I just found this post from what I had typed a few weeks ago. I knew I hadn't lost my mind because I just knew I had typed a post about our church dedication service with Jonathan Falwell stopping by to see us. But then again, I thought, maybe I did just fail to write it; turns out I did write it but just failed to post it.  I just have to get better at these posts! That was what I wrote in the first line of my last post, that is maybe getting help with them; looks like I could use the help! But at any rate, here goes, and hopefully I will do better in the futre.  Here is my post from several weeks ago.


I guess I should just delegate these blog entries to someone else, I am just so bad about taking the time to write them; but then again, I mostly use this as my own "diary" or "journal" so I guess I'll keep posting although I know I could do much better. I checked the last entry and it was on July 30th and just so much has happened since then. For one huge thing, we had our Life Pointe Church Dedication and Celebration on September 21st, just in time to be an early birthday present for me and an early blessing to all who attended. I asked a friend from Lynchburg to stop by and pray with us and for us and to give us a short challenge and it just so happened (God continues to confirm and work things out for us) that this friend was speaking close by and gladly accepted my invitation to stop by and visit with the Life Pointe Church family. So in addition to Joan and Gary Francisco stopping by (the previous owners of the building), and Debby Williams, the nice banker lady who helped us secure our loan after we had been turned down by another group, and Ken and Carol Looney from Craig Valley Baptist Church rushing back from the beach and their vacation to be with us, be we also had the pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church stop by and so Jonathan Falwell was my friend who I had asked to come by and pray with us and so it was a great day of celebration indeed! We had slides, pictures, testimonies, songs, and a sort of narrative to go along and help folks see just how far God has brought us. And then Lindsey had a very nice video at the end that was the perfect finishing touch so again, it was a great time! Cake and punch fixed by Ginny put the final accent on our great day of blessing! We continue to see God bless and even last Sunday was one of the best Sundays we've had for awhile, so God continues to bless us richly. We also continue to see our building change to a home instead of just a building. When we first moved in, our building changed from an accounting office to a church, or as the inspectors downtown say, from a "B to a A" meaning from a business to an assembly. But then, even though it looked so much better with our new floors and fresh paint and just all the nice things we added, we begin to put up curtains; and wall printings; and pictures; and then the building now even seems to have gained it's own personality of warmth and an inviting atmosphere with a "tree" being planted in the children's area, and a beautiful picture of Noah's Ark in the nursery. Things look so nice...I am impressed, blessed, and grateful. I just know if anyone would visit us they would feel welcome and feel as though they had come into our "home" which is exactly what want guests to feel. I pray and look forward to more things to come and for people to come to Christ, be baptized, and to grow in Him.

God Continues to work at Life Pointe!

My what a busy weekend we just had at Life Pointe Church! On Saturday several of us traveled to Lynchburg, or more specifically, Liberty University, to watch the Flames take on the Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb. LU was triumphant in a 38 to 0 win, so it was a great day for the Flames and some of us who enjoy lunch at Sheetz and then a beautiful day at Williams Stadium.  Then yesterday at church we continued with our Before Amen Series, emphasizing the important and simplicity of prayer, watching a short video with Max Lucado and enjoy a message and communion. Then at 1:30 we had a special baptism service with James Sledd; Virginia Almond; Kylee Overstreet; and Lucas Sorrel. It was a great time watching these guys share outwardly what has taken place in their hearts, that is a decision to accept and follow Jesus Christ. And then last night a movie classic with Don Knotts, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, so it was a busy but very blessed weekend.  And now by the way, I do realize I have not posted since July, so I don't know where the time goes! Today is October 27th and it is almost November so that means I have waited for over 3 months to post! I just thought for sure I had posted since then. We had our church dedication with Jonathan Falwell dropping by to offer a prayer and short message of encouragement with us and that was super! And the reminder of just how far God has brought by us showing the pictures of our past, the construction of the building, and just what God has done for us was just amazing and very touching. I am indeed grateful for what God has done for  us and continues to do for us. Right now we are doing a series on "Before Amen" based on the book and video series by Max Lucado, so again, we stay busy but I never want to fail to say THANK YOU to God for all of what He has done. We use to pray for so much and God has answered many of those prayers and provided for our needs, so I want to always be grateful, thankful. and appreciative of what He has done. Yesterday with the baptisms, I was reminded again of how God has changed lives and hearts, and helped people make a decision to follow Jesus more closely. I am indeed blessed and very thankful God called me to plant and pastor His church, Life Pointe.

