no place like... home?

we got in last night around 11:45 and hit the bed by 1:30.
should be an interesting day unloading and trying to settle in to
apple blossom.
we're supposed to get some help today ... and we need it!
here we go...

hallelujah chorus...?

vote please...

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6
jeff buckley's version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AratTMGrHaQ

man vs corn

Hangin' at grandmommies

Watching Swiss family Robinson at grandmommies after the last day of
school.

Tour de dad - part 3

Aubrey's Xmas play was really good. Aubrey and madalyn were snow
flakes and they did really good. aubrey was part of the major chorus... and she sang hard, it was fun to watch.

when her group of "snowflakes" got to get up infront of the whole group and they pranced around... it looked like a lot of fun. she did really good.

our long transition has realy hit aubrey hard. she show's her sensitivity more than lolo, and she'll miss her friends and her "secure surroundings" a whole bunch.

Tour de dad - part 2

Lolo had a little party at 9 am in her teacher's, jacky brown,
classroom. Jacky has taugh both the girls and has blessed our family.

Just a little patient... Yeah...

(Please read title while swaying your head like axel rose)
Coopis back home after his mini surgery of getting tubes in his hears. Dr. Rozrler said he did good and that he's a tuff little man- probably said for my benefit. He
hasn't been very irritable or sleepless, he's been just puttin' up
with it. He said it was very infected in there. He came out and told
us while he was doing the surgery that be removed both his adnoids - I
know what you're thinking and I was worried, too, but it's ok, he can
still have children.

the season is on...

the season, basketball season, is now upon us, that is...

i'm really going to miss our team. watching chris foul guys (and get away with a lot of it), kory going redonculous on the scoring end (and chewing on the refs on the way back down the court), steven's hustle (and mosquito tactic defense), maq's steady work at point (and getting the shaft from the refs on calls), patrick sound jayhawk fundamentals (and yelling at me for not calling out screens, and his nice see through mouth piece so he doesn't damage his perfect orthodontic teeth is a nice touch, too), jon telling me to shoot it when i get it (and watching him put his hands in his shirt and scratching his chest on the way down the court... every time! i don't know about that, it's the weirdest thing i've ever seen...), and me... having a few trips to the bathroom on game day for my "pregame" unloading of unnecessary weight, my $39 reebok, looking at the scoresheets and discussing game plan with kory on fridays at lunch, shooting the ball when i catch it in rhythm (notice i didn't say make it, just shoot it), and just being with the guys. i will miss it, a lot. and for the past 8 years, i've played ball with adam norton, and his soft baby hook is legendary (not to mention his left shoulder he plows into the defender with...!!!).

nothing like singing "oh little town of bethlehem" with a little nativity scene to get you in the christmas mood.
it's been a strange christmas at our home this year... we're here but we're not here. we're getting ready to move, so our house is in looking very unchristmassy... cindy usually has it all decked out, but we've kept everything packed up this year, until now. it's the first christmas in 10 years that we have not gone out and cut down a real tree...

here are some pictures, but they are out of order... oh, well, i can't get them in the right spots.
aubrey and lolo always love to do the tree and there's always some great drama... until this year... i think we made the tree with out the big drama.

you can see coop in the back... just bouncing and watching...

yes, the other season... my job is the lights (there's more info down below, but i can't seem to get this mac book to help me move the pics...)

we got a few of our ornaments out... cindy was helping figure out the "necessary ones".

lolo's class had pj day this week, so i figured i'd better get a class picture since they'll be leaving the awesome pine tree school district at the end of this week.

here's aubrey's class. she loves school so much and has developed some close relationships. leaving is going to be especially hard on her. her two buddies are next to her in the pic

we haven't spent a lot of money this year again... that feels great. what the heck does spending a lot of money on junk have to do with salvation coming down to earth? i don't know either. ok, i do know the "God gave the Gift so we give gifts" answer, but i'm too poor to waste my money on playing that game out. but i really like to celebrate christmas, in a meaningful way. i don't have it perfected, that's for sure, but i'm really enjoying it more the past two years. our family is pooling our gift money again to help someone in need. it's an awesome feeling to know that someone is going to say "someone saved my day", instead of stuffing a bunch of gifts away that we didn't want in the first place. sooooo...

we weren't going to put a tree up, but when we decided this week to move the day after xmas, we borrowed chris and becky's old tree and just put a few of our decorations up.

it's a humble little tree, but we can work with it!

New dress

Lolo went shopping with cindy to buy presents and they walked through
the childrens section an lolo saw a dress she just loved! Well... The
only girl in our family that loves to wear dresses... And she's a cutie!

