New Year!

Hello there!

So, it is a new year already! As most of you know, we did not make it back home to Texas due to the 15 inches of snow that they received.... that's right people: 15 inches!!! Delivered on Christmas Eve. So, Shaun and I stayed here and actually got some rest. That was nice!

Now we are back to the grind stone like everyone else. Looking back over the last year, I am overwhelmed by all that we have been through and all that has been accomplished. more importantly, I am exctied to see what the new year will bring. We have started a series in Mo Kdis called Step It Up! This is going to affect the entire ministry as we try to step it up in all areas to bring the very best that God has planned for His Kids and for those who are blessed enough to serve them. My hope is that this will embed itself into the dna of my life as well.

Less is more. We're fond of saying that around here. And much of the time, we're more effective living by it. But sometimes MORE is more. Want a voluminous vocabulary? Read more. Want to nail the lines for your part in a sketch? Rehearse more. Want to master the "Cha Cha Slide"? Practice more. You get the drift. And just like you need to lift more if you want bigger biceps, you need to do some things more if you want to know God better, like:

Read His Book. Can you think of a more foundational, first-step way to get to know Him? Plus, "God has breathed life into all of Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right" (2 Timothy 3:16, NIrV). What better example of the importance of engaging in God's Word than Jesus as a 12-year-old in the temple?

Remember His words. "By using Scripture, a man of God can be completely prepared to do every good thing" (2 Timothy 3:17, NIrV). Jesus showed us (particularly that time He was tempted in the wilderness) we not only need to read God's Word, we need to memorize it, internalize it, and take it to heart so that we'll be ready for whatever comes our way.

Talk to Him. "Don't worry about anything. Instead, tell God about everything. Ask and pray. Give thanks to him" (Philippians 4:6, NIrV). To get to know someone and to strengthen your relationship with that person, you have to talk him or her, right? It's the same way with God. You gotta talk to Him. We will help kids better understand Jesus' answer when one of the disciples asked Him how to pray.

Talk about Him with your friends. "I pray that you will be active in sharing what you believe. Then you will completely understand every good thing we have in Christ" (Philemon 1:6, NIrV). Saying what you believe out loud helps solidify your beliefs. Could this be one reason Jesus asked the disciples, "But who do YOU say I am?"

Make Him more important than anything. "Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve" (Deuteronomy 6:13a, NIrV). We will be taking a look at what Jesus said about "the widow's mite" and how it helps us to worship the only one we should serve.

These are all priorities and habits -- disciplines -- that can help us get to know God better and grow stronger. Kids need to understand that they don't have to wait till they're older to get to know God; God wants them to start now. He's ready to help them, every step of the way, RIGHT NOW.

So this year, join with me to see how discipline, which is doing what you need to do now so you can grow stronger, can help strengthen their relationship with God.

What comes to mind when you think of discipline? “No pain, no gain”? “This hurts me a lot more than it hurts you”? If so, it’s no wonder—people have hated discipline since, well, since before Bible times: “‘How I hated discipline!’” (Proverbs 5:12, NIV) “You rebuke and discipline men for their sin” (Psalm 39:11, NIV). “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful” (Hebrews 12:11a, NIV).

Discipline may conjure images of sweat and tears (especially when people misuse it), but that’s not what it’s about. Instead, discipline should produce “a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:11b, NIV). Essentially, discipline is: doing what you need to do now so you can grow stronger and Jesus is our ultimate role model of discipline.

Speaking of discipline, check out this video about families and raising kiddos to know Him. My prayer is that our families will latch on to the concept that they are responsible for teaching their children and partner with me so that they can learn how to fulfill their God designed role.

That's all for now... gotta get back to work... it's a discipline you know! :-)

Turkey and Tyson

Hello All!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and now it is already December 3rd! We spent a restful few days at home last week. I made cornbread stuffing, potatoes and pumpkin pies and ordered a smoked turkey from our friends at Stonewalls. Shaun and I had planned on just staying home and watching the football games.

One of our church members has had a very rough time and recently had back surgery and then another surgery on her back due to the staff infection that she acquired while in the hospital. Needless to say, she has had a bad month. Shaun and I brought her food on Thanksgiving morning. She was so positive and encouraging despite her pain. What a humbling and affirming visit and could not have been more appropriate for Thanksgiving. We are so grateful to have so many people in our lives who love us and truly care about us, both here in MS and in TX.

