Carl's blog

Busy Week to say the least!  Last Sunday/Monday in Lexington went amazingly!  On Monday night a man that I went to high school with over 30 years ago came to church for the first time for I don't know how long!  He joked about having to call someone to work for him so he could come.  When the guy asked why he needed him to work he told him he was going to church.  The guy couldn't believe it!  He brought his children with him and they truly blessed me.  He's one of the hardest working men I've ever known.  Please pray for Jimmy, Megan and Edward.  Really good folks!

I told you about 'the barn' outreach last week in Grand Rapids.  Well, here are some pictures of 'the barn'!

It didn't really matter what it looked like on the outside, what was taking place on the inside was important.  Here's a picture of some of the folks on the inside.

Got a nice email from one of the young men that attended.

  I was in Jackson, Michigan last Sunday and Monday.  Ministry was awesome, great responses.
  Sunday night we were in a different church and the focus was youth.  The pastor of this church blessed me so much.  Before the event we had the opportunity to sit down and encourage each other and pray.  He let me know that he had heard me speak a few years ago and was really encouraged.

I told you that I was in Tupelo last week. Well, on my way home, I got to visit some dear friends. The Monin family are the sweetest folks you’ll ever meet, and some of the most polite children I know! Allie is in the pink, then Abbie in the stripes, Chloe in yellow, and young Mr. Will—well, he's the lone boy with all those young ladies.  Great, great family!

The ‘snow curse’ continues! Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I had to shovel a LOT of snow, again. It did help in one way though because it allowed me the time to take my second exam for Systematic Theology on Tuesday. Wow! That was tough, I’d rather shovel snow.

Thursday I took off for Tupelo, MS. You’re right, that’s where Elvis was born. Uh huh! Fortunately the roads were clear so no problems on the drive.

I'm afraid that since I've been to Minnesota I picked up some sort of snow/cold "virus"!  I'm serious, let me lay out the "evidence".

Jan. 7-10 - In Minnesota, 20 below zero and snow.

Jan. 16-22 - Florida, some of the coldest weather in history.

Jan. 23-26 - Chicago, IL interstate shut down from snow, wrecked cars everywhere.

Jan. 29 - Feb. 1 - Norfolk, VA, snowed so hard it shut down the entire town and for the first time ever had all of the speaking canceled.

  The photos above and below are from last week in Chicago.  We lived in the Chicago area for over 8 years and have some good friends there.  It's nice to go back and visit every once in a while.  They have a professional photographer who attends the church and took these photo's.  You can see his work on his website at http://photos.jasoncrichton.com/.

  O.K.!  Finally got the chance to download some pictures.  I told you last time that while we were driving from Marco Island to Miami we made a pit stop and fished for a few hours with a friend.  I didn't give you the whole story because I didn't have the pictures to show what I'm talking about.  You may remember my fishing buddy in the middle with the blue shirt, Neal.  Just to catch up you can read about our last fishing adventure here.

  Sorry I don't have any pictures, the camera is in another room!  I've got to tell you that the ministry in Miami was AWESOME!    While there I spoke 9 times at 3 different places.  The highlight was speaking to over 800 middle and high school students for 4 days!  There were some great conversations as well during the day.  Zach, the young man who took a month off from college to volunteer where I work, went with me on this trip.  He brought a camera and taped a number of the young folks who were asking questions and making comments about the meetings.  He's compiling all of this and maki

  A friend sent this picture to me!  Too good to not share with you.  I'll put the text that went with the picture at the end of the blog, you've got to read it!!!!!!