I am happy to announce my new ministry project (outside of teaching Edu. Ministries in a Christian university). 

After several months of brainstorming, praying, reflecting, and seeking counsel from trusted advisers, I have decided NOT to join a church staff on a part-time or interim basis and instead follow what I believe is a God-given passion. 

For many years, I felt stirred to help congregations, more than just the one I was presently serving.  I felt led to equip and encourage multiple congregations, especially those that were overlooked because of their size or location. 

In following that call, I have formed a small ministry consulting firm called Maple Trail Ministry Consultants.  You can see our website at: http://mapletrail.org.  This ministry will allow me to stay connected with the local church and be a blessing to smaller congregations who need help in various areas.

We presently have a team of 7 consultants who are available to assist churches with ministry development and implementation strategies.  Our vision is based in Ephesians 4:12 to ”equip the saints for the work of ministry.”  We are available to help in Christian education, administration, leadership, worship arts, visual media, and a whole slew of other things.

Maple Trail’s official coming-out party will be at the 3 KBC Super Saturday events I am presenting at.  During those events, I will be getting our information out to hundreds of pastors and lay leaders.

You can pray for our little firm that God will use it to build His kingdom and equip smaller congregations to do what He has called them to.

Do check us out at http://mapletrail.org

We were invited to a cookout Sunday night with some C-Ville alumni and friends.  Isaac absolutely loved getting dirty and playing with the animals (dogs, chicks, and pony).  Here are some shots.

Jennifer took the boys over to Somerset, KY, to visit the fam.  Here are a couple fun snapshots.

Before we headed out of town, we took one last family trip to the Cincy Zoo.  This would have been Isaac 4th trip and Ethan’s first.  Here are some snapshots from the day.

Well, it looks like my John-Deere-lovin’ neighbor decided to buy the tractor he was test driving a few days ago.  You might remember in one of my first Tales from a Small Town, I mentioned that a John Deere tractor was being test driven in my neighborhood.  Right in the middle of town. 

Well tonight we have video proof to verify the earlier story.  That’s right, you have seen it here first.  Apparently the man bought the tractor and now is giving joy-rides to his grandson.  Enjoy the video clip. 

Taken July 29, 2008, around 9 PM.  (We’ve got to find some hobbies in this one-horse town).

I have started walking to work.  I live .5 miles from my office.  It takes me about 10 minutes from the front door of my house to my office door.  I have done the stats to equate how beneficial this walking will be to my overall physical health.  Here are the shocking results.

.5 miles per trip X 4 trips per day (I walk home for lunch) = 2 miles walking per day.
2 miles per day X 5 work days = 10 miles per week.  (Pretty good huh, just wait for it…)
1 mile walked in my weight category burns 70 calories.
70 calories per mile X 10 miles per week = 700 calories burned per week.

And here is the kicker.  700 calories = 1 Two Cheeseburger Value Meal at McDonalds (two burgers, fries, and a Diet Coke).  Eating my favorite value meal at McD’s completely wipes out my physical exercise plan.  Doesn’t that chew (pun intended)?  A whole week’s worth of walking is erased by two savory cheeseburgers and a medium order of tasty French fries. 

Loosing weight stinks.

Tales from a Small Town No. 3

World’s Most Famous Pig Comes to Library

From CKNJ July 28, 2008 -
The “most famous pig in the world” is coming to the Taylor County Public Library.

Farmer Minor and Daisy, his pot-bellied pig, will be at the library on Wednesday, July 30 at 11 a.m. for a “Pig Out On Reading” program.  Daisy has been on a national TV show and will bring her collection of library cards with her.

Two comments only (there could be WAY more, but I will contain myself).
1.  Did they really have to call the event “Pig Out on Reading”?  Wouldn’t the event do better if eating (aka “pigging out” at the buffet line) and the world’s most famous pig (aka sausage and bacon) were not together with reading.  After seeing the event name, I start thing about eating a BBQ pulled pork sandwich or grilled pork chops or a succulent honey-glazed ham.  I stopped thinking about reading a long time ago.