After our visit, we went and spent Thanksgiving Day with one of our church elders and his family. They are fellow Texans and we spent the day enjoying all of the Texas football! They fried a turkey and it was awesome! We truly rested and enjoyed our day.

The day after, we set up the tree and decorated the house both inside and out. Shaun did a great job on the lights outside! It is nice to have our own place again to decorate. The house is finally finished for now. All painting is complete and the floors are done.

On Tyson news....
He got his staples out last week and has been cleared by the Vet. The stitches are still there but will heal soon. He is already full of energy and his fur is growing back. We did have to buy him a sweater and a tshirt because he gets cold easily. You can see him here asleep on my desk in my office. We got Preston a Christmas tshirt too.

He loves to wear clothes, it is so weird! No worries, Christmas photos will be coming soon. Speaking of Christmas..... it is coming!!!! Christmas music is already playing, weather is changing, and there are 21 days left. We are looking forward to going back to visit friends and family in Texas. We will be leaving after Christmas. We are also excited to get to serve at our 2nd Christmas Eve Service at Mosaic.

More to come...

Jessica

Tyson Update for Thursday

Hello All,

Tyson is recovering nicely. The white "shirt" you see in the photos is not a shirt, it is bandages that cover his incision. He hates it! He is also shaved on the entire left side and one leg where the iv was. So, he is going to have one funky hairdo when this is all over! We picked him up last night from the vet. The surgeon said that his heart is strong and that his chest is clear. Apparently, the surgery is a very risky one and we are so blessed that he is recovering so quickly. The surgeon and the staff at the animal hospital could not believe how strong Tyson is and how well the surgery went. The Staff and the hospital could not have been more wonderful. I highly recommend Louisiana Veterinary Specialists and Emergency Hospital in Mandeville.

We have strict orders to not allow Tyson to run, play, jump, or bark for three weeks! Due to the exploratory thoracotomy, he can't bark. Due to the ductus arteriosus ligation, they suggested that we keep Tyson and Preston separate during his recovery. He is not to sleep with us either. With those orders, we purchased a playpen for him to play and rest in. So far, so good. Tyson is on antibiotics for 14 days and pain meds as needed. Great thing about the pain meds is that they help him sleep. Whoohoo! His chest staples come out in 12 days.

Thank you for your calls, thoughts, and prayers. We are so blessed to have such caring friends and family. God is good all the time and all the time God is good! We are seeing pray answered through this and are grateful.

Much Love,
Jessica

Tyson Update

As many of you know, Tyson has a heart condition called pulmonary ductis arteriosis. This is a congenital defect that usually is found in larger breeds. The condition causes the heart to not pump enough oxygenated blood into the left side of the heart. Without intervention, heart failure and death are imminent.

Due to this, Tyson has undergone surgery today to repair his heart. We took him to a specialist yesterday and they did the echo cardiogram to verify the diagnosis. Surgery was moved to today due to Tropical Storm Ida's arrival here on the Coast.

We just heard from the Doctor. Tyson is out of surgery and the irregularity is repaired. The difficulty that he faces now is recovery. If problems are going to happen, they typically happen now.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for his recovery.

Much Love!
Jessica

PS: Ida was not a big deal at all! We are all fine!

A month since last post?!?!

Wow! Time has really been flying. I apologize for the delay in posting. I have had trouble balancing everything lately.

We are in the new house, but we are still remodeling. It is my hope (fingers crossed please) that we will finish all remodeling this weekend. They are building the fence today and I hope that our doors and floors will be done this week as well.

Tyson is growing more and more each day. We take him to the vet on Friday to check on his heart. He does have a heart murmur but they think that he may grow out of it. We will know by 6 months of age. I have been delayed in posting his pictures. So, check these out....

We love ya'll! And look forward to a busy November, including Thanksgiving. We hope to visit during the holiday.

Love,

Jessica

New Home

It is official.

