What is the Chief end of man? “The chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” – Westminster Confession

This is something that is said so much that it has become cliché, especially among evangelical Christians. So do we believe it? I would say many do in word but not in deed. “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?… So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14 and 17). What “work” should accompany the belief of the earlier statement?

If we believe that our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, how can we do so unless we know Him? How can we know Him except by the means as to which He has chosen to make Himself known?

The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.” – Westminster Confession

The obvious conclusion to all of this is that we should read our Bibles. So why don’t we?

“No one really knows how many copies of the Bible have been printed, sold, or distributed…Whatever the precise figure, the Bible is by far the bestselling book of all time.” – The Top 10 of Everything by Russell Ash

According to a recent survey, Woodrow Kroll, president of Back to the Bible, states that the average American owns three copies of the Bible, but doesn’t read any of them. This is tragic! When asked, one of the top reasons that people give for not reading is that they’re “too busy.” If we’re honest, that’s the answer for most of us. For some reason, we just “don’t have the time.”

This has really been on my heart, and I’ve recently begun a program that will help me with my Bible reading. The program is designed to get someone through the whole New Testament in 40 days. Yes I said 40 days. It sounds a bit intimidating initially but it’s anything but that. This program only takes 28 minutes a day. Yes 28 minutes a day for 40 days and you’ll have gone through the whole New Testament. How wild is that? That’s one TV sitcom a day. For those of you who love TV marathons, or rent entire seasons of Lost or Heroes and watch them in one sitting, you could press play, listen to the entire New Testament in one day and still get 4 hours of sleep. Just something to think about.

The program’s called You Got The Time, which I feel is appropriately named, and is by an organization called Faith Comes by Hearing. It’s actually an audio that you listen to. It’s broken down into daily 28-minute sessions. The readings are done dramatically with sound effects and all. It does a great job of keeping your attention and making the stories come alive. You can read along in your bible or simply just sit and listen.

Following this daily would let someone read through the entire New Testament, from Matthew through Revelation, 9 times in a year! This has definitely been challenging to me. Especially when in this day and age we are so quick to say that “we don’t have time.” This program proves just the opposite. It’s not a matter of not having time, but what we do with the time we have. What takes priority in our lives? As we lead the next generation let us set an example for them to follow. Get in God’s Word. You Got The Time!

It’s so easy to get home from a long day and want to just “rest” but what better place to “rest” than in the “words of life”? I want to challenge you to give it a try. You can order the CD from their website or download a copy for free from the same place. www.faithcomesbyhearing.com

Now hear me out, I’m not saying that if we read our Bibles that all problems will be solved. Paul said, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6). Our job is to plant, and water but that’s all we can do. We must pray to the Lord of the Harvest that He makes it grow. So lets do our part by His grace and for His glory. You Got The Time!

For His glory and by His grace!
Sam O.

A few weeks ago I found myself in a situation that has caused a great deal of thought and reflection. To respect the confidentiality of the very guilty, I am going to remain quite vague in retelling you the story.

It involved two of my boys in the youth group. One had foolishly and carelessly insulted the other and in response to his foolishness, the other later retaliated in a huge and unjustifiable manner. Both of the boys found themselves later sitting in front of me explaining themselves for their actions. It was clear that the first kid had no malice in his heart. He was simply being careless and in the process offended his friend. He quickly apologized and I sent him on his way, which left just me on the vicious retaliator in the quiet room, sitting across from each other. I broke the silence by asking him what really happened, why did he feel justified to react in such a horrible manner? He began to defend himself, and I began to reason with him as to how he should have reacted and what his reaction in a similar circumstance should look like in the future.

At this point in the conversation my student wanted badly to get out of the hot seat, so he profusely apologized and expected to be dismissed. Gently the Holy Spirit began to convict my own heart as to my approach in dealing with this situation; my questions and concerns were provoking worldly sorrow and synthetic repentance. The Holy Spirit had far greater intentions then I; He was concerned far more with the intrinsic motivation of this kid’s heart then He was by simply modifying my student’s behavior for future instances. I was deeply reminded of the beautiful effect of the redemptive gospel I have been called to, the effect of the gospel is not simply modified behavior, but behavior that has been changed through a more intrinsic transformation of the heart. God did some really incredible things within that conversation as the Holy Spirit led us to things more difficult and vulnerable, but that were fundamental in the process of repentance and transformation. We talked about anger that was rooted out of entitlement and pride. We talked about grace and the consequences of sin, which led us to stir each other in remembrance of the gospel.

