God continues to amaze me. We had such an amazing service yesterday yet again. Had one person choose to follow Christ, and many lives changed. We're in week two of a new series, "Rewind...somethings are worth repeating" where we are going back and preaching some of our congregation's favorite sermons from the past year. Justin preached a great one, "Quitter" (one of my favs, you go boy). Check the podcast out @ www.fctulsa.tv. It was an awesome day.
It's crazy! Summer has been such a time of growth in attendance for our church; that's usually not the case! Can I hear a big "Amen" from my Pastor friends. It's just been very unusual. Just a few weeks ago, we had our largest yet with over 190 in attendance (just a normal Sunday), and saw 12 people respond to follow Christ. Awesome times! I'm so glad to be in the center of God's will for our lives. It's a great place to be.
Personal life:
We're doing great, so blessed. Gotta tell ya, "I love my wife"! She is so awesome. Gavin is getting too big, too fast. It's so much fun though; he says and does the funniest things. We laugh so very much. Cassandra went on a shopping trip to Dallas with her friends this weekend, so Gav and I had two days of quality time, just the guys. Took him out on the boat with some friends. The kid has little fear. Could barely keep him in the boat. He also had his first tubing experience. All he could say was "Whoohoo" in his little high pitched voice. We had a blast.
Gettin ready to go on family vacation to Orlando in August. Gonna see Mickey, we're pretty excited to stand in long lines in the smoldering heat for hours. It's gonna be worth it though.God continues to open some pretty cool doors. We keep taking faith steps, and he keeps providing. We received an invitation to lead worship at a Youth Conference in Canada the last week in August. I know, right! So Sandy and I will be flying out there for four days. Never been up that way, so I'm pretty pumped! Also doing some Youth Camps and Conventions in the near future. It's so very humbling at how God just provides in such crazy ways.
Prayer Request:
God is always so good, but we still face trials. I love the book of James. He just tells us how we should live. A scripture I'm holding to today and the days to come is this:
James 1:2-4
2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
Honestly, my heart is very heavy this week. Some close friends of ours are facing one of their hardest trials you can imagine. Monday morning their world was completely rocked. Don't want to go into great detail, but they were 7 months pregnant and lost the baby. The funeral is tomorrow. I would just ask that you could remember Cory and Jen Spurlock in your prayers. They are truly gonna need God's help and peace in the days and weeks to come. Don't know why bad things happen to good people, guess it's just life. There is a good song by Building 429, "Always" that's really touched me today in this situation. It's in these times that God's word is really tested true. So please pray for this family.
Thanks:
I want to say a big thanks again to everyone who has supported us. Whether in finances, prayer, etc, we thank you so much. God uses many avenues to fulfill His plan, and you've made it possible for us to be here following the call He's placed on our lives. Couldn't do it without you. If you would like to support us financially, you can do so by sending a tax deductible gift to:
JGM
P.O. Box 1406
Jenks, OK 74037
We love you all, and pray God's continual blessing on your lives.
Shannon & Cassandra Dalrymple