Snaggle bells, snaggle bells, snaggle all the way...

Aubreys teeth are falling out these days ... Her front remaining tooth
is pretty goofy, and I wish I could freeze frame this moment in our
life right now. In the midst of all the chaos of our move, thoughts
the beauty of my kids and the daily journey in our family (admitedly
some days are definitely tough) is filling me with joy this morning.
Unfortunately, this too shall pass...

The adventures of Lolo Loo-Hoo...

Lolo built a little house in our fake fireplace. You can see the
stairs and the "doorbell". She decided that she would eat breakfast
there today... And looks like she had a visitor...

Gripping tale...

Here's coop's latest craze. Standing up! He let's go and does the
rodeo hands and then falls down... The hardest part is that cindy
can't go anywhere because this monkey has a firm grip!!!

Fill'er up...

How can filling up my gas tank feel so good?

Morning breaking...

This was as much sun as Abilene got today... But it was beautiful.
From 7:15 till 7:25 I kept hurrying back and forth from my room on
the west side of the house to the front room (facing north) and aubrey
and lolo's room (facing east) hoping to see God's daily miracle.
Then I had to hurry up and shower before the 8:15 worship and didn't
get to watch the complete rising...
I'm an idiot.

My favorite color...

Tonight we've been painting our awesome blue bedroom to a "neutral"
color... That means "booring"... Nice cool blue...

Flat ride...

We're thankful this thanksgiving for officer cloyd todd from tarrant
county dps fir helping us change our tire quickly... Among other
things that we're thankful for...

give more this christmas...

think about it.

my family gave enough to build a new water well in mozambique last year.

that's what i gave for christmas. a water well.

that's what i got for christmas. a water well.

it was the best christmas in a long time.

think about it.

home...

i was 15 years old and we were at a youth rally in ohio... we lived in huntsville alabama and we had some friends up there that we just happen to be visiting that weekend. this family had lost their son about a year before our visit in a horrible drowning one day in a river, just one week after he got married.
we had just moved back to the states from argentina. we lived in rosario for the final 7 years of our 9 years there.
i felt like a fish out of water. i didn't know where to call home.
the song leader led a song that was the only song i really sang that day. i went through the motions on some of the other songs... but this one was coming from my heart. tears filled my eyes. i couldn't ever remember being so connected to a song.
through the past 20 years i've connected to other songs at different times. some have been about heaven, some about life. some about God, some about doubt, some about hope, some about the brokeness of this world, some about the brokeness of my own life.
in the midst of transition, with much uncertainty, pain, and hope surrounding us at any given moment, i found myself in a very familiar place. two weeks ago, larry parker lead a song in worship. it was an older song. not a newer/tomlin song that i'm connecting with alot these days. this was one of those old school ones. tears began to fill my eyes. it's still true. 20 plus years after that sunday in ohio, i'm still on the same journey.
even though i've found patches of home, it's still hard to completely find it. i don't get to lay claim of this some just because i'm a missionary kid... but it does bring a bigger meaning to the song for me.
in the midst of our transition... my heart broke and found hope at the same time as i sang about our hope with the alpine family...

This World Is Not My Home

This world is not my home I'm just passing through

my treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue

the angels beckon me from Heaven's open door

and I can't feel at home in this world anymore
O Lord you know I have no friend like you

if Heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do?

the angels beckon me from Heaven's open door

and I can't feel at home in this world anymore

They're all expecting me and that's one thing I know

my savior pardoned me and now I onward go

I know He'll take me through though I am weak and poor

and I can't feel at home in this world anymore
O Lord you know I have no friend like you

if Heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do?

the angels beckon me from Heaven's open door

and I can't feel at home in this world anymore

Just up in Glory Land we'll live eternally

the Saints on every hand are shouting victory

their song of sweetest praise drifts back from Heaven's shore

and I can't feel at home in this world anymore
O Lord you know I have no friend like you

if Heaven's not my home then Lord what will I do?

the angels beckon me from Heaven's open door

and I can't feel at home in this world anymore

witnessing my dad lead and sing this song from his heart has changed my life. it's given me perspective, longing, and hope.

new beginnings...

