Today was the day I had been waiting for, for a while…I got to preach at StonePoint. And it was awesome!

• Michelle was staying at our house, so we tried really hard not to wake her up, BUT Molly decided to sleep with her when we left for church. It was welcome bed guest, I heard.
• Sarah and I got the trailer loaded and parked to unload at the theater.
• We got everything set up, Jimmy Calloway was on drums this weekend, he was AWESOME! The bad rocked it - and it was amazing!
• My dad and his family were there this morning, it was great. My dad had never heard me speak, so this was a cool experience.
• I taught today on God Make Us Connected. You can hear it HERE.
  
• I got a lot of compliments, and even Scott said that maybe I should preach more, I am extremely thankful for the opportunities that I get to teach and the compliments, but truly…it’s GOD AND GOD ALONE, there is NO WAY that I could speak about Jesus Christ without God’s intervention.
• Scott was back in the saddle, but he wound up watching babies this morning. One thing I can say about my pastor, he is willing to do whatever it takes for StonePoint. And I can honestly say, that if Scott asked me to attack Hell with a water pistol, I would…gladly. I believe in Scott’s vision for StonePoint THAT MUCH!
• After church, we tore everything down and I had lunch with my dad, his family, my step-brother’s family, and Sarah and Michelle at Red Robin…Yummmm.
• A quick nap and then it was back to the office for our Partnership Class. We had 1 guest come, but it was WAY worth it. She is amazing and I loved hearing the history and beliefs of my new church.
• I also found out that our giving and attendance were both up this weekend. I know a lot of church planters and established churches are all suffering for the summer, so it was great to see a rise in both tracking areas.
• I love where I am at and I feel that it truly is a privilege to serve at StonePoint.
• This coming week will be fun and exciting, we’ll be getting the Home Teams finalized and ready to promote this coming week.
• Michelle and her family go back to Tampa tomorrow, it’s been great having them in the ATL, and it will be sad to see them go, but when they move up here, it will be much better. (Just kidding about the moving…sort of)

As many of you know, I am a food guy. My wife is a food gal, and we get along very well in that regard. We spend over 50% of the TV shows watching cooking related shows. Good Eats, Hell’s Kitchen, 30 Minute Meals, and Ace of Cakes are ALL favorites. But one show, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, HAS to be one of our MOST favorite shows. On one show, in particular, they focussed on a LOCAL eatery: The Marietta Diner.

Guy, the host, went into the kitchen where we met Uncle Gus. Uncle Gus prepare many Diner favorites, one of which I had become obsessed with…Paella. If you have never HAD a paella, I cannot encourage you enough to have one…I mean it, stop what you are doing, and FIND A FREAKIN’ PAELLA!

But did the Marietta Diner’s paella live up to the hype? In a word…..ABSOLUTELY.

Here is the BEFORE picture.

And after 25 minutes of hacking at it, THIS is what I took home…

I LOVE the Marietta Diner, I LOVE their paella, and I LOVE the fact that I can BLOG about this!

A paella is basically rice, spices, peas, onions, and other veggies, coupled with lobster, shrimp, mussels, scallops, and chicken…oh, yeah…just think about all that….

So they cook the seafood, and rice, then they mix all this goodness together and place it upon a silver platter (uh, yeah…) IT WAS AWESOME. Please go to the Marietta Diner, order a paella, and tell them John sent you.