Weekend Update

This morning I spoke to the men's missions breakfast at Westminster Church in Gainesville, GA, and Kristy spoke (on Esther) at the women's retreat for East Lanier Community Church.  She got home this afternoon after a wonderful time in the mountains (even though it rained most of the time). I enjoyed playing a tea party game with Sarah Wynn, and watching and playing some basketball with Schaeffer. 

Tomorrow I am sharing about the church plant in 4 Sunday School classes at Westminster. They are also going to show our vision video and do an interview during the service. Chuck and Tom, the two teaching pastors at Westminster, are such great, gospel-loving guys, and such an encouragement to me.

Anyway, we hear it is supposed to snow around 3 inches tomorrow. I'll believe it when I see it. : )

Kristy Speaking at Women's Retreat

Kristy is teaching at East Lanier Community Church's Women's Retreat this weekend at Amicalola State Park.  She is talking on Esther, and it is going to be awesome. Wish I could be there!

Private Lessons and Drama Class

Schaeffer began private tennis lessons today and did great. Not only did he enjoy it, but he saw immediate improvement in his game. Way to go, Schaeffer! And this afternoon, Ann Ferris and Sarah Wynn both attended their weekly drama/acting class. Fun stuff...

CC, Lunch at Moe's, and Support Rraising

The kids had a great day at CC today. I picked Sarah Wynn up for a special "daddy lunch date" to Moe's, and then took her back home with me. She played. I worked on support raising for the church plant. So far so good. We have great friends who are passionate about the spread of the gospel. They are faithful. I am thankful. 

House Hunting, Etc.

Yesterday Kristy and I spent the afternoon with a realtor friend looking at homes in Dahlonega. What a fun day. We LOVE that area and can't wait to get up there. Today was a massive spring cleaning day. Not as much fun—but so needed. The house definitely feels clean and comfy. Tomorrow we are going to Christ Community Church in Acworth, GA, to interview for support. I have preached there many times, and have a great connection to our friends over there. Anyway, we will show our vision video in the service and I will have a few minutes to follow up, sharing more about the vision for the new church.

Church Plant Vision Video

This is the Dahlonega Church Plant vision video that was shown at Perimeter Church in Atlanta a few weeks ago.

Daddy-Daughter Pictures

These pics were taken before I took Ann Ferris and Sarah Wynn to the Father-Daughter Dance last week.

The Sunday Funnies

When we used to get the paper a while back, we really enjoyed the "Sunday Funnies." Well, here is a Sunday funny that is... well... well, you just have to see it to believe it.  : )

Father-Daughter Dance Video

Here is the video of last night's CHEER Homeschool Father-Daughter Dance at Perimeter Church. We danced the night away!

Recess/Lunch at Classical Conversations

Here is a short video from scenes of the lunch/recess time at Classical Conversations, which meets at Perimeter Church on Mondays.  Our kids love it!

Pictures from Vision Video Sunday at Perimeter

Here are some pictures from the Sunday that our church plant "vision video" was shown at Perimeter. Photos by Julie Melendez.

A Day at ELCC

Here is a short video of a morning at East Lanier Community Church, the church where we are spending the second year of my church planting residency.

Perimeter Church Planter Lunch

Today, Kristy and I enjoyed time with the Perimeter Church Planting team at the Cargo's home. Please do not tell the immigration office about this video.

McDonald's Interview at Perimeter

This past weekend at the Dahlonega Church Plant "video premier" at Perimeter, we had the opportunity to interview some good friends of ours from Atlanta, Brittany and Joe McDonald. Enjoy.

Video of Church Planting Conference in Orlando

Here is a 2 minute video of our recent week in Orlando, FL, for the GCA Church Planting Conference. It was such a great time of being equipped, of seeing old friends and making new ones, and of just being together. The video was filmed in widescreen, so the right side is clipped a bit, but you'll still get the idea. And thanks again to Nini for staying with our kids!

Dahlonega Church Plant Featured at Perimeter

This past weekend the Dahlonega Church Plant was featured at all the weekend services with a vision video and by having our family introduced on stage. Bob Cargo, the director for church planting at Perimeter, introduced us and prayed for us. We also had an information table set up in the main lobby where we enjoyed talking to many, many folks—lots of whom were very enthusiastic about the new church. Several high school seniors who will be attending NGCSU introduced themselves. Needless to say, we are very excited about doing ministry in a college town!

Sarah Wynn: "Eye of the Tiger"

Getting ready for her American Idol audition.

Church Planting Conference in Orlando

Here is a 2 minute video of our recent week in Orlando, FL, for the GCA Church Planting Conference. It was such a great time of being equipped, of seeing old friends and making new ones, and of just being together. The video was filmed in widescreen, so the right side is clipped a bit, but you'll still get the idea. And thanks again to Nini for staying with our kids!

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. 

The Birthday Girl is a Teenager

Today is Ann Ferris' 13th birthday! We can't believe that we have a teenager in the house, but we are so thankful, too. We will have a fun video ready to post in the next few days. For now, we celebrate... 

Christmas Day Pictures

Here are some highlights from Christmas Day at our house.  It was a great day.

A Caston Christmas Video

Here is a video journal of our recent Christmas adventure from Georgia to Mississippi and back!