Shaun and I are moved into the new house and settling in. We still have some finish work to do with the doors and there is this small need for lights in the kitchen... You see when they cut out part of the wall between the living room and the kitchen, they cut the electric switches to the overhead lights in the kitchen. Good news is that tthe outlets still work so we are just using lamps until the electrician comes. Once he works his magic, then the sheet rock and painter will come and finish out the wall. We also still have a fence to build in the back yard as well. The guest bedroom is almost ready. I still have some boxes to unpack. My friends came over and helped me get everything set up. Thank goodness for friends who are interior designers! That is SOO not my thing! So, now that the house is ready..... all we need is some Texas visitors:-)

Email me and I'll give you our new address! I've included a few pictures. There are no photos of the guest room, Shaun's office or our master bath. They aren't quit ready to photograph yet!

The Church is continuing to grow and we will be launching a Saturday night service within the next couple of months. We are averaging around 600-650 each weekend and 150-175 in Mo Kids. The need for counseling has through the church has been increasing as well so I have been seeing a lot of people. I am also getting to work with child abuse victims in a Christian Counseling Center, so that is really fulfilling.

I am still serving my internship hours at the psychiatric hospital as well. I am really learning a lot and enjoy being able to help. There are often clients there that have a history of sexual abuse as children and who never received help. It is affirmation that what Children's Advocacy centers do is vitally important. Children are resilient when given the proper support and skills to cope. So, the work that I have done for the past 8 years will have somehow made a difference so that 10 years from now, those kiddos won't be the adult clients who seek services at a psychiatric hospital.

So, here's the latest with Mosaic......

Dustin and Natalie took the weekend off, so Shaun was on the mound. He spoke on the importance of enjoying the sabbath. Taking time to rest in Him who gave us the gift of rest. Something that Shaun and I definitely need to do more of! I was able to sing with the worship team for the main service and it was really neat to get to worship with the church, something that I don't get to do very often and used to take for granted before moving here. Be sure to listen to Shaun's message through our website: http://www.mosaicgc.com/.


Things are slowly getting better at our house. We still miss the boys, but are so grateful for all the people who have been praying for us. We have been humbled by the love that people have shown us. With their encouragement, we will be seeking to get a new puppy soon. Preston still seems to be down and we don't want him to get too spoiled! So, more news to come later on our new family member!

Shaun and I are in the middle of our semester at Liberty and are READY for Thanksgiving break! I can't believe that it is already October! We have been enjoying the fall temperatures and of course the rain.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We are so excited to be able to share with you all the God is doing. I still am amazed how He moves through us despite us and when we are able to step out how much better His plans are than our plans.

Enjoy your Week!
Jessica

Rest in Peace

Hello there my Friends and Family.

As many of you know, we lost Jackson and Sebastian on Tuesday, September 15, 2009. Shaun and I are heart broken and yet we know that they died an honorable death, protecting one another until the end. Jackson was 7 and Sebastian,Tiny, was 5. God's timing is perfect and we are grateful to have a home that is ours where we were able to bury them and keep them with us.

Our dearest friend Andrea was truly a hero and she fought the vicious pit bull who attacked our precious pups. Andrea is a sister to me and she loves our pups as much as we do. There is absolutely no one who would have gone to the lengths that she did to protect and love our pups. We are heart broken for her as well. Her dogs were there as well and they experienced the trauma too. Her dog Rizer is actually Preston's dad and her dogs got along fabulously with ours. We are all one big family.

We have been overwhelmed by the acts of kindness bestowed upon us by our Mosaic Family. People here truly do love us and we are very humbled by their actions. Shaun and I actually moved to the house this weekend in order to go ahead and move forward. The ladies of Mosaic came to my house and packed us up and we had a group of men who endured the heat and the humidity to move us on Saturday.

Our own family has been so supportive as well. We are so blessed to be loved by so many. And, know that their hearts ache as ours do. Jackson and Sebastian were so special and loved by so many. They made a positive impact on every life they they touched, even non dog lovers!

Although we are still grieving, we are learning so many things through this. I feel like I must share these things with you all as you grieve with us.

First, we know that God is sovereign! The owner of the pit bull has a 10 month old daughter. According to the owner, he put the dog down because he did not want the dog to hurt his child. Perhaps God in His sovereignty used our dogs to save this man's daughter and open his eyes to the reality of the danger that these vicious animals pose to families.

