At last, the long awaited news

For the past couple of months, many of you have been praying with us as we decide what the future holds for us. We are so grateful for all of you and the prayers offered up on our behalf. Things have just recently fallen into place and so I'd like to share a little bit about what our future looks like.

But first a quick recap of what has brought us to where we are:

In 2002, Tina and I began feeling the call to go into full-time ministry and the opportunity to serve as missionaries with the North American Mission Board came up. We went through the interview process that Fall and were appointed to serve as US/C-2 Missionaries in Tacoma, WA. Our primary role would be to minister to the collegiate community in the Tacoma area.

In May 2003, we packed up our belongings and headed West (we celebrated our first anniversary en route). We arrived June 1 and for the next 3 years we served as collegiate ministers in Tacoma.

During this time, we were also actively involved with our church, Discovery Community Church. Both Tina and I served on the worship team as well as leading a small group. Discovery became our family away from home. We also saw our family grow by one during this time. On November 11, 2004, Elizabeth Ann Gray (Ellie) joined the ranks of the Gray clan. (We were just a little bit excited...) Michael also began attending Seminary at Golden Gate BTS as well during this time.

The time flew by and before we knew it, we were looking at the end of our three years of service. We spent a great deal of time praying and seeking God's will. The opportunity came up to join the staff of Discovery in helping launch a new service in the western part of Tacoma (Discovery West). In June 2006, I joined the staff of Discovery alongside some really great people. Through this time we connected with some really close friends and enjoyed the time launching this new service.


In May 2007, we began sensing God leading us to another change, so in June of this year I stepped down from my role on staff with Discovery. We weren't sure exactly what God was leading us to, but we knew we had to be faithful in this.

We've spent the summer in a great deal of prayer and in the meantime I also picked up a paper route. It's been a challenging time for us, but it's also been full of really great memories for our family.

SayWA! (updated)
Originally uploaded by www.DaveWard.net

And this brings us to our latest news. After several months of praying, we've decided to stick around a bit longer in the great Northwest. Starting in August, we'll be helping launch a new church plant in the community of Bonney Lake. The new church (Church on the Hill) will begin holding monthly services this Fall with weekly services beginning in January. My primary role will be leading worship and helping coordinate the weekend service, and working alongside the lead pastor (Russ Peters). This will also give me the opportunity to finish up with my seminary degree.

We're looking forward to what the next few years will bring and we're excited to serve a great God (one who is infinitely bigger than any of our problems - yet He still takes time to step down into our world and show us his steps).

Thanks for taking a little time out of your busy day. Make sure to check back here frequently for future updates, pics, and random reflections.

God bless!

Our little girl

Here are some recent pics of Ellie from the past couple of months.



And here's a video from the new Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Gertie 3.0).

Confessions of a Newpaper Delivery Guy, vol. 3

Newspaper
Originally uploaded by jamesjyu

Day 37: I have walked 3 miles a day, every day, for over 5 weeks now (well, almost every day - there was that one time when it was raining cats and dogs...)

Day 39: Lifting newspapers is probably the closest thing I'll ever get to weight training. I guess I better take it while I can.

Day 40: Have I mentioned I love Mondays?

Top Ten Reasons Not to Fly Standby

United 737 Overhead
Originally uploaded by clearskyphotography.com

This past week I once again attempted to fly back to Atlanta. We have a friend that had blessed us with a Companion Ticket (thanks Sharon!), unfortunately it means you have to fly standby. While some may enjoy this kind of travel, my experience was not quite so fun. Here were some of my observations:

Top Ten Reasons Not to Fly Standby:
10. You spend all your time in the days leading up to the flight constantly checking flight loads
9. Finding someone to cover your day early morning job can be a challenge (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the 4 am start time)
8. By your second time through the security line, you finally figure out why you keep getting "randomly selected"; you also discover why they keep printing "SSSS" on your boarding pass (I'll let you figure out what that stands for)
7. Wireless access costs $10/day
6. CNN isn't quite so fresh the 4th time around
5. Airlines love to overbook
4. Canceled flights mean trouble's ahead
3. There's only so many times you can get rejected without taking it personally
2. The ride home from the airport is even longer after having spent the entire day in the airport
1. After you get home from your non-trip, you still have to unpack your bags

Oh, well. I guess there's always Christmas!

Rescue is Coming, chapter 2

This song has been playing in my head for quite some time. I thought I'd share it with you.



After night, comes a light
Dawn is here, dawn is here
It's a new day, it's a new day
Everything will change
Things will never be the same
We will never be the same
We will never be the same

old school

This is an excerpt from one of my favorite cartoons growing up. I want to know how long he had to practice to get it all down - what a mouthful - how does he do that?

Enjoy!

Confessions of a Newpaper Delivery Guy, vol. 2

Day 18: Sunday papers are just heavy - to the tune of 200-300 pounds on a given Sunday.

Day 19: Ah...I love Mondays (now). Back when I was in college I used to hate Mondays, but Mondays have to be the easiest day for delivering papers - it's like throwing air...with a rubber band around it!

As a side note, I almost have the entire route memorized - which makes things much easier. I'm also getting used to the early start time (now if I could just work on getting myself to sleep earlier...).