Ashley and Miles came by our house Sunday night to pick up our grand dog Mooglie. She was a little sweetheart.

This morning I spent some time in my garden.

It rained nearly 1/2″ yesterday.

I got my hummingbird feeders prepped and ready for my little friends to come back from Texas. (Research says that some of our Ruby Throated Hummingbirds travel as far as Costa Rica!)


Also cleaned up my St. Francis area.

Spent some time recording a new podcast! I haven’t had a chance to upload it yet. Soon! I also recorded a new short video for my series “Two Groovy!” I love recording.

After a quick sandwich, I went to the Dekalb Title and Tag office in Brookhaven. I’d heard that it was the best of the spots to try. Even with 23 people ahead of me, I was out of there in 45 minutes. I thought that was pretty amazing.

Went to my office at FBC Doraville to pick up checks.

Got them into our bank account after taking pictures of them so we can track gifts from our supporters.

It was amazingly warm today! Into the low 60s. Amen to that.

Also went to CD Tower to pick up some small gifts for our supporters.

In Swahili we call that a “zawadi.” I’m planning on launching a fund raising campaign to pay off our insurance bills for the year. It costs Whirlwind Missions nearly $3,000 just for insurance!

Over to the mission to help the kids with their homework.

I enjoyed eating supper with Jesse this evening.

K and I watched part of Virunga on Netflix streaming. A wonderful documentary about Mountain Gorillas in Congo.

Admin duties now.

Loved this bumper sticker.

Beautiful sunset on my way home for work Saturday.

K and I enjoyed going to Westside Baptist Church this morning. Great group of folks!

We enjoyed lunch together and a restful afternoon.

Admin duties now.

I had a fun time briefing my team from Word of Life Institute based out of New York this morning.

I took them on a tour of Plaza Fiesta.




Then they gave a mini concert to the patrons. They loved it!

We then went to Plaza Fiesta to sing and explore the amazingness there!


Home now to edit video and work on admin duties.

Had a fun supper with Kath

Ashley came by to pick up some materials from our house for a missions conference she’s going to at Skidaway Baptist Church in Savannah.

Never too much Ashley! She also brought by their dog Mooglie. I enjoy having her around. She’s the reason I haven’t had a single rat/mouse this whole cold weather season! What an awesome dog.

Put my taxes together to send to my tax man. Mailed it certified mail at the Post Office.

Dropped off the paper work for my house refinancing. Literally cutting my interest rate in half to 4%. There’s a Fed Ex express box near my house.

Deposited some money into our account at Whirlwind. Amen for that.

Still some salt on the ground at the ATM.

Talked to my friend Bayo about sharing with a partner about how to reach Muslims for Jesus.

Printed off the insurance card from Geico for my new car.

Went for a 5.04 mile run. Always something interesting to see.

Someone lost control coming down the hill.

My right knee hurt afterwards. Guess I ran too hard after having two weeks off.

Enjoyed talking with my Mom today in Texas. Family is doing great. Amen, to that!

I recorded a new feature. Little two minute encouraging videos called “Two Groovy.” I think it’ll be a fun series.
httpv://youtu.be/TwuKF86Cmus

Took Kathy to Golden Corral this evening.

Enjoyed watching Suits with K this evening.

Feel tired. I’ll take an early night tonight. I have a team in town in the morning. Had a hard time sleeping last night. I was still awake at 2am. That’s not zesty.

This morning I worked on getting the utilities from one of the missions changed over to the missionary who lives there. I sure am glad Ashley has been doing this, because it’s a real hassle. Got it figured out though.

I had a meeting with my partners in Norcross and Marietta, Matt Johns and David Tate.

It was great to see them and hear the work that they’re doing for the Lord. Always a blessing being around them!

Also met up with my friend Cathy Wilson who I’ve been working with for years.

She’s now affiliated with Youth Outreach United. I hope she’ll be happy with them. Larry Anderson is the administrator of the group.

They seem to have big plans for working in the International Village. I’m certainly pulling for them!

After our meetings, I took David Tate over to see the Buford Highway Farmers Market. I needed to talk to managers about bringing a team there to sing on Saturday. Dave liked the cookies.

Every day I see something I’ve never seen before. I’m not eating anything with “bug” in the title.

The schools were closed due to bad weather. Here’s the total amount of ice I found on the roads.

It was in the Cracker Barrel parking lot. I’m pretty sure it fell off the back of a truck.

No after school program.

Ashley and I folded up the newsletters and got them in the mail. THANKS to the Atlanta Metro Baptist Association for their help in printing!


Home now working on admin duties.

I took our Expedition to get the shocks replaced. K and I will pick that up after I get her from work.

Had a little over 1/2″ of rain.

Tuesday I spent writing and producing our newsletters.

We got them to the Atlanta Metro Baptist Association to print them. They are out of toner for the yellow cartridge so we have to wait till Friday or Monday to get them.

Also posted some creative writing.

Went to the Post Office to get stamps.

I liked the circus poster stamps.

Did some grocery shopping.

Enjoyed lunch with Ashley.

Gloomy weather.

Over to Azalea to get the labels and envelopes ready for the letters.

They love the doughnuts afterwards.

Helped the kids with their homework.

GREAT to work with MY kids!

Freezing weather in the ATL closed the schools today. It didn’t seem that bad to me.

Recorded a new podcast! That always helps improve my mood.

Check out “Rock Hard!”. Basically I preached to myself for thirty minutes about how we can get through the hard times!

Went to Westside Baptist Church to see my friend Pastor Ben Lehman. He asked me how things were going. When I told him how depressed I was over the financial situation at Whirlwind, he took up a collection to help the Cummins family. They were very generous and really helped pull us out of a hole. The money went straight to my Visa bill.