I don't care what people say about these dogs. I have experienced first hand their devastation and I pray that others will realize that these dogs are not good for anyone. Supposedly this dog had not be aggressive and snapped. I do not think that anyone should own one of these animals, especially if they have children! What if their dog snapped on their child, or their grandfather, or whomever?!?! Why even take the risk!It is not worth the pain and devastation that it causes. If you know someone who owns one of these animals, please pass on your concern and tell them about the pain and heartbreak that we are dealing with because of this animal.

I know that Jackson died defending his brother Tiny and that Tiny died defending his brother Preston. They were honorable and loyal even in death. I only pray that I can exhibit that kind of honor and loyalty in my relationships and may I be used by Him to do whatever it takes to be loyal to those who He brings to me to minister to, even if it requires me dying to myself and my selfish and sinful desires.

Jackson and Tiny loved no matter what and were always there when you needed them. They always were positive and infected everyone with that energy. They sacrificed of themselves to bring joy to others and they were obedient to their calling to love and serve. I pray that I may learn to do the same. We are called to have joy, love, patience, kindness, goodness, peace, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. May we all be moved to live like this and be obedient to our calling.

Having Jackson and Tiny so quickly taken away from us and us not being able to be there with them, really spoke to Shaun and I that we must not take relationships for granted. We are not guaranteed one minute, so please know how much we love you all and appreciate how much you have poured into us. Life is so precious! So, hug you kids, tell them that you love them. Make the time to call your friends that you take for granted as always being there for you. Send the thank you note or email that you have being procrastinating on sending. Have dinner with your friends. Go volunteer and serve someone else besides yourself. GIVE of yourself in ways that truly mean something. Humble yourself and make amends with those who you have cut off. Forgive those who you perceive have hurt you. The time is now! Don't put off today anything or anyone that God presses into your heart!

These little pups meant so much to us and we are so grateful that we had them in our family these past years. Thank you for your support and we appreciate your prayer. We are so grateful to have you in our lives and feel so blessed and encouraged as we go through this together. May we all learn from their life and love as they loved.
God bless and keep you. Much love,
Jessica and Shaun

House Update

Hello there!
Great news! We are closing on the house next week, provided no more tropical storms appear in the Gulf. We have been waiting to close due to Ana, and Bill, and hopefully no more storms appear!

I will have the address and pictures soon. We will have plenty of room now, so make plans to come visit us before beach season is over. Gulfshores is absolutely beautiful this time of year!

School has started back and with that we have seen an increase in church attendance. We have been averaging over 600 now and are praying about launching a third, Saturday night service. Our next baptism will be September 13th.

Shaun and I have both started back to school as well. I am actively interning at Gulf Oaks psychiatric hospital. And, no, they didn't think that I was a patient there, so I must be doing something right!

It is a hospital that serves patients with inpatient psychiatric needs as well as those who have inpatient chemical dependency issues and some have both. It is always very eventful and I am learning so much. Additionally, I do private practice counseling for individuals and premarital and marital. I also start a class this week. Shaun is taking 6 hours. We can't wait to get out of school. I swear.... this is the last degree for both of us! :-)Just 2900 hours until I reach LPC!

We lost one of our church members this week, so it has been a bitter sweet time. The funeral was yesterday. Death is never easy to deal with, but how amazing is the peace that God provides through it?!? I have never seen a family deal with death in such a healthy way.

I hope that you all are enjoying your day. Please keep praying for Shaun and I as we continue on this adventure. It seems that it just keeps getting faster and faster and while we really enjoy the ride, sometimes we need a minute to recuperate and get our bearings.

Much love!
Jessica

PS: For those who care: Jackson celebrated his birthday on the 18th! He will be treated to a new toy sheep soon as his old one, Matilda, recently suffered an untimely death at the hands of Preston!

AND a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD on August 24rth!! Whooohooo!!!

House

Hello there Peeps!

Ok, so it was supposed to be a secret for a little while longer, but most of you know now... thanks to Jidi! Love him and who can blame him for sharing?!? He's excited and he's lived long enough that he has earned the right to share whatever he wants to share
!
So... here goes... Shaun and I found a house!!!!

