GNJ February Update

It is easy in this season to have feelings of "are you sure, Lord?" Or "this is crazy!" Or "is this really going to work?" But...God is faithful! And He keeps showing us, one step at a time, that He is in this and GoodNews Journey is the path that He has set before us. I am so proud of Brian for how hard he is working on this, and so thankful for all of the people who are partnering with us! After not having a paycheck in January or the first part of February, we were so excited to write our first GoodNews Journey paycheck at the end of February! We're going to be okay...KEEP THE FAITH!!!

📢 Good News Journey (GNJ) Update! 🙌🔥

God has been moving in powerful ways this month, and your support is making an eternal impact! Here’s what we’ve been up to:

🙏 40+ people made professions of faith through GNJ’s ministry this month! 

🎤 Over 1,000 people heard the Gospel and were trained in evangelism at churches, DNOWs, FCA, and leadership gatherings.

⛪ Led DNOW weekends in Noble (OK), Boswell (TX), and Coweta (OK) Equipping people to receive and share their faith. Also, preached in Sunday services in each location!

🔥 Cast vision at our Ignite the Mission Gathering in Idabel (OK) mobilizing dear friends in to partners for Gospel advancement.

📖 Preached and led evangelism training at FBC Enid, FBC Hugo, and 7th & Main Baptist in Boswell (TX) challenging churches to embrace Christ and His Cause.

🚪 Visited and ministered in Juvenile Detention Centers, bringing the hope of Christ to young people in desperate need.

📊 Held our first official Good News Journey board meeting, taking a big step forward organizationally! 

📞 Connected through countless coaching calls and strategy meetings with youth leaders and ministry partners to strengthen the movement.

🙏 Thank you for being a vital part of this journey! Would you help us spread the word? Share www.goodnewsjourney.org with anyone who could benefit from or partner with this ministry through prayer, volunteering, or giving.

🔥 God is at work, and this is just the beginning! 

On the Journey with you,
Brian Baldwin and Family!

That's a Wrap on Basketball Cheer Season

Today was the last basketball game of the season, and Mackenzie's last game to ever cheer. =0( The boys team lost in this round of the playoffs, so that wraps up basketball season. 

I love that even when things aren't going well (we were losing by a lot at this point), Mackenzie is still smiling and having a fun time! 

Here it is...the last cheer video of Mackenzie...ever...insert sad face!

Father's Chapel

Today was Father's Chapel at school! Love this picture...my 3 favorite boys in the whole wide world!! 

The Car Nightmare

I could write a book about this car situation, but I am not going to, because it actually makes my blood pressure rise. If ever I could relate to the rage monster on DP, it is now. Long story short...we took Mackenzie's car to Kalidy Kia on 12/30 after getting a notice in the mail from Kia that we should bring it in for a factory update. Let me be clear---there was not one thing wrong with it before we took it in. (If only we could go back and never take it there!) Well--whatever they did to it sent the motor into "limp mode" and now the car is ruined. It is now February 25th, so they have had the car for almost 2 months and they refuse to do anything to fix it. Even though they are the ones who messed it up. It is the craziest thing to me. Brian has gone round and round with them, and basically we are apparently just out of luck. We have contacted an attorney, but the car probably isn't worth how much we would have to pay a lawyer to take the case. So here we are, already without a car for Brian, and now Mackenzie's car is trash too. This has caused so much unnecessary stress...I really can't even believe it is happening. We are now taking the car back to Hashimi, where we bought it, and hoping he can do something to fix it.

Update as of July 2025 -- yes, 7 MONTHS after this stupid nightmare began -- Kia did NOTHING to fix what they broke, and Hashimi still has the car, trying to fix it. Poor Mackenzie still doesn't have her car back. She goes to college in a few weeks, and I'm not sure what we are going to do. I really can't believe this whole thing.

Let the Stunt Games Begin

Madi had her first Stunt Comp at SNU today! They played 3 games, spread all throughout the day. I went to the first one but felt so sick, so I went home and GMa stayed for the next two games. (Thank you, GMa!!) Madi is nervous about doing Stunt Games, but she did great!

This.

One of the things that makes me most proud of our kids is that they are not "the mean kids." I love how they are each individually gifted and have their own talents/abilities/interests. I care far more about their character than their popularity, being the best on the team, or their grades. The world can be a hard place for teenagers, even in a Christian school with "good" kids...it would be so much better if we all just had this mentality.

 

February Fun in PreK

Here are some school pictures of Jack from February. I love that Mrs. Gentry takes the time to send so many pictures! Jack loves school and he is learning so much. It has been a wonderful year in PreK so far!

One of my favorite things from this whole year is that Jack gets to have Jonah for his reading buddy. Sooo sweet and special that it worked out this way! Jonah always brings Spiderman books to read to him! 

Valentine's Party fun!

We had a very short, but busy week! We mixed colors, learned how to form and write number 2, and did basic addition and subtraction using number stories with pennies.

I was pretty impressed with his numbers!

We learned about dreaming big for God and being generous with the story The Giving Tree. We also worked on memorizing Matthew 14:19 with our fishing rods.

We did a lot of motor planning drills by crumpling and uncrumpling paper. We also passed the paper crossing the midline and making figure 8. It was the hardest thing ever! (DISCOVERY stuff, right there!) These exercises aid in strengthening the skills that they will need in writing and reading in Kindergarten.

We had a few virtual learning days due to snowy/icy weather in February.

Why just use one hand, when you can get it done twice as fast?!

Fun in Chapel!