Saturday, December 11th, 2004

We opened the new mission at the Ambers apartments today with a Christmas party sponsored by the youth and middle schooler at FBC Duluth.

We had a terrific time. 

Ash and I are still working diligently on the View from Heaven project.

Rainy, cold weather made it uncomfortable.

We went by to see Nick race.  I missed it AGAIN!  I went outside to take a break from the hot, chlorine gas indoor pool atmosphere.

Ash and Emily and I went to eat Thai food.  We had the coconut soup and I ate some Tiger Cry--which is a sirloin beef with this really strong sour/hot/red chili powder sauce.  Ex cell ente.

Peace.

We spent the last two nights in Dillard, Georgia at the Holiday Inn Express.  It has an indoor, heated pool with a terrific jacuzzi.  We enjoyed those!

A and I went shopping.  We ate at some local restaurants.  K and I went for walks.  Nothing too exciting, but needed.

We also went to the Tallullah Gorge overlook.  It's where I turned 30, at the bottom of that gorge--the deepest east of the Mississippi.

I got most of the labels and stuffing done for the Christmas mailout.  I still have to be the address on them and write the letters and then put in the gift.

Better get to it.

Peace.

We had such a good time at our Thanksgiving party.  We had Bill and Nell along with Orene, David, Ruth, Ali and Jason, Bob, Ann, Katie, Laura, Mary and our family.  We got a honey baked ham/turkey for the meat.  Lots of delicious vegetables.

After we cleaned up and rested, Ash and I went over to Stone Mountain to hike a bit.  We went to the encrypted section that we're trying to figure out what it spells.  I think it's a warning to the other Indians not to go up any further.  I found another symbol at the very bottom of the mountain that I had never seen before that looks like a door being barred from entry.  Anyway, may just be all in my imagination.

Nick came over to visit with Ashley. 

We enjoyed a good day with yummy leftovers.

Peace.

I spent a lot of time on the phone today.  Important conversations with Drew Grubbs about the future of youth ministry and on site missions.

I delivered the five Viewsonic monitors to Bennett at the Willow Branch mission.  I also gave them one of the overheads.

I decided on the number of gifts to give out to our sponsors this year and picked them out at Pho Loc in Asian Square.  I got some small Old Fishermen made out of clay.   I think they're cute.

Rainy again today.  Depressing.

Peace.

Monday

I took the van on a logistics shuffle.  I started at FBC Doraville where I picked up chairs and tables with the help of Mike Chandler.  He had a bed for the use of the mission at Glennbrooke.  They lost the key and had to drill out the old lock.  We got it all moved in before it rained.

Next stop the Ambers where I dropped off a table and 8 chairs.

Then over to the Learning Tree near Perimeter Mall to pick up 21 monitors and 5 overhead projectors.

Back to FBCD to offload all but 5 of the monitors. 

Over to Azlea to help the kids.  Did a lot of Spanish homework with Tabias and Jouvens.

Rainy day.

SUNDAY

The family went to Grace this morning.  Raining pretty hard.  Yuk.  Porter Grant, an Australian spoke.

We got Popeys on the way home, then went to Best Buy to pick J up a new mouse.  The other one wasn't working properly.

I rested then went back to Azalea.  Had a meeting with Kelly and Jason Pope.  Brought pizza to the kids at the mission.

We watched Young Frankenstein.  Love that movie.

Peace.

Ashley's friend Emily spent the night with us last night.  She broke up with her boy friend Cody and Ashley had to comfort here.  We got up around 8:30 this morning and then went on over to Golden Corral for breakfast.  We brought home some extra bacon for Thanksgiving.

I took a short siesta and then K and I walked to the park.  She went barefooted, I hope she'll be ok tomorrow.

I raked the yard and cleaned up outside for about an hour, then got cleaned up.

My whole family went to see National Treasure with Nick Cage this evening.  I really enjoyed it.  Full of clues and historical trivia.

One of the pictures I took on Stone Mountain yesterday had some unknown writing on it.  I thought it might be Cherokee.  Some of the letters look familiar, but not all of them.

I'm tired.

Peace.

I had an excellent "me" day today.  I dropped Jesse off at school (he had a field trip to Dahlonaga) and then went to Stone Mountain. I hiked the three miles up and down the Mountain, then felt good enough to change into shorts and ran the five miles around it in 49:10:16.  It's really not too hard a course.  Nothing like I normally run.

Eat a cheese steak sandwich then went home to check on the girls around 2:30.  K was pooped and went to take a nap, while Ashley and I went to Walmart to get the groceries and some supplies for the house. 

I got some vitamins.  I need to start taking a multi-vitamin regularly.

My achilles tendons hurt.  They feel fine while I'm running, but later, oh la la.

I picked up Jesse at the Ingles when he got back from his field trip, then took Ashley over to watch her boyfriend Nick swim in a competition against Shiloh.

Later K and I went back to Walmart to walk around (the weather was crummy outside) and we bought some new bed shoes.

Ashley has a friend over, Emily. 

Peace.

I met with Ron Owens this morning.  He's the co-director of the mission at the Corners with Anna Lisa.  It was good to talk about plans and strategy with a fellow field operative.

Got the Thanksgiving list of the Azalea kids together for my partners at First United Methodist Church in Chamblee.  I took the list over to the church.  If they want to we'll work in three other complexes as well.

I helped the kids at the mission this afternoon.  It seemed like they had a ton of homework today.

Looks like it's supposed to be rainy for the next several days.  I hope I can get a run in tomorrow.  I've been having sore achilles tendons, so I may not be able to run a super long way.

Peace.

I got the final word on the Ambers mission and we are green for go!  I took over the liability insurance letter to them this morning.

I also signed the insurance documents for our provider and took them to their office this afternoon.

We had our monthly manager's meeting at Sheltering Arms.  Rita couldn't come because of a shoulder injury.  The food didn't show up either!  Ay caramba.

After the meeting I ran 3 miles in Chamblee to Remington and back to Azalea.  Beautiful weather.  I'm so glad I didn't wait till I got back home.  I have a change of clothes and shampoo and stuff at Azalea now.

Didn't rest, however.

Helped Jouvens with his chemistry project.  I helped him find 5 magazine articles and 3 newspaper articles.  Not a lot in the paper on chemistry topics.

Today marks the 7th year we've been at the 1735 Pitty Pat Ct. house.  Great years!!

I got the next Stuart Woods set of tapes at the library tonight.  Almost finished Dixie City Jams by James Lee Burke.  Books on tape rock.

Love.

Tim

Got a haircut.  Clean cut, all American.

Did the shopping at Krogers.  Deposited check into the bank.  Got supplies for some kids at the mission.

I've enjoyed watching videos about Tai Chi.  I'm learng some Sun and Yang forms.

Cleaned up the mission at the Creek.  The kids got in and tore the place up.  I straightened for over an hour.

Picked up a computer for Jemillin's family.  Mike Chandler brought it to us.

The new Samsung 530 camera I got had a battery problem.  I changed it at Walmart today.

I took Ash and Kathy to El Torerro's.  Ex cell ente.

Pooped.

Monday

I had a lunch meeting with John Mileson at Craker Barrell.  He's with Marketplace Ministries.  I shared our vision with him for the apartment population.  He's a member of Mike Riggin's church.

Helped the Azalea kids.

Came home and ran 2 miles in the dark, 40 degrees.

Peace.

I had a great time preaching at FBC Doraville this morning.  I spoke from Hebrews 12:1-15.  Running the race with Determination, Discipline and Direction.

