HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

well, this is the last day of our last year without kids. it's been a very eventful year in our lives. we've learned a lot about ourselves as well as others around us. i just thank God that he has placed us in the position that we are in RIGHT NOW in time for the baby to come. we are getting ready to journey in to a very busy time in the car business and i will be blessed in making more money this year than i have ever made in any year of my whole life. God couldn't have chosen a better time. it has taken a lot of painful things to get us here, but i can finally say that i trust everyone that God has placed directly around me. we are looking forward to a VERY BLESSED 2007 and i pray that yours follows suit as well. God bless and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

well...exactly what it said...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

HOLIDAY BLESSING

all through the holiday season we have been receiving christmas cards that have totally blessed us from so many friends and family, a lot of whom we rarely get to see. we've even been receiving quite a few cards from families at our old church back in sallisaw, ok. we made a lot of great friendships that we will hold dear to our hearts for a lifetime. there was one card in particular that we received this week that really stood out. there was an amazing family that we grew to love while we were in sallisaw that sent us a holiday blessing that was enclosed inside of our christmas card. as we opened it up we were surprised to see a check that will more than take care of all of our christmas needs this holiday season. receiving a card alone, is more than enough for us to see the families that we have touched along the way, and this is just a wonderful icing on our cake that we are getting to have and eat too. to all of our friends and family, we love you all and wish you a happy holiday season.

loving the holidays

i always love this time of year. it's a great time to spend with friends and family and reflect on all of the blessings that God has brought our way this year. make it a point to spend some time with friends and family this year and try to focus on how God has poured out his blessings on your life.

You Might Be a Redneck...

if, instead of having turkey on "turkey day", you have chicken that was caught out from under your front porch and deer that was spotlighted and shot from your back porch...you might be a redneck. yes, that is correct, my family is full of rednecks and they can't help it. i called my mom to ask if jeanette needed to make some dressing or if someone else was bringing some. her reply was, "i was just gonna git some of that dressin from kroger". i don't know about you guys but, turkey day was named turkey day for a reason and dressing has to be home made to be any good. maybe i'm just too southern and not enough redneck. i don't know if i should call it "cheer day" or "dicken day" now. help me out here, i'm so confused, what should i call it!!!???

And Then There Were 5...

well, the 15th of the month hit last week and we all got our "first half" checks and by saturday morning we had lost 3 salesman. it sucks that they all quit, but on the up side that just means more customers for those of us that are left. i pray that they are all able to find jobs soon, they were some really good people. be praying that i'll light it up in what's left of the second half of this month. Carson will be here before we know it!!!

weekend off

tomorrow we have an all day class for labor, delivery, and lamaaz (or however you spell that). since the class lasts all day i end up getting the whole weekend off. i'm really looking forward to it because it's been a little while since i've been able to string 2 days off together. we're having another baby shower this weekend for all of our friends and family that live around the texarkana area. we already had one shower that was amazing; it was thrown by the wonderful people at the Journey Church in sallisaw, OK. now, this is going to be fun getting to see all of our old friends here in t-town. heck, i may even get to play golf this weekend, if i'm lucky (i won't hold my breath though).

full

aaaaauuuuuggggghhhhhhh, i just finished eating an entire large pizza by myself. i am so stinkin full right now! i am sometimes amazed at the amount of food that i can put away considering my size and all. well, i guess i'm fixin to go finish watching the second season of lost and eat some popcorn. i think the pregnancy is the reason for my eating so much.

LOST

i don't know if you have ever seen this show, but man it is so addictive. it's one of those shows that keeps you right on the edge of your seat. we just bought season 2 so we could get caught up on last season since we missed so much of it. if you've never seen this show i totally recommend it!

SOS

i'm sure, for those very few of you who actually read this, that you get tired of hearing me write about a lot of the Same Old Stuff. sorry, my life is just like that though. we all have a lot of monotonous things that fill our lives. on a different note though, be praying for us, i can't give you any details right now but God is starting to do something in our lives and we need you to be praying for guidance, direction, and favor. i'll fill you in as soon as i can.

SALESMAN OF THE MONTH

well, in my second month with the ORR Automotive Group i have been crowned with the salesman of the month title. some say that it's skill and others say that it's luck. i don't care what it is as long as i'm the one bringing home the check. i always said about my golf game that i'd much rather be lucky than good. in this business you can go from being a zero to a hero in a matter of no time. and it also works the other way around too. i'm just happy to be on top for a day. now it's time to start all over again.

14 HOURS

as you all know, the time turned back last night. what you didn't know was that, nett and i were so tired that we went to bed early and slept for 14 HOURS!!! and we still were able to get up at 8:40am. man, that was some amazing sleep. i'm normally taking a nap at this time on a sunday, but i'm not even tired right now. i guess sometimes, your body just needs to shut down and go into hibernation mode. i recommend everyone try it sometime.

birthday sale

man, today was a great birthday at work. i sold one car and made more in one day than i ever made in more than a week at my last job. God truly has had His hand on our lives. i also went to Texas High's homecoming and got to see first hand why they are the #1 team in the state of Texas. Ryan Mallett is a quarterback that we are going to be watching on Sunday afternoons in about another 4 years or so. this kid truly is something special to write home about.

happy birthday

well, tomorrow (October 20th) is my 26th birthday. i have to say that i just don't get excited about my birthday like i use to. i guess that's just part of getting older. jeanette was even asking me what i wanted for my birthday and i honestly couldn't think of anything that i wanted that i don't already have. i guess i'm just not a materialistic person. don't get me wrong, i am a guy that loves technology and gadgets and golf clubs and stuff just like any guy. but, there's nothing that i could think of wanting that i don't already have. all in all, i guess this birthday has just helped me realize even more, how blessed i am. i guess that's why i'm "LIVING THE DREAM!"

fantasy football

fantasy football is a phenomenon that is absolutely sweeping our culture. some people hate it, others can't imagine a football season without it. whether you have a position on it or not, you have at least heard of it. i've been in a league with the same group of guys for about 5 years now. we always do a live draft online which is a lot of fun. it's funny to see a bunch of grown men getting overly excited about a bunch of guys running around in tights getting balls thrown at them ;). if you like football alright and you've never played fantasy football you should definitely give it a shot.

life's great...

ya know, sometimes we all lack gratitude for the things that God has done and is doing in our lives. i must admit that i am as bad as anyone when it comes to that. i have to say, that i am the most blessed person that i know. other people measure how blessed they are by their financial state of being or how much "STUFF" they have. i'm not rich and i don't have every material possession desired by man, but there are some things that i do have.

i have the most amazing wife that any person could ever wish for. i also have a wonderful baby boy on the way. not to mention, i have an AMAZING job with 2 bosses that can only be rivaled by my previous boss of 4 years at Golf USA. it also helps that i do make enough for jeanette to stay home with the upcoming baby. i've had a lot of circumstances in my life that i would never have planned, but i would never go back and change them because it is those circumstances that have gotten me to where i am now. it's really kind of funny how things happen sometimes. i've had people tell me, especially supposed friends, that i was "missing God" on certain things but looking at everything now...i am EXACTLY where i wanted to be at this moment in my life. i'm at a job that i love and in a financial state that is allowing my amazing wife to stay at home with our upcoming baby. so, next time you are going through a fire or you're making a decision that you feel very strongly about press on no matter what the "nay sayers" around you say.

