The Way

Sometimes it seems that time just gets away and I look up and realize I have not blogged in way too long. I will try and correct that. This past month has been fairly busy with work related travel to MO, Jackson, TN; New Orleans; New Mexico and a little family travel to GA to see Morgan and Mark who are working at WinShape Camps. Wedding plans seem to be going very well and Sondra and Shelbi are doing a great job of getting things done and getting along while doing it! They are also frequent repeat offenders to the pool of a friend of ours. It has been oppressively hot the past couple of weeks and extremely dry. Thankful we are not experiencing the fires that many in the West are experiencing. Here are some very encouraging things I have been a part of this month: an historic Southern Baptist Convention where Fred Luter was elected President great times meeting and encouraging adult leaders at FUGE camps in MO, TN, LA & NM training adult leaders who work with students ...

Interesting pattern of numbers in the title. I always disliked those problems in math where you had to figure out the pattern. I was and still am terrible at those things. You look at the pattern and figure out the next set of numbers. I am terrible at those problems. So what do these numbers have in common? 5 - a couple of weeks ago my dr. let me start running 5 min. easing into it 8 - I got to move to 8 min/day running 10 - I got to move to 10 min/day running 12 - you picking up the pattern yet? 15 - two days in a row of running 15 continuous min w/ no pain (yesterday and today) I have traveled quite a bit this week. I flew to KC on Tuesday after work, spent the night with my dad and headed to Bolivar for FUGE. Our first week of camp at my alma mater and it went great. Wonderful team lead by Brady. Was great to be back on campus after 25 years and  I got to stay with my mother-in-law. We had a great time together and got a little painting done along with a little sink dr...

Seasons come and seasons go and I am reminded of Ecclesiastes where there is "a time for everything". The FUGE camp theme this summer is Kairos - meaning "a defining moment" and each day a certain Bible character and character trait are explored, expounded, and never exhausted. This theme has been impactful on me this summer. I am in my 6th week of some part of FUGE camps this summer. Ridgecrest twice, Union University, North Greenville University, and Jenness Park in California. I have seen the same video clips, studied the same Bible study lessons, led pretty much the same leadership training lessons, but have heard different takes on the character/character trait in sermons. All of these have contributed to me "getting it" in a number of ways. From funny illustrations, hard core Biblical sermons, poignant illustrations and stories, God has quickened my heart and mind to really focus on the Kairos. Defining moments in life that God brings our way and w...

Here is the quick rundown on what all Morgan and I accomplished today. Productive wise - not much. Making memories and enjoying the city - quite a bit. Slept in a little, grabbed breakfast at the hotel, climbed in the car, drove to Candlestick Park. I remember it for many great football/baseball games; Morgan says, "Hey, they finished up the Amazing Race here." On to Golden Gate Park; drive along the ocean; Presidio; Golden Gate Bridge; Vista Point; Marin Headlands (see pic); Golden Gate Seminary; quick Starbucks run; Muir Woods; Fisherman's Wharf (Boudin Sourdough bowl and clam chowder); seals at Pier 39; Coit Tower; Lombard Street; Painted Ladies (Full House kids and fans will know them); Haight/Ashbury District (60s love in); Los Pinos (local Mexican that was truly amazing); back downtown for Ghirardelli Square and hot fudge sundae (we split one). Back to the hotel. We mixed in a Skype conversation in there with Shelbi and Sondra too. Good times. Sleeping in and on to ...

This was an interesting weekend at the Turner's. Shelbi had been in China for two weeks with Show Hope and was to return on Friday night but with bad weather across the northern part of the US, she made it to Newark and then flew to Washington Dulles and that was as far as she was able to get. We got her a hotel not far from the airport and she spent the night and got home on Saturday morning. She had a great trip and you can read some of her exploits here . Her boyfriend Mark was surprising her by having some time off from his summer job at Winshape , so he drove over on Friday and was with us Friday and Saturday. He might have thought it a little awkward being at our house without Shelbi but hey, he got to do his laundry and eat some non-camp food so I think overall he was pretty good with it. Friday night was also rehearsal and rehearsal dinner for Kyle and Rachel's wedding that I was officiating on Saturday at 530p outdoors. The trick was that we needed no rain which we g...

Ministry on Weds. was here in Braila at Home of Hope and we had a great time ministering to the children in the orphanage. Our team has done a great job of preparing and then having plans change and then have them change again. They have responded brilliantly. Here is a video from Weds. ministry. On Thursday we headed into town and ministered to an area that has a church but no pastor. We were able to minister to a bunch of kids in a very small room and it was great fun. Some of our team headed out for home visits and found the city life and little less open to the Gospel. They came back encouraged though that they were being used for what God had called us to do. We also spent time in the morning making Christmas crafts for the staff here at Home of Hope and make all kinds of decorations that are adorning their areas now. The video can be viewed here (with maybe a little looking around on my site). It is now Friday am and we are snowed and colded in. The temp is about 12 w/ feels li...

