Lots of updates...

Well, where do I start? It's been forever since an update...we're going to get much more regular with this now.

Since my last post, we found out that Kristin is pregnant! Awesome right?! Well, today we found out it's a girl!!!...she'll likely be named Eden Noel. The ultrasound was truly awesome!!!..she was moving around a lot...we got to see her stretching, yawning, hiccupping, trying to find her thumb to suck on it, and then finally finding the thumb and sucking away. She is a little camera shy...tried to run from the camera quite a bit. Here's a couple pics...

She'll kill us for that last pic one day! We're both soooo excited! It's become so real now! Kristin is starting to feel a lot of movement, and now that we've seen distinguishable pictures, reality has set in. I'm trying to figure out how to keep all the boys away!!! She's due May 15...same day as my Seminary graduation...we wanted to wait until I'd graduated to start a family...doesn't God have a sense of humor!!!

On another note, our plans in regard to moving to Newfoundland, Canada have changed. After much prayer, we were never given a sense of peace that God was leading us to move there. We do love the team on the field there, and will partner with them through prayer and support, but for now, our plans do not involve moving there.

As for what our plans are...??? I'll be graduating May 15, and we're not sure where God is leading us after that. We'd love to be closer to our families in GA. God has also been growing in me over the past couple years an overwhelming desire to pastor a church...shepherding His flock. We're constantly praying for His guidance in these decisions, and asking Him to prepare us for the position He already has for us.

How can you partner with us in ministry? Please pray for God's guidance in regard to a position following graduation. We want to be in His will, wherever that means, and we're committed to following Him. Also, pray with us for preparation for our other coming ministry as parents. Kristin and I are committed to raising our child(ren) in a God-honoring way, and are asking that God prepare us to be the Godly parents He so desires.

Check back often for updates, as they will come much more frequently now. Our plan is to update at least once per month...possibly more as we're increasingly excited about Eden Noel's growth and arrival!

Busy, busy, busy

Wow! It's been a while, yet again, since I've updated this. Kristin and I have been extremely busy. Just today, I turned in 3 final papers for a J-term class (1 seminary class in 1 week). Christie and one of her friends (Jenn) are up visiting with us for the weekend, and we plan to go to the Creation Museum and then the Bodies Exhibit at the Cincy Museum tomorrow (Saturday). We're then heading to Gainesville Sunday afternoon to meet up with Kristin's parents and head by train to Washington D.C. for the week for a much needed vacation. In the next 5 weeks, we'll be in D.C. for a week, I have 1 more J-term, we'll be in Hilton Head (vacation with my family) for 1 week, and in Newfoundland for 1 1/2 weeks. That's a lot of travel! July 30th is when we'll be heading to Newfoundland, Canada...this will be our first time in Canada, and we're really looking forward to meeting the team currently in the field, and getting to know their ministry and where we might fit into it. Pray for us as we travel, and especially as we prepare for the trip to Newfoundland.

I wanted to include something that's been on my heart lately. I've been reading through Evening by Evening by Charles Spurgeon lately, and the read for today was a great one. In the past several weeks, I've had several friends and laypeople in our church make comments about my position in ministry, referring to the work that "pastors" do. The reading from today was based on 1 Corinthians 7:20 which says "Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called." In this study, Spurgeon says "Some people have the foollish notion that the only way in which they can live for God is by becoming ministers, missionaries, or Bible women." He goes on to say "Fill your present sphere to His praise, and if He needs you in another, He will show it to you." Spurgeon has a great way of teaching truths so easily. It's so important that those believers not in ministry realize that the job of ministry and of evangelism falls not onto the shoulders of only pastors and ministers, but on all believers. If the work falls only to the paid church staff, we will not make a single dent in fulfilling the Great Commission. The church, as a whole, must work together to tell a lost a dying world the beautiful truth of Christ's death and resurrection. We must all be ministers.