I spent the day with my family.  I gave Ashley the old Samsung camera to use since it's working erratically while I'm using the new 530 camera.

Ashley helped me fix the stove.  We took it out of the cabinent, took the back off, I rewired the lower heating element with new wire nuts, put it all together and it WORKED!  PTL!

I took my girls over to Provino's this evening for some delicious canneloni en bianca.  Excellente!

I worked on email and got ready for tomorrow. 

Peace.

Today we had the Johnson Ferry Disciple Now teams in forty locations around Atlanta with over 400 middle and high school students.  They had balloons and ball games.  Played with the kids and picked up trash around the complex.

I covered the missions around Clarkston.  Most were well attended.  The teams and the kids at the missions had a great time.

I walked to the park with Kathy just over 3 miles.

Nick took Ashley out for her 16th birthday today to the Hyatt with the restaurant that turns around at the top of the building.

I purchased a new camera this afternoon. I got the upgrade of the Samsung 420 that I bought from Walmart just under a year ago.  This version is the Samsung 530.  It has a whole array of manual controls.  I will really look forward to learning those, especially gaining control of the apeture and shutter speed.  I took over 8,000 pictures with the 420, and it still works, but it's started freezing.  I'll have to take the batteries out and then turn it on again or it gets stuck.  Won't do anything.  Bahd luck.  The new camera cost us $238--marked down this weekend from $278.  It's a 5 mp camera which is incredible!  Father, we ask a mighty blessing on this camera.  Thank you for helping us with the 420.  Lead me to take even better record of the work that You are doing!

Love.

FRIDAY

I spent this morning over at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church getting the leaders ready for the Disciple Now Outreach Events going on around Atlanta this Saturday.  Bobby led the training with the help of Alisa

I met Jerry Samuels and his friends Melissa a Katka (from Ukraine) at the meeting.  Then I took them over to the new mission at Glenbrooke.  I filed all the paperwork and got that ready to roll.  We took a look at the new apartment.  Looks great!

We ate at the Mediteranean Deli.  Love their Gyros!

This area of Franklin Road in Marietta is a real growth area for our ministry.

I got on home asap so I get help Ashley get ready for her party.

We had eight kids over.  TONS of pictures on the web site.

We enjoyed a mint chocolate chip ice cream and devil's food cake.  Tons of junk food was had by all.  The crew also enjoyed making balloon animals, playing with little squirt guns and bouncing in our mini moon walk.

I think Ashley really is having a good time.  She has three of her girl friends spending the night.  They're laying out in the moon walk right now.

I'm looking forward to our trip to New York together.

Groovy.

Today was rainy.  I dropped J off at school and then went over to IHOP for some pancakes and an omelette.

Then I shot over to Pleasant Hill Party City to purchase a jumping game for the kids.  It's a miniature moon walk that I can carry with me when we do Outreach Events.  It was on sale for $300.  Because it was on clearance and I also got 30% off I walked out of the store with it for under $150.  Excellente.

A and J got home early from school today.  A and I went over to the bookstore to look at books about New York.  We hope to go in January if everything works out.

K and I went to El Torreros tonight.  Some of the best chips and salsa ever.

I watched a Val Kilmer movie today, "Spartan."  Pretty weak.

Peace.

WEDNESDAY

Today was Johnson Ferry Day.  I went to the church to drop off the 40 bags of animal twisty balloons for the big event this Saturday with their Disciple Now group.  They have over 1,000 middle and high school kids participate in that event.  The big difference is that this year they are helping me at 40 missions simultaneously!  This will be the single biggest Outreach Event in the history of Metro Atlanta!

I had a long talk with Alisa Campbell and her boss Bobby Vaughn just to make sure they're all confident with what we're doing. He really stuck his neck out to do something community oriented rather than just blow up a bunch of moon walks on their game field.  It takes vision and courage to do that! It reminded me of Ken Whaley.

After making sure those guys were squared away, I went and talked with Ricky Wheeler and Paul Jimenez in the Missions Dept. to make sure they were aware of what is going on.  The prayer is to get the adults on board with this type of outreach early next year in their Share the Blessing day.

For lunch I met with Paul Gibbs who is a charter member of Johnson Ferry BC and is on the board of the Sandy Springs Mission with Felix Lora.  Both of these guys are just terrific and will be a real blessing to our ministry and vice versa.  Paul is very excited about what we're doing in missions and in the possibility to get this ministry into the local communities on site as well.

Next stop, Christian Index where I talked to Joe and Gerald the Production and main Editor for the paper.  I stressed the historic nature of what we are attempting this weekend and the newsworthyness of this event.  I really do think it's amazing what will be happening and I basically told them this is THE story of 2004.  Hopefully they'll have someone to cover it on Friday when we have the leadership training and the pastor speaks for lunch.

I went to help the kids at Azalea with their homework and then on to Party City for some supplies for Ashley's party this weekend.  She wanted black balloons, black light and a strobe light to make kind of a techno theme for her party.  She'll have some friends over and then her girlfriends will spend the night.  It's her 16th birthday.  I want to do something special for her.  We've talked about maybe going to New York if I can afford the flight for us.

I watched part of the DVD "Dude, Where's My Car?" but it was so stupid that I couldn't get all the way through it.  I like Ashton, but that movie was just dum.

Peace.

After dropping Jesse off at Trickum Middle I raced out to First United Methodist Roswell for a meeting with Tim Holt.  He's the Missions Pastor there.  We visited a couple of missions and talked about the strategy for getting his church mobilized.

Based around the Sunday School, initially starting out with the Fifth Level of Engagement:  collecting stuff.  This time it'll be shoe box Christmas gifts for the kids at several missions.

Then over to Concept 21--Roswell to drop off a 6ft table.  The manager couldn't find their key to the mission: 243.  So I'll come back and take pictures of the mission and sign the lease later this week.

On the way back in, I went to FBC Atlanta to pick up the balloon pumps for the Disciple Now weekend outreach at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. We will cover 40 complexes with over 400 students on the 13th--Ashley's Birthday (16!!)

Dropped the stuff off at FBC Doraville where my office is located. 

Then back to Azalea to teach math, science, reading and how to not beat each other up.

I waited in horrible traffic to get home, then Jesse called me and reminded me to pick up Halo 2--the biggest selling video game ever.  It's a first person shooter. . . my favorite. I don't play games much, but they're fun sometimes.

Kathy and I watched Michael tonight---one of my favorite John Travolta movies.

Peace.

MONDAY

I rushed over to Perimeter this morning to drop off the 26 grills and stack them up in the closet.  They were all clean and ready to use next year.

Then I beat it back over to Clarkston where I had an awesome meeting with the Executive Director of the LITE house program Melvin Morris, his admin asst. and the Chairperson of the board, Jane Creekmore.  We'll work out the details soon, but it looks like a very positive partnership with our two organizations.  They are definitely in an expansion mode and if we can piggy back on their efforts with volunteer staff dedicated to evangelism it could be incredible.

I helped the kids at Azalea this afternoon.  One of the girls told me her sister and baby were getting beat up in Mexico.  Their family is trying to get her back up here with them at Azalea.  It'll cost about $2,000.  Hope they can work it out.

I came home and ran my 2 mile night route in 22:17:84.  I've been hurting lately, so I decided to take a little lighter work out.

I helped Jesse put his computer together tonight that he's building.  It was a quiet night, talking with the kids.  I loved it.

Peace.