Our time talking together was awesome and rich, it was definitely a more difficult conversation, it would have been easier to tell him what he did was wrong and next time to act different. But the Holy Spirit led us both to a deeper understanding of sin and the transforming gospel of Jesus Christ.

After this conversation I have thought a lot about two words: modification and transformation.

• Modification – The making of a limited change in something.
• Transformation – The act, process, or instance of transforming or being transformed

Christ did not submit Himself to a gruesome death on the cross to simply modify our sinful nature, He glorified Himself in that death and resurrection that we may be made transformed into His likeness (II Corinthians 3:18).

This is what separates believers from the culture’s psychology. Because it has fundamentally turned its back on the Lord, the world can only offer people some kind of system. It reduces hope to a set of observations, a collection of insight, or a step in a process. We, on the other hand, meet people as they desperately dig and lovingly ask for their shovels. We gently turn them away from the mound, and joyfully turn them to the Man, Christ Jesus. This is the essence of personal ministry. – Paul David Tripp

May we be men and women, fathers and mothers, youth pastors and youth leaders who are in the undefiled pursuit of God to transform our efforts of modification into redemptive testimonies for the glory and renown of Christ, all the while knowing transformation is a work of God alone.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. – 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

A Great Resource

Instruments in the Redeemers Hand – Paul David Tripp

Fighting Fire With A Squirt Gun
Our students talk and ask a lot of questions about sex. It’s usually the go-to rabbit they like to chase during conversations that wander anywhere near relationships, marriage, manhood, womanhood and dating. And I don’t see this as a bad thing; after all it’s what God is getting their bodies ready for during puberty. In a span of less than two years (usually starting at age 12-13) they will go from children to physically, fully functioning adults. It’s part of maturing into adulthood. And sex is a beautiful gift from our Creator.

My struggle is that often I feel like I’m trying to fight a blazing wildfire with a squirt gun. The world around them is preaching lie after lie about sex and sexuality and the fight for their souls and sexuality feels like a losing battle. The statistics don’t make my day any brighter either. By age 15, one-fourth of all teens have had intercourse. By age 17 it’s up to half, and by the time they graduate high school, 70% of all teens will have lost their virginity. That’s almost 3 out of every 4 kids. A very defeating reality for me and proof that somewhere, somehow, they aren’t hearing and believing the truth about sex and what it truly is.

Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll
Last week I sat down with a father of a soon to be middle school girl and one of the questions he asked was, “What are some of the issues that will come up in the next couple of years of my daughter’s life?” “Great question,” I thought to myself. The first humorous response that popped in my head was “Sex, drugs, and Rock n Roll.” I didn’t say that obviously, but there was some truth in it. Sex will be a new subject at the dinner table in the next year or so, and I feel like we as adults who love Jesus and believe sex is a beautiful, yet powerful thing, are fighting the world’s take on it with the wrong ammo.

All around them, in music, TV, movies, and pop culture they see sex and sexuality and it is usually always connected with passion, interest, and strong infatuation. And this part of the equation is right. Sex is a powerful gift from the Lord. So strong in fact it’s what he decided two people would do and experience together in order to create a child. Think about it. God knows how important it is for a child to be born into and raised under a home with a mother and father present. So, in his infinite wisdom, he created something (sex) that would bond two people…for life. An act of ultimate, physical, emotional, and spiritual intimacy. Sex is the glue that keeps two people (husband and wife) together. In marriage they actually become one. And it’s through that magical and mysterious act that a child is conceived. God is wise.

Where culture goes wrong and where our kids are led astray, is in the fact that it sells sex short. Intimacy is robbed and sex becomes just a physically pleasurable experience. No intimacy, no bond, no spiritual and emotional depth. The beauty of one woman and one man enjoying each other for the rest of their lives is lost.

