Saturday On The Coast...

As I sit here tonight, I can’t keep from thinking just how much things are different than what we’ve been used to. Here I am watching the fire dance in the fireplace, doing my best to keep a good fire burning. I’ve had to learn quickly how to work a fireplace. And I’m really enjoying it. It doesn’t hurt that our next door neighbor is the ‘king of the firewood’ in these parts. I love the atmosphere the fire gives off.

All three of us are extra chilled tonight. We spent the day up on Lake Erie doing some Christmas shopping. And the wind off of the lake was extremely icy. And right now, the wind chill is 20 degrees…brrrrr. But it’s a good cold, if there is such a thing. It was a wonderful day of family time. We’re now all in the Christmas Spirit…enjoying the Christmas lights around town…the Christmas music on the radio…it’s just different when the temps are colder I guess. We even had icicles on the eve of the house this morning before we left. I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen an icicle.

Most of the leaves have fallen off of the trees. Everyone around here has spent the last few days raking…and raking…and raking. There are leaves everywhere! And tonight, I saw a large herd of deer out behind our house, along the tree line. I can only image what those sites will look like when the snow falls. We have a large picture window in the back of our house where our dining room is, and the view is unbelievable.

We’re all excited to see what this week is going to bring. It’s the final week of prep work for our new church start. Next Sunday night is the opening night for The River Church. Lots of work yet to do, but the anticipation overshadows it.

I really missed having Bible Study on the campus this past week. The students have grown on me. They’re like part of our family now. I have talked to many of them over the holiday break, all seem to be having a good time at home. For many, this was the first opportunity to go home since the beginning of the semester. But I’m sure, that tomorrow evening, there will be a lot of happiness taking place as they return back to TU.

Guess I’ll go for now…everyone is already asleep. As for me…a fresh pot of coffee, and I’ve got to stoke the fire…

Thanksgiving Blessings...

Happy Thanksgiving from the Ohio’s Northcoast! It’s so unusual for our family to be expecting snow for this holiday week. But tonight, we’re expecting our first measurable snowfall. It’s been raining most of the day and the temperature has steadily fallen. We can’t wait till tomorrow, turkey and all the trimmings, I’m off from work, Tab is on Thanksgiving break, so all three of us are planning on enjoying a nice relaxing day at home.

The campus ministry is still growing. We’re averaging over 30 almost every week. New faces each week. But much more than numbers, our students are growing deeper in their walk with Christ each week. They have tasted what ministry is all about. We have been a part of Operation Christmas Child, and for Thanksgiving, we have been able to bless three incredible families with more than enough food for their Thanksgiving meals and for many days afterwards. We also have collected enough, that we will give out three more turkeys for Christmas. If you could only have seen the look on the families faces. I truly believe that we received as much of a blessing as they did.

We have a great open line of communication with each of our students. We receive prayer requests throughout the week from many of our students. This collegiate ministry has literally been an overnight success, proving that God was at work here, long before we arrived. Please continue to keep our students in your prayers, and also pray that God will continue to open doors for us to share the Gospel.

And I’m excited to let you know that on December 2nd, we will be launching our new church plant! The River Church will hold it’s first service on Sunday NIGHT, yes I said NIGHT, at 6:00pm. Anticipation is extremely high for this service. We have secured a temporary location that will serve us well. I humbly ask that you keep that date on your prayer list. I fully expect for God to do some incredible things at this service. I’m very close to having our website ready for the new church plant. As soon as it’s ready, I’ll share it with you.

It’s such a peace to know that we’re in the middle of God’s Will. And to watch Him at work, each and every day continues to blow my mind. This is a Thanksgiving that has a much deeper meaning for our family. We’ve been on an incredible ride for many months, and to look back and see exactly what all God had done for us and provided for us is so humbling. I can’t imagine a single second without God directing our every move. Without Him, we are absolutely nothing. And I want Him in TOTAL control of our lives, every second of every day.

Please continue to keep our family in your prayers. God continues to provide for us in miraculous ways. But we’re still seeking God’s Will for 10 additional families or churches that will see our vision and become financial partners with us. We have no doubt that He is in control, and that He has everything ready for us, in His time.

I thank God for friends and family like you. Without your support, it would be extremely difficult doing what we’re doing. Just knowing that you are there, thinking about us…praying for us…loving on us, continues to help keep us focused. May God give you and your families an incredible Thanksgiving this year. Enjoy your families. We love you dearly.


Serving Him In Ohio,

The Whaley’s
Jim, Denise and Tabitha


The River Church
http://www.h2oforlife.blogspot.com/
http://www.dadsdailygrind.blogspot.com/

Pictures From Our New Home...

Here are a couple of new pictures taken from our new home.

The first is a shot taken from our back yard.

The second picture is taken from our front yard.

And this beautiful shot is taken from our front porch.

Ice & Snow on the Coast...

Snow and ice fell here on the Northcoast today. We're headed to an overnight low of 28!!! Brrrrrr. Not counting the wind chilll!! BBBRRRRRRRR!!!

