OK, Here Goes!

Alright, so we're back, and after sleeping in way to long today, Sara has come down with something from the non-stop going for the past week and we're exhausted, but pumped! Wilmington was all we could have hoped for and more, except for the fact that everyone said we brought the cold weather with us and it never got over 50 degrees until we left! But they assured us that it would be back to normal when we got back!!!



When we got there, I thought I had found a slice of Heaven here on earth, and it was an awesome sign that things were going to be good for the rest of the trip. While sitting in a somewhat sketchy Wendy's, waiting for our Pastor friend that we had connected with via e-mail, I tasted my sweet tea...and let me tell you, that was BY FAAAARRRR the strongest sweet tea ever!!! I took a drink, and had to let it soak in for a second. Once Gary(pastor friend) came in and we met him(awesome guy...more on him and the church to come) we found out that its not uncommon in that area to get SWEET sweet tea! Kinda their thing! AWESOME....so to keep from boring you with a minute by minute summary, hear are some pics to give you an idea of what was in the area, what we did, and where we'll be living!!!

This is down at Fort Fisher. It is one of the furthest south point of New Hanover County, only islands and marshes south of it!

There is a man-made walkway across the bay that connects some of the Islands, this is the start of it that I'm standing on!

This is the beach from the Wrightsville Beach Pier.

If you think your house is colorful...Take a look at these, and this was everywhere! The next two pictures give you an idea of how creative people are with their choices in housing down by the beach!

While we were there, we met Gary, the amazing pastor of Horizon Church, his wife Jennifer, and their son Jason...who is three and loves Sara now!!! During the Sunday service, I was amazed! There were a total of about 35 people there, including a group from a church in Raleigh that came down! The pastor of this church spoke, he was originally from the Congo in Africa, and he spoke 7 different languages! It's been a long time since a service has brought me to an emotional state, but seeing the mixture of people that were just hurting, and now looking to Jesus for the answers was awesome! I can't wait to get back! The Spanish service that evening...yes Spanish service...was the same way! They interpreted for the preacher, and it was awesome! We had 9 different languages present and speakable that night, nuts!!!

Here are a few more pics from the trip!

This will be our home, on the North side of Wilmington, about 1.5 miles from the beach!

Old docking Pier near Fort Fisher.

Just a small, and I mean SMALL glimpse of what the down town area looks like!

We're back! And man do I have a story!

So, I'm sure you're expecting the exciting story of how Wilmington was AWESOME, but frankly, I'm exhausted...so I'll get that done tomorrow! But I did want to throw out this interesting story!

During our flight home, we had the privilege of hearing an older woman completely pour her heart out to a younger girl on the way from the Houston airport to Tulsa. They were sitting right behind us(yes, I was eaves dropping)! It was interesting hearing someone share their faith, without hesitation! I know that it should be that easy, but often times when I'm in just a random conversation with someone I just met, I don't typically look for ways to share Christ, I'm to worried about other things...and that is one way I fall short. But this lady was hitting on all cylinders! She would just strike up conversation, then lead it towards Christ...no matter what they were talking about! They seemed to be having a great conversation, laughing, carrying on...when I realized that she had really gotten somewhere with the younger lady. She(younger lady) went on to explain about how she was raised in a home with little religious influence, and within the last year or so she had really felt something pulling her to find out what she believes. She didn't make a decision, and I was so thankful that the older woman left it up to the younger girl to make the decision...but man, was there ever a seed planted!

When the plane landed, the Christian older lady explained that she hoped to see her again someday, and seeing as to the odds of ever seeing someone you randomly sit by on a plane ever again, she said she hoped it would be in Heaven...as the younger lady left...she said something that blew me away!!!! She said, "Thanks for talking with me, I enjoyed it! I'll see you again someday!" Enough said!

