Friends

This past weekend was great. I went to the Gospel Man Conference. Since last year I knew that if we were still here when the next one rolled around, I would go back. The power of the gospel in the lives of messed up men is on display. The honesty with which they share their failings and the boldness with which they claim Christ as their only hope is just not seen very often. One of the speakers asked, "Why when we need grace the most, does the church pull back?" The clear call of the G-Man conference is to authentic Christian living. The speakers model it so well.

This year, the most cherished time was spent at dinner Friday night and then in small group disscusion on Saturday. It was because I was there with my brothers from St. Andrews. Another man in the group talked very emotionally about how special the friendships were in the room. I silently agreed with him. Though I thought about how much I missed being around them on a regular basis, I was very glad to see and to be reminded of the strength of that fellowship. I was reminded that I didn't have any close friendships with men where I now live. The speakers kept emphasizing the need for men to gather for accountability and encouragement in their walks with Christ. Somewhere along the way - I don't know if it was at the conference or on the long drive home that I prayed for such fellowship in my life. I couldn't believe that the next morning before church in Glennville, Paul's T-ball coach invited me to join a small group of men who gather on Wednesday mornings for devotion and fellowship. I hope my eagerness to accept didn't scare him! It was a reminder to me that God is faithful and that He is good!

New support!

This will be short: We are super excited to have just picked up a new church partner in Columbus! We are also very excited for Travis Cobb who has been accepted for The Well, a mentored 8 week internship in Bulgaria this summer. Pray that his support will come quickly and support him if you can. See - short.

Whew! Take a breath...Take a breath…Now go!

The last three weeks were a blur.  I guess the pace really picked up beginning with a weekend visit from a friend.   Monday morning it was off to see my sis for a few days on the way to the Chestnut Mountain Missions Conference on Wednesday.  Driving through the night late on Saturday we had a day to recover before Joshua’s friend Jackson came for the week.  We met his folks half way.  Spoke at a church in Glennville Wednesday night.  After speaking I packed my overnight bag and headed for Columbus, arriving sometime after midnight.  I had an appointment with the Doc the next morning.  The news wasn’t so good, but no time for that.  I headed to St. Andrews.  I had some work to do and some support-raising packets to drop off.  The day before I called a local church and told them I would be dropping off a packet while in town, but I hadn’t put the packet together before arriving in town.  Chris Jennings helped me to get my work done.  Much appreciation to Chris.  Though the stop was brief, I loved seeing familiar faces of my church family.  Then it was off to drop the packet (resulting in the scheduling of a face to face meeting).  Before heading back home, I dropped in on my mom and dad for a few hours.  I couldn’t stay long, though.  I had to get back so we could head out again on Saturday.  Susan’s parents set up a trip to Orlando and a Braves Spring Training game.  The best way to enjoy a game I might add.  Ask me about the game.  It was awesome.  The game went into extra innings and the kids stuck around to run bases afterwards.  We got back to the apartment around 4:30 to switch vans.  We were back on the road by 5 and drove straight to Flowery Branch stopping only for food and gas.  The Bishops, who hosted us  for the missions conference a few weeks before, graciously offered to put us up for the next two nights and watch our kids during our Bulgaria team meeting.  It was during those few days in Flowery Branch that we met our new team leader and another family for the first time.  We also got to reconnect with David Pervis, the Elliotts, and the Taylors.  The meeting was challenging and weighty, but we were glad for the time and saw great value for us personally and for the work in Bulgaria moving forward.  The Bishops offered to let us stay over for another night, but we needed a day to prepare for a visit from our good friends the Painters.  They came Friday.  As usual, we had a great time with them and we hated to see them go, but at least this time we knew we would see them again soon.  We kept Bryson with us for the week and took him home on Friday with a stop at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins.  It was a Johnston School of Excellence field trip and we were glad to have an exchange student with us for this learning experience.  When we got to town, Leslie and Richard cooked for us.  About the time we got ready to head over to my mom’s house, the tornado siren sounded.  The weather passed and we darted out to my mom’s house.  That was last night.  I sat today reading my Bible, watching TV, playing with the kids, and napping in the Lazyboy.  Tomorrow is Easter.  Right now the kids are painting eggs with my mom and their cousins.  Susan is relaxing on the couch watching some chick flick and I am glad to have finally updated the blog.

Please pray for a time of physical and spiritual rest for our family.  We ask you to be deliberate in praying for our Bulgaria team as we go through a change of leadership and we work through some important team issues.  Remember especially our new team leader, Dal Stanton and his family.  Dal has challenging work ahead of him as he helps us all to come together and sharpen our focus as a team.  Please pray that we would continue to pick up support and move quickly to the field.

Grace and peace,

Greg