It has been over a year since Mary and I took over the Children’s Ministry at The Living Glory Church.

We started the ministry before we were married. It wasn’t a problem because when we first knew that the Father was putting us together, it was a done deal in both of our hearts.

We have had our ups and downs, and more than our share of attacks, but I am happy with where we are.

As I look back on the things that we have had to face as Children’s Ministers, I am glad that we stood strong. We have had people try to make us feel that we were not good enough to be “ministers”, but when God calls, He makes you “good enough”. We have had people try to tell us where to sew the seed into our ministry, but we refused to be people pleasers and planted only where the Lord told us to plant. We have had people try to make us believe that Children’s Church was not as good as the “Main” Service and therefore second to the “Adult” Service, but let me tell you that “where two or more are gathered in His Name…” He is there and where God is, it is the Main Service.

We have had volunteers that have been faithful, and have been blessed with that certain thing necessary to attract kids. All that we do is not for the comfort of adults, but it is for the salvation and instruction of the kids in our care.

As I look back on the things that we have had to face as a newly married couple, I am glad that we were able to remember that it was our Lord that put us together, and that He put us together for a specific purpose. We have had so many try to come between us and tear us apart (I have recently had a man tell me that he has business with Mary and I needed to butt out), but we have refocused and have promised each other that we will stay focused on that which we were put together to do.

We cannot allow anyone or anything to come between us. Whether it be money, family, jobs, time or ministry, we have to stay focused on our Lord and that He was the one who put us together. Those that say they love us will respect that, and never ever try to tear us apart for their own selfishness. Those that can’t accept it will be cut off.

I am her husband and she is my wife, I belong to her and she belongs to me. All of this falls under the Grace of Father God as we both belong to Him. We belong to God both as individuals and as a couple. In the instance of the man that told me to butt out, he is gone (we don’t need anything from him because Father God meets our needs).

Even our kids have had to understand that yes they are our kids, but times have changed and they have to adjust to it. My kids have been told that if they love me, they will love my wife and respect her. Mary’s kids have to realize that their mom is now my concern, and if they love her they will respect that she is a grown woman who deserves to be happy.

After all this is said, Yes, we do walk in love towards others (we wrestle not against flesh and blood), but when you choose to be used by evil to tear us apart you will suffer that price (that which God has joined together, let no man tear apart). We are sorry that you open the door to be hurt by Satan, but we can’t be distracted by your issues…

It may sound cold, but it is a simple principal. We can’t change you, only you can change you. It is fruitless for us to try to change you, so we will move on. Nothing personal, but Mary and I need to stay focused on what we are called to do. We cannot be people pleasers and peace keepers.

Are we perfect? Nope not of our own, but God’s grace has placed us here.

Because we have done this, we have been blessed. I am watching my baby enter the GZ Kids names into our new Church Membership Software. The software was free for churches up to 100 members, but God has blessed us with over 160 kids on our member role so we had to upgrade it.

We have about 25 kids a week average, but we consider about 60 as regular attenders. We have had only 8 services last year where we did not have a guest visiting our service.

Since we took over the department, we have had about 4 families start coming to church because their child was first invited. All this tells me that we are blessed!

Thank you Father God for the plan, thank you Jesus for the purpose, and thank you Holy Spirit for the power.

I am sitting here with Molly and she is fussing that even though she got a 97% on her spelling, because the class average was 82% she has to write her spelling words 4 times.

My mom tells her that she needs to be happy that she can help those who would have had to write their word 8 times. Now Molly can help them study by writing half their words.

Molly’s response is “it’s not fair”

To which I reply “no it’s not, it’s welfare”

If a 10 year old can get it, why can’t our nation’s leaders?

I find it hard to believe that an Abscess on Misty’s leg could be the cause on all this. There seems to more than one, but one popped and about a quarter cup of puss leaked out of it. One was twice the size of a walnut, and others are marble sized. She is on antibiotics for that.

