GREAT day today!

Jesse and I went to Reboot.

They are my partners that refurbish computers to be used by ministries and handicapped/poor folks.

We picked up three more computers to help the kids with their homework.

I stopped at Zaxby’s to get Jesse some chicken fingers. I’d eaten earlier. I thought this sign on the wall was funny.

Then back to Clarkston to meet up with more of the team that’s partnering together for the Clarkston Oaks project.

It was great to meet the owner as well as the main contractor for the project. It’ll be a lot of work but in an EXTREMELY needy are of Atlanta.

Went by my office at FBC Doraville to meet up with another partner, Frances Price. I always think of her as Santa Claus. She’s been a HUGE advocate for us at FBC Atlanta, collecting hundreds of gifts for the kids at the mission.

She’ll be helping Bayo at Huntington Terraces. We went by the mission to introduce her to Bayo and make sure she knew where the mission was. I think that is going to be be a terrific partnership. Bayo collected a bunch of clothes to give to the folks in the complex.

Looks like the great folks at FBC Mountain Park are going to come through for me again to get the tile floor repaired at Bayo’s mission. PTL for that great church!

J and I then went on over to Azalea to check on the kids.

I’ve been praying for one of my kid’s dad’s who’s been out of work. Found out today that he got a job! He told me, “My Dad’s been playing Jesus music all day long. He says it’s Jesus that got him the job!” Had to agree!

Back home now. Working on admin stuff. Already signing up teams to come help us during the summer.

Had a fun day today! I got to see my brother Tito Ruiz.

He had borrowed some chairs and tables from the mission. We had lunch and I also invited Ian and Ruthie North, Bayo, Charles Houghton (my friend from FBC Mountain Park who is helping me with a couple of construction projects) and of course good ol’ Jesse!

I enjoy getting some of the team together. We stir each other up!

Tito invited Ian to his church this Sunday to interview him in what he’s doing at his mission at Huntington Creek. A good example for his church members.

After lunch, we unloaded the chairs and tables at the mission then went to H. Terraces to check on the mission. We need to replace some tiles that were messed up in the flood. We also went to Lowes to pick up supplies then dropped them off back at the Terraces.

Jesse and I then led Charles over to our new mission at Post Oaks apartments in Clarkston.

We went over the plans for the rehab of that location. Lots of work for sure! Pray that Got will send us those volunteers that we need to get that going!

On our way back to Chamblee, J and I also stopped at Best Buy to drop off his computer.

It has a number of small issues with it. I have their best warranty, so we’re using it!

Helped the kids at the mission with their homework. We were kind of late. They were glad we showed up!

Came home to start on homework. Never ends!

Beautiful weather today. Nearly 70!

Look how vines have changed the shape of this tree! The vines have been removed but their effort has stayed the same.

How much money do you win with this?

What’s the point of putting a cone in front of your car?

Nearly 2 inches of rain yesterday. Excellente!

Spent most of my afternoon studying Spanish. Working on possessive adjectives.

Did some yard work. Fantastic 60 degree weather. What a blessing.

Gave myself a haircut.

Had a fun lunch with my sweet family.

Ruby Tuesday officially has the best salad bar!

Took care of my admin duties. EMail, calls, blog . . .

Looking forward to a busy week, lots of great things happening!

That time of year again. Weird outfits for tax companies. Whatever they’re paying this guy, it’s not enough. Nice makeup.

Drizzly day today.

Kathy and I went to Clarkston International Bible Church.

Music was good. Pastor Phil did a great job on serving the Lord with passion!

We enjoyed Vietnamese food then came on home.

We watched Hotel for Dogs this evening with Jesse. Cute dogs!

Census is getting ready to happen again. Always sounds Biblical to me!

Spent most of this drizzly day working on admin tasks. I finished my financial report and made sure all the bills, checkbook and letters were up to date.

Been studying Spanish. I’ve enjoyed having a workbook to go through.

I’m always happiest when I’m learning or creating something.

Ashley got back from her journalism conference in Knoxville, TN just fine.

Back to Telemundo!

Most of my friends know my background of growing up overseas. My extended family was made up of the missionaries that lived in East Africa.

Just as my parents were missionaries and my children work in ministry, many of the other MKs are also in ministry around the world.

Part of our extended missionary family lives in Haiti. We’ve been very concerned about Snyders. Here’s a report from my “Aunt” Peggy Hooten.