It is not a done deal yet. We are still awaiting the appraisal, but the inspection went well and we should be able to close by the end of the month. The house is 3 bedroom and has an office as well. It sits on 2 lots and is right by the bayou. But.. no worries, it is not in a flood zone and it did not flood during Katrina.

It isn't anything really fancy, but it is nice and reminds us of our home in Texas. More details (including pictures) will be coming. But in the mean time, thanks for your continued prayers and support!We are excited and can't wait to have our home group over and all of our Texas friends come and visit.

The house is too quiet now since Maddie and Alec left. We had them with us for almost 3 weeks and loved it! Even the dogs are lonely now. Preston keeps going downstairs at night looking in the bedroom for Maddie!

Love,
Jessica

Extreme Week Video

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

August already?!?!

Hello there Family and Friends.

I know that it has been quite a while since I have posted anything. I am sorry!! It has been a great and busy month. Shaun's Mission trip was a huge success. The Youth had a great time serving and I think that some of our kids even found their calling while there. We have a great video that I will be posting soon. The kids at the Boys and Girls Club of Fort Worth even wrote over 300 thank yous to our kids for coming. How awesome is that!?!?!

Mo Kids Extreme Week was a great success too! Our biggest night had 118 kids! And we had over 130 volunteers serving... that is unheard of in the volunteer world! My friend Steph came down from the Met and she truly was such a great help, not to mention that she rocked our faces off with her mad electric guitar skills! She was even kind enough to make a video for me as a surprise at the end of the week. The Sunday during Extreme Week we had a family style service where the kids worshipped with their parents. After the service, we were able to feed all the Extreme Team barbecue from the Shed as way to say thank you. It truly was an amazing week. The most exciting part of the week is that we had 35 kids put their faith in Christ!!!!!!!!

Thank you for your prayers and encouragement.

I am now able to sleep again at night..:-)

Shaun was on the mound last Sunday in the service and I think that he did a fabulous job. He seems to be getting better and better! You can listen to it on our church website: http://www.mosaicgc.com/. Click on the listen button on the ipod in the lower left hand corner.

Shaun and I have been very busy these past two weeks. Our neighbors from Texas, Maddie and Alec have been with us. We did manage to take them to the beach over in Gulfshores one day, that was awesome. Maddie is about to be 12 and Alec is 13. I had forgotten how much teenagers eat, sleep, and dirty up the house. Thank you Mom and Dad for loving us through our teenage years! The kids leave next week. Their dad, Pete will be here this Sunday and we can't wait to see him. His kids were the fist kids that Shaun and I got to baptize.

This Sunday is the anniversary of our 1 year grand opening at Mosaic! Time flys! This time last year we went from 130 people and 25 kids to 350 people and 75 kids! Now we have over 500 people each weekend and 150 kids.

News on the home front... Shaun and I start school next week. I start my counseling internship at a mental health hospital and will be working there 25 hours a week. Shaun is taking 2 classes. I can't wait to be out of school!

We are still looking for the right house to purchase. We enjoy living here and can't wait to have our own house to make it feel more like home. That and the electric bill here is over $300 each month! Keep us in your prayers.

We hope to take some time off soon so that we can get in a quick 3 days to rest. My vote is on a beach somewhere, still trying to talk Shaun into that one.

Please call us or email us.. we miss our Peeps!

Love ya'll!

Jessica

Heat and Humidity

Hello there friends and fam!

I can not believe how hot it is! According to the Coasties it isn't usually any hotter than 89 degrees here in June and it is supposed to rain at least once a week. We have been in the 100's with no rain. The water at the beach is actually hot. The hurricane chasers say that is not a good sign as the warmer the water, the more likely we are to have a hurricane. Yikes!

I wanted to say thank you to all of you for the awesome birthday gifts and the birthday wishes. I had a great birthday. Those things come way too fast!

Shaun left on Monday for Texas with the Youth for the Mission Trip. They come back on Saturday night. Pictures to be posted soon. From all that I have heard, everything went really well.

We are still preparing for Mo Kids Extreme Week. Registration ends this week and I still have space left. Please be praying that we have another 50 kids sign up this week. I know that God has big plans for this event. The volunteers have stepped up in awesome ways, now we just need the kids.

