Ava’s First Backpacking Trip
All spring, I had been promising Ava that I’d take her camping. But each weekend, there was always a reason for us not to head out. Either we had a birthday party to attend, a soccer game, or the weather was horrendous. Not until June did we finally find a good weekend. But in Oklahoma, June is not usually the time of year to head out for pleasant camping weather. It’s usually sticky and hot, but we lucked out this weekend and got some half-way decent temps.
A friend of mine had given me GPS coordinates to a great place to camp in theOuachita National Forest without having to pay a campsite fee. We traveled along with my buddy Daniel, a good friend who loves my kids and loves to camp.
We pulled off the highway and found a spot to park the car. I had checked out a map that indicated several good camping sites along the Kiamichi river, if we just hiked into the forest a few miles. We headed North towards the river and were immediately given a water crossing. I’ve heard stories about people slipping on water crossings with large backpacks, so we took it slow. Ava was pretty nervous and was getting pushed around pretty good by the fast water flow, but we made it across just fine.
I was a little concerned as we were packing up at home that Ava might struggle with carrying too much weight. She only had her school backpack, but I wanted her to carry a little more than just her teddy bear. I wanted to give her the feeling of contributing, even if it meant a little more weight (and a little bit of whining). She carried her blanket, teddy bear, water bottle, and snacks in her backpack. I also placed a small Thermarest on the outside. There was definitely some whining here and there, but I was proud of her to see her push through it.
One Word: Contentment
For the second year now, I’ve been challenged to come up with a single word that could easily define where I feel God is taking me, challenging me, growing me. Having one word sum up an entire year – especially one that hasn’t existed yet – originally seemed like an incredibly daunting task.
I'll Pray For You (Maybe)
We Christians are great at talking a good game, but when it comes to prayer, we fake it more than we’d like to admit.
LifeChurch.tv All Staff
Today brought one of my favorite parts about being on staff at LifeChurch.tv – the quarterly “All Staff” meeting. Staff from the OKC metro campuses and Central Organization meet in an auditorium while other campuses watch via broadcast. We hear from each of the members of the DLT (Directional Leadership Team), we worship God together as a staff, then we hear from our senior pastor, Craig Groeschel. It’s a great time for us all to come together, get updates, worship as a family, and learn from Pastor Craig.
Violence Multiplies Violence
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Dr. Martin Luther King
I used to be afraid that I wouldn’t make enough money
I used to be afraid that I wouldn’t make enough money; now I’m afraid I won’t make enough difference.—Bob Goff
https://twitter.com/bobgoff/status/330451002094387200
When God gives you a vision and darkness follows
When God gives you a vision and darkness follows, wait. God will bring the vision He has given you to reality in your life if you will wait on His timing.
—Oswald Chambershttps://utmost.org/vision-and-darkness/
We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character.
We can only be used by God after we allow Him to show us the deep, hidden areas of our own character.—Oswald Chambers
https://utmost.org/have-you-ever-been-alone-with-god-1/
Back to OKC
The McCartie’s have decided to move back to OKC and to be a part of LifeChurch.tv once again.
I’ll spare you the details, but here are the highlights:
- I have absolutely loved being a part of the team at Planning Center. This team is filled with incredibly bright and talented people and it’s been wonderful to learn from them while I’ve been here.
- We believe that OKC is where we want to put down roots and raise our kids. Our two years at LifeChurch grew us, our family, and our marriage more than any other period in our lives. We love the incredible community that surrounded us at LifeChurch and we’re excited to be part of it again.
- We want to not only be a part of LifeChurch.tv again, but be a part of its ministry. I’ll be working at LifeChurch on the recently formed “Church-to-Church” team. The mission of this team is to resource church’s around the world. The team is responsible for such great products as Church Metrics, OPEN, and the Church Online Platform. The team is made up of some incredible people that I’m very excited to be working with.
My last day at Planning Center will be January 23rd. We’ll be staying in San Diego through the month of February and I’ll be working remote during that time. We’ll be moving to OKC around March 1st.
To all our San Diego friends and family: thanks for letting us be a part of your lives this year. We’ll be leaving with a ton of awesome new memories and we’re grateful for every single one of them.
OKC, here we come!
Hi there, I'm Jon.
Writer. Musician. Adventurer. Nerd.
Purveyor of GIFs and dad jokes.