Russ’ Blog

All,

Well we are back and extremely tired.  It was an amazing time in Colorado with everyone.  I think every had their expectations met and exceeded by this trip to the mountains.  Even though neither of the groups official made the summit of Mt. Harvard, most of us reached our summits.  I know that  I got as far as I could possibly go.  It was a great trip for Tonya and I to spend some time with God and each other without the boys.  Although Tonya and I desperately missed the boys, we know it was a good thing for us to encounter our heavenly father on this trip.  It gave us time to reflect on what God would have each one of us to do as parents.  And, with Tonya’s job beginning in just over a month and as I plan for the fall and winter quarter for the church, we had some time to spend with the perfect Creator.  One of the things I enjoy most about Colorado is the fact you have to make decisions.  Whether you are on the rock climbing, repelling, rafting, or backpacking..decisions have to be made.  Because on the river or the rock when a decision isn’t made it could be costly and quite possibly deadly.

The same is true of our lives with Christ.  I believe one of the greatest battles that we face in our lives is the devil’s trap of indecisiveness.   When Christians shy away from decisions for Christ, the evil one takes another battle.  A “No Decision” is really a decision.  The Word tells us to “Be strong and courages” and “To Fear Not”.  That’s what I learned in Colorado.  To be bold and courageous in my decisions for the Lord.  I can’t wait to see how God leads in this process.   Have a great day.

For Him and you,

Russ

I know I have not been the best blogger ever.  In fact, I would go as far as saying I am pretty backwards when it comes to technology.  But it just seems life just keeps going faster and faster.  VBS seems like it was a month ago, but really it was only 2 weeks….I am reminded when I look in the mirror and see my head..lol.  Then the flood hit and I spent some time working with the Red Cross helping out in Elnora.  Now, we are about a week away to head to Colorado for our Mountain top experience.   It just seems like its one thing after another, and I know that I can’t be the only one who feels like life is just a whirl wind.

As I am finishing up the devotions for our trip to Colorado, I am amazed at the amount of time that great men and women spent with God.  I know the pressures of marriage, parenting, and work in the ministry that can be applied to my personal walk with the Lord.  I think about Moses, Abraham, David, and even Jesus.  I think about the amount of responsibility and time it took to serve God.  But, there is one constant truth found in all these people, they always had time for their personal prayer, study, and worship of the Father.  So, I guess what I am learning is the more hectic life becomes the more time we need to be with our heavenly Father.  We have no other option other than complete abandonment of the blessing of God if we choose to forsake the most important aspect of our life.  See, I can never be the husband Tonya needs, or the father that Samuel and Eli need, or even the minister that New Hope needs until I become the man that follows God with his time in relationship with him.  So I am painfully learning that the more life is out of control and chaotic, the more I need to be with my Father.

One other blessing to pass along.  Tonya was hired at Griffith Elem.  as Kindergarten teacher.  We praise God for his faithfulness.  I am so happy for my wife and awful proud of all she has accomplished.  She looks to begin her ministry at Griffith this fall.  I love you T!

Have a blessed day,

Russ

I am so excited about the upcoming VBS to be held at Griffith school.  This will be a start of hopefully something just wonderful as we try and reach our community for Christ together.  With Antioch, Bethany, and First Christian on board we are just thrilled to experience the love of God in our community this way.  I hope you are as excited as I am.

Also June will begin our new season of Nightcrawlers at County Oaks.  On Monday June 2nd we will have our first night of golf.  5:45 PM will be devotions and 6:00 PM will be tee-off time.  With the extra daylight we might even get in more than 9 holes.  Cost is only $15 for green fees and a cart.  Remember $2 off that fee will go to help Connections, our local organization that helps people pay bills.  So, hope to see each one of you there.

Have a great day,

For Him and you,

Russ

Today has been one of my best days I have had in quite some time.  Today I got the privilege of spending a day with my son Samuel.  He had a follow up doctor’s appointment in Evansville today and then we went to lunch, visited someone in the hospital, and we are getting ready to help someone move.  I’ll be honest, when he and his brother are younger, it is hard for me to relate and get to know him.  But, today was an amazing day.  Sam will be 4 next month and he is to the age that he can do the bigger boy stuff and I think its great.  God has certainly blessed my life with my family, but today I just wanted to thank God for one of those days.

Make the most of your time here on this earth, because as James tells us it is just a vapor (James 4).  Today was one of those days I will never forget.  Have a great day.

For Him and you,

Russ

I just wanted to express my thanks and appreciation to our youth group and children’ ministry.  You all did a wonderful job leading us in an amazing day of worship and fellowship.  Thank you to our fellowship team, Bethany and Andrea, Dennis, youth leaders, youth and kids..you allowed me to worship with my wife and I am extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to be fed by the word and music.  Thank you, Thank you!  God really used each one of you and I just wanted to say thanks so much.

Well in less than 72 hours we will all be celebrating.  Either a State Championship and Easter or a runner-up and Easter.  But, even if we lose we still are going to celebrate the greatest victory that has ever happened, the resurrection of our Lord.  Don’t get me wrong, I am going to be decked out in my black and gold on Saturday, but I am looking forward to be covered in red (his blood) more on Sunday.  Easter is an amazing opportunity to celebrate victory!  I know I am looking forward to this weekend, because we can’t lose…think about it.

