So I've gotten progressively worse at this blog thing.

Contrary to what some might believe, our new church has significantly altered our life, and more specifically – my time. Though the work is time consuming (often consuming the weee hours of the morning in order to have experience the concentration needed to finish my stuff) and non-stop, I still LOVE what we’re doing. Our church body has grown at a pace we never really anticipated. We’re only starting our 3rd month of services, and we’re already having around 160 folks. It’s been fun to have to scramble at the last minute to set up more chairs. I’ve been rather convicted over the past few weeks at my ability to limit God and His work. I knew He told us to do this, but I guess I didn’t fully believe the magnitude at which He would do it.
This church, and my daughter, have become a very interesting parallel. I’ve always known that babies grow up. I’ve always known that the Lord would bless this church. Somehow though, I think I missed out on some of the joy of both those things. It seems that I spend more time these days overwhelmed by these progressions, that I’m not quite grasping them fully. Until today.
Over the past week, Dave (our pastor, and one of my best friends) and I spent the majority of our lives writing what basically became a 27 page “book” about The Vista Community Church. We have our first real membership class this weekend, and this “book” will be what each member receives. It contains basically everything you need to know about The Vista. Beliefs, theology, ministries, history…the whole deal. I realized very clearly over the process of ironing all these things out, that this deal is MUCH bigger than me. I grew more excited with each page, at what the Lord is doing and has done in the life of this Community. I woke up today, after putting the finishing touches on yesterday, to a new realization that the Lord is amazing and ACTIVE. He’s doing SO much more than I could ever comprehend or see. The Vista Community Church is only beginning, and we have so much more to look forward to!
Just like the church, my daughter, and the Lords work in her life, is blowing me away today. Everything about Jessie Rose is SO alive! She’s crawling around so fast we can’t keep up with her. She’s TOTALLY curious about everything. Constantly grabbing and reaching…constantly! Today, I just sat back and watched. I’ve been so overcome with how fast she’s grown, that I don’t think I’ve watched near enough lately. So this morning, for about 30 minutes, I just stared. She played. She sang (lalalalalala). She crawled. She held things up and looked at them for long enough that I almost cried. She’s SO grown up. Yes, I know “grown up” is pretty relative, but in this case, for me, it’s a BIG deal. My daughter is growing into an amazing little girl. The Lord is working in her, and preparing her for LIFE! What a blessing to see!
I’m pretty sure that when all of our “life changes” this past year started to shape up, I got a little frustrated. It all just seemed like so much – so fast. Today, it’s so beautiful and amazing. What a gracious and loving King, and what a beautiful Kingdom. How great to simply be a part!

Of course I have to add pics...

A few of Jessie Rose and her new favorite things...














Note: Jessie Rose in no way
endorses Sprite, or any other
soft drink product.

And no...she didn't ever REALLY drink it.

We had to cancel our Vista church service this morning because of icy roads. I think it was the first time in years that I've not been in church, and really genuinely missed it. At least this morning felt different than any prior non-church-ed day. I think I always had a "guilty" feeling when I spent the a.m. portion of my Sunday outside a church building, but it was never a feeling that extended into the p.m.. I gave the church "hours" the emptiness (sometimes literally) they deserved, and then went about a normal afternoon "guilt"-free. (I will totally acknowledge however, that the aforementioned "guilty" feeling never existed when I missed a service that took place as scheduled in the p.m. portion of my day. Does anyone miss Sunday night church?)

This would have been our 4th official gathering of The Vista Community Church - Bell County. I can confidently say that this is the most excited, and passionate I have ever been about ministry or church. We gather in a local elementary school, along with about 125 folks, and feast at the table of Christian community. We've already experienced quite a few truly amazing things as a family, including a few folks who have given their lives to Christ. Each week is a new adventure for me, generally preceded by a long sleepless night, because I can't wait. It's like Christmas eve all over again. Only this time I'm looking forward to something other than getting more G.I. Joes.

We love our new church family. We missed them today.

But boy did we have fun playing!

I'll break from my sappy, typical daddy sentiments tonight, to share something much less serious.

