About this time we are pulling away from what was our home in Michigan for almost 8 years. My wife and I have lived in Michigan our whole lives, and both of our parents still live in Michigan, so moving away is a hard thing for us to do. What would make us move away from our hometown? It isn’t because we don’t love the great state of 
Michigan or really even the horrible economic downturn it is experiencing. We are moving away because God called me to be a youth pastor when I was a young boy and I am finally being able to see the fulfillment of that calling now.
We are moving down to Ohio because I have accepted the role as youth pastor at The River Church in Liberty Township, OH (near Cincinnati). I have been a youth pastor before, but this is the first time when this will be my full-time occupation. It has been over 15 years since I graduated from Elim Bible Institute, so it has been a long journey. However, every step of the way has been worth it.
The hardest part about this move is leaving all of our friends and family back here in Michigan. We love everyone so much and are so very grateful for all of your love. I do not believe that this will be a goodbye, but more of a “see you later”. We are not moving that far away and will be back to visit. Plus, we are not too far away for people to come visit and we live really close to Kings Island and you are welcome to come visit. 
Or if you are heading south on I-75 make sure you let us know, because we live right off of it and would love to have you stop by for a visit.
There are so many people that I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to for all that you have invested in my life, but I know I will forget someone so I won’t go into it. There are some who have invested in my life and never even realized it.
I am very grateful for the opportunities I have had to invest in the lives of teens while here in Michigan and look forward to being able to do the same thing in Ohio. So to all of you who have been in a youth group that I had the privilege of working with I do want to thank you for letting me invest in your life and for you investing in my life. I probably have learned as much or more from you then you have from me.
My wife and I are now following God where He is calling us. I want to share this video from the Muppets with you as we go.
I am feeling so overwhelmed by God’s love for me. We are so blessed to have such great friends and family who love us dearly. A few weeks ago we were singing the song “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” by 
I had no problems with the 30 hour fast because I have done a 40 day fast twice before several years ago. The hard part for me was the idea of sleeping outside in a cardboard box. Friday night there was a chance of rain and the nighttime temps were expected to dip into the upper 40′s. People who know me, know that I hate cold weather, so this thought did not thrill me. However, I wanted to simulate homelessness the best I could so I refused to bring a sleeping bag or pillow. Instead I came with two jackets and a hoodie. One of the jackets served as my “pillow” and the other one I wore. I also came with an older, ratty tarp that I had in my garage in case it rained. That is my “home” for the night in the picture on the left.
HT to 
Many people have told me that they like how I am always talking about how beautiful my wife is and that they think it is great that I honor her that way. I even have the song 
It was a Sunday morning 36 years ago and my mom was getting ready to go to church, but I had other plans for her. Instead I wanted to come out and see what all of this hub bub was about. I could hear all these strange sounds and plus I was getting pretty tired of being in the same dark place, so I started making my way out.
I have served as a youth pastor for 6 years and can’t think of another career that I would ever want to have again. It was a great 6 years and I hope to find another church where I can be a youth pastor and invest my life in the lives of teenagers. To me there is nothing cooler than being able to see a teenager make a choice to do something very profound with their lives and to no longer live for themselves, but instead chose to love God and love others.
You could hardly walk anywhere and how a 91 year old woman got around without injuring herself is beyond me. There was mice feces on the table and the counter tops along with mouse traps in which the mouse trap on the counter and captured one. I didn’t get any pictures of the kitchen or family room, but I did get some of the hallway and three bedrooms. It is really sad but the house could be really nice for someone to live in when it gets all cleaned out. It took one 40 yard dumpster to clean out the kitchen, family and a portion of the basement that was damaged from the water that came through the floor.
We are flying out on 