I spent the day at FBC Atlanta for the mission conference.  I talked to people from 11am to 2:30 pm, then again from 4:30pm till 9:45pm with about two hour break for a worship service.

Jouvens came with me to help, as well as the entire Huntington Terraces team: Pat, Ed and Luis.  We took over both sides of one hall and had plenty of candy, animal balloons and face painting for the kids.  We basically brought a block party to the conference.  We wrote Whirlwind on the balloons.  The kids became our walking bill boards.

I got packed up after 10pm to take Jouvens back to Azalea. Then we saw Bubba over there and I took him home.  It would have taken him over two hours to walk and it was too late to do that safely.  So I got home around 10:45.  Kathy wasn't too upset with me.  Fortunately, Ashley had called me to wish me good night, so at least she knew something.  It was just too long a day.

I made some really good contacts especially with Eagle's Landing FBC. 

Love.

Tim

Impact Atlanta 2004 was a tremendous success.  We had over 400 people go to 30 locations.  There were 26 professions of faith in the single afternoon!  PTL!

After the events and the clean up, I put the grills in my van and then rode back to Clarkston to cover the Opeleica BC group who were at Woodside, Indian Valley and The Lakes.

I'm pooped.

Tomorrow will be a long day manning the booth at the FBC Mission Conference.

Love.

FRIDAY, November 6th, 2004

Jason, Grant and I went to Kroger to pick up the food for Impact Atlanta.  I shot a series of pix of us getting the stuff and then spreading them out to the 30 complexes.

Later tonight Ashley helped me make a powerpoint presentation of the shots.  I'll play it tomorrow at the training session.

I went and met with FBC Opaleica Baptist Church from Alabama this evening.  They have their fall mission trip this weekend with us, serving at three complexes in Clarkston.  I briefed the team and then took the three leaders around and showed them how to get to the places.

I need to get up early tomorrow.  But I'm wired right now after speaking with that group.

Love.

Today was a Gainesville day.

I met with David Fitzgerald who is the pastor of the Vineyard church.  He's a great guy and a lot of fun to hang out with.  We enjoyed visiting the Columns at Chicopee, meeting the manager and getting a feel for the lay of the land.

Also met with office staff of Chicopee Baptist Church, and pastor of missions for Blackshear Place BC.  Great folks.

It's a lot of traveling.  Woosh.  I had two 92 mile days in a row. 

I got home, dressed out and ran 4.4 miles in 51:16:50.  Wore me out, dog.

Kathy is attending the Shower of Love meeting with the lady missionaries at FBC Atlanta.  She hates that kind of stuff.  Hope it wasn't too much stress for her.

Her parents were in a wreck today.  Her dad's fault.  Totaled the car.  Bahd luck.

Peace.

WEDNESDAY

Just got back from First Baptist Atlanta.  We had the first day of the mission displays.  Had some good conversations.

Went to Perimeter and picked up the grills (26) and took them over to FBA.

Getting closer to Impact!

Peace.

TUESDAY

It's been an election kind of day.  It's now after midnight and it looks like Bush is going to win.

I got the extra 17 balls for the event on Saturday.  Also was able to get the rest of the face paint and balloons from three different Party City stores.  Groovy.

Spoke to and set up an initial event at Bristol Park near Perimeter. 390 units that's a big deal.

Had a terrific meeting with PRS over the LITE house program and our ministry working at these apartment complexes.  Melvin Moore is the director.  I'll set up an appointment with him asap.  Now that the corporation is behind us, I don't think this will be hard to set up.

Set up the display at FBA and had the initial missionary meeting.

Love.

I just got back from Azalea.  We had a fun time with the Great Candy Throw.  I have a couple of my older guys help me throw candy to the kids.  It's always a regular hootananny!

I told them the scariest story in the Bible--Jesus throwing out the devil Legion from the crazy man in the cemetary.  I had some of the kids help me act it out.  Fun.

I got home early to see about taking the kids around trick or treating.  Ashley dressed up as Dorothy.  She's a cutey.

Love.

SATURDAY

We had a great family day today.  All four of us went to eat at Red Lobster.  It was delicious.

Then Kathy and I went to the zoo.  She got a bit mad at me because I like to take pictures when I'm there.  When will I ever learn?

We also ate Mexican food on the way home.  It was a fun day.  The weather was perfect and the lighting was great for shooting pictures.

Peace.

FRIDAY

Another terrific day!

Dropped off the new map info to Jerry Counselman for him to work on for the web site.

Went on to Clarkston.  Had excellent chats with the new manager at Wyncrest and at Southern Place (which used to be Olde Plantation.)  The whole management staff used to work with me at Oakbrook.  How cool is that. 

Had a great conversation with Pat Maddox.  I'm glad to be able to help her and keep her in the loop.

Went over to Willow Branch to be with Bennett.  He went with me to Krystopher Woods, Woodside, Indian Valley, Indian Creek and the Lakes.  Groovy!  I've got the whole Clarkston area organized for the events on November 6th with FBC Atlanta and a church from Alabama and the event on November 13th with Johnson Ferry BC Disciple Now group.

K and I walked to the park tonight.  Beautiful, foggy weather.  It was super walking home with the shadows through the trees.

Excellent.

I had such a GREAT day today.

I started out at Glover BC, dropped off some financial documents for our CPA and had a fun chat with Steve and Mike.

Trekked over to Marietta to talk with the manager of Glenbrooke about the new mission starting over there.  Vaddas wasn't there but I was able to get more information about the situation there from the two leasing managers.

Made contacts with the new manager at Las Colinas (which used to be Hampton Village when I worked there before).  Beth was very enthusiastic about our help.  Johnson Ferry will initiate work there for us.  The manager is also interested in us taking over the activity center and teaching ESL.  The Latin American Association was supposed to do it, but they haven't followed up in months.

Also started work at Cinnamon Ridge which is also very close to Glennbrooke.  The manager is happy for us to come and do the project on the 13th.  Excellent!

Pastor Larry Vaughn, who we work with in Clarkston, is leading an Indonesian congregation next to CR.  We hope to get that church involved in our new work at Glennbrook.

Also went out with Arturo to do more research in the Roswell Road area. Stopped by to give flyers out to Bolivar at Sierra Creek.  We met Felix Lora who is the Pastor of the Sandy Springs mission.  We'll be working together with him much more closely in the future.

We dropped by the office of the Buckhead Church (daughter church North Point Community Church).  Hopefully, they'll get on board with us as well.

I came home after working at Azalea and had supper with Kathy at El Torreros.  Delicioso fajitas!

Ole!

I went to the Central Precinct Crime Watch Manager's meeting today.  There were 8 managers there and three cops.  The ironic thing is that the more problems they have, the better it is for us!

I had lunch with Ed Keibler the director of the mission at Huntington Terraces.  We at at China Delight and then went to talk with the new manager, Dee Lieu.  They have new Chinese owners now.  Lord, we pray that we will find favor in the new owner's eyes so they will let the mission continue to stay open.

I visited with Clatie Lewis as he and his son finished working on the computer for the mission at Azalea.  We got it hooked up, but it wasn't talking to the printer.  I downloaded the driver again.  Hopefully it'll work right tomorrow.

I stopped by Bill and Nell Doverspike's house to check on them and see Kathy.  She helps them every M/W before she goes to teach class in the evenings at DeKalb tech.

I came home and ran 4 miles in about 43:44.  I didn't push too hard, but still not a bad time for the route.

Helped Ashley with hard chemistry homework--ionic/covalent bonds. Ouch.

