Mighty cold this morning!

I was so glad that our AC man came by yesterday to fix our heater. Turned out to just be a loose wire. PTL for that!

I like the frost crystals on the car. Beauty all around us!

Had a great time this morning with the whole GCA school!

They’re located at Bethany Baptist Church.

I had a partner of mine, Lisa North, invite me to come speak to the kids. I did my “Cambodia” presentation where I take them overseas and give them the life of an immigrant. They seemed to enjoy it!

I liked their golden shovel they had for the groundbreaking!

And their pulpit! Although I didn’t stand behind it. Funny. Can you imagine me just standing behind a lecturn?

I picked up Kathy’s van today. T&G always do a great job keeping us on the road. All four of our cars have about 180,000!

Jesse and I had a good lunch. It was good to debrief with him about life and love since his girlfriend chose to go back up North. Sure am glad he likes it here!

We ate fish at Red Lobster. I think it’s funny that they have a plaque in the bathroom for this notice!

Kathy, J and I went to Azalea to help the kids this afternoon.

I gave some of the kids dolls.

I was also glad to see Ms. Linda there! She’s a teacher and so helpful!

I’m looking forward to the weekend with Kathy! We head for Chattanooga for a few days tomorrow! Our TK weekend!

I like these tree cutting trucks. They remind me of dinosaurs with long necks.

This morning I worked on two new podcasts! Super groovy!

This show is about finding true happiness and making sure it stays put! Check out “Interior Happiness”

And perhaps the most important episode I’ve ever recorded. Don’t put limits on yourself!
“Limit Limitations!”

We had lunch at Madina in Clarkston. One of my Food Faves! They were preparing for a big celebration at the Mosque.

Can you believe this was the lock on the bathroom door?

A sad day in the Cummins’ household as our new friend, and Jesse’s girlfriend moved back to Massachusetts. Colleen was a great help at the mission. She’ll be missed!

I took doughnuts to the kids for a little going away party for Colleen. My buddy at Dunkin Doughnuts remembered me from the mission. He gave us an extra dozen! Sweet! Literally . . .

Colleen rode back north on the Chinese bus that starts at the Buford Highway Farmer’s Market.

We did a recon of the grocery store before she left. It’s had a remarkable face lift since I was there last. Really interesting stuff there.

Huh?

Romanian magazines.

When’s the last time you saw live bullfrogs?

Sucker!

Had a fun day!

I always enjoy hanging out with Ian and Ruthie North, two of my favorite people!

They’d had some car problems, so I helped them get their vehicle towed to the dealer and get it fixed.

Glad it was easy to do!

Once they had their car I went over to Walmart to pick up another heater for my fish tank.

MAN, their water was cold. In the winter my room stays at a pretty consistent 60 degrees. That’s pretty cold for a fish. Ain’t much warmer for people!

Went over to the mission at Azalea to help the kids. Jesse and Colleen met me over there to help. Sure is great to have a team!

Rained on the way home. Hate driving in that drizzle. Those squeaking windshield wipers is one of the most irritating noises I know.

I bought Ashley a little Valentine’s gift. It’s a bubble bath mushroom!

Back to admin duties!

I noticed the name on the escalator. It struck me that this was Schindler’s Lift!

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

This morning Kathy and I went to Clarkston International Bible Church.

That’s normally where we go when I’m not speaking somewhere or out of town.

We had a baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Always a blessing to see that! Missed hearing Pastor Phil preach, but Alan was good too.

But I don’t dig these styrofoam “bread” wafers.

Looks like it should be on a NASA mission, not in church.

For lunch we went to one of my Food Favs: Pho Truc.

Love their grilled pork. And the spring rolls with peanut sauce is awesome.

This has to be one of the wackiest quotes I’ve ever seen at any restaurant.


One reason I love Clarkston is because of the bizarre signage. This is Bhutanese.

Kathy and I hiked Stone Mountain late this afternoon.

It was so beautiful with the golden light illuminating the water streaming down the rock.

I heart Atlanta!

The golden rails looked like a highway to heaven.

Today I worked with a great team of students from First Baptist Atlanta!

They had a terrific conference which included spending the nights at host homes.


The students served at nine different apartment complexes around Metro Atlanta.

It was awesome to see the young people at work for Jesus!

I picked up Bayo from the mission at Huntington Terraces and we went to Clarkston.

He spoke at a youth rally at Clarkston International Bible Church tonight! I’m sure he did an awesome job!

Beautiful sunset this evening. GREAT way to end an day!

Did you notice the moon?

If the organizer asked me, “Tim, what shall we put on the poster that describes you?” Not sure I’d say, “Ordinary.” Apparently, she did. I doubt it describes her either!

It’s been steadily raining today. Yucky, cold weather. But we need the rain so I try not to have a bad attitude about it. We’ve gotten about an inch so far today.