Where We Go Wrong
And I think where we as believers go wrong in our teaching and instructing about sexuality is that we also sell sex short. I think if teenagers saw the same passion, interest, desire, and infatuation between a husband and wife, father and mother that they see on TV and in movies, the fight would turn in our favor. Now obviously there is a line here and by see I don’t mean something that will scare them for life (thank God I never walked in on my parents). But what I do mean looks something like this:

Husbands, when you come home from work is it obvious to your kids that you’ve been thinking about and desiring to be with your wife all day long? Is grabbing and holding the bride of your youth the first thing you want to do when you walk through the door after a long day away from her? Wives, do your kids see in your eyes a desire for your husband? Is it obvious that you long for him? Like Solomon’s bride in the Song of Songs do you lie in bed at night when he is away and become so filled with passion for him that you have to get up and roam the city looking for him? (SOS 3.1-4) Husbands and wives, are you both physically affectionate toward one another other in appropriate ways around your kids? Is it obvious beyond a shadow of a doubt that you two want and enjoy each other sexually? Are we fighting fire with a bigger, brighter, stronger flame? Or are we trying to put out the lies culture would tell them with a squirt gun.

No Thanks, I Want What My Parents Have
I think if kids saw this passion and desire and satisfaction between their parents and parents followed it up by teaching them that it’s within marriage that God designed sex to flourish and be enjoyed, kids would hear it. And when temptation and opportunity came knocking on their door, they would say something like this, “I’m gonna say no to this cheap imitation of what sex is because I’ve seen how enjoyable and satisfying it can be in my parents’ marriage. And I want that. So no thanks.”

Praying for your kids and for the flame in your marriage,

Matt

Parenting and working with students can at times be daunting. Sometimes students do not mature as quickly as we would like, they do not make the changes that we would like, and they make decisions that we definitely do not like. Being called to this specific group requires much grace to be received and much grace to be extended. I just want to encourage you to persevere.
The staff at the Denton campus has been walking through Smith and Snell’s Souls in Transition:The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults. The book paints a rather bleak picture of American 18-23 year olds, but the data does give hope. According to the data, the authors conclude,

“the past continues to shape the future. This is important to know, because it means that the religious commitments, practices, and investments, made during childhood and the teenage years, by parents and others in families and religious communities, matter—they make a difference.”

This means that by grace and the working of the Holy Spirit the time, energy, attention, blood, sweat, prayer and tears that we spend on our students is not wasted. We may never see the fruit of what is being planted, but we are called to persevere.
Hebrews 13 promises that the God of peace who brought Jesus back from the dead will equip us with everything good that we may do His will. Simply stated, parents when you are weary, persevere. Leaders, when you are weary, persevere. God has called us to a work that is impossible for us to complete outside of His mercy and grace. We may not see the results, but your effort is not in vain. Thank you for warring for students with us.

This weekend in our youth service, one of my leaders came up to me before the service started. She had read over the passages that we were going to cover in the lesson and had an awesome question that she was anticipating her students asking her during the teaching and she wanted to be prepared. The question wasn’t simple, and I internally became very anxious the minute she pulled me aside to ask me. It was obvious to her that I did not have the answer right off the top of my head. I gave her an insignificant answer and walked away from the conversation with my heart beating and mind analyzing what had just taken place.

I am a pastor, a teacher, a shepherd and a student of theology, yet I did not have a correct or intelligent answer for my leader who was seeking truth in order to lead and disciple her students well. I felt like we were both disappointed with my answer.

Questions began to fill my head, “Why couldn’t I answer that question? I’m a pastor; I’m supposed to have all the answers to these kinds of questions.” I felt as if I failed, and in reality I did, but not in the way I had perceived. Over the weekend and into Monday this scenario continued to replay in my head, and the Lord began to gently speak to me a profound truth from this experience.