Summer time is in full swing and so are we! I will post pictures of the Mission Trip soon.

Love,
Jessica

Pictures

June!!

Hello there Amigos and Familia!

We went on our Texas adventure and made it back safely home to MS. We hit the ground running as soon as we got back. It was so good to get to spend time with everyone and take some time to relax. We have been so pulled in so many directions for so long. Thank you friends and family for allowing us to take some time to just enjoy our company without an agenda. We love you!! We are so proud of Clayton and know that God has big plans for his future. Way to go C, can't wait to see you play for University of the Ozarks!

We even got to spend some awesome time shopping!!! I missed Macy's and Sephora. Thanks to Rachele and Patrick, we got to spend some time at Nordstrom's Rack.... and eat at Gloria's and even had homemade breakfast....hello love!

It was so good to see all of our friends too! El Gordo's with the Whitfields was awesome. Jude can't wait to come here and check out Mississippi's pirates. We could not believe how tall K and N are now and we got to love on the Sherman! Thanks Mo Family! We also got to hang out with Pete, Maddie and Alec. We can't wait to see them in the summer.

The pups stayed here with their Aunt Andrea. Preston LOVED hanging out with his daddy Rizer. Jackson and Tiny loved visiting Andrea and Danielle's Mamaw. I loved having dinner with Dani, although bummed at the miscommunication and missing Steph. I appreciate all that Andrea did to love on our babies. Thanks Andrea!

As you guys know, it isn't a trip to TX without a trip to Shaun's heaven on earth, Taco Casa. We ate there several times, including as our last meal out of town, at the TC in Garland. Shaun met the owner of the store there and is more convinced now than ever that we must bring one here to MS. The Golden taco that could buy us a church building.... all we need is an investor...any takers? :-)

We heard from the owner of the TC in Garland that there was indeed a TC in Vicksburg, MS, which is right as you cross over the MS River. Check out their logo...As seen as we cross the bridge here...So, guess where we ate on the way back home? You guessed it TC MS. IT IS NOT THE SAME.... I repeat.. IT IS NOT THE SAME! It was soo gross! So, good news is that Shaun's dream of serving good food to good people is still intact. Yeah??? Pictured below are Shaun's beloved golden tacos...

Since we are back to work, that means that Extreme Week is inching ever so much closer. I am still working on getting everything and everyone in place. Check out the promo video that our buddy Leslie did for us!

Dustin and Natalie are back in Texas this weekend preaching at the Met and letting them know how influential they all are for us. This weekend we are also doing promotion Sunday in the Mo Kids area and launching a brand new room for 4-5th graders complete with their own teaching time and small groups. Lots of great stuff happening here, as always it is busy, but we love it!

Thank you for your prayer and encouragement. Shaun and the Youth will be heading out to Texas on June 22 for their summer mission trip to FTW. They will be planting a church inside the Boys and Girls Club. How cool is that?!? I will be preparing for Extreme Week and celebrating my b-day with my Mississippi peeps!

We would love to have lots of visitors this summer as we take some time off to rest. So, come see us! We will not be coming back to Texas until at least January... so come see us! We love ya'll!

Jess

Last of the Trailblazer

Hello All!

I just wanted to share with you the last of Jackson's adventures in Mo Kids in our trailblazer series.

Check it out!

Busy weekend

Hello there Amigos y Familia!

Let's see.. where to begin??!?

First, I am officially done with school until Fall! Yeah! I am hoping for an A, but at this point in life would settle for a B!

Shaun is wrapping up his class this week and has 1 paper left and then he will be done until Fall as well. We are both taking the summer off from school to focus on work and give us a little bit of free time!

Celebrate Recovery launched on Thursday and we had 35-40 people in attendance, not too shabby! There has been several media promotions about the ministry and one is coming up tomorrow with Dustin and I. You should be able to watch it online at WKFK “Spotlight on Jackson County” - Wednesday 5:30 and 11pm and Saturday at 3pm. http://www.wkfk.com/ . Be sure to check it out!

I am praying that this ministry will continue to grow and that lives will be changed. We had several people sign up to attend this weekend, so that is a good sign.