Checked my fish this morning and the water was super cold. The heater developed a problem. Had to get another one from Walmart today.

Also went to GNC for more vitamins. Mega Man Sport is my preference for a foundation vitamin. I take others too.

Also got new tires today. They were pretty bad. I’d been kind of sliding when I started up the hill from our house. I get about two years out of a set of tires. Since I average about 50 miles a day, I reckon that’s not too bad. With an alignment and road hazard warranty it was about $525.

Also went over to Stone Mountain to run at Evergreen. I like their inside facilities. I did 4.5 miles on the elliptical treadmill. That thing is easy on the knees.

I liked the way the steam was coming off of the water.

I reckon young folks won’t get this license plate. Are you a Lone Ranger fan?

Happy New Year! Especially to you sweet Rabbits out there.

Sleet today! Glad it wasn’t freezing so it didn’t stick.

This afternoon Jesse, Colleen and I went to Walmart. I was checking out the toothpaste when I heard a familiar language beside me. Kept listening and sure enough Swahili! I immediately went into my Swahili banter asking them how they were, where they were from and how they liked it here. They were completely flabbergasted! I reckon they don’t have too many white people start speaking to them in Swahili! Yet another reason I love Atlanta. And Walmart–the UN of stores.

Had a good crew come with me to the mission today! My whole family plus Colleen and Juanita!

Two of the kids really had hard homework. Took them forever to get done.

The others just enjoyed being loud. I resemble that remark.

Admin duties now.

What does this mean?

Are you smarter than a first grader? How many do you color in?

Had nearly 1 1/2″ of rain yesterday. Groovy!

I thought this was appropriate. Swim little fish!

I really enjoyed a delicious Banzai Burger at Red Robin today! Awesome!

Spent some time at Barnes and Noble. My treat to myself. I hardly ever buy anything, but I enjoy looking!

I liked this car in the parking lot of the book store.

I read an article about Ronald Reagan today. I liked his quote, “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go, if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.”

We had the tree trimmers in our neighborhood.

I collect bizarre warning signs. This one was from the mulching machine.

Jesse, Colleen, Ashley and I went to Azalea to help the kids with their homework! Always plenty to do!

The kids said this looked like me. Not sure why. Pretty sure it’s not my hair.

Working on admin duties now!

I wonder how birds keep warm with no roof?

This seemed like something I’d see in Africa!

Worked on my financial report and end of year report till nearly midnight last night. Yow!

Had a great day at the mission today. Always fun!

Taking care of admin duties now.

Big thunderstorm just blew through the ATL. Sugar dog sure hates those big booms!

Here’s your 5th grade question!

This morning I woke up thinking about a friend of mine that I led to Christ a few years ago. His name is Obah.

Obah came from Nigeria a son of a wealthy family. He was working as a taxi driver here in the USA.

Every Tuesday evening I went to the taxi stand to sing Christian songs, eat some snacks and have a Bible study.

Obah was a Muslim yet his wife was a Christian. He listened to the Bible study every week, but never wanted to become a Christian.

One day, Atlanta was hammered by a terrible storm with tornadoes. Obah lived right across the street from a house that was completely destroyed! He came to see me the next day.

“Brother Tim, I want to ask Jesus into my heart!”

I was amazed. “That’s awesome, Obah. What made you come to that decision?”

“I know that God spared my life last night. I believe it was because of my wife’s prayers for us. Although I was raised a Muslim, I never had peace. I never knew what would happen to me if I died. I was never sure. My wife was frightened last night, but she was sure she would go to Heaven. She seemed so peaceful. I want that peace in my life.”

Right there in the parking lot Obah asked Jesus to come into his life. It was not an easy decision. His family back home in Nigeria was very angry at him for turning his back in Islam. They could not understand why he would do that. He was the eldest son and his family was very wealthy. Why would he turn his back on his former religion and all that money?

“Now I have peace in my life, Brother Tim. Now I have the happiness that I saw my wife have. I realize it is not about having great wealth. Many of my relatives are very wealthy and yet they are not happy. They fear death. Jesus has given me something that Islam never could: PEACE with God.”

I smiled and nodded. I knew exactly what he meant.

I have nine Associated Press awards for my work in Journalism. If I had stayed in the TV business I’d be making over $100,000 a year. People treated me with awe when I came in the room because I was with the TV station. BUT none of that matters compared to the peace that I have because of Jesus. I KNOW that I will be with Jesus one day. NOTHING compares to the happiness and satisfaction that I have working for Jesus.

Please pray for the families of those believers that have come out of Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. They face enormous pressure from their families to turn their back on Jesus even being promised great wealth.

As my brother Mayur said, who was once a Hindu, “All the money in the world is not worth what Jesus has given me. I will never turn my back on Him!”