Exciting Times...

Hello friends! 

It's been quite a rush living life in the fast lane lately.  Between teaching and starting a new church, our life has been a bit hectic.  However, we continue to see God's hand in everything we do.

Every day I'm becoming more comfortable in my role as a teacher.  Don't get me wrong, there are still days when I want to run and hide or just quit altogether, but those days are fewer than they were the first few weeks.  I'm beginning to enjoy teaching and I'm reminded of that passion that was in me all along.  As of this week, I will have completed one month of school!  September has flown by.  So much has happened in just one month, it's almost unbelievable.

We had our first block party at Crossroads Church on Saturday, September 17th.  Oh by the way, the new name for our church is Crossroads Church.  We decided on that name because our location is located at what is called the "crossroads" in Roanoke.  People are familiar with this area when you refer to it as crossroads which made naming the church that a natural fit. 

The block party was a success!  We had about 400 people from the community show up despite very little advertising.  A group of our former students from Palestine Baptist Church came to help us that day.  It was so great to see many of their smiling faces.  We continue to miss everyone at PBC and were blessed by their willingness to serve with us.  Current attendees of Crossroads also helped out at the block party.  One lady who is 94 years "young" was out there serving hot dogs all day to people in the community.  We even had a homeless man who has been faithfully attending our services provide amazing face painting for the children.  It was so great to see people coming together to reach out to the community.  The kids all seemed to have a great time and we're hoping many of them will come visit our church as a result.  We're having another block party this Saturday in preparation for our Grand Opening.

Crossroads Church Grand Opening is this Sunday, October 2nd!!! We're so excited!  Josh has been feverishly getting everything ready and working with so many different people to get this all accomplished.  The renovations are almost complete and the sanctuary looks incredible!  They're putting in the new carpet today.  I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished product next week.  I'm so proud of all the work Josh has been doing.  He was giving two months to completly renovate a church and build a team to help us launch and he's so far managed to do it all!  God is giving him incredible stamina and strength that we know only comes from Him.

Please continue to keep us and Crossroads Church in your prayers.  We need them now more than ever.  As we open this new church and begin to reach out into the community, we know that a target will be on our backs.  Satan will do anything he can to prevent the Gospel from being preached.  We definitely need God's protection over us as a couple and the church as a whole! 

God is going to do amazing things through Crossroads Church!  I'm just excited to be along for the ride!

~Nicole~