Divine Appointments.....

Yesterday, Rick was driving around the community and just praying. We've really been asking God for some divine appointments, for Him to show us people that are hurting and in need of someone to reach out to them. Well, later in the afternoon, Rick went into a Subway shop not far from us. Before he left, a truck pulled in and a man got out and came into the shop. He said when he saw the man, he knew he was the one! Well, he just kind of hung around for a little bit waiting for the right opportunity and it came. He opened the door by just talking about the guy's truck and one thing led to another. Rick ended up talking with the man for an hour and half. He began sharing things and Rick was sharing back. He is a young man, married with three children. He is a Christian and has been for four years, but just hasn't had any fathering or mentoring in his life. He even called Rick later in the evening to share something else with him. DIVINE APPOINTMENTS! And that wasn't the first, we've had a few others this week. God is good!

We shall reap if we don't lose heart...

A good friend shared this scripture with me in an email last week. She shared that it was a scripture that she had been holding on to but it spoke loud to me as she shared it. Galatians 6:9, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." Thank you friend for sharing that word with me. I know you didn't necessarily mean it for me, but I received it and it blessed me. You know who you are!

Today, we had a fun little venture. We went to a Franklin Covey store! Yes, we have one in Nashville. Now to some of you, I know, it's just a reason to laugh at us "paper sniffers" but it was shear delight for me! And in the process, I found out that, as much as she's tried to hide it, Ashley possess the same obsession with paper and office stuff as I do. It was exposed today! I was so proud of her!













Kristi, can't you just smell it???




























Just look at the adoration on her face!!!
That's mama's baby!





























Well, after making friends with the sales people in the Franklin Covey store (we tried to go get coffee and sit down with them for the afternoon, but...they had work to do...we even offered to stock for them! haha) we went to Starbucks just a few doors down. We had a little down time sipping iced tea while Ashley put her new planner together. (Yes, she did actually need a refill, hers ran out). So, we just sat together, chatted, while I compulsively took pictures of everything I could find.


















We took off on a little drive to the downtown area. One of our favorite areas of Nashville. So much to see and do. Lots of great photo opportunites!





































Did I say we love it here? Oh, yeah I think I did already. Sorry!

Love you all. Don't lose heart!!!!

Grand Ole Opry

Some of you have asked about the Grand Ole Opry so we thought we'd just share a few pictures. I showed one last week of the original Opryhouse, the Ryman Auditorium. Here's a few shots of the current Grand Ole Opry.

Love the guy in the suspenders! Doesn't he just fit in the picture?
Aren't these just 'sa cute?












Ya'll come back now, ya' hear! (Somebody, stop me!) Haha.

Just Random Pictures...

Is this not the sweetest picture? This was at Alex's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese.















These were waiting for me when I woke up on Mother's Day. Just loved the colors in the red pitcher.














And of course, our second child, Max...just playing with his toys.



See the family resemblance?












Angela feed this boy!
















Just having a great Wednesday! Hope you all are too. Again, we love you all and miss everyone. We'll post again tomorrow.

What a Great Day!

We had a great holiday. We went to spend the day with Rick's parents. They live about an hour north of Nashville. When we got up on Monday morning, the skies were overcast and dark but by the time we left Nashville it was sunny. But look what we drove right into....

...and this was with the wipers ON!








But look at our view on the way back....















Rick's mom prepared a great meal for us all and we so enjoyed just being cozy inside with the rain outside. Not a typical Memorial Day but it was great!













I love this picture of Rick and his mom....they both look so happy!














Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day. We love and miss you! We'll be back soon!

Happy Monday!

Well, we have another Sunday service done. We had a great service. We're so full of vision for this place. It's amazing because we can literally see every seat filled. We know God is going to bring the increase. We had some new people today. They seemed very interested and enjoyed the service. We're meeting new people throughout the week and inviting everyone we come in contact with. We are praying for divine appointments as we're out and about during the week. We know we have an assigned harvest here.

Here's a few more pictures from this week.

















Just wanted to wish everyone a great holiday! Enjoy your day....spend it with people you love!

Miss you and love you all.

We are praying for you Ron & Debbie....

Our love and prayers go out to Ron and Debbie Reno. We are sorry about the loss of your mother. We will continue to pray for you in the days to come. Take comfort, Ron, knowing that she is in the arms of God and you will see her again in heaven some day. We love you.

Here We Go Again!

Today's another Saturday! Set up at the school! Yes, it's a lot of work. We have to go in and basically re-create. From setting up the backdrops, to making new lighting, and that's not counting what we have to do for the children's area. But that's ok because with every step, we are believing and speaking over our assigned harvest here in Bellevue.















Last night, Ashley and Travis went out to celebrate their one year anniversary of being together (ahhh, young love!). Anyway, they went to the Frist Center for the Arts (an art gallery, pretty cool) and then they went to dinner at a restaurant called F. Scott's. It's a nice restaurant that has live jazz all the time. Congratulations Ash & Trav! We're so proud of both of you!














She came home so excited because there in the restaurant eating with his family and some others was Jay DeMarcus from Rascal Flatts. One of her favs....no she didn't bother them, she just let them have dinner like normal people with their family. We've had a few celebrity sightings since we've been here (well, not me exactly but others have.....) Travis saw Bo Bice in Guitar Center one day. He was just playing guitar with his brother, just hanging out in there. The salesman told Travis he comes in all the time. Jessica helped Faith Hill while she was at work at V.S. Rick saw someone else in Guitar Center another day but I can't remember who it was. They say that if you're around here for long, it's not a matter of "if" you see someone but "when".
It's fun!

Well, gotta go for now. But we'll be back after tomorrow's service with more pics probably and another update. Thanks for checking back. We love and miss you all!

Getting ready....

Today has been a productive day for us. We had our office time this morning just catching up on the week's paperwork and business. Rick met with another pastor from Bellevue for coffee. He just spent some time getting to know him and sharing vision. The pastor had heard about us starting up and had seen our ads so he called Rick and asked to meet with him. That was a good meeting.

We're gearing up again for the weekend. We had a meeting with the team last night to talk and prepare for the service this Sunday. We're expecting and getting ready....

I know it's a short post but we'll be back again soon! Love you all and miss you.

The Reigning Queen of Ms Pacman!!!

We said goodbye to our Fresno friends. They've all returned home. But not after we had a great day of fun together.


Our first stop...
Downtown Nashville for
some lunch and
a few sights!
























The Ryman Auditorium
The Original
Grand Ole Opry







Fun at the Mall!

















Yes, men can have fun
at the mall too!








And the girls had fun at the Betsey Johnson store!









Then it was on to pizza and arcade games!













AND THE REIGNING QUEEN OF MS. PACMAN......












We had such a great time! Thanks to all of you for being a part of this special weekend. It was like having a little bit of home here with us!