J and I went outside to take a look at the lunar eclipse.  Sweet.

Peace.

I made my copies for the November Outreach Update and starting writing.

For lunch I went over to pick up Arturo and then to meet Jason and Grant at FBC Atlanta.  We talked about the thirty complexes we'll cover.  What a blessing!

I worked with the kids at Azalea and then went back home to finish the newsletter.

I have a headache and am too tired.

It was a sad day for me.  I went over to Oakbrook to officially close the apartment that the previous owner had given us.  We'll still have ministry there, in fact we'll probably move the total program over to the activity center, but it still seems like a step backward for me.  I had to sign a form saying Intention of Vacancy.

We always have to have a feeling of urgency about our work.  There are no guarantees, either with how long the owner will let us stay, whether the volunteers will continue to stick with it or the residents move.  We have to seize the day.

I also went by the Ambers today to take by some halloween candy.  We are at the final moments of starting the mission work there.

I worked at the mission this afternoon.  The kids help me with the labels for the November mail out.

I ran 6.2 miles in 60:45:22.  I'm still pretty tired.

I took Jesse and Ashley out to Wendy's tonight.  Then we had an ice cream cone together.  That was fun.

I came home and worked on the layout for the newsletter and then helped Jesse some more with his Earth Science homework.

Peace.

We had a great time at Grace Fellowship church today for their 2004 Missions Conference.  I spoke to about 300 middle schoolers this morning.  Shared our Whirlwind Missions DVD, then spoke about unreached people groups, did a Bible Study on 1 Cornithians 9 (Running the Race) and passed out pictures of folks in Clarkston for the groups to pray for.

It is Jesse's 14 birthday today!  After church, we went to Ruby Tuesday.  J and I had sirloin tips.  Yummy.

I came home and rested, then went out for a quick 2 mile run in 20:22:34. 

I took a shower and rushed back to Grace for the closing missions session.  The music was a blessing.  I took my orange maracas to play along with the band. That's always fun!

Later I helped Jesse with his Earth Science, and Ashley and I went over to Walmart so I could get more reading glasses and get her a clothes rack for the back of her door.

It was a fun day for a birthday boy.

Love.

I just got back from playing with the band over at Shallowford Gardens.  The band played great, although we had a different set up. I normally have the drums to my right and I'm right beside him.  This afternoon I was in front of the drums.  I like it better when we're more or less in a line.  Lester played great, although he was late and had to leave to early in order to play with his church and three other churches this evening.

We had a fantastic group come to help us this afternoon all the way from Villa Rica.  They were very enthusiastic and the kids had a wonderful time.

Today may be the last time our band will play this year.  I know November is booked with the Impact Atlanta program and the Johnson Ferry Disciple Now weekend.  We may try and get together to play over at Plaza Fiesta one Saturday evening.  Hope so.

Peace.

FRIDAY

I enjoyed a relaxing day today.  After dropping off Jesse, I took the Lumina to get the oil changed and tires rotated.  They said I have some potential problems, but nothing that needs attention right now.

While I was waiting for the car, I walked the 3/4 mile to get my haircut.  I enjoyed listening to the new Toby Mac CD on my mp3 player while I walked there and back.  Beauty.

Got home and worked on email and practiced shooting my Walther PPK.  You're either trained or untrained.

Ashley got home and I took her and her friend over to the movies to watch the Grudge.  I went to see Friday Night Lights while they did.  It's an excellent Texas football movie.  Really enjoy those sports movies.

We returned home and I went for a quick 3.6 mile run.  I did it in 34:21:22.  It's a hard route with some tough hills. Felt good, even though my ankle is still somewhat tender.

I watched Van Helsing with Jesse in the evening. I liked that movie, but I liked the football one better.

Sweet.

I just got back to speaking to the College class from Grace.  Such a responsive group.  I really enjoyed the time with them tonight.  My prayer is that many of them will get involved with the ministry in Clarkston and beyond because of this evening.

I had a nice walk with Kathy this evening.  We walked to the park and back--about 3.2 miles.  It was beautiful weather and a fun time.  Then she let me go to the meeting with the college students.  Thursday nights are our date night, so it was a big deal for her to let me go do my thing with those young people.

I helped the kids at Azalea, although hardly any had homework because they've been taking standardized tests this week.

I went over to Oakbrook this morning to take candy, balls and snacks for the after-school program.  I found out later that the management wants us out of the mission apartment by the end of the month.  That is really sad.  But not totally unexpected because they've had a change in ownership, plus they are now in the mid 90% full.  So they see that apartment as a moneymaker. One of the reasons that they are near capacity is because of the services we brought on board, but you can't argue with these guys.  Especially when it comes from the owner.  Sad.

I ate at a Chinese buffet place near Northlake mall today.  It was really tasty and only $5.98 which included a drink.  I like their sushi and kim chee.

Ashley stayed home from school today.  She had bad cramps and didn't hardly sleep at all.  She feels better now.  This afternoon.  I taught her how to shoot my Walther PPK bb gun.  She was pretty good.  We had fun together.

Peace.

WEDNESDAY

Well first there was the "Battle of the Mouse" last night about 1:30 a.m.  I heard this "thunk" then "squeaksqueaksqueak."  I thought, "I got a mouse right here by my bed.

I'm not sure you remember but I spent about two hours practicing with the Walther PPK bb handgun earlier this week.  So when I saw that mouse, in my room, it was like training took over.  I was looking for kill zones in my room, objects that I could whack it with. . . .my gun was upstairs--where I had the last mouse encounter. 

I had a different tact this time.  I froze.  Just stood there. The mouse froze too and looked at me.  I ever so slowly reached down for the only thing I could find--a towel.  I began to roll it up and form it into a type of club--albeit soft club.

I moved closer to the mouse.  It stopped paying me any attention.  Instead you could tell he was analyzing how to get off that keyboard.  It moved to the edge, and I moved closer to it.  I froze.  It moved closer towards the edge.  I thought, "Once it hits the floor, I'l have a good target."  Sure enough it leaped for the floor, I was right behind it.  Whack!   WhackWhack!!  I stared at the mouse.  It was still breathing.  WHACK! WHACK!  Still moving. . . . what can I hit this thing with?  I couldn't go too far, because it might recover and run away.  I looked for things that were hard---the spray paint can.  I made sure the lid was on tight and then smashed the lid against that mouse's head.

Sure it sounds viscious, perhaps cruel.  But honestly I enjoyed it.  I really hate these rodents.  Can you imagine being woken up by the feeling of something nibbling on your arm?!  I jumped out of my bed so hard last week I charleyhorsed my thigh! 

So, no.  I have no mercy.  It's me against them.

Honestly, I lost the last two run ins.  Both times they eluded me.  The baseball bat that I use (it's the soft nerf kind) was just too clumsy.  I actually dove at one last week to take a final swing and carpet burned my arm.

So, no. 

Anyway, I was tired this morning after so little sleep.

I had an excellent meeting with my manager friends.  The speaker was from "El Banco" the Spanish immigrant bank.

I ran 3.6 miles in 35:27.  It's my new Night Time course.  It's longer than I usally run on a weekday.  I still plan on doing a 10k this Friday if the weather is good.  Maybe closer to 7 miles depending on how I feel.

I'm really enjoying my little MP3 player--MPIO.  It is smaller than a matchbox, with 256 MB of memory.  That's about 6 CD worth.  Sounds amazing.

I'm listening to Toby Mac's new CD "Diverse City."  Brilliant material.

Peace.

