Wild Goose Chase

I am currently reading the new book Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. (Many of you have read his first book, "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day.) I've received two copies of the book before the August 19th release in order for me to review it here on the blog. (So look for the review soon!)

I'm also looking to give one of the copies away to a reader of this blog, so comment here or on my Facebook page and let me know why you should get the other copy. I'll pick the winner and send them the book!

Here is more from the book to wet your appetite:

"Most of us have no idea where we’re going most of the time. Perfect."

“Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit–An Geadh-Glas, or ‘the Wild Goose.’ The name hints at mystery. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger, an air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious, I cannot think of a better description of what it’s like to follow the Spirit through life. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something….

Most of us will have no idea where we are going most of the time. And I know that is unsettling. But circumstantial uncertainty also goes by another name: Adventure.” --from the introduction.

You can check out more from Mark Batterson at his blog www.markbatterson.com.

Be sure and pick up your copy of the book here.

2nd Grade

My daughter is starting 2nd grade today. Wow. She's growing up so fast.

That's all. I'm just thinking about that today...

Joe Zickafoose

Crystal's campus pastor and our good friend Joe Zickafoose passed away late last night. He was aggressively treating bone marrow cancer found in his body earlier in the year.

Joe was an incredible man of God that lead various Chi-Alpha groups throughout the world. He was a great teacher and friend to my wife throughout the years. We were privileged to work under Joe for a year at Missouri State our first year of marriage.

My family will continue to lift up his wife Jayne and their boys during this difficult time.

But part of me is almost jealous...because Joe has entered his ultimate reward and is face to face with Jesus himself today. A new body, no more pain.

We love you and will miss you Joe. You made an incredible impact on so many lives.

Well done.

My friend Jerry

I have a new idol. Someone to look up to. And no, it's not Batman, Michael Jordan or anyone on the Dallas Cowboys. It's my friend Jerry.

Jerry is having surgery on Monday morning at 7:30 AM to remove part of his liver that is filled with tumors. Jerry is a walking miracle. About a year ago Jerry was told that cancer had spread to his liver and there wasn't much doctors could do. This is a man who is in his early 40's with two small boys. Not something you want to hear. But over the past year God has done amazing things in Jerry's life. He's connected him to the best surgeon in the world in New York. Special chemo-treatments have done what doctors here thought was impossible. And now he has enough good liver to go in and perform surgery. God has been faithful.

But the amazing thing is Jerry didn't let this poor report change his life. Over the past year and a half I've seen Jerry stay involved with people at church and stay involved in various ministries he volunteers for. He's even at prayer each Friday morning at 7 AM. I've also had the privilege to be in a small group with Jerry and his family. I am proud to say that Jerry is my friend.

Just last Wednesday we spent time praying for Jerry before he left for New York. And the amazing thing was that Jerry spent more time praying and believing for other people.

So tomorrow I am praying and believing that God will complete the miracle that He has started in Jerry's life. So if you can, say a prayer for my friend Jerry this week.

*UPDATE*
Jerry made it through the surgery fine today and the doctors were really encouraged and felt good about the procedure. Now it's several months of healing before the second round of surgery begins.

Uncle Marc

My sister Cheri was here this past weekend for a special baby shower they were giving her here at the church. This is the first time I've seen my little sister since the big news came that she and her husband were expecting.

And since she is an avid reader of my blog I told her I would have to put a picture of her on here.

Can't wait to see little George Wyatt this Thanksgiving.

Anniversary Night

So last weekend was my 11 year anniversary. Time sure does fly by. So I decided to surprise Crystal with a night out on Saturday night.

You have to understand, my wife doesn't do surprises too well. She's a planner and wants to plan out the schedule ahead of time. So when I wouldn't tell her where we were going or what we were doing she was...let's just say...nervous. I told her to dress up a little but not too much. And when she saw me wearing something nicer than shorts she started wondering what we were doing. In her words..."you never dress up like that when we go on a date."

So at 5 PM I got home (we were leaving at 5:30) and the first thing she tells me is that she hopes we're not eating because she's really full. That was a problem since we had a dinner reservation at a really nice place at 6 PM. So inside I'm thinking....OH NO!!!

But we made it out the door and to the restaurant at 6 PM. She was surprised because we've never eaten there with just the two of us. They knew it was our anniversary when we came so they congratulated us on 11 years. Dinner went really well...they even took a picture of us and put it in a nice card.

And I have to say thank you to some special people who helped us with the dinner that night. We were blessed with a gift card that covered our complete meal. We both had fillets! It was great.

Then I told her that this wasn't the end of the night. We had more planned. She looked at me with that worried look once again and I just smiled. I wasn't going to give up anything!

And if you follow my twitter you know where we ended up that night. Les Miserables was playing in town. Here's a picture of us in our seats:

We were sitting in Row L which gave us just incredible seats. If you've never seen the show Les Miserables you're really missing out! Crystal and I had both seen it before and both know the music quite well so we were really excited to see it again.
And I have to say that the show didn't disappoint. It was great.

So it was after 11:30 when we got home that night. A late night but really worth it. And did I mention the kids were staying the night with Grandma?

Can't wait for the next 11 years.

11 Years

11 years ago today everything changed.

I married my best friend, biggest supporter, perfect partner.

Thanks for making my life complete.

I love you Crystal.