I'm beginning to feel somewhat better, still kinda runny nosey, and a little achy, but definitely on the mend. Got a busy weekend coming up, tomorrow night we host the TU Dance Team at our house!!! Gonna be some steppin' goin' on, I can just feel it! Saturday night is the TU basketball game against Heidelberg. The TU Dance Team is going to perform...can't miss that with Tabitha in it. Sunday, we'll finish up the Thanksgiving Food Drive for h2o...somekind of serious ministry going on! Pray for us. Pray for the families that we'll be able to share with next week. God is really doing some incredible things here in Tiffin...we're now beginning to see them in action...what a thrill! Have a great weekend...talk to you soon.

Midweek on the Northcoast...

Hey,

Kindof a weird day. I'm still miserable with this cold/flu mess. I simply can't remember being this sick in a LOOONNNGG time! And I'm truly a baby when I'm sick, so please pray for Denise and Tabitha.

We're slowly trying to get settled into our new house. We have our first house party this Friday. The TU Dance Team will invade my house around 5:00pm, and who knows when they'll go home! :) They're a great group of gals. Should be time for some 'steppin' in Jim's house on Friday!!!

Got a lot going on, gathering food for a Thanksgiving Food Drive for h20, getting ready for Thanksgiving break, planning next semester's activities for h20, working, being sick...you get the picture.

We're almost secure with our new location for our new contemporary church plant. We're in the last of the negotiations now (I PRAY). It will be such a relief for our family to get back to a contemporary style church. The praise & worship music, full multi-media, the 'come as you are' atmosphere (where there is NO dress code), the cafe' type setting where relationships are built. Please join us in prayer as we near our launch.

And also, my best friend is just a few short weeks away from releasing his new book, "If The Truth Be Told." I'll keep you posted on that, and you will be sure to want to get a copy. I've read it, unbelievable stuff!

Have a great week.....

Weekly Round~Up...

It's Friday night late, and man has it been a long week. Denise and I are just now getting over this cold/congestion/flu/mess that has taken it's toll on us. Thank you for your prayers.

It was great to get internet back up and running, it's amazing how our family uses the 'net.

We had another great time last night at h2o, we had 30 in attendance, WOW! And to top that all off, 19 of us crashed McDonalds afterwards for a McFlurry Run! That was way too funny! But seriously, 30 in worship...now on a regular basis...I'm praying for 50 before the Christmas break. Join me in that prayer, wont' you.

I'm really glad it's the weekend. We've planned absolutely nothing! And I'm so excited! We do have to assemble a few pieces of furniture this weekend...I've borrowed a drill...for Denise (for those of you who don't know, Denise doesn't allow me NEAR tools and any shape, form or fashion)...so that small project shouldn't take long.

I built my first fire in a fireplace this past week, now that I'm proud of! But the repeat performance didn't fare as well. I really need to gather some wood this weekend, if an effort to attempt it again.

Have a great weekend, we'll talk to you soon...now where did I put my coffee cup...

Our First Snowfall...

It’s awful hard for this word to come out of my mouth...SNOW!

It’s our first snow of the winter. Just a few flakes, mixed in with a light rain. And AMAZINGLY COLD! We had a steady wind of over 30 mph with gusts over 40mph. Our wind chill today was in the mid to high 20’s. The temperature probably wouldn’t seem so bad, but Denise and I both have this ridiculous cold, congestion, runny nose, you get the picture.

Should be consistently in the 30’s for a while now.

I’m sure for many of you, life is still in the 70’s! I spoke with some great friends in Odessa Texas yesterday, and it was 89! Unreal!

Saying Goodbye To Our Temporary Mansion...

The day was bittersweet…

What was supposed to have only been for four weeks quickly turned into four months. It was the home that should not have been vacant…it was the home we NEVER should have been able to find…it was the home that was least expected…it was the home that God provided…it was the right home.

It was our sanctuary…a place of peace in the eye of the storm…

I could write for hours about our temporary mansion, but I’m saving those thoughts and memories for another literary work.

Denise and Tabitha had taken many smaller loads over during the week, but on Saturday, we rented a 15’ Budget Truck to take care of everything else. We really got started much later that I had planned. We were scheduled to pick up our truck at 9am, but instead, it was almost 1pm when they called us to tell us it was ready. That made for a loooonnnggg Saturday. We did spend Saturday night in our new house, which was a massive blessing.

Sunday, we still had to get all of the living room furniture, spare bedroom stuff, and numerous other things still in boxes that we haven’t seen since July.

At the end of the day Sunday, all three of us were totally exhausted…the truck was returned…but we were ALL here with ALL of our belongings in one house…our new home…here's one of the first pictures of our new home…

Urgent Prayer Request...

Hello everyone,

I'm writing, asking for specific prayer for the Tiffin University campus. On Tuesday night of this week, something happened to many of our students and they became very ill, to the point of overwhelming the local hospital emergency room. The numbers were so large, that a special tri-age unit was set up in the hospital just for TU students and staff. No one is sure quite what the illness is at this point. Food poisoning was the initial reaction, but that was quickly ruled out.

It certainly took it's toll on our h2o Bible Study tonight. We had almost 20 students out with this mess. Currently, the numbers are over 120 that have caught this, and the numbers are growing. It's not contageous, but we're taking as much precaution as necessary.

All events for the campus have been cancelled, even Family Weekend for this coming weekend. Please pray that God will do a miraculous work on our campus, and that this will be a phenominal opportunity to share the Good News with our students.

Here is a link to an article in our local paper today about this epidemic.

Thank you so much for your prayer support.