BEW week one complete

Starting weight = 255
 Weight today = 255
 Exercise goal = 5 times a week
Actual exercise = 3 times
Food goal = drink mostly water with some others 
Actual result= accomplished this one because I mainly drank water with some coffee, milk, & only 2 sweet tea glasses

Losing weight with Company

I have decided to loose weight along with several friends and my wife. Over the course of years and the month of December I have arrived at a weight I don't want to see or feel any longer. I will weigh in every Friday morning and report it. I need the accountability and friendship. I am joining the BEW weight loss competition that Sarah has started. Here are my goals: Starting weight: 255 Goal weight: 210 Exercising goal: run 5 days a week at a distance of 4-7 miles Goal to mostly drink water with some coffee, milk, & sweet tea

Journeying

Life is a journey and it is challenging. I wish things were easy to understand. Life is difficult much of the time. I wrestle with knowing God intimately and with knowing exactly what He wants me to be doing for Him. I want to see where God is working and get involved with Him instead of asking Him to help me with the things I am doing. I know these facts but it is still hard to live it. I want to be what God wants me to be and I want to be where God wants me to be. Next, making parenting decisions are hard as well. There are questions in my parenting life like should I teach Santa Claus, is allowing my children to trick or treat good or bad, what is the best way to disciple my own children in the Lord? How do I know my children's college funds will actually produce enough money for them to go to college? Should I worry about retirement as a minister or do I trust God to take care of me? I do not know the answers to these questions. I seem to always have more questions than I do answers. I feel like only God can Lead Me to answers. Lord, lead me so that I can lead the ones you have entrusted in my leadership!

Weekend Recap

This weekend was a crazy one if not one of the craziest in the history of time. My daughter Makenna has been not sleeping very well at all this past week and she began running fever on Thursday. Sarah takes off of work on Friday and takes her to the doctor. The doctor did not seem to be able to define the problem right away. So we left questioning ok, what do we do now. Friday night makenna seemed to wake up every hour crying and upset but she would not drink anything. Saturday was a day of sleeping and trying to rest because Sarah, Makenna and myself were so tired from the lack of sleep friday night. One good thing about Friday night was that we went and got Sushi from the Chinese buffet and it was incredible and the Rangers won the ALCS. OH wait that's two things, anyways! Saturday night was our church's Fall Festival, which it was kind of raining and lighting so it did not turn out like it typically has the past couple of years. It was all inside our church's gym and Makenna sleep through the entire thing and Kailey did not want to play with anything but the jump house. She did it once and then wanted to do it again, so we are standing in line to do it a second time when the blowers shutoff on it and the whole thing collasped on all the childern inside it. They were so scared but we got them all out and did not let kailey go the second time. At the end of the night I took a group of the students to a Hell House, a church putting on a scary story in order to share the gospel at the end. It was interesting but good. Afterwards we all went to El Chico, which is a restaurant I do not like but I like students so I went. We had some amazing conversations during the time we ate. They were asking questions about other religions and why we do the things we do. It was an awesome time as a Youth minister to be able to explain things to them. Saturday night went better with Makenna. Sunday morning Sarah felt sooo sick she could not go to church, nor the kids. Sunday afternoon I started feeling sick. Sleep it off and NOW it's Monday.
I hope this week will bring God Glory(not that the weekend didn't)!

Fall Time

I am pumped about the fall season. There are so many things to enjoy during the fall season of the year. The weather begins to cool down some in Texas. Football season begins which is very exciting in many ways. The colors of fall begin to set in and things turn so beautiful. Labor Day Weekend was a good weekend with my family. Saturday morning I was able to play some golf with my dad. Even though the course is not a professional one nor is it very hard, I played well. I birdied 3 holes and pared several others. We had a good time away playing games and hanging out. I am feeling a lot better about my job because things are underway for the fall. Discipleship classes have begun and seem to be doing well. All of the students are back at school so things have slowed down some. I am beginning to think future now for winter, spring, and summer ministries. What will be beneficial? What impacts students spiritually? What impacts anyone spiritually? I desire to concentrate on my own spiritual journey this fall. Desire to memorize more scripture. To seek God's direction for the future. Share thoughts for any or all of these questions. OUT!

