It’s great to get family together!

We had our whole tribe meet up at Miles’ sister’s house today. Roxy and Justin make a great couple!







Ashley got Kathy a Bacon Bowl cooker. Funny. And delicious!

Delicious food and warm company. Don’t get no better!

Putting the finishing touches on packing for our trip to the UK tomorrow! I’m really looking forward to spending time with Jesse and my buddies in England! Be praying for our safe flight and that we’ll sleep well while we’re overseas.

We’ll be back in country on the 21st. I won’t be blogging until I get back. I’ll try and keep up with some Facebook posts until then.

Enjoyed a restful morning.

Ate an early lunch with Kathy. Good times. She washed my car afterwards.

Came home to work on packing for my trip to the UK on Monday with Jesse. Looking forward to that!

Got a lot of exercise. Biked 6.6 miles and ran 6.8 miles.

Whew. Lots of beauty on the trail!

I love the fragrance as I ran past the honey suckle.

Tiny, delicate flowers.


I thought this was an interesting image.

Heron head.

Love the mushrooms.


Wasp.

I found this 4 pound sledge hammer on the side of the road. I carried it in one arm and then the other for several miles. I felt like Thor.

Got cleaned up and working on admin duties. I knocked out my financial report for the donations yesterday. That was a weight hanging over my head. Glad to have that done.

Looking forward to K time this evening.

Had such a fun day with my friends John and Debbie Dorr today!

John is an amazingly creative guy. We’ve worked together on projects in Zimbabwe.

I enjoyed showing them around the International Village. The Buford Highway Farmers Market is always interesting!

John grew up in Yemen and is fluent in Arabic. I had fun listening to him and my friend Ali carry on a conversation. Al Madina is another of my favorite places!

Went to the bank to deposit money. Thank you, LORD! Finances are looking better all the time.

Came home to spend some time with Kathy and Jesse. Then rested.

Spent a long time working on the financial report. We have started asking our donors to give money directly to Whirlwind Missions. Many still give through the North American Mission Board, although that is slowly changing. For now that means I need to track the donations that are given to Whirlwind through NAMB AND through Whirlwind (to give a total picture of ALL the donations) as well as ONLY through Whirlwind, so we can send them a letter for their taxes at the end of the year. Gets kind of complicated, but I have it figured out. Just takes time and patience.

Speaking of patience, mine ran out. Our neighbor has had a terrible looking couch and mattress in front of his house by the road for over eight weeks.

My sweet wife has given me no end of grief about it. I talked with my neighbors about it twice. Last two weeks I started putting mattresses or cushions in my garbage can, which promptly got taken away. All those years of construction paid off.

I can destroy nearly anything with amazing efficiency.

I put most of it in my garbage can for next week.

The rest, HOPEFULLY, my neighbor will put in his. But I’m not holding my breath on that. It looks a lot better for the whole neighborhood!

Had to stop briefly when it poured down rain.

Admin duties now. Looking forward to a restful evening with Kathy. I didn’t sleep well last night.

Ashley and Jesse and I met up with Frank Sabo from Perimeter Church and Hessel Baker an apartment owner at Perimeter Mall today! Frank is a long time supporter of our ministry.

Hessel has some properties in Marietta that he thinks we may be of some help. He’s a great guy, I look forward to working with him.

After our meeting, Ashley, Jesse and I enjoyed wandering around the mall and then visiting the Barnes and Noble bookstore.

I thought this was interesting.

I liked these shoes.

We spent a few minutes at Biggar’s antiques in Chamblee.

It used to Chamblee United Methodist Church in the 1860s. I like their signs.


Not sure I want to be experimented on.

And we always have to kiss the horse.

Later we went to the mission to help the kids with their homework. Hardly any work to be done.

I liked the girls on their bikes.

I gave them some clay to play with. They made some interesting things!

Came home to clean up my yard. A neighbor has had some old couches out by the street the last eight weeks.

I’ve slowly been putting his junk in my trashcan to haul off.

Spent some time cleaning my rug by my outside door.

Then went for a 5.01 mile run. It was pleasant outside tonight.

Saw this Thrasher on my run.

Found this bird egg.

Came home, but Kathy was already headed for bed.

Admin duties now.

Always liked this.

There’s no Optimized without TIM.

This has a nice ring to it.

Worked on financial projects this morning.

Also refilled my hummingbird feeders.

Met up with Ashley and Jesse at FBC Doraville. Went to Ashiana to enjoy lunch and talk about teams coming into town.

Had fun looking through antiques. Chamblee has some great stores! This reflection reminded me of Escher.