We have been showing movies for the past 3 Sundays but next Sunday we are going to show "God's Not Dead" which was just in the theaters a couple of months ago, so we are praying and hoping for a big turnout! It's a great movie, so I do pray folks come to watch it; enjoy themselves; and then come back on Sunday to hear the new series by the same name.  Let's pray and ask God to work!

It's Tuesday, July 29, 2014, so I thought I better post to record how things are going this summer. We are showing movies on Sunday night now for the month of July and have shown 3 movies with our biggest movie coming up this coming Sunday night which is "God's Not Dead" which was just in the theaters a few months ago. We pray for a big crowd and hopefully some new folks who need to find a church home. May God bless our efforts. We also continue to hang curtains, paint boards, put down a new floor in the kitchen, and use our talents to paint baseboards, paint quarter-rounds, and just make the church a beautiful building in which we all can come and worship God. I appreciate Jim and Marjory and it's quite evident that God sent them our way to help us with all these building projects; they sure are an encouragement and their help is just overwhelming at times. It's hard to tell where we would be if we did not have them doing so much of the work these past weeks and now months; we have been blessed to keep our 30 plus congregation over the summer months despite lots of folks going on vacations. Ginny has now painted the kitchen and the nursery and made both rooms quite appealing and beautiful. The nursery has a magnetic wall to hold things for the kids to see and play with and both the teen room and the children's room have painted chalkboards to aid in the lessons the teachers bring out to the children. So, a lot is happening at Life Pointe and God continues to bless us and our efforts. Hopefully we will see a "harvest" soon. 

Just thought I would post another quick post listing a few items God has orchestrated over the past few weeks! On the first Sunday of June we were still at Round Hill but the city school folks didn't really want us in there any longer. So when we were there the second Sunday too, I know they were not quite happy; still we then told them we had to be in there one more Sunday which was Father's Day and on that Sunday they had continued work so that a wall in the cafeteria was gone and the backyard was all tore up and gravel and dirt were in different places, so I knew we would have to be gone soon! So then after that 3rd Sunday, someone called and told us on Wednesday I think, that we definitely could not be in the school the following Sunday; seems we had exhausted our extended stay time but wouldn't you know it; we were told on Wednesday we couldn't be in the school anymore and then on Thursday, the very next day, were approved by the city inspectors so we could then move into our new building. Talk about closing one day and opening another one! Literally, that is what God did! So I love it when God is that clear to us! Takes out the chance of me messing things up! So we are enjoying our new home knowing it is where God wanted us to be! Amazing Grace and an Amazing God!

Wow, here it is July 8th, 2014 and so much has happened since my last post! Lots of things to show God has provided us with "things" we needed and has blessed us with things that only He could have provided. Whether it is something for Life Pointe Church or something for my son Andy and his friends that were traveling to London, Scotland, Paris and several other places too! God is indeed good and showed Himself mighty! As for Life Pointe Church, we had our very first Sunday service on June 22nd, 2014. That is 06-22-14 for our very first ever service! That is amazing and astounding news when you think this is something we have been looking forward to for over a year! We're in the building!!! It just seems so hard to believe that we are finally in our new building! That's the BIG, BIG news and it has been so much of a blessing these past 3 weeks; things are looking good too, it seems every time we go into the building something else looks a little more like a "home" for those who will visit and for those who are in the Life Pointe family. It is just so good to finally be "home" in God's new home! I can write so much but I'll do that later when I have more time, but for now, "We're in our new church home!" and that's great news! Praise the Lord!

