Thoughts from a guy just trying to chase after God!

The minute I posted yesterday’s blog, I walked over to the sink in the hotel room to find out that my wife had poured my only pair of contacts I brought with me down the drain. Now let me clarify, I forgot to bring my contact container and I was using to hotel cups filled with solution for my contacts. I had mentioned to Erin the night before please don’t dump these out, but in my wives defense she has a lot going on and I understand she didn’t remember that. She was giving the girls a bath and needed two cups and she dumped out the two cups she found not thinking about what was in them.

So that was the start to yesterday, but it got much better. The girls traveled well so thanks for the prayers, but I still allowed that one instance to get the best of me. As we hit the road we had no major hurdles to overcome pretty smooth sailing. We stopped in Nashville and ate @ my favorite chicken place called McDougals. Go to mcdougalschicken.com and you will realize there are only 2 locations and they are in the Nashville area. It makes Zaxbys or anything else look like a little girl. You can ask anyone who has eaten there and they will tell you the same. Below is a picture of Ed and Brooks first taste of heaven.

After that we arrived @ the camp and yes it is out in the middle of nowhere, but let me tell you something, it has been awesome. Worship last night was crazy good. Kids singing their hearts out to God and just going for it.

How you can be praying? So Ed’s parents van began to over-heat last night and we took it to the shop this morning and it needs a new coolant motor, so that was an unexpected $200. You can pray for no more car issues and continued safe travel. You can also pray for continued health of everyone and that my voice remains strong. No problems there just good to have advanced prayer. Also just continue to pray for the students here from Gladeville Baptist Church that God just does a work on their hearts and the Holy Spirit continues to draw them to the heart of God and to intimacy with Christ.

Write back tomorrow…

So I thought I would take a few minutes everyday to update you from the road so you could know how to pray for me and the family as well as the guys on the road with me. So here is Day 1.

So this morning we are up and about to eat some good old Continental Breakfast provided by the Days Inn before we start our last 5-6 hour leg of the trip to Clarksville. We should get there around 2 or 3pm Central Time, which makes it 3 or 4pm Eastern or what I refer to as the time on which my body runs. Once there, we will unload and then setup for a sound check and rehearsal. I am really looking forward to this camp because it is the first one I have done in over a year. It will be great to help these students press into the presence of God and help them Worship the One who created them.

Today please pray for safe travels for myself, Erin, Kaylee and Abi and you can throw in unborn Zoe Joy as well. Pray that the Kaylee and Abi travel well and we have a peaceful last 5-6 hours in the van. Also pray for Ed, Brooks, Isaac and his wife Alex. Pray God would give them safe travel as well. You can pray that God will begin to shape and form all of our hearts as we prepare to lead these students in worship for the next week. Pray for salvation in the life of students who don’t know God. Pray that the Holy Spirit would lead, guide and direct me as I am sensitive to His leading in the times of worship. Pray that we would form relationships with the students and model Christ to them, not just be the “Worship Band” that performs. Above all else just pray for a supernatural move of God on that camp ground.

I will update tomorrow with more from the road.

Matt

Kaylee is at such an awesome age. She will be 4 years old next month and she is at that fun inquisitive age where she wants to be very creative and crafty. Her newest thing was Erin and her planted flowers in our backyard. They planted some sunflower seeds, because Kaylee loves the big yellow ones that look like sunshine as she calls them. They also planted some other flowers in little pots. Every morning one of the first things I hear as the blinds are opened to reveal the outside is Erin saying, “Look Kaylee the flowers have gotten bigger”, which is followed by laughter and excitement as she runs to the door to see. 

What I learned is that Kaylee has an expectant excitement every morning that those flowers are going to grow. She believes they are going to do exactly what God created them to do. She doesn’t doubt it, she believes they are going to grow because that is what they were designed to do. 

So that seems simple to some and it should because it is simple. It is simple child like faith. When Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Mark 10:15) He reminded us that we are to have that child like faith. The problem is instead of having a faith like that, I choose complicated, hard, structured faith, were if I don’t spend time with God I use it as a license to struggle the rest of the day since I have already screwed up. God reminded me today as I was thinking about Kaylee and those flowers that every morning I need to arise with an expectation that I am going to grow that day. I am going to grow more in my love for God, grow more as a husband, father, minister, friend, and lover of God’s word and His people. If I could arise with that expectation then getting into God’s word becomes easy, spending intimate time with Him in prayer and worship is just natural. Serving people is just what you do as an outflow of who God is and what He is doing in your life. 

So I thank my wife and daughter for planting flowers, they did it because they love to look at them, God used it to remind me that I am planted in Him and because of that I am expected to grow and be the beautiful reflection of Him I was created to be. John 15 teaches this brilliantly about Jesus being the vine and we are the branches. We have to stay connected to the vine or we wither and die. I want to stay connected to my true life source! Hope that encourages someone today as much as it wrecked me and helped remind me who I am and whose I am.

So everyone who reads this knows that I do a horrible job blogging. One because I don’t feel the need to let everyone know everything that is going on in my life, as if I were that important. When I do write it is usually something God is teaching me or it is something that is on my heart that I feel might encourage others. Today however is just a chance to stop by and say hello and let you know a little bit of the cool stuff going on in my life.

1. Family is doing awesome. Erin is in her 2nd trimester with the baby so she is feeling a whole lot better and the baby is healthy and growing. Dr. appointment tomorrow to hear the heartbeat. She is 15 weeks. Kaylee is getting big and she is gorgeous. Abi is really growing up and she is our sweet little beauty. For pictures you can check either mine or Erin’s facebook, if we are friends, if not send a request.

2. Church is going amazing. Life Community Church in Wilmington, NC is where we are in case you did not know. I am the Worship Pastor as well as I oversee all of our family ministries. I LOVE IT!!! We are really becoming a worshipping church. It is an honor to lead them every week. We are about 7-8 weeks away from moving into Independence Mall. That is right our church will be in the mall. Taking church to the people!! It is going to be stinking AMAZING!!

3. My step-dad Jim comes home from Iraq for good tomorrow. Girls will be glad to have Paw-Paw home. He has been working for Halyburton driving fuel tankers for the last 4 years and only comes home for short breaks.

4. Music is good, I have 2 camps this summer. One in Clarksville, TN, which will be awesome to go back and see friends and our old church there. I am also leading worship July 5th at our old church Grace Community Church in Clarksville. The best thing though will being able to go down to Nashville and eat at McDougal’s chicken, think Zaxby’s but 10 times better. Ask any of the guys who play with me that have eaten there and they will tell you the same thing.  2nd camp is in Anderson, SC and should be really cool. I will also be heading back to Gastonia in August to see our friends @ Focus Youth Ministry. Other than that mainly pouring into our community here @ Life CC.

5. My walk with God is just booming. Growing in what it looks like to be a better servant of God and how can I have crazy love for all around me. Starting with a crazy love for God, then my wife and children and then the community around me. I love my wife and probably don’t tell her enough or show her enough. I am crazy about her and our girls and our soon to be son or daughter? Fingers crossed for a boy but if not that is fine with us another girl will just mean I need to buy a boy dog to get some more testosterone  in the house. 

So that is a brief update on us. I will try to start checking back in more on here. Until then…..