Ok, so Nikki introduced me to the coolest thing ever.  I understand that is a strong statement, but in my life right now this is the coolest thing.  Well sort of, anyway I don’t want to write a blog on what might or might not be the coolest thing ever.  Let me just tell you about it!  It is called (drumroll please) ………SKYPE.  It is a phone line on your computer where if your fam or friends have it downloaded on their computer you can call them and talk to them, but the really awesome thing is if you have a webcam and the person you’re talking to has a webcam then you can see each other as well.  Some of you may be thinking big whooptee Scott, but for our family this is AWESOME!!  Now Granny and Grandaddy in Texas and Baba and Great Baba and Jedi (Serbian for G-ma and G-pa) in California can see Lily Paige in real time whenever we want.  When I told my mom about this, she went out immediately and bought webcams for her computer at work, home and for one of my brothers.  

When I downloaded it onto my computer I sat in the living room and talked to Nikki and Lily on Nikki’s computer in the bedroom.  It’s so cool!  

Anyway, I am way pumped about SKYPE you can download it at www.skype.com.  Check it out!  

See you this weekend at The Gathering!!! 

Alright, so I am not a big fan of the bikini, but Nikki assured me that she is only 4 months old so bikinis are ok.  I feel, as the father of a daughter, that ALL bikinis should be burned and Lily should only be allowed to wear full body wetsuits when at the beach or pool.  This feeling will only increase as Lily grows and will be in full throttle when she is a teenager.  I had already purchased Lily 2 bathings suits that completely covered her, but as soon as we got to California Nikki’s mother and grandparents found it quite amusing to tease me about this bikini.  It was never put on her while I was out there, but as soon as I left this is what they put my little angel in.  If she weren’t so durn cute I might have been upset about it!  Anyway, here is Lily Paige in her debut as a beach baby!  It’s really too bad she doesn’t look a thing like her daddy!!!

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Check this video out of Daddy making a fool of himself with Lily Paige, click on her name and you’ll see the latest video of the little one!

The new series that we are kicking off this weekend at The Gathering is stinking unbelievable!  The message that God has given Pastor Gene is powerful and I believe we are going to see lives changed this weekend at The Gathering.  The choir is up and has a powerful song planned!  I am so excited about this weekend services!  Be sure you don’t miss it!

This week has been a ride!  Several of us have been down here in the Big D and I do mean Dallas at the Creative Church Conference located at Fellowship Church in Grapevine, TX!  I think perhaps they named the town after the famous California Raisins song!  Anyway, it has been incredible!  We’ve heard from Ed Young, Perry Noble, Brian Houston, Mac Richard, Tommy Barnett and the man who brought the house down, Bishop T.D. Jakes.  These men have brought some incredible Words from God.  I’ve been unbelievably challenged these last two days, it has been a time of renewal and refreshment that has been needed.  

I’m so blessed.  God has given me a wife who would go to Hell and back for me and even more so for our marriage.  We’ve walked through some interesting experiences in our few years of marriage, living everywhere from Texas to New York City to Tennessee, and every morning I wake up and realize how blessed I truly am.  I can not even begin to fathom/imagine what it is like to walk in her shoes daily.  As I continually grow in my calling and am continually walking out what God has called me to do, she is doing the same in such a different capacity.  She is walking out her calling as the wife of a second seat leader/pastor.  Such an interesting experience for her, because she is not the ‘first lady’ (Senior Pastor’s wife) but she is serving as a leader in her own right within the church.  I have watched as God continually shapes and challenges her and is daily growing her into such a beautiful WOMAN after His Heart!  I am so blessed!  I can’t believe that God is allowing me the opportunity to share my life with the woman of my dreams.  I thank God for ALL He is doing in my life and I thank God that I am married to my very best friend!  

Wow, what incredible services we had this weekend!  It was so AWESOME to watch as so many of our church family members walked up and signed their name on that wall!! I am so pumped to walk down this road with each of you as we walk and learn the lessons that Simon Peter learned during his time on earth with Jesus!   It is so amazing to see all that God is doing at The Gathering and I am so privileged to be a part of a family of Christ followers who are not afraid to answer the call that is placed on our lives.  The road ahead is exciting, but can be scary, thank God that He has told us, just as He told Peter, to NOT BE AFRAID!  Let’s walk this road together with our Pastor as he teaches us the lessons that God is teaching through Simon Peter!! 