What a great day of ministry here in Romania today. We woke up to snow, it has snowed all day, and it is snowing now. Weatherman is calling for snow the next three days. We ventured out to our ministry sites and made home visits in the blowing snow, did children's ministry in a warm spot, and prayed alot as we ministered and our bus drivers navigated the snowy landscape. The team is doing great. The children, youth and adults we have the privilege of serving are wonderful. We have eaten well and had sausage and cabbage tonight for dinner so who knows what the night holds. Cabbage is an interesting vegetable that does unusual things to one's stomach. Let the games begin! Here is a quick video from our work tonight on the hats, scarves and gloves give away that we will do later in the week. We are not sure what the weather will allow us to do tomorrow but we are planning on ministry to children and youth somewhere here in Romania one way or the other.

It has been a full day of ministry here in Romania. Our two teams ministered in four different villages here doing programs for children involving music, Bible stories, games, crafts and many other activities. It was a great day of sharing in homes as well. The children are a delight to work with as are the adults. We did youth ministry programs which involved many who were in their 20s but they responded well. All the team members are doing a great job and everyone is healthy! The day was long and cold but very productive. Will post more tomorrow and try to upload some video as well. Thanks for praying for us. They are calling for quite a bit of snow for the rest of the week so that will make it more exciting. It may as well snow with it being this cold. Having a great time!

It is 730ish a.m., Sunday, here in Braila Romania and most of the team is stirring around upstairs. Safe to say that many of them are pretty tired as am I but we got a good night's sleep last night. We are staying at the Home of Hope Orphanage and it is very nice accommodations with good warmth, nice beds, and hot water. Yea! (and internet obviously) We have a total of 18 on the team and soon will be headed out to serve two different churches in the Braila area. Our team will be leading in worship through singing, testimonies, preaching and whatever else they would like for us to do. The afternoon is to consist of doing some children's ministry and encourage them to come back each day after school. We have many crafts, games, and lessons planned for them. Our trip went very well. 10 of us left from Nashville about 630p on Friday and met the other 8 in Dulles, (who had come from Dallas, Charleston, and other places I am not remembering right now). All of our luggage and supplies...

This last week has been a whirlwind to say the least. Shelbi came home for a few hours on Fri and Sat and it was good to have her back home for a short time. Morgan had basketball camp last week and this week and next week too. She is a balling girl for sure along with the fun sinus infection she is trying to kick. Sondra has been enjoying a little time off from any kind of work (outside the home) and has hit the pool for a few days. She is finally remembering to put some sunscreen on her chest too so it is not cooking as badly as before. I boarded a plane on Sunday to fly to Albuquerque to spend a couple of weeks at Glorieta doing training at FUGE camps. We have about 900 students and adults here and so far it has been great. Landon Dowden, a pastor from Baton Rouge, LA and Addison Road are leading in worship. They do a great job. I am here another week and then fly to KC to spend some time with dad on Father's Day and then back home for about a day and then out to Denver. Pray ...

Wow, I have been extremely negligent updating this blog and for that I am ashamed and sorry. Enough of that guilt based living. The past couple of weeks have been very enjoyable for sure. We got Shelbi home for a week before she headed out for training to work at Deer Run Retreat . It was good to have her back home and for about three days the house was filled with her and Morgan's laughter. Saturday a week ago, Morgan headed to MTSU for Girls' State and so the house was back to just one child again. We enjoyed our time with Shelbi before she left on Weds. Morgan got home after a long week of Girl's State and towards the end of her experience she started enjoying it more. She met many new friends and learned about how government works. She also said that Gov. Bredesen was a very good speaker and she enjoyed listening to him. Our pastor's oldest daughter was married on Sat. night and we housed a couple both Friday and Saturday night who were in the wedding. Chris and Kar...

Those of you who know me well or follow me on twitter know that I really enjoy 24 or as it is known at our house, "the Jack Bauer power hour." The season finale is on tonight between 7 and 9 cdt so if you call, more than likely I will not answer. You may notice the title of the blog entry is 24 and one week but that actually refers to my beautiful bride rather than the tv show. We celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary last Monday and are now one week into our 25th year. What a blessed guy I am. Last week was a good one with me being home almost all week. I did drive a fan of 7 folks over to Ridgecrest for FUGE Program Training and had a great time with those leadership teams who will be at numerous locations ministering to about 55,000 students and adults this summer. I am amazed how God brings these folks together and how hard the FUGE office team works to get the right folks in place. We have been asking God for His favor and early indications are that He is honoring tha...

Sondra and I thoroughly enjoyed our weekend celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary all weekend long. It was nice to catch a couple of movies (X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek). We also enjoyed watching Slumdog Millionaire at home too. It was good to just be with one another. Morgan enjoyed her visit to Union for the weekend and had an official college visit there yesterday. Looks like all of my money may end up at Union before it is all over. It is not SBU , but Union is doing a great job and one we can certainly live with. This has been a different work week for me since I am in the office most of the week. Plenty to do but it does seem weird. FUGE has leadership training this week and weekend so most of the office is at Ridgecrest and I head over there with 5 or 6 others on Friday - Sunday. This is a very important part of preparation for the many camps that will be held this summer all over the country and internationally as well. All said, we will minister to almost 60,00...