It seems that this started a while back, and her body became weak dealing with it (because she doesn’t feel down there, she had no idea that she should be in some kind of horrible pain). As her body was weakened from that, she started to have trouble breathing, and the flu hit her. When the flu was being dealt with the doctors thought that she had pneumonia, but it was really that her kidney shut down.

Now Misty is being treated like someone with kidney disease, and will have to change her diet to deal with a weakened kidney. They were able to find blood work that was done way back when she burned her leg and infection had gotten in her bone and noticed that her kidney was at 30% in Feb 2008, but now it dropped to half that.

She is having a doctor come in today to see about having the Abscess (plural) lanced out, because the antibiotics that they would normally give, will hurt her kidney.

We have no idea when she will be able to come home, and that is frustrating for all of us. She has been in a Hospital just under 10 days, and is now at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans.

She is doing good, but she got really ticked (so bad that she didn’t want to talk to me on the phone) yesterday about all this, and just wants to come home.

I know that the devil is a liar, and he has no power to trap, hurt or kill my daughter. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for every hurt that we have whether spiritual, mental or physical. When we call out to Him, His answer is yes because not one drop of His blood will be wasted.

It seems that we have been the devil’s focus these last couple weeks even to the point that people have lied about us and attacked us. I refuse to let all this junk stop me from trusting in the one true God, and I refuse to allow these events to make me call the truths of my Father God a lie. Jesus invested way too much in me, for me to blame Him for what the devil is doing.

We all appreciate your prayers and concerns for Misty, and I will keep you all posted.

Ok, if this don’t beat all… I seem to be able to blog from my phone.

I have had a busy weekend, and apparently I managed to seem to get nowhere in some areas of my life. I was able to go see Brandon Decker being born (well I didn’t actually see it, but I heard Liz down the hallway), and I got to go eat dinner with Mallory for her birthday.

Mallory makes me proud, and so do Liz and Shawn.

I guess I am left to wonder as I have all these changes going on, why can’t people embrace the great new things that the Father in Heaven brings to them. Why do people feel the need to take the sweetness of life and mix it with the bitterness of things long passed?

Yes the devil is a lying thief, but God said that He will repay us what the devil stole. No you might not get re-payed exactly what was lost, but what you will get is way better. The only thing that makes it seem like less, is when we don’t put any value on what is given us. That is when we loose the blessings of God.

I do not want to do that! I don’t want to be guilty of putting a low value on what God has for me. I don’t want to take lemonade and make lemons out of it…

It is said that you will reap what you sew, and I agree whole heartedly.

What a person needs to do is seek the Holy Spirit to know what seeds you should plant. No person should be allowed to tell you how, when and where to plant seeds. The Devil should not be allowed to cause you to stumble through a harvest that God never desired for you to have.

The Father said that He would give you the desires of your heart, and way too many people mistakenly think that God is the Candy Man and will give you whatever want. What it does mean, is that God will make your desires match His desires, and because He knows what is best for you, you will be able to have things that you never could have imagined having on your own.

Mary and I were asked back in October 2008, to become the Children’s Ministers at our church. This happened way before we were married, but we knew that the Father was setting us up in ministry. We were not even surprised, because the Lord had already been giving us a vision and direction for where the children’s department needed to go.

I remember asking our pastor… “There are going to be some things that we will want to do that might not make any sense to you, and what I want to know is will you trust us?… When I take this on, I will want to take it all the way in excellence.”

I knew that if we were going to do this, we didn’t want to have to struggle to have the support of our pastor.  I am happy to announce that we have been supported by our pastors.

It is a shame when a church does things to cause their children to be second class citizens. They should be shown that they are important and cared for. Children’s church needs to reflect the excellence of the “adult service” in every way, and the adults should make available every resource to their kids. Resources should include time as well as money, and everything in between.