This weekend I was able to help with Main service worship. It was weird not singing with hand motions or jumping up and down! Props to my friend Steph for sending me the song I needed. I can't wait until the summer!

We started recruiting for Mo Kids Extreme Week. We need 100 volunteers to make it happen! Check out the logo for Extreme Week.

We are looking at the possibility of 150-200 kids! WOW!!!

We held a big baptism event this past Sunday night. Clouds and rain rolled in, but God allowed the storm to stop just long enough for the event. Pretty Cool. We baptised right around 40 people, including some of our very own Mo Kids! THAT is something that I can never get enough of!

Check out just a few of the pictures!

Busy week ahead as we move forward with a new series and lots of new people coming. Good stuff. Please continue to pray for wisdom, courage, and protection for us as a Staff and for our people.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Jess

Jackson's latest adventure

I forgot to add Jackson's latest photo... This week is trailblazing in Kansas. This should make all the peeps up in tornado alley laugh.



Enjoy!
Jess

CARES Ministry

Hello All,

Please be in prayer for the services this weekend at Mosaic. We are promoting the new recovery ministry and allowing people a time to take off the mask and get real about their brokenness in order to let God put them back together again. The Recovery Ministry begins THIS Thursday at 6:30. Please pray for me, pray for the Leadership Team, and pray that people will feel safe enough to come. Check out the Cares Ministry Video that our buddy Leslie did for us to promote. It hopefully will be on the website soon, too: www.mosaicgc.com 

Celebrate Recovery Teaser from milkmedia on Vimeo.

Update after Easter

First, Check out the above picts of Jackson in our new Mo Kids series: Trailblazers: Convicted to stand for what is right EVEN when others don't.

Now.... that you have had a good laugh.....

Hello there Friends and Family!

I know I say this a lot lately...but things have truly been busy. Easter was AWESOME!!!!! Mo Kids had more than enough help and everything went so smoothly. We had over 800 in attendance church wide and at least 10 salvation'. I am still processing the fact that God allowed me to be a part of this. For Easter, we added a 7:00AM service where no child care was provided. Since we set up the children's program the evening before, I was able to attend the 7:00 service. This literally was the first service that I have attended at Mosaic Church! And I got to sit with Shaun, so we attended together. It was such a blessing to be a part of.

This week, we have been busy doing follow up and preparing for this weekend. We had over 600 attend this week. Not to shabby! The kids area was packed house at 11 and the 9:00 had just a little room. We had 150 kids this weekend. Wow! I serve with the most amazing and loving group of volunteers. No matter how hectic, hot, or crazy, they love and serve and children's (and their family's) lives are being changed for it.

I had a really neat opportunity this past week to speak with two children who became Christ followers a few weeks ago while in Mo Kids. We are doing our fist big baptism at the beach on May 3rd and the family wanted to be baptized together and asked me to talk with the girls to clarify what baptism and salvation mean. So, Shaun and I sat down with the first girl, she's a 3rd grader and asked her if she could tell me what big decision she made a few weeks ago. She told me all about how she prayed to Jesus to forgive her of her sins and to come into her heart. She understood so clearly! I then explained to her that baptism was an outward sign to the inward change that she had already made. Her sister, who is almost 5, then came to talk with us. I asked her the same questions, just more in her terms, and she did the cutest thing. She scrunched down and looked up at me and whispered,"Jesus died on a Crwass for me and he wrrosse againn from the grwave for me. I asked him to come into my hweart." Talk about melt your heart! We then explained baptism and she was excited because she was going to get to bring her beach toys to the baptism!

Something that I am learning everyday in teaching kids about just how much God values child like faith. I mean, I knew it, but now to see it and be a part of it is truly amazing! Kids are just so willing to take that step and trust God knowing that He truly has their best interest in heart. In fact, they have been like, why wouldn't I trust Him? Why wouldn't I believe and follow Him? I mean it when I say that they are teaching me.

I got to sit with a child and discuss how to handle anger and we looked it up in the Bible together. It was so neat to get to use all my training as well as the placing Christ at the center of it all. She took away skills in how to handle her anger in good ways, but also learned what God has to say about anger but in a loving way. Not in that I am going to beat you over the head with scripture and quote Christian cliches kind of way, because we all know how effective that is in reaching people, especially children who are hurting. But in a way that showed her how much Jesus cares for her and how she can trust Him no matter what. How profound is that? Good stuff!