Why didn’t I look at her, reiterate that her question was intriguing and legitimate and say that I wanted to go to the word and study on it before I gave her my conclusion? Why was I too intimidated to say, “Right off the top of my head I do not have the answer, but I will get right back with you so that you might have a true and right theological response for your students?”

As the Lord gently began to reveal my heart in this situation, I was strongly convicted and filled with an overwhelming joy as I was softly reminded that I am insufficient. I am not qualified; I am weak, and venerable. Once again I was reminded of the theology of weakness and venerability, the message that boasts of the greatness and sufficiency of God and speaks of my inability for good in and of myself.

In this situation I had counted the cost and counted it more valuable to make the appearance of the “all sufficient and successful youth pastor” at the cost of right and true theology and at the cost of God being made great at in my admitting to my own weakness. I didn’t know the answer.

So I confess to you that in my flesh, I would rather walk with a swagger than limp with a Savior. Using the pattern of Paul’s words in Romans 7:22-23, I confess that: In my inner being I delight in the thought that weakness is the means of gospel dependency on a Savior who became weak for me, but I see in my members another law waging war against that gospel – that I am supposed to be a strong Christian.

Psalms 121 is a beautiful proclamation of this truth. The psalmist beautifully confesses inadequacy and in doing so proclaims the sufficiency of God. Allow me to encourage you as you read this; walk in right theology of weakness. Realize that our need is immense, yet our Savior is far superior then our need. It is absolutely okay to look into the eyes of a student or a leader and say, “I don’t know, let me get back to you.” Because in doing so you are boasting in our great dependence of our great God. Rejoicing in Weakness…

Well boys and girls, it is that time of the year again. Preparations are being finalized, videos are being completed and prayers to our great God and king for salvation, life change, healing and restoration are being constantly made for our students. That is right, SPIN 10 is about to go down. Sign-ups started this week. If you are a parent and you are hearing this for the first time, you may visit our Web site to find out how to register. If you are a volunteer and you are hearing this for the first time…well, we should probably have a conversation.

In light of this annual event, I would just like to put some prayer points before you. Whether you are a student, parent, volunteer, Covenant Member, regular attender, student pastor at another church or just someone who follows the blog, we would like to invite you to pray with us. So here is how you can pray:

1. That our gracious Father would draw and save many
   • Our hope is that our students will bring friends that need to hear the gospel. We are also not working under the assumption that every student who walks through our doors on a weekly basis is a believer. We need the Lord by His spirit to regenerate dead hearts. The programming will not be enough, the relationships will not be enough, the lack of sleep and total immersion will not be enough; we need the Holy Spirit.
2. Energy and strength for our volunteers
   • This is a physically, emotionally and spiritually draining event. The nights are late and the mornings are early. Pray for a Christ-centered, supernatural energy for those men and women who selflessly choose to give of themselves to make this event possible.
3. Our speaker and worship leaders
   • Matt Carter will be exhorting our students this year. Pray that the Lord will speak through him and in spite of him to reach our students.
   • That our worship team will lead us powerfully by the Spirit to the throne of grace is our sincere hope and prayer.
   • In the end if our students just get a cool show and engaging speaker, we have not won.

These are just a few prayer needs for SPIN 10. We invite you to pray as you feel led, but please pray with us.

I’m Smarter than You

It’s true, your teenager is smarter than you. I know this is a hard one to swallow, but the facts and research don’t lie. Taken from Dr. Epstein’s massive volume The Case against Adolescence, modern research and medicine “shows unequivocally that the cognitive abilities of teens are, on average, superior to the cognitive abilities of adults. Reasoning ability peaks in the early or mid teens, for example, and so does intelligence.”

The argument that teens are cognitively more capable than we give them credit is just one of the handful of arguments Dr. Epstein presents in the second half of his book to encourage adults to stop infantilizing them. After presenting the idea that adolescence is an invention of modernization brought on by the industrial revolution, compulsory schooling, and a few other factors, Dr. Epstien then shifts his focus in the latter half of the book. How do we as adults encourage our teenagers to stop acting like teenagers and assist them in the very thing that they are longing to become: free, fully independent, functioning adults? We have far too many 20-somethings wrestling with adulthood because they spent an entire decade playing video games and acting like children with no real responsibilities. And all the while, the adults in their lives just sat back and never challenged them to rise to their potential.

