"4:30, 4:30 in the mornin, tryin to find a way to get back to sleep"

Yes yes my friends we have once again arrived at, lets say it together FRIDAY!!!!



This week has been a little different instead of going in at 8 or 10 I went in at 1 A.M. Yes my shift started at 1 so please lift your jaw back up. HAHA

This was by far the most eventful and stressful but still it is so worth it

So where else would I:

Be called "darlin", "sweetie", "hun", and "sugar" over and over and over!!!

See people sober and drunk all in the same day

Cook Pita sandwiches for dozens of inebriated young people (and a few old)

Have 2 groups of 5 guys screaming at each other about to start a fight

See a 5'0' woman go out in the middle of the crowd yelling and screaming at them to stop

While she was doing that I dial 911, because I didn't think she was going to come back alive and a cop shows up (right after the guys leave (of course))

Have two guys try to tell me they already payed for their food then call me a racist and then threaten the young lady I work with, UNTIL I yell back at them, get in their faces and grab the phone (both of them were taller and bigger and I) and they immediately back down. (and apologize. And I told them I had no problem with them whatsoever and wished them a fun and safe rest of the night.

Please tell me when would I ever be in such situations, I know I know no where that is why I am so thankful for where the Lord has placed me.

Rick and Sonda did a great job (this was Sondas and my last night to work together (so sad) Rick and I have many more to go)

Yes this was an eventful evening (schools back in session) but a lot of things learned and the best part was I got to hang out downtown from 11-1 not working and just hanging out it was great to be there in that capacity and observe people.

PS I don't care what time it says below it is 4:41 on my clock hahaha Goodnight

PPS the typos are all apart of the aura of the "4:30 4:30 in the morning post"

"tonight, tonight, tonight hold tight"

In the words of the great theologian -Hank Willians Jr- "Are you ready for some football"

College Football begins today all across the country. From the smallest of schools that many of us haven't heard of to the largest ones that we see all the time.

Look at the culture around you, where do people spend their leisure time. Are sports something they take seriously? If so that does that mean for your Fri, Sat and or Sunday nights. If you live in an area of town where everyone goes to the game, than go to the game. High School, College, Pro. Basketball, Hockey, Football, Tennis etc, look into it.

Often times it means that we curb our preferred way of rec in order to be more strategic with our lives. So with all this said where are Abby and I going to be tonight.

We will be at the

Watching the NDSU Bison take on Austin Peay, hailing from Clarksville Tennessee. Don't worry I will update you on the outcome of the game but let me assure you the Bison are a great team and should be a formidable foe for Austin Peay.

"biggie"

Who on earth would ever say you don't need to plant a Church in Fargo, look at what is happening here in Fargo with NDSU and MSUM.

Here is our sister school in Grand Forks, UND (60 miles north of Fargo)

This community is busting with activity and here are Abby and I in the middle of it looking for in roads to people and culture. Today was a plasma day for me and I got to chat it up with 6 or so people telling them about what we are doing. Exciting stuff..

Abby is meeting lots of people at the Y, at the schools she is coordinating and also her workers are sweethearts at MSUM she is treating them to coffee and breakfast regularly.

My Pita Pit co-workers and I enjoy coffee together regularly, they are great!!

"Tweet, Twedidillideet, Tweet"

Hey team check out our Twitter account, we want you guys to know what all the Lord is doing and I think you will enjoy this..

www.twitter.com/missionfargo

"Follow me, everything is alright"

I have been reading through the book of Acts for a bit and I have noticed something about Paul. As he goes around to different cities, planting churches, strengthening churches, and preaching the Gospel, he always has guys traveling with him. Titus, Timothy, Apollos... there is always someone with Paul. Why does this matter?

