For Everything!

It's good to 'remember' and give God praise . . . for ALL things.

"always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." (Ephes. 5:20)

As I went back through my blog for 2008, here are some personal dreams fulfilled, family victories, Oso Creek victories, and life journey points that I praise God for . . . . . .

- Beatrice Lopez (from Spain) became our fourth daughter as she lived with us through May (How we love her and her parents!)
- For ALL the babies born to Creekers this year! (Wow, you guys are prolific!)
- We graduated 45 folks from our first Financial Peace class at Oso Creek!
- A Lion Fell -- I ran my first Half-Marathon in Austin!
- The Oso Creek Easter Festival made a comeback and you loved a thousand folks from our community!
- That both Laura and Sarah made All-District Soccer Teams! (They also got 2 of the 5 awards that the team voted on)
- For those of you who made trips to Mexico and loved the children and staff at the Pan de vida orphanage
- Our family ran Beach to Bay as a team
- Starbucks opened up one mile from my house :)
- Luke & I ran a 5k together
- Steve Garcia joined the Oso Creek Team as our Worship Pastor! Yes!
- I discoverd the world of cornhole!
- I got to go to DC and hang out with Mark Batterson and some other great leaders at Unplugged
- Twice we 'left the building' on Sunday morning to serve our community
- Many of you gave us a gift for our 9th Anniversary at Oso by sending us on a weekend to an Astros game!
- We took over 30 Creekers to Leadership Summit and it was awesome!
- The opportunity that many of us got to go to Surfside and love folks who were devastated by Hurricane Ike
- For Matt Beveridge's life and the way he entered eternity with courage and grace (and opened the door for so many people to be impacted) . . . and for the way that all of you loved him and his family
- I got to continue to coach Luke's baseball team including our new team the CC Surge
- Jenny McDermott became part of our awesome Oso Creek staff
- That we were able to join with the City and begin being Corpus' Southside Recycling Center
- I got to go with Luke to a college football game in Austin
- The many of you who generously gave yourself way to Operation Christmas Child and Advent Conspiracy
- That Emily is rocking through her sophomore year at Oso Creek!
- Cindy & I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary!
- And I praise God for the vision that He has given us to be 'On Mission' in 2009 like never before!

1/1/09 Audie Update

Audie is at home now and resting . . . although she is still suffering from some of her symptoms . . .

Thanks for all your prayers . . . Please keep asking God for for rest, healing and peace - for Audie & Tim.

Faithful

I praise God for Kim Galloway who faithfully posts Scripture every day on Creek Living Water !

This morning, as she began her second full year of providing a way for us to dwell in the Word, she posted this passage:

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." Romans 8: 28-30

What an awesome reminder of God's promises as we go into the New Year!

How are you going to get your spiritual nourishment this year?

It's easy to say, 'Yeah, this is the year!' But studies have shown that people who have a plan - a How, a When and a Where - get more things accomplished.

Don't have a plan? Click here and check out Creek Living Water . . . Maybe it's part of God's 2009 plan for you . . .

New Beginnings!

It's only 11 hours into 2009 and I've already:

- Had my first cup of coffee (OK, Folgers @ home)
- Let our new dog out to go potty for the first time (She was happy to see me)
- Dwelled in the Word for the first time (Proverbs 1 & 2 Timothy 2)
- Ate my first breakfast bar (no comment)
- Went on my first run (Awesome weather!)
- Kissed my wife for the first time (VERY good!)
- Had my first shower (nice . . . I like showers)
- Woke my kids up for the first time (VERY late! :)

A lot happens fast! As I woke up this morning this came into my head: "If anyone is in Christ He is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!"

Sometimes I don't understand all the 'hurrah' around New Years when so much of it is empty -- i.e. Party-go to bed-wake up late with hangover-have a day off-continue life as it was before.

But I like it in the sense that it reminds us that our lives can be FULL of Him and FULL of Life! There is a 'newness' to every moment that we walk with God. There are new adventures and great hope and joy around every 2009 corner as we seek Jesus!