Numero Uno!

Okay so I’m finally doing it… here is my first real entry! Not that pictures of my girls aren't real entries. I’m sure that’s what most of you are more interested in anyways.

What a week! God has been doing some amazing things in me! How can I explain it... I guess He's lit my fire again to reach the lost youth of Fremont/Newark. I know I know it sounds really stupid. I'm the Youth Pastor here and I've been here for two years. It sounds like something I should have grasped two years ago. I guess it's not something I didn't know before but He has reminded me of it in a powerful way. Over the past month God has been building up the fire for me to reach these lost kids. He gave me a picture of todays youth in Acts 3. Read it and you'll understand a bit. Basically the crippled man was asking for the best thing he could think of to fix his problem... money. Peter and John recognized the fact that money wouldn't fix his problem... he wanted to walk! So instead of giving him money, they introduced him to the God that can heal. This is what todays youth are like. They're asking for what they think is going to fix their problem (Money, Sex, Power, Fun, ETC). God is saying that's not going to fix the problem... you need Me! You want to be healed and that only comes from God.

So this is what I'm processing through. I'm trying to figure out how this translates into action here in Newark. How do I not introduce people to church, but into relationship with a wild, loving, powerful God that wants to heal and fix their lives!

Pretty Exciting Stuff!

On a different note...
Kristi... and I (when I'm not working)
have taken on the challenge of a lifetime! HEAR ME OUT! I do not recomend this for anyone! But we (mainly Kristi) have begun potty training Emma and Baylee. Their lives now consist of regular stops to the potty... to absolutely no avail so far though. Basically right now it seems to be serving as a reminder that "as soon as I get off the potty and my diaper's back on I need to go pee." Maybe by the time they graduate High School they'll have it figured out! I think more realisticly we're looking at college but I'm thinking hey lets shoot for something ambitious. So there senior year it is!

Elli on the other hand seems to be content with running military manouvers with her sisters, still waiting on the day that she makes an attempt to take over the world (you have been warned!)

....i guess that is all for now. As our governer is fond of saying... I'll be back!
-Rich