I went on this trip with 20 other people. We had 17 from Calvary Baptist Church in West Lafayette, 1 father of a member of Calvary, and 3 men from First Baptist Church Pocatello, Idaho. This was the 8^th trip since Katrina for Calvary Baptist Church. I had always wanted to go but it never worked out in my schedule. We worked with the mission’s lab at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) for this project.

We were blessed to have our pastor’s wife’s mother in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to help arrange housing on the way down and on the way back. We worshiped on Sunday at First Baptist Tuscalosa which was a great blessing to hear a member of their congregation preach, Rich Wingo. Rich was a linebacker at the University of Alabama in the mid 70’s and then went on to play for the Greenbay Packers. The message was challenging and good to hear as we were headed down to the mission site. After church we headed on down the road to New Orleans.

Monday morning we headed over to the job site, as we were driving along I noticed this house on the other side of a divided road that was up in the air on concrete pillars with a FEMA trailer out in the front yard. I thought this house was interesting and as I was thinking that our caravan of vehicles make a U turn to go back to the house I had noticed. This would be the house that we would be working on all week. I had been told we would be working on a wheel chair ramp and I thought that it would be a long ramp to get up to the house since it was now over eight feet in the air. The ramp was actually in the back but was not finished.

The owner of the house, Steve, was a single man that was disabled having no lower part of his legs. He had been working on the house for 3 ½ years before the NOBTS mission teams joined him. This was one of the biggest complements to our work as Southern Baptist. We shared Christ by being construction workers for someone who is not able to finish it without help. This just reassures that the disaster relief of Southern Baptist is very effective and we must continue to work together in Christ name.

Steve was so touched by the workers and what we were doing for him. A couple from our group went with him to Lowes to pick up some materials and while there he was talking to the Lowes workers who all knew, and was telling them how great this team was that were helping him this week. Several times Steve spoke about the former work teams and all they had done for him. Not only had Steve’s house been flooded but just shortly after that he was in an automobile accident where another person ran into him and totaled his vehicle. He has also been having medical problems with his kidneys. This man had so much to be upset about but was trying to keep his spirits up. He has been living in the FEMA trailer in the front yard for now over four years. This trailer was not meant to be lived in that long and did not have much room, especially for a person in a wheel chair.

The week was great for me to be able to not only get to minister to this man but also for me to be ministered to by what was being done. I also was so blessed to be able to connect with other church members that I had not spent that much time with.

I had several prayer requests that were answered on this trip. The first was that my back held up and I had no physical problems. The second was that the ministry at Purdue went smooth while I was gone. My wife did an excellent job taking care of the ministry and our children. The last prayer request that was answered was that I would not struggle with not being in charge. Because I am usually leading mission trips that I am on, I find it difficult not to be in charge. God blessed me to be able to follow the leaders and not be stressed about not being in control.

We ended the week by praying with Steve on Friday. This was a great time for us to circle around him and pray blessings over him. It was difficult to leave with just a few things to finish before he could move in but knowing that the next team would help finish it up.

God used this trip to show me that He uses us in many different ways to minister to people. He gave me an opportunity to see the people that were hit by Katrina and have compassion for the people in the entire area. Many people were saying that this city was hit hard because of its sin but we know that we all are sinners and that God desires everyone of us to turn from our wicked ways and live for Him. I will continue to pray for this area and all those who are still trying to recover and rebuild.

I have been in a small group at church that is going over James and I just wanted to share something that God is showing me through that.  In James 1 it talks about trials and how we are to deal with them.  James 1:2  says to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.”  Joy must come from God and we must rely on Him to experience joy through trails.  I believe that we as Americans confuse Joy and happiness.  We are unable to have Joy without having Jesus Christ in our lives.  The scripture goes on to says WHEN you encounter various trials, not IF.  That means everyone will go through trials so don’t think you are the only one going through trials.  It also says we will encounter VARIOUS trials.  Each one of us live unique lives and so the trials are not all going to be the same but there is usually someone else that has gone through a similar trial.  We must help others as they go through trials.  Romans 12:15 says to rejoice with those rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping.  We are to be there for each other through everything.

In James 1:12 it talks about how we are blessed when we persevere under trial.  That means that we are not crushed under the pressure but grow from the trial.  Trials are for us to grow stronger but many times we give into our own desires instead of God’s will.  Trials can become temptation and temptation leads to sin but God is not evil according to James 1:13 and that He does not tempt us or lead us to sin.  He has allowed trials for us to endure and become stronger  but temptation and sin is our own evil desires.  In James 1:17 it gives us a look at God’s Character.  “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”  God is perfect and good and is the Father of light.  Where there is darkness that light is absent.  God has not varied and has not shifted from the beginning of time.  What an incredible God we serve.

