Not sure how often you read this blog, but you might have noticed that I’ve been pushing it lately! Up early and stay up late has been a way of life.

Sure am glad to have a day to hang out, rest, read and write.

I enjoyed lunch with K and J, then came home to rest some more.

This afternoon J and I went to the library and bookstore, always my favorite treat. So many books, so little time!

I’m still enjoying reading Drive! by Dan Pink and Linchpin by Seth Godin. Two great books for sure!

Back at home now to work on admin duties then watch a movie with K.

I thought the shadows were cool on this.

I liked this picture. Talk about positive attitude!

This morning I had the fun of hanging out with one of my best friends, and the President of the board of Whirlwind Missions, Dr. Carl Barrington!

Carl’s a great guy and the smartest man I know!

I enjoy coming to two of his classes that he teaches at Providence Christian Academy and sharing about our work at Whirlwind Missions.

The kids were very enthusiastic and fun to share with.

After teaching the classes, I went back home to pick up Ashley and Jesse!

We went to Azalea to help the kids with their homework.

They didn’t have a huge amount since we got most of it done yesterday.

I had fun also watching Clinton kick the soccer ball around. Did you know I used to play soccer for Baylor before I messed up my knee? Good times!

Came on home and J and I finished up the financial report that we do every other week. Sure is great to have some help with that!

K and I enjoyed watching Psych tonight. I’m looking forward to watching the Burn Notice finale later! Get ’em Michael!

Woke up to a flat tire. I was pretty upset about it.

I took it over to Goodyear yesterday, told them I had a screw in the tire. They took it out and assured me it was fine. Obviously, it wasn’t.

Fortunately, I have a portable air compressor in my car. (A great addition to your trunk for less than $20.) I never change the tire, I just pump it up and drive to the guys who have the tools needed to do it properly.

Jesse and I went to our monthly meeting at the North American Mission Board this morning with all the new candidates. We barely made it there on time because of the flat situation.

Always a lively group!

I enjoy getting to meet all the new missionaries and giving them my take on how to do this stuff.

It was also great to see my buddy Derrek Posten. He was the newest missionary appointed on my team. I worked with him a lot when he was on staff at First Baptist Atlanta. He’s a great guy!

J and I had a nice lunch then went to hang out at the book store for a while. That’s how I reward myself! He bought a book on learning Chinese! Yow!

We checked on the office at FBC Doraville then over to help the kids with their homework.

A number of them are sick. I do not like them coughing on me and complaining of their body aches and pains.

I got way too much to do to get sick.

Went to Walmart to pick up some stuff for the mission. I guess some parents come in and steal all the toilet paper I have. That’s just wrong on so many levels.

Keith Harrell and I met up at FBC Mountain Park. I made a quick presentation to the choir which is coming to help us at our mission in Norcross on the 13th. Hope we have a good turnout!

Came home and watched White Collar on TV. I had it recorded. I think Neal Caffery is a terrific character!

Back to admin work.

I saw this picture in the bathroom at Barnes and Noble.

What do they think, that you’re going to forget your baby and close them up in the wall?

This weather is such a trip!

Yesterday it was nearly 60. Today, snow!

It’s beautiful, but I sure am glad I live in the South where we don’t have to deal with it all the time!

Jesse and I drove through heavy snow from Stone Mountain up to Roswell, just north of Atlanta.

We met up with the Women On Mission group at First Baptist Church of Roswell.

They were a terrific group of ladies. I really wasn’t sure if anyone would come because of the weather conditions but everything turned out great.

I had about an hour to speak so I was able to give a longer presentation. As my wife would say, “I live to hear myself talk,” so filling an hour isn’t a problem.

After the presentation, we shot over to Huntington Ridge to see the new owners. Sad, but the complex went into foreclosure today. The owners weren’t around. I’ll go over and check with them again next week.

Then we went to Fry’s electronics. Jesse is rebuilding the computer that Ruthie North has. We’re adding more RAM and swapping out the hard drive. Sure am glad I have Jesse to figure all that stuff out. I’m a tech kinda guy, but I’m sure no Jesse.

We took a quick stop at a fish/bird store near by. Beauties!

Can you believe they have birds like these flying around in the trees in Costa Rica? Awesome!

We came on home early today. Roads were supposed to start freezing up.

I saw this sign at Fry’s in their bathroom. Read it carefully. They’ll be a test later.

Exactly a year ago today Kathy, Jesse and I were on Tybee Island, GA. I’d heard about this Twitter stuff and decided to try it out as an experiment in Web 2.0.

This evening, I have 66,536 followers. Sounds like a lot, eh? I’m in the top 2,000 Twitter users out of about 4.5 million. I have fun being creative and coming up with 8 new proverbs a day. I actually write about 50 at a time and use a web app that posts them for me at regular intervals.

I started keeping a regular blog in 2004. I’m so glad that YOU are reading this!

This morning I fed my birds and checked on the little water fountain I have in my back yard.

The plastic connector that the hose fits on broke off. Bahd luck. Had to go to Home Depot to pick up another one.

I enjoyed looking at the flowers while we were there.

J and I went to Clarkston to help the kids at Willow Branch learn guitar. I’m teaching Aziz how to read music. It’s a hard job and takes a LOT of patience. Jesse is teaching three girls how to play. Cool.

This morning I got up about 5am to work on a project for FBC Mountain Park. I got a word from the Lord about helping them with a scripture memory program that Richard King mentioned during the service yesterday. I had 1,000 business cards made with Romans 8:28 on it along with a prayer. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him who have been called according to his purpose.”

The Father told me that people are willing to memorize scripture, but they have to be reminded to do it. A little card on the mirror is all that it will take.

K and I enjoyed watching American Pickers, one of my new favorite shows. These two guys go around old barns and find cool stuff and meet really unusual people. Fun.

She rode over 12 miles today on her bike to Stone Mountain and back to our house. Woosh!

This is an old band uniform from Lakeside High School where K went to school.

I saw this big plane headed towards Dobbins AFB this afternoon.

Jesse and his friend Jason are headed up to New Hampshire in two weeks for the Liberty Forum. I enjoyed going up there with him in ’07.

Are you in the market for a good used cow?

This morning Kathy and I went to our home church, First Baptist Mountain Park. It was great to see many of our friends again.

I liked Richard King’s encouragement towards incremental spiritual growth. Learn a Bible verse this year. Spend a minute praying a day.

He had a high jump stand on the platform set to about 7 foot. How people can jump that high is beyond me.

It was also great to hear our new Minister of Music Josh Sutton this morning. We’re looking forward to hosting a team from the choir in a couple of weekends.

Pastor Bill Blanchard preached on Prayer–a subject a really resonate with. He used the Lord’s prayer as a model.

I think the best thing I did in 2009 was the BetaPrayer project. If you’re interested in prayer, check out this link.

BetaPrayer

Kathy and Jesse and I went to Imperial Garden for lunch.

I always think their orchids are so beautiful Art by God!

Working on admin jobs now. Jesse now helps me with the Financial Reports we do for Whirlwind. Always good to have help!

This morning I followed my usual routine of feeding “my” birds. As I was scraping the suet on the side of the trees, I had several goldfinch come with inches of me. It always brings me such job to be close to nature.

As I stood there, smiling and happy, it occurred to me that in a way, I’m like God’s bird. The birds that come close to me, that aren’t afraid of me, that want to spend time with me. . . . how special they are to me!

I just stand there and smile with joy.

How much the Father desires our company, our love. How happy He is when we spend time with Him! A very special moment indeed.

This afternoon I had the fun of sharing about mental health with the HEAL project. They’re part of the Gwinnett Neighborhood Leadership Initiative.

I was part of a panel that discussed ways that we could help bring better mental health to our communities.

I also was able to share a guided visualization and relaxation exercise with them. The group seemed to enjoy it.

Came home and ran 2 miles. I’ve been out of the exercise loop for a while. Trying to break my way back into it. Felt good!

Had a nice rest when I got home.

Enjoyed hanging out with K this evening.

Beautiful full moon this evening.

It’s what I call a “Woo HOO” moon. Cuz when I see it, I yell out “WOO HOO” at the top of my lungs. Not sure the neighbors dig it. But once a month I reckon they can stand.

This morning we got our carpets cleaned. Always a thrill a minute.

Ashley and I finished producing and mailing the newsletters this morning, then dropped them off at the Post Office. Great to have that task done each month!

I enjoyed hanging out at the bookstore this afternoon. I got two new books. Drive, by Daniel Pink is about motivation. His last book “A Whole New Mind” was brilliant. Really looking forward to reading through that one.

Also got Joe Navarro’s new book “Louder than Words.” He is THE body language expert in the world. His last book “What Every Body is Saying” was excellent.

Came on home for another project: Family Picture 2010!

Miles helped us shoot the pictures. We picked this one for our new Prayer Card.

Enjoyed watching Psych on TV with Kathy. I recorded it so we could watch it together.

Fun day!

That time of the month. Newsletters!

This morning I put the final touches on the lay out and went to Staples to make my copies.

Kathy helped me write the letters.

We’ll get them in the mail tomorrow morning before noon when the first mail goes out.

J and I went to Azalea to help the kids, while Ashley worked on her page. She had two tests today. Ouch!

Fun to have lunch with the whole family today!

Many of you know that my son Jesse was born functionally deaf in his left ear.

His right ear is perfect, so he’s managed to compensate for his handicap.

Today, J and I went to an audiologist to have his hearing tested and check and see if there was anything that could be done to help him.

Although he has very limited hearing in his left ear, his inner ear on that side is perfect!

The doctor was very encouraging that with amplification he could hear almost normally! Very exciting news!

We took all the measurements for the device today. We go back in a couple of weeks to actually “tune the device” in so that it works properly with Jesse.

That is really good news! The device is expensive (about $3,000) but I feel confident that we’ll find the money somehow.

Jesse is really happy about it! Super cool!

After the hearing test, we went to Azalea to help the kids with their homework. I was really glad to see Linda Small again.

She’s been a faithful volunteer who’s been in Seattle for the last couple of months visiting family there. Sure am glad she’s back!

The kids helped us do the envelopes for our monthly newsletter.

I’ll work on writing my article tonight.

I liked this license plate.

I saw this big deer in the parking lot of Canton Road Antiques in Roswell.

I thought this sign was odd.

Beautiful sunset at Azalea.

I’m so glad the days are getting longer!