So Why Don’t They Act Like It

But, if brain functioning and intelligence levels supposedly reach their peak during the teenage years, they why do teens seem so obtuse (to put it nicely)? Well, there are a few factors that Dr. Epstein attributes to this conundrum.

• First, modern teens are very isolated from adults and are given very few meaningful responsibilities. Think about it. Compulsory schooling corrals thousands of teenagers together for hours and hours, day after day. Sure there are adults present to teach and train, but students spend most of their time socializing with other students. Is this the best way to give them the intellectual nourishment and responsibility they require?
• Second, research shows that teens often use and abuse drugs and alcohol. It’s been proven that drug and alcohol abuse can impair cognitive functioning and abilities. It’s very possible that the intellectual potential teens posses is diminished by drugs and alcohol.
• Lastly, Dr. Epstein argues that teens are highly influenced by their peers and tend to imitate each other, not adults. In other words, they act like teenagers because they are teenagers. It sounds redundant, but here is what I mean. Teens imitate those whom they spend the most time with. It’s like a virus that spreads throughout their culture. The more time they spend with each other, the more they act like each other. I’m sure you’ve noticed it. Watch a group of teens at the mall, and they act like teenagers. Pull one of them out of that same group and sit down for lunch and he or she can easily switch gears and carry on a very intelligent, meaningful, adult conversation. Don’t hear me wrong; I’m not saying to isolate your teen from all other teens. What I am saying is surround your teen with responsible, God-fearing adults that you hope to see them become one day. If your teen is interested in architecture, ask around within your church family and find an architect who is passionate about his profession and the Lord. Inquire him or her to take your teen out to lunch or show him around the office. The impact will be incalculable.

An Easy Place To Start

The left lane of adolescent development and maturity is responsibility. So, if the defining characteristic of an adult is the ability to handle more and more responsibilities well, then how important is it that we give our maturing teenagers plenty of chances to test their wings? Instead of allowing them to play eight straight hours of Call of Duty, give them assignments, chores, a job if you can find one. If the task is meaningful and the outcome is tangible, teenagers will more often than not, rise to the occasion and surprise us. The only way to find out is to give them a chance.

Praying for your intelligent teenager,

Matt

In his book The Church of Facebook Jesse Rice quotes psychologist Janet L. Surrey as claiming, “Authentic connection is described as the core of psychological well-being and is the essential quality of growth-fostering and healing relationships. In moments of deep connection in relationship, we break out of isolation and contraction into a more whole and spacious state of mind and heart.” This is a statement that I can get behind. I understand that as beings that were created in the image of a triune God that humanity flourishes in deep, authentic, life giving community. However, it would seem that as we become more and more connected through our unlimited technologies, we are at the same time becoming more disconnected from the deep connections that Surrey is describing above.

In a world where a student may have a thousand Facebook friends who do not know them at all, it is extremely important that we encourage them to seek out and engage in meaningful community. This is a tall task to say the least, but primary for growth and maturity. To be known can be scary for anybody, but throw the insecurity and raging hormonal changes of the pre and teen years into the mix and it can be excruciatingly terrifying. We do not want our students merely connected, we want them known. We must become skilled in the art of asking good questions and following those questions up with good questions all the while trying to dig into their heart.

I would recommend Paul David Tripp’s Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands as a resource to fostering the types of relationships that we all so desperately need. If you are a parent take time to talk to your student this week. If you are a leader, take time to talk to a student this week. Tell them that you want to know them. The deepest, darkest, ugliest parts of them, and then show them that you mean it. Our connecting technologies are an amazing gift, and when we are redeeming these things as tools to spread the gospel, they get even better. But let us always remember that we cannot mistake our Facebook community for redemptive community.

Peace out, Bueno Bye
Jeremy Daniel

Happy New Year!!! There is something I find fascinating about the beginning of a year; innately within our composition is a redemptive and renewing desire within us. The sense of leaving the old behind, and obtaining what is new seems to be the thriving theme of the entrance of every New Year.