Man!  What a rainy day!  Horrible traffic around Atlanta this evening.  I saw some really bad wrecks. 

Today we had our board meeting for Whirlwind Missions, Inc.  Unfortunately, our secretary Tito Ruiz wasn't able to be there because he was having some family problems.  His dad is having immigration issues.  That's never good.  Apparently there are questions about his military service in Nicaragua.  I believe it will all work out just fine, but they are super stressed out right now.  Lord, I ask a powerful blessing on the Ruiz family.  Bless Roger. Help the lawyer clear up this mess ahora mismo.  Amen!

I'll be posting the main points of the board meeting soon on the www.whirlwindmissions.org site, under "Progress Report 2004"

This morning I made new brochures with the family picture that we'll be using for the new photo card.  I'm trying to have a consistancy between all our promotional material.  I made 200 hundred copies and folded them this morning.

I took the white boards by Foxwood this morning.  I also talked with Angie about our classes there.  We decided to use the laundry room for our second class room.  She promised me they'd clean it up nicely before the class.  It's well lit and I think will work out great.  Angie is expecting up to 30 people.  I think we'll probably have around half of that, but I'm hoping for more.

I got to the office and made phone calls concerning the new mission in Gainesville.  I got some good intel from the Director of Missions for the Baptists.  Of course I've still got to do all the leg work to make it happen.

I also talked with Don Devlin who is the director of the mission that was at Adelaide Park.  We're trying to get it moved over to The Ambers.  I think we have it all squared away now.  We're just waiting on the final word from the owner.  I had to send them another letter concerning liability.

I picked up a new MP3 player today.  This little MPIO player is smaller than a matchbox and has 256kb of music capacity.  Incredible.  I'm looking forward to running with that.  I put some new music from Toby Mac and Jump 5 on it.  Groovy.

Ashley said she thought she did well on the Chemistry test.  Lord, thanks for helping her with that.  She's trying so hard to do well.

I took my girls out for Mexican food this evening at El Torreros.  There was a group of about 12 ladies all with red hats on.  Not sure what that was about.  Probably not communists.

Peace.

We transferred the mission at Concept 21 in Roswell from apt. 131 to apt. 243.  I spent most of the morning setting up account and transferring services for the water/sewer, gas, and electricity.  What a hassle.  That mission has really been doing well with multiple partners including, Roswell Church of God, Mt. Pisgan UMC, Perimeter and several Spanish congregations.  PTL.

We have been offered apartments to use as missions at Glenbrook on Franklin Road in Marietta and The Columns in Gainsville.  I spent the rest of the morning researching the churches in that area and e-mailing the pastors/missions directors with the opportunity.  Lord, I ask a major blessing on this.  Please raise up the soldiers in these towns.  Have them come to help.  Thanks, Father.  Love ya. 

I enjoyed speaking to a missions class at Providence Christian Academy.  This school has really led the way in showing how a High School can impact the community for Christ.  I spoke on hosting local missions teams.

By the time I finished speaking and chatting with my good buddy Carl Barrington I missed the time for the kids to be at the mission.  They'll understand.  The important days of the week are Wed/Thursday, that's when the projects are usually due.

Ashley got back her homework in Chemistry.  We have studied SO hard together, figuring this stuff out, it has been a real challenge.  We got a 10/10 score on the pre-tests and tonight we got 46/47 correct on an on-line quiz.  I think she is ready for the test and will do well.  As long as she doesn't do the freak out.  I don't think she will.

When I got home, I took a short nap and then Ashley and I went to Staples for office supplies and Kroger to shop for the house.  Then we came home and started working on Chemistry again.  We spent about an hour and a half on that.  She's doing well on her Geometry and Spanish.

I'm ready to rest my back.  I strained it over the weekend.  Stupid yard work.

Peace.

I had some great time with my daughter today.  Ashley needs a lot of help wth chemistry. We went out to Starbucks to drink some coffee and talk about studying.  Then we went to Parkview (which was locked) to see if we couldn't get her book.  Failing that task we went to the library.  We got most of the books we needed off the shelf.  We studied it for about three hours.

She also had to write an essay in Spanish.  To help her with that, we went to Frontera's.  Just kidding!  Food was good, but we didn't get any help from waiters.

I was really sore today from all the cleaning and lifting.

I'm glad I got to spend some extra time with the family, since the next couple of weeks I'm going to really be busy.

Love.

Tim

SATURDAY evening

This was Ashley's homecoming evening.  She had a beautiful black dress on.  Nick took her to Outback Steakhouse with a gift card that I received for preaching to the women's group at Peachtree Corners BC.

I cleaned up leaves beside the house.  Hopefully, that'll keep the leaves from blowing into our driveway.  I did pull up some Poison Ivy.  So far it doesn't look like any of it got on me.  PTL.  That stuff is some bad bizness.

I bought a BB gun based on the Walther PPK handgun.  It is an exact replica, except it shoots little steel balls. I got it, because I want to kill a mouse we have in the house. 

Peace.

Jesse was still sick today.  He rested at home.  He says he still has a bad sore throat.  I may have to take him to get on some meds.

I spent a fun day with Kathy.  We ate breakfast over at IHOP this morning.  After a bit of shopping at Office Max, we went over to Vines Gardens just past Snellville.  I enjoy shooting pix of flowers and statues there.

After walking around the gardens we went to see Team America.  It was pretty funny satire, but the language was so rough that I had a hard time enjoying it. 

Came on home to take care of J and to take Ashley and her boyfriend to the movies.

Peace.

Jesse was sick today.  I stayed home to take care of him. 

I worked on the financial statement for the first half of the month, deposited money into our account and delivered the report to our treasurer Jon Paul.

I also picked up more padded envelopes to send tapes out in.

The kids at Azalea didn't have any homework because tomorrow they have a day off from school.  It worked out well that I didn't go in to help them because Jesse wasn't feeling well.

Helped Ashley with her Geometry homework.

I ran 3.6 miles tonight in 36:18:44.  My ankle is still tender.

I set up the eight complexes where FBA will practice the evangecube this weekend.  They'll also be telling the residents about the event on November 6th--Impact Atlanta.

I worked on calling the churches/contacts in Cumming.  I'm trying to track down all the people interested in starting work in that area.  So far there are two churches and a couple of individuals.  One will be asking the folks at the mobile home park there what they think about starting ministry there.

I finished the agenda for the Board Meeting next Tuesday.

Went over to help the kids at Azalea for a couple of hours before going home. The traffic was horrendous.  There was a bank robbery at the Sun Trust near our house on 78.  The traffic backed up all the way to the perimeter of 285.  I took about an hour to go 15 miles.  Brutal.

Ashley and I went out to eat Mexican food together, then we went shopping for some winter sweaters.  She got some cute things.

I watched about half of the presidential debates.

J isn't feeling well.  He is ready for his two tests tomorrow, but I'm not sure he'll go.  I have a light day tomorrow, so I can stay home with him if he needs me.

Peace.

TUESDAY

Finished up my Board report.  That was a mammoth job.  Needs to be done so I can evaluate where we stand at least once a year.

Had a meeting with Sandy Defoe about my taxes.  Got that taken care of as well as working through the financial end of what we need to do for the ministry.

Ran about 2.5 mi in 24 minutes.  It's all approximate as far as the distance goes because I walked part of the way with Kathy.  I know how long I ran just not how far.

Ate with the Keenagers at FBC Doraville.  That's always good!

Had some rain, but not much.

