Answered Prayers...several of them

I am excited today. I don't always wake up excited on Mondays but today is different from the usual Monday.

Yesterday was Father's Day. Last week I prayed that this Father's Day would be a FATHER'S DAY...as in our Heavenly Father. My prayer was heard and answered in some great ways.

Yesterday began with me sleeping in. That may be no big deal for the average person but with my typical performance driven/acceptance seeking perspective, sleeping in to any great degree is a huge victory. From there my family went to breakfast and breakfast had everything I love in breakfast...ZERO wait, all-you-can-eat, actual hot food (no bird seed with milk that my wife calls cereal or cold pastries), serve yourself buffet and a reasonable price.

From there we went to the lake at Oak Mountain State Park to have "church". We all threw rocks in the lake...probably pissing off anyone who had plans of fishing and then we sat and I tried to explain the last of Ephesians 3 to the boys. I explained the dimensions of God's love by placing the boys in certain positions. Elijah is the oldest and tallest so he was the height, Zion is the youngest and lightest for me to lift so I picked him up and held him horizontal to be the depth of God's love and Judah, my middle son held his arms out to be the length of God's love. They were really distracted by the lake, the wind, the water, the dirt, the rocks, the signs, the cars driving past, the other family that pulled up and pretty much any other thought that popped in their head. I doubt we will "be church" again by a lake. In the midst of our closing prayer we had to momentarily pause and continue it in the car after Brook found what to her is far more terrifying than a cobra, lion or black widow...a tick.

Yesterday afternoon Greg Newton and I met at Trade Towers for the 3rd week..2nd week with the residents there. I found myself really looking forward to seeing the people we met the previous week and realizing that I had prayed for them and their concerns throughout the week. We met 3 new men and it was an interesting time to say the least. We are still in the infant stages with the church plant but it is exciting to me to see what God has done and will continue to do. I pray that God continues to open hearts and minds of the people at Trade Towers to hear and receive His Message. I further pray that God will allow Greg and me to deliver His Message in a way that His consistent with His will and mission.

After the meeting at Trade Towers I drove faster than the police would probably like for me to in order to make it to a small group. I was there for the final 15 minutes of a 2 hour session but that time was for sure used by God. Jeff, who leads the group along with his wife, Rachel, suggested the men and women pray in separate from one another. It was kind of funny to me because that brought back memories from my "old school" church of Christ days. In the time we spent together it was obvious to me that the men need more time together. We need a chance to be real with God and one another and we need it urgently. After our brief prayer time I suggested to Jeff we kick off such a group tonight and he was ready to start this new chapter of "The Holy Library". THL was a men's group that I was part of and my time in that group was used in amazing ways by God to work in me. I have already been praying for our time tonight and for God to be present, real and powerful. I can't wait.

May God reign in us at and in it all!