this past sunday, cindy, me, and a & l & c headed to abilene to officially meet with the southern hills church. it was a beginning of sorts.
they have two worship assemblies, so we went to the end of the first service, then class, then to the second assembly. in both assemblies the elders prayed for God's blessing on our family, and even on alpine, during this transition. they prayed for God to use us to help parents raise their teens in the Lord.
honestly it was kind of scarry, but we keep coming back to the idea that "it was not our idea to go there", and we gave God plenty of other options for us, yet time and time again, this was confirmed for us to serve God at the southern hills church. so it was a new beginning.
i think for the students there it was kind of weird. i mean, i had only met 5 or so kids before this weekend, and here i walk in and say... "i'm your youth minister...!" much like an arranged marriage.
there are some committed Christ-followers that love to help teens and are learning to serve in the youth ministry there... so i'm not in a panic.
two saturday nights ago, when we told our girls that we would be moving... we just didn't have all the words to say... i kept praying in between sentences for God to give me something. when we went to their room to get ready for bed, i picked up our narnia book (we're on the third one - voyage of the dawn treader) and told them that it's kinda like a new adventure for us. we're following aslan even when it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. when we do so, we find all kinds of new great friends and experiences. so far, that's held true.

there were about 20 of our alpine family there at church on sunday, due to homecoming and college students. they all have a special part of God's book He's writing at alpine. it's been a blessing to be with them.

our house hunting went ok... we found several houses that could be possibilities. we've kind of settled on one, but when the inspection comes back, we'll know if it's "the one". oh... and if the guy doesn't die of laughter at our offer, then maybe that will help it sell, too...!

please be praying for our house hunt, that it will be a place for our family to love each other, share God's love with visiting family, old friends, make new friends in the neighborhood, and to share Christ with our community. please pray for the sell of our house here in longview.

phil ware talked about Jesus being enough. if He is transitioning us from darkness to light, from death to life, then He alone is the power and satisfaction in that transformation.



so the question is ... what part of your life is transformed? we had small pieces of paper to write our stories on. mine was from "lost to found" (in the sense that i've been searching over the past year or two. "frustration to peace" (because of my feeling a sense of completion and not having a next step to take). i hope to begin to live out those broad words of "found" and "peace" with purpose and contagiously.

so... where has God been working in your life lately...?

faces in our crowd...

here's some pics of our life the past week or so...

i'm longview's new "chicken express" first customer. a whole meal for just one buck... wow. i'm proud of eric. he's got a lot on his shoulders. keep him in your prayers as he will be running this store with 40 employees.


aubrey wanted to set up a pose for her and her guitar. so... here' she is wearing an oversized soccer jersey she inherited from dj dickson.
coops providing the nightly entertainment...

me and coop in our uniforms at fallfest. that's the argentina national futbol team jersey for all you football fans.

mama and her biggest fan...snoops and me at the corn maze. we both love the back pack!from left to right: diego pruitt, lucy pevensy, super girllolo the princess... this time she's jasmine.

to my alpine family...

For those of you who were not at alpine this past week and missed my attempt at speaking while crying for 10 minutes... or if you were there and could not understand what i was saying... here's the script of what i attempted to say:

Over the past 10 years Cindy and I have learned quite a bit about following Christ's footsteps. We've done so by watching some of you, and some from our Alpine members that have moved on.
We've learned that God uses people to do His work. If you don't believe that, you never had the pleasure of meeting Ed and Rhonda McMullen, Nancy Lifsey, and countless others who God continues to use here at Alpine as His garden hose to pours out His blessings on those around them.
We've learned about prayer. God doesn't always give us what you ask for, but He does meet the needs of sincere hearts. He has also blessed those who have accepted with faith the situation that God lays out before them.
We've learned to worship in song as our praise teams have used their voices to make me want to shout for joy at times, and have left me in tears other times.
We've learned to value community and love. Our friendships and our small group have brought an indescribable richness to our lives. God has truly answered our prayers.
We've learned to be a family, as we've observed some families that have been busy in the task of raising their kids not to just be church-goers, but they've raised them to be Christ-followers. This has been one of the richest blessings we've received from the Alpine Family.
We've also learned to be a family by being able to worship with my family here, thank you for the love and grace you have extended to the Pruitts and the Peurifoys. We will miss them dearly, and we claim Jesus' promise in Mark 10:28-30.
We've learned a lot. We've been brought to tears as we hear our daughters praying, thanking God for our church that loves us so much they'd send us to Disney World. Now that's crazy love. There is no way I could repay you for that trip. Your expression of love is so humbling. We thank you.

For the past 10 years, I've never worked 40 hours. Some weeks more, some weeks... less, honestly, as far as work goes. But Alpine never bought a single hour of my heart. It's never been about working. It's been about sharing our lives. It's been about a church that has loved us and supported us as we live our lives and as we encourage and equip others in Christ. I think a good example of this relationship is shown in I Thessalonians 2:8 when Paul says:

"We loved you so much that we were delighted

to share with you not only the gospel of God but

our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us."