This has been an encouragement for me in that we will have trials and God wants us to grow stronger from them. He desires us to not give into our own selfishness but we must be seeking God’s direction for our every move.  I pray that as you see the scripture and look at what God is doing in your life, that you look for the good things and the trials as a positive. When we fail it’s not because of God but he will lift us up and help us start again..

We had a great wedding at an odd time like 2:35 or something like that because we just wanted break traditions. We also had pictures before the wedding but I loved that I went to the front and her father walked her down the isle for the pictures so we could see each other then take the pictures. Our campus minister Mike Trent performed the wedding and one of the neat things Mike does is that he had us up on the stage facing the crowd and he was down at the bottom looking up to us. He said this day is about you, not me and I want them to be able to see you. One of my pet peeves is that people have a ring bearer and they put fake rings on the pillow so guess what we put on the pillow, the real wedding rings. The ring bearer was my 3 year old neighbor but all he had to do is walk down the isle with the rings. When the best man pulled the rings off the pillow he handed the wrong one to the maid of honor. When they went to pass them back they dropped Nettie’s wedding ring and it came very close to going in the air vent but the flower girl reached down and picked it up. The rest of the wedding went fine and it was actually very short. I believe that we were leaving the church after the reception after a little over an hour from the start time of the wedding.

We have lived in Kansas, Texas, and now Indiana through the last 14 years. Nettie has been so supportive of the ministry and a major part of it and I know that I could not do it without her. We enjoyed the first 6 years without kids, just getting to know each other. We have enjoyed the next 8 with kids and have enjoyed transitioning as they have grown and got involved in many things. We have also had our cat Tuff around all 14 years but just over the past few years I have become allergic to him, if I pet him I break out and get itchy eyes. That stinks because I enjoy petting and holding that big cat.

To close I just want to share a few things I have learned the past 14 years of Marriage.

1. God must be in the center of the relationship- God has created each of us and has given us the union of marriage and so why would we keep Him outside of something He has created. Growing together spiritually is a very incredible part of marriage.
2. Communication is key- There are to directions for communication talking and listening. You must have both from both people to have a healthy marriage.
3. Finances do not have to cause problems- It does not matter whether you have no money or lots of money you still need to love each other and focus on each other and not how much money you have.
4. Continue to go on dates- Just because you are married does not mean you quit going out and just because you have children does not mean you don’t go out, and just because you have no money does not mean you can not do something for free together as your date. Go out on a date just the two of you.
5. Your spouse comes first- your spouse come before everything except God. You were married before you had children and will continue to be married even after they leave the house so make sure not to neglect your spouse.
6. Learn to have healthy disputes- This does not mean you should ever start fights for no reason but when there are disagreements learn to be able to communicate without exploding and digging up the past but deal with the key issue. Do not leave things unresolved or they become bigger than they really are.
7. Sex- Have it as often as you can and do not deprive each other. God has given us this beautiful thing of bringing two people together in the most intimate way and we must not defile it or deprive it.
8. Communication is key- I know I have said it once but it is very important.

I pray that Nettie and I will grow old together and that this is just the first 14 years of many. Thank you Nettie for being such a wonderful wife.

I was reading Hebrews 13 today, WOW!  There is so much to get out of this one chapter.  The first thing that was challenging was talking about having brotherly love and being hospitable.  I know that I have not been as hospitable or loving as I should be to others.  It talks about some have been so hospitable that they have hosted Angels.  That is what I want to strive to do, not out of selfishness but out of brotherly love.

Verse 5  says “Be free from the love of money.  Be satisfied with what you have, for He Himself has said, I will never leave you or forsake you.”   This is a great point in this time of the financial crisis this country is facing.  We have been living like we had nothing and wanted more but we have more than any other people group in the world.  I heard a statistic that even if you are making minimum wage here in the states you are make more than 80% of the world.  We have so much and yet we continue to long for the wrong things. I need to be satisfied because I have Christ and Christ alone.

I have so much more to say but I will just mention one more important point out of that chapter 13 and that comes from verse 9.  “Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings”  we must continually seek His Word so that we can know the truth.  I love the analogy of the counterfeit money detectors.  They are trained with the real money so that when shown a counterfeit it is obviously not the real deal and the same way we need to study God’s Word not other teachings.  It is not just to know it for knowledge sake but also to be applying it in my life.

As I have done this and written out what I have thought it helps me to understand the scripture better and hopefully apply it more to my life.  I look forward to bloging more and hope that if you have read this you have enjoyed it also.  My prayer is that I will continue to grow closer to God while growing closer to others.

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