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!