June 6th was a special day both for Ginny and I celebrating 33 years together and Brett and Melanie celebrating 16 years together, plus Andy and Lindsey going to honor those special men and women who made the Normandy D-Day Invasion and eventually our freedom possible, in Bedford at the National D-Day Memorial but also because we got some more things done at our future Life Pointe Church home. We finished out the day with eating together and then Andy and I had to back to our building just to make sure everything stayed safe and sound. We then worked on the building on Saturday, June 7th accomplishing a few more things, so God is at work. But Satan is also at work and has been trying to discourage us with various trials, but "Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world" so we must stay strong and focused on Jesus who is the author and finished of our faith. God will help us but I will admit it's been a little tough here lately; we must be doing something good and right for the devil to be after us. But God is good and will see us through these fiery trials, just like He did the Hebrew boys in Daniel chapter 3. Jesus is in every fiery trial that comes our way, so at least Jesus is with us.  We just have to keep trusting Him; and now here we are at Camp Ta-pa-win-go for the week so may we again just keep trusting God to work in our midst.

Andy and I worked hard last night, getting a small hole dug so we could put up our handicapped sign at the new church parking lot. Being a small hole, it still took a strong steel dig bar to make it through the present pavement and down through the hardened ground. But, nevertheless, we made it with Andy even digging our some of the dirt and gravels with his hands and a plastic spoon. I told you it was small hole! But the sign is in the ground; now we just need to concrete it in for permanency. Ginny and Tamra have also been busy painting the teen room with some bright, stripes, and it really looks good! So things are coming along quite nicely. May God continue to bless our efforts to honor Him with our new church home! I know I sure couldn't have done this without the sacrificial help from a lot of people. Thank you all for what you have done! May God richly repay you!

God is good; all the time. All the time; God is good! We say that and sometimes say it so quickly that it loses some of the meaning but truly God is good and does provide and is a constant source of protection; provision; and Presence, in that He is with us. Today I got some oil and a filter to go along with the other things Joe is doing for our van, so it will be ready to make the tip to Tennessee and Camp Ta-pa-win-go. Joe and I are memorizing scripture together so that helps us to honor God and stay more close to Jesus. He is a good friend and a blessing. The van will be fixed by the end of the day after having some mechanical problems yesterday. I also mailed a letter to someone today who needs both encouragement and perhaps a reminder to return to the place he was before drifting away from the Lord. I also just got a driver lined up for afterschool and then I also have the possibility of obtaining a "panic" bar for the door at the church and it would be much cheaper than what I thought I would have to pay for it. So God provides and helps and instructs and blesses. God is good; all the time. All the time; God is good! Thanks and praise be to Jesus who blesses us with what we need to live for Him!

Well, once again God provided for us in a special way. We went to Lowe's last night, (Ginny and I) and we went to pick up some things to help us put our handicap sign up at the church. I was talking to a Lowe's employee when another employee close by heard me mention that we had to fix up a parking space for someone to park that was handicapped. I mentioned that we would have to get a stencil to paint the wheelchair symbol on the pavement. The woman who heard me talking said "we've got a stencil in the back that someone use and brought back." She wondered if we were interested and I thought, "wow, by all means, yes we are interested!" She was sure that it had been marked down and that a manager would even help us further with the price. Boy was she right! The stencil sold for about $100 new and then they had it marked down to about $33.61 but then when the first employee called a manager, it turned out that the manager said we could have it for $20.00!! Wow, that's a 1/5 of the original price. So we took that and also some blue paint plus a pole to put our sign on and some bolts and nuts, so we may just get our sign up sooner than we thought! God is good and has provided for our needs once again in a super way! Now, if God will only give us a panic bar for our back door.....we're trusting!

I met with Melanie for breakfast today and then went and was able to pick up the remaining baseboards from Lumber Liquidators and that was 30 baseboards, so that was very helpful and a good load of materials. We were also able to stop by the church building and chat with Jim and Marjory and see all the new improvements and remodeling that has taken place. It is amazing what all the Lord had done and I am thankful I get to show Melanie the new place in which the little children she helps to teach and nurture will be each Sunday. It is always a blessing to spend time with my sister. I am blessed to have so many good helpers and workers at Life Pointe, all who God has blessed and gifted to be a part of the ministry He's called us all to do.  A good Thursday indeed!

