Is it really Thanksgiving already?

The year 2006 is rapidly approaching closure and there is so much stuff going on. We are embarking on a new season of marriage, ministry, and a new adventure in entrepreneur business.

Marriage:
It rocks! Pure and simple. That's not to say it is always easy, but it is so worth every minute of it! Ines and I will celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary on December 18th of this year. I thank God for such a precious gift to me in Ines.

Ministry:
Mosaic is trucking along and we are eagerly waiting on the Lord to provide us with a building to call home. We are quite hopeful that a location will be secured in the near future. My new role as Pastor of Connection is going really well. We have had approx. 15 new members sign our Covenant of Belonging in the last 5 weeks, and the process of enfolding newcomers is taking shape. Young Adults continues to thrive with a strong loving community of people loving each other. Last night we heard many testimonies of God's work amongst us and how He has used community to deliver, encourage, and inspire His people.

Business:
Ines and I officially started a home business called IVM Communications several weeks ago. This has really existed for many years in the form of IVM Translation and Interpretation. The change came about recently when I also began developing professional websites and selling telecommunication services. So being the young entrepreneurs that we are, we bundled it all up into one business called IVM Communications that offers three distinct areas of service. Check out www.ivmcommunications.com to see what we do.

That's the brief update for now!

I'm going to try to post more often, so come back regularly for more Familia McBryde updates!

Micah, Monica, me and my wife...

We've had so much fun this week hanging out with Ines' siblings Micah and Monica! Tomorrow, Micah and I will head to Honduras for a medical/evangelism mission trip while Ines and Monica stay in Little Rock having loads of fun together.

When we return, we're going to have another week to spend with Micah and Monica before taking them to mama and papa in Alabama. Can you say Wild River Country!? :)

Peace,
Rob <><

THREE YEARS AND ONE DAY AT MOSAIC!

Today, I am celebrating my 1096th day on staff at Mosaic! The last three years have flown by so fast. I believe it’s because I am right in the center of God’s perfect will for my life. He has been so good to me during this season of my life that it would take an entire book to tell about all that He has done. Here are the highlights that scratch the surface of His greatness.

He saved me! If it weren’t for Jesus, I would surely be dead. Not just spiritually dead, but six-feet-under dead! I’m forever grateful that Christ Jesus poured out unlimited patience (1 Timothy 1:15,16) on me even during my most rebellious stages of life. This is something that happened a long time ago, but I think about it often and realize that it is His grace that sustains me every day (2 Corinthians 12:9).

He loves me! Beyond the everyday blessings like a place to live and food to eat, just check out that beautiful woman in the picture next to me! I’m so overwhelmed by God’s love for me that I experience daily through the love given to me by Inés. Proverbs 31:10-11 reads, “An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.” Amen, brother!

I have purpose! For three full years now, I have been able to live an abundant life with purpose and direction knowing that God has designed me (and everyone else) to know him and to make him known (Matthew 22:37-40; 28:19-20). And I get to do that for a living! J

There is so much more I could say, but I will close this section with this. Christ is my Savior. God is the lover of my soul, and he daily lavishes his love on me. He gives me a purposeful life that has eternal impact through his son Jesus Christ. If you don’t have a clue what I’m writing about, please read John 3:16-21 out of the Message by clicking here.

In His grip,

Rob McBryde <><

A funny thing happened to me the other day...

I was at church Sunday morning doing the usual running around before service when I spot Joshua Gray, Amos' son, walking from the trampoline with his shoes in his hands. I stop him to help him tie his shoes. We were near some chairs so I sat him down and put his foot on my knee as I untied one of his shoelaces. As I was working on the shoe, he looks at me and the following conversation occurred.

Joshua: What's wrong with you hair?!

Rob: Huh?

Joshua: What's wrong with you hair?!

Rob: Oh! You mean the way it's stickin up and sort of messy?

Joshua: Yeah! People are gonna laugh at you!

By then, the shoes had been tied and he ran off.

Priceless.

Hace calor!

Right now (6:26pm) it is 101.2° in the capital city of Arkansas! That's hot!

a beautiful Mosaic...

So this morning I was noticing again how beautiful it is to worship in unity with so many diverse peoples. The music style was gospel with a song or two in spanish. Harold brought a powerful message to us called "Who is Jesus?" pointing out that the Apostle John wanted everyone to know that Jesus was and is God. On top of that, Mark mentioned to me in passing that "only at Mosaic would you see a U.S. Senator and the guitarist for P.O.D." Too true. It's a lovely mixed salad of different folks ranging from those who speak little or no English, to the homeless guy walking in off the street, to the dozens of different nationalities such as Guatemalan, Cameroonian, Italian, Saudi Arabian, etc., and a Senator and the dude from P.O.D.

I love my church and the tri-une God it is trying to emulate!

From chaos comes order... (and more chaos)

So after living here for a year and a half, Ines and I tackled the "guest room" last night which has been a catch-all room since the moment we moved into this house. I told her that I'd be aggressive with bringing order to that room meaning the chaos would move into another room. It did. The living room. So to remedy the madness of the living room (the guest room looks SWEET now!), I had to dissect the garage again pulling everything into the center in order to better ascertain where everything should go and thereby cleaning up the huge mess in the living room.

But, alas, as I sit here and type, there is one very fine guest room that looks better than ever before and two large masses of stuff in the living room/kitchen and garage. We're getting closer to order, but the moral of the story is that chaos does not go down without a fight!

One soon-to-be very sweaty order-maker,
Rob <><

:: Cool Quote ::

"By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth. Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God's sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it."

--Deitrich Bonhoeffer

I've had a couple of discussions about this quote in the last couple of days. My take on it is that we do not live in a fantasy world with no problems ever, rather our lives take place in reality. And reality is messy. God, Jesus, the Bible, etc. never promised us a cake walk life when we decided to follow Jesus. But He does promise to be with us during the storms of life right by our side every step of the way. Bonhoeffer seems to be pointing out that faith in God's promises is a much different life than simply a Santa Clause God that just takes all the troubles and worries out of this life. This isn't heaven we're living on; it's called earth. When we have fellowship with our loving God, we can more hopefully weather the storms of this life on earth with a great hope of being with Him in heaven one day.

If you find yourself in one of life's storms, instead of getting mad at God, try clinging to Him. You'll be happier with the results. I promise. :)

It's sufficient...

His grace, that is. God's grace is amazingly utterly and totally sufficient. He has been teaching that to me more strongly than ever this week. I'm exhausted this evening as I prepare to go to bed after having an amazing Bible study tonight with my young adult mens' group. We closed our time with an extended time of prayer that was so worshipful and beautiful.

Psalm 117
A Psalm of Praise.

1Praise the LORD, all nations;
Laud Him, all peoples!
2For His lovingkindness is great toward us,
And the truth of the LORD is everlasting.
Praise the LORD!

Our Snow-capped Casa Caught On Film...