Boston, Vasectomy, and more

Well, I haven't posted in a long time but that does not mean that there wasn't a whole lot going on over the past 4 weeks. Actually, there has been a ton going on over the past few weeks.

1. Boston. Beth and I made a trip to Boston a few weeks back. We went for a weekend and visited Paul and Amber and got to spend some time with Cerissa and Eric as well. I was also able to meet with a few local pastors and talk about them supporting us and partnering with us in our efforts in reaching the North Shore. Kim Richardson and Danny Ovallie were the two guys who really encouraged me. Both come from different theological backgrounds and denominations but both have a dear heart for Christ and reaching people with the gospel. I am excited about jumping into war with these guys.

2. Vasectomy. Yup, I said it, I got them chopped. I'm 26 with 4 kids and without it, there was no end in sight. Its a little sad to know that it's it and there will be no more babies. However God is bigger than any procedure and plus, they say I got at least 20 more shots in me. From our experience, I got pretty good aim. haha. One other thing. LIARS LIARS LIARS. They tell you that this wont hurt and its easy. One of those in and out procedures. Well it is quick, but the effects are brutal. OUCH. It hurt bad bad bad bad. All the other things that I want to write are inappropriate so I will stop there.

3. Support. It continues to amaze me how God is providing for our church plant. God is continuing to provide opportunities for me to share our vision with people and talk to them about funding us. There is still much more work to be done, but the early fruits that we are seeing is a huge encouragement for us.

4. God speaks. I believe that I have heard the Lord on something that will require us to be more risky than we have ever had to be. However, Faith comes from hearing the word of God and standing on it. I feel like God has given me a promise but it will take major trust for me to see his promise come to pass. Please be praying for me as I discern God's will for our family and church plant. I have talked to many of my Pastors and Godly friends/mentors about this and all of them have encouraged me to take the risk.

5. Preaching. I had a chance to preach at OFY and a AME Zion district conference last month. It was amazing to see my kids from OFY. I missed them so much and it seemed that they missed me as well. I am so proud how these young kids are running after Christ and being radical for the Lord. It is pretty amazing how bold these kids are. Praying for random people, sharing the Gospel at every chance they get. It is both encouraging and convicting at the same time. At the AME conference, I got to preach on Acts 17 and the Sovereign Glory of our Transcendent God named Jesus and then the next day got to talk on SEX with the guys. That was fun as you can imagine. I did a Q&A time at the end in which one kid asked "What would happen if a human had sex with an animal?" My response was "You'd probably get hurt." I am still wondering if that was the right answer. ha ha. My second favorite question is a toss up between "Does sex feel good?" and "Is sex boring?" I responded with a quick "Yup" and "Nope" respectively and left it at that.

talk again soon.

2 comments:

Amber Shomo said...

You are too funny Matt. Thanks for coming to visit and giving us all a little dose of encouragement just by being who you are. God is good.

Mom said...

You crack me up!! And make me more proud of you EVERY DAY!!