update (part 2) personal life

One word can summarize my personal life lately; strength.  I have had to rely on the strength of the Lord, like never before.  I have come to a greater understanding of my inadequacies and of His ability to work on and through me.  I am continually challenged by Scripture and my relationships with other Christ followers to walk further, run faster, and jump higher than ever before.  Here is what is going on in my personal life.

1. I am more faithful than I have ever been in reading the Bible and praying.  

2. I am being stretched to be continually giving of myself; time, energy, emotion, and money.

3. Cameron is 9 months old now.  He has become an incredibly smart, funny, and beautiful little boy already!  He crawls like a maniac, stands up on his own (close to walking), waves and does more fun tricks.  I am so blessed to have him in my life. 

4.  Christie is three months pregnant.  She is nursing Cameron and has a growing baby in side of her.  Her body has a  lot of work to do!  It is very good that she is able to stay at home.

5.  I am working 40-50 hours a week for the church and another 18 at Starbucks.

6.  After this semester, I will have 18 hours left for my masters!

7.  I am incredibly out of shape and have battled with a good plan to change that over the past year.  I am currently working on a new one.  

8.  I have made some great friends through my involvement in mosaic church of Crestview.

9. As a result of the popularity of our churches nomorechristians.com teaching series, i have several non-Christians who listen to my teaching regularly.  This has provided some cool opportunities.

10. I wish my friends and family from the Jacksonville/Starke area could pack up and move to Crestview.

what you can pray for

Christie and I's relationship.  This is a stressful time for us and we have to be intentional about working on our marriage.  We are both immature and struggle with being the spouse that we need to be.

Christie and I having two kids that are 15 months apart.

Our personal finances. It has been tough for Christie to stay at home.

My continual trust in God's provision and sovereignty.  

Increased opportunities and influence to use the gifts that God has given me.

Thank you so much for your support and love of Christie and I.  God has used so many of you to strengthen us to do the overwhelming tasks that He has called us.

First Assembly

You can not drive through Crestview without noticing our town's First Assembly of God.  If I were looking for a Church, First Assembly would definitely be one of the churches that I would consider checking out.

First Assembly has the most impressive church (or of any kind) facilities in Crestview.  Their buildings are extremely cool and seemingly offer a lot of options for families.  

The church also seems to have a wide variety of ministries.  From a motorcycle group, to a skate park, several youth drama teams, and a passionate women's ministry.   

While it does not take a lot to notice that the church has been blessed with finances, something a lot of people may not know is that they spend a lot of money on Missions.  They have personally invested great sums into spreading the Gospel throughout the world.  I also know that during the middle of their building (which is when churches "need" $$ the most) they gave another church in Crestview $10,000 to help with their building.  That is definitely something that is rare in churches.

I don't know Pastor Mark English personally, but he has been extremely successful in getting many people to sacrifice great amounts of their time and money to help accomplish the vision that God has given him.  He has also inspired passion for spreading the love of Christ to many people. These are signs of a great leader.

So, if you are looking for a place to go to church in Crestview.  Check out First Assembly, I would.

www.crestviewag.org

and then there were four!!

That is right; Christie and I are having another baby!

We are so blessed to have an amazing first and oldest child, Cameron.  He is truly incredible and I am confident that he will be a terrific big brother.   

The next addition to the Ross clan is due to arrive at the beginning of February.  

Cameron and _____ will be 15 months apart!  Pray for Christie as she is at home with a baby (which is crawling and close to walking) and is pregnant. 

The level of excitement in our already crazy life is definitely about to increase drastically, but we are trusting in God's provision and His grace to cover our lives!

back from vacation

I am a list guy..... here is a list of five things I learned on my extended trip to Jacksonville!

1. I really love my family and as dysfunctional as they can be (whose isn't), I am glad that they have played a part in my life.

2. Really good friendships are hard to find and sometimes hard to keep going.  However, their are certain friendships that will be strong forever!

3. I really love having wireless internet at my house.

4.  If home is where the heart is........ Crestview is HOME!

5.  It is so fun to be a part of mosaic church - Crestview.  I missed it even more than I thought would!

weekend recap

Mosaic 5K

We had 247 participants in the 1st ever Mosaic 5k!!!!!!!!

The unofficial amount of money we raised is just under 5K dollars!

-all proceeds benefiting the Crestview Pregnancy Center and the building of  a well in Mali, Africa.

I am so proud of Kinetta (race director) and all of our volunteers that made it happen!

Worship

I think that week 2 of "no more christians" was the best overall worship service we have ever had!

It was cool to meet people who have been to church once or twice in the last 10 years! (It seems like this is starting to be a regular thing!)

1 year celebration

We had a great time of hanging out, eating good food, singing together, and sharing what God has done over the past year!

I am so excited about what God has done, is doing , and is going to do through our Church!

Cameron

His second tooth appeared this weekend.  It is so bittersweet to see him grow up!

I love my family so much!

God

Is so good and so real on a personal level!

IN THE HOUSE!!!

On October 29th of this year, my life changed. My wife and I (more so my wife) gave birth to our first child, Cameron Daniel Ross. As most parents would agree, words cannot describe how incredible it feels to hold your child (something that you created) in your hands.

I am filled with excitement because this young man has so much ahead of him and at this point in his life anything is possible. I am nervous because I don't want to screw him up too bad to stop him from being able to follow His dreams. By the grace of God, I think that I will be alright in this.

As the definition of my family has taken a drastic change, I cannot help but think of the many families that are struggling right now with financial stress, divorce, and many other things. It is a great time of uncertainty in our country and in our churches.

So, for the next five weeks we are going to look into the foundation of our country, the homes across America. I invite you to mosaic church's worship gathering as we go IN THE HOUSE and I ask you to keep your heart opened that God may cause a drastic redefinition of priorities, marriage, parenting, communication, and serving one another in your family.

I believe God is going to do some incredible things in our lives if we allow Him!

money

The most common thing that Christians refuse to give to God is their money. People say that they love God with everything they have, but refuse to obey Him and sacrifice finances. They blame pastors, churches, situations, and who knows what else.

But the reality is that God doesn't hold us accountable for others actions, He holds us accountable for our devotion to Him. According to the Bible, we are robbing God by not sacrificially giving to the Church as an act of worship.

"Tithing" has changed my character. It can change yours.

Don't rob yourself of the joy of trusting God financially.

PS: Don't blame God for you financial situation if you haven't put it in His hands.

a new air conditioner

My wife and I have been with out air conditioning in our home for 12 days and it has been really, really hot here. Did I mention that my wife is five months pregnant?
After much time was spent on the phone and waiting for technicians (plural) to examine the problem, we found out that our compressor had burnt out since it is the original unit on a 15 year old house.
We could save money and fix the problem or we could spend three times that amount and get a whole new system. We went with the new system.

How many people live their walk with Christ in this way? How many people fix a problem and put an improved part of their life into an old and warn out soul; only to face another major problem in 1-2 years, when they should be transformed into a new creation?

"It may cost a lot more but its definitely worth it in the long run." - Tony the AC guy

(by the way our a/c should be fixed on friday)