We praise God that our daughter and grandson, Dee Ann and James Snyder, were transported by Air Force Transport to Miami last night. James is flying today to Richmond to get into school in Lynchburg, VA, by Monday. Dee Ann is flying out to Detroit today where Rachel and Ashley, their two daughters, are living. Also, Dan’s Mom and brother. Dan drove out of Haiti in a mission vehicle with two other of their people. They are in Dominican Republic today trying to get flights to the states. Dee Ann and James were able to bring only one change of clothes that they could put in a garbage bag and carry on their laps.

They are emotionally torn up because of the missionaries of their group that were lost in the building that collapsed. They could only rescue two of the five people.

8888888888888888888888888

Please pray for the people of Haiti! And the missionaries that serve there.

Jesse and I hung out today.

We went to the bookstore. He’s studying another programming language called Rails. THICK text book! I picked up a Spanish Grammar workbook.

Went to Stone Mountain and ran 4 miles on the treadmill. Soaked in hot water after that!

The lake around Stone Mountain is frozen in spots.

Want to swim?

I think it’s incredibly beautiful, and rare! At least for us!

Jesse and I met up with my partners Bayo, Tom Frost and Eduardo Zamora. We had great fellowship together and talked about the nuts and bolts of how you actually do fund raising.

J and I then went over to see my partners at Reboot. We’ve had an issue with on the computer we got not working.

They either fix them or replace them for us. Works for me! We dropped off one unit and next month we’ll pick up three: two for Huntington Terraces and one for Huntington Ridge.

We checked on the plants at my office in Doraville then went to Best Buy to pick up my camera. Finally! I had a service plan on my SD 880 Power Shot, so they fixed it. Looks like the replaced the entire lens assembly. That’s like replacing the engine in a car! So I’m happy about that.

We went to Azalea to help the kids.

The best news was that while as was at Azalea, a group of my young men came to the mission.

These guys have been with me since nearly the start of my ministry here 14 years ago! Great young men. All doing well. Happy day. I hadn’t seen Christian in probably five years. He was one of my favorite kids from Bulgaria. Groovy!

J and I watched the cars slam into each other. Crazy.

I liked the way these con trails spread out.

This lake was frozen! Amazing weather.

Beautiful at the mission as we were leaving.

I had my whole family today for lunch! Amen!

Kathy and Ashely joined us at Madina for lunch with Bennett, Bret and Susie Cox, Bayo and new friend Sarah and of course my main man, Jesse.

We had a great time talking about ministry. Great to have friends!

After lunch we went to Post Oaks to check out this basement area that we’ve been given. We have to hang sheet rock, tape/float, paint, hang a new grid for a dropped ceiling, install it, redo the flooring, probably put in a couple of toilets.

Pretty big job. They’re going to provide all the materials, we’ll find volunteer men’s teams to help us do the construction. Win-win, baby!

I had a meeting with the manager and Bennett. I laid it out to him what we do and who we are. I’ve found it’s much better to tell them straight out, “We’re Christians, and we’re about telling people about Jesus. We won’t hit them over the head with a Bible, and everyone is welcome whether they’re Christians are not, but I want you to understand where we’re coming from.”

He assured me he understood. Kareem is the manager. He was a captain in the Iraqi Air Force. He’s a cool guy.

It’s best to be straight with people. If they have a problem with what I’m doing, I’d rather know it at the beginning.

J and I went to Azalea to help the kids. Lots to do!

I got to spend some good time with Ashley this evening. She’s headed to Knoxville, TN to go to a Journalism conference with the other editors with the school paper. They’re paying her way. Excellente!

Back to admin work.

I’ve been studying Spanish more aggressively this year. It’s my resolution. I’ve been watching a lot of Telemundo and Univision.

I had a fun day today!

I ate lunch with Kathy and Jesse.

Jesse and I went over to Bayo’s place.

I got him some software and a headset so he can speak into a microphone and the computer types! Super cool! I think it’s going to help his ministry a lot. Jesse got the thing working. He’s always a blessing to me.

We met up with Bret and Susie Cox at my office at FBC Doraville.

They are missionaries in training at Global Frontiers Missions on their way to Bangkok, Thailand.

We had a fun talk with Pastor Bill Kelly at FBC Doraville too.

They’re interested in working in Bangkok, so we went by the local Buddhist temple in the area. We’re trying to find out where the Thai people gather.

Still working on my archiving process. I’m really happy with the the Newsletter section of the website looks. J’s done some excellent work on that.

Not sure if you read Ashley’s blog or not. Always worth checking out!

I saw this statue in an office this afternoon.