I enjoyed time with Ashley and Miles this morning. After going through our email and making initial phone calls, we went to eat gyros at Metro Cafe Diner. The folks there are all Greek. It was cool to eat an authentic gyro.

I’m still figuring out the stuff that was ruined in our house fire. We went to Walmart, Office Depot and Mattress King to take pictures to see what needs to be replaced. I figure that’s better than just writing the stuff down.

Then back to the office at the Lamb’s house to write thank you letters for the gifts that have come our way. THANKS to all of you for your prayers!

Worked on the financial report and took that over to our treasurer’s house. Also posted the letters I wrote.

Kathy got back from teaching school and we went over to the Park to watch Miles and Ashley throw the ball around. They’re both great athletes. I couldn’t believe how much Ash has improved–especially with catching. She used to be kind of afraid of the ball. Not any more!

We also enjoyed feeding the geese that hang out at the Lamb’s lake. I love geese, even though they wake me up in the morning.

K and I watched Fantastic 4 on DVD. I liked it. Kathy fell asleep. Not her kind of movie I reckon.

If all goes well we get to see Jesse tomorrow. Yeah!

Love y’all!

Ashley day today! My daughter ROCKS!

I spent most of the morning working on admin stuff at my office at the Lamb’s house. Always something. Email, phone calls with teams coming in . . . good thing I love what I do. It’s nearly midnight now, and I’m back at the computer working on admin stuff. It’s a way of life, baby!

My trusty Canon 600 is finally being retired. I’ve been having problems with it over the last month or so. Kept going into video mode when I was shooting pictures and the zoom was acting weird. So I’ve upgraded to the SD 750. I took over 15,000 pictures with my last camera! Surprisingly, the first pictures I took with it were of ME! Ever seen me with glasses? I use them for close up work. Lord, may this new camera serve YOU!

Ash and I went to Northlake Mall for lunch and to spend a little time looking for clothes for her. Most of her stuff was badly smoke damaged. We got them clean (thanks to Kathy’s brothers and sisters!) but especially the light colored stuff still looks a bit off. Hopefully they’ll get better each time they’re washed. Ashley’s a really good shopper and very cost conscious so I think it’s a good investment for her. Sort of like me buying computer programming books for Jesse.

I’m really sad that I can’t see him every day. It gives me a heavy heart. Pray that God will work it out for us to get him into Peachford Hospital asap.

We spent most of the afternoon at Azalea working with the kids at the missions. We went to check on Jemillin who is one of my favorite little girls. She’s like another daughter to me. I spent time helping her with her homework and going over their practice tests for the CRCT (whatever that is.) We also helped a couple of the Bengali kids.

I enjoyed hanging out with the boys too! They were having a good game of soccer. They are some sweetheart kids. It’s hard for me to believe how fast they’re growing up.

It was also fun to spend time with the Lamb family this evening. I call them the “Lambs of God.” They sure have been kind to us!

We also went over to the baseball field to meet up with Jessica, one of Ashley’s dearest and long term friends. She has a beautiful 6 month old baby named Tyler. Kathy really enjoys babies!

Love you guys!

Did nearly 120 miles of driving today.  That’s a lot of time in the car!

Started out at the North American Mission Board HQ up in Alpharetta.  Every month I give a short seminar on how to mobilize volunteers.  There have been years where nearly 10% of all the volunteers for N. America came through our missions in Atlanta!  It’s always a fun time for me.  After I spoke they had me sit down and gathered around me to pray.  I just started weeping again over the situation with Jesse.  I really don’t know how people that aren’t Christians cope.  No support group must be just horrific.

Most of the afternoon I spent at Huntington Ridge apartments with my partner Bill Hickey.  You may remember him as a man that reminds me of my Grandfather, even though he’s only 10 years older than me.  I reckon people will start seeing me as a grandfather type soon!  Did I mention I turn 50 this year?  Ay caramba!

My partners Tim and Cathy Palmer will be moving to Atlanta from Missouri in a month or so.  The District Manager who is a good friend asked me to move into a different apartment because they can rent the two bedroom town home pretty easily.  They’re giving us a THREE bedroom to replace it.  It’ll be one level which I think will be better in the long run.  Bill and I went through seven apartments on the property.  They were all pretty bad.  The best one had gang graffiti all over it and the flooring, sinks and cabinets were awful.  I left to talk with the manager with a really heavy heart.  I just couldn’t see the Palmers moving into it.