I like movies. I probably watch far too many of them. Sometimes I feel like I’ve missed so much by not seeing as many as I could. This clash really screws things up for me at times.

I started thinking tonight about a few of my favorite movie moments. Some of my all time favorite movie moments aren’t even found in my all time favorite movies. Sometimes, I just find myself really enjoying a snippet of a movie, and that’s what tonight is about.

A tribute to Will’s Great Movie Moments…(in no particular order)

There's just a few. Don't knock 'em. Go find your own!

One of the major perks of my new job is that I get to office in my home. This affords me a cherished opportunity that most men will never experience full time. I get to be Mr. Mom.

My mornings as Mr. Mom have shown themselves to be nothing short of amazing. JRose and I spend each morning just hanging out, watching cop shows, playing with toys, singing, you know, typical baby stuff. Some of the best parts of the mornings though are much more sweet and quiet. The 2 highlights of my morning are nap time and bottle breakfast.

There's nothing like taking a nap with this girl. No matter where she starts on the bed, she'll always end up snuggled right next to me. It's always a joy to hear her little squeeks and grunts as she sleeps, and then to feel her grab at my beard when she's waking up. Beauty, pure beauty.

Probably my favorite time though, is bottle time. I always set Jessie up in my big chair when I go to get her bottle. She hasn't quite mastered the art of staying upright yet, so usually when I come back, she's slightly tilted over against the armrest. Always smiling. And man, once she see's that bottle, you'd think she was about to explode. She starts wiggling and chattering like crazy. She can't wait to get to that milk. It's always been fun to get to sit over her, holding the bottle and listen to her gulp. She'll always stop 2 or 3 time to smile and talk to me so that I'm well aware of her appreciation. Something different has been happening lately though. Something I'm not quite sure I'm ready for yet.

She not only doesn't need my help holding her own bottle, but now she flat out doesn't want it. She'll snatch that thing right out of my hand.

Next thing I know, she'll be snatching for the keys to my car.

Here we go...

Daddy loves his girl.

I DIG LISTS!

Thanks to my brother, I’ve answered a few questions here for your reading pleasure. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something about me!

Four jobs I've had:

1. West Texas Roofer – I, like my “less-chubby” brother endured the West Texas heat for this one. We often left the roof once temperatures topped 120. I actually enjoyed this job. I particularly enjoyed watching the “adult” White brothers throw each other off their parent’s roof while fighting like 10 year old boys.
2. UPS truck loader – I did this one year so that Santa would still visit my wife.
3. American Eagle Outfitters – I spent a few years here before it became the tramp-factory I now only buy my boxers from.
4. Commercial Painter – If you live in an apartment in Lewisville, TX, you might have me to thank for your beautifully painted walls.

Four movies I'd watch on repeat:

1. Tin Cup – What can I say, I love golf.
2. Bottle Rocket – No need for explanation.
3. Walk the Line - Cash. Can't get enough.
4. Lord of the Rings – Any and ALL.

Four TV shows I love:

1. (I’ll just copy my brother here) Random 1: If you ignore everything else I write here, go to this website and make every effort to watch this show. I can't think of a better use of your television.
2. My Name is Earl – I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a TV show as much.
3. Law and Order – ANY of them
4. CSI – between this and #3 show, I think one day I’ll be able to pull off the PERFECT crime!

Four vacation spots I'd love to frequent:

1. Cloudcroft NM. – We have some friends who run a beautiful BnB here. Check it out @ www.waterfalllodge.com
2. Pretty much anywhere in Colorado.
3. Anywhere that I can use a rifle to shoot a deer or one of its relatives.
4. Salt Lake City, Utah

Four websites I visit daily:

1. FoxNews
2. The Craigslist
3. Ebay
4. www.thevistacommunity.com – Just to pinch myself and make sure it’s true.


Four foods I lust for (I dunno about lust, but...)

