Four Baptisms!

Life is great isn't it? Sometimes things are really challenging, but once you make it through the difficult times, the victories can be so sweet.

Yesterday was an amazing day at the Gainesville Christian Church. We had our annual "I thank God for you" service. It was a great service from beginning to end. After the sermon we were able to see four people get baptized! Kay and I were able to participate by baptizing our good friends Tony and Caroline Sofarelli. We actually met Tony and Caroline back in about February through Nick Molino. We got to know them through the spring semester and studied the Bible with them a few times. Then, they left for the summer. When they returned for the Fall semester, they shared that they really wanted to have us over for dinner. It took a while but we finally found time on September 8th. They cooked us Halibut from Alaska and it was great. As the evening ended, Kay began to feel some pains that ended up being the beginnings of labor. So, Tony and Caroline have a special place in our lives as the last dinner before Maya arrived.
God really changed their hearts as they studied His word. They have truly become great discples who desire to help many others come to know God.

Also Maya has continued to grow. She is getting happier every day. And we continue to take pictures of her. She was able to meet her great Aunt Kay and great Aunt Judy (my mom's sisters) for the first time yesterday also. Of course they loved her!

God is really great in the way he blesses us and takes care of us. Its hard to imagine all that he wants to do through us and with us. We look forward to the finale of 2006 and a very exciting 2007!

October 06

October 2006, what a month! I thought that September was crazy, but October has only been more crazy. But maybe that's just an "in the moment" perspective. But, now that its over, October was a great month.

First, things with Uruguay got firmed up. There were some moments of reconsideration. There were some suggestions that made us think about Brazil, but after many talks and much prayer, we're still going to Uruguay. We never questioned our decision to go to South America, but it was just a question of where the best place to go would be. Now that those things are sorted out, we are fired up at the opportunity to go to Montevideo and help the church there. I'm looking forwar to January because I'll probably be able to travel down to MV, scout out the city and meet the disciples there. Now, we're just working on raising the money and recruiting some people to go with us. I know that God is going to provide all that we need.

Maya has continued to grow. As of the 31st, she was almos 10 lbs. Its amazing to watch her grow each week. Recently her eyebrows and eyelashes have gotten a lot longer. We created a google slideshow of Maya pictures. You can see it by clicking here.

Kay is doing great as a mother. I'm so greatful to have an incredibly dedicated and hardworking wife to parent Maya. I'm amazed a how much work it is to take care of Maya and I am grateful to be able to share the responsibilty with Kay.

Also in October, I celebrated my 26th birthday. Kay surprised me and took me to SilverSprings in Ocala for my birthday. We had a great time seeing giraffes, bears, panthers, alligators and other amazing animals. God has blessed me in incredible ways that I'll never be worthy of.

Finally, we had a retreat with the Campus ministry. At the retreat a good friend of mine, Mitchell got baptized in the ocean. A week later another good friend, Handley got baptized. Both of these guys have been studying the Bible for a while and have really grown in amazing ways. I'm proud of both of them for taking the step of faith to get baptized. You can see Handley at the center of the picture.

Hopefully November will be a little slower of a month. But who knows? We certainly have life to the FULL!!