My Thoughts are Running

So, as I sit here in anticipation of the upcoming weekend, my mind has constantly questioned what is going to happen. I try to logically figure out how things will work out and what in the world God has planned for us! If you know us very well, you know that I'm extremely analytical but laid back, so I realize that worrying about things will only get me nowhere, and you know that Sara is going to try and plan everything out so that we have nothing to worry about(Reason she is my WIFE)! So basically, I'm not worrying because I can't deal with thinking about it at the time, and Sara is planning everything to prevent worry! She's been getting on me about not calling certain people to get things set up...I tell her to not worry about it and then I realize...she is wanting me to do it because it will help me out...and by me doing it now instead of later, it will help her out! It frustrates me sometimes when I realize how my ego gets in the way of what needs to be done just because I want to do things on my own time! She is doing these things one...for her sanity, and two, because she loves me! This brings me to the thought of how amazing it is going to be to have her to share this adventure with! I look forward to it because it is going to give us the opportunity to work together to do something great for God! I ask that you all would pray for us...mostly Sara...so that she can put up with me! But Seriously, we will miss everyone, family, friends, church...etc...and only God can give us the strength to see the big picture! Be praying not for our well being, but that God will bring us closer together no matter what God has in store for us...and be praying for the people that we will be in contact with, we want them to see God in us and meet HIM through our relationships!

So, my thoughts may not make sense completely, but there it is! We leave on Saturday around Noon! We will be getting back in town Wednesday later in the afternoon! I can't wait to share with everyone what God is doing in Wilmington! Our hearts are starting to get attached to an area that we've never been to before! If that's not God I don't know what is!!! We want to stay connected and help everyone in any way possible! Please let us know how we can pray for you! This is the least we can do!

So, Here's the down low!

-We decided that we wanted a way to let everyone know what is going on in our life without having to sit down and have or type up a 20 minute conversation with everyone we know...so here is the way that we will keep everyone updated!

-Back in November, as some know already, we were serving at The Church at Arkansas in Fayetteville. We love the church and I(Nick) was working as the Youth Pastor intern when the church decided that they would no longer be able to keep me/bring me on as the youth pastor beyond December. So when we found this out, the search for a full time position for me as a youth pastor began! We've been searching non-stop since and other than a few churches showing interest with some feedback, we have had nothing set in stone. We currently are in contact with two churches, one in Roann, IN(good luck finding that one) and another in Simpsonville, SC just southeast of Greenville. These churches are current possibilities but the one in Indiana wouldn't start until May...and the church in South Carolina is in the process of narrowing down candidates(that's always fun to hear)!

-Now, on to what we are currently doing! We have moved out of Fayetteville, and are now transitioning in Van Buren with my parents/working as Substitutes in the VB School District/and are now looking at moving to Wilmington, NC! WHY, you ask...great question!

-Since we've felt God calling us out of Arkansas, we have constantly felt a call to the east cost and in particular, the Carolina's! After being contacted by churches in that area, and seeing what God is doing in those areas, we decided that maybe God was wanting us to just go! We sat down, looked for about 45 minutes each online, and came up with a couple places. After going through each, we realized that the area that Sara had chosen would be the opportunity that God was calling us to! I told her that once we picked a place, I would go online and contact every church in the area that looked to be moving forward and active in the community! After doing this, I was contacted by a church the following day called Horizon Church. The pastor, Gary Keyes, has treated us the way that you would expect to be treated by a fully devoted man of God! He is trying to help us in ways we didn't expect, and has truely given us a vision of Christ at work in Wilmington through our conversations with him.

-We decided this last week that we would visit Wilmington, so we are flying out Saturday, Feb. 21st to set up jobs, apartment, etc...and we are pumped about what God is doing in our lives! We will be setting up a 3 month lease so that if God does call me to be the youth pastor at a church, we will be able to leave quickly, and if we are being called to stay and minister in Wilmington, we will know exactly what God wants by then! Please keep us in your prays and we will definitely keep you up to date on what is going on through this Blog! We will miss everyone and wish we could see and hang out with everyone before we go, but as we all know, thats pretty much impossible! We love you all, and just remember, if you want to visit, feel free! If there is anything or anyone that we can be praying for, please let us know that as well! Well, I guess that all for now! I'm out!