For the past few weeks, God has been teaching me and us as a family some patience or trust issues. Whether it be a kidney stone, or our kitty cat Hokie being gone for 2 days and then coming home, or more recently, our credit card number being "stolen" 2 times in about 2 months, it just seems God wants us to trust Him better, so we are trying to do just that. Yesterday for example, we finally got our new credit cards from the credit union; then last night, after I put the groceries in the van from the shopping cart, I pushed the cart back to the cart corral and did not realize that I had left Ginny's purse in the cart. We drove off only to realize that so we returned within 5 to 8 minutes and her purse was already gone. No one turned it in to the store, and we didn't see it anywhere and we checked places over and over again. So.....one day after getting our new cards, we then cancelled them and ordered new cards yet again today. So, God is testing and so we need to trust Him and let Him find this pocketbook the same way He found Hokie. I also got some bills take care of at Home Depot and Lumber Liquidators so after checking with the SBCV on Tax Exempt status I think we are good. So things are getting done and the Lord is still in charge. And finally, remembering a few minutes ago that my good friend Greg Alderman is having open heart surgery today puts a lot of these things in a different perspective, so that just reminds me not to fuss or worry because there are always much bigger things to be concerned with. I love Jesus and the fact He counts me as a student to learn His lessons,

After a couple of trips to the local VDOT headquarters I decided to visit the Salem Street Signs Division here in Salem and wouldn't you know it, God lets me meet someone who is a youth worker from New Hope Christian Church and who happens to have graduated from Craig County High School about the same year I coached football up there and who is going on a missionary trip soon this summer to the Dominican Republic; who better to understand a church plant and be willing to help us. I now have a handicap sign for our church parking lot! God continues to bless and confirm His work and helps me and blesses me so much by linking me with fellow believers who are willing to assist our work. God is good all the time and I just love it when He shows Himself mighty! Work continues and we will soon, prayerfully be in our new Life Pointe home!  Although the flooring from Lumber Liquidators did not arrive today, I may still pick up the baseboard and the underlay and maybe work on it this Memorial Day weekend. Jesus is so good to us, I look forward to accomplishing a lot in the coming days and especially after we move into our new home! Things are looking good!

The paving for the handicap ramp looks great! Just the way Ginny and I wanted it and so it is legal that is it meets the necessary requirements and also it allows great access to those who come up from the front. So, it is finished and it looks great! Now to get the sign and make the project complete. A few more things and we are done! It's just hard to believe that we are closing in on moving in to our new church home! Praise the Lord! It about brought tears yesterday as I went to see the ramp; now that may be funny to some folks that I shed a tear about something made of asphalt but it is more than that. It's seeing God provide and work once again in my life and in the life of Life Pointe Church!

Well, I got a call this morning around 9:10 or so and it was Gene Lucas from Lucas Paving telling me "we're going to try and get that done today for you" referring to the asphalt job that will make the rear door entrance at our new church building the required handicap accessible. The present concrete pad that is 3ft by 4ft will increase to 5ft by 5 ft with a ramp coming down towards the side of the building and the front sloped down so if a car even came close it would simple ride up the slope and then easily back down on the other side. This is a huge deal in the process of getting into the building and I praise the Lord for an old friend from Giles County being willing to do the paving for me and keep an otherwise complicated job very simple. With this getting done today and me hunting us down a handicap sign and doing a little painting on the parking space, we will have the outside just about ready to go. And the baseboards and flooring I ordered on Monday of this week is suppose to arrive tomorrow, so I pray it does and we are closing in on what is a dream come true or a "vision" come true that God gave me and all of us so long ago. It's been over a year since Ginny and I stopped to look at the building on 4624 Williamson Road; and now it's about to become our new church home!