just stay focused and remember to thank God in all circumstances...because, it is usually the uncomfortable ones that get us to where we want to be in our lives. and that friends is why i am "LIVING THE DREAM"

HAT TRICK!!!

today was absolutely an awesome day! there is a phenomenon in the car business that happens ever so often to a very skilled or lucky salesman; the event of selling 3 cars in one day. well folks, in my second month in the car business, i was that "lucky" guy. it was totally a God thing. i went from being at the bottom of the sales board for the month to the top in one day. our general manager always says "you can make a week in a day and you can make a month in a week". boy is he right! now if i can just keep the momentum going i will have a great month for my BIRTHDAY.

how bout them cowboys!!!

it's football season once again and i am totally stoked, because the dallas cowboys are on a roll. this is going to be an interesting game this week watching terrell owens go back and play in philadelphia for the first time since he left. i hope the boys hang 40 points on them. GO COWBOYS!!!

grillin

for those of you who know me well, you know that one of my favorite things to do is grill. well, this saturday at work, we're having some guys come out to the dealership and grill ALL DAY for us! there's nothing like food off the grill, it all tastes better when it comes off the grill. this is going to be a blast, eating good food and making good money all day...WHO COULD EVER ARGUE WITH THAT!?

fun time

we went over to our good friends, jason and cilla, house saturday night. we had a great dinner and hung out all night. we had so much fun. i actually saw ICE AGE for the first time. it was a pretty cool movie. i love those animated movies...i guess that's what they're calling them now. i still refer to them as cartoons. i think this saturday night we're going to do something fun like move into our new place. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

L7 SLVR

man, i finally got a new phone! we've had the same old crappy phone from sprint for the past 4 years. a lot of people started calling it my pager, because i could never answer it because i was always on roam. now i'm on cingular and i am absolutely loving it!!! i'm fixing to set up my itunes on the phone too. it's nice having a phone that actually works now.

Fall Weather

man, i absolutely love fall weather. it's not too cold yet and it's not too hot either. it's just right. fall and spring are my favorite two seasons. the Texarkana Golf Association is having the ORR Auto Group City Championship this weekend and the next weekend. i can't wait to get out and hang out and enjoy the weather and watch some good golf. if i'm lucky, i may get to play a little bit too!!!

Four States Fair

tonight i was at the fairgrounds for the "umpteenth" annual Four States Fair and Rodeo. i worked a booth out there from 4pm-10pm for ORR Auto Group. it's been years since i've been out there. it was kind of cool, remembering back when i was growing up going to the fair. i went walking around with my good friend dave terrell and his wife, who just found out that she is pregnant. it was really funny walking around as an adult with my friend and his wife. we were both laughing about what it was like when we were kids going to the fair. it's quite a different experience now than it use to be. kind of funny to think back on it though. being young was fun, but i sure am glad that it's over. i'm having too much fun as an adult that still acts like a kid.

9/11

i'll never forget being awakened by the telephone at 7:37am CST in arlington, TX to hear jeanette frantically telling me to turn on the television. to my surprise i saw one of the twin towers on fire, and only a few moments later watched the second plane come flying into the opposite tower. my world stood still for what seemed like hours. i remember the feelings of confusion and hurt that i felt for those people. i also remember that as the rest of the week went on, i felt an overwhelming pride and respect for myself and my fellow americans. all of the emergency workers and civilians that came together in unity showing their love and compassion for their fellow man gave me a sense of patriotism that i have never had before that point. i regret the lives that were lost on that day, but i am thankful for the patriotism and compassion that was brought to life in our fellow american brothers and sisters on that day. and for that reason...i will never forget.

Texas vs. Arkansas

friday night was the infamous Texas High vs. Arkansas High game. what made it so exciting this year is, arkansas high is ranked number 1 in the state of AR and texas high is ranked number 2 in the state of TX.

well, Texas High proved to be superior as i thought they would. they ran up the board on them and finished it out at 38-14 with Texas High as the victors once again. the highlight reel was pretty amazing. Texas High has one of the top quarterbacks in the nation, Ryan Mallet, and are very hard to stop on offense. last year they lost in the playoffs to Highland Park who went on to win state, but this year is Mallet's senior year and he's not going out without a hard run at state.

next weekend Texas High travels to Ohio to play in an elite tournament that only the top few teams in the country are invited to come and represent their state against the best teams in Ohio. if you can think of a top high school team in the nation, they will be at this event. it's going to be exciting to see how they match up against the best high school team in Cincinatti. GO TIGERS!!!

Paid Off

well, going to central mall may pay off after all. i think that i have the most leads from being out there so, that should make me some bonus cash that would equal a car deal that i would have missed out on saturday. i also ended up making 2 car deals from working today too, so GOD IS GOOD! he always does take care of me. we ended up having a real good day today at the dealership. we were the only ones in town who were open and it paid off!!!

Central Mall

well, it's 9:30am and i'm sitting up here at central mall waiting for the mall to open up. ORR Auto Group has a booth at the mall and i have to work it today. everyone has to work it a full day but, me being the "green pea" i got stuck with having to work it on a saturday which happens to be our busiest day at the store. it was either this, or work it on sunday and not have a day off. so, naturally i chose to have my sunday off since i'm going to be one of the few choosing to work on labor day. i pray that my working on labor day will make up for my missing being on the floor today. i really do hope that some people hurry up and get here so i don't die of boredom before the end of the day.

first sale

yesterday was the last day of the month and my 5th day on the floor and i got my first sale...first 2 sales actually. this is definitely a very fun job. it's very exciting and the group that we have working together is very tight knit. it's a lot of fun. it's like i'm working with 6 older brothers and a grumpy old grandpa that keeps us all laughing. even when we're not selling, we're having a blast sitting around picking on each other. september will be my first full month to be on the floor. i can't wait to see how my numbers turn out. this month is going to be very exciting!!!

frisbee golf

i went and played frisbee golf today with my father-in-law and my brother-in-law. there are some sports that i am really good at and some that i am really bad at. if you can call frisbee golf a sport, then i would say that is one that i am REALLY bad at. who would have ever thought that throwing a frisbee 300 yards and making it in a basket in 3 shots could be hard? it's dang near impossible for me!!! we had a lot of fun, but i was definitely reminded why i never played any positions in sports in which i had to throw anything.

training

i've been in training since monday and it has been ALOT of learning. it's really been a lot of fun and i feel that i've been doing very well. the people in my class are a lot of fun and the trainer, Gary Westmoreland, is an AMAZING teacher! it's been a lot of fun learning all of the stuff that goes into helping someone buy a car and seeing the steps play out one by one. i hit the sales floor saturday and I AM SO EXCITED!!!

lazy sunday

okay, i already know that some of you may judge me after reading this next sentence but, who cares. i slept until about 12:30pm today and it felt WONDERFUL! we have been running so much since we got moved and i really haven't had one day that i have slept in until today. heck, i wouldn't have had today to sleep in if my buddies hadn't canceled our round of golf on me last night. anyways, i think i ended up sleeping for about 12hrs or so. it was the kind of sleep that was totally unforced. i didn't wake up and make myself go back to bed. i just slept pretty much straight through. the rest of the day, i just kind of hung out with jeanette and watched tiger woods dominate the PGA Championship and then we went to look at some houses. all in all, i got a whole lot of nothing accomplished today and it felt great!