I should have had this entry done last night but this update thing took over my computer.  It was running all last night.  I eventually just unplugged it and powered down the battery.  So far it looks like it's running ok.

I need this computer at the office daily.

Peace.

This morning I went over to Dr. Pat Barrington's to pick up Kathy's meds she needs.  On the way home I stopped over at Harold and Janet Carter's to visit with them.  They are real mission supporters and it's always fun to hang with them.

I picked up some more school supplies over at FBC Mountain Park before eating a Philly Cheesesteak sandwhich.  I did go home to check on Jesse, but he was still crashed out.

Went over to the office at FBC Doraville with the van to load up chairs and tables for the new mission starting at Foxwood.  FBC Atlanta will start ESL classes over there for the first time this Wednesday.  They have 27 adults signed up, which is just terrific.  I took tables and chairs enough for 16 and they have a table and some chairs too, so it should be enough.  If not, I'll take more.

While at FBCD I also helped the janitors (who are the age of my grandparents) change about 12 flourescent lights. They just are not physically able to do it.  It's nice to be able to help people.  Ms. Fay Rhodes, who used to be the financial secretary at FBCD died this weekend.  Our secretary Margie Brooks was a long term friend of hers and was still grieving.   I tried to be supportive.

I also faxed the liability insurance waiver to the mission that we are starting off of Beaver Ruin called the Ambers.  If all goes well, the team that had to leave at Adelaide Park will start working over there this coming week.  At least that's my prayer.

I helped the kids over at Azalea for a couple of hours before stopping in to check on Kathy's folks and take their garbage/recycle to the top of the hill for them. Then got home to see Ashley.  She's been camping over the weekend.  She had a good time, but seemed really happy to be home.  Unfortunately, she lost her Chemistry homework assignment.  That's bad news.  I hope her teacher will let her make it up.  Those "0" marks can kill your grade and that class is already hard enough as it is.

I enjoyed watching TV with Jesse this evening and talking about the video game he enjoys.

Sad news.  Our octopus died tonight.  I really liked that octopus.  He was cool.  They only live to be a year old.  Although I found him fascinating, I don't know if we'll get another one, just because of the short lifespan.

Sad.

Peace.

SUNDAY Night (1:20am)

I've just gotten to bed.  I've had such a good time talking with Orville Boyd and Edith Jenkins.  They're long term friends of mine since my boyhood in Nairobi.  OBJ has been a mentor to me as a linguist/cultural expert for years.  He is truly a hero of mine and is THE authority of people group research in the world.  He's currently working on the Registry of People for several denominations.  He and Edith have been missionaries with the International Mission Board for over 20 years.  It was so interesting to discuss with him the challenges that I face in working with such a diverse area as the International Village in Metro Atlanta.

I do think we're on the right track in our strategy of planting missions in the middle of the people group where they live.  It's going to be a long haul. 

One of the key things he shared with me this evening is, "Chrisitianity is not primarily informational it is relational.  I totally believe that.

This evening was the Heaven on Earth celebration at the Gwinnett Civic Center.  There was about 70% as many people there this evening as there were last year.  I hope that the leadership doesn't take that as a bad sign.  They said over 6,500 people participated in the outreach of Compassion in Action last weekend.  That's awesome. 61 churches particiapated together.  I hope to get more defined numbers as to how many worked in the apartment complexes as Whirlwind hosted that part of the ministry.

I spoke at the Mission Expo at Perimeter this morning and early afternoon.  There were about 30 ministries represented.  About 10 were out in the community.  Ours was the largest proportion by far.  Perimeter works with us in 7 locations.  If all goes well our team that left Adelaide Park will transfer to the Ambers soon.

The kids have off of school tomorrow, so I don't have to be anywhere real early. PTL.  I'm glad I got to come home after the Perimeter gig so I could rest.  I'm ready to relax now.  The weird thing is that I'm so extraverted that just talking with OBJ tends to wake me up rather than tire me out.  He's such a source of info that I want to squeeze all the advice out of him that I can.  He's one of the few people that I really believe knows what he's talking about when it comes to our situation like what I'm dealing with. 

Love.

I just got back from Perimeter church where we took place in the Mission Expo.  We set up our exhibit and enjoyed talking with many of their members.

We also hosted an Outreach Event at Foxfire with the help of N. Lanier BC and Doug and Lisa Allison from Midway Macedonia BC.  We cooked, shared many tracts, had balloons and face painting.  We also talked with many of the residents about the ESL classes there.

This morning K and I went over to eat breakfast burritos at Sonic.

It was a long day.  I'm pooped.

Kathy and I woke up and went over to City Cafe to eat omelettes and BLT sandwiches.  The service was really slow.  Although the food is good I doubt we'll go back.  I took K home and then I went back to the UPS store where I make my copies.  I'm still working on my annual report for my board.  It's about 185 pages long and that's just strictly the highlights!  Pretty exciting.  I still have to do the cover pages and chapter section pages, but that's easy really.  I'll work on that early next week.

After coming home, I felt well enough to do an easy three mile run.  My ankle felt fine and I made it in about 36:16.  I think my ankle actually felt better after the run.

Kathy was working on our back deck.  We've been slowly refinishing it with preserver.  She worked on doing the flat area this afternoon with the preservative.

Then we went over to K's folk's house where I entertained them with stories of our ministry, while Kathy blew leaves off the roof.  I wanted to do the work, but she insisted that what I did was harder, so I agreed.

Later, we went over to a party at Krystopher Woods which is largely Bosnian.  We at spanikopita, baklova, roast chicken and lamb and sweet pastries.  It was excellent.

I'm going to watch a movie before I crash.  I have a really intense day planned for tomorrow.  I'd better get some rest.

Peace.

It's the beginning of a long weekend for the Gwinnett county kids.  Ashley is spending the night at a friend of hers this evening. She's going on a camping trip with another family for three more nights.  I miss her already.

I took flyers over to Foxfire to publize the Outreach Event there this weekend.  I also got the power situation at the mission at the Corners straightened out.  It was still in the name of Kids & Teens 519--a partner of mine who has moved to Illinois.  I'm covering all the utility bills under our ministry now. 

My ankle is better now.  I got around without limping too much.

I helped the kids at Azalea get their work done before heading back to the house.  I'm looking forward to taking it easy tomorrow and hanging out with Kathy and Jesse.

Peace.

Well, I wasn't exactly "full speed ahead" today since my ankle was pretty painful, but I made it.

I preached at Clarkston Baptist Church this morning to about 100 Muslims who come for a tea time hosted by the church in their gym.  I shared a short Bible study on Noah and the ark.  Most seem pretty receptive to listen, however about a quarter of them come for coffee and snacks and leave before the message.  C'est la vie.

After the study time, I went with Bennett Ekandem over to pick up Arturo and his friend Paul for a meeting at Sugar Loaf Community Church and Drew Grubbs.  Drew is a buddy of mine who I've worked with for three years now.  His church and youth group have been helping us in three locations and are expanding that to six.  He spoke at Hebron school (from Hebron BC) and had 42 youth sign up to also participate at our missions. Excellent!

I pray that Drew and his church will help sponsor Arturo and Bennett and their missions in Clarkston and off of Roswell Rd.

Pray for our finances.  It's tight right now.  We paid taxes, insurance and salary and we're down pretty low.  We always seem to make it, but it still makes me nervous.  The Father always sees us through!

I came home and helped Ashley with a couple of assignments after I helped the kids at Azalea with their work.  It's pretty intense at the mission because I usually have at least 5 kids shouting "Mr. Tim! Mr. Tim!" simultaneously. As my wife would say, "You have a much higher tolerance for chaos than most people."  I'd have to agree with that.

