Even as I type this, Jeff and Leslie are in the hospital, awaiting the arrival of little Cadence.  If you’re reading this, please pray for them all to get some rest and for Cadence to come on out.  We’re all waiting to meet you, little one…

She’s not even here yet, but Cadence has been blogging for months now: http://cadenceolivia.wordpress.com/.  Check it out!

I love Mondays.

First of all, Sundays are my favorite days of the week.  Yesterday, we had a decent crowd (57) at ICC in spite of a bunch of folks out for the weekend.  The “Catalytic One” (my dad, Lamar Duke, and our Catalytic Pastor) preached for us and talked about “A Lifestyle of Generosity.”  The band did a great job — started off the day with a pretty sweet version of “Give a Little Bit.”  It was a good one all around.

On top of the “good exhausted” feeling of coming off of Sunday, Mondays are great because Monday night is Date Night around here.  Amber and I didn’t really date at all before we got married.  We “hung out” a lot.  Spent a lot of time with friends.  But not much dating before or after we got married for the first couple of years.  We really made Date Night a priority when we moved to Pittsburgh and it’s been awesome.

Why date night?  Because as life gets (and stays) busy, it’s amazing how easy it is to go all week and not have much — or any — meaningful, one-on-one conversation with each other.  Marriage is work. 

Hey married guys out there — get off it and put together a Date Night.  You have to take the lead.  Give your wife a couple of days notice, pay for a babysitter, and take her out on a date.  Just the two of you.  You’ll be amazed…

It was another awesome weekend around here.  Again (my new theme), it was busy, but good. 

Saturday, we had a baby shower for Jeff & Leslie.  Little Cadence is coming really soon.  Yes, it was a co-ed baby shower and no, it didn’t make me feel weird like I thought it would.  It was pretty cool to just hang out with everyone a little bit.  Feels like there’s been so much going on lately that I haven’t had much “hang out” time.

Then Sunday was amazing.  I’m amazed each and every week by all that the men and women of Iron get done to make things happen at ICC.  The setup (complete with outdoor baptistry and everything) went surprisingly smooth, the Cafe was stocked and staffed, Iron City Kids was running at full speed, and the band set the tone big time.  I wrapped up our “Release” series, and then we moved the service outside and celebrated 4 baptisms!

WOW!  There’s a lot going on around here as God continues to work in a lot of our people to bring about their release from whatever junk is holding them back.  Our numbers are up, the energy level is off the charts, and God is blessing in some unbelievable ways. 

With all this good stuff comes a lot of spiritual warfare, so keep praying for God’s protection and direction as we keep pressing forward to see the Pittsburgh metro area transformed with the love of Jesus!

Life is really busy right now.

I have started working part-time as a merchandiser for Pennington seed company in addition to all the excitement of ICC. Jeff is working at a local nursery too.

The cool thing about everything going on right now is that our current season of growth at Iron City corresponds with grass seed and planting season (in this area at least).

It seems like everything is growing around here all at once!

Pray that God will continue to grow this church and change lives like He’s been doing. And pray that He’ll give me the wisdom to know how best to do all the things He has set up for me to do.

I don’t have time to go into all that God is doing right now in and through ICC, but suffice to say that it is amazing and we’re really rolling right now.  The numbers are up, people are being connected to Jesus, and lives are being transformed. 

Pray that God will continue to knock our socks off and for the wisdom to know exactly how to lead to keep us in the center of His will.

Thank you God for letting me be a part of your mission to redeem the lives of men and women all over the Pittsburgh metro area and beyond…  I can’t wait to see what’s next!

I’m pretty tired.  But I contend that there are two different kinds of tired.

There’s the “life is kicking my butt and I’m totally overwhelmed and I don’t have time to think” kind of tired.  We can call that “bad tired.”

Then there’s the other kind of tired.  Good tired.  Good tired is more like “there is a lot going on and I’m extremely busy and could use a little extra sleep at some point, but God is working in such a big and real way right now that I don’t particularly care how tired I feel.”

I’m good tired right now.

4 years ago today was a Saturday. It was sunny and warm in South Georgia – not a cloud in the sky (although there were a few buzzards — another story).  The sun was shining, there was a light wind blowing, and it was one of those days that I believe God specifically made beautiful for a reason.

That was the day that Ms. Amber Pachel became Mrs. Amber Duke and she has rocked my world every day since!  Today is our 4th Anniversary and I love her exponentially more today than I did on that Saturday afternoon 1,461 days ago.

Besides my new life in Jesus Christ, Amber is BY FAR the greatest blessing that God has ever given to me and I just want to thank her for being my helpmate and putting up with me (not always easy)!

And I want to thank God for knocking my socks off by giving me a wife who is far beyond anything I could have asked or even imagined!