learning the business

today i went up to the dealership to hang out and kind of see how things run. i got to spend the day up in the booth with the owner and the sales manager to kind of see how the whole process of a car sale works. it was very interesting.

i have to say, i know that car salesmen and dealers get a pretty bad wrap from people who don't do the business honestly. i've been in the car business once before and the people were very crooked and very shady, therefore i did not stay but about a week to find it all out and i was gone from that place. that was many moons ago. working for the ORR Auto Group, i can already tell is going to be totally different from what ANYONE has ever expected from a car dealership. don't get me wrong, these people are in business to make money just like anyone else but there is nothing shady about what goes on at the dealership that i work at.

the first thing i heard out of the sales manager's mouth today as we were talking was, "don't ever tell a lie, always be upfront about everything with everyone." i was immediately impressed with his character and the way that both he and the owner run this dealership. all day long, they gave some of the best customer service that i have seen and were very upfront on every sale. i can already tell that i am going to like working for this company.

crazy week

wow, this has been a crazy week for us. we have had a ton of stuff going on since we got here late sunday night. it's nuts how much stuff you have to do when you move. change bank accounts, insurance, etc. we're finally starting to get somewhat settled in though. my boss invited me to come hang out with him tomorrow and kind of see how things work behind the scenes in the car business. i'm real excited to be starting this new job. i start my training next monday and will hit the sales floor the week after that. i can't wait!

we're here

well, we got in last night and got the truck unloaded and all ended up eating dominoe's pizza and hanging out until about 1:30am. thanks to everyone who helped us move and to all the wonderful people at the journey church that threw us an amazing baby shower before we left yesterday. we were very blessed. well, i gotta run, my awesome mother-in-law is making chicken enchilada casserole and daddy is hungry!

moving tomorrow

well, i'm sitting up at my office eating a sonic reese's peanut butter cup blast and checking my email. we have pretty much finished packing and cleaning everything except for what we're going to need in the morning. this is a very torn moment in my life. i am partly sad to be leaving this little town and all of the wonderful friendships that i have made here, but i am also excited about the future that God has for us. we have a baby boy, Carson Matthew, on the way and a very bright future ahead of us. i can't say how excited i am about getting to be a daddy. i've not even gotten to see him or hold him in my arms, but at the same time, just knowing that he is on the way is one of the most fulfilling feelings that i have ever had. so, although i am sad about moving out of this era of my life, i am totally fulfilled in knowing that i am doing exactly what i am supposed to be doing as i enter a new era. as it has been said before, our best days truly are ahead...

turn the page

for those of you who live in a cave somewhere, jeanette and i are moving back home to texarkana this weekend. this is one of the hardest decisions that we have ever had to make. we are TOTALLY in love with this church and our youth group. we have the most amazing group of teenagers that ANYONE could ever ask for.

as you all know, jeanette and i have been blessed with a miracle baby after trying for 6 years. we have always known that whenever we were able to have a baby that jeanette would stay home to take care of it. this is something that we have planned from day one and were willing to make whatever sacrifice that we had to make to see this happen. unfortunately, you can't get rich doing youth ministry. heck, you can barely afford to feed a family of squirrels doing youth ministry.

in light of this situation, God has opened a door, like he always does, and we will be moving back to texarkana to start a new chapter in our lives. once again, this is one of the hardest decisions that we have ever had to make because we love our church and our youth group so much. we just have to trust that God is always in control and that he directs our paths. i just thank Him for the inventions of MySpace, Instant Messaging and BLOGing that will help us to keep in touch with all of the close friends that we have made through out this Journey in our life. for those of you in sallisaw, we love you very much and will miss seeing you all of the time. please keep in touch with us and know that we will NEVER let go of you in our hearts, minds, and prayers. we love you dearly.
Your Friend,
Matt

Carson Matthew

we went to the doctor today to get a diagnosis of a screening test that jeanette had done last week for the baby. they were checking to see if the baby had down sendrome and some other stuff. after confirming that everything was okay, the nurse kept looking around at stuff. i was thinking, "what is she doing?" we are only in week 16 right now, so we're not SUPPOSED to find out the sex of the baby for another 4 WEEKS! she finally gets the position that she wants and then she just sits there for what seems like forever. the whole time i'm still trying to figure out why she's still playing around when she's supposed to be finished. she finally says, "move that foot baby" and shortly after that, it did. she took 2 quick pictures and said, "well, i'm not telling you 100% or not, BUT that's a BOY!!!" we were totally freaked out! we didn't think we were going to get to find out for another month and BAM! this lady has been doing this for over 20 years and the doctor said that she's NEVER been wrong. that's a pretty good percentage if you ask me. it's a shame she couldn't be a weather person. so, for those of you wanting to know what we're going to name him just look above. this is one of the happiest days of my life.

praise you in the storm

i don't know if you've heard the song "praise you in the storm" by casting crowns or not, but this has become my life song over the past few months. i don't know what God holds for our future, but i do know that i will not stop praising him regardless of what happens. He is my strength, my hope, my deliverer, and my security. He is the one in whom i place my trust and my future. if you've not heard this song, i encourage you to listen to it and let it minister to you. God knows that i have over the past few months.

140bpm

we went this morning to the doctor to hear the baby's heartbeat. it took a minute before we could actually hear it over jeanette's heartbeat. i have to admit, it truly was amazing. we are so excited about getting the opportunity to be parents. this is something that we have been waiting for for almost 7 years.

faith

faith is walking when you can't see exactly where you're going. faith is believing when everyone else says that there is nothing to support what you believe. faith is taking that step off of what looks like a ledge and just knowing that God's hands will be there to support you. i get questioned about things that i do from time to time and sometimes i just don't have a logical answer that pleases their minds. i just have faith that in EVERY situation, my heavenly father is always there by my side, as a good friend said, "holding my hand". i am not able to explain everything to everyone. i just know that it is in times that i can't see exactly where i'm going, no one believes that i am right and i am stepping off of what looks like a ledge...i have faith that God is holding my hand...

i can't swim

being that it is summer time right now, alot of people talk about going to the lake and going swimming and fun stuff of that nature. well, i have an embarrassing secret to tell you all, i can't swim. those of you who know me really well already knew that as well as the reason why. for those of you who don't, here it goes.

i was born with holes in both of my ear drums and they will never close up. it affects my hearing as well as other things. i can't get water in my ears or i will get a really bad ear infection that hurts like all get out. i know what some of you are thinking, "how do you take a shower?" well, trust me, after the first couple of ear infections you learn real quick how to take a shower without getting water in your ears. however, there was never any way of getting around learning how to swim without getting water in my ears. because, ear plugs work for normal people but, what they don't realize is they still get a little bit of water in their ears. and just that little bit would cause me a lot of pain for a long time. so, i never learned to swim. there you go, that's my dirty little secret. what's yours?

THAT WAS SO...

we took our middle school students to Frontier City in oklahoma city on monday. it's kind of like a mini Six Flags. we had a lot of fun. i got on a ride with this one guy named jake thompson; it was one of those bungie rides that catapult you up into the air and then you kind of bounce for a minute or so before they let you down. well, as they're lowering us down jake started to say something that he didn't get to finish. all i heard was "THAT WAS SO...". the "..." was the sound of him projectile vomiting 12 feet out in front of us...which was pretty impressive by the way. right after i saw it, i started to smell it; that's when i freaked out. they finally got me out of the seat and i took off running to get away. then a kid walks up and informs me that i have some on the back of my shirt. i ran to the nearest store that had shirts as i was gagging the whole way. that was where i found a very cool shirt that simply said "Cracker" on the front of it. now, how could i pass that up?