Our pastors have allowed us to claim a room as our own, even though it is used by adults at times. Adults don’t need to have their own sign up, but the kids appreciate it being there “just for them”. They have given us a top notch lighting, projection and sound system that reflects the quality that the adults have. I am happy with the budget that we have, and we have nothing lacking.

What Mary and I have come to realize is that we need to have thick skins while doing this. Over the last few days we have come across people in the church, who have never once stepped in to help us, but have felt the need to tell us how to do things. We have even had someone tell us how we needed “to plant seeds into our ministry”.

If there is one thing I know, is that when the Holy Spirit puts something on your heart that needs to be done, you do it. You never try to push, manipulate or judge someone into doing what you are called to do. All the while we were seeing what needed to be done in the children’s department, we never went up to the people who were currently dong it and make them do it “our way”. We sat on the vision until the door opened, and the Lord said “Enter In!”

We have to stand our ground and take the direction that we are told to go, and it is the Holy Spirit that tells us to go there. That is simple… right?

Another thing that we have been dealing with is those that do not take what we do seriously. Yes, have fun with it, but do not make a mockery of it. We make rules so that there is order in our service, not because we hate your child. We care enough about every one of our kids that we make sure they have a safe and fun experience. There is nothing worse about being a children’s minister than a parent who thinks “their little angel” is better than all “those other misbehaved kids in that room”.

I mean, come on now… we have ushers in a church to keep the adults from throwing selfish tantrums in their service… Why do you expect that our children don’t need to be ushered out on occasion? It is called “…descent and in order…”

What I love about the kids, is that they haven’t learned to hold on to petty grudges like the adults do.

Back to seeds…

Mary and I have been planting a lot of seeds into the ministry that God has given us. From hours of building and decorating the sanctuary, months of lesson planning, writing books, and even the newest… a Plinko Board

We cannot allow petty distractions to get us off course.

No, it might not make sense to you, nor seem as important to you as a clean floor, but it isn’t for you. You might not think it is important, but the kids sure do.

Yes we walk in love, above all we walk in love. We want the kids to grow up knowing Jesus, and we love them. We will do this until the Father moves us…

Thank you Father God for the ministry that you have set us up in. Thank you for paving the way, and blessing us. Help us to stay the course and walk the walk of love. Thank you for favor and help that works with the vision.

After much travail, I have finally delivered my new baby!!!

Well, in fair respects to those ladies out there who have actually given birth, this is nowhere near that.

I have worked on this book for a season, and edited it for another. I spent many hours on concept and design. Many thanks go out to Ryan Simmons for his cartoon resources at Cartoon Solutions.

It felt good to be able to send it off to the printers, but after all that, it feels even better to hold my baby in my arms.

My 3rd book is finally in!!!

In GZ Kids (my Children’s Church Group), we have been learning about the Gifts of The Spirit.

Like most thing about Faith, we adults tend to over complicate that which God has made simple. I found myself trudging through the lessons, and fighting Satan’s distractions. As I ended the quarter, it became apparent that I needed to get something into the hands of the kids that would boil down man’s fluff, and leave the simplistic truth of the gifts that the Father in Heaven bestows upon us.

What the Holy Spirit directed me to do was write a teaching book on the subject, and deliver it in a comic book format.

The Lord opened every door, and finally the tangible copies are here!!!

Thank You Jesus, for another vision fulfilled in my life…

Not since I used to create and build stuff in that online game, have I been so busy doing a really fun project. I am really enjoying the kids in Children’s Church, and I have been promising them that I would make them a comic book that teaches them about the Gifts of the Spirit.

For the last month (or two), I have been putting the finishing touches on the book, and while it is very time comsuming it is very fun. I would like to apologize to all my friends on MySpace and Facebook (I make more time to be on Facebook I must admit, because MySpace causes me too much trouble), because I am rarely able to be the usual pest that I normally am.

The book is almost done, and I am getting jazzed about seeing the whole thing come together.