1. Joe Allen’s Steakhouse Ribeye (Abilene, TX.)
2. Sarton’s Platter Service (Beaumont, TX)
3. My wife’s chicken and dumplings
4. Mamacita’s chips and salsa/green sauce (Kerrville is the best one)

Four changes to my house:

I guess in order to list these, I'd have to actually have a “MY house”. But, just for kicks...

1. I'd add a full on recording studio.
2. Cigar lounge complete with walk in humidor.
3. I’d like my own simulated golf cage from Golfsmith.
4. I’d enjoy having my house surrounded with about 200 acres that many monster whitetail bucks call home.

Four beers I like:

1. I was born with a tragic allergy to 2 main beer ingredients, so I don’t get to like beer at all.


Four tags (which apparently is where I pawn this off on some other suckers):

1. Pez – The most interesting guy I know
2. Erin Gerlt
3. Michael Stone – If you even read this page enough to find this…
4. You, whoever you are.

Happy New Year from the NorvellThree!!

Christmas is SO much more fun as a Dad!!

Every day of fatherhood seems to get more amazing.

Since the day Jessie Rose was born, she’s looked just like Beth to me. I’ve seen a good few pictures of my wife as a child, and so many of them look just like Jessie. This didn’t really surprise me. When Jessie Rose was born with hair like this…

…I knew she wouldn’t have my complexion.
Truth be told, we (and I do mean WE) would all MUCH prefer that my little girl look like Beth. As she’s grown over these last 4(+) months, Jessie gets progressively more elegant and striking. In addition to sharing similar faces, they also share a very similar personality and demeanor. They are both the joy and sunshine of my life.

Last night, while I was editing some pictures to use as Christmas presents I discovered something interesting.

That’s my smile.

Have you ever had a dream so vivid and real, that you almost believe it’s some sort of premonition?

I’ve never been a big vision/dream guy, but I’ve had a few of these dreams over the past 4 years that were so strong and impacting, that I dread the possibility that they will come true to this day. I don’t ever remember having dreams like this as a child, so I’m hesitant to think it’s something deeply rooted within my psyche. I’m more prone to believe that it all started here:

(This is me and what was left of my prized 1998 Isuzu Rodeo when it decided to try out some acrobatics on the side of a west Texas highway. I guess the fact that I was asleep in the drivers seat could have played a slight role it the whole ordeal.)


I’m not sure if I have these dreams in response to the fact that sleep is somewhat to blame for the start of all this night time fright. I only say that, because every one of these dreams involves me making a tragic mistake behind the steering wheel of a car. It has yet to be a fatal mistake, simply because it scares me so bad every time that I wake up.

This morning I had one of these dreams. It was very specific. It was very realistic. It was very frightening. This morning I escaped my dream just as I was checking my injuries. I remember feeling of my hands, and realizing they were really torn up. I remember knowing both legs were for sure crushed. I woke up before I got much further, but the details of the dream were so clear, that it’s almost as if it actually happened. It’s even more substantive, than a movie. It very much effected my day.

I’ve been very careful on the roads today. That may sound silly to you, but if you’ve ever had a dream like this, you’ll understand. I did actually have a flat tire this morning after a meeting, but it didn’t result in an accident (unless you count me banging my hands up changing the flat tire, of if you think the words I used WHILE banging my hands up were accidental).

Tonight the Norvell Three wish a fond farewell to a dear old friend.

It’s been over 3 years since you entered our lives. We’ve lived together, played together, we’ve even slept together. You were always there- you never left us. You were always loyal and true; always ready to offer a friendly handshake. Wherever we went, you always left your mark. You DEFINITELY left your mark(s) ALL OVER this house.

We’ll never forget you.

FYI - He didn't die, he just moved to a new home.

How could this NOT brighten your day??

A DAY FOR THANKS…

I could probably sit and make a list of hundreds of things that I’m thankful for. I’m sure even on that long a list, there would be some things that were unintentionally deleted due to the chest congestion I’m experiencing this week (one thing that would NOT make my thanksgiving list). Today, for the sake of you (the reader) and myself (the guy who almost failed keyboarding at Crane High School), I’ll just simply leave a few of my deepest offerings of gratitude.

