What a year 2010 was!

Church Stuff

Our church went through a very successful merger and became Bedford Road Baptist Church. We saw two similar but different bodies come together with very minimal issues compared to some mergers I have read about. It is true that we did lose a couple families, which was unfortunate and saddening, but we added a number of new families to the growing body.

Through the year, our average attendance was 86 people per Sunday, and that was pretty much across the board for the year. We had an average of ten visitors every week, which was amazing because many of them became regulars.

The most amazing part of the whole thing was that I was even remotely close to being able to remember everyone’s name!

Personal Stuff

During 2010, my wife Nichole went to work for the Manchester School District as an ASL Educational Assistant. The job is not without its challenges but it is amazing to see that her work at the church with the couple of deaf guys who attend was able to bridge into a career move.

Of course, this is the first time Nichole has worked a full-time gig in six years, so there is a certain amount of adjustment. All the same, it helped us get through some interesting financial restraints, and we’re paying off the debt we have accumulated over the years.

Ariel turned six this year, and she is the highlight of our lives. She was baptized in October and her passion for the things of God is awesome to watch.

For myself, things remained pretty much the same except that I gained about fifteen pounds. There was a lot of work to be done, and I probably stressed out way more than I should have, so in 2011 I’m headed back to the gym and the racquetball court.

The Year As a Whole

It has been a long year in the sense that I have been working hard to get everything together. But it has been a fast year in that I don’t remember whole stretches of it. We are looking forward to 2011 and the challenges it will present to us.