Goodbye Flower Mound...Hello Baytown!!

After the visit from the Carrs we headed to Valera to spend Christmas with the Roddens. We drove back to Flower Mound on Christmas night and continued packing. On Friday several friends came over to pack the U-Haul truck once again and Saturday morning we drove to Baytown through some rough weather. We are finally getting settled at our new house. We are actually about 80% unpacked (this ain't our first rodeo when it comes to unpacking!) but still have plenty to do. Joe's first duty for the church is a Lock-In tonight (New Year's Eve) so we have been running around getting stuff done for that as well. We have included some pictures of the big move...these will be the LAST pictures of U-Hauls, boxes, and other moving-related items!

Joe went on and on about how great this U-Haul was! Only 6,000 miles and practically new...we have been in too many U-Hauls when we can compare them!


Our last night in the Flower Mound townhouse. We are FINISHED with sleeping on a mattress in the living room!!


Our new house!!! Our new address is:

8010 Sugar Cane Drive
Baytown, TX 77523

Come visit and send us mail!! :)


This is the view from the front door. On the left is a formal dining room and to the left is the staircase. As you walk through the hall straight ahead there is a bathroom on the right and the master suite on the left before you enter the living room that is open to the second floor.


Coming in from the garage is a large utility room and then the kitchen/breakfast room. The kitchen looks into the living room which Lindsay LOVES! We have unpacked the kitchen already but have been amazed that we still have some empty cabinets! That has NEVER happened before!

This view from the second floor shows how open this layout is. You can see the sink in the kitchen on the right next to the breakfast area which all opens to the living room. Joe officially has his first wood-burning fire place. Hopefully that will get some good use!


This is the master bedroom which is downstairs. We knew it was big but didn't realize just how big until we got all of our furniture in it!


The master bathroom is through the bedroom and has a huge closet.


There are two bedrooms upstairs which are great size.


The two bedrooms have a full bathroom in the hallway between them. This is the view from that end of the house looking at a sitting area and on to the game room. This will be ideal for youth from the church coming over to hang out. All of this looks over to the entryway on one side and the living area on the other side.


Needless to say, we are really excited about this place! We got it with the idea that we may be interested in buying later. Baytown is definitely a place that we plan to stay for awhile!

A Texas Christmas

What an exhausting couple of weeks! It all started with a trip to Baytown to meet some of the youth from the church. We were there a few days and finalized some details for our new house! (Pictures to come!) Saturday the 20th Lindsay's parents flew into Dallas and spent a few days. There was some shopping, some packing help, and Christmas presents! One of the highlights of the visit was the present from us to Lindsay's dad.....a ukulele!!!! Lindsay and her brothers (and her poor mother) grew up listening to the same two songs every time they visited family. All of the Carr uncles knew how to play these two songs so we figured that it would be hilarious/necessary to carry on this Carr family tradition.

As SOON as we gave him the box he started strumming! What in the world?!?

Even though Becky dreaded this moment, she was happy to help Frank tune the Uke!

Joe originally thought that the idea was funny and that Frank would get a quick laugh....little did he know how much Frank would LOVE the present! He must have played it for 20 minutes before anyone else got to open another present!

Enjoy this short video of Frank enjoying his present!

A Place to Call Home...Finally!

Well, we are officially moving...again...as you know. At this point we are really excited to be in Baytown with a family that is welcoming us with open arms, Faith Presbyterian Church! In two weeks we will be packing/driving another U-Haul/unpacking, etc. We do ask for prayers as we are still waiting to hear a final answer on a house to rent. We are extremely excited about one house in particular especially as we don't want to continue the process of looking. There are very few properties to rent in the area as we are not interested in an apartment. We are looking for a place that we can call home and that is welcoming to friends, students, and visitors. Please pray about our home situation. We have been trusting the Lord to bring us to this place for a long time, even when we didn't know that it would be THIS place! We are now trusting His provision for a place to do ministry. Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers through the last few months especially. We love you all and appreciate all that God has done through you. 

By the way, the Carrs (Lindsay's mom and dad) are coming to Texas! They will be traveling next Saturday, December 20 and then heading back to the tundra on Tuesday, December 23. Please pray for safe travel and a time of rest and fun. Also pray for good weather. We have no doubt that Becky has been diligently watching the forecast since she booked their flight months ago and it is looking promising as of now. We are hoping for days like today...77, sunny, BEAUTIFUL! Lindsay has discovered that she was made for warm weather and Becky has always known that she was made to live at the beach...warm weather in Texas will be plenty sufficient for now! 

Moving Again!!!

Brothers and Sisters,

    Jesus loves you!  I wanted to update you all about where Christ has taken Lindsay and I.  We left our jobs at ETBU in September and I have been praying and searching for our calling since.  I have applied to over 700 jobs, but all the while I was crying out to our God that the next job I have would be a calling, not a career or just a job.  I have knocked on many doors, but all the while Christ has been whispering that my call continues to be firm and that I must work with students and help them see Jesus and serve Jesus.  