I felt like running, but I must let my body heal.  I hate this getting dark early. Sux.

Peace.

Have you ever had one of those days when you knew you shouldn't do something, but you do it anyway because . . . . ?  I knew it was a bad plan to go running tonight because it was already 7:30pm and getting dark.  But I did it anyway.  I ran about 3.5 miles (in 33:18) and I got to this section of Rockbridge where there is no shoulder on the road.  I always run against traffic so I can see the cars coming at me.  Unfortunately, with the headlights in your eyes you really can't see below your knees.  I stepped off in a hole and wrenched my ankle.  Bahd luck.  I hobbled up, cursed myself for being so stupid and limped back about a half mile to Eckerds. I called all the numbers I knew in my family and everything was busy. There was no way I was going to walk 2.5 miles home with a messed up ankle.  Fortunately, Tina was there.  She has developed thousands of pictures for our ministry. She saw me in obvious pain and after I explained my dilemma offered to drive me home.  PTL!  I kept ice on it for about an hour while I helped Ashley with her English homework.

I had a fantastic day otherwise.  I'm still excited about the wonderful work we did this weekend.  I had confirmation of at least 15 people accepting Christ and that was only 3 of the 25 teams we had mobilized!  I hope to get the final results soon.

I got a call from Vaddas Dianderas today.  I used to work with her in Clarkston.  She is now managing Glenbrook apartments in Marietta.  She offered me a three-bedroom apartment to work out of and wants to "Get this running by the end of the month."  Got any idea how rare that is to have a phone call out of the blue like that?  So obviously I fast tracked the situation. I took a quick trip to the location later this afternoon.  Had a terrific meeting with Vaddas.  Took pictures of the location and even got to have a meeting with the Marietta Police Officers that work that property. 

You may remember that location because about two weeks ago they had a shooting there.  A young black man named "Jerzey" was shot there.  The police transported him, but unfortunately he died in their custody.  The population went nuts as you can imagine.  The ironic part about all this is the worse the situation on a property the more leverage I have there.  As you can surmise I got PLENTY of leverage!

I talked with the folks from Johnson Ferry BC, and will have a team of their Disciple Now students helping on that location on November 13th.  I'll start working on developing a team there asap.  The first step is to get the lease signed so once that's done our team will have to step up to the plate rapidly.

This morning was taken up with talking with the District Attorney's office of DeKalb County.  I'm involved in a case against a man accused of molesting one of the young women in our mission.  I'm the de facto father figure for so many of the kids I work with.  The often tell me the problems they're having before their parents even know.  I hope to have this situation resolved soon.

Had a great day helping the kids at Azalea.  Some of them seem to really be getting the hang of their subjects.  It's very rewarding.

Suh weet.

It was such beautiful weather today.  It reminded me a lot of East Africa!

I had such a good time this afternoon.  I met with Arturo and his friend Paul, as well as Chris Skinner (who is with the Atlanta Youth Project and works with us in Avondale) and Drue Grubbs--who is the youth pastor of Sugarloaf Community Church and also serves as their missions pastor.  His church is currently helping us in three locations: Huntington Terraces, The Corners and Oakbrook Pointe.  They'll be adding three more locations soon.  I've set up a meeting with him, Arturo and Bennett Ekandem for Wednesday to talk more about church planting and future partnerships.

This morning I spent working on my report for the Board of Directors for Whirlwind Missions.  I have a LOT of information to get together before I make the final presentation on the 19th.  I cherish their time and always want to make sure I highlight the really important aspects of what we've been doing so far.  It's always exciting for me to really analyze what's been happening.  It's good for me to back up and take a little broader look at the work.  God is SO good and has blessed our ministry so powerfully.

My initial reports from yesterday stated that over 600 volunteers were mobilized at 25 locations.  That doesn't count all the churches involved nor all the locations.  That's just purely what I know for sure.  Incredible that growth we've seen in just our first three years!  ESPECIALLY when we consider that the majority of the volunteers that have helped us this year were LOCAL!  That's amazing to me.

I went over to the mission at Azalea to check on the kids after my meeting with Jouvens and then came home to help Ashley and Jesse.  I took Ashley over to Sonic for a Sunrise Slushie.  She loves those things and it's fun to spoil her a little bit.

Back to working on the Annual report!

Groovy.

Today was the first day of the Unite! Celebration of serving.  Whirlwind Missions hosted 25 Outreach Events with the help of Perimeter, Vineyard and Atlanta Christian Church North.  Over 70 churches participated this year.  I spoke to the group before they left Perimeter and then went to check on the missions at Azalea, Don Juan, Woodgate, Highland Gardens, Lake Colony, The Corners (where I found out that Anna Lisa is engaged!), Northchase, Foxfire, Wyndham Creek, and Shallowford Gardens.  Awesome work.  I'm looking forward to hearing how many folks accepted Christ as their personal savior.

After the events I came home to spend some time with my family. I helped Ashley with her Geometry and on her essay concerning Achilles.

It was such a great day.  The weather was perfect, the volunteers were enthusiastic and there were solid crowds at every location.  PTL.

Love.

Kathy and I had a fun day today.  We walked over to the park and ate some hamburgers and watched some football.

I just came back from eating supper with Kathy at John Boy's.  Good country cooking.

I talked with Scott Laravea from Perimeter about our conference and block parties tomorrow.  I'll be speaking briefly to the group before they go out to the complexes.  Exciting.

Groovy.

Today was a "me" day.  Lord knows I need those.

I dropped Jesse off at school, then went over to Eckerds to pick up a single use camera for Ashley.  This weekend is the big Parkview vs. Brookwood football game.  Ash and her friends are dressing up special and made their own t-shirts for the game.  She wanted to take pictures of her friends.  I got the camera, put it in her little back pack and dropped it off at school for her.  I sure do love that sweet pie.

Walmart has gas that's about 13 cents cheaper than anywhere else IF you use a Walmart pre-paid card.  So I bought a couple of cards and loaded them with some cash so Kathy and I can use them for gas.  I put so many miles on my car each week it's really amazing.  I average a minimum of 50/day.

Then I went to Media Play.  My idea of a fun day is to go to the bookstore, buy a Pepsi and look at their books/magazines.  I especially enjoy the techno mags such as "Mobile Computing."  At heart I'm a geek.  My son's even worse.  If worse is the right adjective.  I really don't think it's bad.  I could care less about sports, but get me going on the advantages of different CPUs. . .

I chowed down at Philly Cheesesteak, then went over to make copies of an article from Wired for Pat Young about the new distribution model of media such as Amazon.com and Netflix.  Another area I'm interested in. Pat is a writer for media down in McAllen, Texas.  We went to Baylor together back in the 70s.

I got home and finished watching Man On Fire--the newest Denzel Washington flick which I thoroughly enjoyed.  "The bullet always tells the truth."  A statement about the finality of death.  Of course, Christians have a different point of view about the end, but it always helps me to have a sense of urgency in my work when I think about death.  I have a model of a skeleton in my bedroom.  Sounds macabre--but it helps me "seize the day."

I ran 3 miles tonight.  I had plans to take it easy, but ran the first mile right at 9 minutes--which is a record for me for that section of my trail---extremely steep.  But I was pretty pooped for the last two miles.  Still came it at 27:51:97.  Repectable for me.

I've had a shower, cooled down.  Life is good.  Thank you Lord, for time to rest.