One of the most influential books if have read is Robert Coleman's The Master Plan of Evangelism. Coleman presents what he believes is Jesus' method of evangelism, built upon discipleship. He presents 8 elements that constitute Jesus' method of evangelism. I'll save you a long summary of the book, you should pick it up and read it. The gist of what Coleman presents is that Jesus lived life with the men he was discipling. As they traveled around, Jesus taught them theology, ministry methods, and all kinds of other things. He gave them a reproducible, relationally based model for evangelism and discipleship.

What does this have to do with Paul and his companions? Well the way I see it is that what Paul did was much like what Jesus did. He brought guys along with him as he went from town to town, teaching them, equipping them, and empowering them to continue the ministry. We can see in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus that two of his disciples actually did continue the work he started and trained them to do.

This idea has been really challenging to me in thinking about church planting. If we want to see a movement start in Fargo we must seek out men we can train, equip, and empower to do the work. It is easy for us to build the work around ourselves, but I believe if we are to see the Church grow rapidly, we must learn from Jesus as Paul did. Whether we are planning our sermon, visiting a potential contact, sharing with a lost person, or what ever else it may be, we should seek out men who will walk beside us.

So my challenge to you who may be reading this: for those of you living as a missionary, take someone along with you, train them, equip them, and empower them; for those who are new to this missionary lifestyle, find someone you can follow and be a sponge as you follow them. Pray that God will bring about a movement as we seek to train, equip, and empower believers to live as missionaries.

"Let Us Pray, Let Us Pray" the Boys (and Girls) are Back in Town"

Well, it turns out that we don't live in an abandoned part of town. The streets are filled with students. Every inch of free side street and shoulder are taken up with students parking. Downtown was overrun with smiling friends and bummed out parents dropping their kids off for fun, adventerous, and as we all pray, safe times.

We can all remember our college years, Abby and I have had a blast sharing stories and reminiscing about our college days. I also can remember the terrible and stupid decisions I made. Abby and I have often said that we probably wouldn't have been friends because of how silly, stupid, and foolish I was my first year.

But thanks be to Christ that he held so tightly to me. I say all that to say for you to think back to those days, the decisions you made, and the things you did. For good and for ill, try to remember.

Then please join me in praying for the college kids here in Fargo. Join me in praying for their safety, friendships, course work, but most of all and infinitely more important, the impact of the Gospel on their lives. Pray that they will come to Christ and that they will flourish in Him. Below are the list of schools here in Fargo, you can check them out and read about them to better frame your prayers.

NDSU-North Dakota State University

MSUM-Minnesota State University Moorhead

Concordia College

Rasmussen College

Minnesote State Community College

University of Mary Fargo Center

"The Price You Pay"

Lately Abby and I have been weighing the price you pay to live a missional life. There are definite costs to being a missionary.

Two addendums need to be made.

One. This is not a shout out for any sort of support (but if the Lord leads you to then praise be to God)

Two. This is a not proclaiming the greatness of the Fishers, we are proclaiming the greatness of God

___________________________________________

There are certain things that have to sacrificed in a missional lifestyle. This is not exhaustive or set in stone, these are just some things we have seen.

1. Time at home

If you're like me, and you're a homebody then this will resonate with you.

Abby and I guard our time together vigorously. Something that we are missing in our quest to be missional and starting Churches through evangelism is things like meals at home, lounging in the living room. We still spend a lot of time together, but sadly it is while we are out. I love sitting in my recliner with Abby on the couch taking in a favorite show, watching a movie, or our personal favorite, sitting and talking. We make sure that we do most of the things, but for us it is a sacrifice to be out this much. We know that the Lord is great and gracious and sees fit for us to sacrifice.

2. Supply

Abby and I often experience the goodness of Christ in the way he provides for us. Of course he provides for all of us, no matter how much the richest person makes or how little the poorest person makes. Christ calls people to minister to all sort of different people, and the people he gave us a heart for are here in North Fargo. The Lord has supplied and continues to supply us with exactly what we need, exactly when we need it. But a missional life is often a call to small supply or a call to using the supply more than we would normally.

