THANKFUL & BLESSED

Okay, so we are officially entering that part of the year where the sentimentality and reminiscing begins for me. I find it very difficult for a day to go by during the fall and the Christmas season that I am not touched by the blessings that God has bestowed upon me or re-living a fond childhood memory.

Jaci and I have felt tired, stressed, overwhelmed and yet very thankful and very blessed by God. His provision for our family, his blessing on our church and ministry. The awesome gift of salvation.

I tend to see things more clearly through the lives of my kids. The joy and the deep love and trust that they have. The love that they are already showing for Jesus. The simple, yet profound childlike faith that I wish I had.

Each moment with our kids is priceless. Each moment with each other is priceless.

Reagan is so affectionate and really loves her family. It melts my heart every time she runs up to me excited to see me and leaps into my arms. Jackson's joy is contagious and it isn't long before everyone that he sees is giggling like a child themselves because of his tremendous joy. A gift that honestly I believe the Lord will use to great effect in his life.

Then there's Noah. It's hard to believe that my little boy is about to turn 8. I looked at some old pictures of him from when he was Jackson's age and it is amazing how similar they look. Yet, God continues to bless him with wisdom beyond his years. Talking about the election today, Noah asked me if Barack Obama is elected if all the people will have to "kill their babies" or only the people who want to. I had to explain to him that abortion is when some mommies and daddies don't want a baby and they choose to kill it.

He cut right to the heart of the matter and asked, "Dad, if they don't want their baby why can't they just give it to a family that does want a baby instead of killing it?" I was blown away by his wisdom.

God is good. During this time of year, it's fun to bask in that goodness and let Him know just how thankful and blessed we are and to share that blessing with others!

GOD PROVIDES & TRUSTING IN HIM TO DO IT AGAIN!

Jaci and I are coming off of 2 tough weeks of Kids Avenue. I have been sick for the last 2 weeks with a terrible cough and congestion that I can't seem to get rid of. The last 2 weekends in Kids Avenue have been, to say the least, trying.

Satan has been throwing every attack that he can at the ministry in an attempt to thwart our children's spiritual development. Last weekend, it was exhausting both spiritually and physically. It took a huge toll on me and I found myself just hanging on.

This weekend the attacks were also relentless. The sound system didn't work. The itunes set up on the computer wasn't working. The DVDs for many of the large group songs were missing. During our 9 AM service 4 kids had to leave early due to illness, during the 11 2 kids did. It was crazy.

Did I mention that we are teaching about Determination this month? As I taught the kids the story on determination focusing on the Apostle Paul, I began to feel the Holy Spirit sharing with me that this was what was being manifested in our ministry over the last 2 weeks. I could just give up and go home, or I could, like Paul, say "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run#cr1 with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:2 NIV

If only we could all have the determination of Paul. After every beating, imprisonment, and shipwreck, he continued to get up and push on again to that prize of preaching the gospel to the world! That kind of determination could literally change not just our community, but the world itself!

Why is it that we so often wonder how we will get through something when we serve a God larger than all of our problems? Sometimes it takes looking at the largeness of God reflected through the eyes of our children to remind us how big God is. After all, we are all "children" of the Father.

So, we just continue to pray that God will provide for all of our needs. Our current prayer as a family is for our van. We really need to maintain 2 vehicles due to all of our church obligations and picking Noah up from Bethel Prep in the afternoons when I can't. Our van's transmission has been on the brink of breaking down for over a year now. We just can't afford to get it replaced. It also doesn't have heat or defrost, which we were able to ignore during the spring and summer, but with winter around the bend we are going to need it replaced.

So, once again we sit here as a family with a financial need that is insurmountable in our own ability. Please pray along with us that God will provide a way to fix our van so that we can still maintain all of our current obligations in serving Him at Kids Avenue in GCCC! I, for one, can't wait to see God move!

