Back From Vacation

We had a wonderful 10 day vacation. We went to Paragould, Arkansas to visit family there. Lenore and I also took the opportunity to take in a Family Ministry Conference in Phoenix, AZ. It was a great time of refreshing and renewal. The Family Minstry Conference is an annual conference put on by the Association of Marriage and Family Ministries (AMFM). They are an oganization committed to building strong Christian marriage and family ministries across all denominational lines. Though the planners and presenters attend churches with names that include Baptist, Bible Church, Community Church and the like, there were obvious marks of the work of the Holy Spirit in their ministries and their messages. Lenore and I gained a great deal from their insights and ministry experiences and I know the Family Ministry at Northeast will grow as a result. One of the most interesting classes we attended was a 2 session series on Marriage Ministry. This church (The Scottsdale Bible Church) has a marriage ministry that includes a pre-marital class, a marriage counseling ministry, a marriage mentoring ministry and a marriage outreach piece. I think Lenore and I would like to start with the marriage mentoring ministry and build a similar multi-faceted marriage ministry from there. Pray for me as I move forward with this. I really don't feel like I have time to add something else to my schedule but I also think this is a core concept for any Family Ministry and it needs to be in place. Pray that I can be more disciplined with my time and do this while not letting other facets of my ministry suffer as a result.

We took some new family pictures in Arkansas. To see them you can go to my facebook.