This year, near fifty percent of the western adult culture has already made some type of resolution. Statistics show that twenty-five percent of those resolutions will not last to the end of this week. And the likelihood of a resolution reaching this year’s end is unlikely at best. The reasons for this lack of steadfastness in completing these resolutions are many.

This whole idea of resolutions has had me thinking about our students. What are their goals for this year? What are their regrets from last year that have motivated their resolutions for this brand new year? I’m sure that our student’s resolutions are across the gamut – physical fitness, relationships, sports, academics and spiritual renewal.

If I could choose for my students a theme for a resolution, it would be to remember. Especially in youth ministry and parenting, the thriving focus is futuristic; grades, sports, college, relationships, even church seems to be focused at times on where they are headed as opposed to the where they have been. There even seems to be a negative trend that looking behind us is altogether unhealthy. The bible strongly disagrees with this ideology, in fact the word “remember” is found over 234 times in the sacred Scriptures. The practice and discipline of remembering is both frequent and commanded of us in the Bible.

Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ - Deuteronomy 4:9-10

Before he was executed for his opposition to Hitler, Dietrich Bonheoffer, was asked why he dedicated some time each and every day to meditating on the Scriptures and the events of the days gone by, he is said to have looked at the person with a puzzled expression and answered, “Because I am a Christian.” Bonheoffer couldn’t conceive of how someone could respond to life in a Christ-like fashion without the regular habit of reordering the soul through Christian meditation.

I find myself thanking God for the community that I have been given. A day does not go by without the gospel being proclaimed and its relevance being told. I am constantly being reminded of my sinful nature, of Grace, of my weakness of myself, of my strengths in Him. Many mornings I wake up to the sound of worship music reminding me of His goodness, and throughout the day I am intentionally engaged in conversations, readings, sermons and meditations that remind me of this so great a salvation. I must be reminded, because my bent is to stray and forget.

How does this look practically as a student pastor or a parent? Assume nothing, ask many questions and rehearse constantly the simple, mysterious truth of the Word of God with your students. This past year of living life with the five students I’ve been honored with discipling, one of the repeated questions we would constantly ask one anther no matter where we were or what we were doing is, “what is the gospel?” and “how does it relate and affect where we are and what we are doing?” We will continue to ask this and other questions that will remind and cause us to meditate upon what is of first importance (I Corinthians 15:3).

I would love to start a dialogue here, hearing from you on your practical ideas and practices as you encourage your children and students to be a people who have resolved to remember….

“O Lord, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O Lord, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.” – Habakkuk 3:2

Over the past several weeks, we have talked with our middle school students about being intentional in their pursuit of Jesus. The Scriptures make it clear that it is God who works in us, to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). Ultimately, the process of becoming more and more like Jesus Christ is a work of grace. However, throughout the Scriptures, we are called to play an active role in this process. We are exhorted to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).

I have been very encouraged in some conversations we have had with our students over the past month regarding their role in sanctification. We have sixth grade students that really want to grow in specific areas in their walk with Christ. They don’t want to run aimlessly or box as one beating the air (I Corinthians 9:16). They want to grow in their knowledge of Christ in His Word, so that they might love Him more. They want to study certain books of the Old Testament they have never read. Some desire to grow in the area of personal prayer, or walk in greater community. These desires are evidence of the grace that is at work within the hearts of our students, and for that, our staff is humbled and grateful.

Parents, I cannot encourage you enough to be intentional in your conversation with your children over the break. Ask them where they would like to grow in their relationship with the Lord over the holiday season. Many of them have a good idea of where they need to see more of Christ in their lives, they just need some direction. They are hungry for Him, and we want to partner with you in whatever way we can as you commend the works of the Lord to your children. How incredible would it be to come back from the holiday season and look more like Christ?

We realize that in the end we can plant and water all day long, but He alone causes the growth. We know He’s faithful. We know He’s at work in our lives and in the lives of our students. I encourage you to plant the seeds and water them over the holidays. We’re hopeful that by His grace we’ll come back in January and see some growth in all of us.