Hello everybody (or rather, those who actually read these blogs of mine)! Now before I begin my rambling, let me give those of you who have no clue of what a rambling really means a little definition. "Rambling - To talk or write at length in a confused or inconsequential way". So for the next few paragraphs, I invite you on a confused and inconsequential journey into my rambling thoughts! Pay close attention, the end gets kind of good!

We recently celebrated my beautiful daughter Victoria's 6th b-day here in Manhattan and it was so much fun! She is now the same age our son Paul was when we loaded up the family and moved to NYC. Wow! Time really flies. She still looks the same to me as the day we moved here. All of our children are doing great and Alyssa is absolutely loving Manhattan! I'm so blessed to have the most wonderful family in the world. Becky is getting more and more beautiful with each passing day (wow, sounds like I'm some what of a romantic!) and tonight we had so much fun as we dreamed of the awesome things God has in store for the people of New York.

The Church is doing better than ever. The Sunday before last we held our first baptismal service baptizing 11 people! We also dedicated 2 babies and held our first communion service. Each week we rejoice as we receive new people into our Church.
This past Sunday I preached a message about the Prodigal Son, and in the message I placed extra emphasis on the wonderful Father. What a great picture of sacrifice, compassion, mercy and love we find in this precious parable describing our heavenly Father. I am overwhelmed as I think of the love my Father has for me! I am also challenged as I find in this story an example of how I am not only to love my children, but also the precious spiritual sons and daughters the Lord has given to me.

Big congrats to Dylan and Valerie Chapman and their new bambina!!! Brennan is such a beautiful baby girl! I also want to give a shout out to Wolf and Kitty Soto and their beautiful baby girl, Nia. I say one more Wolf!!! We're waiting on the cub! 2 newer (though they've been with us for over 6 months) members of our team, Justin and Crystal Kelley are expecting their first baby before the New Year. Justin is an absolute wild man! Probably cause he's a Cajun like me! His wife Crystal has such a tremendous gift to work with Children, they flock to her like she's the pied piper!

After obeying the call of God to move to NYC, I can now honestly say after 2 years that there is simply no greater satisfaction than to give your self completely away for the cause of Christ. 2 years and counting!!!!!!!!!!
I leave you with one of my favorite quotes, penned by the late Nate Saint, a young missionary martyr for the cause of Christ.

"Missionaries constantly face expendability. And people who do not know the Lord (I'd like to add here, 'and some who do know the Lord' RG) ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives. They forget that when their lives are spent and the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted."