Water

A lot of life is about water recently - this weekend I am preaching on Living Water - talking about worship for the next two weeks -

Stafford is officially out of a drought - but it took a lot of water/rain to get there - water is refreshing if you are thirsty -fascinating to look at if you are at a waterfall - but terrifying if it brings tornadoes or cyclones/hurricanes or even worse a tsunami. In a way - kind of like God - approachable and refreshing while at the same time awe inspiring and terrifying.


Stuff to think about(the stuff above)-stuff that's happened recently below

Lauren went to prom last Saturday night - can't believe I just typed that - not because i'm in trouble but just because my first little girl is going to graduate in one month from today

Brooke is out driving around - if i did the twitter thing i'd keep you updated - just joking - she passed her permit test on the first try - ok not the first try - and by that i don' t mean that she failed the first time just that the first time they went to the DMV - mom forgot the birth certificate.

Grant and Morgan are athletes and artists - seems they both won an art award at their respective schools - who would have ever thought that one of my kids would win an art award - not my fav class or activity growing up

Paula and I are getting old - you should hear us getting out of bed in the morning - creaks of the old bones.

Finally, could me Reds actually be on a winning streak - they have won their last 2 games - let's see if the can win another one tonight.

Talk at you soon,

Rich

Awesome Conference

The Pastoral team of Horizons and Jim Egyud - our A/V/T (audio visual technology) guy at HC - we all just went to the Worship Facilities Conference in Indianapolis - it was great.

* We sure have been blessed by an amazing team that helped us design our building
* We learned some new stuff to add to our facility - saw some cool sports flooring and video "stuff"
* Time to start Master Planning for our future - we will begin that process this fall

My kids are counting down how many days of school are left - for those of us not in school - don't you miss those days.

Lauren graduates from High School - June 14 - she is going to prom next weekend - maybe we can post some pictures of that - will have to get permission.

I just realized that two of my best friends are named Mike - Jay and I have had some cool hanging out time recently - we have been dreaming and talking about the future God has for Horizons - but I need to get him on the golf course and find out who is the best golfer.

God is so good - Recently - I have just had a great sense of His calming presence in my life - I pray you experience His peace as well.

Talk at you soon.

Rich

Thanks

Thanks to everyone who prayed for me during the Grace Period series. Overall, God really moved during the series and I pray that your understanding of God's Grace has been expanded - now remember to be graceful to others.

Cool Stuff from this Weekend
* Great testimonies from the baptism service on Saturday
* Crowd was down due to the rain on Sunday - but it was cool to see all the ministry taking place - great job life group drama - music team was awesome on Moving Forward - thanks Deb for helping with the Popcorn - the aroma of grace and popcorn - ( do you ever wonder what food we will get to have in Heaven - will there be popcorn?) - Jay had 11 people attend membership at his house on Sunday night - and another crowd of people at Horizons 101 Sunday morning - cool stuff

* My son played soccer ever though he was not feeling well -scored the tying goal
* Lauren is on a roll
* Our family watched Narnia together Sunday night
* Brooke baked cookies
* Morgans team suffered defeat - but they were robbed
* My Reds won in extra innings on Sunday
* I got to play golf Friday Afternoon

New music to check out - Kingdom Come by Delirious

Talk at you soon.

Rich

Grace to Live

WOW! What another great Sunday - last week(that being April 6 - more on April 13 in just a bit) - we had a HUGE crowd - over 460 people attended. Our support teams continue to amaze me.

It is so cool to see all the LIFE that happens on a Sunday morning - Jay was able to lead a baptism class - support teams get to meet on Sundays - people coming to one service and then hanging out and fellowshipping or strategizing for upcoming ministry events - and then of course just the way God shows up in our midst to minister to people. All great stuff.

So, this past Sunday - did u enjoy your propel water? God gives us a grace to live - he propels us forward in all that we do - so let's live this grace filled life.

Life

* We visited JMU with our oldest daughter Lauren - what a great school
* Reds baseball - started out with a bang - now 6-7 - we shall see - now we have pitching but no bats
* Desperate for football - watching some of the replay games on the NFL network
* Grant and Morgan continue to excel on the soccer teams
* Brooke needs to start going to conditioning for next years basketball season
* Paula and I celebrate 20 years of marriage on April 23
* Ready to do some grilling out


More random thoughts and maybe even something inspiring later this week.

Talk at you soon.