Ahhhh....Finals

Well, we haven't exactly been true to our "update every Tuesday" plan. Kristin and I are coming to the end of our school year. I actually pulled an all-nighter last night to finish out a research paper...only to turn it in and begin studying for Finals. The summer will be full of classes, both seminary classes and an MBA class, in addition to our mission trip to Newfoundland at the end of the summer. All in all, I'll have 2 free weeks during the summer...I'll take what I can get! After next week, I'm 2/3 of the way through seminary...WAHOO!!!!

Kristin's new Christian organization at school is going great. They've decided on the name CIA: Christians In Action. She met with the group this morning for "See You At The Pole" and had 13 kids join her! Then this past Tuesday morning she had 15 kids come to te Bible study! God is really blessing, and increasign her sphere of influence. Pray that God continue to work through this study and that Kristin would have the opportunity to win some to Christ...afterall, that's what it's all about!

Kristin and I continue to find ourselves tremendously blessed! It's so exciting to see God so at work in our lives, guiding us down His path.

A couple things to pray for:
1. Kristin and I are in the planning stages for a VBS at Connection for the summer. Pray that God gives us guidance in choosing the material that will best serve to evangelize and grow the kids He already has in His plan to attend.
2. Continue to pray for God's guidance in our lives, marriage, and ministry with respect to Newfoundland. It seems that our excitement grows weekly for this new ministry on the horizon. Pray that God continue to grow us and train us in order to best ready us for the mission field.

Just a challenge: Make sure that you live in such a way that those around you know you belong to Christ!

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!

The Expelled Movie...check it out

Check out my post Tuesday for an update on our NAMB interviews.

I wanted to mention the Expelled movie. I got to attend a Director's Cut preview a couple weeks ago here at Southern Seminary. I'm not going to give a full review of the movie or anything like that...I just want to encourage you to see the movie.
I, probably like a lot of you, was totally surprised to here that "the Visine guy" or "the 'Bueller' guy" was doing a movie on the conrtoversy of Creationism being expelled from the classroom. However, the movie is great! Stein and the producers have done a great job at interviewing how this has happened, and also at pointing out the controversies in Darwinian thought. A main issue in the movie is how ridiculous it is for Darwinians to be so fearful of Intelligent Design, and how wrong it is for our government to keep some ideas and thoughts out of the classroom. In their efforts to separate church and state, they do exactly the opposite...Evolution philosophy is a religion...it is a belief in how our world came about. If Evolution is allowed to be taught in our schools, Creationism should at least be given the same opportunity!

Kristin, being a public school teacher, faces the struggle daily with not being able to openly talk about Creationism and intelligent design; as well with the pain of having to teach Evolution philosophy, which has SO many flaws it's ridiculous.

It also has a very interesting ending with with an interview between Stein and one of the leading Evolutionist personalities today.


Another note to tuck away somewhere is that, assuming this movie does well, the producers are considering doing another project on "the Sanctity of Human Life." We'll be looking forward to it.

We survived!!!

Well, we survived! Our interviews last week with NAMB went great! Kristin and I really had no clue what to expect. All I could relate them to were interviews for secular business positions, most of which have been almost brutal. The interviews were tough, but we could sense the entire time that those who interviewed us (as well as the rest of the staff at NAMB) were there to support the missionaries. They constantly told us to send them E-newsletters from the field so they could keep in touch with what God was doing. In fact, when I told several of them that Kristin and I were there to get approval to go work with Steve Grissom and Adam Dorsey in Newfoundland, they knew immediately what was going on with their ministry because they had been reading his E-newsletters. With all the missionaries they send out, that was very impressive! It was great to see how careful they are with the funding they receive from Cooperative Program churches. Rest assured-- your dollars are being carefully and well-spent.
Also, we got to meet some REALLY cool people! We got to meet and get ideas from a couple and a guy from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We also met people that will be planting churches all over the US: New York, Boston, San Diego, North and South Dakota, Arizona, etc... It was great to meet such an array of people that are all dedicated to the spread of God's Word.

