Love Letters

Must See..........

2008-08-05T14:39:00.000-07:00

Check out www.antiochmills.org for more information!

Samantha's Star

2008-07-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

Before I tell this story, I have to take you back to about 4 weeks ago. It was brought to my attention that there was a ministry opportunity in my own back yard that I knew nothing about,and that was because, the problem was I wasn't looking. When I finally opened my heart as well as my eyes. I saw God. During our VBS, I was given an amazing gift, I had the chance to share the love of Christ with some children and their parents, who, other wised would of just spent that week at home or at a fair. (yea, I was crazy enough to have a VBS during two county fairs).. Isn't it cool!!

Anyway, back to my story. for the past month our church has been picking them up and taking them to church and on youth trips.. (want to make adults laugh or pull their hair out, bring 27 kids to MacDonald's then the movie!!!)

Well, that brings me to tonight.
We had our regular Wednesday night Bible study, and we brought some kids back to church to have fun and do our lesson, when one little girl asked me. "What is baptism"?..

As I began to tell the story of the love of Jesus Christ to this little girl, (this is what brought tears to my eyes and they are still flowing), her eyes started to dance like falling stars!! This young girl was so excited and happy that she has a Heavenly Father who loves her that she made me feel so loved for telling her.

To be honest, I cannot put into words what this little girl made me feel like, You have to experience it yourself, how do you do that you wonder? Simple, "listen with your heart, and your eyes. Not your ears or check book." to a child.

I was told once,
"If you can make a child smile, you had a great day"!

People Can't Fly Lex.........?

2008-07-18T13:56:00.001-07:00

I like these little video clips.. They have a special message..and they are pretty sweet!!!

How Do You Tell This Story

2008-07-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

This week was our Vacation Bible School, and tomorrow is our last night. I am sitting at my home desk at half past midnight, knowing that I have to get up in about six hours, trying to figure out how do I tell this story.
This is a story of amazing victory!!. About three months ago, I planned our VBS, unaware that, I had scheduled it during the Pendleton County Fair, and the Harrison County Fair! Yea, you read it right, I planned a VBS in the middle of the two biggest attractions in our community. I was told numerous times, that I must of been "smoking crack"!

Our VBS was the biggest in years!!!.. I just don't mean numbers, I mean life changing decisions! We had to use three church buses to bring the kids in!!

I can't put into words what I experienced this week, but I know I wasn't the only one.. Our volunteers got a little "jolt from the Holy Spirit too.... and they did a GREAT JOB!!
and on a personal note, for a long time I was struggling with where I belong, I was trying so hard to be the "perfect Family Minister", you know, saving marriages, saving homes, saving the world! that I forgot that I was chosen by God himself to be a Children's Minister, I fell in love with Children's Ministry over ten years ago, and I knew that God had a plan for my life then, but just like everything else in this life, we get used to just "surviving".. Well I don't want to just survive anymore.. I want to LIVE.. and live strong..

So to all my VBS workers.. this is for you.. Thanks..

He's My Brother.....

2008-07-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

Don't forget, not everyone is at a Bar-B-Q this weekend.

This Is Who I Am.. Who Are You...Part II

2008-07-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America

This Is Who I Am..Who Are You?... Part I

2008-07-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Getting Bigger

2008-07-01T20:37:00.000-07:00

Just a few pics of the boys!!!

Certified!

2008-06-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

Well today,
Cathy, Stacey, and I were certified in adult, child, and infant CPR and, we also became certified in usage with the AED (Automated External Defibrillator).

Which is pretty cool because now, we at Antioch Mills can say that our “Minister of Family and Children and part of his staff our trained and certified!

Hopefully, this will give new parents visiting and regulars a peace of mind.

Tip Of The Sword

2008-06-27T16:18:00.000-07:00

For all those WWII fighters and ground crew!!
Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle: "There's nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer".

The Sky Is No Longer The ....Limit

2008-06-27T16:14:00.000-07:00

Hey yall,
Well, just got back from taking the K-5th students to the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio.
It was a pretty good time, it was like my 9th time being there, but it seems like each time I return, I found out something new.

Anyway.. I think I am going to relax for a while, then head for bed, we have our CPR class in the morning.!!!

Peace yall!!

Me.... 1979

2008-06-22T16:17:00.001-07:00

Thought you all might love this pic...
where does time.. and hair go?

Brady and Wii

2008-06-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

Well.. check this out!
Last Monday, the boys and I went to have dinner with Cathy at the nursing home where she works as the activity assistant. Anyway, she was telling Brady that the home had bought a Nintendo Wii for the residents to play with to help maintain their motor skills. (by listening to the advice of a amazing Family Minister, they bought one)

Anyway.. Brady stayed afterwards to "hang out" with some of the people who live there. and He came home saying..
"Dad, man they loved watching me play the video games. I had such a great time"

So now Brady has volunteer to "play" Nintendo Wii for the residents to make them feel better!!