3. Relationship

We moved far far away from our friends and family. Now to live missionaly you don't have to move 18 hrs, drive time, or a $350 roundtrip plane ticket. But with us the Lord has called us to live a missional life in Fargo, ND. We hear from different people that we have made the wrong decision by moving so far away from our parents, siblings, college friends and people we have known for years. Is this a hard calling? Yeah, especially in light of the new life growing within Abby. Do we regret following Christ here to Fargo? An emphatic NO. His will for us is so obvious and we are so excited and his provision for family here in Fargo, friends here in Fargo has been overwhelming.

So what is the price that you pay to live a missional life?

Well you won't have to do all the things the way we did it. The Lord was obvious about his plan for us, so we followed but his plans are different for everyone. While the principles are the same, the way the principles are acted out are so very different.

How has the Lord been showing you he wants you to live a missional life? What do you need to sacrifice, finances, prestige, comfort etc? How you do it is so different depending on strengths, giftedness, life but the point is DO IT!

Do it and then look back together at what the Lord has done in and through you by your living a missional lifestyle.

"it's 4:30; 4:30 in the morning tryin to find a way to get back to sleep, 4:30 in mooorniiinn oohoo"

Well friends it's that time a the week again, yes yes it is bar night at the Pita Pit.

You can keep up with it on the MISSION FARGO TWITTER but I will recap.

206 Broadway N

Open Until 3 am Weekends!

Where else would I have





Been called sweetie, no sugar, no honey....... BY A MALE!





Witnessed a fight outside the front door





Hung out with the owner of Pita Pit for twelve hrs today





Talked about the deep things of life with Sonda





Seen the same group of kids I see every Friday night





Chatted it up with the security director of Dempseys





Gotten to know the Rooters security guys even better





Seen peoples need for the Gospel in person after person after person after person.

"Prepare ye the way"

It is a crazy time in the Robinson house (apartment). I have just started a few new endeavors. First off, I am doing an internship at a cool church in Franklin, TN (south of Nashville) called Ridgeview Community Church. The church is about 4 years old and has already been involved in planting 4 new churches (even one in Montana). Officially I am the Church Planting Intern, what that basically means is I am there to participate in the leadership and learn what all goes into church planting. I have been there for about 3 weeks and have already learned a few things. I foresee the Lord really doing some neat things in the next several months here at Ridgeview.

I have also recently started working with Lifeway Research. They do all kinds of cool research on all kinds of issues for pastors, lay folks, and anyone else who may be interested. It has been a pretty neat experience so far. I did some work on a this book by Brad Waggoner on spiritual formation. I actually saw a couple of interviews I did in the back of the book, which is kind neat. I have recently been working on a project with Outreach Magazine on the largest and fastest growing churches in America (by work I mean filing hundreds of emails, surveys, and other docs). I have a few thoughts from this study that I will share later on. I think I am going to really enjoy working with them.

Beyond these two ventures I am still a fulltime student at Southern and a fulltime husband to Pam and am working on getting things ready for moving to Fargo. I am excited to see what the Lord is going to do over the next year in preparing us to go. Stay tuned as we add updates and insights from our lives as church planters. Grace and Peace...

"keep on keepin on"

twitter.com/missionfargo

This is the latest installment for those of you who want to keep up with what is going on up here. We will be keeping up with a twitter account, the link for it is in the left corner of this page.

Thanks friends and family and please feel free to comment and ask questions about things you see.

Ode to a Mentor

There are those rare people in your life that you can say you would follow them into a burning building.

When I started at WKU it took no time at all to hear about Living Hope Baptist Church, a prominent local church. Living Hope was doing some major ministry on the campus and you could see the Lord at work through them.

At the time, the College Pastor was Jeff Carlisle. Jeff had started as an intern, became Children's and Youth minister, the Junior High and College pastor, then Jr High, College and Missions, then College and Missions and now he is the Missions pastor. Quite the job description for one person. All that to say, he has experienced a lot in church ministry and brings a wealth of wisdom to his current role.

