Our First Day in New York

I'm writing this from our 3rd story apartment in the Big Apple! We arrived at 1pm and had a lovely taxi ride to our place which is at Union Theological Seminary. When we arrived we had no furniture, but now we have 3 beds, a desk, a table with 3 folding chairs and one light for the whole apartment. We found a grocery store, but I've noticed there is nothing like Wal-Mart here. Just little markets with higher prices and no everything-you-need place, which is exactly what I need. We need cleaning stuff, hangers, an iron, bath mat, groceries, pots and pans...the list goes on. But we go to orientation in the morning, so maybe we'll hear some good news about how to acquire these things with little to no money!

We ate dinner at Tom's Restaurant, which is famous to all you Seinfeld fans! I found out its also the inspiration for Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner". Very cool, little place. Then, we walked down to Morningside Park, very pretty,and then to the edge of Central Park. These parks are cool because they are green serenity surrounded by a big city! I can't wait for a free day to go see all the things I've always wanted to see!

I like walking everywhere, its really nice and convenient. Everyone we've met so far has been really nice. I really like this place! The noise and lights are totally different from Highfield, though! We have no blinds on any windows, so we shouldn't have any trouble getting up at 5:45, as scheduled! Speaking of which, I must go for now!!

We're Heading to NYC!!

We will be going to New York City on Wed July 1 for our Pre-Field Training with Mission to the World. During this month, we will learn how to adapt to a new culture, as well as study church planting. Our family will be attending Ascension Church, which is a Redeemer church plant, in Queens. We will be in the classroom about 20 hours/week and live in an apartment on the Upper Westside of Manhattan. All this will be a great experience and what i'm looking most forward to is our free time to enjoy the city as a family! I've always wanted to go to NYC and now I get to be there a month! My desire is to blog about our experiences, so check back!

Ink in Gainesville, GA

How To Be

We are going to a film festival this weekend (girl trip- Woo Hoo!)and I'm so excited! This looks like such a good, quirky British Indy film!


How To Be Trailer from How To Be on Vimeo.

Snowy Surprise!

Ellen DeGeneres ~ I Love Jesus But I Drink A Little (HQ)

This is hilarious! One of my favorite moments on TV and I laugh everytime I watch it! Enjoy!

i think my wife's a calvinist.mov

This is really funny!
"She has a tattoo that says I heart John Piper " LOL!

For the Non-Facebooking Crowd

Here are some pictures of Ansley's first ballet class. I posted them on FB, but I realized a lot of you can't look at those! Isn't she a beautiful ballerina?!

Harsh Reality

Burt sent us this interesting article in World Magazine about young people in the UK- ages 16-25 (the age group we will be primarily working with). Here's the paraphrased version, but you really should read the whole article here.

Generation vulnerable
10 CommentsWritten by Anthony BradleyJanuary 7, 11:21AM

Based on interviews with 16- to 25-year-olds conducted on behalf of The Prince’s Trust, younger generations in the United Kingdom are becoming “increasingly vulnerable.” Young people in the United Kingdom increasingly are describing life as meaningless and are struggling to understand why life matters. This type of confusion sets the stage for them to rely upon false systems—such as drug and alcohol abuse, gangs, and non-marital and risky sex behavior—to give life meaning.

Among the key finding from the survey that YouGuv conducted for The Prince’s Trust were:

12 percent of young people in Wales claim life is meaningless.
26 percent say they are often, or always, down or depressed.
39 percent say they are less happy now than they were as a child.
21 percent feel like crying often or always.
44 percent say they are regularly stressed.
Those not in work, training, or education are twice as likely to feel their life has little or no purpose.
Across the United Kingdom, young people feel relationships with family (56 percent) are key to overall happiness.
Friends (52 percent), emotional health (29 percent), money (16 percent), and work (14 percent) are also important.
According to the survey, 9 percent of Scots believe that life is not worth living at all. If you are a person who believes that life is not worth living it will likely lead to severe depression.

As Christianity in America continues to follow religious trends in the United Kingdom, the church should be even more committed to sending Christians with the good news into as many public spaces as possible so that we will not find ourselves reading about such a report concerning our young people. Because the sad reality for youth in the United Kingdom is that without the active work of the church fulfilling her mission there, youngsters in that region will continue to be lost.

British Television profiles the Auburn vs Alabama game

Please Pray for This Brother

This is a great story and this is just a clip of the whole story ran on Fox News tonight. So, check out the story and pray for him and pray for Muslims, that they may also believe in Christ!