SLIDE!!!

i know that i've been writing alot about softball and golf and sport/summer related stuff here lately, but that's what's been going on in my life so, i hope that i'm not boring you. all that being said, i got to bat in my first ever softball game last night and the adrenaline rush was off the charts! it was so much fun. i kept harassing my team mates everytime they would get a base hit and heckle them to slide even when they didn't have to. so, it was kind of funny when my turn to bat comes up. i hit a line drive right over second base into center field and as i was approaching second base i was surprised to see that the outfielder was just then starting to pick up the ball so, i took off for third and the third baseman caught the ball about 5 feet before i got there so i took my own advice and slid into third base for a photo finish "SAFE!" call. then ms. sammie caldwell batted me in to score.

what was so funny about me sliding is, we were up by about 11-0 in the second inning and there i was sliding in to third base like it was the world series or something. oh, by the way, there is definitely a certain technique to sliding the RIGHT way and evidently i was nowhere close. so, i've got a slight limp in my left leg right now. oh well, it was worth it, i had a blast.

i love summertime

summer is one of the funnest times of year for me. there's so much going on, yet there doesn't seem like there's a lot going on. it's just so much fun. i got to go to the lake last week and drive a boat around with a bunch of friends, i'm playing softball for one of our church teams...well, i'm on the team at least. we're really having a lot of fun. the only bad thing about it is the heat, and the fact that i've not had an air conditioning unit in my office since the last week of june. other than that, this has been one of the best summers ever!

benchwarmer

last night was our first softball game. well, it was our team's first softball game. we were playing the NY Yankees...it seemed like it at least. everyone saw this team warming up and they all said, "Hey, that's the team that wins the Men's Softball League every year. What are they doing out here?" well, evidently they needed some warming up before men's league started so, as some people implied...they just may have started their own church to do so.

after watching derek jeter and a-rod crank balls into the parking lot and setting off car alarms for half an hour i was asked if i wanted to play 2nd base or warm the bench for this one. i guess you know what i chose by now. we eventually had to stop playing because they launched every ball that both of our teams had so far into the woods that not even smoky the bear could find them. but, we had a lot of fun and i learned a new baseball cheer. it goes something like this, "WHO STOLE THE COOKIE FROM THE COOKIE JAR? CHRIS STOLE THE COOKIE FROM THE COOKIE JAR!"...don't look at me like that, we turned it into a baseball cheer. so, feel free to use it anytime.

softball

well, it's summer and church softball is upon us. journey church has 3 teams this year. 2 of them are in the B bracket and 1 is in the A bracket. I DON'T HAVE A CLUE HOW I ENDED UP ON THE A BRACKET TEAM! we scrimmaged one of our B bracket teams sunday night, and i must say that watching me play softball is quite humorous. i was playing right field and had an inside the park homerun hit on me. it was so funny! i am super competitive...normally. i just really don't think i'm good enough to get upset about doing bad at this like i do other stuff. i think i'll just go out and have some fun with this.

golf

tuesday, on the 4th of july, i went to play golf with dr. bob wells. he's one of our elders and a great guy to be around. i've only played once in the past 11 months. and, it doesn't help that i was never that good even when i was playing twice a week. so, naturally, playing on a new course with a new person, i really stunk it up. i did have a ton of fun though. golf is one of those things that i just really unwind when i'm doing it. it's so peaceful out there and no matter how good or bad i'm doing i'm going to have a good time. i can't wait to get out and play again!

CAMP

well, it's been a while since i last wrote you all. we were at camp all last week and i have been taking a little time to recover since we got back friday afternoon. camp was amazing! we took 26 teenagers (my goal was 25) and we had 12 salvations and 3 recommitments! GOD IS SO GOOD! we all changed tremendously over the week. there is entirely too much to tell on this BLOG. i was just so excited to see God moving in the lives of my youth group at the same place that He moved in my life for the very first time. it was very exciting, and a little surreal.

leaving tomorrow

well, i'm up here at my office with my buddy chris and we are just tying up some loose ends before we leave for camp siloam in the morning. i am so pumped, we are going to have the best time! well, i'll update ya when we get back. LATER!

The Pigeon Room

well, today i just finished tackling one of the most difficult tasks that i've had to do in ministry thus far. we have this HUGE storage room in the back of our building that is called "The Pigeon Room", and it is a place that if no one knows where something goes...well, they just throw it on the floor in there. when you have a church with about 420 members and a HIGH volunteer base you can end up with a BIG mess on your hands.

we filled up 2 dumpsters with trash from out of there. some stuff we later found out, might not have been trash...oops, sorry. i have never had much trouble with the "Ministry Side" of ministry; it's always been the stuff like this that has gotten the best of me. cleaning out a GINORMOUS room and then organizing all of it's contents. for those of you who know me, you know that i am organizationally challenged. this is all changing little by little, thank God. i had help from 5 guys in our youth group, and with all of their hard work and perseverance we finally finished it today. now we have 7 brand new shelving units for storage that we built and NO clutter piled up on the floor. i'd like to thank rob, gray, tim, kyle, and martin for helping to make this all happen. i couldn't have done it without you guys. now we just have to do too more, much SMALLER closets and we will be finished with organizing ALL of the storage closets in the church. THANK GOD!!!

sonogram

jeanette and i went to the doctor today because she was having some pains monday night when we were moving tony and erin, our new children's pastors, in to their house. we were a little worried but trying to stay confident in our faith and how far God has brought us thus far.

we got to the doctor and i honestly held my breath for what seemed like an eternity. until, finally, we saw a VERY evident heartbeat. as we looked closer, we saw tiny little feet and hands and the head. the baby is almost an inch tall. i was so relieved and excited that everything was okay that i almost started crying...i've done plenty of that since we found out that we were having a baby. we go back july 5th to actually hear the heartbeat and we'll find out the sex of te baby sometime in september. WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!

Camp Siloam

i am getting ready to embark on a very surreal experience this next week. 12 years ago i went to church camp for the very first time. it was at this time that God reached down and met me right where i was at. the rest is all history. this will be the first time that i have been back to this camp in 11 years. last time i was going into the 9th grade and now i am taking my own youth group. i'm use to being the one who was always a little mischevious and getting into trouble at camp (no, i didn't do anything bad...just a little fun mischief). so, it'll be interesting to see what happens with me being in charge this year. this is a time that i get to let my hair down and have a little stupid fun that i wouldn't normally get to do. the only thing that i'm not happy about is, nett isn't getting to go because of her being pregnant and her not being able to get off work. other than that, we're all going to have a lot of fun. i'll be sure to let you know how it all goes.

Father's Day

well, this was my first father's day that i am a dad...kinda. i still count it, even though the baby is still in the womb and i don't even know if it is a boy or a girl yet. i had a great father's day, jeanette bought me a new charcoal grill that i have been wanting for quite sometime now. so, i spent all day yesterday playing with it and grilling up steaks and sausage links. MAN, THAT WAS SOME GOOD FOOD!!! i can't wait for next year when i have a little 5 month old on father's day. maybe i'll be able to teach it to say daddy earlier than most kids do.

couple of days off

jeanette and i left sunday after church to go to texarkana for a couple of days to relax and take a few days off. we had a lot of fun. i always love taking a little time off just to unwind. i went and played golf monday afternoon with some old golf buddies of mine. i was blown away at how well i played. i actually played better than the last time i was on the course, which was 10 months ago. what's crazy about that is, then, i was playing twice a week! so, we had a lot of fun and then on tuesday evening i grilled burgers for everybody and my boy jackie came over to chill with us. then we went over to his house so he could spank me in some xbox 360. so, all in all, we had a great time. we got back wednesday night at about 11:45pm. it felt so good to finally be asleep in our own bed.