2.  How did Daisy become the world’s most famous pig?  Were other pigs in the running?  Did Daisy win the title after she had more appearances than say Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web or the award-winning actor Babe who starred in his own movie?  I mean, come on, Daisy has not been in any major motion pictures and yet she claims superiorty over many other well-deserving pigs.  What about Arnold Ziffel from Green Acres?  That pig was multi-lingual and could speak intelligiently about politics and weather.  He has to be in the running.  All the hype around Daisy makes me think something has gone sal-th.

See the full article here.

Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!  (Matthew 7:9-11)

I was blessed this evening by God’s provision.  As some of you might know I am still paying tuition for my doctorate.  I will be paying until May ‘09.  Main Street was blessing me and my family by paying for my tuition while on staff there.  But as of August, I will be taking that monthly installment over.  The monthly amount is not overwhelming, but will require some budgeting.

Jennifer and I have been praying that God would provide August’s tuition because it was going to be tough covering it with all the moving expenses and new house stuff.  Guess what?  God provided it tonight.

I get the honor of supply preaching/teaching at Woodlawn Bapt. Church in Lebanon, KY.  I will be there for about 3 weeks in various capacities (Sunday AM, PM, Wednesday night small groups).  The honorium will just about cover August’s tuition payment.  Instead God good to us.  He knew exactly what we needed and made sure it came at just the right time.

Another Miss Kentucky was crowned this week in Lexington.  And yet another Miss Kentucky was chosen from Campbellsville.  The second Miss Kentucky in the Cox family.  Craziness?  Is pageant life that powerful in small towns? 

Jennifer and I have boys.  Wheww!  No dresses or evening gowns.  No swimsuit competition or miss congeniality awards.  We will have t-ball, pee wee football and dirt.  I’ll take that any day over makeup, high heels, and stick-em.  (If you don’t know what stick’em is, ask a former pageant girl and you will get quite an education.)

Here is the headline from the July 24th edition of the CKNJ.

Miss Kentucky title no surprise

We guess we should say we’re surprised. But we’re not. Campbellsville is celebrating yet another Miss Kentucky title.

Emily Cox was handed this year’s crown over the weekend at the SingletaryCenter for the Arts on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington. She is the fifth Miss Kentucky from Campbellsville and the second in her own family.

Even the Miss Kentucky Scholarship Organization recognizes the news. The official press release states that, other than Louisville and Lexington, Campbellsville has produced more Miss Kentucky pageant winners than any other city or town in the state.

Taylor County is continuing its tradition of being well represented at beauty and scholarship pageants.

According to the Miss Kentucky Web site, Nanci Bowling won the title in 1962; Nancy Cox Kenny won in 1990; Laura Sue Humphress won in 1994; and Veronica Duka received the crown in 1996.

Then add in Lorrie West Nolley’s title of Miss Kentucky USA, and we have some impressive statistics.

We congratulate Emily on her success and wish her luck at the Miss America Pageant, which will take place in January at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas and be broadcast live on The Learning Channel at 8 p.m. on Jan. 24.

On Thursday afternoon, Brandon Carrier and I won handsomely in a nice round of golf.  Our opponents, Zach Rice and Dave Crowe, were no match in the best-ball matchup.  We won by 7 playing only 9 holes.  That is a pretty serious defeat. 

We celebrated our victory with a fine dinner at Wionette’s Restaurant in Harrodsburg, KY.

The number 31 is only famous for Baskin Robin’s 31 flavors.  Well today, I turned 31 and I did get an Oreo Cookie ice cream cake from Baskin Robins, so I guess the number works. 