Nearly paid it off. Thank you, Jesus!

I’ve been enjoying driving my new car! Sure has been a blessing. I call her “Lil’ Red.” Kathy drives the Expedition which has been “Big Red.”

With lots of sleet, and the schools cancelled, K and I have stayed around the house most of the day.

It was much worse forty miles north of Atlanta. We dodged a bullet this time!

Admin duties now.

Sure wouldn’t want to be homeless in this weather.

Audi leaves their gift wrapped cars in the parking lot.

Cleaned out my hummingbird feeders since I was stuck inside. I’ll put out some fresh juice for them in a couple of days when the weather clears off.

I was in bed all day long Sunday besides going to church at Westside. Sunday night, Kathy thought I’d enjoy a movie. She was right! We went to see Kingsman.

That movie was about as far as humanly possible from being a chick flick. I thought it was AWESOME. Kathy fell asleep. I reckon that’s why they make chocolate and vanilla.

I spent this morning working on quotes for insurance and how much the tags and titles are going to be for the NEW CAR that my dear friends the Barringtons gave me this evening! What a blessing they have been to our family. Carl reminded me that we first started working together back at Southwestern Seminary THIRTY years ago. That’s half our lives that we’ve been friends!

Ashley came over to check out her car before going to Savannah this weekend for the missions conference at Skidaway Baptist Church.

Worked at the mission with Ashley and Jesse.

Not much homework, so we left around 6pm.


Jesse followed me home and took us over to the Barrington’s house. The Expedition has suspension problems and just bounces all over the road. It’ll cost about $600 to fix. Ay caramba.

On the brighter (MUCH BRIGHTER) side, we picked up the PT Cruiser from the Barrington’s house this evening.

It’s a real beauty and is a lot of fun to drive. What a blessing they’ve been. I’ll transfer the title over to the ministry’s name tomorrow.

Really tired. I’ve been a bit sick, although my only symptoms now are headache and being tired.

Admin duties now.

I never grow tired of shooting diffused sun through bare branches.

On Friday the suspension in the Expedition went out. It was like driving a moon walk. I took it to the mechanic.

Apparently, that truck has a type of air bag suspension. One more thing to deal with. See how low it’s riding in the back?

Saturday I wasn’t feeling well. Spent all day in bed except for going to lunch with Kathy. Super tired with a sore throat and headache. Jesse is dealing with the same issues.

Paid bills.

I’m feeling a bit better today. I’ve also been able to sleep on my back for the first time in two weeks. That sure helps.

Foggy day.

I met up with Miles and Ashley who brought our ladies from Michigan Vickie and Michelle to Westside Baptist Church.

Pastor Ben is always a blessing to me.

I shared with him the financial difficulties we’re experiencing right now. He had good words of encouragement and how to handle the transferring of the utilities from Whirlwind Missions to the on site missions organizations.

The feedback from the missionaries when I told them that they HAD to transfer those utilities was quite positive. They all understood that we can’t pay with money that we don’t have.

Our music director at Westside Baptist Church is a marvelous piano player and vocalist. Roger is also from Michigan like Vickie and Michelle.

I’m back in bed now to rest and then handle admin duties.

I talked with two of our other missionaries to make sure that they handled those transfers of utilities tomorrow.

I didn’t sleep well at all last night. With Whirlwind Missions enduring such hard financial times, I stay awake and worry about all my missionary friends.

Ashley picked me up from our car mechanic’s building. The Expedition I’ve been driving since the Chrysler started having such oil pressure problems has a serious problem with the suspension. It’s like riding a jumpy house. They took a look at it, but can’t get parts till Monday. Ride ’em cowboy! They assured me it was safe, it’s just like riding on roads in Kenya.

We met up with our team from Michigan and went to Marietta to check out the Brazilian population and see some of the antique stores.


Great food and cool stuff to see.

We came back from Marietta and went to the Post Office to mail off some books that Vickie had purchased to teach a series on different world religions. Cheaper than carrying them back in her suitcase!

Then over to Enigmas to see one of the most bizarre botanicas in Atlanta.

I bought this super cool sugar skull there.

Worked with the kids at the mission.

I told them the story of Joseph. I always enjoy telling stories.

We also decorated “bags of love” to fill with candy and tracts for our residents.

Then threw candy to the kids. The ladies had fun tossing goodies to the children.



Stopped by Subway to buy some sandwiches for Jesse who’s not feeling well. I’ve got a sore throat too. Been gargling with hydrogen peroxide today. That always seems to help.

K and I watched Elementary and part of the Lego movie. I really liked the Lego show. Kathy less so.

Admin duties now.

Ashley and I had fun with our new friend from Cross Pointe church, Mark Maynard! He has a lot of experience in Africa, so I felt like I was with a kindred spirit.

We showed him around Plaza Fiesta and had some authentic Mexican food. Then over to the Buford Highway Farmers Market to experience multiple cultures up close and personal.

We also took our team from Michigan with us and also to the Buddhist Temple.

I had a very powerful and moving conversation with one of my good friends and Pastor, Ben Lehmann. He gave me some sound advice about dealing with some of the missionaries that we work with that we support.

Went to the Dollar Tree to pick up some supplies for the mission. I also picked up some plastic ware to put under plants in my house.

Then over to Azalea to work with the kids. I was especially proud that my Bengali girls chose to wear shoes today! I told them their toes could turn black and fall off if they were outside in 20 degree weather for very long. I reckon they took me seriously.

Our ladies told the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors and the brothers throwing him down the pit.

Home now to work on admin duties.

The suspension in the Expedition started acting really weird. Man, that’s all we need, more car problems.