I know that this isn’t a big deal to anyone else, but to me it is significant.  A long time ago in a land far away if I wanted to go to the store to get something - it would take me a good 15 minutes to get there.  That is no longer true!

Devin has been trying to get me to try this coconut creamer that she has been raving about since it was introduced by our friend Hollie.    So I just started a pot of coffee, jumped in the car, drove to the store, bought the creamer, and got back home before the coffee had finished brewing.  That my friends - makes me very happy!

As Todd mentioned the other day - we have been busy getting ready for some great things that will kick off in the next several weeks…

• Upcoming Week - A group is coming in to help us deliver 1/2 dozen cookies to 1,000 homes in our community.  They will also be doing a project to help out the City of Acworth, McCall Primary, and Acworth Elementary. 
• August 1 -   Free community event in Downtown Acworth. 
• August 10 - FreedomKidz - Live Worship kicks off for the 1st time (1st - 5th Grade).
• August 17 - FreedomGeneration - the Student Ministry kicks off with a chance to win $1,000, Nintendo Wii, and several other prizes!
• August 24 - FreedomGroups - kick off all over the community and surrounding areas.

It will be an eventful few months! 

Here is the most random of the pics from vacation this past week.  London loves for me to throw her as high as possible. I think I succeeded with this one. 

• Great Sunday this past week.  We had our Easter numbers on a holiday weekend - Love it.
• We had a man who lives in the woods come to church after being invited by partner extaordinaire Kurt Schneider.  Good stuff and yes I am serious. 
• Our people invite everyone they see.  Their example is challenging me to step it up in that area. 
• A large (strong large not the other type) man I have never met named Albert showed up and said he was there to help me get in the best shape of my life.  Kinda random - but he seems to be a cool guy. 
• Acworth has turned into the church planting capitol of the world.  Four have started since our arrival and three more are on the way. 
• It’s official.  FreedomChurch has won the softball championship in it’s first year in the league. 
• Expanded staging and new lighting beginning this Sunday.  Can’t wait. 
• This verse (Joshua 3:5) has been in my head for 2 months solid. 

The P90X journey officially started yesterday. Right when I thought the hour was over, Devin and I had to do something called Ab Ripper X.  That was one of the worst experiences of my life. It was insane!  I looked like an idiot trying to pull off some of the crazy exercises. 

The good news is that if this system is everything that it is supposed to be - then come October 5th (Day 90) - I will be a very happy man. 

I’ll try to keep you updated once a week or so on the progress that we are making.  You should definitely join in the fun!

Tags: P90X, Fitness, Exercise

Yesterday was an eventful day.  We drove home from Destin and made it back in just over 5 hours.  That was a small miracle considering that every policeman in the entire country was sitting on the side of the road hand-picking whose 4th of July they would enhance with the one page promotional piece they like to give out occasionally After that, it was off to Cauble Park in Acworth to celebrate Independence Day with over 15,000 of our closest friends.  I did the opening prayer for the thing, got to hang out a little with one of our Senators, spend some time with the crew from FreedomChurch, and meet some new people as well.  I guess I should mention that it was a historic year as well. For the first time in the past 6 years, neither Lexi or London were terrified of the fireworks.  Once Lexi stopped being weirded out by the whole ordeal - London came along and took her place.  Now that is over.  Not sure if that makes me happy or a little sad.

    

We will be leaving very early tomorrow morning to get back for the July 4th celebration at Cauble Park in Acworth.  It’s a huge event and a ton of fun. Can’t wait to get back and hang out.

Until then…we are off to the beach for one more day.

We’ve had a great time on vacation so far this week.  Here are a few random happenings…

 

 

•  ”Daddy, do they speak English in Alabama” - Lexi (6 year old)
• “Oh my crap!” - London (2 year old) after dropping her juice cup in the floor of the car
• We have eaten here, here, and here.
• Got some extremely sad news on Saturday.  Ill write a full post when I get back.
• Had some friends get engaged - but I’ll let it go public on his blog before I break the news on here.
• The people in the condo above ours - are loud!  Thank God they go to bed at 8:3o and have left already.
• Can’t beat SeaScape!
• We saw a girl get hit by a car.  She was okay.
• Devin said Lexi’s hair was “brittle” so she cracked a bunch of eggs and poured them in her hair.?.
• I will have finished two books since I got here.  Good stuff. 
• Some crazy exercise program starts on Saturday….It’s called P90X.
• I absolutely love the whole beach experience - even the sand.

For the next 5 weeks we are going to take part in a series that I have been looking forward to for the past couple months.  I can’t wait to kick this thing off!  We have been talking through how we can help people continue to take the next steps- and this is definitely going to be one of those things…

See you Sunday!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the fact that we would start a new segment on the blog called Here, There, and In-between.  It’s basically just a 50,000 foot level look at where we are at Freedom, where we are going, and what we will do in the meantime.  It’s not designed to be a list of all the things we are moving towards - just a few that would be worth sharing…

Here and there…

Right now, there are a lot of people who are FOR us and FOR what God is doing.  That’s a great thing to have - trust me - I remember the days with 5 people in my living room so having people cheering on the move of God in this city is a big deal.  The next step in the process is transitioning the mindset of people so that they are WITH us.  There’s a big difference. 

The guys who saw Peter walking on water were for him - but they weren’t with him. 
Israel’s soldiers were for David as he took on Goliath -but they weren’t with him. 

We have amazing partners that have been with us since the beginning; however, now that initial group (which we disbanded as of January 27th) represents a small percentage of our weekly attendance.  The same passion, sacrifice, generosity, and whatever-it-takes attitude that became the culture of those during the launch team phase - is just now becoming characteristic of the other couple hundred people who are now part of FreedomChurch. 

The in-between thoughts will come tomorrow…