6 Flags

well, we took our high schoolers to 6 flags over texas in arlington yesterday. we pulled out of the church parking lot at 5:30am and pulled back into the church parking lot at 11:45pm. i must say that this was one of the funnest 6 flags trips that i’ve ever been on. i have found though, that i am a little more affected by rollercoasters than i was 10 years ago. i didn’t get sick or nauseated or anything like that. But, i did get a little disoriented on a couple of rides that never use to even phase me. that makes it just that much more fun though! if you’ve ever wanted to know what it feels like to fly like a superhero, you have to ride the SUPERMAN at 6 flags in arlington. that was such a cool feeling! i’m already looking forward to going again next year!

WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!

GOD IS SO GOOD! well, after just over 6 years of trying and spending THOUSANDS of dollars on fertility doctors and medications and the doctors finally saying that there wasn't much else they could do, God decided to step in.

Jeanette has a condition that is called PCOS, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. this causes her not to ovulate, therefore making it impossible to get pregnant. over the past couple of years we had been going to a fertility clinic and had spent literally thousands of dollars trying to get pregnant. we have done everything short of spending 13k on IVF for one shot at getting pregnant, we didn't have the means nor the want to gamble on that much money; especially with our luck thus far in the process.

so, we had decided to stop going to the fertility clinic and try on our own. honestly, at this point, we knew more about fertility and getting pregnant than the average 3rd year med student. it has been well over a year since we last went to the clinic and jeanette hasn't been on ANY medications for some time now. about 2 months ago we decided to stop trying for the rest of the year. we wanted to go ahead and enjoy the rest of the year not worrying and stressing out about it. low and behold, this is when GOD decided to step in.

HE waited for US to stop trying before HE started...

memorial day weekend

i am so pumped about this weekend. a bunch of us are leaving today at 3pm to go ATVing today and tomorrow. this is going to be so much fun. the last time i actually got to go on an overnight trip and do this was when me and pastor jeff did it about 7 years ago. we are going to have so much fun. i am going to miss my beautiful, lovely wife however. also, we are leaving after church sunday to go to texarkana to hang out with friends and family for a couple of days. it's not very often that jeanette and i get the same day off, so this is going to be a lot of fun. happy memorial day weekend!

officially in AWE...

nike and apple have teamed up to make an amazing combination. nike is now making shoes that will talk to your ipod nano and tell you how far you've been running/walking, at what pace, and a whole bunch of other statistics. when you start to get tired you can push a button and play your POWERBOOST song to get you pumping again. i like to walk and run and i love my ipod mini. this definitely makes me want to get an ipod nano. nike is a marketing genius! something else that's cool is, whenever you sync you ipod to your computer it logs your running/walking statistics and it tracks you over a period of time to show you your improvements. HOW COOL IS THAT!!!

fun weekend

well, this weekend was a lot of fun. we had graduation friday night and got to see all of our seniors take the stage to receive their diplomas. i must say that i am so proud of all of them.

we also, had tony and erin velasquez in to interview for the children's pastor position. we had so much fun hanging out with them and riding 4-wheelers and taking them to look at houses. they're great people and a lot of fun.

7mins. 8secs.

this is how long david blaine held his breath underwater last week after living in a life-sized fish aquarium for an entire week. he was attempting to break the world record for holding your breath while underwater. the record is 9mins. however, the guy that holds the record didn't live underwater for the full 7 days before that and escape from chains and handcuffs while he was holding his breath. the record itself, is something that i believe that david blaine could break with little effort. it is his desire to do things with style and flamboyance that kept him from breaking the record this time. you gotta give the guy credit though, 7mins. and 8secs. is a really long time to hold your breath. heck, i couldn't even hold my breath long enough to write this blog.

SMASHED

well, i played in the high school dodgeball tournament yesterday and...OH MY GOSH AM I SORE!!! our team went 0-5; for those of you who don't understand sports records, that means we played 5 games and lost every one. we had an absolute blast though!

the first match i literally lasted 3 seconds...NO KIDDING, THAT'S ALL! our team wasn't the most athletic team, we just wanted to get out there and have some fun. however, the first team we played was the most athletic team and they just wanted to get out there and hurt somebody. they succeeded with me. as i ran to the center line to grab a ball with 2 other team mates i reached down and as i'm in a crouching position reaching to grab the ball i look up just in time to see 2 dodgeballs traveling at the speed of sound coming right at my face. as the first one bounced off of my forehead the second one was less than a thousandth of a second behind hitting me square in the mouth.

honestly, i couldn't help but laugh because i could only imagine how funny it was for the several hundred spectators. if they would have given an award for "Most Punished Player", i am very confident that i would have won hands down. i can't wait for next year. maybe i'm just a glutton for punishment, but i really did have a lot of fun. well, i have all year to practice; i guess i need to start dodging wrenches right away.

YOUR MOM

you know, there is a phrase that never ceases to be funny to me. i can be sitting in the most serious conversation and at any point take just about anything that anyone i'm talking to says, and turn it into a mama joke. i know, i know, i am extremely immature and need to grow up. but, your mama jokes never seem to lose their humor. i've heard that there's even a show on MTV devoted to "Your Mama" jokes now. in fact, i use the statement so much, we're going to make a shirt for our youth group that says "Your Mom Goes to Journey Church". HOW COOL IS THAT?! i can tell that some people around my age, 20s and 30s, get preturbed by my uncanny ability to turn anything they say into a "Yo Mama" joke. so, you guys tell me, am i really still that immature or am i justified in admiring a timeless phrase that has been engrained in our culture? seriously, leave a comment, i want to know. if you don't have a blogger account just click on anonymous and put your name at the end of your comment. let's see what everyone else thinks about YOUR MOM, 'cause i know i love her...

Put Things Back Where You Found Them

i started a new series this week entitled "Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten". this is going to be a super fun series to preach. i'm taking some very simple, yet profound, statements that i learned in kindergarten and tying them into the Word of God.

the first message was entitled "Put Things Back Where You Found Them". it's crazy that i still have so many memories from way back in kindergarten. i remember playing with these huge life-sized blocks that we use to make buildings out of and then play King-Kong vs. Godzilla and destroy the entire city. then after playtime was over we all had to put everything back from our station back where we found it. this started to carry over with everthing; we had to put the scissors back where we found them. we had to put the crayons back where we found them. we had to put the glue back where we found it...except for the kid that always ate the entire bottle before we were done with the project. he just got to throw his away.

it was some time later, as i was sixteen, that i remember sitting in my living room late one night reading my Bible that i began to think about how excited i use to be about my faith when i first committed my life to Christ. i remember the feelings that i had after being delivered from a lifestyle of drugs, alcohol, depression, and gangs. i couldn't help but tell everyone that i talked to about how good God was and how he had completely changed my life. yet, as i sat in my living room a couple of years later i was curious as to where that zeal had gone. i had gotten so caught up in school, friends, and even church that my relationship with God had taken a backseat.

i finally realized that, that rule that i had learned in kindergarten applied to more than just putting up some blocks when you were done playing with them. it was applying to me many years later as a teenager in a totally different light. as i sat there that night, i finally realized that i needed to put my relationship with God back where i found it.