PLEASE PRAY FOR LAUREN'S SCHOOL IN GUATEMALA

We just learned from Lauren that the School of Life and Hope (1 of 2 schools that we worked in during our July trip) might be getting new neighbors. Apparently the land next to the school is for sale and the school is planning on purchasing a part of that land. The rest, however, is going to be turned into a by the hour hotel that will be a den of prostitution and drug dealing. This would obviously not be a good thing to have right next to the school. In fact, the picture above would be overlooking the new set-up as it is right next to it.

Right now it appears that the only way that this can be avoided would be if God provided the school with the additional funding (which is quite substantial) to purchase more of the property. Please pray about funding and protection for this very important ministry in Guatemala!

EVERY DAY

Jaci and I had the priviledge of visiting North Point Community Church down in Alpharetta, GA over Labor Day weekend. North Point is pastored by Andy Stanley, son of the famous Charles Stanley. North Point is also where our church gets our children's curriculum from. We went down to check out the children's ministry there and were absolutely blown away by the support and just amazing facilities and program that they have there. It really inspired us to take Kids Avenue to the next level.

When we went into the church service, they sang a song called "Every Day" by Rascal Flatts. I've never really heard the song before. I like country music, but I don't really listen to the radio unless it's talk radio or Christian radio.

It's a hopeful little ditty probably not necessarily to be about God, but it fits so perfectly. The singer talks about someone who "everyday saves my life," how "sometimes I swear I don't know if I'm coming or going, but you always say something without even knowing, that I'm hanging on to your words with all of my might and it's alright, yeah, I'm alright for one more night..."

It's a beautiful song that works on so many levels. Obviously as a Christian it is the cry of my heart on many days. Just crying out to Jesus to save me. Realizing as I'm driving my car the depths to which He goes to save me. The understanding that the Bible tells us His mercies are new EVERY morning. He gives us just enough grace to carry on for one more day. That truth was recently powerfully conveyed by the daughter of Christian singer Steven Curtis Chapman. On dealing with the accidental death of her 5 year old sister, this young woman talked about how she knew this verse, but that she had never lived this verse. Her overwhelming grief and sorrow feels each day like it will crush her, yet Jesus gives her just enough, just enough to get through the day. Not enough, she noted to get through the next day, but enough to carry her to her pillow that night, and each morning she finds a new supply of mercy from her loving Savior. What a beautiful illustration of how desperately we need Christ! Every day. Every hour. Every minute. Every second. Now.

The song "Every Day" also speaks of other relationships in my life. My wife comes to mind first. So many days she offers the right words at the right time. Sometimes it's just her beautiful smile. Sometimes its that childlike twinkle she gets in her eyes when she's really excited about something. There are so many days when God uses her to save me from whatever I'm dealing with that day.

Another example is of course my kids. Reagan, our 3 year old, is so excited every day when I come home and always asks me if I had a good day. She came up to me today with her Cinderella shoes on and asked me to dance with her. Jackson provides such joy to me that my heart overflows. His giggles, and that big bright smile that sometimes means he's getting into mischief, but always warms my heart. Then there is my big boy Noah. He's grown so much, and his love for the Lord and for others, his surprisingly deep spiritual understanding of God's love and the spiritual battle between good and evil gives me hope everyday for the future. Every day I see glimpses of the future powerful man of God that he will be and I think I can't possible be worthy of being his father.

Finally, I also think of the people who work in the trenches with me at church. There is a bond in serving in ministry and doing the Lord's work that can't really be touched by the secular world. So many times the heart and devotion these folks show week to week and the words of inspiration that they say to me come at the right time. I'm sitting there doubting that I'm doing anything good, that I am useless, that I fail much more than I succeed, that I could leave and nobody would even notice, and someone makes a comment at my moment of need or demonstrates God's love through their actions at just the right time to save me from myself.

Everyday is a day to praise the Lord and thank Him for the blessings that he's given us and the fact that literally, he does save us every day!

P.S. I added the song I'm talking about to our player down below so enjoy!

HUGHES KIDS ENDORSE MCCAIN / PALIN TICKET!

I thought that I would share these cute pictures of our kids showing their support for the McCain/Palin ticket. It's very exciting as a father to have a woman like Palin on the ticket for Reagan to look up to!