Summer Update

4 Degrees...
Two of us have finished and two of us have practically just begun our degrees. Heather (David's sister) completed her M.A. in Christian Education and Tom (David's dad) completed his Doctorate in Ministry...both from Nazarene Theological Seminary. Graduation was a blast!

We, Katy and I, are at the beginning of our graduate work. Katy (M.A. in Educational Leadership) has finished up two classes while I'm just beginning my second class (M.A. in Ministry). We're both learning a ton and enjoying it despite the reorganization of our lives so homework could be given quality time. I'm scheduled to finish in April, 2009 and Katy should finish up soon after.

New Orleans...
At the very beginning of June, our church took 23 hard-working people to provide aid to Hurricane Katrina victims through World Hope. It was a special trip where we all bonded and the obvious need was seen by all. Parts of the area look like a ghost town, while others are filled with people grasping for hope as they begin the rebuilding process (if they can afford it).



It was a great trip...one that we'll probably do again next summer. Pray for the people in New Orleans...they are incredibly open to hearing just how much God cares for them.

Vacation...
It was only 5 days. Every year we do our best to make it down to Florida to enjoy the beach. We are going back to normal life tomorrow which proves we should have taken a longer vacation. Last year, we enjoyed the Florida sun for 8 days...this year, it amazing how much of a different three days can make. Along with my parents and the Semple Family (David's sister's family), we went down to the Clearwater Beach, Florida for some great family time.

We had a blast and we are currently going through withdraw although we're
excited to reconnect with our friends in Manhattan.

Vacation daily schedule:
1. Get up (doesn't matter when)
2. Drink coffee and have breakfast
3. Face toughest decision of the day (Beach or Pool?)
4. Swim or Layout
5. Eat
6. Swim or Layout
7. Take a nap (because of the extremely difficult day)
8. Eat
9. Lounge around the big screen HDTV
10. Sleep

(The nap was sometimes substituted for a time of shopping or movie watching. Please note the gigantic prime rib dinner I am giving my approval of...this is the restaurant that Katy and I ate at on the first night of our honeymoon.)

We finished up our vacation with a visit to see Katy's parents and her grandpa...they're always a ton of fun!




































Coming up...
Katy has about a month left in her summer vacation before she reports back to her school. She'll also be starting her third graduate course pretty soon which I know she's really excited about.

Hayden is in vacation mode...I think he's long-forgotten any memory of preschool. He'll be at a different school this year but he'll have the same teacher. She moved to a different school, so we moved with her because she's that good!

As I said earlier, I'm preparing for some messages I'll be presenting in the next four weeks. God has blessed me with several opportunities lately to speak at other churches which is something I really enjoy while I also am privileged to preach in our home church.

We've got our church's "Family Camp" and our District's "Family Reunion" coming up during this month...so, Good-bye Vacation!

We love you all!

- The Kinnans