Ephphatha

today was a great day in so many ways. the bishop came to worship with us just to experience advent- the service went very, very well and we had a wonderful turnout with about 97 people- good thing for the bishop to see. he stuck around after worship for education and then the two of us had lunch together, drove around and looked at land, and just had a plain-ol-good talk. the one thing i so appreciate about my bishop is he a down to earth guy, that listens so well to any concerns i have- so important if you ask me. it was really nice for him to be with us- it stoked those that were gathered as well (like, we really matter- he wants to see us, etc, etc.)- but more importantly he was able to see the space we are hoping to rennovate- and was very excited by it vowing to to help put some pressure on some churches in our conference to give some more mission support. he calmed many of my nerves, and challenged me to continue pushing forward on this incredible journey.

also today, i was able to mess around outside for 7 hours- working, with my neighbor on raking and dethatching our yards and hauling all kinds of crap away. tomorrow i will try to fertilize and get our lawn actually growing. it was so awesome to be outside, with good company, and enjoy god's creation while actually getting to do some manual labor. the kids played, anna got her work fix in as well- plus we ate pizza and drank beer- nothing can be better!

and now we are into holy week- i am so thankful i had today to refresh my spirit and body. my dad is home now- back to the doctor this week to try a new med, and maybe be shocked back into place again....basically if he uses again he will surely see death- so hopefully (please god) this is the warning and wake up call he needed. thanks to all of you for your prayers.

only bad news for today is that i did not watch any of the masters final round- way to go phil!