I was born July 23, 1977, to Danny Ray and Deborah Jane Garrison in the Owensboro-Daviess County Mercy Hospital at 4:44 AM.  I spent the first seven days of my life in the NICU because I was a premie.  I weighed 4 lbs at birth.  2 lbs was my hair.  I literally had hair in my eyes when I was born.  They gave me a snip in the hospital for my baby picture.  They said I looked like the Incredible Hulk. 

Here were my B-Day highlights. 

• Got up and Jennifer made blueberry muffins for breakfast.  Yum!!
• Rode bikes outside with Isaac.
• Got “limited basic cable” from Joe, the cable guy.  We now have 23 channels.  The most we have had in over two years.
• Took a nice nap on the couch.
• Drove to E-town (Elizabethtown for those not from KY) for my birthday dinner and shopping spree.
• Ate at Chic-Fil-a, my absolute favorite fastfood restaurant.  Two Chic-Fil-A sandwiches and some waffle fries.  Tasty.
• Got some new glasses with some trendy frames.  Trying to look hip as a new prof.
• Spent two gifts cards at HOME DEPOT.  Tools and house stuff.  Now as homeowners, it is very fun to shop for Do-It-Yourself projects.
• Got some St. Arbucks.  Cafe Mocha for me.
• Got a new cellphone number since our NKY number was long distance.
• On the way home, my son sang me “Happy Birthday” several times and I loved every minute of it.

All in all, a great 31st birthday.

Tales from a Small Town No. 2
Tractor Test Drive

Tonight I was working in the garage, unpacking more boxes when I heard a strange sound.  I heard a muffled engine and what sounded like large tires crunching the pavement.  Now we live in-town.  We live two blocks from the major highway that cuts through Campbellsville.  What could this sound be?

Well, a minute or two later, I see a big, green, John Deere tractor cruising down my neighborhood street.  In my head I thought, “Huh, he must be trying to avoid the highway traffic and is instead using the neighborhood roads to get to his fields.”  But then 10 minutes later, the man and his tractor came roaring down my street again.  He had his pressed white t-shirt on, a nice pair of blue jeans, a well-worn John Deere hat, and a cig hanging from his lips. 

As I watched him go by, I noticed he was checking the gauges, testing out the brakes, and changing gears.  You know what he was doing?  He was test driving that tractor.  He was taking it out for a spin.  Now that is something you only see in a small town.

You can reach this blog now by going to www.shanegarrison.org.  I wanted to own the domain name.  Easier to remember.

Our first visitors from Main Street came to our house today and guess what, I wasn’t home.  Gary and Jan Martin and their two sons came by for a visit.  Gary teaches in the youth department at Main Street.  Jan and I were tag-team partners in Elevate, our gradeschool aged discipleship program.  A wonderful couple who love Jesus deeply and are a huge blessing to Main Street Church.

Gary grew up in Campbellsville.  His parents still live here.  They actually lived just three houses down from our little house.  North Hoskins Ave has never been the same.

I am so upset.  So Jan, since I know you read this blog, I am so sorry for missing you.  I was in HR watching videos on safety procedures and inter-office relationships.  Whenever you guys are down again, please let me know.  I will empty my schedule at once.

We love you and miss you.

I am starting a new segment on the blog this week.  It is called “Tales from a Small Town.” 

A couple times a month, I will post news reports, articles, editorials, local events and happenings that could only be found in a small town.  Most of these will be from the Central Kentucky News Journal, or the CKNJ, our local bi-weekly paper.

Tales from a Small Town – No. 1

Notice anything interesting for sale in the ad below.  From the CKNJ, July 21, 2008.

LARGE MOVING SALE 2-party. Assorted furniture, appliances, box lots, interior decor, wood, some tools, poultry, some free items (day of sale only). Thursday, Friday & Saturday 8am-3pm. No early birds.

See anything out of place?  Not the furniture.  Not the appliances.  POULTRY.  Did it say that POULTRY was included in their moving sale?  And you got to love the NO early BIRDS.  I am screaming “Foul.”

