Balancing Ministry N' Work

I am about to begin the week before my surgery. This week I will be heading to Ann Arbor (about an hour away) on Tues and Thurs for medical tests. Yeah Fun! :P Tuesday I have tests to check my facial nerve, vestibular (balance) nerve testing, and a meeting with a physical therapist. Thursday I get all the per-op work done which probably involves having a lot of blood drawn and who knows what else. In addition on Thursday I finally meet the Brain Surgeon. Dr. Thompson is thought of very highly, so it will be interesting to meet him. I will also finish up training my team at work to cover for me while I am out and kick off a worship leader search for New Life Chapel. These things need to be completed, which adds a bit of extra activity this week. Although I am looking forward to next weekend, we have a Birthday Party for our youngest Thomas and a cook out at church on Sunday. Going to be busy, but will be fun. My Mother's friend Beverly who had a surgery like mine is doing well, but ...

Click on link below and download the file to hear my two girls (Alexis and Becca) sing God Gave You to Me! http://www.wikiupload.com/cigI2eKy I really enjoyed hearing it and I love the song! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did (not possible since I am biased)! Here is another one from a couple of weeks ago. It is Alexis' first solo. Alexis Singing Blessings, Robert

This week we passed the one month mark before my surgery. I am schedule to go under on May 26th, and that day is drawing closer every moment. As I have said before this is a good thing and a scary thing. First I am tired of waiting and would like to move on with my life. I am hoping to get this chapter behind me as soon as possible. I am not worried about the results of all I will be going through. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my God will take care of everything. I believe whole heartedly that I will return to my life with very little adjustment. Jesus is in charge! So far He has continued to take care of me. Besides the hearing loss and ringing in my left ear, the only side effect I have is tiredness. Jesus has been good to me, and I have NO doubt that He will continue to be good to me. I continue to praise Him and thank Him for what He is doing. Decided to not go to St Louis next weekend for my graduation ceremony. Besides it being Mother's Day next weekend is the ONLY ...

Hey All, Nothing really going on this week but family, church, and work stuff. Was hoping to get some fishing in last Saturday but the wind got in our way. Looks like rain might stop us this weekend. Hope to get out soon. Want to hit a hot spot from last year where we caught close to 60 Bluegill. Only new thing is that I have added some aduio files from the last 2 weeks sermons on the New Life Chapel Blog. The link is on the right side of the page. If you are interested in hearing them, go for it. I highly recomend them. :) They are from a new series I am working on based on the book Primal: A quest for the lost soul of Christianity by Mark Batterson. Week 1 is the introduction, and seemed a little dry to me. I really liked Week 2's message and looking forward to week 3 coming up. If you have any thoughts on a better way to host the files, I would love to hear them. I pray everyone is having a GREAT week! Blessings, Robert

Hey all, It has been a good week since I posted last. Nothing new on the medical front, my next appointment is not scheuled until May 18th. The waiting might drive me crazy, but I have nothing to complain about. God has been GREAT to me! I still have next to no side effects from my Acoustic Neuroma. Ringing in the ear, hearing loss, and a bit of fatigue is all the symptoms I have. Some of you are probably saying, that is more than enough. Many people with AN deal with facial paralysis and vertigo issues that I am not having. I am more than happy with my level of issues. Take my word for it, God has been GREAT to me! While this wait might make me loopy, it allows me the opportunity to make sure I leave work in the best possible shape. With so much going on everyday, it is hard to make sure everything is covered. At this point, my work is being split between two individuals. One is now supervising my hourly team, and the other will be the acting Supply Chain Manager. To help them we will...

If you have been here before, or even if you haven't, you will find a new section on the right called 'New Life Chapel Links'. Here you will find the New Life Chapel Blog and Website. Each week I post the type up of my sermons and hope to add audio in the coming weeks. You can also find a lot of information about New Life Chapel and see what is going on. Feel free to check out the new links and if you are ever in the Jackson area, check us out at 11:00 am every Sunday morning as we worship our Lord. Blessings, Robert

A couple of weeks back I planned on taking Good Friday off. We have service tonight and the kids had the day off so I thought it would be a nice day. Shortly after I took the day off, we were told it that I had an appointment for a CT scan today at 7:30 am. Which meant I had to get up at 5:00 am, earlier than I get up for work. So this morning we got up, loaded the kids into the van, and drove. The paperwork stated this needed to be a fasting test, so the kids and Alexis ate while I was getting ready. At 5 minutes to 6 this morning we hoped into the van and were on our way. We made it to radiology before the 7:00 am time they wanted us there and plenty early for my 7:30 am appointment. God was smiling on me this morning. The technician's 7:00 appointment was late, so she called me back and was done by 7:20. Gotta love that! Stopped at Mickey D's for a quick breakfast, came home, took a nap, had a picnic at the park, then us boys went and got our haircuts. We are now just hangin...