I just want an updated blog

I get so mad or upset when I go to read people's blogs and they have not updated anything in like months. I usually think to myself, "Why do they even have a blog?" and then today I was looking at my blog seeing that I had not updated in quite a while and realized I was becoming one of "those". So when I tried to login I could not even remember my password. I had to reset it and now I am back to updating again. Life is very full. I am working on a big youth trip that we go on every year. This year the place we usually stay for free is not avaliable and the adults that always go are not going so it has been difficult. My family is changing on a daily basis it seems. We think Kailey is almost potty trained one day and then the next she'll go in her underwear all day. Makenna is smiling and cooing becoming her own personality. Sarah and I are working out again trying to live healthy even though it is extremely hard. I just wanna eat M&Ms and hamburgers and burritos and drink Dr Peppers & Sweet Tea instead of water. I nightly give someone other than myself a bath, I typically dress at least one person other than myself sometimes two other people of the other gender as well. Change at least a couple of diapers(which isn't that many compared to Sarah) but still LIFE IS ALL ABOUT CHANGE!!! It is very fun but very different. I am working on the discipleship ministry for this fall at our church. I am working at getting all the technology at the church working and functioning correctly and keeping it on campus instead of letting 11 year olds steal it. I am also trying to schedule a church wide Sunday School training day for the Fall sometime. The church finances aren't terible nut not great either. We are 24,000 behind budget right now and continually spending more. It's high spending time right now too. On top of all that I really was hired to be the Student Minister and so I do try to keep that successful and reaching and discipling the students in our area. We seems to be shrinking rather than growing. I would like to special order 4 or 5 adults that care more about the students than about teaching a lesson. Love is abounding in my life but so is responsibility and requirements. Life is a balance act and it often feels we are walking on a tight rope. Very little room to make a wrong step. I know this is my life and I enjoy it. Jesus, lead me so that I can lead others to pursue You!

Coming up

Today was really good at IBC, lots of issues but everything worked itself out. Next week the students are responsible for leading the morning service. It is called Youth Sunday. I am looking forward the students at our church sharing, singing, leading out in various ways. It is also going to be a busy Sunday because we are going to recognizing our graduates. I will be hosting a celebration breakfast for them during the bible study time which is before church. It is always a mile marker for me seeing students move on and for new students to enter into the group. I am a little sad to see them leave but I am also hopeful for their future. 2 1/2 weeks till baby Williams!

New Post

Our family has had quite a busy few weeks going and doing and learning. On March 14 began Spring Break week for us in Temple, Texas. I planned for the student ministry to lead a missions week for our our city rather than take a trip somewhere. We ministered to a trailer park community right down the road from our church. We had a wonderful week with them and hope that we will be able to return to visit with them soon. That next Sunday, March 21 began a revival at our church. Our church met every night from Sunday to Thursday, Saturday, and then Sunday through Wednesday. God taught Sarah and I a lot through these meetings with Him. We are seeking Him more together and as parents. To be honest I do not know how to parent any children, much less children that God has entrusted to me. We learned to parent our children to be obedient to Him first and us second which means we teach them that being obedient to God's standard is the most important aspect of their life. He created them, us, the world, and He calls all of us to love Him and live for Him. Too many parents want their children to be obedient to them because they said so and thats good enough. The problem with that is that kind of obedience does nothing to drawn us closer to the heart of God. Once the children grow up and leave their home, they have no real desire to be obedient to the things of God and have a real intimate relationship with The One The Only GOD. I was also challenged to seek to listen to the Holy Spirit's guiding in my daily life. I also realized how lazy i had gotten with moral purity. Moral purity is not even thinking thoughts that if you had to say them outloud to someone it would make you shameful. Sarah and I ended the revival very encouraged to seek God through praying together regularly, having a daily time in the Bible, and we also renewed our marriage vows. This week has been a week trying to rest and get back into a routine again. This weekend Sarah, a youth workers, a few students and myself are going to the Youth Ministry Lab at SWBTS. I am looking forward to going to a Youth Ministry Conference with my wife. I have never done that before. TO TOP everything off Sarah has about 40 days until our 2nd daughter will be born into the world and it is about that long before my busiest time of the year begins with my work as a Youth Minister. Love ya peace to you and please pray for me and my family as we press on with life and strive to be dilligent with everything God has called us to.

I AM HUNGRY!

I am hungry to see God's Holy Fire blaze all over my world. I wanna see Him in my family, in our church, in student's lives, in parent's lives. I know our generation is a bunch of people who seem to care less whether they ever meet with God or not. They care more about winning a game or being the best at this than they do about God using them and changing them in this life. I saw today that Perry Noble(the pastor of NewSpring Church in SC) has been preaching a message series entitled Practical Atheist. It is about how we call ourselves Christians yet the way we live does not demonstrate that to anyone. I am convicted and moved to do something but what. I will be praying God show me, my family, our Student Ministry volunteers and parents, and our church that we place so much more importance on other things than we do on God and being with God's people. Hungry to see God move in my midst!

