Celebrations!

Taking a road trip...

...St. Louis Arch...

...Crossing the Mississippi River...

...Missouri roads...

CFA's New Steeple

Dedication Day Worship Celebration

Greeting Mayor Fred Armstrong

Introducing my mom

Doug Clay making a point

Dedication Altar Time

Karl & Cindy Fleig, Tammy and I, Mom, Doug Clay

Fellowship Time over Lunch

Judy Hanson, great volunteer

Deyo and more workers

Marcia and a plate of sandwiches

My CFA Dedication Ball with CFA Member Signatures

Found a visible spot on my office booksheves!

It's been over two weeks since my last blog. In all reality, it's been a flurry of activity around here, both home and at church...plus I needed a little "blog" break too!

Two weeks ago my daughter Ashlyn and I took a road trip to Nixa, Missouri. We were headed for Grandma's house to pick her up for our Church Dedication Day. Our mini-van was turned into a little RV, according to Ashlyn, as we removed two of the captains seats which provided her her own space. She loved the room to lay down and watch videos and eat her munchies. Trip took about eight hours and before you knew it we were pulling in to Grandma's house; spent the night and then did it all over again the next day to return back to Columbus! Great time with my daughter and on the return trip with my mother. Those moments were priceless!

Sunday, June 7th was the much anticipated Dedication Day for CFA (Columbus First Assembly). It was exactly one year ago to the day that our church was completely flooded out by the Flood of 2008. The flood washed out a good portion of our city and wreaked tremendous havoc too. But in the last twelve months we have learned to trust God for each new day and for each provision needed in this long journey of faith in putting our church back together. June 7th was a day of celebration! It was a great day as we recognized the faithfulness of our Great God, as we honored all the companies and workers that labored on our facilities, and as we rejoiced in the completion of our fully rebuilt regional worship center. I was honored to have a classmate of mine at CBC, Doug Clay, serve as our Dedication Speaker. Doug presently serves our fellowship as the General Treasurer and sits on the Executive Leadership Team as well. His message was a great challenge to our church.

Sunday, June 14th launched the next big event here @ CFA: a Kid's & Family Explosion with the Jubilee Gang. It was an outreach that replaced our normal VBS annual outreach, since all our VBS supplies were washed away in the flood of last year. The three nights were enjoyed by children and parents too. The greatest thing that occurred this week was that 18 kids gave their hearts to Jesus Christ and were born agin. Nothing better than that!

Sunday, June 21st is Father's Day. Gonna be another great service with the people, and especially every father, here @ CFA.

The summer is here and my family has been going here and going there. Work, summer school, school band practices, youth camp and ministry activites are flying around. Each one is staying busy. Got to schedule a family get-away real soon. We look forward to our mini-vacation every year.

Remember the bird nest on my front porch? Well, each little one has grown up and flown out already with a quick flight lesson from their mother. We were amazed at the rapid growth of these little babies bodies that overtook their tiny nest and quickly were deployed out to who knows where...

Take care and be blessed.

Much love to all!