And Even the Adults Too Shall Eat Cake!

Today our family celebrates the anniversary of the birth of our matriarch (that means it's Susan's birthday for those who didn't follow that). As you can see in the above photo, Ally made her mom a delicious red velvet cake which we sampled before she left for work Sunday night. It was awesome! So moist you could barely cut it with a knife with homemade cream-cheese icing. I think Ally's baking skills should become a traditional part of our "cake-eating" ritual.

I am very proud to call Susan my wife and the mother of my children. There is not a more perfect picture of God's grace on the planet. She and I have shared every possible emotion.

The loss of our first child, then the birth of our first son and daughter. Just when we thought we had "our family" in-house, God saw fit to literally "give" us another daughter. When our plan was to become foster parents in order to bless others, God saw fit to instead bless us with our little angel, Alex. Then, just eight months ago, we got to experience the birth of our youngest (and last!) son, Eli.

Susan is the best friend anyone could ever hope for. She works as a hospice nurse and has selflessly worked to help support our family during my time of unemployment. I have witnessed her come to the aid of family, friends, and patients alike whenever asked and never expect anything back in return.

Like most marriages, our fifteen-plus years together has at times been a roller-coaster, but there's no one else I'd rather ride it with. When something is truly God's will, not even satan himself can change it.

Thanks for the ride honey! I love you!

Happy birthday!

Celebrate the life God gave you.....and "eat cake!"

Michael

Sunday Review 9/27/09

WOW!
Awesome service this morning all the way around.

The day kicked off with our children's choir sounding as good as I've ever heard them. And, I must say, our little Alex was just adorable singing along on the front row. I didn't even know that she knew those songs! Also, the two little girls that sang solos both have beautiful voices...we'll be hearing from them again soon!

Praise and Worship was great as well. "Blessed Be Your Name" is definitely one of our church's favorites.

Then, to conclude our musical portion of the service, our lady's choir provided the icing on the cake. I'd been looking forward to this one since we practiced it last Wednesday. Our ladies' voices were just angelic. Hands down the best I've heard from an all-ladies choir!

Great job young and old (okay..."older") alike!
I'm already looking forward to next week!

In Christ,
Michael

The West End Music Challenge 2009

I would like to officially issue a challenge to all West End choir members:

Within the Next Two Weeks, invite one person to join our choir!

I already spoke to my target yesterday, and I know some others already have their sights set on someone. Let's make it a group effort! Just invite one new person to help us with the Christmas cantata...I'll worry about trying to retain them after that!

Happy Hunting!

Sunday Review 9/20/09

Another good service yesterday. It looked like attendance was up a little to me. We only had three empty seats in the choir loft, and I can easily name three "regulars" who were not with us yesterday! I'm looking forward to the day when we need to add more chairs up there! Something tells me it won't be long...

The choir sounded terrific; much better than the last time we tried that song! That day, myself, along with every other man present, forgot to sing the second verse. The one labeled, "Men Only!" I think maybe I overcompensated and oversang yesterday to make sure it didn't happen again.

The Praise Team was good, but it just never feels the same without the drums. I really miss Terry when he can't make it! I just don't understand those churches who believe percussion instruments were spawned by satan...they should probably look "under the hood" of their pianos (ask me to explain if you don't get that, lol).

I'm already looking forward to next week's service! See you Wednesday!

In Christ,
Michael

Let Them Eat Cake...Part II

Another birthday has come and gone...Our oldest daughter, Ally recently celebrated her 12th birthday. Consequently, she participated in her first volleyball game at her middle school on that same day. As one of the starters, she has been designated as the "setter". We are so proud of her. She is quite the competitor and loves most any sport. We're so glad that she always has a great attitude and displays wonderful sportsmanship.

Ally entered our lives on September 9th, 1997 as a healthy, bouncing bundle of joy. Our blonde bombshell has been referred to quite often by our family, as "Blondina". Ally is kind to others, intelligent, and full of compassion. She typically roots for the underdog and thrives on helping others and pleasing those in authority. She was voted captain by her volleyball team and was recently chosen as an FCA leader. (Fellowship of Christian Athletes)

For her birthday this year, she requested an IceCream Cake along with one of her favorite meals, Taco Soup. Her daddy and I happily obliged. Her oreo blizzard cake made its way to our home and straight to our mouths! Surrounded by family, she blew out the candle signifying another year had passed by. We look forward to celebrating many more years with Ally...our beautiful Blondina as she is lovingly called. Please pray for her as she continues to grow into a precious young lady and finds God's path for her life...and as I have said before, above all, celebrate the life God gave you in them and Let Them Eat Cake!!

Sunday Review 9/20/09

Once again, another good service yesterday. Congregation participation during our Praise and Worship time was as good as it's ever been, especially during the first set.

Our crowd really enjoys the more up-tempo songs; well, at least it seems most do. I thought we literally transitioned well from PRAISE with "You Are Good," to WORSHIP during "Draw Me Close."

Justin's special was good as always and was a fitting conclusion to the music part of our service (...except for that embarassing sound his guitar made initially, LOL).

Wednesday night, the choir will begin, in earnest, working on this year's Christmas contata. I'm looking forward to this Christmas season already!

See you soon!
In Christ,
Michael

Sunday Review 9/06/09

Man, I LOVE a 3-day holiday weekend...but I HATE the 4-day work week that follows! Am I the only one that feels a day behind already this week?

This past Sunday (was it just two days ago?) was one of our ordinary services.
...Perhaps it's just me, but I'm looking forward to God giving us an extra-ordinary service pretty soon. We have had a few of those in the past in case you might have missed them and I'm sure there will be more to come.

Anyway, I thought things went well musically. The choir was good and the praise team members present stepped up for those who were unable to attend due to illness, births, or vacations. We have become quite versatile in the past several months in that regard.

I was, once again, very proud of my family for our medley, "Cherish the Cross." I am very blessed to not only have a talented family, but especially blessed that they are all willing to use those talents for the Lord. I think we should hurry and teach Alex and Eli an instrument so they don't feel left out!

Although I have always made it a practice to NOT comment on sermons, I will make an exception and say that I thought Justin did an exceptional job this past week. It is very refreshing to hear it said from the pulipt that we should all seek out our own God-given ministries and not always seek out the church's approval or endorsement. Far too many church's attempt to "lay claim" to every members individual efforts in order to make themselves look good or attract larger numbers. Our bigger inspiration should be to labor for the "church of the living God"...not necessarily just West End Baptist Church. Well done and well said, Justin!