That being said what’s your family Easter traditions…easter egg hunts for the little ones, reading of the resurrection story, tell me what you guys do?  We are looking forward to go and see my family after church in Columbus, IN.  We are also planning on sharing a meal with family who probably won’t have a big Easter celebration.  So we have got plans to serve the Lord on that day as well.  Well have a great day….Go Hatchets!

For Him and you,

Russ

I hope everyone has had an opportunity to “Pay it Forward” this week.  I found it joyful with my opportunity to reach out.  I haven’t heard much from you folks about your experiences…maybe that’s a good thing that you are just keeping it between you and God.  As the month of March is unfolding, I am getting more and more excited.  This weekend I hope you bring your friends for our Friend Day.  We have a pretty cool gift that I think all your friends will enjoy.  If you would like one for yourself, plan on signing up and bringing $5 with the following week.  We won’t have all kinds of information about the church when we give your friends their gift….we just want them to know how much we appreciate them coming with you.  If they have questions about the church feel free to have them email us, or reach us by phone.

Neverland is going to be great this weekend.  I hope you are ready to have some fun and celebrate life together as a church family.  We are going to have a bunch of fun as Christians once again.  I don’t want to spoil it for everyone but for some “lucky people” we are going to have a blast.  Well, I am finishing up the sermon today….and hoping on doing some sledding this afternoon with the boys.  Have a great day and be careful out there.

For Him and you,

Russ

Friends,

This month of March is going to be awesome.  We have so many great and wonderful things planned that I think God will be really pleased with the work and effort we are putting into this month for him.     I know you don’t want to miss this weekend’s service as I promised before, it will be a first for the majority of you this Sunday.  I can’t wait.  It has been crazy getting everything ready to go for this upcoming month.

I am planning on going to the Hatchets game tonight as most of you all will be as well.  I love this time of year, it’s starting to warm up and is March Madness baby!  Well, I got to scram to go meet Don T. at his house.  He’s getting to come home today which is a huge blessing.  Have a good couple of days and I will see you Sunday.

For Him and you,

Russ

I hope you are planning on coming to Neverland Sunday night.  If you haven’t made that a priority, I am humbly asking you to give it prayerful consideration.  It has the potential to be one of the neatest things that we do here at the church.  Our Sunday evening services are just off to a wonderful start.  I know we have some small groups that meet on these evenings, but I would really like to see them along with all of our folks get excited about what is accomplishing on Sunday evenings here at New Hope.  I know Josh has a lot planned for this event and I can’t wait to see how it is going to unfold.

We just added another person to the Colorado trip, and now I have 3 more spots still available if you would like to go.  I have 3 plane tickets reserved at our unbelievable rate of $260 until April 30th.  Our team get together meeting will be taking place soon.  I know God is going to do some amazing things on this trip and I just can’t wait.

Well, life has been real busy for me lately and I look forward to slowing down just a little bit…although I have a wedding next weekend.  I hope you all are having a good day and week.

For Him and you,

Russ

As many of you know by now, or if you don’t read Josh’s blog…I am not a huge planner, detail guy, schedule freak.  But, I have been faithful to Tonya’s and my workout routines.  We are 3 weeks in and lets just say we are progressing a lot faster than either one of thought we could.  I am so proud of Tonya…she’s wonder woman.  Working, working out, raising 3 boys  (me included) she just is amazing.  But so far we have we have stayed committed to healthier eating and working out.  I have to be honest…me and Mr. Eliptical machine are not the best of friends.   But I can definitely see and feel the benefits.  So keep us in your prayers because we have exactly 2 more weeks before this new habit becomes apart of our life style.

As far as church is concerned.  We are getting closer to having the majority of our people healthy.  I am so grateful we have a church that truly cares for one another in difficult times.  I have been meeting weekly with the staff, outside of our weekly together staff meeting.  I know each one of them have exciting plans in their respective ministries.  The elders and I are working hard on some decisions that lay the course for where God is leading us next.  All of the focus group material is collected and our next meeting will be specifically addressing where do we go next and in the next 5 years.  Be in prayer as we look at all the ideas shared from the focus groups and discern which God is leading us to right now.  I am extremely excited about where we are getting ready to go as a church…I hope all of you are!

For Him and you,

Russ

Today is the first day that I have time to be in the office.  If you noticed…i’m a distant second to the blogger monger when it comes to these things…but I am way ahead of the rest of the bloggers…lol.  I am glad to be able to update you that Vera Price (Tim Wright’s mother) has come through her surgery and is recovering remarkable after her 4-way By-pass surgery.  Just amazing that they can do what they do at her age.  Also, Mark Rice is doing quite well and he his home.  By the end of the week after going to Spencer on Friday night ,I will have driven about 700 miles this week alone.  But I love it!  Seriously, people think I’m nuts…on more than one level…but that is my passion.  I want God to be able to use me to provide comfort, peace, and support through difficult times.  God is so good.

Colorado is coming along.  I think we have 15 commited and still have that many maybes.  If you would like more info about the trip you can go to noahsark.com and check out what all we will be doing there.  I can’t wait.  This will be my 4th trip to Colorado and I look forward to going about every 3 to 4 years.  It’s just amazing to get away and concentrate on my relationship with Christ and to be challenged that way physically.  Oh by the way, be in prayer for me as I am trying to drop about 35 to 40 lbs before the trip, that’s just extra weight I won’t have pack up that mountain.  Tonya and I stated working out at the YMCA…and the first week is going pretty good….sore but good.  Keep me in your prayers and try and not tempt with all your great food.

We are playing basketball at Camp tonight if you can make it.

Go Colts!

For Him and you,

Russ