Two fun things to update everyone on this morning.

First:

Our premarriage class started last night and went better than expected. Karen and I are trying out a new format by taking an 8 week course where all 8 sessions are 1 hour each that meets on Sunday mornings and moving it to a 4 week course that lasts 2 hours each night and meets on Wednesday nights. I enjoyed the change of pace and felt like it will give us more flexibility in our teaching time.

I rewrote our first two sections of material yesterday (yes, it was kinda last minute) and added a full section dealing with marriage expectations. This turned out to be a hit with the class as it allowed for honest discussion time as well as some goofy teaching regarding common expectations where Karen and I jokingly battle over stereotypical expectations.

We met Allan Conner who is the new Care Minister in charge of overseeing all premarriage ministry at Southland. He sat in on the class for the first hour and was very pleased with how it went. He told us before the class that he has a passion for marriage ministry and wants to talk to us more about our interests and ideas to see how he can help us minister to couples. This is extremely exciting news for us because we weren't sure what level of involvement he was going to really have outside of just the premarriage stuff, but from what he said he wants to do a lot more and expand our focus to more couples such as young marrieds. Again, it's definitely a God thing because we have been pushing to have Southland step up it's efforts in ministering to all couples, not just engaged couples.

One funny side note to mention... before the class started, a Korean girl approached me and said "Hey Chad!" It took me by surprise because I didn't immediately remember her name, but I recognized her. Then I remembered it is my cousin that I haven't seen in years! Yes, I know what you're thinking. No, I'm not Korean no matter how much I look like it ;). But yes, I have a few Korean cousins. So yeah, I've never been responsible for any family member's premarriage counseling. This will be interesting.

Second:

Many of you know Michael and Toni got engaged at Christmas time and are planning on getting married this summer. Karen and I are so excited for these two awesome believers. They have an outstanding relationship and are a pure joy to be around. Well, Michael and I went out for coffee this past weekend and he asked me to be his best man. What an absolute honor to stand next to a Godly man like Michael on his wedding day! I was just excited that I could go to the wedding and witness a beautiful marriage beginning, but now I'm actually in it! I secretly think he asked me because he didn't want to have to pay to have my hair done ;). More fun commentary to come on this later...