Actually, you would call this a “Graphic Novel” by the way it is laid out, and in reality this is more of a teaching played out as a story. Bumper goes on a journey to discover what the gifts are, and he meets a couple people who tell him all about them.

Simple enough? Well after printing formats, proof reading, bar-codes and ISBN numbers it is still fun… lol

Ok, I am done with my break and I need to get back to work…

I have been in a situation that has me questioning myself, and why I am where I am. I have been questioning alot in the last couple days.

Before I married Mary, I was in two relationships that hurt me to the point that I still make decisions based on what happened then. I don’t want to prejudge anyone, but I will admit that there are times when Mary does something out of character for her, and it makes me sick to my stomach.

My kids mother, really didn’t place any value on my ability to take care of her. She had a bad habit of blaming me and my genetics on certain medical issues (I know that they weren’t intentional, but it hurt anyway). From the time we were first engaged, I had to “get a real job” before I could marry her, because working for myself wasn’t reliable enough. She would rely on every source but her husband.

This was reinforced by other people as well, and the snowball effect of that led me to just quit… What made me realize that I had the ability to make a living, was as I was in “quit” mode playing a game called Second Life. My drive to have my own business really came out and I made good money (to the tune of over $1500 a month). At the same time I was working for other people and had a business outside of that game that paid me fairly well.

I will admit that I like working for myself, because me getting to be home with my family meant more to me. The sad thing is when you make enough to stay home, but it isn’t enough to keep your wife happy. All it leads to is her not wanting to stay home, because she feels that she needs to go work, to compensate to the losses you take staying home.

I can’t stand it when when people use “work” as an excuse as to why they don’t fulfill their family duties first. This is true especially when God is providing enough for you to meet your needs.

I really tried to provide for my ex-wife, but I was never good enough. She “could do and deserved better”, and I can see the fruits of her efforts. She is making money, all her bills are paid, and she has lots of time with the kids. She didn’t need me after all.

When she realized that she wanted to be away from me, I let her take everything (16 years worth) with her, and I came home to a mattress, love (with no love) seat, and my office (that wasn’t good enough to earn a living with).

We agreed to go our separate ways many months before she moved out, and so I sunk myself into Second Life to kill the pain. Little did I know, the devil was setting a trap to finish me off.

I met someone there who was by all means a major liar. She lied about everything from her age, that she smoked (probably on drugs too by the way she would behave), that her marriage was over and she was going through a divorce, and even lied to me about having kids (how a woman can deny her kids is beyond me).

She said that she loved me, and thought I was a great dad and provider. I never got that from my ex, and I fell for it “hook, line and sinker”. I realized that people who lie, are self serving people. When a person lies in just one area, they make people question everything they ever said, and the nails in my coffin were being driven in.

I guess I wanted to be loved so bad that I allowed myself to believe the lies, but when her husband called me and asked me if I wanted to “take over keeping her up” I realized what a fool I was.

Everyone that knows me, realized that I developed “woman” issues. That is not a good place to be when you have three daughters. I love my daughters, but they are women, and drive me nuts sometimes.

Mallory is moving to Tulsa Monday, and I am proud of her. She doesn’t come out to see me much since I got married, but I don’t blame her. She wanted her parents together, and there are so many dogs here that her allergies cause her to be physically miserable. She says it is because of gas or time, but I know the real reasons.

Misty spent the night in the ER Tuesday night, because her shoulder was hurting so bad. I can’t help but blame myself, because my trailer was made so that my kids would have a healthy place to live. I had nothing for allergies, doors were wide enough, and a ramp on the deck.

Over here, things are not really like they were at my old place. I just want to give my kids a place to stay where “medical problems” don’t stay the main focus of every day”. I still have things to do to make it right for them. Misty’s mattress isn’t really comfortable for someone with a rod in their back, and Molly isn’t used to living with dogs.