Dodgeball

well, it's official, i'm signed up to be on at least one team in the dodgeball tournament at the high school next week. i'm kind of nervous, this could show how old or young i really am now. i can still ride 4-wheelers and do stupid crazy stunts with the rest of them but, this is really going to be a test of athleticism and endurance. and, it's been a long time since i've been involved in anything that required either of those two things. so, it'll be interesting to see how it all turns out. i guess i need to go start practicing. remember, "if you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball"...

Muldrow Bottoms

well, seven of us ATV nuts all hooked up yesterday to go riding down in some sand pits that are about 20mins. from us. that is the first time that i've ever ridden in sand, and it was definitely different. i'm use to riding on dirt and this was a totally different experience. once you get use to it, it's not so bad but it was definitely an adjustment. we had an absolute blast! it's cool to be living in an area that has a lot of great places to ride, close to home. that definitely wasn't the case when we lived in dallas or texarkana. we're talking about making a trip down to Wolfpen Gap, just about an hour and a half south of us, sometime next month. i can't wait!

SPRING FEVER!!!

man, the weather has been phenomenal here lately. i can't hardly stay inside. it's not been too hot or cold and the sun has been shining. i have got a major case of spring fever right now. pastor jeff and i have been trying to plan a camping trip for a couple of months now and the weather has finally warmed up enough to go. we're going to try to go down to a river in de queen arkansas that he grew up fishing on for a couple of days. i think he may have a hard time getting me to come back home if the weather stays this good while we're down there. hopefully, i'll be able to talk him into us stopping over at Wolfpen Gap on our way home. that is absolutely my favorite place in the world to ride ATVs. it's over 42 miles of loop trails up in the beautiful hills of arkansas. if you like riding ATVs or dirtbikes like we do, you have got to go there. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

the little things make a BIG difference

well, as you may have read, i went and got my 4-wheeler last sunday and when we got it home and started to ride it, it wasn't performing like i remembered it. which was odd, because the motor had been completely rebuilt recently. so, me and a couple of guys in our youth group, aaron and ryan, started taking things apart and cleaned out the air filter, which was filthy, and changed the spark plug and IMMEDIATELY it was running like brand new again. it's just so amazing to me that the smallest things can make such a BIG difference. it's funny, that the same is true in life. it's the little things, like just spending a little time with God each day and surrounding yourself with great people who lift you up, that can make your life so much better. so, try your best to do a little maintenence that will enhance your life a GREAT deal this week.

On the Look-Out

Well, we are still searching for the right person who is going to be a great fit for our Children's Pastor position at the Journey Church. I just posted a listing on www.churchstaffing.com and hope that it will yield some fruit. We are patient in finding the person that God wants to be here but, we are also anxious to get the right person in here so we can start taking our Children's Ministry to the next level, just as we have with every other ministry in our church. This is going to be a very important hire for us. We believe that this is really going to help take us to the next level in providing top-notch discipleship throughout every age group in our church. Please be praying for the Lord's guidance and wisdom as we search for the right person. This is a very big deal for us, since our staff is such a very tight-knit family, we want to find someone who meshes well with our thinking and our style of ministry. We'll keep you posted!

ATV

well, we had a great weekend. we had a blast with jason and cilla in and had so much fun. on top of that, we had an amazing sunday with 330 in attendance and another great offering. God has truly been blessing us. and, to top it all off, me and my buddy aaron caldwell drove to little rock to get my 4-wheeler from my dad. i have a polaris 400 sport, it's a 2-stroke that will absolutely SCREAM. i haven't gotten to ride it in a few years so, i am so pumped. it's got a newly rebuilt motor and it is ready to. riding ATVs is a passion of mine. there's nothing like going out and having no boundaries and going over, in, and through anything that gets in your way. i can't wait to get this new motor broken in and running hard!

Visitors

well, we are having our first guests to come stay with us since we got here in september. we are so excited to have company come in. Jason and Priscilla Burnett are old friends of ours from texarkana. jason and i grew up together (i was always much cooler than him but, i talked to him anyways)haha. and i've known priscilla since i was about 13 so i pretty much grew up with her too. they are just great people and a lot of fun to be around. we can't wait to drag them around SE Oklahoma and NW Arkansas and show them all our favorite places to go eat and shop. this is going to be a fun weekend for us. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

4 Hour Nap

this week has been completely insane! between doing our youth service, going to schools, baseball games, senior prom and freshman social, helping pastor jeff change over series', going to eat with new members, and having a youth leadership meeting this afternoon i am just completely wiped out. our meeting ended at 6pm this evening and i went straight to bed and was finally awakened by the phone at 10pm. i could've slept until morning but decided to get up for a minute just to stretch. i think i'm going to go finish my nap now...

STOP, DROP, AND ROLL

jeanette and i were driving back from ft. smith tonight, which is about 20mins. east of us and we ran into this huge super cell storm. we were on I-40 and there were times that i had to slow down to 40mph. that was some of the heaviest rain that i have ever driven in. as we were slowed down, i looked over on the side of the road and saw animals starting to line up in pairs...it was really weird. we are officially in tornado season up here and, although sallisaw doesn't normally get tornadoes, there are a lot in the area. which is really weird for us. we're not use to living in tornado ally quite yet. it is nice that we're not the ones getting the tornadoes though. i honestly don't know what i'd do if one did happen. all i remember is the tornado drills at school when we use to STOP, DROP, AND ROLL.

What a Weekend...

wow, what a weekend indeed. we had operation freedom friday night and had 55 teenagers there along with about 20 parents and volunteers. we had some crazy, stupid fun. i swear the adults had as much fun as the youth did. operation freedom lasted until 9pm and then we had Jeff and Kim Livsey, who were interviewing for our Children's Pastor position, come in at about 10:30 that night. after showing them around, talking with them and getting to know them a little we finally left for home at about 1:30am.

naturally, after getting home, my lovely wife wanted to keep me up until 3am asking about every detail from the minute she left the church to my arriving at our front door. we woke up bright and early saturday morning to the sound of the sun rising (it seemed like). then took Jeff and Kim around town showing them rental properties and the rest of Sallisaw. after eating lunch, we had meetings with them and church volunteers until about 5:30pm and dinner at Dr. Rick and Karen Robbins home until about 9:30pm. after which we wisked away to the prom at the high school to have some fun. crashing in bed with my mind still going about 90mph i finally reached REM sleep at about 2am.

Jeff and Kim did both children's services sunday morning, which i sat in on, and did a phenomenal job! we finally got home from church at about 2pm and i immediately crashed until about 6:30pm. after spending all weekend with this couple, jeanette and i have two new great friends. they are amazing people and i really do hope that God allows it all to work out with them coming here. i personally believe that we already have the most amazing church anywhere in the area and they would compliment our church and our way of doing ministry excellently. i am just so excited about all that God is doing here at the Journey Church! I am Living the Dream...

