May began what turned out to be an incredibly busy summer. Bethany graduated from Bob Jones University with a B.A. Degree in Journalism and Mass Communications.  After nine months on the market, our house in Anderson finally sold. We had to move in with my mom for a month and then we moved to our new house in Greer, SC, in the middle of June.

Bethany and Abby worked at the Wilds this past summer. Abby was a counselor and Bethany was the Junior Camp pianist and videographer. Hannah attended C.I.T., the counselor training program at the Wilds and then was asked to work as a waitress, so all three of our girls were at camp all summer.

Caleb and Jamie are still teaching at the Charter School in Greer. Jamie is finishing her M.A. at Clemson and graduates this month. Caleb has one more semester on his M.Div. from Southeastern. They traveled to Germany and Switzerland in June on a Reformation Study Tour, celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.

We also were busy preparing for Bethany’s wedding. The girls left camp a week early and Bethany and Kris were married at University Baptist Church in Clemson on August 12, which is also our anniversary.

Kris and Bethany are now living in Raleigh, NC, and working at Friendship Baptist Church and Christian School. I am looking forward to preaching this coming Spring at a mission conference at their church which is pastored by my friend Bob Vradenburg.

Hannah began her senior year of high school. She is homeschooled, but she also took two classes at Bob Jones University which serve as duel credit. She wasn’t sure how she would do taking college classes but ended up with an A in both classes, Economics and Old Testament.

Abby began her junior year at BJU. She is studying Culinary Arts and Business. She is also playing soccer for the BJU Bruins.

In September I preached at two different churches, Tabernacle Baptist Church in Wilson, NC, pastored by my friend Joe Shakour, and Westgate Baptist in Spartanburg which is currently looking for a pastor. That opened up an opportunity for the first three weeks of October as I continued to minister to the people at Westgate.

For the last two Sundays in October, I traveled to Uruguay for a work team. Visit http://emuinternational.org/camp for a photo journal of that trip.

On November 5, I returned to Westgate and preached for their Missions Emphasis Month. Much of the month of November was spent finishing the work in our basement and setting up my new office. I also have been busy lining up meetings for 2018.

Another exciting event occurred in November as Abby and the BJU Lady Bruins soccer team won their third straight National Championship. Abby again was named 1st Team All American. She paid the price though. In pre-season, she began having pain in both of her lower legs. After an M.R.I. It was determined that she has exercise-induced compartment syndrome. Basically, her legs swelled so much that they could not return to normal. On December 15, she had a Fasciotomy to release the pressure.  Don’t look it up on Wikipedia while you are eating. Please pray for quick and complete healing.

On December 16, Hannah turned 18 years-old. Wow! Our baby is now a young adult.