Really, a good bit of their responses to allergies are a mental battle. If you  look at your arm and say enough times “it itches”, all it takes is the slightest brush with the wind and you will scratch it. If you scratch it once, it will itch more as the skin is torn, and the lie is procreated. Until I can get them to see that, I have concessions to make…

In the movie Kingdom of Heaven, Balian of Ibelin said, “Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Safeguard the helpless. Never lie, even if it leads to your death; that is your oath.”

I like that oath, because that is how I try to live my life.

I am not afraid to take on anyone (big or small) who is so self absorbed that they walk on the helpless. I know who my enemies are, and that they are spiritual. I also know that when people allow themselves to be influenced by evil spiritual demons, they need to be lovingly restored, but if they still won’t consider how their actions effect the helpless, it is time for some smack-down.

I now have 5 kids total. Billy is 24 and a man who is capable of being on his own. Liz is married and expecting her first, and she is on her own.

Mallory was allowed (by her mom) to disobey me and she moved out at 17. She since decided to move back to her mom’s, and her mom is getting to reap the harvest of teaching her kids about “don’t tell your daddy”…  Mallory is on her own as well (at least in her mind she is). Mallory is getting ready to get some life lessons, and I hope that she is ready…

I have two left that I have to care for, and they are Misty and Molly. I couldn’t force their mom to keep vows, but I will keep mine to care for my kids who are helpless. Yes I will do my best to help the older 3, but my main responsibility is to Misty and Molly.

I made a promise to be with them, and not use their mom or work as an excuse to stay away from them. I don’t see how a dad can leave the entire family after a divorce. I never divorced my kids. I will fulfill that promise that I made to them simply by being a dad.

So here I am now. I am remarried to someone who wants to be with me. I do have issues when she does something that makes me feel like I am not good enough, or when she doesn’t fulfill a promise, but she is human. I would expect that she take the time to understand this about me, just like I take the time to understand her history as well.

I will admit that I miss it alot in that respect. I listened to her tell me all about her past, and I have made conscience efforts to not be that. I want her to see that I am trying, but when I tell her the ways I am being different I need to be careful to avoid making it seem like I am throwing it back in her face.

Anyone or anything that dares to put itself between us, is my enemy. My wife should be made first, kids are second (though we should never hurt the ones that we are still responsible to care for), and God almighty is head of it all.

About 3-4 months ago I was doing a project with the kids during our Wednesday Night church class, and made a little turtle out of construction paper. The kids all seemed to love the turtle, and a debate ensued as to who could take it home.

When I was asked what the turtle’s name was, I blurted out “His name shall be Bumper!”

Since then the little guy was on my mind, and I searched for ways to make Bumper come to life. I needed a mascot of sorts to get certain points across, and Bumper made the job seem easy. I had looked into making a 3D model of him and different ways to do animate him, and I finally settled on using a program called “Flash”.

Father God blessed me with Adobe Production Suite for both my Mac and PC computers (at $1800 a pop, this was truely a blessing especially since the programs were purchased for me as a gift.) I have been using Photoshop since 1995 and Final Cut Pro since 2002, and I needed a program that had a learning curve that I could easily get in to.

I had come up with several ideas for Bumper, and I wondered how I would be able to have the time to create all the elements that goes into a cartoon. One day I stumbled across a site called Cartoon Solutions and got in touch with the artist there. His name was Ryan Simmons, and let me tell you does awesome work.

Ryan has done cartooning for some big companies (Dreamworks… Warner), and he took my rough sketches and put together a package that astounds me. Bumper has come to life!!!

I hope to have the first published work done in about 6 weeks. It amazes me how the Lord has blessed me with the means necessary to put together something like this. I am so glad that I didn’t say “Yeah right, like God wants me to animate or make a comic strip”

Sometimes He wants you to believe for Him to bring you the silliest sounding things, but all He needs is for you to say “Ok Lord… Yes”