paid for EVERYONE’S lunch!  This is the HEART and SOUL of this church body!   I laughed as I told Karen ‘dadgummit, if I would have known that, I would have ordered my own Calzone rather than split one with her.”  (HA!)  Just kidding.

Until tomorrow…Go and CAUSE GOD JOY!!!!

Newspring Church – 10 Year Anniversary Service – THIS SUNDAY!

Look, the Newspring Church website (www.newspring.cc), the Newspring Church family (members) and the news has been all over this.  But I wanted to take a minute to invite EVERYONE to come and experience what has changed SO many lives over the past 10 years.  And guess what, it hasn’t been a building, it hasn’t been a person (preacher), it has been the movement of a Living God that has touched this church in a very special way.  Proud?  Yea, I’m proud of the fact that God has chosen to use this Pastor (Perry Noble) and this body of believers to POINT PEOPLE TO JESUS!

Our Leader/Pastor is a special young man with a PASSION that I wish was felt by ALL pastors.  He loves Jesus and he loves the church and he loves lost people – and he is HUMBLE guy!

The vision of the church simply put is EXCELLENCE! If Vegas and Hollywood pursue excellence to attract people to their venue, why shouldn’t the church?  And Newspring does!!

I’m thankful that Newspring expects EVERYONE to serve.  We aren’t called to be served (neither was Jesus) but to serve!  And Jesus is our greatest example of that!  I get to Greet and am part of the Pastoral Care Team (hospitals, funerals, weddings) and I love it because I get to use the gifts God has given ME.  What gift(s) has God given you?  Only you know – you (and me) need to be responsible in our faith and USE that gift to serve Jesus and others!  I really love this stuff!!!!

You can check out the church website for more information but here is really ALL you need to know.  BE AT THE BI-LO Center in Downtown Greenville, SC this Sunday by 10am and experience a CELEBRATION of all that Jesus has done the past 10 years in the state of South Carolina, our country and beyond!  It’ll be church like you’ve never experienced it before!

Karen and I will be outside GREETING everyone and we hope to see you there.  We Love You!

CAUSING GOD JOY!!!

Here is the information from the Newspring website in case you can’t get there for whatever reason…

We’re Turning 10, NewSpring!

In 1999, a handful of people were meeting in a cramped living room, dreaming of what it would look like to be a part of a church that focused on reaching the 50% of people in Anderson County who didn’t go to church. That group, led by our Senior Pastor Perry Noble, started NewSpring Church in January of 2000.

Ten years later NewSpring Church has seen thousands of people begin to follow Jesus, be baptized, and take their next steps in faith. By God’s grace, we now have four campuses all across the state of South Carolina and we host web services each week where people all over the world can hear the Gospel.

We’re a part of an amazing move of God! What’s happening at NewSpring Church is not normal—and it’s just getting started.

The Details

Join us at the BI-LO Center at 650 N. Academy St. in Greenville, SC for one service on Sunday, January 24, 2010 at 10:30am. There will be no services at the Anderson, Columbia, Florence, or Greenville Campuses on that day.

Our Children’s Ministry KidSpring will not meet that day. Your children are invited to attend the service with you. We will also provide two separate viewing rooms. One for parents of special needs children who are unable to sit in the service and another for nursing moms.

Important Travel Info
I-385 may be closed for construction beginning January 4th and will likely slow your drive to the 10th Anniversary service. Please prepare an alternate route and/or allow extra travel time.

Parking Info
We’re paying for your parking! If you don’t want to pay for parking in downtown Greenville, use any of the following lots:

• Commons Garage off of Beattie Place (817 spaces)
• Liberty Square Garage off of E. Elford Street (926 spaces)
• Church Street Garage off of N. Church Street (978 spaces)
• Richardson Street Garage off of Richardson Street (750 spaces)

You can download a PDF map of downtown Greenville to see exactly where these lots are. When you park on the 24th, be sure to tell the attendant you’re going to the NewSpring Church service at the Bi-Lo Center.

Whoever says wives can’t be fun is stupid!

Karen and I went to church this morning, ate lunch at Atlanta Bread Company (used 2 for 1 coupon) and then came home and baked (and ate) a peach cobbler!  Man, it is SO MUCH FUN to be in the kitchen and be creative with your wife.  Here is what it looked like (Notice the Face on the crust)!  We laughed and had so much fun.  Come on guys – find ways man!!!!  Karen is SO much fun – I love this girl more today than I did yesterday or even 28 years ago!!

The Peach Cobbler!

And oh yea…

It was as much fun to cook as it was to eat! Alamode!!

Have a great week this week!  PRAY alot, WORK hard and have FUN at it!  CAUSE GOD JOY in the process!

Update on Adri Patterson…

I was so excited to get this update yesterday from Josh and Natalie, Adri’s parents.  Please continue to pray for this precious family!

***************A Note from Adri’s parents***********************

Hey everybody, we needed to take a minute to thank all of you for your overwhelmin​g love and support. A week ago we were at home thinking we may be dealing with childhood epilepsy (which was devastating in itself), but in a matter of days our lives changed forever. We never, ever, ever could have imagined this kind of support and for that we are eternally grateful. We always knew there was something special in store for Adri… this isn’t quite what we imagined, but we feel humbled that God has chosen to use her and our family. These aren’t really the circumstanc​es we would have picked, but He has been so good to us through it. We still have a long road ahead of us. As we sat in ICU with her after surgery we realized that our baby just had brain surgery. The magnitude of it all has not quite hit yet. Even in the best case scenario we still have a lot of follow up, healing, and maybe even therapy.

To give you more details from today, Dr. Troup said that while the tumor and the brain tissue didn’t look noticeably different, it felt a lot different – this is a praise! On​e concern from our meeting on Wednesday was that since this was a low-grade tumor, it may not look much different from brain tissue which could make it difficult for him to get it all. Because of the difference in texture, he knew exactly what he was dealing with and felt optimistic that he was able to get it. There was one area at the back that he is not 100% sure about. He thinks he got it, but he wasn’t real aggressive in removing tissue in that area as it was very close to her motor area and he was trying to avoid permanent motor damage. Other than that, everything went perfect.

The next step is a follow-up MRI which happens tomorrow morning. If it comes back clear, then we’re just here waiting on her to recover, take meds orally, eat good, act herself, and GO HOME. If it shows any tumor remaining, they will do surgery again pretty quickly (within a day or two). So this is very important. Please pray for a clear MRI tomorrow. Please please pray for that. Today was big but we really want to avoid more surgery. That is scheduled for 9:30 so specific prayers at that time would be appreciated.

The tissue is being sent off for pathology but the doctors feel certain that it is very low grade, which we are hopeful means no chemo and/or radiation IF the whole thing was removed today. Certain cell types would require more treatment even if there is nothing left, just becaus​e of the potential to grow back. So again, please pray for that.
Friday after surgery
Today we felt incredible peace. It was not a bad day for us even with the hiccup of surgery starting late. We know that God is good and have seen and experienced it this week in a way we never have before.

Thanks again to all of you. Keep the prayers coming. We can’t wait to get home and cuddle up with both of our kids.

love, Josh and Natalie