Well, we have been here in South Carolina for a couple
of months now. We live out in the country… town population… a
whopping 275 give or take. It has been quite an adjustment, but we are
enjoying being where God wants us. It’s nice to be in His will.
We
have started the church (Faith Family Church) with some friends and the
website is www.yourfaithfamily.com. We are going through the normal
start-up stuff, and it will take some time to get kicking on all
cylinders. We appreciate all your prayers and thoughts during this
time.
We are living by faith in spirit and in health, and God
is so very faithful. We have purchased an old colonial style house that
is offering us plenty of opportunities for bonding with friends as we
tear 1880’s wall paper and take on projects of restoration. The picture
attached to this blog entry is our new home. It sits on almost 2 acres
and there are lots of rooms for hospitality and company for anyone who
wants to come for a visit. Consider that an invitation!
Well, more to come later as we step through this new adventure.
South Carolina here we come! Missy and I will be moving to South Carolina in just a few days to hook up with some long time friends to start a church. We put a “For Sale By Owner” sign in the front yard and 10 days later God brought us buyers. We were thrilled that God moved so quickly.
Our friends Rick and Rebekah Porterfield were saved in our home church back in the early 90’s after a very rocky start on their marriage. We connected with them and discipled them through relationship during that time of newness. Since then they have grown tremendously in the Lord and have had a marriage ministry for the last 14 years doing seminars and teaching on marriage through various venues. We were honored when they asked us to help them pastor a new church plant in North Augusta, South Carolina. We have accepted and will head that way at the end of the month. We are excited about this opportunity and wanted to share the news with all of you.
We are starting in their home and have about 18 people meeting there now on Sunday mornings. We also are currently looking for a facility, raising funds, and doing all the planning stuff that most of you are very familiar with in planting a church. Please keep us in mind and of course your prayers as we launch out with this church plant. We will be changing phone numbers and addresses, but you can always reach us on our email at leeandmissy@hotmail.com. We will keep you updated as much as possible and let you guys know about the church’s website once it is built.
I don’t get it!…. I mean how do we/they know? Most public restrooms will boast this ridiculous sign that says “Employees Must Wash Hands”. This one to the left is even more knee slapping. Not only does it tell you that all the employees wash their hands, they even give a six step instruction on the “how to”. Check it out…..
Step 1 – Wet
Step 2 – Soap
Step 3 – Wash for 20 seconds (this is very important…)
Step 4 – Rinse
Step 5 – Dry
Step 6 – Turn off Water With Paper Towel (also very important…)
Every time I see this kind of sign I think… Yeah Right. Employees are going to do what they want to do, and I doubt you could “make” them wash their hands. Have you ever tried to make someone wash their hands (besides kids I mean). It ain’t gonna happen. People wash their hands when they feel like washing their hands. I really think public establishments should GET REAL and change the sign. The sign should read something like this….
Have to give a shout out to Bobby Lepinay for turning me on to this clip. I think the producers have church “shopped” before and have brought it to light in the humorous rendition. It really shouldn’t be this way, but we are America… and it seems that the many options we have in this country helps to cater to the “feeling” anomaly. If it “feels right” it must be right. So many of us take this mentality as we choose things like groceries, clothes… even our spouses… Yikes!!! What if our “feeler” is wrong… then what do we do? I am glad that it’s possible to have the Holy Spirit living inside of us to help us make these life decisions… even with the food we fill our bodies with. Make no mistake. Your “feeler” don’t always work. If the Holy Spirit ain’t helpin ya. Yur just lost. Well… though I don’t endorse King of the Hill, or the way they choose a church. I do have to say it’s funny. So take this on the lighter side…. and enjoy.
As I was preparing to write the greatest birthday blog ever I was reminded of something a friend wrote not too long ago about relentless love.(Metromom, I hope you don�t mind that I am going to borrower some of your words as I don�t think that I can say it any better).Thank you, Lee, for letting me borrow your blog for the day.
Relentless Love – Are you familiar with it? It’s hard to put it into words, but I’ll try. It is the kind of love that pursues you with a determined force. It’s a selfless kind of love; the kind of love that empties its pockets to fill yours, the sacrificing love that never expects anything in return. The kind of love that empowers you and makes you believe that you’re worthy enough, capable enough to do anything you want to do.A love you can’t shake no matter what you do.It’s there accepting, welcoming, forgiving. It’s a love that makes you believe you deserve to be loved like that, even when you know you don’t. It’s the kind of love that comforts; you can relax and let out a sigh of relief just by being in its presence. It finds true joy in your success and true compassion in your sorrow. I hope that each one of you experience this kind of love in your life at some point.If you never have, let me introduce you to God (because I’m pretty sure that’s where she gets it).If I dedicated every success or accomplishment, every day to the woman who shows me this relentless love…it wouldn’t tell the half. I love you mom. I’ll never be able to tell you how much.
You are the greatest woman I have ever known and I am so blessed to have your influence in my life.HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Just wanted to shout out a big thank you to my wife Missy. We have been married 18 years and she has been a trooper. She’s been faithful, fun, steady, and just flat out a pleasure to be with. So here’s to you my love. THANK YOU!
Giraffes and Porcupines. Long necks and spots, short necks and pricklies. Our pastor, Tom Dillingham, who pastors Common Ground Church, in Tulsa, Oklahoma preached a message this past Sunday on an aspect of God. God as total creator. God as Elohim. I would of loved to been involved in the conversation when God decided to create the giraffe and the porcupine. Let’s see now… I think I will create a por-cu-pine. Of course, God didn’t use the word porcupine. We did, it’s English. Hmmm… what did God call it? What is the heavenly name for our English word “porcupine”? Ok, I got side tracked. Back to the point. What is their creative purpose? What is their creative contribution? Maybe they were just created for God to enjoy them. Whatever the case, God is Elohim. He is the total creator and the creator of you and I. We have a creative purpose. A reason to live. A reason to be here on this earth. When I see the giraffe and the porcupine, I ask, “What was God thinking?” Sometimes when I get up in the morning and look in the mirror I ask, “What was God thinking?” Well, we can ask away, but you and I were fashioned from His hands and in His image (thank God he doesn’t look like a porcupine) and we are here for His purpose. Anyway… live as tall as a giraffe and as protected as a porcupine and know that God has created you for His good pleasure.
What a moment! This shot came as a bonus to a full day of shooting. I was completing a brochure for a energy company when this shot presented itself. We decided to get our photographer to snap a shot of this guy that was doing some welding near by. We had not planned on taking any "people" photos, but threw this one in. The welder thought it was pretty cool that we were going to photograph him and willingly offered this pose. We set up some lighting and in a split second we got this shot. I was thinking about this and realized that life is just like this. Moments are all around us. Every day we have these "moment" opportunities. We must be too busy to see them because they come so infrequent. I wonder what our days, weeks, and years would be like if we just took a minute or two in the busiest part of the day to just stop and look around. I wonder what moments we would find. I wonder what moments are waiting to be discovered. Well enjoy the photo and happy moment hunting!