When I was a sophomore, I became acquainted with Jeff via a ministry I was co-leading called Alive. Jeff became a great source of counsel for the ministry, and began a strong relationship with me. Soon after, during my junior year, I started to intern at Living Hope. Jeff and I would have times where I was laughing so hard my belly hurt, and 3 hour conversations where we are nose to nose disagreeing on all matters of subject, where I was usually wrong but isn't that the way it's supposed to be?

He would confront my sin but would also be the biggest encourager in my life. He and his precious family, including wife Mary Beth, daughter Annye and Maddie(I probably mispelled please forgive me), would invite me over weekly for meals, movies, and always great conversations. He helped me buy my first suit, used mentoring meeting as times for us to labor beside one another physically and ministerially,called me when I was on my first date with Abby just to see how it was going, presided over our wedding ceremony, took me on my first hospital visit, and taught me how to study the Bible. Through his mentoring, I have mentored others and they have mentored others and they have mentored others. The legacy trickles down and through his influence (and more so the Holy Spirit's prompting) we are here in Fargo and Living Hope is supporting us every step of the way.

He continues to mentor me even today. While time and distance changes some things, he doesn't hesitate to call me out on issues, but is always the first to call to see how we are doing and to encourage us. Even today, he and I corresponded via email on different issues.

What are the Church planting implications of this?

Through the obedient work of a mentor, the Lord worked to have Abby and I come to Fargo. We need mentors and we need to mentor. You don't have to go through some class to do this, you don't have to go through a 3 week training. Love God, love people, hold tightly to the scripture, and seek out those that you can raise up in the faith. This can be done by sharing the Gospel with non-Christians, seeing the Lord draw them unto himself, and calling you to be pivotal in raising them up. It could be a new Christian, an immature Christian, or someone who wants mentorship for you to mentor.

Check out www.livinghopewired.com ,specifically the missions page.

"out there is the shadow of the modern machine, walks St robinson and his cadillac dream"

In case you were wondering, I try to find song lyrics that go along with what I am writing about. This one is a stretch, so don't even try to figure it out.

So I got my hair cut yesterday, and had a fantastic experience. Rebekah at Great Clips did it, and she was an absolute delight. First off she was chatty (not like not cutting hair chatty but appropriate chatty), so that was a blast to talk with her. We talked about groceries, babies, tatoos, bars, beauty school, her sister, her history. It was pretty much fabulous, and to top it off, her sister came over, her sister is pregnant as well, and it was a blast getting to know her. She was telling me about these places where we can get discounted baby things, things like that. What a helpful resource. Something telling happened.

While her sister was telling me about a cheap/free clinic she said this.

"The clinic is run by a church (with an under her breath laugh). I mean, they're nice and all, but in order to go through the procedures you have to listen to them about your church and they will tell you to get married, but you don't have to do it, that's just their opinion"

Please excuse the brevity, but that's how it went down. I listened intently and studied both of them, and am just waiting for that God ordained time. We really hit it off and we have added into the strategy biweekly haircut with Rebekah and he sister Rachel.

__________________________________________________

On another note, I wanted to encourage all of you missionaries (Matthew 28:19, it hits us all).

Take notes, when you are out and about, running errands, drinking coffee, shopping, going to the park, movies, restaurants, or just in general hanging out, take notes of the people around, how busy is it, what time of day is it, what the people are like, how many, etc etc. Start coming up with a running portfolio and use it in your own quest to impact the culture you are in for Christ.

For instance:

I am at Babbs coffee shop at the corner of Main and Broadway. I have been here since 2 and there have been about 20 people in and out so somewhat steady but nothing huge. About 40% have been 50+ about 10% have been 18- and 40% have been in the 20-30 range. People come either to chat or to work so it has proven a little more difficult to get to chat with them. The workers are kind but the counter is so high and bulky that it makes it difficult to chat.