Amen.

During the last hurricane FBC Doraville got hammered with wind and rain along the north side of the building.  Rain got through the windows, ran down the inside wall and messed up some of the ceiling tiles in the main office.  This morning I went by Lowes and picked up the materials I needed to fix the problem.  I cleaned out the old, soaked stuff, sealed the cracks along the wall, cut the pieces to fit and replaced two tiles.  Looks better now.  Did a quick clean up to make sure everything looked right.

Went by Northchase to get the extra easel that the teachers didn't need.  I took that back to Office Max to put back on our credit card.  Went to Foxfire to take them more chairs.  The ESL classes are going great in both locations.  The remodeling at Northchase looks fantastic.  The area is really first class now.  It's very exciting to see that progress.

We've been having problems with the internet at the missions.  I found out what the problem was this afternoon.  If you remember, when I was depositing money to the business account about two weeks ago there was a system crash at that ATM which resulted in them seizing my card.  They don't give it back, but shred them.  The customer service folks told me it'd be the same number on our card, but it wasn't.  So all the accounts that were linked to that number were suddenly out of commission.  It took me about 30 minutes to get everything squared away but it was worth it.  Yesterday, one of the kids at the mission (Estuardo) needed the internet/printer to do his project.  It wasn't working so he wasn't able to do it today.  I hope he gets to do it tomorrow, or else he gets a zero.  That's just wrong.

I came home after helping the kids with their homework at Azalea and threw on my shorts to go for a run.  Did my fastest 3 miles ever in 26:53:53, but even more amazing my second mile (which is pretty flat as opposed to the rest of the run) I did in 6:55:01.  Fastest I've ever done that one for sure.

Ash, K and I went for Mexican food.  Fajitas.  It's a beautiful thing.

Helped Ash with her homework.  Chemistry, yet not too hard tonight.  She wants to get out of the class and go to another teacher that's easier.  Of course I prefer her to stick it out and work harder.  That's not always in the cards.  We'll see what happens . . .

Peace.

I finished up the last of the newsletters this afternoon.  I also helped clean up the foyer area of the educational building at FBC Doraville.  I just couldn't watch Jean doing that all by herself and not help.  Got down on my knees and scrubbed that floor like a wildman with a wire brush.

The dial up connections for the internet at the missions are having problems.  I'm not sure what is going on.  I thought I had it squared away with Juno.  Apparently not.

And this evening when I was writing checks for our bills, I noticed a bill for the mission at Azalea where apparently someone called England for 20 minutes!  I have a long distance block on that phone, plus I only have it connected to the computer, so I don't know how that could have happened.  Bizarre.

It reminds me of how I was being charged for three AOL accounts at the same time!  Why would anyone want that?  Luckily, I was reimbursed by those guys yesterday for their mess up.

We also resolved the issue of the mission at Concept 21-Roswell.  We'll be moving the program to a different apartment and doing less visible promotion. 

I spent some extra time at the mission this afternoon helping with homework problems and trying to resolve the internet situation.  Still don't have it figured out.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll get everything working.

When I got home I worked on the expense/donation reports for Whirlwind then took Ashley's friend Emily home.

In the evening I finished the reports up.  Glad all that stuff is done.  It takes time, but it sure is better to do it bi-weekly, that way it never really piles up that much.

Groovy.

I call this week, "that time of the month," which means writing and getting the newsletter out.  I write about 200 per month.  Lately, I've had Ashley and some of the kids also help me write the letters.  I have about 50 more to do this evening before I crash out.  The rest are already in the mail stream.

I got home from helping the kids at the mission and unpacked the van with all the band's gear.  It's been raining and I have to let it get dry outside before I move it.

I then ran 3 miles in 27:28.  That included my second mile where I ran under 8 minutes.  That's mighty fast for me.  I felt pretty stressed out and that definitely helped me feel better.

I got back, showered and then Ashley and I went to Walmart.  She needed some fabric paint for this project at school for art.  I also got some new towels and bathmats, some new pants and shirts, a new key for the van and a new bench for the kids to sit on while they wait for the bus.

Then Ashley and I worked on her Chemistry homework which is just too hard to believe.  I used to be really good at this stuff---thirty years ago.  I still hold my own, but it makes me feel bad when I can't explain it to her.

I just finished my email, and then I'll check on Jesse's Algebra homework and I'll finish up my letters.  Or depending on how I feel, I may just do them tomorrow morning.

Peace.

A mighty rainy day today.  It's our end of the Jeanne hurricane, which by now was downgraded to a tropical storm.

I took care of errands this morning, mainly revolving around the mail out which I'm working on: stamps, envelopes, copies.

Dropped by my office after the errands to get the NAMB check, get the other mail and make sure everything was squared away.  I helped our secretary at FBC Doraville fix the fax machine.

Then off to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church to check with Alisa to get the Disciple Now teams together.  We'll be mobilizing around 400 teenagers--that'll be 40 teams/complexes reached with the Gospel!  AMEN!

After JFBC I went by Concept 21-Roswell to talk with the manager about the mission.  She wasn't there, so I'll call tomorrow.  Carmine was at the doctor.

I went back to the office to work on email and phone calls.  Then over to Azalea to work at the mission.  It was pouring down rain.  The kids don't come out in that kind of weather, so I went on home.

Stopped by Eckerds to pick up the 35mm prints that we took of the family yesterday at Grace.  We decided on the photo that we'll use for the 2004 prayer card.  I filled out the form, did a layout proof and I'll send that on into Creative Plus tomorrow morning.

While I was working on that project I was watching Fear Factor.  Eating the gross stuff is just . . gross!  100 year old eggs?! Please.

Peace.

Our family went to Grace this morning.  We also took Ashley's best friend Ashley Baird.  We studied Revelation 19 today.  Buddy told the story about Frederick Handel and how he from the depths of his depression wrote the Messiah.  Excellent.

After church we took a series of photos of our family around Grace.  We tried a variety of backgrounds.  I wanted to get some pictures on 35 mm to get our new prayer cards going.

I rested at home then went to Azalea to work with the kids and lead a Bible study with them.  I also talked to my team at Woodgate.  I let them know that we'll have a team from Perimeter next Sunday for our Unite weekend.

Tabias and I went to Ranch Market 99 to pick up some fresh seafood to feed the octopus, then I took him home.

I got home and worked on the layout for the new Outreach Update.  I'll paste it up and make the photocopies Monday morning.

Peace.

SATURDAY

Kathy and I had a nice walk to the park.  We watched Ann and her daughter play tennis.  It was a beautiful morning.  We walked about 4 miles.

We came home and rested, then I packed my gear up into the van and went over to play with the band.  That's always one of my favorite things to do.  We played the gig at Azalea today.

After coming home I worked on getting my article done and the pictures printed up.

Groovy.

THURSDAY

I had lunch with Don Devlin, who is the director of the team formerly at Adelaide Park.  That location is now closed for the time being.  We're trying to figure out the next best play for them to get plugged into.  I enjoyed having lunch with Don and talking about the future.

After lunch, I went over to Azalea to help the kids with their homework, fix the computer at the mission and give a set of maps to Nahid so her dad could find the courthouse the next morning.

When I got home I enjoyed taking Kathy out to eat over at El Torreros for fajitas.  Yumbo.

Peace.

I had a great day today.  Dropped Jesse off at school and went home to do a long run.  I ran about 7 miles in 1:21:06.  I ran what I call the "Parkview Trail" which is extremely steep.  The weather was i