I want to point out to you a few folks who have made our service here at Alpine a possibility:

• Please stand if you have been an elder at this church at any point over the past 10 years
• Please stand if you are one of my fellow Ministers on staff and our secretaries
• Please stand if you have been a parent of a teenager in the youth group over the past 10 years
• Please stand if you've ever been one of our small group leaders in the youth group over the past 10 years: Huddles, Life Groups, Reach Groups
• Please stand if you've taught a class for our teens
• Please stand if you've served pizza and Dr. Pepper for our teens in the LOFT
• Please stand if you've served as a sponsor on our youth group trips over the past 10 years. Mission Trips, Retreats, Winterfest, LTC, ski trips
• Please stand if you've bought stock or served as a prayer warrior for our teens as they've served God on mission work
• Please stand if you've ever given money into the general contribution, or the missions contribution, or ATV fund

at this point i want to make sure you realize that 95% of the people present were standing. that was the point.

See, it's never been about me. God's fellowship comes together and works together to share our faith by living it out in front of our teens. God's plan is for us come together, use our gifts together to serve together. You have made a difference in the lives of teens. You have made a difference in mine and Cindy's lives. Please be seated.

For over a year now, I've felt a sense of completion about my ministry here. Not in a sense that it was perfect, or that there is no room for improvement. But a very clear sense that God has used us here to accomplish what He had had us here to do. I wish I could say we had a peace about that but we didn't. I wrestled with it. Because we didn't know what was next for us. We begin to have a sense about us that Alpine needed something fresh, maybe even a little different, but a new voice that would share the Gospel with teens and their families. I feel like the leadership could use a fresh voice, new ideas, and a fresh passion. We also felt the need for freshness in our own lives and ministry at the same time.

Over the past few years several churches have asked us if we wanted to even talk to them about opportunities to serve with them. Cindy and I have never felt the need to follow through with any of those phone calls. God had something else in store for us, we just didn't know what it was. I thought and hoped it was going to be church planting. God has not opened that door for us yet.

This past June and August, we had two conversations that intrigued us with a church. A few weeks later, in late August, in a prayer meeting with Terry Booker and Steve Caldwell, we prayed for "clarity of vision for our ministry and our calling to ministry". Terry commented that those were dangerous prayers to be praying (of course he warned me after we prayed about it). The very next day a church extended an invitation for Cindy and I to join them in ministry to their teens. We had no idea what this church was like. They have been in transition in their youth ministry over the past year, and desperately need someone to cast a vision for parents, teens, and youth workers. Their needs in youth ministry fit the experiences God has work through us here at Alpine. The job is not a "step up the ladder" by any means. It's probably the biggest ministry challenge that I've faced in my life. It's more like an invitation to "come work hard"... now doesn't that sound attractive!

So, Cindy and I have visited twice to learn a little bit about their congregation. The Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas, has asked me to join the ministry staff and bring my family along to share our love with them and them with us. As of Friday, Cindy and I have accepted this invitation. Between now and Christmas, we will be preparing for our move to Abilene. We will serve God there as a Youth Minister with that church.

To our youth group here, I want to say, that I love you. We are not upset with you, or at anyone in the group. Nobody drove us away. We truly feel like God has someone in store that will love you and help you to grow deeper in Christ. We truly believe this. We also want you to know that it's taken us two months to pull the trigger on this decision because you are one of the big reasons we wanted to stay. We would not go if we did not feel that God was leading us there. We've only met 5 of their teenagers and I couldn't even tell you their names. But we also feel that you need something we cannot give right now.

Cindy, myself, and the elders here have peace about this decision. That doesn't mean that it was an easy decision, but we believe that God is opening a door of new possibilities, for us and for Alpine. We know that some will be sad, some will be mad, and some will be... glad at this transition Cindy and I are making. Some may not even think it makes sense. So we ask that you extend us grace and we need your prayers for my family, and for the High School Ministry here at Alpine.

So, I say thank you and we love you. We hope that you will pray for us and our children as we embark on this new adventure, and as God turns a new page in Alpine's life.

Thank you to my fellow ministry team members: Melissa Kitchens, Rodney Cox, Larry Parker, Jerry McCaghren, Eddie Gooch, Sandra Boorman, Rachel Smith, & Paul Boorman.