This is just an instance to try it out, and what would be really cool is if you would share on here what you discovered..

_____________________________________________

Finally, I am going to start putting up some Fargo-Moorhead specific web links for you guys to peruse. I would love for you to also get to know Fargo and the vast expanse of ministry oppurtunities that are here. Consider the Babbs one it for now.

"it's 4:30, 4:30 in the morning trying to get back to sleep"

So working from 8 P.M. to 4 A.M. is something special. I think I am going to make this a weekly fixture on the blog. Fri night/Sat Morn reflection.





Tonight/this morning I:


Met the boy friend of a gal that makes my coffee for me at Atomic


Was proposed to by a dude


Told I was "the man" (or other variations of that) not 1, 2, but 8X's


Cleaned the store from top to bottom


Had a fight picked with me 3X's


Got to know my asst manager a lot better

All in all it was a grand evening/morning. It is hard working the shift there is a lot of diet coke involved and if I am totally wiped a rockstar roasted (I am encouraging no one to partake of this beverage). Sometimes I think I could take over the world after I drink it.

The strategy still stands we are looking to make inroads with the culture through community involvement and job placement. Thus far we have seen a lot of good in this, we have met mucho people and these relationships are beginning to flourish. We realize that there is a certain amount of slowness that goes along with what we are doing. Thank you all for your prayers and I am off to bed, for it is 5 in the A.M. and my thoughts aren't making sense to me much less those of you reading this.

It's hard to get to know an entire generation, but The Arda has done a fabulous job with a research project they did on "Generation Next". I know I blogged on the Arda earlier this summer but I found this study while I was reading Ed Stetzer's blog. It is very telling and very interesting. PBS also has an interesting resource, while the terms Generation Next, Gen X Y Z, Postmodern, and Emerging last about as long as it takes to say them. The ages are somewhat similar.



Abby and I are particularly interested in this because of the people group(s) in which the Lord has placed us. I'll write more about this later but suffice to say we have been surprised in what we have found from some of our culture study.

"lend them a helping hand"

Connecting with other like minded passionate persons is something I take very seriously. The Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia for many reasons have my utmost respect. Today a group of men from this convention came to Fargo to talk about potential partnerships. We got to eat lunch together, talk about life and genuinely encourage and spur one another on. We then drove around the community and shared with them our passion for seeing this community churched. I spent a lot of time on the North End/downtown area of Fargo. And was it ever fantstic! They were so encouraging and convicting. Thanks to Jeff, Mark, Mark, Bill and Carl for taking the last few days off and coming out here to share life with one another and spur each other on to love and good deeds.

One of the pastors that came with them, Carl, drove the point so clearly and timely. Conventions don't plant churches, associations don't plant churches. Churches plant Churches. This is so true. There is a huge need for churches to set their desires and plans aside and sponser a church plant. Sponsoring new churches is a huge need here in the Dakotas. And you don't have to be here physically with us. You can help sponsor a new church through your financial donations, prayer support or time in coming to Fargo. Please wherever you are think about your church, whether you are on staff or in the pews. Speak to your church leadership about sponsoring a church plant.

Big news

BTW you need to read Abby's blog post as we have some big news.

(Who am I kidding? All of you already read my bride's blog, hehe.)

"time keeps on tickin tickin"

There's something scary about church planting but altogether exciting.

Many church planters live and die by the term "model". All throughout my training and schooling it was driven home that you have to have a model from which to work off of. If I haven't already, than I must mention Dr. J.D. Payne. While he gave me a fair share of C's, he became a great friend and even greater mentor. I was taking one of his classes when something huge slammed me. The class was all about methods and models but he so strongly sent the message home to not be presumptuous.

For so long it has been commonplace to go somewhere with rigid, exhaustive play by plays. We advocate something a little different and then let the culture, the people, the barriers, norms, and idiosyncrasies impact and, to some degree, dictate how we do it. "all kinds of Churches for all kinds of people", and I add, "that are biblically faithful."