I talked with Marion and said, “I don’t know.  It’s pretty bad.”  She said, “Wait a second.  Carlos just told me that they found another apartment vacant.  The tenants must have skipped out yesterday!”  After some calling around on the radio, Carlos met us over at the 2500B.  It was perfect for our needs.  In MUCH better condition than the other seven.  It had had a family with small children living there.  You could tell that a Mother had been taking care of the place.  The other apartment had obviously had a bunch of single men living there.  MAN!  What a relief and perfect timing.  I really dig working for the KING!

I tried to go visit Jesse tonight.  The cops said I couldn’t because even though I’m a pastor I’m still his dad and it wouldn’t be fair.  That really sucked.  I was pretty upset and got home, threw on my running clothes and did a 4 mile loop.  Felt better after that.

And if you’re wondering . . . . still no coyote in the trap.  Maybe tonight!

Love you guys!

I’ve been working on admin jobs this morning.  I’m at FBC Doraville right now.  Needed to pick up the mail so I can take it over to our treasurer.

I’m going to the mission in a few minutes to check on the kids.  I have a team coming in from Texas to help us this weekend.

If all goes well I’ll get to see Jesse this evening. Pray for his continued progress.

Love you guys!

Today I spent time trying to help Kathy and Ashley.  I went through the closets at the Lamb’s house in the rooms that we’re in and organized and compressed the clothes and stuff left there by their kids.  I was able to free up a lot of space.  Then I hung up Kathy’s clothes that had been in boxes and straightened up our room.

Then I went over to K’s sister’s house and picked up Ashley’s clothes and her shoes.  Her sister Ann had washed Ashley’s clothes twice to remove the smoke smell then organized them into baskets.  I brought them back to the Lamb’s house and took them up to Ashley’s room.  I spent about 2 hours cleaning Ashley’s shoes.  What a job!  I scrubbed and scrubbed on them and most came out looking pretty good.  She seemed really happy with the results so that made me feel good.

Edwin Lamb was kept up late on Sunday night by coyotes in the back yard!  Their dog Rosco was fighting them.  I got really concerned about that because they can carry rabies.  So I went over to U-Spray on 78 and picked up a coyote live trap.  I also got coyote bait and a bottle of coyote urine.  Believe me, you don’t want to know how it smelled!  Edwin and I set up the trap in the lower part of their property near the river.  They own about 8 acres in Lilburn.  It’s a beautiful property and obviously the coyotes think so too!  When I talked to the guys at U-Spray about the problem they said, “We have a ton of coyotes in this area.”  I remember seeing one when I was running early in the morning.  They love to eat pets, especially cats.  When we catch them the animal control guys are supposed to come out and get them.

I’m going to visit Jesse in a few minutes.  Apparently, we’re only supposed to be able to visit him twice a week.  BUT, since I’m a pastor I can see him more often.  I hope that my business card will work for that, otherwise I’ll have to generate a clergy card the next time.  We’ve been seeing him just about every day.  The main supervisor told me that that is not really supposed to happen.  We’ll keep trying anyway.

Keep praying!

Love you guys!

I had a great day today!  I preached at Sweetwater Church in Lawrenceville.  They’re meeting in the Simonton Elementary School.  They had a great set up and the music was awesome.  Mike Fountain is their music director and Assoc. Pastor.  He did a great job leading the worship.  Jackie Fenley is the Pastor.  He’s helping us with the mission at Greens at Hillcrest in Lawrenceville.  He’s one of the very few pastors I’ve ever seen at a mission and he has a real heart of reaching the unchurched.  Praise God for Jackie, Mike and his team!

I did my mission presentation for the church. I did my best!  Ann Mitchell, Kathy’s sister, also came with us today.  It was great to spend some time with her too.  She’s been a huge help in cleaning our stuff at the house.

I’m supposed to sign the contract to begin rebuilding on Wednesday.  Hopefully, that’ll go through fast.  Ashley is negotiating with Kathy and I about getting the master bedroom.  I’m not for it because I like the bathroom in there, but I usually end up giving the girls their way.

