The Best Time of Year

Happy First Day of College Football! This should be a national holiday. No really, I'm serious. I love this time of year. My Gators kickoff against Hawaii on Saturday, and I'll be parked in front of a TV to watch!

This week has had its ups and downs. We are still praying with and for our friends back in Murfreesboro. Classes have been stressful and the workload is starting to catch up with me. I'll write my first paper this weekend. Today started with a slightly flat tire and that set the tone for the day. Kolby started her Seminary Wives class tonight and her Women's Bible study this morning. She's got a full schedule on her plate and will be keeping up with me on the workload!

Tomorrow we're going to hitch a ride with some friends from church to Memphis for the holiday weekend. We're excited to get to meet our new nephew finally! Wilson Russell Conway was born a couple weeks ago and this is our first chance to get to Memphis and see him.

That's it for us for now. Off to bed with me!

Blessed Be the Name of the Lord

This weekend has been good. Really hard, but good. We traveled to Murfreesboro Friday and arrived near the end of the visitation for Hayden (see previous post). We struggled through the pain and sorrow and deeply hurt for those closest to Hayden. But in the midst of the sorrow, God was present and obvious. Our Awesome God was faithful to draw Hayden to Himself in his last few days on this earth and leave three journal entries behind for all of us to see the Lord's handiwork. As much as it hurts and will continue hurting, we are trusting the Lord and praying:

Lord, as you saw Your work in Hayden's life through to completion, see the work You began in his death through to completion. We know that Your plans are not our plans, and Your thoughts are not our thoughts. We saw You at work in saving Hayden and anticipate Hayden's story leading to salvation for others. As hard as it will be, we know that You are still good. We pray for Your will to be done on this earth and Your kingdom to come in the lives touched by Hayden's story. Thank You for Hayden. Amen.

On a happier note, we were able to see Derek and Karen Kramer's brand new baby boy. We stopped by the hospital in Nashville on our way home to meet Timothy Michael Kramer. He was born Friday at 1:28 PM and tipped the scales at a whopping 5 lbs 6 oz (I'm told it's all muscle). It was good to rejoice with such dear friends at a precious new life, even while mourning the passing of another friend. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

The Beginning of One Thing and the End of Another

We got word today that one of the youth students we worked with in Murfreesboro was killed in a car accident yesterday. Join is in prayer for the family of Hayden Carter, our former students, and Chad Vinson who will be conducting the funeral services. We're making plans to head to the 'Boro this weekend for the funeral Saturday morning. These things are never easy, but this will be especially difficult. Hayden brightened many a day with a laugh over his quirky sense of humor.

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul reminds us:

13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.

We thank the Lord for Hayden's life and trust Him through it all. We know that He is good. His love endures forever. He holds the whole world in His hands and has a plan for even the darkest hours. We are encouraged knowing that, "He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away (Revelation 21:4)."

In Loving Memory of
Hayden Montgomery Carter
3/7/92-8/19/08

Day 1 of a New Beginning

Today was my first day of seminary. It felt like kindergarten all over again (see above). I didn't really know what to expect, but I was excited to start. The day flew by.


I have a lot to read and am still excited about all the things to learn. I've got some great professors and really look forward to getting to know them and learning from them.

It's going to take some getting used to the early mornings. I'm really trying to start being more intentionally disciplined. I am refocusing in my time with the Lord, not only in making the time, but also in how I spend the time, what I'm accomplishing, and what the Lord is working out in me. I am really concentrating my thoughts on the local church and trying to think through the context of the early church and what I can learn from it.


We're still enjoying Louisville. Sunday night I went with a friend and took the pictures above of the bridge to Indiana and the city.

Counting Up and Counting Down

Our beautiful new city

Days in Louisville: 42
Days at new job: 30
Days until Seminary starts: 17 (18 for me b/c I don't have Monday classes)
Days until the college football season starts: 27

We've been busy lately. I'm leading worship at Fellowship for the second week in a row (crazy I know!). We've spent just about every free moment this week hanging out with friends from our new church. Sunday we experienced Skyline Chili for the first time. Then after prayer night at Fellowship the guys went to see the new Batman movie and Kolby went with the girls to the house of one of the pastors and his wife.

Monday we painted the guest bathroom using the leftover paint from the guest bedroom.

Tuesday night is usually Community Group night, but since the Barlows are out of town we invited the rest of the group over to hang out. We love showing off our new place!

Wednesday afternoon we had a visit from Kevin and Virginia Moore. It was good to see some old 'Boro friends and spend a few minutes with them. I think Ginny is still not used to the fact that we live in Louisville (now if only we could convince them to move here, it would be great). Then Wednesday evening we were invited to Greg and Jenn Taylor's for dinner. We hung out with the Taylors and Brandon and Ashley Smith came over after dinner for some cards.

Thursday night is worship band practice. It was a small group, just Todd Pellowe, Josh Perkins, and me. Todd and Josh are both photographers, so I get to enjoy their work and take notes. I showed them some of the pictures I've been working on and tried to get some pointers. After worship band practice we had dinner with Todd and his wife Emily. We kept them up far past their bedtimes, but we had a great time.

Today we got our Seminary IDs and paid for Kolby's Seminary Wives Institute classes. Then we went downtown to find an antique store to try and get a new advertiser for her magazine. We tried out the Mexican restaurant around the corner from us, but it's just not Camino...

I'm looking forward to school starting in a few weeks. I've been busy reading already and have almost finished my Story of Christianity book. I've got a few thousand more pages ahead, but I'm ready to go! In the meantime I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to cram college football into my already busy schedule. Let the countdown begin!