1. Over the past few months, my understanding of my depravity has grown considerably. I think my lack of theological understanding in my youth, allowed me to minimize my desperate need for redemption. I’m grateful today, that even though I diminished His grace for so long, it never ceased to bring life and salvation. My eternity was purchased, when Christ stood in my place to experience the wrath of God. I’m humbled and moved in my soul, that I’m even granted the ability to give thanks that God saw fit to choose such a sinner as me.
2. I’ve always known that my wife was amazing. I’m consistently blessed by her strength, and enriched by her wisdom. I have however, experienced this more richly than ever before over the past 3 and half months. The arrival of Jessie Rose has shown me a much more colorful beauty within my precious wife. She’s a super-mom, and displays a grace with my daughter than can not be explained. Her love for me is strong and forgiving, in a way I will never deserve. I can’t imagine how I would do life without her. I’m thankful she picked me. I’m thankful that she allowed me to be the father to a beautiful little girl named Jessie Rose, who I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of knowing.
3. Every Thanksgiving Day of my life, the Hatton family (my mom’s side) has gathered together to pig out and celebrate family. I would say that we “break bread and fellowship” but that has a deeper spiritual connotation that definitely isn’t on the minds of the majority here. While I am VERY thankful for my family and the heritage I’m blessed to be a part of, my thanks this year is much more specific. Though I’ve been with this group every year of my life, this is the very first year that my Memaw hasn’t been here. Oddly enough, I’m thankful for her absence this time. Memaw went to her eternal home a few months ago, so today, she’s enjoying a much greater feast and family. My Papaw is undoubtedly “showing her their place” with Jesus. Her chair here is empty, but her legacy is strong.
4. Sunday will also be a unique day of celebration and thanksgiving for me. For a little over a year now, we’ve been working in ministry with Temple Bible Church. Sunday will be my last day with TBC. This chapter of our ministry has been fun and exciting. We have been loved in a way that we’ve never known from a church family. In the way that He does, the Lord has been stirring within our hearts for the past few years about doing a new work. I’m thankful today, that He saw the road ahead, and allowed me to walk this far. As beaten and depraved as I continue to be, I’m still allowed to serve in the Kingdom. Our time with TBC is closing, as an entirely new story is beginning. I’m thankful for The Vista Community for allowing us to experience Church with you. I can’t wait to see where we are this time next year, and to give thanks for things I can’t even dream of today.

For those of you who don’t know, I am now officially a “real” pastor…whatever that means. I’ve been doing ministry for a long time, but I’ve never really felt like a pastor. I’ve even been given various titles that contained the word pastor, but most of the time I really just felt like a glorified intern at best. This time it’s different. This time I’m doing pastor “things”. This time I feel like a pastor. This time I really love the folks I’m doing church with in a way that makes me want to lead them. Monday will be my 2 week anniversary as the real thing.
My official title is Connection / Worship Pastor. You’re impressed aren’t you????