Be forewarned, I am not going to have a Day 2 in the Ville, Day 3 in the Ville, and so on.  But I did want to highlight our first day here.  Just some great events.

I got up this morning at 5 AM, startled, didn’t really know where I was, kinda of confused.  Don’t you hate that feeling in a new place.  My adrenaline started pumping which meant I was not going back to sleep.  So I got up and when to my new office.

I started unpacking my church library and my home doctoral library.  A couple hours later and I wasn’t even done with a third of it.  I have way too many books (but hope to get more).  I set up my office computer.  Can you believe CU is running me on Windows 2000 NT?  No XP.  No Service Pack 2.  No updated Internet Explorer.  I am going to have to request some updated software immediately.  I’m in the dark ages technologically speaking.

Back to the house to spend time with the boys and unpack somethings there.  But when I got home, I instead fell asleep on the couch with Isaac as he was watching the Jungle Book.  Nothing better than taking a nap with your son curled up right beside you.

Later in the afternoon, I did my FIRST OFFICIAL house repair.  I changed the dryer receptacle.  I went to Lowes, bought the part, and got instructions on how to change the Dryer plug.  I went home, prayed that I wouldn’t get shocked, and 45 minutes later, the dryer was working fine.

Still later, we received a visit from Dr. Ted Taylor, my mentor and colleague, and his sweet wife Mrs. Sherri.  They brought a wonderful welcome basket filled with paper goods and cleaning supples.  We put them to use immediately.

This evening I aired up my bike tires and Isaac and I rode bikes in our driveway.  I haven’t really been able to spend this kind of time with my family in over a year.  With school work and work-work, I have been a bit overwhelmed.  Even though this transition has been tough on us all, it has been a nice couple weeks spending time together as a family.

Day 1 in the Ville, not too shabby.

I am totally embarrassed to admit that our little family of 4 filled a 26 ft. Uhaul truck to the brim with STUFF.  Too Much Stuff!!!  Now the majority of that stuff is sitting in our garage waiting to be sorted and put away in our new house.

Just to update everyone, we made it safe and sound this morning.  We had tons of help last night filling the truck (Main Street staff and friends) and tons of help this morning unfilling the truck (old-time friends and my new boss).

The boys did great and are loving their new house.  Jennifer has already put one coat of paint on the living room ceiling.  More paint to come.  I lost 5 lbs in two days just from sweat.  Sore hands and back are my only injuries. 

I must say I did enjoy driving the big rig.  There is something man-like when you drive a big truck.  You feel powerful.

Thanks for all those who prayed for us in this move.  Thanks to all those that helped make this move so much easier.  We are eternally grateful. 

Tomorrow begins the first day of our new life in Campbellsville.  Lord, guide us.

We spent our first night in our new house last night.  Kind of a campout situation since most of our belongings would not arrive until Saturday.

We had packed Ethan, his playpen, Isaac, his napper, and for us, our soft, plush Queen-sized Air Mattress.  A relaxing oasis to collapse into after a day of hard cleaning, signing papers, and scrubbing the walls.

Only one problem, our air mattress sprung a leak…a big one.  The sucker was flat in no time.  So while the boys were resting sounding in their bedrooms on comfy little cots, Jennifer and I were basically sleeping on the floor.  No cushion for aching muscles.  No first night bliss.  We got a cold, hard floor. 

Oh, by the way, we forgot to bring our blanket.  So we had to snag two of the baby’s itty-bitty blankets that covered our shoulders.

All in all, our first night in the new house was…stiff.

We got the keys, garage door openers, and a mortgage.  Hurray!!!!  Indebtedness never felt so good.

FINALLY…got word today that we will be closing on our house tomorrow morning.  This comes nearly two weeks from when we were “clear to close.”  What does that really mean anyway?  If we were “clear to close,” why did we have to wait another 10 business days to actually close.

This is my first home purchase and I already see why people don’t like buying & selling houses.