Just got back from running 4 miles.  Felt really good until about the last quarter mile and my left knee started hurting.  Next time I run I bet it’ll be completely pain free.  Pray for that!

We get to go see Jesse this evening!  I always look forward to that.  They’re going to let us take Ashley in with us too.  They’re not supposed to let more than 2 people in the room, but the staff is making an exception.  Everyone that I’ve met at the Gwinnett Detention Center has been super nice to us.

Love you guys!

Had a fun family day today!  Ashley and Miles came with Kathy and I over to Walmart to pick up some stuff we needed at the house.  Primarily bird seed.  You like watching birds?  I go over to my house every day to fill up the feeders I have.  The birds and squirrels are really tame with me, especially the chipmunks.  I’ll have them actually crawl right beside my legs!  I guess I’ve been feeding them for several generations now so they don’t see me as a threat.  I’m just another part of the forest.

We got to see our dog Sugar today too!  She’s really a neighborhood dog and many of the kids and parents really love her.  We have one of our neighbors watching her while we’re staying at the Lamb’s house.  It was good to see her.  Sometimes we go over there but she’s inside our neighbor’s house so we don’t get to see her.  She’s her usually sweet ol’ self.  She’ll throw herself down on her back like, “Here’s my belly, what are you waiting for?”

Also went by Best Buy today.  I needed to get a couple more pieces of software to complete what I need for my new computer.  I do a lot of video editing and I got the new version of Studio Plus by Pinnacle.  I’m looking forward to editing some of the video I shot recently for a promo video we’re doing for First Baptist Mountain Park.  I shot a lot at Ashley’s mission at Kensington Station as well as with Bennett Ekandem and his mission at Willow Branch.

It was super cold today.  Around 21 degree wind chill.  We actually had snow flurries.  Something’s not right when we get snow in March!

Kathy took me to see 10,000 BC today.  I really enjoy movies and I liked this one a lot.  Big movie with wooly mammoths and saber tooth tigers.  Sweet.

We just got back from seeing Jesse at the Detention Center.  He’s doing a LOT better. He was talking about his psychotic episode and seeing it for what it was.  I believe the first step towards healing is knowing that you have a problem!  Keep praying for Jesse and that we can get him into the Peachford Hospital really soon.  He’s doing better and seems to be pretty happy!  There aren’t any convicted felons where he’s at.  All of them have only been charged, so I think that everyone is really on their best behavior.  They have too much to lose otherwise.  Mail really does help him feel better, so if you’re concerned for me–drop him a note too!  Jesse Cummins–9935-7554, Gwinett Detention Center, 2900 University Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA 30043.

I’m looking forward to preaching at Sweetwater Baptist Church in Lawrenceville tomorrow.  I’m doing my regular mission presentation plus preaching from Isaiah 6–Send me!

Love you guys!

I had another Ashley day today!  And her boyfriend Miles came with us.  A double blessing!

We mailed some letters including my daily letter to Jesse first thing this morning.  I’d appreciate it if you’d drop him a note of encouragement too.  He’s at Jesse Cummins, ID 9935 7554, Gwinnett County Detention, 2900 University Parkway, Lawrenceville, GA 30043.  Keep praying for him.  He needs a miracle and God is still in the miracle working business!

We went by FBC Doraville to check on the mail and make sure everything is ok at the office.

Then over to Peachford Hospital.  I’m trying to arrange it so he can be transferred over to their hospital from the detention center.  I need to figure out how much our insurance will cover this sort of situation.  I’m always scared that they’re going to pump him full of drugs and not really help him with his problem.  If he gets in there we can only see him four times a week for an hour each time, which I think is kind of weird.  Pray for that situation too.

We stopped by Guitar Center to pick up a Djembe for our church partners at Stone Mill church.  It’s just a small gift to help them with their ministry.  Lester Ruiz’ wife Nadia helps with the music and she’s been playing different percussion instruments.  A djembe is sort of like a small conga.  It’s got a great tone and I believe it will be used to give God glory!

I ran four miles today.  That’s the first time I’ve run in about 2 weeks since my burns and my cold.  My left knee hurts now.  That’s pretty normal for me when I’ve laid off exercise and jump straight back in.  I’ve lost about 15 pounds since the fire.  Not a great way to diet, but seems to be pretty effective.  Grief and pain is a powerful combination.

