Back from Orlando

Kristy and I have been out of town this week in Orlando, Florida, for a church planting conference. We had such a great time being equipped, seeing old friends and making new one, and just being together. I captured some of our conference experience on video and hope to post it tomorrow or Monday. Stay tuned. Oh yeah... thanks to Nini for keeping the children for us!

Sarah Wynn's CC Class

This past Monday I filmed a short clip of Sarah Wynn in her Classical Conversations class.  It is a highlight of her week!

Nini Arrives!

Nini arrives!!! And yes, she brought plenty of chocolate. As you can tell, we are really glad that she is here—and not just because of the chocolate. : )

Nini's Comin' to Town

Nini is coming to town today, and the kids are really fired up.  Get ready for three kids on a sugar high for a week...  There is no telling how much chocolate will show up with her. : )

Sarah Wynn Reading in Bed

The other night I caught Sarah Wynn reading Wacky Wednesday in bed. Here is the bootlegged footage. 

Weekend Update

Last night we enjoyed dinner at Piazza on the square in Dahlonega with Kim and Alan Foster. Alan is the teaching pastor for the church (East Lanier) where we are serving the second year of my church planting residency. 

Today, I had a Presbytery meeting in Fayetteville, GA, at Redemption Fellowship, a predominantly African-American PCA church south of Atlanta. They showed us such great hospitality—and even served us a homemade lunch. So good!  

Kristy attended a special CC (Classical Conversations) meeting, and I ended up joining her a few other couples for dinner with the founder of CC, who had come to Atlanta to provide CC families with a dose of encouragement and inspiration. 

Good News and Bad News

Two Sundays ago we were back at Perimeter for worship. Sarah Wynn and her buddy, Gillian, disappeared. After looking for them for a few minutes, we discovered them hanging out on the floor drinking hot chocolate and catching up.

Bonus: Last night at the dinner table Sarah Wynn made an announcement. "I have good news... and bad news. The good news is that I cleaned up my room. The bad news is that I just stuffed everything in my closet."

The East Pole and West Pole

Ann Ferris was giving Sarah Wynn a geography lesson this afternoon, and explained about the north pole and the south pole. Sarah Wynn then asked, "Well, what about the east pole and the west pole?"  : )

Profession of Faith, Part 2

Today I preached at East Lanier Community Church and led communion. At East Lanier, the congregation comes down front and is served by the elders. It was a huge blessing to be able personally to serve Schaeffer his first communion this morning. Afterward we went to the Red Sky Cafe in Buford (wow, really good!) to celebrate. This afternoon Schaeffer and I played Stragego, made a fire, played football outside, and watched football inside, while Sarah Wynn napped and the other girls read. 

Profession of Faith

Last Sunday Schaeffer had his elder interview for membership at Perimeter as a communing member. Today he received his letter affirming his profession of faith. He is so incredibly excited! What is doubly cool is that I am preaching at East Lanier Community Church this Sunday and leading communion, which will be Schaeffer's first. : )  Ann Ferris and Kristy also were interviewed for transfer, and received their letters as well.  So this is a special week, with Sunday being a wonderful celebration of God's faithfulness and grace to our children. 

Reconnecting with the Maddreys

This past Sunday we were blessed to reconnect with friends whom we had enjoyed so much when we lived in Tupelo. To our great disappointment, they ended up moving to North Carolina. But as they were passing through ATL on their way home from a wedding in Birmingham, we were able to meet for lunch. It was so great to spend even a couple hours with such treasured friends, Kim and Roland Maddrey.

Downloadable Church Plant Information

FYI: The Dahlonega Church Plant now has downloadable information (a 2-page Ministry Summary and a full, 12-page Ministry Prospectus) on our website, or directly, here.

Birthday Pictures

Here are some highlights of Sarah Wynn's 5th birthday.

The Princess is 5

Her pre-K class at Classical Conversations

Her b'day doughnut 

Two of the three beautiful Caston girls

Playing Tea Party with Ann Ferris

Sarah Wynn Turns 5!

Today is Sarah Wynn's 5th birthday! Pictures and a video to come... 

Homestyle Babysitting

A friend brought one of her sons over to our house today so that Ann Ferris could baby-sit without having to be driven to their house. She led math lessons, oversaw coloring, played on the trampoline, and designed a treasure hunt (of course, Sarah Wynn tagged along, too!). Anyway, she is a great baby-sitter.

Also, we all stayed up late last night to watch the NCAA football national championship game. Florida defeated Oklahoma 24-14.

Church Plant Website and Blog

If you have not seen the church plant website, it gives some information and a bit of the flavor of what we hope to see happen in Dahlonega, GA, a college town in the mountains 65 miles north of downtown Atlanta. The church website is here (www.thewonderofthegospel.com). 

Also, along with the church website, I started a new blog, "The Wonder of the Gospel" (www.thewonderofthegospel.blogspot.com, or www.mckaycaston.com).    

No obligation to visit or linger, and it's all free. So you get what you pay for. :)

New Year's Eve Video

This is a video of our New Year's Eve get together at the Hightower's home in Dunwoody, GA.

AFC 13th Birthday Video

Birthday Pictures

Here are some pictures from Ann Ferris' 13th Birthday.