Jim Tressel Signing Day

Zac and I were privileged to get some signatures and pictures with Ohio State coach Mr. Jim Tressel. Zac was pretty excited.

ACE Regional Competition

State Competition was held in Muncie, IN, and my wife and I were privileged to take four students with us to compete. It was a wonderful four days of being with other young people, meeting old friends, and enjoying some good nervous competition.

During preliminaries beach balls were an exciting part of the fun for the young people. (And me too!)

Joree singing "He Touched Me." He ended placing third.

Spencer getting ready for the 100 Meter Run.

Breanna and Brittany announcing their piano duet. They placed second!

Finishing up Chick Fil A in the Atrium.

Spencer competing in Checkers. He did not place in checkers, but did
receive a sixth place finish in essay writing. It was a long
week but the memories were worth it.

Trenton's 8th Birthday!!

Today Trenton celebrated his 8th birthday! He could hardly wait for it to get here, but his big day finally arrived. He got some new tennis shoes that he really wanted and a light sword that he picked out from Walmart. Then he wanted to go to A&W for his meal. Rather than a cake, he wanted a big cookie, so that is what he got.

Kid's Fest

Kid's Fest was just held at our little local mall.
It was a great time to let our community know
that we are here, Heritage Christian School.
It was a long day, but well worth it.

Marsha's 40th Birthday Party

Here are a few pictures from my wife's 4oth birthday party. It was a fun night and I was able to surprise her, thankfully. Close to fifty friends showed up at the church for this exciting night. She thought we were having a young couple's get-together and even helped plan it; little did she know it was for her party. All in all, it was a great night of celebration.

One Reason God Made Snow

Zac's Basketball

This is Zac's first year for Basketball which was his birthday present. Today was his first game and it was so exciting to go and watch my son play for the first time. He did a great job for his first game. The team they played, however, was extremely tall for 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Matter of fact, number 42 in the green, was taller than the coach himself. Needless to say, it did not go well for our team because we could get no rebounds and they could just stand and shoot. So he lost his first game but played well and I am proud of him. So go Zac and this will be the only time I will say, Go Buckeyes! (His team name.)

Damascus Road Trio First Concert

This past November when I was laid off from work, I was somewhat forced into looking for additional work. I placed resumes in various places and searched for a job. While doing so, I asked my wife if she minded if I checked Singing News to see if there were any openings for singing part time. There were several and so I began to check them out. One of the first groups that I called was Damascus Road Trio. They were needing another singer and I called Eric and we had a great conversation on the phone. This turned into a tryout and the rest is history. Today was my first mini-concert with them and it was a joy. God has now given me my two greatest desires in one year after both were taken away, working in a Christian School and singing part-time just enough to scratch the itch. Thank you Lord for your goodness and kindness to me, it is so undeserved. Here are the guys, Dan, the little Mexican, Eric, the beaming baldy, and myself, scruffy! We are not great but we enjoy singing and ministering, hopefully I can do both for them.

More Christmas Pictures from Kentucky

Stair Case Evesdropping on New Year's Morning!!

Let me begin by saying Happy New Year! It is great to be part of another year!

New Year's Eve was a wonderful evening of fun and excitement at our church, Heritage Bible Church. It started out with a carry-in meal that started around 7:00. After the meal, the children ran around with their balls and guns and had a great time. The young people gathered at one end of the gym and played basketball. And the young couples and adults sat at the tables and played games. This went on til about 11:00. At which time, we went over to the church and had a Watch Night service to bring in the new year. This concluded with the families assembling together and praying to thank God for His faithfulness in '08 and His blessings on '09.

When this service was completed shortly after 12:00, some of the older people went home while the younger ones went to the gym to continue with Volleyball, Basketball, and table games. It was around 3:30 that I had had enough and was ready to go home. Marsha said she would stay with the young people and I would take Trenton and Brooklynn home to bed.

Trenton did not want to go home! He wanted to stay and play with his friends and Zac. When he realized he had no choice in this decision, which he seldom does, the tears of frustration and exhaustion began to fall down his tired cheeks. I took him home and asked him if he wanted to sleep with me, this was a big NO. So I asked him where he wanted to sleep; he chose the playroom on the floor and a pile of blankets. I said fine, somewhat tucked him in, and walked out.
As I got downstairs, I could him hear him crying quite loudly about his dilemma so I thought I had better go back up and check on him. I went about three-fourths of the way up the stairs and decided to sit there out of view and listen for a moment before I went in. He was weeping through pure exhaustion and anger out of not being at the gym. Here is what I heard: "I want Zachy. I want my brother!" Then he would cry some more. "I want Mommy!" Now this was never very loud, but I could hear from my hiding place on the stairs. "I want Pop-pop!" I thought that was an interesting one. And this continued on through his tears.

Suddenly his tone changed and this concerned me a little. "I hate Zachy! I hate everybody!" Now I know he was angry over his predicament and I know he was very tired, but I still did not like to hear those words. I debated about going in and addressing this new statement, but decided to wait it out some more and hear what else he might have to say.

Finally, after some more statements about who he wanted and muttering to himself, it became quiet. I thought he was about to go to sleep and I was about to leave, when he began to talk again. This time I was quite surprised as to what he said through his tears, "Jesus, I want to go Heaven!" and then a second time, "Jesus, I want to go Heaven!" There I sat, hiding on the steps on New Year's Morning around 4:00, listening to my 7 year old son pray to Jesus that he wanted to go to Heaven. I am glad I did not walk in for it was worth every moment of sitting there. I almost cried myself. I am not sure where this suddenly came from, but was glad that I was still hiding on the steps. So for me, New Year's has already been wonderful and I am expecting a great year to continue!