Rich

Grace to Stand

Amazing- that is what our teams at Horizons Church are - simply amazing. Every week we see over 5o volunteers serve in various ministries. I am blown away every week by each persons heart to serve - I know most of you work long hard weeks in both paying jobs and non-paying jobs and we appreciate your heart to serve the Lord at Horizons.

We started our grace period series last Sunday and once again - I am thankful for all the people who serve - our artistic/creative team did an outstanding job creating an environment up on the stage and our worship team did a wonderful job leading us into God's presence (cudos to Tim Frye who lead last Sunday)

Appreciate your prayers for this Sunday as we look at how grace helps us to stand. Remember, you can never have enough grace(seinfeld reference)

Updates:

Kids are doing great - Looks like Lauren will be attending JMU this fall - Brooke is having fun going to school and working on her piano skills (she also does a great job keeping us full of brownies :) - Morgan is having fun playing Travel Soccer and Grant is enjoying his Classic Soccer team as well - although it's funny because he looks like a giant compared to some of the other kids on his team.

Paula and I celebrate 20 years together this April 23 - actually 20 years of marriage - we have been together since Oct 26, 1984 - we met our freshmen year of college.

My mortgage office is moving this week - looking forward to the new digs but ughh dealing with a move.

Don't know why this is important but - things I miss

1. Green grass in our yard - too many weeds - not enough time
2. Playing guitar on Sunday - gotta figure that one out
3. Going to baseball games - specifically - the Reds
4. Playing Golf - it's almost time

I'm sure that there are more things -but that will suffice for now.

Finally - talk at you soon.

Rich

It is Amazing Grace

I'm so excited - this weekend we being Grace. That's the title of the new sermon series - I don't mean we are finally starting to live out grace at Horizons or preach grace; but rather - we are beginning a new sermon series called grace period. See - it's that simple and yet it is pretty complex - maybe it's a paradox (that is for Jay)- you see he is working on a sermon series called paradox. Anyway, I digress - or maybe I'm just being verbose. just kidding :)

On a serious note - I appreciate your prayers for this series.

NEWS FLASH - Horizons just had its largest attendance ever this past Sunday - over 550 people atteneded our two worship services this past Easter Sunday - we had many people who made commitements to the Lord and the worship/special ministry team hit a home run ministering to us. Our support ministries are simply amazing - great job to everyone.

Updates

Mortgage Business - can u say wild financial swings - the mortgage market continues it topsy turvy cycles

Family -kids are doing great - we got a new scale - the old one kept fluctuating too much - here is an insider note - I weigh myself 3 times a day - once in the morning - once when I get home from work and once at night- talk about needing therapy. My dogs - China and Dakota are amazing but barking too much recently. Our family is having a March Madness tourney - we all picked brackets and the winner gets to call in a favor from each of the other family members.

Baseball - yes, I love baseball - root for the Cincinati Reds and once again we wait with baited breath for a new season (that doesn't sound too good does it- waiting with baited breath)

Amazing- final thought - God's grace is truly amazing - He is all we need and He is perfect - I for one am glad the He made a way for us.

Talk at you soon.

Rich

What's so amazing about Grace.

I am so excited - I get to preach again this Sunday for Easter and then the next 4 weeks - we are going to examine Grace. -what it is - what grace motivates us to do and how we are to reflect grace in our world. I appreciate your prayers.

I love our pastoral team - these guys just love to do ministry and do it well - Jay Hawpe, Jim Black and Andy Rogers are 3 guys who just love Jesus and love doing God's work. We are so blessed to have such amazing volunteers and awesome leaders. Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet with the Worship Team - these people are not only incredible musicians and vocalists but also people whose hearts are focused on and surrendered to God's purpose. I appreciate their commitment and service at Horizons.

Pennington Update -

Morgan is playing on a travel soccer team and her team took 2nd place in the St Patricks day tourney this past weekend(oops - didn't wear green today - do people still pinch you if you don't and where did that tradition come from)

Lauren is still on pins and needles waiting to hear from UVA and WM and Mary -

Brooke helped out at the special olympics this past weekend - she is so caring and giving.

Grant is having fun playing the new Wii game Smash Brothers

Dad had some fun playing as well -

Paula is helping to lead a special song for Easter and is having fun playing chauffeur to the non-driving kids - btw - Brooke can get her permit in 2 months so be on the lookout

Talk at you soon.

Rich