This evening we had some fun family time with the Lamb family.  I enjoyed shooting pool with Edwin and his son Kevin.  Kathy played cards with Debbie and the daughters and daughter in law.  She seemed like she had a good time.

I just caught up on my email and my blog.  Then I’ll watch the last of an episode of House with Kathy before I crash out.

We hope to be able to see Jesse tomorrow.  Please pray that that will be possible.

Sure love you guys!

What a day!

Ashley and I got to spend time together.  Never too much Ashley!  We started out our day in Alpharetta.  We met with Dr. Bob Montes who is helping us do the psychological evaluation on Jesse.  Just before we went in to see him I called the Detention Center to talk with the counselor.  Apparently Jesse had tried to tear up his mattress and so was back in the Mental Health unit.  Kathy and I just got back from visiting him there.  He made it sound like the mattress thing wasn’t a big deal and that he didn’t actually tear it up.  It was the first time we’d seen him since Saturday.  It was cold there and he was kind of shivering, but he was in great spirits.  He kept telling us how much he is learning and how he is helping people there.  He really sees himself as a kind of messiah who can help people get to God.  Hard to understand, but he seems happy and for me that means a lot!  If all goes well, Dr. Montes will be able to see him next Friday.  Pray that that will happen.  When we had finished visiting Jesse, Kathy noticed our lawyer who was just leaving the jail.  We had a good visit with him, told him what Jesse had been telling us and he told us he’d work on getting the doctor into the facility to do the evaluation.  He looked really tired.  We left the jail about 9:15pm.  We had a prayer with him. I think he felt better after that.

Most of my day was spent with a team from Louisville, TX–right outside of Dallas.  We went around the Clarkston area and I also showed him the Buford Highway corridor.  They’ll be doing sports camps with us in June in 5 locations.  I’ll coordinate half of them in Chamblee.  They were a good group.  I took them over to Cafe Istanbul for Turkish food.  We sat on the floor on cushions.  People always get a kick out of that.  I also got to meet Scott Kelly who is one of our new team members who will be helping Pat Maddox and the Friends of Refugees group. He’s a really nice guy who reminds me of one of my mentors: Fred Sorrells.  I miss Fred.  He taught me a lot.

I’m feeling better every day.  I was thinking about running today!  I decided to rest instead.  Sometimes I get back in the saddle a little too fast and then end up having a relapse with the cold.  Rest is hard for me.

The best news of all?  The insurance guys said that our house is covered!  What a weight off of my shoulders!  I knew that even if they didn’t I had so many churches that would take care of us I wasn’t really worried, but I’d prefer that that money was spent on reaching people for Jesus, not replacing sheetrock!

I also heard that my two friends Tim and Cathy Palmer were appointed with NAMB yesterday.  Great news!  I’m excited about having them come to Atlanta.

Thanks again for all your prayers.  Keep praying for Jesse!

I went to Lawrenceville today to meet with two of my partners:  Sweetwater Church and Pure Fun!  I gave them a briefing as to what our ministry is about then a quick “how to” on block parties.  We’ll be hosting a block party at Greens at Hillcrest on March 22nd.  I’m looking forward to that!  We’ll also have some folks from Crosspointe Church and 12 Stone Church coming by to see how we do it.

I got a call from the psychologist that will be working with Jesse today.  I’ll meet with him tomorrow morning.  If all goes well he’ll be able to go into the Gwinnett Detention Center and do the evaluation on Jesse.  I haven’t gotten a clear answer from the lawyer about that.  One of my partners highly recommended we get our own lawyer.  We’ve been using a public defender.  We’re doing some research on that.

I was supposed to get an answer about the insurance today.  I called the adjuster and he was off on a big job and hadn’t heard.  Supposedly tomorrow morning for sure.  Be praying that those goes well.

We haven’t gotten to see Jesse since Saturday.  We really want to see him.  It’s much more complicated to work out since he was moved out of the Mental Health unit.  We are dying to hear from him so he can tell us if he’s ok in the new environment.  Please keep praying for that.

Ashley and Kathy will be home in a moment.  We’ll drive on over to Conyers for the Mission Banquet this evening.  I’m still feeling a bit sick.  I was able to lay down and rest a little while.  Pray for my health.

Sure love you guys!