Now something we are not doing, and I stress the NOT, is place the method after the Biblical principles and mandates. If we meet in a coffee shop it won't be to meet in a coffee shop, it will be because we see the strategic aspect and unreached persons there. If we decide to meet on Sat or Sun night then it won't be to just do so, it will be grounded in study, prayer and reflection.

So what are our methods? Abby and I are renting an apartment on the South side of NDSU. We are situated around a lot of singles, young marrieds, college kids and lower income families. We are both working jobs, I at the Pita Pit, and Abby at Bath & Body Works and the YMCA. We are asking a lot of questions, listening long and hard to answers, and trying to uncover the way people think, act, socialize, etc...

Please pray for us in this model writing; we know this is going to be a challenge but a blessing. We know that what we uncover won't speak for every individual person and people group here. This will be one of many more methods while we seek to expand the kingdom of Christ by church planting in Fargo.

BTW: Tonight at work a black jack dealer at the local strip club came in and I got to chat with him and another dude named Tony who comes in all the time and is totally open to talking. Later on a group of teens/young adults who have taken a liking to me came in.

I am in awe of the people the Lord is bringing into our lives. Please pray for the friendships to grow.

"like it love it want some more of it"

10 things I love about being a bi-vocational church planter.

1. working till 4 A.M

2. working the bar rush

3. meeting a bunch of drunk young adults

4. Getting to chat with the DD's

5. seeing the familiar faces

6. Stopping by Atomic coffee on my way to work and chattin it up with the workers

7. listening and observing my co-workers and buying them their favorite treats on my way in, to show them I care about them and appreciate them

8. getting to know the manager at the local porn shop who loves to come in and buy pitas ( I accidentally messed his up tonight, whoops)

9. working with Adara, Rick, and Sonda tonight

10. becoming apart of the downtown community simply by working at the pita pit

Yes it is 4 in the A.M. and I am still awake and yes I love being a bi-vocational Church planter

"shot to the heart"

The Lord is continuing to remind us of how great and sovereign he is. Ya know I was starting to really be bummed about working so many nights (4 this week) but then something happened last night. I have started remembering peoples faces and at night I have time to talk to them. Eric, Tony, Jay, Katie, and some others I got the face but not the name yet. While I am not republican or democrat I have thoroughly enjoyed having the people from OBAMA campaign office dine with us. They have so so fun to get to know and many of them are in similar situations as we are. They came here believing in something so much that they would curb other facets of life to be transplanted in an unknown area fighting for the cause they believe in.

Now, not tooting my own horn the Lord works in and with people wherever they are and they are just as faithful to the the Great Commission as those who leave. They love it that I am not from Fargo, I'm a non-party conservative, I have my masters, and I am planting a Church. I love their zeal, tenacity, dedication, and interest in the people. They have all asked to come to the Bible study/dinner, we will soon start hosting, as a way of getting to know the community better and Abby and I welcome that.



What the living like a missionary truth we can gleam, be aware. Be aware of the worker at your favorite coffee shop, sandwich place. Be aware of the gas station attendant or waiter who service you. Be aware of the mail carrier, paper person, post office worker, kiosk attendant, and grocery store clerk. Ask their name get little snipits of their story. Go home write it down and continue to interact with that/those people. Get the bigger picture of who they are, over your time of talking to them, and look for the God ordained moments to share the hope you have. I'll be talking about this a lot over the course of blogging but I wanted to share some real happenings from Fargo. Tonight is my 10 P.M.-4 A.M. shift with the bar rush so pray for me and the late night.



On another note we are still raising support we still have some miles to go and could use any and all the help we can. We are both getting our jobs going but the ministry aspect cost a little more, so if the Lord leads you. Thanks for the support

"Deep Way Down"

Great insight Jeremy, thanks for sharing that. Ed's blog is really good and worth the time to read.