Suffering in Mind

I am convicted often of how often I complain about my situations and circumstances. I wonder why I do this when I know that people all around the world are suffering hardships because they claim the name of Christ. I saw a facebook post this morning that read, "Ruin my life the plans that I've made- wow He has done a great job of that in my life." I cannot say that but on the other hand I am not sure I want to be able to say that. If I am honest, I am not sure I want God to wreck my life and the plans that I've made. I am selfish and it is so hard not to be. I like my life comfortable and maybe even wealthy. Living a life that is committed to Christ is not about that though. How do we live in this world but not allow this world to live in us? The world says if you want it then go get it. If you desire it, then chase after it until you have it and usually it doesn't matter what "it" is. "It" might be a woman, a man, a job, wealth, a large house, a family, dream job, happiness, and success. If we want something, does that mean we should chase after it until we have it? Our motivators in life many times are not Godly or Christlike. There is something deep down inside me that desires for my plans to be wrecked by God because they are selfish and because they make more of me than they do of God. I have been called by God to be a Christ follower and to be minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My life must be an arrow pointing to Him and His Love for Mankind. I wish I could say that this is what my life illustrates but most of the time I think that if someone really observed my life they would see me sitting in the driver seat of my life directing it to where I want it to go. As hard as it is to say this, I know I need to say this, I must say this, I do say, "Lord, Ruin my life the plans that I've made, Ruin desires for my own selfish gain, destroy the idols that have taken Your place Till it's You alone I live for!" We do not choose suffering over comfort enough in this country. Any thoughts from any of you out there?

Changes are here

Well lots of new changes have started since this year started. Things are off and going and I am enjoying them so far. I am ready to meet some new interns to help with the student ministry. Our students need some extra excitement that can hopefully come from some new leadership. On different notes, our heater went out some time during the night but thankfully a business was able to fix it today so that our heater works again. We also decided to change Kailey's bed into a toddler bed tonight. She went to sleep really well and is doing good so far. We will see how the morning goes. I might be surprised sometime during the night when she is by my bed saying hi dada. I am working to loose weight again but I am not as disciplined as I need to be. It moves up and down but basically is locked around the same weight even though it is not the weight that I want. Hope life is well for you and your family. Let us pursue Godliness together!!!

Merry Christmas

Hey Everyone,

I hope you have a great celebration of Christmas this year with your family and friends. I always think of Christmas as so busy and full of hustle and bustle. I desire to slow my row and reflect on all the good and great things God has provided for me and done for me this year. I hope you will have a great time of reflection and family celebration as you celebrate Jesus Christ's birth to the world and salvation for all.

Great day

Yesterday was a great day. I enjoyed a great morning with the students in sunday morning Fuel. I liked helping with our Extended Teaching Care during the service. I went to lunch with some great folks in the Young Married group. I then helped setup for our church wide Thanksgiving banquet. It was a great success and loved the food. Tear down and cleanup with smooth and quick, it was done before I knew it. Afterwards I went to work out where Eric and I ran 3.2 miles and walked some before and after it as well. We then went and benched some weight which I ended up maxing out at 240. I was very pleased with that amount of weight. We tried to do some crunches and loose some belly fat. Went home and went to sleep soon after. Like I said it was a great day that I enjoyed living. Looking forward to this week, THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Lord for my family, my friends, my church, my job, everything that you entrust to me, volunteers that work with me on a weekly basis, my home, my cars, but thanks most of all for salvation and for loving me and forgiving me every single day!

Attn Captured

I have been wrestling with things much this fall. I am not sure why exactly but I believe much of it relates to my spiritual life being dry and without much growth. My personal time in the word and seeking to know God has been weak. Also the youth ministry I serve, seems to have lost much steam and direction. I wonder if there's a correlation? The answer seems to be Yes. Tonight I spent some time in the scriptures and feel a renewed at least at the current moment. Of course it is 2 am so I am not sure what I am feeling but I am tired of feeling like I am drained and alone in this thing. I want to see God's Glory displayed and His spirit move before me. I want to speak like Moses and say, "God, if you are not going to go with me then I am not moving." I want to live in God's spirit and power and display God's greatness to students and adults. I know God has called me and gifted me in ways but HOW DOES GOD WANT TO USE ME? I am not always certain of the answer to this question. I saw this video tonight that was encouraging, maybe it will talk to you in some way:

prayer

I am tired and in need of lots of prayer.