Brady has been doing pretty good.. he has band camp in 3 weeks, and goes to Wilderness camp this week.. So we are going shopping this weekend to get him so "updated" camping grear..

Camp Devo #1...

2008-06-19T20:26:00.000-07:00

“Can We Fix It ….Yes We Can”!

Every morning around 8:30am at my house, I am awaken to the sounds of my three year old son Landon singing the theme song to “Bob The Builder”, and when he gets to his favorite part of the song, he screams, “CAN WE FIX IT…YES WE CAN”!

As I sit in my office preparing this devotional, those words are echoing in my mind. It sort of reminds me of how young Timothy must have felt when Paul instructed him to go and preach the good news of Jesus Christ. I can see young Timothy sitting there all excited and knowing like you know,this world is not a perfect place and he jumps up and screams, “CAN WE FIX IT… YES WE CAN”!

But we can’t be like Bob the Builder; we can’t fix broken hearts, or broken homes with bull dozers or big trucks. We have to be able to fix our world with life changing decisions for Jesus Christ, and then take that to the world. Just as Jesus commanded the early disciples to “go out and baptized them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Paul is instructing Timothy to “not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, and in love, and in faith, and in purity”.

As you leave here this week, our prayer is that you can be like Timothy, and let your life be the “bull dozers” and “dump trucks” that fixes your world. And your generation can say, “CAN WE FIX IT.. YES WE CAN”!

1st Peter 3:3-14

2008-06-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

Tonight, I had a chance to watch the sun set.. Ever had one of those days, or weekends that every thing seems to be going great, then all of a sudden you feel like you are in "quick-sand"
Well I had that happend today...I am clinging on the scripture from 1st Peter3:13-14.

Like in this picture of a sun set, you wonder what is going to happen when the sun is gone.

"I'll always remember
It was late afternoon
It lasted forever
And ended so soon
You were all by yourself
Staring up at a dark gray sky
I was changed

In places no one would find
All your feelings so deep inside (deep inside)
Was then that I realized
That forever was in your eyes
The moment that I saw you cry
cry..moment that I saw you cry"

Toddler Day Out

2008-06-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Today toddlers from our church had a picnic at Kincaid Lake in Falmouth. It was pretty awesome. The weather was PERFECT!

I think the best part for me was watching Landon throw rocks into the lake, or should I say "group of rocks". We walked down the hill to the lake and had to avoid the wild geese and Landon had his rocks in a little pail...

Well he decided to throw them all in at one time!!

The he said.. "Ok, I am ready to go home!"

Alex was just happy to be near water! and Brady, well he has a summer job at the library so he got to stay home by himself!!

Over all it was pretty good day..

What If..................?

2008-06-16T20:23:00.001-07:00

What if it was possible to "time - travel" .. would you do it?.. I mean check this out, what if you could go back in time and stop the assignation of Lincoln or JFK.. or better yet what if you can go back and stop the attack on Pearl Harbor..

The reason I bring this up.. is I was watching this movie tonight called "The Final Countdown.. it was about the USS Nimitz (modern aircraft carrier) time warped back to December 6th 1941... What will the do.. what would you do?.. I know allot of people would love to go back in time and change history.. but is it our job to change the fate of time..I know it would be nice to stop our love ones from dying or being killed.. but again.. is it our job to do that?

I am reminded of this quote I read in a book..

The story was about this Jewish village that got attacked during "pre-WWII" a hand full of students and their teacher escaped with their lives.. anyway the teacher said this..

"I wish I was God right now." and one of the students said "Sir, what would you change"? and the teacher said.."I wouldn't change anything, I would just be able to understand."..

pretty good quote.

Earth Rise

2008-06-16T20:06:00.000-07:00

Well, What a day it has been, just a quick up date of what is going on with Brady, Landon, and Alexander...

Brady - We went to Cathy's work tonight and had dinner with her, Brady stayed and helped her out with the residents, then he stayed and played video games with some of them. He goes to camp next week, and then he gets his wisdom teeth cut out the week after, then he has to rest for two weeks, then he is off to band camp for two more weeks..he is as big as me now!!

Landon - Went to the story with mom, and Cathy bought some of those Viana Sausages, and Landon picked them up in the store and then he kissed them and said "I love these.. they are the best!!".. Tonight he got a Gordon Train from Walmart and he screamed .. "there is Gordon!"..

Alexander - Well Alex, is getting so big!! he eats like there is no tommorrow.. he is walking better now.. just flapping that arm as he goes, he can't go to the sand box anymore, cause he eats the sand.. he is now saying "Daddie"

Not too much is going on this week.. I have a toddler trip tommrrow and then Bible study on Wed night, Cathy is going out to dinner with here friends on Thursday, and Friday we have a family movie night at church..

see you all in the funny papers.

Ultimate Dad

2008-06-13T19:32:00.000-07:00
Well, since this Sunday is Father's Day, I thought would share this video I found while doing a little surfing.

The video is pretty cool..but the best part is the lyrics itself. When you watch this video, listen to what the words are saying.