Our secretaries that have helped me have been: Debbie Secord Knight, Nancy Lifsey, Rhonda McMullen, Maggie Morgan, Beverly Ray, Jill Corbitt, Rebecca Horton, Sandra Braumbaugh, Sharron Sanders, and Patricia Castillo.

We are very grateful for the loving teachers at Alpine Christian Academy and Camp Sunshine: Misty and Joy, Debbie, Dolores, Sharon, Shelley, Teresa, Margaret, Robin, Brenda, Jessica, Grandmommie, Christy, Bobby, & Linda. We are indebted to their directors: Mary Alice, Annette, & Sandra.

I've been blessed to work with incredible loving Youth Workers: Jimmy and Jannelle Carver, Jay and Teresa Knight, Bubba and Donna Bogue, Doug and Dona Williams, Steve and Carol Caldwell, Bill and Cecilia Carr, Bill and Cindy Ellman, Ed and Rhonda McMullen, Rand and Maggie Morgan, Tom Rutledge, CV and Karen Dickson, Scott and Anita Cranston, Charlie and Cindy Farrell, Scott and Michele Heolzle, David and Tara Rangel, Drew and Jill Corbitt, Brian and Nicole Hoyle, Erin and Melissa Higgins, Bernie and Shelley Krupa, Charlie and Cindy Farrell, Adam and Christy Norton, Mark and Lacy LaLena, Patty Burns, Panta Utakrit, Margaret McWilliams, Carolyn Taylor, Tina and Steve Howard, Tesa Wilson, Edie Beckner, James Townsend, Jeremy and Diane Belyeu, Chris and Angela Mays, Kory and Jaymie Phillips, Chris and Mindi Collier, Rebekah Rotzler, Debbie Hoelzle, Joe Campbell, Bob Burke, Don and Janie Farrer, Don and Charlotte Esch, Kyle and Kaye Perry, David and Debbie Nelson, Jess and Leann Dowdy, Lanny and Brenda Buck, Kerry Woods, Kathlene Smith, Charles and Julie Orr, Steve and Brenda Alexander, and Melissa Kitchens. Many others have joined us on trips, but these volunteers have served as small group leaders or hosts, or as constant volunteers. I know I've left out some names, but it would have been impossible with out these servants and more.

My interns have been: Melissa Wiley Kitchens, Charles Kiser, Taylor Davis, Sean Paul Jones, Audrey Everson, Melody Forrest, Eric Albright, Steven Spiess, Loren Britton, Matt McMullen, Justin Thompson, Jenna Trapasso, Beau Brasher, Justin Wyatt, Allison Hubbard, Jordan Bills, Adam Bagley, Abby Stutzman, Shannon Morgan, Julie Kelley, and Bobby Burke. These people have enriched my life as we've shared ministry together to our teens at Alpine.

I know that all these words fall short of describing the inner seach Cindy and I have been through over the past year. Trying to list the names of those who have helped in very direct ways is even insane. But... this is my attempt to let you into our hearts and minds' journey.
Still serving WITH you,
Ricky, Cindy, Aubrey, Lolo, Cooper

FYI: and important part of our spiritual journey has been the music and lyrics of third day's new album "revelation" (tracks 5, 6, & 9, and others too), and chris tomlin's "hello love" (several, but especially track 4 - God of this city). buy those two albums and you'll be blessed.

thirty six, smirtysix... here we go again

party at tele's again! this time we went to jose's store, on hwy 80 and green st. ahhh... #11 (the friday special) w/ no pico and no onions in the enchiladas. water with no lemon. perfect. happy birthday to me...

5:29 a.m. coop wakes up and let's us know he doesn't want to lay in his bed anymore. daddy to the rescue

6:15 a.m. daddy gives up the rockin' technique and does a no no - i gave him 6 oz of formula... that's weird because i'm the strongwilled one in the family. i've outlasted my other two on many occasions. aubrey's first poop on the potty was an unforgettable stand off ... but that's another story... he was starting to threaten my jogging time, i was desperate, i compromised.

6:33 a.m. coop is out like a light

6:42 a.m. i sneack back to our room to get some running clothes on. cindy wakes up, tells me i did a no no

6:52 a.m. i'm joggin my 3 mile route. i start my stop watch. i stop to stretch for a few minutes once i get to julianna park. keep joggin'.

7:07 a.m. i felt a twinge in my left calf. i stop, stretch, turn around, and walk and jog home slowly.

welcome to thirty six

disney day 1 - to infinity and beyond...

we arrived at our hotel to find that we were going to be living in Toy Story for the week!! The girls loved it. Another toy to play in at our hotel.





we saw two parades that day...