On another note, I wrapped up a class at Liberty this week, whoo hoo. I got a B, but I am okay with that considering all the craziness. I am taking one more class right now and then taking the summer off to focus on Extreme Week and the Cares Ministry. I also plan on helping Shaun as he plans his mission trip to Fort Worth.

The Cares ministry officially launches on Thursday, April 30th and lasts 25 weeks. It encompasses Celebrate Recovery, Life Hurts, God Heals, Divorce Care, Divorce Care for Kids, and counseling. God has brought together a great leadership team and once again, I am so blessed to serve with them. A little overwhelmed by the huge need for the program and the amount of hurting people, but deep down I know that this is what the people here so need.

Shaun continues to do good stuff with the youth of Cross Culture. We average around 40, and that is pretty good size for around here. He is also working on the Community aspect of his job, getting new home groups started and running ministry fairs. I am so proud of him and how he manages all of it. Even though working together as leaders has brought its challenges, it is still such an amazing thing to be a part of this together. It is hard to believe that we have almost been here a year. It was this time last year that we were giving our notices and telling the family about our decision.

I thought I'd share a few photos. Some are from Easter and some are from the Ministry Fair we had this weekend that Shaun led and organized. The goal of the fair was to get new people connected to a home group or other area of ministry. He did a great job and our church did a great job in participating! This is what it looks like between services.

Above: Shaun and Rick, who runs our parking lot ministry: the Cone heads. What a great name!Below: This is our Outreach Pastor, Jeremy Allen, our Children's Ministry Assistant, Ashley Coleman, and one of our great greeter's Kyle Gilmore.

Above: This is one of our elders, Doug Molyneaux and Pastor Dustin at Easter. That's all the pciture of adults that I got. I was back in the back with kids after that. :-)

Please continue to pray for protection and wisdom for Shaun and I and the rest of the staff. We love you guys and look forward to some good Tex Mex soon!

Love,

Jessica

Easter

Hello there Amigos y Familia!

Shaun and I have been pretty busy the past few weeks. Shaun preached the main service this past weekend. From what I have heard, he did an awesome job! To listen, please visit our newly redesigned website: www.mosaicgc.com. The site also has tons of info on the new Cares ministry that we are preparing to launch and the new series in the Mo Kids areas.

It is technically spring break here for the kids. But no break for us..... we are preparing for Easter. From what we have been told by our local members, Easter is a huge deal around here! We are hosting a 7:00 service to accommodate the visitors at 9 and 11. Awesome thing about that is that there is no Mo kids at 7, which means that I get to attend my first ever service at Mosaic church and I might even get to sit with Shaun as an attender. It has been almost a year since I have gotten to do that and I miss it sometimes. Please be in prayer for the services and for the staff. Also for all the visitors that will be coming!

We launched our new series this weekend in Mo Kids. Jackson was back for an appearance and he did a great job. The theme for the month is conviction: standing for what is right even when others don't. So we have a theme of Trailblazers. I haven't posted pictures in a long time, so I am finally posting some! Check out the volunteers and the new theme.


Shaun and I are still in school and working hard. I had planned to take my last courses in the summer and then graduate in the summer, but due to all the craziness of work, I am going to postpone and graduate in December. This sets me back, but I have had such a hard time finding a site to do my internship and in locating a Supervisor, that this will buy me some time and allow me to focus on all the work that is coming my way for the summer. So, I am sad, but know that it will work out. Summer is going to be crazy with Celebrate Recovery, Divorce Care, Counseling, Mission Trip, and the ever impending Extreme Week! Please pray for me for strength and focus.

We are planning a weekend off soon! We hope to return to Texas at the end of May. We can't miss the opportunity to see Clayton graduate. Go Clayton! We miss our families tremendously and I hope that they will come see us soon!

Thank you for all your pray and support. Great stuff is happening here and we are grateful to be a part of it. Some days are really good and some days are really hard. But we are learning that you have to have both and that through both He is sovereign. Please continue to pray!

Love,
Jessica