Today is May 21st. It is very warm at 80 degrees and that's good; it's good because it is always better to put down asphalt when it's hot outside and hopefully, prayerfully, that's what will happen very soon at our new church building. I spoke yesterday to an old friend and neighbor from Giles County whose name is Eugene Lucas. He now own Lucas Paving here in Roanoke. I saw him several months ago at the Green Ridge Recreation Center when I was exercising and went over and spoke to him and ended up talking for several minutes. I can remember our Moms being good friends years ago at the Olean Church of the Brethren up on Big Stony Creek when I grew up when I was a little boy. I spoke to Eugene and told him about our church and mentioned paving and he said "if you ever need any help, let me know" or something to that effect. And I though we were going to have to use concrete for our new wheelchair ramp but as it turns out after speaking to a few people about the requirements it turns out we can asphalt the back entrance, so.....I called Eugene on Monday and yesterday met with him about putting in our sloped entrance at the back door. And I called him last night and he said they may even get to it today, so I sure hope that happens! Ginny and I have been over at the building for the last 2 nights until around 10:00pm painting and staining so slowly things are getting done and getting more ready to open for our first true service in the remodeling new church building. God is good!

Here it is May 16th and I do think God is refining me and our family. About a month ago I passed a kidney stone; then last Saturday I got a stomach bug which kept me sick either going to the bathroom or throwing up all day Saturday and let's not fail to mention the killer indigestion that accompanied this bug. Then I passed it on to Ginny who seemed to finally give it to Andy, so all of us have had our turn at it. Then this past Wednesday night after Bible study, Hokie got out the screened in back porch door and we haven't seen him for 2 days now. We are praying and trying our best to trust God to keep Hokie safe but boy it's been hard these past few days and weeks. At least the floor is now down in our new church building; it is down in the sanctuary (we did that last Saturday with the help of Joe and his friend Roy) and then Jim and Marjory have been busy this week putting it down in the hallway and in the room right beside the kitchen. It looks great with the walls painted the way they are and the roof is holding up well with these last few days of hard rain, so things are getting done, it's just tough with the trial coming at us too. So I pray for Hokie to come home and for us to continue to get things done at the church building. And the plans were approved that were revised by the architect last week by the folks downtown in the building and planning office, so God continues to bless us and our work and I know He is with us whether we are fighting a cold, bug, fixing up the building or finding our Hokie. He is a BIG God so He can do all these things; we just need to keep trusting.

It seems like forever since the first part of March...because now it's the first part of May!! I have in the last month experienced a kidney stone passing, which took a week to do, and experienced Easter which was a good reminder that we serve a risen Savior, and have also seen God's provision and handiwork in helping us to get our building closer and closer to moving in. The leaking roof is now take are of and is finished and so the laminate flooring is the next thing to be put in. Jim and Marjory continue to be such a blessing providing countless hours of work, cleaning, fixing up, and all sorts of "little things" that help make the building "home" for Life Pointe Church.  God is good! I talked with the folks who run All In One Solutions and just knew God wanted us to use them to fix our roof. And even though it rained several days making us plan around the moisture, God finally gave us the time we needed to get the roof done. And now, just this morning, I stopped by and spoke with Debby Williams who helped us secure the loan to be able to get into our building and so that was a good reminder of God's provisions for us. And I eat lunch with Joe Casey who has provided a refrigerator for the church, helped me load the laminate flooring, and helped us with some other things as well. God is just using folks to help me as I continue to serve Him faithfully at Life Pointe. Confirmation on what we are doing seems to be constantly given to us by God. So....let's keep marching on for Him. I am excited that we have done the things we need to but yet another trip to the Building Planning, and Zoning folks this morning after my meeting with Keith St. Clair yesterday is in the works, but God will work things out, so again, the people He's placed in my path to help and encourage me are numerous.  We are nearing our "debut" for the new building, so it's just like God to do some extraordinary things to put us in there!