I’ve been secretly praying about church planting for about 2 years. Little did I know that all along the Lord was hearing my secret request. It always felt like a strange thing for me to feel led to do. I was already on staff at a church most music guys dream of. But the most bizarre thing in all my feelings was honestly, how many of you know music guys who plant churches? I know a lot of music guys, some of whom even do music at a church plant. Most of them weren’t actually in on the planting part though. The most surprising thing about what I was feeling was that I was more interested in actually seeing the Church take Biblical shape, than I was in doing music. I was really feeling a tug to be in on a fresh journey to be a Jesus church. Over the past 8 years, I’ve been in a lot of churches doing various ministry activities. During this time, I acquired a few pretty deep convictions about what should, and should not be taking place in the Church. This just kept driving me to seek the Lords guidance on how to walk this dark path I was feeling led towards.
Even after 2 years of praying, the phone call caught me pretty off guard. My friend Dave Jeffreys, who I’ve known for years but had never really gotten close to, called to ask how I would feel about planting a church. (In addition to spending a few years in college with Dave, I’d had the opportunity to do a few ministry events with him. Dave is a very gifted speaker, with a heart for the Truth and the Kingdom. The kind of guy anyone with a true heart for ministry would want to do Church with.) Our friend Jeff Mangum had planted a church about 4 months prior to our discussion, and his church had already received a request to help plant another church here in Bell County. Here we go! After a few extensive discussions with Dave, I really began to feel the Lord’s assurance that this was the road I’d been praying about.
We started meeting with a few families here in Bell County within a month of our first discussion, and yet again the Lord began to speak very clearly to me. I knew from the jump that these people were on the same road that I’d been trying to follow for 2 years. They just wanted to be a part of something real; something authentic that just chased hard after the heart of God. We’ve been meeting together for about 2 months now, sharing the vision of The Vista Community Church, over pizza or queso. We don’t pretend to have everything figured out, but we know the Lord has called us to a new work for the Kingdom. It’s exciting…REALLY exciting.
Tonight we had our 2nd of 3 “Come and See” meetings. These meetings are simply a chance for people interested in The Vista, to come and see what it’s all about. Novel idea isn’t it? We share the vision, values, and mission of the Church, as well as sharing some more food. (Food is always good!) Tonight we filled the Studinka’s home with about 40 people or so. Most of whom were new faces, and many of whom, have now become family. I came home tonight in a state of excitation that I’ve never felt about ministry. This thing is WAY beyond me, or my silent wishes. It’s even way beyond anything I’ve ever done, or been a part of before. This is Church in a way I’ve not yet known.

For those of you who have become our Vista family, thank you. We love you guys, and are honored to be able to lock arms with you in this journey. Thank you for allowing me to be your pastor. I look forward to many days of joy and blessing as The Vista Community Church!

I’m not sure if there is anything more important to a kid than toys. Sometimes I wish life was still that simple. I’m still very much obsessed with toys to this day, but none quite compare to the “treasures” I had as a child.

There are a few specific toys from my childhood, that I still spend a considerable amount of time “playing” with in my mind. One of those toys I’m ashamed to admit was one of those stupid pens that had multiple colors of ink to choose from. I’m not talking about one of those dorky green/red/blue/black jobs. I’m talking like MULTI colors! Who doesn’t need yellow ink? Who cares if the pen was so fat that you could hardly hold it? I remember insisting that Santa HAD to get me this pen (I pretended to believe in the fat jolly-man, because I was convinced that my participation in the big Christmas lie would greater increase the possibility that the Santa-rents would get me what I wanted). My memory of using this pen though, is not nearly as extensive as my memory of the anticipation. Don’t get me wrong. It was a great pen! Loads of fun, but it could NEVER live up to it’s expectation.

My second favorite toy differs greatly from the first. First of all, my eager spirit for this toy, paled in comparison to actually owning this priceless treasure. Second, I’m thoroughly convinced, that if I could find this toy again, I’d still play with it today. You have to understand. This was NO ordinary toy. This was every young boys dream! This was the MOST amazing toy GUN ever made! It was probably 10 guns in all, that all pieced together to make one giant killing machine. It served every purpose a kid “soldier” could need. Complete with grenade-darts (which could be launched!) and fake bullets, it was all a boy could ever want. Can you feel the excitement??? I’ll be totally honest and let you know, that I still spend time on the internet looking for this gun! Though I may never find it again...you can trust me on this…IT WILL NEVER DIE!!!

Now that I’ve become a father, my appreciation of toys has reached an entirely new level. I’ve re-discovered “toy-joy”. Here’s an example. A few weeks ago, my friend in brown dropped off a gi-normous package at our house. Even with the understanding that this particular package was NOT addressed to me, I still found myself overcome with childlike excitement. Once we got it all opened up, we found the baby-swing that we had registered for, but had decided we weren’t getting. I was overwhelmed and completely excited. You have to understand, Jessie Rose LOVES to swing. Some days, that’s the only way to make her happy. We’ll just stick her in the swing and let her go for hours…literally. If that makes us bad parents…oh well. Screaming baby + stay at home dad = desperate measures. You also have to understand, that the original swing we had, was a piece of crap. It was dirty, and partially broken, and had a magical ability to kill batteries within minutes. Needless to say, this new shiny swing, was a welcome addition to the Norvell house.