Diary of a Desiring Youth Worker

I desire to see God move so powerfully through our church and student ministry that people repent and move to share the gospel boldly. I am really disappointed in my leadership as a youth minister because I feel like I just can not lead the youth ministry I am currently serving to grow numerically by reaching nonChristians. I want to see students become Christ followers that live that out passionately not scared of others. We need adults who are passionate about seeing that as well. What we say and what we do is not always the same. I am praying that God would move in our midst and either move us or change us. I think that is the only option for something different among us, Come Holy Spirit in POWER!

working hard

Sometimes working hard doesn't show itself for awhile. You wanna be in shape. You wanna loose weight but there are those times when you are working and working and it's just not happening. I think I am in that time right now. People keep saying, "man you have lost so much weight." Well I have lost a lot of weight compared to how bif I had gotten but I feel like I have so much more to loose. I need to be 20 or 30 pounds lighter to be totally healthy. My good friend(Eric) and I have been working out hard this week. we have been running for about 20 mins and then lifting weights to gain some strength. I really like this gym where we work out. It is called 24 hour Fitness and it is open obviously 24 hours a day but people are there running it 24/7. I have a keycard that I swipe and then go in, do whatever I want, and then go out the exit door. It is a very clean facility with all new workout equipment. I am enjoying working out again and being a lot more healthy than I was a year ago. I just wish my weight would drop like it did during the first six months of the year. Weight, GO DOWN! ok I guess it will now. talk again soon.

love it when it happens

I really enjoyed today even though it wasn't the best day I have ever had. Nothing really awesome happened but don't you just love it when you can look back on your day and say, "today was a good day?" I do. I was really busy planning things for Wednesday nights ReFUEL with the student ministry and working on some other things. I was able to help my friends/coworkers with a project and I always like doing that. I was able to break some things and then fix some things. I lined up some folks to cook some food for the students on Wednesday nights which went really well. They love free food almost as much as I love when they come. Its just great when things come together for a great Wednesday night ReFuel, which it did. I planned to show a couple of videos throughout the night and they went well. I decided to let the Youth band practice without me supervising them because they work better when I get out of the way and let them figure things out. The lead worship very well tonight. I wish I had been recording them because I think it was really spirit-filled. Matt finished his 3 part message to the students tonight and that went really well. God gifts him to speak and he is so much better with words than i am. I really miss it though when I do not get to share my heart and message with our group. It is nice to have a break but I am also excited about our new series coming up in 2 weeks. The students love hanging out at the FLC and I am glad that they have so much fun there and enjoy being with God's church. My only desire is that more students would desire to join us for our exciting journey of life that we are doing together as Immanuel Baptist Student Ministry. Ministry has it's ups and it's downs; glad today it had it's ups!

article I read today

How Close is God

By Jim Burns

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; Do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8

How close is God? God is closer than your breath and closer than your skin. Philippians 4:5 tells us to never forget the nearness of your God. How much does he care for you? Scripture reminds us:

He knows our names (John 10:3).

He numbers the hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30).

He counts the steps of our feet (Job 14:16).

He bottles the tears from our eyes (Psalm 56:8, RSV).

He holds our right hand in His hand (Psalm 73:23).

He supplies all our needs (Philippians 4:19).

I think this is really good to be reminded, Williams OUT!

Man, ALIVE!!!

I know it has been an eternity since I last blogged about anything, so I am here today to write about the things going with me lately.

The fall semester has gotten off to a fair start with the student ministry. It seems so many students are lackadaisical these days. They really are not passionate about anything but especially are not about church things. That is why I say that it has gotten off to a fair start. We have had some good moments with the middle schoolers and a few others inviting friends and bringing them to church. The weird thing though is that the 7th graders do not seem to really like or want to worship god through music. One person said they really don't like music or movies. I have been pondering how to get students worshipping God with passion and living their faith actively. It is a difficult thought to deal with because you cannot force people to do things and trying with food and games does not seem to be an effective youth ministry strategy in this day and time. what I truly believe makes the difference is when you have Godly loving adults who consistently pour their lives into the students in the student ministry. I think we lack that.

I am headed this Friday to Los Angeles, California to National Youth Workers Convention. I am hoping to have a time of training and revitalization. I need training in how to motivate adults to want to give up their time and routines and desires to spend time growing and maturing students to be fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. If anyone ever said that a Youth Ministers job is easy because all they have to do is play games with kids, those same people have no clue of what it means to develop a team approach to growing a student ministry that challenges and equips parents to teach their children Godliness and while also engaging students to want to be connected and involved in the ministry is created for them. Because you can do everything you want and desire but if they choose to not be involved, all that you have planned, organized, and carried out makes no difference to them.

I am definitely desiring more of God's presence in our church and student ministry because our adults, students, and myself need Him more than we need more of ourselves.

I would appreciate the outpouring of your prayers!