Aside from the interviews, life is busy as usual for Kristin and I. I am trying to finish up a 15-page paper and took a reprieve to post this update. I only have 3 weeks left in this semester! Kristin had her first meeting this morning with a Bible study that she's starting at the high school she's teaching at. It was only an informational meeting but it went great! She's got some kids that are really excited to have a Bible study that is not only for athletes (FCA). Be praying for this up-and-coming study! Kristin is very excited and is trying to get some key students on board so that they can organize it and advertise it a little in preparation for next year.

Continue to pray for us as we search for God's direction and clarity in our lives. We should be hearing back from NAMB about our status in about 1 month, so pray for God's guidance with this decision process. As with anything else, we want God's will, not our's... even if that means getting turned down.
Also pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in Newfoundland. The ministry that Steve, Adam, and their families have there is going great and God is blessing! I continue to hear reports that people are coming to Christ in Newfoundland! God is truly at work on "the Rock"! I encourage you to sign up for their E-newsletters and support them in prayer. There is a link to their ministry website in the "links" section of this blog...their ministry is called "Mission for Him".

On a side note, Tuesdays are going to be the day that we update this blog. I'm going to try to keep this as a weekly blog. I don't expect you to look us up every single week, but whenever you have time, catch up with us! We are doing this to keep you, our friends, updated on our lives and ministry and more importantly to encourage you in your faith. But we also want to hear from you!...so feel free to post in our comments (I promise, we'll read every one of them!...ok, so it's been easy so far) and also shoot us a link if you have a blog for your ministry or family as well!

Matthew 28:20b- "And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." This is a passage that we often don't make it to. The passage right before that (the Great Commission) is one of the most popular passages and is one of my favorites, but what a blessing to be reassured that we do in fact have Christ with us ALWAYS!!! Praise God for reminders such as these!

Well, here we go...

Ok, so they tell me I need a blog so here we go...
If you're checking this site, the chances are you already know a little about us. So, we'll try to catch you up. Kristin and I (Brett) are currently in Louisville (pronounced "Loo-vul"), Kentucky. I am a little past half-way through the Masters of Dvininty program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and also about half way through the Masters of Business Administration program at Brenau University...yeah, I have no life right now! Kristin is a teacher at Fairdale High School and is in the process of beginning an on-campus student Bible study. She graduates this May from the University of Louisville with a Masters of Arts and Teaching.

So, you probably already know some of that, so here's some new stuff...
We're now involved with a church plant in Bardstown, Ky...check our brand new church site out at http://www.connectioncommunitychurch.org/. You can also check out our movie theatre commercial at http://youtube.com/watch?v=fyz8nFv5XFs. I am serving on staff as the Family (aka Children's) Pastor. Our church is very exciting! We've been meeting since January 6, 2008! We are beginning to see some numerical growth and that makes it even more exciting.

Something else you might not know is that Kristin and I feel that God is leading us to Newfoundland, Canada after my graduation from Seminary. We're planning to team up with 2 other couples currently on the field there and help with some church planting in and around St. John's. The families are the Grissoms and the Dorseys. This is very new for us...we began feeling God directing us in this way only last fall, and He is continually reaffirming this call in our lives. Though we would miss our current position incredibly, we're very excited that God would use us for such a task! We're actually attending the NAMB (North American Mission Board) interviews during this next week...Monday-Wednesday. To learn more about the ministry in Newfoundland, check out http://www.missionforhim.com/.

For those of you that we haven't talk to in a while, no...we don't have any kids yet, but we do have a dog! Leia is a Husky/Malamute mix. She's about 7 years old. Kristin adopted her as her own when we got married...she had no choice. I love my dog!

Well, that's about all that's new for now. God is continuing to work in our lives and bless us tremendously. We're also working on a website and will post on here when it's up. Check back often and thanks for reading! God bless!!!

1 Thessalonians 5:11- "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you also are doing."