God did incredible things at Unleash last Thursday. to have 3,300 church leaders in one location on one campus worshipping God together was unbelieveable. it pumps me up to see God show off like that at NewSpring and know that’s He’s ready to show off at Freedom too! one of the major things that i learned at Unleash and Blake reminded everyone of Sunday at Freedom, is that our church and every church in America sucks if God doesn’t show up. He’s the reason we have the lights and the video and the sound and the band and the message. if all that stuff happens perfectly and God doesn’t show up, we did it all for nothing. without God, church sucks.

Friday Callie and i had a chance to hang out with some great friends that we really don’t get to see enough. we had the opportunity to go to a real recording studio for the first time with my friend Matt who is in the process of recording an album. it was a bit overwhelming to say the least. just walking in the room and seeing a 64-channel SSL sound board that they had to bring into the room in pieces and put it all together, was unbelievable. 

saturday was truly a relaxing day. we stayed at home for the most part and didn’t leave the house until Saturday night. we had to go to a wedding for a couple that i met at our wedding. other than meeting them that one time, i had no idea who they were. as for the wedding, well, let’s just say it was… interesting. 

sunday kicked butt because God showed up at Freedom. i have never seen our people worship as hard and as passionately as they did yesterday. God has brought some incredible people to Freedom Church and he continues to bring us more people. the passion and excitement that people have on Sunday morning is contagious and gives the staff, the band, and the production team passion and excitement on Sunday morning too. it fires me up so much that i hate that we only have one service right now. our church and the people of our church is so awesome that i hate not being able to have two services on Sunday. 

also, JR issued the Acworth Sex Challenge. i have never seen couples run out of church so fast. this next week is going to be a great week!

then we went back home and i went out to put out our Freedom Church signs. (side note: i realize we’re “all on the same team” as far as churches go. but here’s my beef. 1st, Freedom Church did the sign thing in Acworth first. 2nd, don’t take my spots. i’ve been doing my signs longer than you have and i know the premium locations for putting out the signs at various intersections. have some respect and let me have my sign spot. you find another spot church-that-will-not-be-named-here. there, i feel better). then i went to Kroger and picked up some strawberries and some chocolate to bring home and make chocolate covered strawberries. Callie knew i had a surprise for her after i did signs but she didn’t know what it was. she was pretty pumped about those things!

saturday (on the actual v-day), Callie let me unpack and play my Wii. we created Mii’s for ourselves and then i created one that looks exactly like my dad. it’s pretty hilarious.  i think i got tennis elbow from playing too much on Saturday. my arm still hurts today.

then, Saturday night, we went up to Callie’s parents house for dinner and to meet her brother’s new girlfriend. not that my opinion matters to them, but i approve. for once, it was nice to be on the other side of that situation. i was actually a part of the family and she was coming to meet all of us and i wasn’t on the hot seat. very refreshing.

if you know my dad at all, you know that picture is funny.

2. Miami lost their bowl game last Saturday night. oh well, can’t wait until next year!

3. my dad has been out of town since Callie and i came back from our honeymoon. it’s been almost like having a 2nd week of the honeymoon – except for the me having to go to work every morning.

4. Freedom Church moves to Barber Middle School this weekend! tomorrow (Saturday) we’re meeting everyone there at 9:00am to set up church. we’re meeting on Saturday because we need a little extra time to figure out where all our stuff for church goes in the new location. then, we’ll be rocking on Sunday. if you go to Freedom Church or are thinking about coming this Sunday, DO NOT BE LATE!! You do not want to miss the band’s first song. it is going to be incredible.

Freedom Church | 10:30am | Sunday | Barber Middle School

Acworth is about to be dominated!

the law offices of Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele, LLP are packing up and moving offices beginning next wednesday. that means, my job gets a lot more hectic and busy beginning oh, last friday. there’s a bunch of things involved with moving nearly 60 attorneys and their legal assistants and all their stuff. it’s going to be pretty crazy around here for the next few days so this may be the last time you hear from me in a while. i hope not, but if you’re that concerned, you can always follow me on twitter.

2. turkey/thanksgiving day was a great day. i fried a turkey, which is far superior to any other way of cooking a turkey, and hung out with Callie’s family. it was a wonderful time of sitting around the table and laughing and talking and all that stuff.

3. because Callie’s car was broken into and her laptop stolen last Thursday night, we were up early waiting outside of BestBuy to get a laptop for her. i know many people say that those who get up early to wait in line outside of stores the day after thanksgiving are crazy, but i learned last night that there are different levels of crazy.

while we arrived at BestBuy around 12:30 for the doors to open at 5:00, when we got there, there were SIX tents set up at the doors. tents! when you completely alter your lifestyle in order to be in line first on the day after thanksgiving – that’s super-ultra crazy.

other sightings:
guy frying bacon
guys playing DDR in the parking lot (and not just the normal in-home DDR pad. no, no. these guys had the metal playing surface. it looked like they jacked it from US Play)
two women on cots
a hookah

4. i can’t wait for the last week of Blessed at Freedom Church! December and January are going to be absolutely INSANE in the membrane around Freedom but you do not want to miss it. if you miss out, you’ll be sorry. be there on Sunday!

thursday night: went to the Georgia Tech/Miami game with my fiancé. Miami lost. bad. it would have been better had they stayed in Coral Gables and sent word to Georgia Tech that they weren’t coming. they didn’t show up to play and looked ridiculous on the field. it was pretty embarrassing.

after the game, we came back to my office where we had left Callie’s car to find her passenger side window had been busted and her backpack stolen. it was an extremely long night and next day on Friday. thankfully, the perpetrator didn’t get away with a lot – only her laptop and iPod.

friday night: Callie and i needed a break from all that had happened the previous day so we went to the mall and bought our moms a little gift for them to wear at the wedding. i hope they like it. we’ll see…

saturday: my dad and i worked on my and Callie’s apartment. we’ve got to get that ready. we’re less than 4 weeks away from the wedding and there’s a lot of work to be done!