   Long story, very short, I have just accepted the call to be the youth minister at Faith Presbyterian Church of Baytown, Texas.  It is a very loving church of 300 that has a heart for passionately pouring into the next generation.  So Lindsay and I will be packing our things, again, and moving for the fourth time since June.  We believe we are being called to plant our lives in Baytown and plan to be there for a very long time.  

   Please lift us up in prayer, it has been an interesting three months of prayer, refining, and growth.  We will be in place there before January first, and after that you are all invited and encouraged to come and visit us.  There will always be a guest room with your name on it.  You're awesome, so enjoy our awesome Jesus this Christmas season.  Thank you for all you are to us and to our brothers and sisters in the faith.  We love you all!

Joe and Lins

Joe's trip to Serbia

Back in late May/early June, I was able to lead a team of believers in to Serbia to coach, play, and teach baseball to youngsters in schools - all while sharing the Gospel and our personal testimonies with all Christ allowed the opportunity for.  Although going caused me to be away on Lindsay's birthday, it was an amazing opportunity to share who Christ is, and who Christ is in me, with Serbs.  Serbia is a beautiful country filled with wonderfully warm and friendly folks. 

Therefore, these pictures are long past due.  As you know, our lives have been turned upside down twice since I returned from this trip.  So here are a few of the pictures I have from my trip to Serbia.

This is Chris Coombs, he is a man of Christ who spent the past two years in Serbia with his wife.  He has returned from the field and is coaching and teaching HS science in Missouri.  He played baseball in college and was this year's head coach of the Serbian national team.  

I was able to conduct one of the first softball clinics in Cacak, Serbia.  Here I was pitching BP.

This picture was taken in Belgrade, a very interesting city.  They built up an island in the middle of the city that has sports fields, beaches, and a bunch of fun.  

Here is our team after on of our games.

While in Belgrade, we got to visit Kalemagdan park, which has been built on the remains of an ancient fortress.  It is very cool, and Partizan Sports Club has some of their facilities inside the fortress.  While there, me and some of the team (particularly young Aaron) ran wild like little children - climbing walls and hiding in dungeons and other such shenanigans.  

This man was awesome!  He spends his day with his cart in the park making hand-carved gifts for tourists.  I had a very long talk with him as I watched him work, as I was mesmerized by his craftiness.  He lived in New York for a few years and was a very big fan of W, which should come as a shock to our liberal media.  

While in the Serbia countryside, we were able to spend half a day climbing a mountain to see the view and visit an Orthodox monastery.  Here are some pictures of some of our adventure.

Here is a picture of me and a couple of the Serbs we worked closely with for the majority of our trip.  They are great guys and also young believers, praise Christ!



This is a typical Serbian home, at least outside the major cities.  They are humble homes, but the flowers and the warmth of the people make them beautiful.

Also while in Serbia, I was able to help coach one of the football clubs.  It was a lot of fun, and I would compare them to an average high school JV team in Texas.  

Last, but not least, check out the kicker's hairstyle!

Bye for now, but not for long we hope!

Fall has come to Texas...

Well, another week has gone by and we are still on our knees before Christ about our future and the plans the Lord has for us.  Lindsay has been in Charlotte, NC all week and will return Monday from training for her new gig at Portrait Innovations.  She is excited about this new job and is even more excited to be back home with Joe.  Joe is still interviewing with schools and companies worldwide, seeking the Lord's perfect will for his career.  We have moved twice in the past five months and don't want to move again, lest it be the voice of the Lord telling us to do so.  We are happy to have the church community we have here and we enjoy the weather here in Dallas. 

 Not much else to report, except to say thank you to all of you who have kept us in your prayers.  We have exhausted our financial resources, so please pray that the Lord will provide.  We love each and every one of you who are reading this and we appreciate the encouragement you all are.  Though, this is the hardest season of life I have ever been through, we both know that Christ has wonderful plans for us.  

Now for some pictures:

A good friend of ours had tickets to the Dallas Mavericks' first preseason game.  It was a lot of fun, because he has platinum-level seats at center-court, about 12 rows up.  The seats were at the perfect level to see all the action while being able to hear the sounds of the game on the court.  The Mavs played well and won in a rout, and good times were had by all of us.  Below are some pictures of us, a view from our seats, and pictures of the Mavs Maniacs.  Well, yes that is, in fact, a midget   right in the midst of a group of 300 pounders!

Finally, this is a picture I took tonight at the Flower Mound Marcus vs Coppell high school football game.  It was a great game and the Marauders won.  These are two Texas powers and the game was played at Coppell, which has one of the nicest high school stadiums you will ever see.  It is nicer than any small college field I have ever seen, as well.  It truly is amazing how ridiculous high school football is here in Texas, just ask any of the 15,000 fans who were there with me tonight.