if you still read this blog...

Okay, I know that it has been about nine months or so since my last post, so for those of you that still check this blog... my hats off to you. You guys are the definition of Perseverance of the Saints. I am actually not dead, but a lot of stuff has happened. Consider this post an "update". In November 2006 my wife and I found out that we were pregnant. By December I finished my first semester of seminary. In January 2007 (I think) we found out that our baby was a girl. I had to get a full-time job because of the pregnancy and had to drop two classes during the Spring of this year keeping just one night class (Intro. to Philosophy). I got a job at a marketing firm called G Franklin & Co. selling office supplies for Quill Office Supplies (who was our client) business-to-business. I eventually found out that I did not like that job very much. I was also a youth minister at a small Southern Baptist Church in Bagdad, KY called Indian Fork Baptist Church (you heard me). Due to various external factors (i.e. debt, pregnancy, etc.) Amber and I decided that it would be best for us to move back to Big Spring, TX which is were both of our parents' live. We didn't set a move date, but eventually we pretty much said, "How about Tuesday?" I dropped my class, we got a U-Haul, my dad flew in, and with the help of some great friends we packed up and headed for the Lone Star State. Oh, and some time in there Amber got a kidney stone and was in the hospital for nine days. (Word of Advice to my readers: DON'T GET KIDNEY STONES! ...EVER!) So we got back to TX and moved in with my parents. I was worried about finding a good church and so I looked on-line for the nearest Sovereign Grace church... just for fun, and wouldn't you know it, there was one in Midland, TX (45 minutes away)! We went, loved it, and are about to become members. We eventually moved into a 3bed, 1bath rent house in Big Spring and I got a job as a substance abuse counselor at Cornell Companies here in town which is a immigration prison and i love it. My salary is enough to eventually get us out of debt and to allow Amber to stay at home. (Check out her new blog at http://myrockandmyfortress.blogspot.com.) We had our baby girl August 13, 2007 at 4:41pm. Her name is Makaya Lynn Nichols; she was 7lbs. 4oz. and 20.5in. long. She is absolutely amazing! Amber had to have a Cessarian section and she has finally recovered to about 80-90% of her normal self. The Lord has been very gracious to us both. Our church, Christian Life Center http://www.clcmidland.org, has been one of God's greatest gifts to us. We have made new friends, have become more aware of our sin, have been encouraged with kind words and acts of service beyond my imagination, and, most importantly, I think we see and love Christ more. I will talk more about CLC in future blogs. Please keep us in your prayers. This list of life events is not exhaustive, but you get the point. I am glad that you have found your way back to this "empty shell" (Eron?) of a blog. peace.