My life has been wide open, as of late, to say the least. My daughter, Meredith was married to Mr. Seth Haas of Birmingham, Alabama, on September 12. Seth and Meredith met at Crown College and were the best of friends. Little did either of them know that God had closer plans for them in the future. We are so proud of Seth. He is now on staff with Dr. Mike Rouse at Mountain View Baptist Church in Alabama. Seth has a heart for God, and for my Meredith, and we are thrilled at their union together. "The Wedding" was beautiful, almost like a fairy tale, with the reception in the garden with live music and plenty of food. Our people worked like crazy to pull all of this off, and they did such a great job.

Then, Dr. James Rushing, my wife's father, went home to be with the Lord just eight days after the wedding. The funeral service was Christ honoring and was truly a blessing to the packed house that attended. It is estimated that there were over one thousand people that came to the viewing the night before the funeral. Dr. Rushing (we call him Popsi) will be missed by all of us but we know one day we will see him again.

The next thing on my list was for me to conduct the ceremonies for the new president to be installed for Macedonia Missions. Dr. Don Richards was the acting president of Macedonia and had resigned after twenty-six years of faithful service. It was my job to help them pass the mantle on to the shoulders of my friend, Dr. Scott Caudill. My, what a great service we had! I wish everyone could have seen the preachers and missionaries gathered at the altar during the missions conference, praying over these two men. It was a great blessing! God gave me liberty as I preached the final message at Corinth Baptist Church. Macedonia will not miss a beat; they are still in good hands with Bro. Caudill at the helm of this great ministry.

All in all, things have been great. The Lord has blessed and Peoples Baptist Church keeps moving on. We are now in a campaign called "20/20 Vision." We have a goal to reach 20 families within the twenty remaining weeks of the year. We already have six new families who have joined the church with more on the way.

The Nationwide Baptist Fellowship is just around the corner. Some of the greatest preachers in America are scheduled to be with us the first Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of October. There is much going on and we are anticipating God's richest blessings.

Friday night football is always a special time at PBC. The Knights played Covenant Christian School from Covington and won handily. Standouts, Billy Correll, Matthew McElreath, Josh Newmon, and David Dumas, were constantly in the mix. The standout this week has to be Tee Black. Tee is an eighth grader that was always around the ball and a continual presence in the game. Way to go Knights, and Tee Black.

I Couldn't Be Prouder!

I am so excited about the days ahead. My oldest daughter, Meredith, was married on Friday night, the twelfth of September. As a dad and a pastor I could not be prouder. Meredith has been an absolute joy for the twenty-five years she has been in our home. Her personality is one of spunk and fire yet a life surrendered to Jesus Christ. She has been a godsend to our ministry with her work in the school and the offices. Meredith sings in the church and participates in many special music groups. She is very talented and intelligent; she graduated as valedictorian of Peoples Baptist Academy and graduated from Crown College with honors. I believe that her greatest character trait would be that of loyalty. She is a loyalist to the nth degree. I believe loyalty to be an action of the heart and her heart is consistent with God's Word when it comes to standing true.

Some people think that I am going to be in sad shape when she is married and taken away to Birmingham, Alabama, but quite the contrary. I do not feel that I am losing a daughter but rather gaining a son. Meredith is marrying a young man that she met at college named Seth Haas. Seth is a wonderful young man that loves the Lord. He seems to be exactly what Meredith needs. I am very impressed with his love for God and his passion for ministry, as well as his love for my daughter.

In our house Meredith and I are on the same team while Monica and Trish form another team. The four of us have had so much fun with the "team thing" through the years. I want to conclude by letting you know how proud I am of Meredith, and letting Meredith know that I love her with all of my heart, and letting her fiance' know that he is getting a wonderful Christian girl. Meredith, you have made me proud and you will always be welcome on my team. Our church will miss you, as will I. I will always love you, and when you need your dad . . . I will be there for you!