"Every time you grow... So do I"

2008-06-01T19:15:00.000-07:00

I just got back today from seeing the new Narnia Movie, Prince Caspian...
and for Jr. and Sr. High students.. it was ok.. but I don't know about younger kids..They had some tense moments. I mean the message was AWESOME!!! but there were some scenes that might of upset the little ones..
(Believe me I know!!! Lord Of The Ring)

But there were a couple of lines that stood out.. that I wanted to share..they are

1. Lucy the little girl sees Aslan for the first time again, and she says."You gotten bigger" and Aslan the lion says.. "So have you" then he says.."Every time you grow...So do I" (which is like every time you grow in "Christ", Christ grows bigger in your world.

2.Lucy was the only one who could actually see him most of the time, the others have lost their "faith" so when Lucy says.."No one believed me I could see you"
Aslan says.."Why did that keep you from searching for me?"
Which is pretty cool because, even though our friends may not have the "faith" it shouldn't stop us from believing.

Fire

2008-05-24T22:03:00.000-07:00

OK, since my lovely mother had to mentioned that I caught the barracks on fire.. (which was only a small part in a closed room - my room) I will tell you what really happened.

You see it was a Friday night, and we had an early morning end of the month inspection. I am talking about "standing tall and looking good" type of inspections, where the Brigade General and Battalion Commander has a peek.

Anyway there is this trick to make your floor look real shiny!. You get a can of past floor wax, catch it on fire, then blow it out (or some would say to just put the lid back on it) and pour out the liquid wax. Then you can buff it to a shine.

Well Travis (my room mate) and I got a can of wax and it was about 3:00 in the morning. We didn't want to buff the floor to early then it would get scuffed up. We knew the inspection was 3 hours later..

So I proceeded to "catch the can of wax on fire".. when it flamed up.. and boy did it flame up!!! I couldn't find the lid to put the fire out.. so I blew real hard.. that cause the flame to burn off my eye brows and it caught the window curtain on fire!!

Travis got a towel and try to "stomp" it out!! it caught the towel on fire, (I guess hot flaming wax can be a good fire starter) then when he flicked the towel back it caught my bed on fire..

Just then the alarms went off and the building was evacuated..No one was hurt..But we were in so much trouble.

Needless to say.. We didn't have an inspection that day.

1am Saturday...Can't Sleep

2008-05-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it is about 1:00 AM on a Saturday night, it is Memorial Day Weekend, I can't sleep, I been cleaning the basement and garage most of the day and all that dust is making my breathing crunchy.

I tried watching TV isn't nothing good on. So I came to the computer and wrote some more on that short story "Abby's Gift" I have 30 pages done..

So I went to You Tube and found this video. I liked it.. Sort of reminds me of a very good friend I have..

later and remember to Thank a Veteran this weekend, well actually every day..

Peace out homies...

US Army Part 1 - 1988-1990

2008-05-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

Thought you all might get a kick out of these rare pictures of me.
Enjoy

oh, and happy Memorial Day Weekend..

The "Yep" Church..

2008-05-19T14:38:00.000-07:00

Is this happening today in our Churches?

Shelly: - "Hey I would love to visit your church but I don't own a dress."
Usher: - "Sorry lady, we don't accept your kind"

New Mom: - "Hi, we just had a baby and I not comfortable leaving her in the nursery, is it ok she stays with us?"
Pastor: - "That darn baby in the fourth row was screaming half the service, and then the people around her kept trying to make her smile..how dare some people."

Church Deacon: - "Hey you.. you got mud all over the carpet, if you want to worship here, it best you change your shoes."
Young Drifter: - "Sorry sir."

Young Gothic girl: - "They wont accept me here, I am different."
Jamie, her friend: - "Sure they will, they told me in Sunday School, to LOVE everyone!"
Older Couple: "You see that is what's wrong with the country today, freaks like her with the tattoos and piercings trying to love a God who doesn't want her'"

Here is an idea..."The Yep Church"

Shelly: - "Hey I would love to visit your church but I don't own a dress is that ok."
Usher: - "YEP"

New Mom: - "Hi, we just had a baby and I not comfortable leaving her in the nursery, is it ok she stays with us?"
Pastor: - "YEP"

Young Drifter: -"I got mud on your new carpet, you forgive me"
Church Deacon: - "YEP"

Young Gothic girl: - "They wont accept me here, I am different."
Jamie, her friend: - "Sure they will, they told me in Sunday School, to LOVE everyone!"
Older Couple: "Welcome to our church I love your black dress, and your hair style"
Jamie: - "Do you really like her"?
Older Couple: - "YEP"

Luke 6:37
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."

Now may I address your attention to the video!!

Winning The War

2008-05-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

Today is a very exciting day.. in about two hours I will be batising a good friend of mine.
The turn of the story is prett cool.. He experienced heart ach early in the year and now he relized that he needs Jesus..
I am just honored I got to see the story end.. I know that God has a amazing plan for this young man life.

God bless you my friend
This video sums it up.."We all need to come home running"