Well here I am again trying to make up for not posting in such a long time; I just seem to either forget to post or just not take the time to record all the things God is doing and so much has happened since my last post in January. God is good and has been leading me and Life Pointe by making sure we see what direction to take as we prepare our new building on Williamson Road. And even though we might have been a little surprised by some things (like the roof leaking) we still know that God has His hand on us and what He has called us to do. So....for lack of a better way to record everything maybe I should just try to list the things that come to mind. and I can even begin with today or this morning, more specifically, when a couple of people decided to join Life Pointe, so things are good so I better get to listing!
1.  This morning, after the Sunday service, I was encouraged to have Chris and Karrie Sheppard decide to join Life Pointe, that is, they wanted to become members. That was great! And Chris and Karrie are related to Ben and Nikkie so hopefully Lucas and Renee and everyone will enjoy being together at the same church and being in the same family!
2. Yesterday we moved the front counter at Life Pointe's new building, which was very heavy and awkward to do but it now looks a lot better.
3. This past week, we had to deal with several leaks that have popped up at our new building; not that I am complaining because God knows all, and I fully accept everything that has came to pass but I will admit, the past few weeks have been a little tough at times. We have had to rip out all the carpet and put up many trash cans to catch the water and shovel snow, yes shovel snow, off the roof the building. So it has been an exciting past 2 weeks. But we have also finally patched up a few holes and it seems to be holding for awhile, but we still have work to do. The only estimate we have had so far is from Melvin T. Morgan and it was for....(are you sitting down, even as you read this?) $22, 750! I couldn't believe it either; so I have called several companies to get more estimates. So we'll see what happens and I know God is in control, so He will provide!
4. We had our very first service in the new building 2 weeks ago on February 16th, so it was very exciting on how God provided! It had snowed so we needed the parking lot plowed and it just so happened a former student of mine, Joe Casey, volunteered to come to that even though I did not ask him to. So while we were in Richmond for Lindsey, Joe called and offered to plow the lot. So I called him back and then when we got back to Roanoke, we went past the church parking lot and Joe was even there plowing as we came by. We talked and then I sort of felt bad to tell Joe that we had not moved into the building yet but would appreciate the lot plowed. As it turns out, we did need the lot plowed because the city of Roanoke had now plowed the school lot. So...in God's infinite wisdom He provided a place where we could celebrate our 4th Church anniversary plus worship in our new building showing folks what it looked like.  The next day was when the 2 foot snow started melting and leaking through the roof but at least we had one service in it before we had to work on the leaks.
5. We continue to prepare the building and await this week for God to provide for our needs. It's exciting to be in this position because God will have to show Himself mighty but I know He can do that; He already has.
I think that sort of catches up on my posts so until next time! I just can't believe we have been Life Pointe Church for as long as we have and also have been holding services for 4 years now. God is good! And the best is yet to come!

Tonight was a very special night in the life of Life Pointe Church. We gathered together, 22 of us in all, to dedicate the building, that is remodeling, demolition, and then construction on the building that will soon be the new home of Life Pointe Church. It was very exciting to see 22 people, of all ages come out to pray, eat, fellowship, and then tear down a few walls! It was very exciting to see the enthusiasm of the people and of what God is going to do!  I just don't ever feel like I give the Lord enough credit and praise for giving me the people that He has that make up Life Pointe Church!  I am blessed, humbled, and excited to be their pastor.

I can't believe I am finally able to type this entry on my blog page but here it is: TODAY WE ACHIEVED COMPLETION AND RECEIVED PERMISSION TO START WORK AND SOON MOVE IN TO OUR NEW CHURCH BUILDING!! I was so excited yesterday when I knew today would be the "closing" day but I wanted to wait and make sure and so today I called Tammi Woods the lady who helped us already change the occupancy rate by letting us include a potential 20% of our folks that come to Life Pointe as walk ups or bus riders so our rate went from 68 to 85; so today I called her to let her know the front of the building would remain "as is" and so after confirming that with her, she let the folks in the planning office know and so....I was able to go down and "close the deal" so to speak and finally get our permission notice or approval and work permit.  It was so exciting that I wanted to pray right there in the office but I just decided to do that in the car. And a woman named Jill Caldwell, was very helpful and made it so the church does not have to pay real estate taxes; that will save the church thousands of dollars so it was a good day indeed in the continual progression of us getting into our new church building and seeing God's Hand of blessing and provision.  Praise the LORD! I look forward to announcing the great news this Sunday!

