Joe Bastardi's Final Winter 2009-2010 Forecast

If you're like me, you're wondering what the winter will hold weather wise.

Living in the Southeast, we get excited anytime we have a chance of snow storms during the winter. I know this brings a chuckle from those of you that live in the northern latitudes of the US.

But, you have to remember, snow for us is an event not a way of life. When it snows enough, schools and businesses close and everyone just stops for a bit, enjoys the snow like kids and then life is back to normal in a couple days.

As for me, I'm hoping Joe is right:

By February, the winter for us will be in the bag and we'll know for sure.

ThisMustChange.org - Final Weigh-In

Some of you probably thought I had given up on the thismustchange.org challenge. No, that's not the case. Ever since the unexpected death of Michelle's 17-year-old cousin a few weeks ago, life has been a whirlwind. I haven't been able to exercise like I had been. Plus the stresses of work life have caught up with me as we've been moving corporate office space and making significant other changes. So...my eating schedule was thrown completely off.

I don't want to make these sound like excuses, just honest statements on where I am. But my ability to lose weight or not lose weight is still my responsibility. To that end, my final weigh in came in at:

210

I had hoped for a much lower number, but that did not occur. If you've agreed to sponsor me through this challenge, my total weight loss was only 10 pounds. Please visit thismustchange.org and donate at least $1 per pound lost.

I appreciate all of the support during this challenge. It hasn't been easy to change normal eating and "non-exercise" habits.

What's next? For me, I still need to lose weight. I'm taking this chance to publicly state that I will continue on my journey to better health and a lower weight level.

My goal is between 185 and 190.

I also have decided that I will donate $2 per pound for the weight already lost to Blood:Water Mission.

I am also pledging to donate $2 per pound lost through February 14th. Consider this an extension of the original thismustchange.org challenge.

If you want to join me in this extended challenge....thank you. I have found that this is a better incentive for me to get in shape than just saying "you know...I need to do something about this". For my family and for me, I need to lose the weight.

Please continue to pray that I can improve my exercise regimen and continue to improve my diet.

M7 Youth Leadership Conference

On December 5th, our church - Rawlinson Road Baptist, is excited to host Greg Boone's M7 Youth Leader Conference.

Even better...we are inviting you to join us.

The M7 strategy will grow your ministry; first in depth, and then as a consequence, in height and breadth. No quick fixes or trendy programs; the conference focuses on 7 foundational principles, that if properly applied, will grow a ministry at any time, in any place, and under any circumstances.


Register your entire student ministry team now! Online registration will be open through Wed, December 2nd.



Key conference details:

• This conference is designed for BOTH paid ministry staff and ALL ministry volunteers. We urge you to bring all of your student and children's ministry volunteers to this event!
• All attendees MUST register via the website or by contacting me http://www.rrbc.org/m7
• This conference is non-denominational
• The conference itself is FREE - we are only asking for donations to cover some of the conference expenses and to cover food

About Greg

Greg is Executive Director at Look-Up Lodge, a non-denominational Christian Retreat in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Greg believes strongly in reaching our children and Youth and has designed this conference to equip leaders and volunteers.

www.lookuplodge.com

Get Out Of Debt - Step 1

Michelle and I are working diligently to eventually become debt free. We've used a number of resources both paid and free from Dave Ramsey and Joseph Sangl. Each day we're getting closer to debt freedom.

But the simplest way to get out of debt is quite simple:



Getting started on the road to debt freedom really IS that simple. If you don't have the money, don't buy it.