Dayton, OH

Day ONE of my new journey.  I am leaving today for Dayton, OH to begin as the YP at CLC Dayton.

I am excited! 

God’s faithfulness is something that I try not to take for granted.  Too often I try to control my day and I get stressed about tomorrow but if I will just continue to know that God is faithful!

Check this verse out – God is faithful even when we are faithless.  II Tim. 2:13

This tells me that even when I can’t believe that something will happen God does and His faith in ME and in the circumstance is my strength.

How about you?  Facing something you’re not sure you can do…place your faith in God and let that fuel you across the finish line.

I’m heading to Dayton – I 71 here I come!

altar

In the Old Testament whenever Israel would experience God do something incredible they’d build an altar.  So yesterday the Warren5 hit the beach and built an altar.  Why?  To thank God for giving us three, experience filled years, in Conneaut, Ohio.

Sometimes it’s difficult to learn the lessons that God has for you.  We spend too much time in the details.  I remember praying God, help me ‘learn the lessons and forget the details.’ 

As we transition to Dayton, OH we value what we have learned and the friendships we have made. 

High School

Beth and I are going back to High School! I mean – we accepted a position at CLC Dayton to be their High School Pastor!

We begin on Sunday, October 28th.

CLC is a church of 2,500 – 3,000 people with a student ministry of 250-350 (Junior High & Senior High). We are excited about the opportunity to work with High Schoolers and make a dent in the community of Dayton, OH.

It will be quite a change from Conneaut but are kind of looking forward to the faster pace.

You can check out CLC at www.clcdayton.org and I’ll keep you updated on the Warren5 and our moving plans as we know.

Please continue to pray for our home to sell and the transition.

Job Interview

So I spent last Tuesday running the ‘guantlet’ at CLC Dayton. 

 What is the guantlet?  Well it is a term used by the staff at the church that describes the interview process.

I am interviewing for the High School Position.

9 (YES 9) interviews later I am wiped.  I actually enjoyed the process.  I was able to meet a lot of new people and ate at three really nice places.

I’ll let you know what happens next! 

A-

Every morning we pray a prayer over our kids that goes something like this: God help Brooklyn and Gabriel make right choices EVEN when it’s hard.

Well this week Brooklyn was faced with one of those. She had four tests this week and got 100% on all four! But as she was looking over them she discovered that she had got a question wrong but the teacher didn’t see it.

So we asked her what she thought she should do. The next day she pointed out the oversight to her teacher and instead of an A she got an A-.

I was so proud of her to choose to do the right thing even though it cost her.

There are a lot of opportunites to cut corners or just say “it’s your lucky day!” but I believe God will bless the most when you choose to do what’s right even when it’s hard.

Experience #9

9 years ago today Beth and I brought home a beautiful little baby girl, Brooklyn Jaye. 

Brooklyn turned 9 today.  She is such a gift to us and having her (and my two other gifts, Gabriel & Emma) are so amazing to Beth and I.

As we celebrate Brooklyn’s birthday I feel like it’s an achievement for my wife and I too.  Today we celebrate 9 years of parenting experience.

We are committed to being the best parents to our children as we can and that means trusting God and making each day an opportunity to grow as a parent.

I want to make sure that each day we look for ways to P.A.R.E.N.T. our kids.

Here’s what I mean…

Each day Beth and I look for ways to…

P.ray with our kids

R.eward positive behavior

A.sk them questions (that aren’t answered by saying yes or no)

E.ncourage them

N.otice their needs

T.ake time to play with them

Parenting is a everyday (minute) thing and I’m so blessed to have an amazing wife to partner with and three incredible children to raise.

Happy Birthday Brooklyn, I’m proud of you!

pricker…

As the kids and I are playing in the back yard having fun hitting the baseball I hear one of them yell “ouch!”

They stepped on a ‘pricker.’ What is a pricker? It is a thorny shell that houses acorns. See Picture

Our neighbors have about five acorn trees that divide our property and during the Fall these acorns fall to the ground (mostly on our property). It’s a little frustrating because our neigbors don’t trim their trees and these prickers hurt to step or fall on.

So my amazing wife decides to reverse our our thinking. She called a few garden stores and asked if they’d like to buy a few acorns for the Fall season. They said, YES. So the Warren5 collected 18 POUNDS of acorns and made $50 in about an hour!

The point: We could have complained about the situation or we could have looked at it as an look inside.

Too often we judge a person or a situation simply by what see at face value and if we’d take the time there could be an amazing friendship or blessing just waiting to be found.

The Warren5 is heading back out to backyard to pick some more prickers! How about you? Got any prickers?