Maiden Voyage. . .

I am creating a blog so that our friends and family, both immediate and extended can keep up with the latest events of our lives easily. . . .We are entering into a new season of life. . .Our oldest son- Austin leaves for a year of military service in Iraq on April 26th and his wife of one year, Brittany will be living with us. . .August, our youngest son has graduated from high school and is traveling all summer as a staffer with WorldView Academy. He will be traveling to 7 different college campuses in the Western USA from June 1 till August 12. . .and Georgia is completing her first year of nursing school, and has trips planned to Ghana (with Mom and Brittany) in May and a trip to China (with Dr. Dan and Linda Wilson and Kelli Criner). . .so with all of us being scattered in so many different directions, maybe blogging can bridge the gap. . .

We are definately NOT empty nesters right now, as we have 4 college age girls planning to live with us this summer - -Georgia, Brittany, Jenna Jones (one of Georgia's friends) and Breanna Irvin (one of August's friends), so the house will be busy and Todd is thankful that he has his motorcycle now so that he can ride off into the sunset when the female influences get too strong!

I guess the thing that God is teaching us the most right now is about "loving my neighbor" and "loving the one in front of you.". . .both concepts sound so simple, but yet how do we literally do it on a daily basis in our own neighborhoods and with people God puts in our path. . . .We've been listening to a lot of Frances Chan sermons lately (cornerstonesimi.com-- listen to the recent sermon -- "Gospel Conference #5" for starters, or any of the "Living a life That Matters" series or on youtube.com "Lukewarm and Loving it"sermon) and I don't have any answers yet, but I do know that I was so convicted about reaching out to my neighbors that I made muffins for all of them. . and the responses were varied. . some were excited and interacted for a while and some took the muffins and quickly shut the door. . but really, how can we do ministry in every other area of the the city, nation, world and not reach out to the people living closest to us. . .I have to confess that we have lived in this neighborhood for almost 2 years and we have had very few interactions with our neighbors. . .so here we go. . ."Loving our neighbors" literally, "Loving the one in front of you" as Jesus puts people in our path. . .and "Loving the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your mind.". . . .

Blessings to you and see you next time. . .

bonnie and todd