Operation Freedom Part:2

i just had the time of my life tonight. we had a video scavenger hunt that the teens had to go and rescue one of 6 yard gnomes from someone's yard. then, they had 2 pages of objectives that were on a point base value that ranged from 50 points to 1000 points. there were objectives from the gnome working behind a register at a fast food restaurant to driving a car as if in a high speed chase and even dumpster diving for hidden treasure. we had about 55 teenagers show up and their final task that is worth 1000 points is to have their entire team at the same service on sunday morning with their gnome! i had so much stinkin fun tonight! i can't wait to go and watch all of these videos now.

Operation Freedom

we are doing this event tomorrow night that is going to be so much fun. it's called Operation Freedom. this is a very top secret hush hush event. nobody has a clue what it's even about yet. we've been announcing it for about a month and everyone is about to explode in anticipation. due to the secresy of the event, i can't give you any details until after tomorrow night but, i can give you one clue, the whole evening revolves around a roaming gnome. this is going to be so much fun. i can't wait to tell you all about it!

Duct Tape

i've heard people say that duct tape can fix or hold anything together. and, over the years, i've found this to be quite true. so, last night at my youth service we decided to put this to the ultimate test. we took 2 teams of 5. 1 team of guys and 1 team of girls. and, we gave them each a roll of duct tape and told them they had to duct tape one teammate to the wall and who ever stayed the longest won. AND, IT REALLY WORKED!!! i could see how, if they hadn't been rushed by me that they could have taped them good enough to stay up there for quite a while. i was truly amazed by this. so, if you and some friends are ever bored and want something to do but all you have is a roll of duct tape. HOOK IT UP!

Pocket

Today is a very monumental event for some dear friends of mine. Pocket Full of Rocks is releasing their new album "Songs to the King" today. Pocket has forever changed how I approach the Throne of God in worship. If you want to hear a CD that will not only inspire you, but also change your life; then go get this CD today. If you purchase it at Wal-Mart, you will also receive an amazing Bonus DVD that was produced by Unblind Productions. Unblind Productions is one of the most creatively gifted production companies out there. I know you will enjoy this DVD.

MySpace

If you're under the age of 25 and don't have or at least know what a MySpace is by now then you've been living under a rock for some time now. To be quite honest, I fell under that category until just here recently when my friend Brock Gill and Pastor Jeff introduced it into my life. In getting on there, I was completely blown away. MySpace isn't just another website, it's a completely different world of it's own. It's amazing the people you will find on it as well. I found friends that I haven't seen or talked to in years. Just to give you an idea of how big this phenomenon is growing, as of today (3-7-06) there are over 61,000,000 profiles set up on MySpace. Each one is of an individual or an orginization of some sort. People are actually starting to call the generation that is growing up now, the "MySpace Generation".

Ten years ago people were saying "You can tell what kind of person a teenager is by looking at their bedroom.". Now they're saying "You can tell what kind of person a teenager is by looking at their MySpace page.". MySpace is the 7th most hit English speaking website in the world. This truly is sweeping our generation. I've heard of a lot of people slamming MySpace, particularly Christians, talking about how worldly and sinful it is. But, just like anything, it's only as worldly and sinful as the person who is using it. I choose to use MySpace as a way to stay connected to old friends and connect with new ones and network together in ministry with other people who share the same passions as I do. I encourage you to go check it out at www.myspace.com and decide what you think about it. If you set up a MySpace page, go to www.myspace.com/mattcaler and add me as a friend. I look forward to seeing you in the virtual world of MySpace!

Excited

Well, we've been back in lovely Sallisaw, OK for 6 months now and are just so blessed to be here. God has been doing so many things in our lives, ministry, and our AMAZING church. The church has more than doubled in the last 8 months and we are now looking at hiring a new Children's Pastor/Master's Commission Director in the next month or two. It's so cool to see all of the extremely well qualified people who are all chomping at the bit to come to little 'ol Sallisaw and be a part of what God is doing at the Journey Church.

This is particularly exciting to me because, I feel like we're going to be adding another family member. Our staff, as well as the entire church, is so tightly knit together that it truly does give you that sense of family. All I know is, they better have a great sense of humor and be willing to either play XBOX LIVE or golf with me. Those are the most important questions they're going to hear coming out of my mouth. Pastor Jeff has all of the other stuff covered, but I just want to know that they know how to have fun! We'll see how it all pans out. I'll keep you posted. You can be sure though, when you hear back from me on this subject, you'll be hearing about somebody who fills those specifications.

burning bridges won't help you mend fences

I really had a great time over the weekend despite having to attend my grandmother's funeral. Jeanette and I went back home to Texarkana on Saturday to attend Pastor Jeff's baby sister's wedding and go to a baby shower for Jeanette's best friend from high school. It was a beautiful wedding and baby shower; we got to see a lot of old familiar faces that we haven't seen in a long time. After coming back home to Sallisaw, OK that night I left out again after church on Sunday to come back for my grandmother's funeral on Monday.

Sunday night I had a great time hanging out with a long time friend, Jackie Allensworth. We played some XBOX 360 and went and ate some double whoppers and came back and played some more XBOX and literally laughed until we cried about old times, and some not so old times. It's great to be able to go back home and drop in and see a great friend like Jackie when I have the chance. We don't ever really talk about anything of significance; we just enjoy each others company a lot. I have not always been the best at keeping old friendships burning, but I can say that one important lesson in life that I have learned is this. Burning bridges will never help you mend fences. Although, I may not be the best at keeping old friendships burning; I will never burn a bridge that will keep me from going back and mending that relationship through God's timing. If you have any old friends that you haven't talked to in a while, even if you may have burned the bridge, I encourage you to call them or shoot them an email this week and try to mend that fence. I believe that God places people in our lives as gifts, and for us to throw away a gift that He has given us is worse than sqaundering away a family inheritance. Make your life more enjoyable today; call that person that you've wanted to call for a while but felt that you couldn't. It'll be worth your while, I promise...

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

This show has totally changed my life. It's amazing that some networks are trying to go against the flow of everyone else. This show totally goes against everything else that is on TV. It is making us all think more about giving to others to see their dreams come true rather than looking inward and selfishly trying to fulfill all of the desires of our own flesh. This has got to be the best "feel-good" show on television. It's like having church on Sunday nights in your own living room. Our church has even started something called "Project Elevation" that was inspired by this show along with Oprah. You can go check it out at www.journeychurchonline.com . I love television that inspires us to be better people. There are already too many shows that inspire us to be selfish and to only think of ourselves. Be sure to watch it this week and see how God can touch your life through this show.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Jeanette, by now, I know that you think that I have all but completely forgotten your birthday. Although, we haven't gotten to spend any of it together, we are finally together now. Let's cherish what we have left of today. I know that you're wondering why I have not even so much as mentioned a birthday gift today. I hope that it will have been a wait that was well worth it. At your convenience, you can check a certain red chair that was adored by your youth to find your gift from me. I hope that you have enjoyed the many emails and MySpace comments that you have received today. I love you dearly, and grow to love you more and more with every passing year. Happy Birthday.
Your Husband,
Matt

Dinner for 10

Once a month, my wife and I randomly invite 10 people over from our youth group to have dinner with us on a Saturday night. This is something that we started a few months ago and has started to become one of my favorite things that we do. It is so hard to get to know people on an intimate level when you are in a large group setting; especially in a setting that is as crazy and insane as our youth service. That's why I am growing to love Dinner for 10 so much. It's a chance for us to get to know people's lives instead of just knowing their faces. I encourage you to invite someone over for dinner this month that you don't normally get to spend much time with. Let's share our lives and see how God works in and through us all.