Well, here I go typing one of the most important messages that I have ever typed since beginning this blog page 6 years ago! Wow, it must be a BIG announcement, you may be thinking....and you'd be absolutely right! After weeks and weeks and now months and months, and applications, appraisals, approvals, and lots of forms filled out and lots of talks and planning....when I came in today from driving students....Ginny told me that Bane Compton had left a message for me.  So I turned around and called him immediately and he then told me if I would just call one more person in the morning and tell them one more thing via the email route, then I could finally come downtown at the Planning office and pick up my.....are your ready? I could pick up the Certificate Of Occupancy and our Work Permit to finally be able to start work on remodeling the church!!! How exciting is that??? So we have finally come to the point of starting work and soon moving in! It really is hard to believe.....God has taught us much a a church and certainly taught me a lot to increase my faith....May we continue on with God's blessing and be full speed ahead looking forward to what God has in store for us!  Praise the Lord! 

Today is January 7, 2014; tomorrow will be the 8th and also the day that 16 years ago my Daddy left this earth to go and be with Jesus in heaven. I certainly miss him but glad he and my Momma can be together in heaven enjoying the presence of Jesus! I am sure they would both be proud of what we are doing at Life Pointe and knowing Daddy he would have his hammer and saw wanting to help us remodel and build a nice church and one that we can all be proud of.  With so much time gone since my last post on November 22, 2013, it's hard to recall all the things that have taken place since then. I know I should do a better job of just listing a few things, rather than wait and try to mention them all. But alas.....I will try to name a few things with some of them being very, very, exciting knowing we are getting closer to being in our new church home.

1. On December 31, (My Momma's birthday) just a few weeks ago, I finally handed in all the things I needed to hand in to the city planning office so they could give us permission to start work on remodeling. That requires that we have a CO, Certificate of Occupancy and of course a work permit too.  It was just hard to believe but felt so good that I finally had  e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g ready to hand in; the revised plans; the certificate for asbestos; the form mentioning our planned changes to accommodate the ADA requirements; and the latest form showing we had taken care of all the necessary changes required.

2. I might mention that I had already turned in our plans once but the person in charge, Bane Compton, had asked for some clarifications from Hughes & Associates about certain points they had not made clear on the first set of plans. At least they didn't charge us since they had left off the details required by the city folks. Of course some of the things were fine but there is one particular thing that I hope can stay the way it is and that is a fixture in the men's bathroom.

3. One of the things Hughes & Associates had previously mentioned was that we could only have 68 people in our building. When I figured that we could at least have 85 they didn't exactly agree with that since there are only 17 parking spaces at our building and each space is allowed 4 people thus equally the 68 they mentioned in their original plans. I called and Bane Compton told me "let's see if I can put you in touch with someone who can help you." He did give me a number and so I called and left a message with a woman who knows about such matters. She called me back in the afternoon at about 2:00 and I normally would have been in class or driving so that would have been tough; but God, like He so often does, make a way! As I was coming out to drive, the fire alarm sounded at Salem High School and so I was not able to leave as I was going to, and was instead able to wait for a few minutes and talk to the lady who did in fact help me. She said because some people may take public transportation or walk up to the church (the exact things I told Ginny about the week before when I questioned the previous number) she was able to add 20% or so. She asked "how many people did you think you could have?" and when I said 85 she said, "let's see...85 times 20 percent would be 17 and 17 plus 68 would be..."..........you guess it...85! The exact number I had in mind! isn't God great???!!!  So that was taken care of!

4. On December 31, 2013 we also held a prayer meeting at our building. Along with the good food and the planning by Jim, Brian, and Angel and myself, we also had Ginny, Beth, Marjory, and Carley and Beatrice, someone kin to Angel. I was just glad we could get together and ask God's blessing on our building and on His working on the people who He would bring to us.

Today is January 7, 2014 and I visited the City of Roanoke's office and handed in our exemption letter to keep from paying real estate taxes and found everyone I spoke to today was as usual, very nice to me. It would appear God's favor continues to rest on me as I seek the approval of the powers that be in the city offices. So while all this has taken time, a lot of time it seems, nevertheless, things are progressing and by the end of this week....we may....just may....be in our building!