Worked out on weights this morning.

Made calls to a new partner who has just now moved to Clarkston working with Mission Year.  Also set up an Outreach Event with a new church partner–Union Baptist in Winder.

Went through the Team Assignment page to update locations and the new teams coming into town.  Full speed ahead!

Knocked out my email.

Peace.

Ashley rode with me today–UT–University of Tim time! We had a great day!

Had a meeting with some of my favorite partners from Dunwoody Baptist Church and Youth Outreach United. Drew Grubbs is a terrific guy and really getting a lot done for the Kingdom. Mark Paul is the new Youth Director for DBC and is also the son of my treasurer for Whirlwind Missions–Jon Paul. I really love Mark. We worked together for years when he was at FBC Conyers. I’m so glad he’s on the team closer to us. Barb Newman is the Local Missions director and her partner is Jeff Reams is the the Missions Director. It’s great to meet old friends and new partners as we discuss how to Take the Church to the People!

Ashley and I had a fun time walking around the mall doing some shopping for some fall clothes. That daughter of mine can make a burlap bag look great!

We spent some time at FBC Doraville catching up on Admin work while Ashley continues to update our Maps from the website.

Then over to Azalea to help the kids with their homework. I was kind of sleepy after getting home so late from Villa Rica last night. I think I still managed to tutor the kids with the right answers!

Ran 4 miles this morning.

Just finished my email and working on the team schedule for the fall. LOTS of great things happening!

Peace.

I had a terrific time with my partners from Perimeter this morning! Looks like we’re going to have a great time mobilizing their Middle School students at Northchase and the Corners. I took Ryan from Perimeter over to meet Paul Reynolds who is the director of the mission at Norchase. We’re excited to see how the church is being mobilized!

Checked on my office stuff at FBC Doraville before driving over to Midway Macedonia Baptist Church between Villa Rica and Carrollton. Took me about an hour and a half to get there. We had the big march in with the flags for the beginning of their Global Impact Conference. Rick White from the People’s Church in Franklin, Tennessee preached a great message on missions.

After the sermon the congregation came to the family life center to see the missionary exhibits. I had fun interacting with the congregation and visiting with my good friend Doug Allison. He’s been working at two of the apartment complexes near their church for the last couple of years. Great guy!

Got home about 11pm. Dove into my email. Just got that knocked out.

My check engine light came back on today.  I’ll take the Chrysler in to have it checked out again.  Hopefully it’s not really transmission problems.  I got to admit I was a bit worried about driving all the way to Villa Rica.  Thank you, Jesus for putting a shield of protection around me!

Peace.

Ran 4 miles early this morning.

Checked on Mr. Hickey who’s been working at Huntington Terraces.  The mission looks great.  He finished painting the mission at Glennbrooke in Marietta and almost finished the Terraces.  We went over to Northchase where he’ll help paint the mission there for Paul Reynolds.

Took care of banking deposits and checked on the mail at the office at FBC Doraville.

Helped the kids with their homework.  Most of them have projects due this week.  You have to have the patience of Job to get them to do those reports.  There’s a fine line between helping them and just doing it for them.

I had my car worked on this afternoon. The check engine light came on when we were leaving Savannah.  They said the computer gave them two codes–one was a battery problem, which they fixed and the light went out.  The other code is a transmission problem.  As long as the light doesn’t come back on then the code was just the battery cables.  If it comes back on could be the transmission.  Now doesn’t that sound like something to look forward to?

I hope you all have mechanics you can trust with your car.

Tomorrow night I go to Villa Rica for the mission conference at Midway Macedonia Baptist Church.  It’ll be about an hour plus one way.  Not looking forward to the trip, but I really enjoy the church.  I’ll be helping with a couple of block parties with them this Saturday.  Excellent!

Peace.

Kathy and I spent the last few days together at the beach at Tybee near Savannah. I worked with CBS there for 5 years and I really love that area.

We had a great time together. Did a lot of athletic stuff. Rode bikes, walked and ran for miles and miles and miles. I got a little bit sunburned but not bad.

Enjoyed the beautiful ocean views as well as my old stompin’ grounds around the historic district.

I shot just over 1,000 pictures in the last week.  Check out the Photo Gallery.  I particularly liked the shots of Bonaventure Cemetary.

Just got finished wading through all my email. Didn’t have access to a computer while I was at Tybee.

I’ll catch up on all my calls Tuesday morning.

Peace.

Finished up my treasurer’s report this morning.  I’ll drop that by my treasurer’s house this afternoon.

Took care of the rest of my admin work.

I’ll go by the bank and check on current balances and give that info to my treasurer too.

Ran 4 miles this morning.

K and I will head towards the beach later today. Hopefully, I’ll be able to post something when I’m down there, but if not–see you next week!

Peace.

I spent about an hour this morning in the worst traffic jam imaginable. Two separate jams blocking all four lanes. Brutal.

This morning I met with Derrick Posten from First Baptist Atlanta to discuss plans for Impact Atlanta. They plan on hosting events in at least 15 different apartment complexes and before it’s all finalized may be double that amount. Sure hope so!

Working on my admin jobs here at FBC Doraville. Never ending paperwork.

K and I hope to leave town tomorrow night after work to spend a few days at the beach together. Sure am looking forward to that!

Worked out on weights early this morning.

William Hickey (the older gentleman who reminds me of my Grandfather) got the apartment at Glennbrooke primed. The management never did come through with the paint so we went to Lowe’s to get it. I’m having him stay at Glennbrooke till he gets done. He’s been sleeping in his car. Then I showed him the mission at Huntington Terraces. He’ll be painting that one for me next. He can stay there for a while too. I gave him an air mattress to sleep on. He told me he had a sleeping bag and used his windshield shader as a mattress. That’s about a half inch of hard foam.

Dropped off some forms for our insurance agent then went to help the kids at Azalea. Odaliz, one of the girls who’s like a daughter to me, will be moving to Mexico in the next couple of days. Her dad was arrested at Azalea and put in a detention center in Tennessee. He’s just been sent back to Mexico so the family is going there to see him. They intend on coming back in a couple of months. Sure hope so.

Took care of my admin work this evening.

Took care of my admin work at my home office today.

Spent a fun afternoon with Kathy.

Ran 5.2 miles after lunch.

Peace.

I had such a fun day today with my Uncle Harold. He’s one of the missionaries that I grew up with in Kenya. He had a huge influence on me especially with the idea that you can learn anything if you just try.

We went out for Indian food at Vikhyat in Tucker. The Patels who run the place are from Nairobi. We had a great time talking about the good ol’ days. It was just like being back home in Kenya. Very special.

I came home and rested then Kathy I went out to the Baby Shower party that Patricia, Tito Ruiz’ wife was having. We had a great time and enjoyed some delicious Colombian and Nicaraguan food. I love seeing Tito and Lester’s kids. I really do love those sweet peas. Children are a real blessing!

Friday, September 8, 2007

Tito and I got the band’s PA into my van and we took it over to Gwinnett Crossings. We finally got a key to the downstairs area where the classes will be held.

Later that day I went back to the apartment complexes where we gave out ten large pizzas, registered for the ESL and Tutoring times and our band CRUZ played. I thought we played great. Lester is an inspiring drummer and Tito sings as well as he plays the keys. It was tremendous fun.

Finally got all the stuff upacked and put up at my house around 11pm.

Peace.