Thanksgiving 07

Family trips have become an interesting adventure, especially now that Team Haman is up to 5 people. Our vehicle is shrinking, and our luggage is only growing. With bags packed, movies loaded, coloring books ready, and enough beef jerky in stock to bring us into the next millennium, we thought we were ready. Destination - Dallas; Estimated Driving Time - 8 hours; Departure - supposed to be 7am but didn't leave until noon!!! Mikaela had bronchitis, Trevor was running fever because of 3 shots the day before, and Alexa was still recovering from a sinus infection. We were a mobile medical unit...don't you just love the holidays?

We stopped in Tyler, TX to have dinner with some amazing friends of ours, my former college basketball coach, Tracy Gunter and his wonderful family--wife, Susan and children, Trevor (another T-rev) and Courtney.

We finally made it to Mom's house late that night, totally exhausted and grateful to be off the road. My sisters came in from Houston and Denver with their families, and the celebration was on! Does your family cook for an army? Mom made so much food--we had an incredible menu with so many choices. I couldn't decide on just one, so I sampled it all...again, and again, and again. Isn't it awesome the number of different ways you can eat turkey? Recreational eating and periodic naps have become the normal holiday routine for me.

The other joy I get from holiday gatherings is the enormous in-take of sports. Since I'm without cable at home, I feel a little sports-deprived. Making up for lost time, I went on an athletic binge of epic proportions. Obsessive-compulsive would be an understatement. It was non-stop football--I was having the same repetitive highlights in my dreams!! We even played bowling and tennis using a wii (talk about the crazy age of technology).

God has blessed me beyond measure and given me more than I could ever ask or deserve. It's a beautiful thing to sense the divine love of the Almighty and see His goodness and mercy all around me. I wake up in the morning, and there it is--His favor is waiting on me, guiding me through my day. It doesn't make sense. I can't figure it out. He's so good...and I'm so not. I pray my life will always reflect a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness to the One who laid down His life for me.

Life on the Bayou!

We had an amazing celebration this past weekend at all of our HPC campuses when we received our Miracle Offering for the HPC Arena. So much focus, energy, preparation and prayer was put toward this weekend ,and it was truly an incredible time together. People came with joy in their hearts, believing God for the supernatural in their lives. Since many people are still giving at all of our campuses, we will announce the total around the first of December.

Sunday night we filled the Highland Campus with inflatables, games, food and families. It was jam-packed, crawling with people and buzzing with excitement. Kids were playing games with cotton candy all over their faces... and I even caught some adults trying to recapture their youth on the fun jumps! I got to bring Alexa and Mikaela, but only after I was warned by Rachel that if I lost one in all the madness I shouldn't even bother coming home. But, thanks to Kristin Cheramie, I made it back home with both girls at my side!

Our church is blessed with tremendous relationships and we have great friends all over the globe. One of those friendships is with Hillsong United, and we had the honor of hosting them at a worship night on Tuesday. Bethany was gracious to let us use their South Campus. We packed people into the sanctuary, and set up a giant projector outside with a live feed to accommodate hundreds more people. Dozens of churches were represented and Jesus Christ was lifted up in a magnificent way!

You know that saying that everyone has a twin somewhere in the world? Well we found the identical twins of JP and Jeffery on the Hillsong United team! Check out this picture of JP, JD, Jeffrey and Peter. The resemblence is uncanny. This happens to me every time I go out in public. I get mistaken for Denzel Washington all the time. In fact, I can't even walk into a shopping mall anymore without someone thinking that I am him. It's the coolest thing! I just sign the autographs and keep on walking. It's tough being a superstar!!

Life on the bayou is amazing. We are so blessed here at HPC and I love getting to be a part of this awesome journey!

Fun at Fusion!

We had an incredible weekend as we brought over 100 college students, young professionals, and young married couples to our second Fusion retreat. We visited the huge metropolis... the booming city of Eunice, Louisiana. The Bible speaks of the ends of the Earth- we literally saw them! You know it's going to be a slammin', supernatural experience when there's no cell phone coverage, wilderness is as far as the eye can see, and a stray dog runs up to you every couple hours!

Saturday morning we had an intense dodgeball tournament where I experienced firsthand the spirit of competition within the group! JP Brumfield must have been honing his dodgeball skills in the weeks leading up to retreat, because his team wiped the floor with the rest of us!

That afternoon we were able to watch Bama go down...I have determined that if you are going to watch LSU football, you need to have your cardiologist on speed dial! Every game brings insane drama! We all went from extreme joy to incredible anger! But, thankfully, the Tigers pulled it out. (Can you imagine me trying to preach after losing a game like that?!) God must be an LSU fan- After all, purple is the color of royalty and gold is what the streets of heaven are made of. Geaux Tigers!

I am really proud of the Late Nite team who made this retreat so awesome. They all worked very diligently on every detail to make it a five-star experience for everyone. The Elevate full-time interns came in, worked hard, and really helped make everything happen. Our praise and worship team were first class and brought full-on passionate worship to every service of the weekend. And I definitely gotta show some love to all the parents who came and brought their newborns with them!

We had a lot of amazing people with us, but the MVP of the retreat was definitely Marcel Terrebone. I have known him since the pizza-slinging, Tara High Bible club days years ago and he was always faithful to be there every week. Now, he serves at HPC regularly and is such a blessing to all of us. We also had the pleasure of getting to know his caregiver, David... He is the man!

2007 has been an incredible year for college students and young adults at HPC... I am looking forward to finishing the year strong and seeing what God has in store for us in 2008!

Live the Dream

Wow!!! There is no other way to describe our first-ever "Live the Dream" women's conference at Healing Place Church. In our short 14 year history, this is one of the biggest and best things we've ever done. Months and months of planning, countless hours of preparation, creative meetings, innovative thinking, sweat equity and the touch of the Sovereign resulted in a weekend that impacted more than 1200 women. But it didn't stop there--marriages were healed, children were blessed, families were enriched, dreams were inspired. On top of that, over 40 pastors wives were in attendance, so the reach of the ministry was exponential!!

Of course, my personal schedule was slightly adjusted this past week with Rachel being fully engaged in the "Live the Dream" efforts. I was triple-teamed at the house with a gathering of my own--I call it the Daddy Daycare Conference! After 4 solid days flying solo with my 3 children, all I can say is....Wow!!!!!! I love my wife--and desperately miss her when she's gone!

Several new dads stopped by my house while their wives were "living the dream." Blair Gremillion and his little girl Sheldon dropped by for pizza one night. After warming some bottles and changing a few diapers, we encouraged each other in the Lord and asked for His mercy over the next couple of days. When Momma's gone, it's all about survival right? Not long after, Rob Gros came over with his brand new baby Novalee. During our conversation, little T-Rev nearly baptized Rob in some projectile vomit--it was spectacular!!!!! This was no little spit-up. He double-clutched an entire 5 oz bottle that looked like the Falls of Niagara. While Rachel was living the dream, my dream had become a nightmare! That's my boy!

The highlight for me was the opening night of the conference. The girls and I snuck into the building to see the kick-off. Everyone was amazing, but my favorite was the conference host--Rachel! She's a natural on stage--beauty personified! Alexa, Mikaela & I left early, but not before placing 1 long-stem rose and a card decorated by all of us in the front seat of Rachel's car. After doing this secret act of love and affirmation, Mikaela exclaimed, "Daddy, this has been the best day of my life!" I said, "Why is that baby?" She said, "Because Mommy is going to be sooooo surprised."

Congratulations to all the ladies of our HPC house! Keep living the dream!!!!!