Life in the Big Potato

having fun with friends. loving our new toy house from memaw and popsie. super bowl partying it eating ice cream with the girls after bunco night playing dress up with some of mom's old baby clothes It's been a fun February. Our first February here consisted of not seeing the sun for about 40 days. However, this one has been pretty different. We've actually had some really nice days. Like Tom said today, on a beautiful sunny Idaho day, "This is why we live in the NorthWest." We are really excited about what God has in store for our lives here and ministry at NorthStar. For the past month I have been co-teaching a ladies Beth Moore study on the Psalms on Wednesday mornings. God is using this study to draw new women and families into our community at NorthStar, and I'm excited about that. This is the first time I have taught a study since moving here to Idaho, and I am loving the new challenge. I believe the enemy loves to keep us silent as long as he can, and I...

Since November I have been preaching a series of sermons on encounters Christ had with different people throughout his ministry. This is part of a larger series I've been preaching I guess since last Easter on the Life of Jesus. Each week I have focused on a certain encounter in the Gospels. I felt led to do this because I believe that every person on the planet has at some point an encounter with Jesus. (My hope is that every person has this encounter before death, but that is not promised in the Bible.) When one has this encounter he or she has to make a choice about Jesus. As a result every encounter with Christ leaves us with an opportunity to have a changed life forever. If we give in to him we are changed. If we resist him we continue down the path of destruction. That's the whole point of the first verse of Amazing Grace, isn't it? I once was lost , but I encountered Jesus, and now I'm found . I once was blind , but Jesus healed me, and now I see . I l...

* a post from may 13th, 2006 that i read tonight update from the sandersons “What’s in Idaho besides potatoes?” This is a frequent question that I have been asked over the past few days. Well, there are about one million, five hundred thousand people in Idaho . What else is in Idaho ? A church that was started a little over one year ago named Northstar in one of the fastest growing counties in America . And what else? A Field. “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” Bennett and I knew when we were married that we both wanted to serve in an area where there was a need. There is an enormous and overwhelming need in Northern Idaho for people to hear the Gospel, and after much prayer and seeking godly counsel from our friends and church, we feel this is where God wants us to move and plant our lives. Our plans are to come home to Mississippi for the last few weeks of May, and then come back to Fort Worth , pack up our apartment, ren...

Arctic explorer with style This may be a baby sized hill, but it was tons of fun. This was just after L's first trip down the hill. She was kind of indifferent. Together we can go anywhere. And nobody got hurt! Not very impressive.

I don't know about you, but for me Monday afternoons can be difficult.  As a minister I pour a lot of energy into Sunday.  I spend the week preparing for and thinking about Sunday.  Then when Sunday is over I spend Monday morning recovering and responding.  The afternoon comes and as I tick through the tasks I've given myself to do I seem to lose steam.  So this Monday I'm taking a break to think about some of what God has done. For privacy's sake I won't name names or too many details, but let me mention some stories.  There's a middle-aged couple in our church who accepted Christ about two years ago and have become a faithful part of our church.  Another retired couple started attending church again for the first time in decades and were baptized this year.  Another lady got plugged in to a small group and as a result re-entered church after a long absence.  One retired couple (see a theme here?) started looking for a church after the husband survived a seriou...

Ok so I don't know how to spell "patay". This is an actual snack at our super bowl party. It is real elk. Cool huh? We also have deer chili, but you've probably had that before.