I made Ashley pose in hats.

Went to Walmart to pick up some supplies.

Then to the bank to deposit checks.

Worked with the kids at the mission. Good crowd today. Kind of surprising!





Cleaned my fish tank.

Admin duties now. Looking forward to Kathy getting home.

Hmmmm.

I liked these little blue flowers.

Had a fun morning. Ran 5.03 miles around my neighborhood. Always something beautiful to see! The roses have been spectacular!

I liked these too!

This sounded interesting.

Ate lunch with Kathy and Jesse. Always good to have family together!

Met up with Jesse at the mission. Worked with the kids.

Not much homework, but enough to keep busy.

I thought they did a great job on a project that wasn’t even assigned by a teacher!

Enjoyed supper with Jesse, then went to the Buford Highway Farmers Market to pick up some small things for my friends in the UK. I taught him how to use a hot glue gun. One of the most practical tools EVER!

We enjoyed strawberry crepes after eating Vietnamese! Yumbo!

Enjoyed watching Castle with Kathy.

Admin duties now.

Last night Jesse and I enjoyed supper together. Then we worked on modifying his shoulder bag. Looks good!

Recorded a new podcast this morning!

One of my favorite and most important things I do! Do you want to know the secret of happiness? Then check out “PermaNICE!” It’s all about relationships!

Got up on the roof to clean out the gutters.

That was a nasty job. Blew a bunch of mud in my face. Not zesty.

Then mowed the front yard.

Trimmed more trees and bushes in the front.

This rain makes the grass grow like crazy.

Hot, sweaty work!

Rested after having a nice lunch with Kathy.

Then went to pick up my car. Had to have rear brake job. Also got the emission tested and passed. Couple of other minor things, oil change and checking it out. Cost about $450. Ouch.

Then to the mission. Not a lot of homework, but kept me busy.

Please pray for Jesse. He hasn’t been sleeping well.

The kids are enjoying the new soccer goal we got them. They’ve been working on the field, taking out the big rocks and filling in the holes. Seems to be better!

Did the shopping.

Then came home to watch the Mentalist with Kathy.

Admin duties now.

Are you smarter than a second grader?

I liked these super thin con trails. Shows that the upper level air is super dry and very still.

Had a short night last night. Never sleep that well when I need to get up really early.

Enjoyed having a booth and chatting with people at First Baptist Atlanta.

Always a good crowd there.

People liked my “dress” aka Kurta.

Plenty of people interested in our ministry.

Had some great times of prayer and sharing with many people.

I liked the flowers outside the building.

Came home to rest.

Looking forward to seeing Jesse soon.

Admin duties now.

Gave myself a haircut this morning.

Enjoyed lunch with Kathy. Always fun hanging out with her.

Did the grocery shopping at Walmart.

Went by the bank to deposit checks for the ministry.

Came home to rest.

Talked with our neighbors. Sounds like the house has been sold to a real estate company. They’ll be moving out of the neighborhood. Sorry to see them go. I really enjoyed seeing their kids playing.

Worked on my bike seat. Glued some pieces that were coming apart.

Transplanted one of my plants into a bigger pot.

Redid my yard art.

Cleaned out my rain gauge. It was gross. Nothing bleach can’t fix!

Went out for a 3.98 mile bike ride and a 3.36 mile run. Always something interesting and beautiful to see.





This car was in front of Park View High School.

Ol’ glory!

I particularly liked getting up close to this vulture.

I just kept creeping up closer and freezing.

I had fun on my bike. But I still miss my skateboard.

Admin duties now.

This is one of the new pieces I bought from the Antique store. It’s more than 50 years old.

I enjoyed recording a new podcast this morning!

Relationships in our lives are SO important. Especially with our loved ones. We need to be there for them forever. Check out “Long Term Parking” and make those friendships even BETTER! Click on the title and groove!

Worked in my yard for over three hours today.

Super hard work mowing.

Then trimming the trees and bushes.

The tree had grown around this brick I put there years ago. Weird.

And clipping the vines that are taking over my fences.


Once they’re dead, I’ll pull all of the vines off the fence.
Hauled some big rocks around the yard.


Put them in some holes.

Got cleaned up then met up with Jesse to see the new Captain America movie, “The Winter Soldier.”

We really liked it.

We went by my office at FBC Doraville to pick up more photo cards for the missions conference Kathy and I are going to on Sunday morning.

Enjoyed eating supper with Jesse.

Back home to enjoy watching Elementary with Kathy.

Admin duties now. I have a headache. Probably from all the dust in the air from the mowing this morning.

Loved the clouds today!

Hmmm.