Moving to Mississippi

Last Monday, I accepted a job offer in Mississippi and have been continually surprised with how fast things have moved along. They were blessed here at the school to find a replacement for my teacher position, and TODAY is my last day to teach here at Oliver Springs Elementary/Middle.

Earlier, a first grade student said to me, "You're kinda like my doggie... he ran away from home... and he got run over... and we buried him... you're kinda like him because you're not coming back."

We plan on moving Saturday morning, and I have plans to get the truck tomorrow afternoon. My last service at Covenant as a member was last night. We had a blessed time, and I spoke with the congregation there about how much I will miss them.

The house is full of boxes and completely undone, and the next few days will be interesting as we make our move. I pray that the Lord will continue to lead and bless us as we make this move.

Well, I'm back from my break. The week before my break from school, snow and ice came through which caused school to be closed for most of that week. So, I've had about 3 weeks off from work, and I do not feel like I'm all the way back into the flow of things yet. I'm not even back into the flow of things when it comes to being at home, but it's really nice to be at home.

We had a great time traveling and visiting with family and friends! Kara was able to attend the new year meeting in Memphis, and I rang in the new year with my parents in Middle TN. Kara rode with the Barbers to the meeting, and since Brother Jimmy was there in Memphis, I preached both the morning and afternoon message at church yesterday.

Among the highlights from the last weeks of traveling, I stepped inside of an Oscar Myer Weiner mobile that was parked outside of a Walmart in MS.

Kara recently reviewed a movie using "PluggedIn", and I was somehow unaware of this website. I have used a lot of movie screening websites before, but this one seems very user friendly and very well done. I would recommend checking it out.

http://www.pluggedin.com/

You can review movies, video games, tv shows, and more!

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Last week marked the 4th year that I have chaperoned Junior Beta Club students on their 2 day state conference at the Opryland Hotel. The hotel had been open for one week when we arrived - they had been closed due to the repairs needed from the Nashville flooding this past year - they had to spend over 170 million dollars to "refurbish" the hotel, and they also made some improvements. It was really nice, and I had a really good time.

That night while checking on the students in their rooms, my teacher friends and I had a lot of fun weirding the students out. For example, I would knock on the door, someone would answer, and I'd ask, "Why are you out of bed?" and I'd go on drawing a life lesson from a story about a wild bear when it came to using the peep hole. Too bad I didn't have any of those conversations recorded.

On Wednesday, Kara and I drove to Mississippi to spend the rest of the week and Thanksgiving with her family. We had a good visit and arrived back home Sunday night.

I joined a men's league basketball team again this year, and each year I have been on a different team. This year, I am playing for Ridgepoint Church, and all of the guys seem really friendly on the team. We had our first game this past Monday night, and I met everyone on the team. I'm not the tallest on the team this year, and there's about 3 other guys around my height.

I played the position of point guard most of the time which was different, but I hope to adjust and get better at that position.

At the beginning of the 2nd quarter, a guy from the other team hit into my face really hard ... I guess with his shoulder or elbow, but my lip got busted up really bad. It felt like someone punched me as hard as they could in my mouth, and I wondered at first if my teeth were still in... they were, thankfully, but my lip had many deep gashes and began bleeding badly.

I went to the restroom and was able to get my lip to stop bleeding. The lady working at the civic center told me that she thought I ought to go to a doctor and see about stitches, but I didn't think that I needed stitches and didn't go to see a doctor about it. They didn't have any ziplock bags for the ice - so, they put ice in this light blue medical glove, and they tied the rubber medical glove with a bunch of air trapped into it... so, it was very very awkward holding that thing to my lip. awkward... and funny.

My upper lip is very swollen and scabbed over right now. I'm trying to take care of it - hoping that it doesn't get infected. In the next few days, I'm hoping that the swelling will be down and that the skin will be back to normal.

I plan on buying a mouth guard to use from now on - I've notice many NBA and college basketball players wearing mouth guards, and now I know more about why they do.

This past weekend, Kara and I went to the Knoxville Zoo. Saturday was "free zoo day", and we had a lot of fun. We even got to pet a camel!

Since my last post, I have decided through prayer and conversations with others that I will continue preaching instead of taking time off. The difference is - I will be on a looser schedule and preach once a month, for now, instead of twice a month. I've also made some changes to my study schedule to where it is not as strict and tiring. I pray that the Lord will give me wisdom as I seek His will.

This past weekend, Jason, Bekah, and the girls were in Middle TN, and Kara and I were able to drive over and visit with them. We had a great time visiting, playing with the girls, and our ol' school buddy Steffon and his wife came over to visit Saturday evening. I already had plans to be in Middle TN to preach for the congregation at Cookeville on Sunday.

Yesterday, I preached a message from Luke 11 titled Teach Us to Pray. It seems like the Lord blessed the message, and I sure enjoyed the fellowship there at Cookeville.

I am planning on taking a couple of months off from preaching to seek whether or not the Lord is truly calling me for the work of the ministry. Back in January, I felt a burden to preach, but I haven't been feeling that burden in these past months which has caused some concern on my part. I do not want to assume that the Lord has called me to preach, and I do not want to bury the talent (gift) if it has been given. I would appreciate your prayers as I seek the Lord's will.

Last week, I met with a man who had recently been visiting with our congregation to study the topic of baptism. Kara and I enjoyed our visit with his family, and the study that he and I had seemed to be blessed by God as we hope to meet again soon to study more together.