July 2014 Newsletter

Amy and I on Jekyll Island
in July 2013 right after I
popped the question.
An incredible night! 

What a difference a year makes, especially engulfed by ongoing military youth ministry! A year ago I was out on Jekyll Island with 4 of my students spending time with the wonderful lady I had been courting over the past few months. We were there for the great fireworks show on the island and I had more in store – the big proposal. Amy and I became engaged that evening and looked ahead at a year of  of 1,060 miles apart until she moved to Southeast Georgia when finishing her school career in Kansas. Before her departure back to the MidWest, I arranged for our engagement photos to be taken the following day with a dear friend of ours – which they looked magnificent!

Now here we are and we have just finished our nuptials and honeymoon exactly one year from our engagement date. We married on the 4^th of July at Jekyll Island at sunset which was exactly each of our dreams before we met. It was perfect since we were casually dressed and barefoot. Waves were crashing on the shore in the background as we listened to our dear friend and pastor give the invocation to the wedding. Intimate and small was exactly what we hoped to accomplish with the small amount of people at the wedding to include my mother, her parents, my best man and her matron of honor and husband and finally our pastor from our church back in Kansas City.

Amy and I walking along the beach after our wedding ceremony.

A wonderfully captured moment of our wedding party
together for our rehearsal dinner. 

Amy and I as we arrived to our amazing cabin nestled in the Smoky
Mountains for our honeymoon.

Amy’s way of thinking blasts conventional norms, something God is changing in my own life via her heart. Rather than enjoy time in a place running around just doing, doing, doing, we chose the different option and nestled into an awesome cabin in the Smoky Mountains. It was perfect for us. It was far enough away from the busyness of the tourist cities most find, but within distance if we wanted to go check something out. Bringing more of a connected mentality to our trip included groceries and preparing meals together for a majority of our trip. When we wanted to check out interesting places and not worry about lunch, it allowed us to pack a lunch and eat on the go. Some of the things we enjoyed together were hiking  to Laurel Falls; seeing a mother bear and her three cubs; driving and  seeing Cades Cove;  some of the local fare in the town we stayed; fishing in our own private pond at the bottom of the hill where Amy caught a beautiful bass on our last night; watching movies in the evening together in our comfortable cabin, and rafting class-3 and 4 rapids on the Pigeon Forge River We daily did devotions together with our morning coffee. We saw some beautiful deer eating right as we walked by them. We also played 18 holes of putt-putt together. We lived our lives together.

Our youth desire the same thing when we spend time with them. They don’t need the ‘latest and greatest’ thing or freebie we’ll throw at them for coming to hang out. They just want time with people who care about them and want to get to know them. Summer Club has been perfect for us.  We planned two summer camps and our wedding in between them. It’s been a time where we invite our youth to come chill and hang out with us. They can play a game indoors with a leader, whether cards, Jenga or foosball, or they could join in on a rigorous game of ultimate Frisbee or football.

Ezra as he is geared up to throw in a ball for a high-energy
game of soccer.

Ezra is one of those students. He’s a recently graduated senior and has really desired to hang out more and more when our leaders do things outside of Club. He’s going to stay local and get his Associate’s Degree at the community college and that’s all God’s plans. God will keep him in our fray a bit longer potentially. He is a leader in his own regard but desires to be a kid at heart. He plays hard, but is dedicated even more to those he loves.

If the past year is indicative to our journey together, we’ve been battle tested for life with one another, that’s for sure. We’ve already weathered storms with my dad’s health issues while at summer camp and then his sudden passing away in January along with Amy’s unforeseen departure from her school program and realignment to God’s call on her heart.

Prayer Requests: 

                - For our marriage and God’s hand over it in the early stages.
                - For Ezra and 24 more high school students and 5 leaders going to summer camp at the end of                     July to North Carolina.
                - For our upcoming contract renewal, that God’s plan stays on course for us to stay in Georgia.