If you are still coming here, then shame on you! Go to my new blog.

This is a sort of "state of the union" kind of thing... the year in review and what is ahead.

2003 has been a tough year. From the Horizon pastor position falling apart, to moving twice, to my brother Jack losing his battle with a brain tumor... man, I hope I don't have to go through another year like this.... ever! Turmoil, confusion, frustration, lose...

I'm sure Alicia and I will look back on it and see how it grew us, and see what God was doing. There have been times in the past year that it felt pretty much impossible to know anything God was doing. But I have learned some stuff. I have learned a lot about myself. I have learned some about being true to who God has made me to be. I have learned a lot about the type of ministry I am supposed to be doing. I have learned that the only thing I have any control over is this present moment. I have control over my attitude and my focus... and that is pretty much it. I have learn that you should never feel sorry for yourself, because it cripples you.

Well... 2003 is officially over... and it is time to move on. This will be my last post with Blogger. I am moving my online activities to our new website SimplePilgrimage.org and my new blog there. There is still much design work to be done on the website and blog, but it is functional at this point. Hopefully I'll figure out how to import all these posts into the new blog and they will be in the archives in the near future. God bless you and keep you this coming year!

We are now back home after a pretty long day. We stopped by my parent's place before coming here to chit-chat a bit and get our presents from my grandparents.

Boston keeps coming up in conversations... much more so than any other city. It came up again while talking to Deb and Thomas on Sunday night. We need to be more serious about praying about it.... I think God may be trying to tell us something.

Been a busy couple of days. Yesterday we headed down to Stafford, Virginia to attend the wedding of my friend Kim Meadows to her now husband Tony Mesida. Well, we got stuck in HORRIBLE traffic and missed the entire ceremony. So we just right to the reception, which was nice. Kim has finished her Masters from Southeastern and Tony will finish his PhD in preaching from New Orleans in May. They seem like a good fit for each other. I'll put some pictures in our photo album when I get home.

From there we came down to see Alicia's family. We did the whole Christmas thing here last night at like 1AM. It is a very different experience than it is with my family. They are really fun people. We'll be here until Tuesday.

Wow, Alan Creech went off last night about postmodern and emerging church... definitely worth a read.

Well, it's almost been one and a half years since we got married... and just this morning did I get a good photo album online. I scanned in 105 pictures, I hope you enjoy them. There are also some Christmas photos in their own album. And now that I have a digital camera(Christmas present from Alicia) expect to see more photo albums show up.

I have been thinking some lately of what it means to be post-reformation. The Reformation, you know, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Urlich Zwingli and all them... it was so tied to the Enlightenment. What does that mean for us now that we are moving beyond the Enlightenment? We are starting to restore what was lost when the Enlightenment came. I see the same thing happening in the post-reformation church. Communal living, set times of prayer, common scripture readings, an emphasis on faith and works(obedience)... It has been interesting to see and it is interesting to think about.

I just found out this morning that my old friend/pastor JR Woodward has a blog. Thank you Clay for mentioning it on the message board.

Merry Christmas everyone! Alicia and I were up early and opened our presents from each other. She is so adorable! She is now napping and it's not even 8 yet. Today we are going to Northern Virginia for a lunch/dinner thing, then back to my parent's place for some family time... and then I think we are going to stop by the Dehring's place to say hi. Gonna be a busy day. Happy Birthday Lord!

Merry Christmas eve! We have had an enjoyable day so far. I slept in some while Alicia worked this morning. Then we went shopping for our final gifts. It was nice to just be out together... we weren't stressed or rushed, just out. After things got done this afternoon we took a nap together on the chair in our living room. Now we are getting ready to go to Joy's place for a party. It has been a very enjoyable day with my incredible wife!