Discovering my daughters love for a few of her favorite toys, has me VERY excited about a life full of spoiling my beautiful little girl.

Yesterday was a pretty amazing day for me. For a little over 10 years now (long before our time here), our church (Temple Bible Church) has been partnered with a fellow church in the Ukraine. Over these years, our sister congregation in Belaya Tserkov has grown to be the one of the largest gatherings of Christian believers in the Ukraine.
(I have to confess that I’ve never really been a guy who felt called to mission work in a foreign country. I have many friends, and family members who have spent time doing Kingdom work on foreign soil, but it’s just never really been something I felt drawn towards. Perhaps my struggles with being a missionary in my own hometown have caused me to have a tunnel vision when it comes to my missional calling. While I’m seeking a change to my shallow mission-mindedness, I feel it’s important to make note of, in order to set the stage for my thoughts today.)
We had the privilege in our “corporate worship gathering” yesterday, to hear from both the youth pastor, as well as the main pastor of our distant sister church. It was such a huge blessing to hear what the Lord is doing all across His creation. This was the youth pastors very first trip to America, and the only words he speaks of English are “Very nice to meet you!”. Both of these men are doing an amazing work in their homeland to shepherd the flock they’ve been entrusted with. Both have amazing stories of Abba’s faithfulness to believers in the Ukraine. Both had to have a translator in order for me to know what they were saying. Both touched my heart in an amazing way.

I’m sure I’ve heard 5 or 6 dozen missionaries speak over the course of my days in the church, but none seemed to have as much of an impact on me. Perhaps it was just the day that the Lord chose to open my eyes a little wider to the fact that His Gospel reaches far beyond changes in language. Perhaps this time was different in light of the fact that my dear friends Chad and Erin Gerlt are now the proud parents of Max, who they adopted from the very land these 2 gentlemen are serving. Max seems to bubble with a joy of the Lord that I’m not quite sure I’ve ever experienced. Either way, my heart feels very full today in a place that I never even realized was empty. The Gospel is a powerful and amazing truth, and it’s changing people all over the globe. How amazing is it that we all get to share in the same mission. It reaches far beyond my comfortable historic district little house. It reaches far beyond my local church. It even reaches far beyond my ability to communicate. It’s unstoppable.

Thank you my Ukrainian friends, though you’ll never read this, for telling me the story of HOPE that calls you to work in a land I’ll probably never set foot on. Thank you Erin and Chad, for demonstrating the LOVE of Christ, which saves and restores people from dark and lonely places. Thank you Max, for showing me the true JOY of redemption.

The Tale of the Tape! (or scale…whatever.)

Ok, so Friday will be 10 weeks since Jessie Rose showed up. We’ve been noticing considerable changes in her with each passing day. It’s amazing how fast she’s growing, and how much she’s already seemed to “grow up”. We had our 2 month checkup today, and discovered that much to our surprise, she’s even grown more than we thought.

Here’s the story.
Born: August 19th – 7 lbs. 12 oz. 18.5 inches

Today: October 25th – 12 lbs. 9 oz. 23 inches

Yeah, so she’s definitely taking after her dad!

Today was Norvell day.

We drove over to College Station, for a family reunion of sorts. Mom and Dad came down for the weekend, and we all met up at my older brother Thad’s house for some good old fashioned Norvell family fun. Thad and his wife Amy, have a 3 year old named Aiden, and a daughter named Ella Grace who is a month older than her cousin Jessie Rose. My younger brother, who now is the beloved Uncle Britt was also there to complete the family tree.

The day was a lot of fun, complete with a trip to the pumpkin patch, and 2 cousins dressed as “2 peas in a pod”. Aiden is a super cool kid, and he spent the afternoon as a “black eyed P” who really got a kick out of having his eye painted.

It was a beautiful day, and reminded me once again that I’m a full on “family man”.


I LOVE IT!