i've been hustled

if anyone ever invites you to play a game with them, just know that they are probably asking you because they know that they are good at it and you are not and they are going to spank your pants right off of your hynie. i was up late last night trying to tie up loose ends for our service tonight and pastor jeff IMs me and invites me to play bankshot billiards on our new msn messenger betas. i figure, why not, i need a break anyway. then he proceeds to kick the everloving crap out of me for an undisclosed number of games. i only won 2 games out of ALOT, and one of them was because he ran the ENTIRE table from break to 8-ball and accidently knocked one of mine in as well as the 8-ball...it was the only ball of mine that got knocked in that game because i didn't even get to shoot. if i didn't know any better i'd swear that he leads a double life as a virtual pool shark. so, just a warning for all of you out there, next time somebody asks you to play a game with them, you're probably fixin to get your hynie handed to you.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Today is the one day of the year that corporate America gets to cash in on our love for our significant other. You know, sometimes money just can't buy the best gift (don't hold me to that). A lot of times, the best gift you can receive is something from the heart. As a guy, I never expect any kind of hooplah or big gifts or anything on Valentine's Day but, it really makes my day when I wake up in the morning and find a card with something really sweet written in it from my amazing wife. And, I do mean amazing. My wife is the most beautiful, compassionate, caring, selfless, and loving human being on the face of the planet and I am BEYOND blessed to have her as a soulmate to share my life with. She adds the spice to my life. Jeanette, I love you and am beside myself every day that I get out of bed just because I have you in my life. I love you!

weather

it's 40 degrees and snowing today. how weird is that? it's mixed with alot of rain too though so, i guess it's not "really snowing". it's just cool to see any kind of snow, being from texas and all. it'd be nice to get a few inches of the real thing sometime. the last time i got to see snow was the second week of december when we went on vacation to Wolf Creek to go skiing in Colorado. now that was an experience. one, i'll save for another time...

AMAZING SERVICE

well, i was so sick last night that i wasn't able to preach. but, it didn't matter because God doesn't need me to move in the lives of others. the night before as i layed in bed between my frequent trips to the bathroom to "pray" i mentioned to my wife jeanette that i didn't know what i was going to do about the service if i even felt half this bad there was no way that i would be able to preach. after she left to go get me some medicine from wal-mart she came back and walked in the room and said "i can preach". "WOW, okay", i said. so she did. all i had to do last night was get up and do the announcements and the offering while trying not to "pray" on everyone in the front row. she preached an amazing message, was inspiringly confident, and made me oh so proud to be her husband. when she did the altar call 12 people took a stand to give their lives to Christ in front of all their peers. i was so pumped! several people asked me after the service what i thought. i simply replied, "i think i'm going to have her preach more often." if you'd like to learn more about my beautiful, lovely, anointed wife go check her out at www.myspace.com/jeanettecaler or www.jeanettecaler.blogspot.com

sick

i'm sick and tired of bein sick and tired! well, an interesting chain of events has occured over the last week leaving me sick. some old friends of ours, brock and auny gill, who we haven't seen in several years came to town and stayed with pastor jeff last week. i got to see them and hang out with them some on friday and we went to lunch and got to catch up and laugh about old times. brock, however, was sick. well, brock and auny left that day and low and behold pastor jeff comes up to the office sick yesterday. stupid me, at some point hugs him and shakes his hand leaving me vulnerable to the virus. AAAUUUUGGGHHHH!!! although, i don't know how i really got sick, the fun thing to do is blame it all on brock since he's not here to defend himself. besides, i can't blame it on pastor jeff...he signs my paychecks. ;) HAHA!

humbled

There are times in life that everyone has, what Oprah would call, "AHA!" moments. I had one of these tonight. You know, it's very easy to forget where we come from sometimes. Living in South East Oklahoma you see a lot of people who are living very hard lives. Unfortunately, after a while you can actually start to become numb to some of the situations around you...until one finally hits close to home. We have so many amazing teenagers in our Youth Ministry that you fail to ask where some of them come from sometimes. You see a healthy looking teenager that is always smiling and overjoyed to help others and make a difference in the lives of those around them and you automatically assume that person comes from a well-rounded home with Godly parents who are constantly loving and supporting them...Until, you begin to develop a closer relationship with that person and find out that their homelife isn't near what you had expected. I was, just so, enlightened here recently. I too grew up in a broken home. One might say, so broken that it was much like a familiar nursery rhyme such as Humpty Dumpty. However, I often forget the past from which I came because, both, the present and the future that God has given me are oh so bright. But, then I see someone in my Youth Group who reminds me so much of myself when I was their age and, then I finally find out just how similar their life is to mine as a teenager. Going though the trials of adolescence with the responsiblities that only adults should feel. Living a life at home in wait for your next opportunity to leave the house. Counting the minutes until bedtime, which is not always pleasant due to your current living situation. Counting the hours until school, that are cut so short by the sounding of a three o'clock bell. Counting the days until church so you can go somewhere that you know you will be loved unconditionally and have the opportunity to worship your creator who is not only your spiritual redeemer but, will also one day be your "physical" deliverer from your current home situation that you are in bondage to. Counting the years until graduation when you can finally say "I am my own man/woman now and can pursue the dreams that God has given me for my life and my family". I remember these feelings all too well and, as I look around myself at the precious young faces that surround me, I am constantly reminded why I do what I do for a living. It's not a job, it's a calling. I remember...and I am humbled.

Encouraged

Today at our church we began holding a 24hr. Prayer Vigil for members of our church to come in and pray whenever they wanted, for our city, our church body, and everything that is going on right now. We had staff members and elders of the church come in and take 2 hr. shifts to oversee and pray with anyone who wanted or stand in prayer in an absence of anyone being there. Being the person who probably keeps the oddest hours of everyone in the church, me and my wife Jeanette elected ourselves to take the Midnight-4am shift. I knew that we had 1 or 2 teenagers in the youth group who had signed up but, to my surprise at at about 2am we had 7 warm bodies walk through the doors all wearing hoodies, pajama pants, and house shoes all ready to pray for their city, schools, friends, and their youth group. It was amazing to see these young men and women of God marching with purpose alongside one another while a good majority of their peers, the sane ones at least, were nestled tightly in their beds preparing themselves to sleep late on a Saturday morning. But, not these young people, I believe almost every one of them either had to be up at 7am or earlier, either for work or some sort of school activity. Ya know, people can say what they want about the young people of this generation but, I believe that God is raising up some elite warriors for his kingdom in our midst. It's easy to notice the masses who don't care and have no ambition in life but, I believe it's time for us all to start praising the young people who are choosing to stand up and be heard by their King and make a difference in the lives of those around them to echo out through a generation. This is a salute to you. Never give up and never look back...
Serving the Master,
Pastor Matt

Starting to BLOG

Well, this is my first BLOG. I hear that it's great yet, can be very addictive. Oh my, I hope not. I would really hate to start a nasty habit that I can't kick. That would be just my luck. Try something new that a friend recommended and it just turn right around and bite me in the rear. Man oh man, I hope that doesn't happen! I just want this to be a good relationship between the two of us. Just me and BLOGing...You respect me and I will show you the same amount of respect right back. I would hate to start another BLOG about how I don't like BLOGing but, I'll do it...I ain't scared. Well, I'll get off of here before you and I get tired of one another too quick. Don't worry I'll be back. You just sit tight right here and I'll come back soon...Okay???Okay.