GEARING UP FOR AN AWESOME YEAR!

Hello! Wow…blogging really takes discipline! With 4 children and a new church plant…finding time to write is harder than you think, at least for me!  I’m so grateful for Twitter!  Here’s a looong blog to make up (at least a little bitty bit) for NO real posts in 2009!

Going into 2010 and I can surely say that I am more focused than ever. With an awesome wife and wonderful children, the home front is great! Becky and I celebrated 15 years of marriage last September.  She is so steady and faithful, full of integrity and virtue.  If you want to know more about her, read Proverbs 31.  Alyssa is growing up more and more everyday, and she turns 13 in a couple of months. I can’t believe how much of a young woman she already is (This is where I put a sad face). She has decided that Softball is her sport of choice and she is an avid lover of LSU and the N.O. Saints. I’m a proud father! Her love for Jesus grows stronger and stronger everyday. Paul, 10, finally got to play tackle football and lived a dream…playing quarterback. I’m so proud of him. He threw his first TD pass and I was able to video it with my iPhone. This year Alyssa and Paul will read through their One Year Bible for the first time! Our younger two are cuter than ever, Victoria (7) and Hannah (5). Victoria loves to write and sing songs! Here’s a video of one of them (she snuck the camera in her room and didn’t know I’d find it!). Hannah is the youngest but definitely the strongest willed!  She looks like a miniature Alyssa.  Triple D’s (Daddy Daughter Date’s) for Hannah consist of anything plus Dunkin Donuts.

I can’t talk about family and not talk about the wonderful people that make up our team.  They are our family as well and we love them dearly and could never do what we do without them. I’ll mention just a few of them here:

Josh and Emily: Our Children’s Pastors. They have done an exceptional job with our children. I believe with all my heart that they are the best in the nation. It is so much easier as a parent to have such an awesome couple pour the Word of God into your children week after week in such an exciting and fun way!  Emily ministered to an average of 1,000 children each week in New York!

David and Sara: Our Youth Pastors. I first met David close to 6 years ago while speaking at a youth rally in Los Angeles, California. He has an amazing testimony and a heart that burns for God. His wife Sara was a part of a radical youth ministry in Washington State, serving under a good friend of mine. She is highly relational and has begun building strong relationships with the girls. They have high expectations for what God is going to do with the youth of South Louisiana. I will be working close with them in 2010.

I’ll give shout outs to the rest of our mighty team as this year progresses.

Some people have asked what my Bible reading plan is for this year as well as what books I am going to read. My Bible reading plan this year is going to be my funnest and most challenging. I am going to do B90X on my iPhone, which is on youversion’s app. It’s an intensive 3-month through the Bible plan. I will also be going through the One Year Bible. My goal is to read through the Bible 4 times this year. In addition to this, I will be reading the One Year Bible to all of my children this year. I would encourage father’s to consider doing the same. Turn off the TV’s, Xbox, computer, sit down with your family, and simply read the One Year Bible to them. Take time to answer questions and explain where you feel it’s necessary.

I will post a booklist within the next couple of days.

Thank you to all who have continued to support the work that God has called Becky and I to.  Your prayers alone have strengthened us and God’s favor has never been so rich as it is now!  We are more excited than ever and believe that 2010 will be your best year and our best year yet!!!

‘Til He comes,

Randy Goudeau, Jr.