Hi Family and Friends!

I hope you are all well and thanks for reading and praying.

I’m just finishing up a week of vacation in the Outer banks with family. Although we’ve been going here for twenty-five years, this is the first time in five years we’ve been back with all our kids, spouses, and our new grandson!

We stay south of Kitty Hawk, usually in Frisco, near Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest brick lighthouse structure in the United States and 2nd in the world. We love the wildness and quietness of the area. Uncrowded beaches that you can drive on, bring your dogs to, and enjoy a fire. Interesting surfs—sometimes dangerous—that are rarely the same from one day to the next. Apple Uglies from the Orange Blossom Café (better that Duck Donuts!), a ferry trip to Ocracoke Island, and a trip to Buxton Books are always on the agenda. Other than that, there’s no agenda, except plenty of rest, time on the beach, long walks, food, and relationship.

As I mentioned in my last subscriber-only update in March, I finished the first of two books I set out to write this year: How I Became a Christian Despite the Church. I’m so grateful for several individuals who’ve been willing to read the first draft and give feedback. And although edits are taking longer than expected, the end product is shaping up nicely. I have a few more stories to add and a couple of structural changes left to make. The revised plan is to have the finished project and proposal ready for an agent or publisher by late August. Please pray that I’ll finish by this date, have greater clarity on my target audience, and secure an opportunity with a publisher that has wide influence.

Pam and I also spent a good part of May and June working on our empty-nest “fixer-upper.” We are tackling the kitchen slow but sure: a new ceiling, lighting, floor, and appliances. We now have a microwave for the first time since we’ve moved. No more reheating tea or coffee on the stove! We still have our old cabinets to paint, including a few custom modifications and cabinet doors we’ll need to have made to match. And then we’ll start saving up for new countertops and a tile backsplash.

Given the current national attention on abortion, Care Net is very busy and there are many opportunities. If you would like to consider ministry for your church that brings compassion, hope, help, and discipleship to women or men facing pregnancy decisions, see here or let me know. If you’d like to get a feel for what the “end goal” of this kind of ministry looks like, see here. 

I’m preaching at other churches an average of twice a month and you can see that schedule here. These days, I’m thinking a lot about God’s love and my upcoming messages are new ones from 1 John. In fact, last week’s post on “The Father Heart of God” will give you an idea of some of things I’m still learning. My time with Emmett this week (see above) as “Papa” along with thirty plus years’ experience as a husband and father, have provided indelible reasons of the heart—real evidences at the core of my being—for the existence of a loving creator.

“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.”

1 John 3:1-3, NLT

Again, and as always, thank you for all your prayers, encouragement, feedback—including any push-back or correction. They mean a lot.

Blessings and enjoy the rest of your summer,

Greg