03/05/07 UPDATE

I thought i would introduce you to the Cunningham's. If you've been reading this, you probably remember me mentioning them to you. Jeff is a meteorologist for the Air Force. Kelly stays busy keeping Jeff and Jocelyn in line. They have signed on to help us as we start Redeemer Church. They've already been a great source of encouragement to J'line and I and they are excited about all the stuff to come. Please remember to pray for them as you remember our work.

The big news from last week was The Blizzard of 2007. Thursday morning around 5 it started snowing and the wind was whipping. It snowed all morning and we ended up with about a foot of snow. Pretty much everyone was stuck inside.

I'm learning that snow is a big opportunity for me. I wait inside, sipping coffee and staying warm until I hear a snow blower fire up. Then, I put on all my stuff and go outside to shovel snow. There's an interesting phenomenon - everyone on the entire street comes out about the same time and it provides a great opportunity to get to know your neighbors. I've now made the acquaintance of everyone on the circle and found out a lot more about the rest of the street.

We all pitched in to help one guy get his two cars unstuck out of the street so the plows could theoretically clear our street. After that, we all went to clear our drives. I cleared two stips and was about to have a heart attack. Then one of the guys walked his snow blower over and finished it up for me. I then spent the next couple of hours talking to people on the street.

Apparently, we live in an atypical neighborhood. Most people who live in the 'burbs say that they have lived there 5, 6, 10 years, whatever, and barely know the names of their neighbors. We must have moved to party central, because I've met everyone and they are very friendly. We were welcomed warmly and that seems to just be part of the deal. Throughout the summer, they just pull a grill out in the street and everyone brings their own meat for a big cookout. On the fourth of July, one guy makes a run for fireworks and puts on a big display (which forces the ATF agent to leave for the evening so he doesn't have to arrest anyone:)) Anyway, it seems like a pretty cool spot. Pray for opportunities to continue to develop among the people in our community.

This week will be very busy for us. We have something going on almost every night. We're hoping to be able to meet with Kyle and Kim Moeller this weekend. They are very interested in helping us but still have several questions. We've been hoping to meet with them to hopefully make some progress. I'm really beginning to obsess about our need for people to be involved. As I was stressing about it yesterday I read Mt. 9:37-38 where Jesus tells us to pray for God to send workers into the harvest. Please make this your primary prayer focus for us.

Also, my parents are coming this weekend to spend a couple of weeks with us. Pray for them as they travel.

Thanks for the prayers!