This week we are wraping up the fall semester of FCA as well as going over the the final part of our fall study series. Please pray for our students that they will take the series on changing what you are doing to grow in your relationship w/ Christ and actually apply it to their lives. That they wouldn’t view Christ only as a get out of hell free card, but actually make Him Lord of their lives.

I just wanted to apologize for not blogging lately. I promise to do a much better job in the next few weeks!

This year I have much to be thankful for at Thanksgiving. First of all I am thankful for my Salvation and all that God has given me from a wonderful wife, family, home, to the very breath that I am breathing right now.

I am also very thankful for the way God has given Erin and I the opportunity to work w/ FCA this year. We have been able to be more efficient in our ministry and provide more discipleship to our students. It has also been nice to have a renewed passion for Sports ministry through working w/ this ministry.

Lastly, I am extremely thankful for my wife Erin. This is my first Thanksgiving as a married man. She has been a huge encouragement to me in both my walk w/ God and in my everyday life. I am truly thankful for her!!

This morning Erin is out with the girls getting their hair ready for Kristin’s big wedding today. So, rather than staying at Erin’s folks with all the dogs or going out to get my hair did with the girls, I had Erin drop me off at Panera, where I could enjoy bagels and some high speed internet. For some reason the simplest thing like sitting in a coffee shop and using fast net seems to be very relaxing and refreshing to me.

Over the past few weeks I really think that God has been trying to work with me and move me along in my life. Not for sure what that really means for my future, but I have just really felt Him growing and stretching me lately in areas that I haven’t been in a long while. Whether that be with how I interact w/ and love others or just dealing w/ ministry and life pressures. I just pray that I will keep looking for what He is wanting to teach me and then when He shows what I need to do or where to go that I would be obedient to Him…

As many of you know I have been trying to have a Bible study on Monday nights with some local teen boys. However, the boys have a slight problem of not showing up. All of the guys have promised me though that they will be there this Monday night and really wanna do the Bible study. I ask all of you out there who read my blog to join me in prayer that first of all these boys will show up, and then secondly that through our study of God’s Word their lives will be changed and that they will develop a close relationship w/ God.

For the past week I have had a sinus problem to where I can barely hear and my ears feel totally plugged. Like someone has either stuffed cotton balls down inside of them or firmly placed their hands over my ears. This has lead to difficulties with other people as I have been unable to hear them. There were some funny ones like me thinking my wife said I was making her feel “conscious” instead of “self-conscious” and some that weren’t so funny like an old man swearing he had ordered a hot dog from across the bowling alley and being mad that I didn’t have it ready. All I know is that I am ready to be able to hear again soon!

Also this has been a discouraging week for me in many ways that I am not able to blog about. But I know many of you without knowing what is going on have been praying for me and I truly appreciate that and hope you will continue to pray for me.

Tonight I was able to get home in time to watch UK play basketball. This is big for two reasons, the first being that I rarely get home this early on a Friday. And even more amazing that I am excited to be watching UK bball again. Last year it was almost painful to watch, with every pass or shot looking like a turnover and the feeling that any NobodyUniversity would knock them off. This year though there is definitley an exciting change in the air. Hopefully watching the game tonight and seeing a W will be a sign of a great season to come!

Today has been a very slow day at the RecCenter. Part of me knows that it has to do with the beautiful sunny day that is going on outside right now, but at the same time it’s frustrating not to have people in here taking advantage of the awesome facility God has given us. Please join me in prayer that we can get more people in during the daylight hours at the RecCenter and that we will be able to expand our ministry and have an even bigger impact for Christ!

For myself, Erin and Cobey today is an exciting day at the RecCenter. Our Interling YLO package arrived containing the latest in contemporary Christian music to use at the RecCenter. Besides just having great music to listen to, it’s exciting because with the music, music videos, and other dvd’s there are devotions and other tools for us to use w/ our outreaches here at the RecCenter. I highly encourage anyone in youth ministry to check out this awesome resource!

Yesterday, I prepared for Bible study with some local teens that I am hopefully going to be doing on Monday evenings. The study we are doing is from FCA on developing Character. The first study that I was working on yesterday was on developing breadth and heart. As I sat last night and waited for guys to show up and counted off the minutes leading up to the time Bible study was supposed to start and the minutes after when no one had shown up I really became saddened. I’m not trying to rag on my boys in this blog or anything like that, but working with teens over the past few years and trying to get them excited and encouraged to seek Christ and grow in a relationship with them, it is discouraging to see how there is a lack of breadth and heart in there walk’s with the Lord.

Over and over again we have seen where teens have turned down opportunities to grow in their faith to go do something that seems more fun to them in the moment. A lack of dedication to follow through with commitments and a lack of desire to plow deep into God’s Word. I just often wonder what it will take to get their attention to realize their need and the urgency of a deep relationship with our Lord. How that after all He has done for us the least we can do is being dedicated to serving Him and not only desiring a close relationship with Him, but pursuing it with our whole hearts.

Please pray for our teens here that we are working with. I don’t want to ever let my discouragement get in the way of being a light of encouragement to them. Pray that they will not only see their need but pursue it. Pray for Erin and I to always show them Christ’s love!