P.S.  Many of you have been asking about Lily Paige.  She is doing well, she has been home for a week now and we are attempting to sleep when we can!!  Nikki is such a great mom, I am so blessed to have her as my wife and as Lily’s mom!  This journey called parenthood is awesome.  We really never could have been prepared for all of this, but it is GREAT!! 

Well, I have many things on my mind about what all God is doing in mine and Nikki’s life, but I know most of you just want to know details and see pics, so here they are… Lillian “Lily” Paige Windham4 lbs 12 oz   18 3/8 inchesBorn on Sunday, January 6, 2008 @ 10:39 am. Please keep Lily in your prayers, she was 5 weeks early and her lungs are still not fully developed, so she is in NICU at the hospital until she is a little stronger.  We know God has her in His hands and His timing is perfect.  Keep Nikki and Scott in your prayers as they have to be away from her during this time and also for a speedy recovery for Nikki.  Thank you all for your prayers!! 

I am so glad that I live during the age of technology.  Our electricity has gone off and on a total of 4 times in the last 24 hours.  After the first drop in electricity, Nikki and I lit several candles and lit our trusty oil lamp that we purchased for just such an occasion!  The timing could not have been any better with the electricity going out the second time, with only 10 minutes left before the ringing in of 2008 we lost electricity and with it our countdown on Dick Clark’s New Year’s Extravaganza!  So in true 2008 style we used our cell phones to countdown the New Year.  With the candles lit and the lamp burning I almost felt as though it was 1908 instead of 2008.  As I snapped back to reality I thought, oh no, what happens if our electricity is out for hours and we have all of this food rotting in our fridge and freezer.  I was relieved to find out that I had paid the electric bill and it was not only our home that had turned back 100 years, but homes all over the Boyd’s Creek area were without electricity.  Finally, about 12:30 am EST we were returned to 2008 and all of the comforts that Ben Franklin intended!  We lost electricity again around 7:00 am EST, but I was oblivious to it, the only proof I had were the clocks that I had fixed after the first two losses were again blinking, proving to me the loss of our blessed r.  One final time around 1:00 pm we lost it again and have been smooth sailing ever since.  Come to find out all of my trials were caused by a driver who ran into a pole and took out half of Sevier County’s Electricity.   No real point to this post, except I felt as though you needed to know of my loss of electricity and how it could have ruined my New Year’s, but I DIDN’T LET IT!  We prevailed, electric or not, we prevailed and we enjoyed our New Years!!!  Happy New Year!!!  Hope your celebration was as exciting as mine!!!

Ok, so I stole this off of Pastor Gene’s blog, but it is so good that I wanted to post it here as well!! Check out what The Gathering has done in 2007!!!

THIS YEAR YOUR CHURCH…

• hired 12 new employees
• doubled in size
• experienced more of it’s future through the revelation of our God of what we were born to do
• gave over $570,000 to missions and almost $300,000 back to Sevier County
• sent our Mission Pastor to India, Africa, El Salvador and Niagara
• mailed our over 1,000,000 pieces of mail
• received air time on ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN
• was featured in the Knoxville News Sentinel and also made the front page of The Mountain Press
• ran a radio ad on WIVK for over 3 months for people ‘who don’t like church’
• hosted it’s first ever Golf Tournament
• hired the premier media company in the Nation (Clark Pro Media) to help launch our television ministry.
• was able to hire one of the largest non profit CPA firms in the Nation
• made Christmas A LOT better for over 1,500 children
• put brand new Nike tennis shoes and clothing on over 1,000 children going back to school
• gave out several tractor trailer loads of food, bread and cold milk
• completed it’s sixth year of existence and is on the brink of standing amazed at what God can do
• completely renovated our KidzPlace facilities because we refuse to let our children grow up without hearing about Jesus in a way that they will understand and enjoy
• broke ground on a state of the art church facility necessary to sustain the exponential growth we have seen
• has not even begun to walk and to live

This past week was incredible as we served the children of Sevier County! I cannot wait to see what God is going to do in 2008! I look forward to seeing everyone this weekend at our Christmas services as we participate in the Lord’s supper together! For those of you that are far away from East Tennessee I wish you a Merry Christmas and hope to see you sometime in 2008!

I cannot believe that Christmas at The Gathering is here!  This week we are going to have the opportunity to serve over 1500 children and their families.  It is going to be an incredible week!  I cannot wait to see what all God is going to do this week!  What a privilege to be a part of this church family and to know that God is going to smile on us this week!  I can’t wait to see each and every one of you at Christmas at The Gathering!!!