For those of you reading that know us, you know that a cornerstone to our mission the Lord has called us to is working a job. Not just temporarily, but for the long haul. Often in Church planting (not negatively but the reality) a job is overlooked or worked for a short time, and then left when they can be full time at the church. There is a place for this, however, the problem that has developed is that this is the way it is almost exclusively done. Very few church planters continue to be bi-vocational in order to plant churches.

Abby and I are people that get stir crazy, and need structure. I am terrible about working in an office because what happens is I am always in the office, and I never go out and interact with people. The same is true when I work from home. So what does this mean for us?

I have been working at the Pita Pit for the last three weeks. It is a good job, and it is always a humbling experience for me to start over at a new place at the bottom of the rung. But it is so good, no one there cares about my education, experience, etc. To them I am the new guy who hasn't earned his chops. Fantastic, the Lord holds my pride in check and shows me that I am not as important as I think. I work with about 10 other people that have been so kind and helpful in training me. My boss graciously gave me this job, and for that I am grateful. I am also looking for another part-time job that would help me be with both more and different people, but we will see what happens with that.

Abby has been offered a job at the downtown YMCA as a school aged coordinator. She is calling them back today to discuss the position and finalize the details. She will interact with children, parents, workers, teachers, administrators, and other people at the Y. We are so excited about this and what it could mean for her, our family and our calling to Fargo.

Pray for a Movement

First off, congrats to the Fishers for the gift the Lord is giving them. I must admit hearing that description of the development of their baby is absolutely amazing. I am pumped about being a pseudo uncle to Fisher Jr.

On another, missiological note, I read an awesome blog from Ed Stetzer the other day. Here is the link.

To summarize, he talks about Movemental Christianity. It is an exciting and challenging idea in the realm of missions and church planting in America. He draws from David Garrison's book "Church Planting Movements" which is a discussion of Church Planting movements around the world. A Church Planting Movement (CPM) is a rapid growth of the church across a people group where many people come to Christ and many churches are planted by indigenous people. Stetzer believes if something like this was to happen in the West it would look a bit different than it does in the third world countries.

Stetzer presents 10 elements that he thinks would be present if a Movement was to occur in the west. The reason I point you to this is that this is the prayer John and I for Fargo. Our hope is not to plant a single church, but to see the entire region within the reach of Fargo-Moorhead would be transformed by the Gospel. I encourage you to read the article and pray God would start something like this in Fargo and all across the US.

"ooh baby baby, ooh baby baby"

Well it is official, WE ARE PREGNANT. Yes yes loyal blog readers (all 2 of you j/k). Are not only starting a Church we are starting a family. According to babycenter.com our sweet child is-

"How your baby's growing:Your new resident is nearly an inch long — about the size of a grape — and weighs just a fraction of an ounce. She's starting to look more and more human. Her essential body parts are accounted for, though they'll go through plenty of fine-tuning in the coming months. Other changes abound: Your baby's heart finishes dividing into four chambers, and the valves start to form — as do her tiny teeth. The embryonic "tail" is completely gone. Your baby's organs, muscles, and nerves are kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won't be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks. Her eyes are fully formed, but her eyelids are fused shut and won't open until 27 weeks. She has tiny earlobes, and her mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones. Now that your baby's basic physiology is in place, she's poised for rapid weight gain."

So there it is another personal post but I am sure you don't mind. We are thrilled and cannot wait to be parents. It is such an honor the Lord would bless us with such a gift.

"movin on up" -per my sisters suggestion-

Well the day has arrived, we have now graduated to the main floor of the house from the basement. know I know it is a tear filled day but we all knew this day would come. We will take pictures when we are done but we are painting hanging arranging etc. I did the work of the packhorse but the rest of the people are painting etc, not my gift. I know I am deviating from my usual CP banter but I wanted everyone to know we are in a weekend of moving and decorating. We can't wait to entertain you here in our home, in Fargo.