Winter Jam '09

Oh yes, we were bound for Winter Jam '09.
Click here for Winter Jam's Facebook page.
So we arrived at the Colonial Life building and joined Tina & friends, who had held an awesome spot in line for us, right up front at the doors. We stood there for a half hour or so until they began admittance to the concert.
Tom S. had scoped the scene and knew exactly what seats we should try to get, so he was designated Line Leader. And as you can see here in this MOB, it was a good thing we had a line leader so nobody got lost. As you can also see, 1) nobody is following our line leader and 2) our line leader is zealous about his job.


We found the seats and they were definitely great seats.
The crew is happy.

Happy pappy.


As if things couldn't get any better. . .
Jimmy Steen made an appearance!
Then the music began.
Stephanie Smith, followed by Pure NRG warmed us up.
Tony Nolan gave gave an excellent presentation of the gospel.

THEN. . . my favorite . . .
Brandon Heath.
The youth group bought me a Brandon Heath T-shirt to thank me for driving them up, thanks guys!!

Brandon Heath was followed by the last act of the night --
Toby Mac was awesome, as usual.
He is "a creative force, an artistic maverick and a prophetic voice for racial reconciliation, social justice and a fierce devotion to faith & family." I can't say it any better than this quote from his website.

The artists & administrators involved in Winter Jam give selflessly & tirelessly to reach our youth for Christ. The admittance fee is low enough for kids to afford and is far below what these artists could charge for their performances. They performed 35 times in 2 months this year. That's a lot of travel and very little sleep & "a handful of dreams and heart full of God."

The State reports on Raymond Middleswarth

Great article in the State paper about Ray, his wrestling and his priorities. Click here to read all about it.

Ice Skating Trip

These are the skating pictures from our Feb. 1 trip to Irmo.
We skated at Plex rink in Irmo.
Grayson, Ethan & Joey in the TimeOut box:
Joey & Grayson collided.

Ethan & Grayson, chillin'


Libby, a friend, Ross, Joel
"Grampsy" x 2, Eva watching in corner

Grayson, charging across the ice with bold confidence:

Patti's got skills.

B & Marj


Joel, who actually could skate much better than this photo implies:

Here's Josh in one of his finer moments.

We had three of our Christ Central friends join us, too.

Ethan. Which is better, his pose or expression?


Leave a comment about this photo. What is going on?

Eva, the big star.

I didn't see Ross on the ice at all.

I mostly saw Ross with Tom sitting and talking.

What a ride.