Callie called a glass company and they came and fixed her window at my house on saturday – in the driveway. that was pretty interesting.

we also cleaned up the house a little bit to get ready for everyone coming in town for the wedding/Christmas. i got to use our new vacuum cleaner and it worked wonderfully. and Callie and i put up the Crosby Christmas tree. it was very awkard to see the tree up before December 23. i usually put it up just in time for company to come for Christmas. to have it up before Thanksgiving is weird!

sunday Callie woke up with a potential case of pink-eye. yeah, not fun. so, needless to say, she did not make it to Freedom sunday morning. after we got done with tear-down, i went up to Canton for lunch with Callie and her family. i took a serious nap sunday afternoon. it was much needed!

i hope this week will be a little less adventurous than last week was. i am so happy to see last week leave!

but, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, i am thankful that no one was injured last week during the break-in of Callie’s car. i am thankful that we had enough money in savings to get her window fixed and she doesn’t have to drive around with a plastic bag taped to her car door. i am thankful that Callie got drops for her eye that are clearing up her pink-eye. and lastly i am thankful for Freedom Church and the great opportunity i have to serve people and help those far from God experience life in Christ!

i’ll try to make up for it here.

this one caught me off guard. Upset over fee, man wields bat to get back cat

i thought the dude had a live bat – like the flying ones – and was going to release it inside the animal shelter to get his cat back. ha! i was WAY off! i like my story better. mine is much funnier.

now for Thursday’s post.

my awesome fiancé bought us tickets to the Miami/Georgia Tech game tonight!! i can’t wait until 7:30! we’ll be there along with a few other friends from Freedom – but we won’t be together. we’ll all be in the stadium, just not with each other.

i’m so freakin pumped! this is a HUGE game for the ‘Canes and they are riding a 5 game win streak and are 2-0 in conference games on the road this season. not to mention, they pushed their Thursday night game record to 13-1 over Virginia Tech last week in their final home game this season. Georgia Tech is coming off a bye week after a loss to UNC in which their coach, Paul Johnson, said his team played the worst they had played all season.

i’m not going to give a pick, but i know that this game will be good and that i will be in the stadium wearing my orange and green and cheering on the ‘Canes!

if Miami wins, they need UNC to lose this weekend OR need to beat NC State next Saturday to earn a trip to Tampa for the ACC Championship. if Tech wins, they make their chances of slipping into that ACC Championship game a little favorable. not to mention Miami is on top of the division right now with Georgia Tech sitting pretty at #2.

we’ll see how it all plays out tonight at 7:30pm on ESPN for all of you who won’t be at the game.

2. my awesome fiancé got us tickets to the Miami/GA Tech game on November 20 for my wedding gift. I heard that Tech is planning a “white-out” for the Thursday night nationally televised ESPN primetime 7:30pm game against the ‘Canes so what did i do? i bought an orange ‘Canes jersey (#2) and bought Callie a green Miami hoodie. now we’ll stand out in the sea of white.

3. speaking of Miami, they are off this week. but UGA attempts to get back on the winning side after their embarrassing loss to Florida last week, against Kentucky this week.

4. did i mention debtfreeacworth.com tomorrow from 9:00-11:00 AM at North Metro Tech in Acworth? well, if i didn’t already, allow me to invite you and anyone you know or don’t know to debtfreeacworth.com tomorrow, Saturday November 8 from 9:00-11:00 AM at North Metro Tech in Acworth. tomorrow you will hear from Joe Sangl, Author of “I Was Broke, But Now I’m Not” and one-time commenter on this blog, who will teach you how you can get out of debt, develop a spending plan, and understand a bunch of other financial stuff. i cannot wait to meet Joe and learn as much as i can tomorrow! you should be there too. go ahead and register at debtfreeacworth.com NOW!

UGA faces Florida in Jacksonville this week. i’m pumped up for this game. i don’t even have much to say. i just want to see the game.

2. debtfreeacworth.com begins this Sunday at Freedom Church! it’s going to be a great series and the Debt Free Acworth event next Saturday is going to help a TON of people. if you haven’t registered you can go to debtfreeacworth.com and register for the event. do it now!

3. Callie has been working overtime on trying to get our wedding invitations out. they should be going out soon. as in, today or tomorrow soon. be looking out for them!

4. i am so grateful to be a part of the team at Freedom Church! we work so hard day in and day out and the drive that the team has is incredible. i have never been a part of a church that wanted to make every experience the best it can possibly be as much as these guys (and lady). i am truly honored.

we definitely felt like celebrities.