Our family had our spring/Easter pictures taken. We had an old friend of Alicia's do the pictures. She is a photographer and her name is Lindsey Lee. She has a blog as well, where she posts previews.
Anyway, she posted some pictures of our family, and WOW!!!!! THEY ARE SOOOOOO GOOD!!!! Go and check her out. I would recommend her for anything. She works out of Concord, NC but she went out and looked for different places. These pictures were taken in Salisbury, ALL her idea. She did such an amazing job and I cannot wait to see the entire set. Here's a link to her blog. Thanks Lindsey! We all had an amazing time, and I wish you the best in all your work. You did such a good job.
http://lindseyleephotography.blogspot.com/
Check it out!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
How Sweet!
My boys from Durham brought home the championship. I wrote a tribute to them.
How sweet life is! How sweet is the tangerine as it is taken from the tree.
How sweet is the apple pie as soon as it’s out of the oven.
How sweet are the candy canes at Christmas.
How sweet is getting a card in the mail.
How sweet is the smell of flowers after April showers.
How sweet is the ice cream after a summer sunset.
How sweet is a wake-up lick from Zoe and Max.
How sweet is a reach hug from Natalie!
How sweet is getting a kiss from Ali good night!
How sweet is it to see your rival fall from the NCAA to the Not Invited Tournament.
How sweet is it to see the royal blue and white flag hoisted up.
How sweet is it to see the boys from Durham cut down the net.
How sweet is it to be back on top. How sweet is it to be a Duke fanatic.
How sweet life is!
How sweet life is! How sweet is the tangerine as it is taken from the tree.
How sweet is the apple pie as soon as it’s out of the oven.
How sweet are the candy canes at Christmas.
How sweet is getting a card in the mail.
How sweet is the smell of flowers after April showers.
How sweet is the ice cream after a summer sunset.
How sweet is a wake-up lick from Zoe and Max.
How sweet is a reach hug from Natalie!
How sweet is getting a kiss from Ali good night!
How sweet is it to see your rival fall from the NCAA to the Not Invited Tournament.
How sweet is it to see the royal blue and white flag hoisted up.
How sweet is it to see the boys from Durham cut down the net.
How sweet is it to be back on top. How sweet is it to be a Duke fanatic.
How sweet life is!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
50,000 Drachmas
Around 2005, Tim and I decided to become roommates. We moved to this semi-cool apartment called Bent Tree, we even signed it that way! We clicked really well as roommates, having many common interests in movies, video games, books and outdoor activities.
There was one particular game that Tim and I became VERY addicted to. Yu-Gi-Oh! This is basically a card game where you "create" a battlefield using a set of cards that has monsters, magical spells on it. Tim got me into this game - YES I BLAME TIM!!! No, really, this game was so much fun. We spent hours upon hours creating new decks to try out against each other. A few other friends joined in but none played as much as Tim and I did. We eventually became avid collector of rare cards. They were called holo cards because they had reflections on them. We played this game consistently for about I'd say six months. At that time, Ali and I were dating. Ali of course, HATED this game. Rightfully so, there would be times when she'd come in and visit while Tim and I were playing. I didn't pay much attention her. My bad! We were just so immersed into the game. During that time, Tim worked at Target, 3rd shift. We would even agree to play in the wee hours of the morning. Tim'd get off around 4:00am and wake me up. I'd have my deck on the floor ready to go. Wow, looking back, we were REALLY into that game. Anyway, during that time, we started having bible studies about things in our lives that allow dark things into the world. Symbols that describe evil, posters of dark things with dark meanings, and so forth. Yu-Gi-Oh cards had many different symbols that described witchcraft, raising the dead (necromancy), controlling dark/light armies and having magical powers. At first, the bible studies didn't bother Tim and me. After the bible studies, we'd go home and play Yu-Gi-Oh! Lol, it's pretty funny looking back and thinking about it.
After a while, we started thinking about how much it consumed our time and that it was true, many of our cards had dark symbols on it, having dark "abilities" and how these kind of things could "open" the door to things that we couldn't see. We had also heard stories of how sometimes children would get so immersed into these games, that they would imagine themselves having these powers, having that kind of desire. We finally decided to give the game up. This was around New Year's. We had also decided we wouldn't give them away, or sell them. We would burn them. We wouldn't allow these cards contribute to someone else's addiction/desire for that kind of "power."
Glenda, whose house we often meet for our Friday night bible studies, asked us the total value of our cards. We guessed it to be at around $2,000. Yes, we collected a LOT of cards. I had one particular card valued at $60 alone and another at $40, because of how rare they were. Tim and I burned them ALL. Glenda told Tim and I that we would receive double the blessing from God for obeying.
Glenda later received a phone call from her brother, who is a pastor at Wyatt Park Baptist church in Missouri. We have a group that goes to the beach every year for a retreat, and we always rent a house RIGHT on the ocean. God has always provided funding for this, somehow. I don't think we've ever had to "raise funds" on our own other than giving money to pay for the food for that week. Anyway, Glenda's brother calls her up and tells her that he walked into the missions committee and they were talking about leftover money that they needed to clear up for the fiscal year. Gerald (Glenda's brother) tells the committee about the group that goes to the beach, so they decided to give money to help support this. They gave.....
$2,000.
Exactly $2,000 for that year's beach trip. WHOA!! God blessed our obedience and we were able to afford the perfect house for everyone to attend the beach.
A couple weeks later, I think, Gerald calls up Glenda again and tells her that the missions committee met again and they also decided to set aside $2,000 for the next year!!! DOUBLE blessing! That's God. They could have given us $500, 750, 2,500, or ANY other amount, but EXACTLY $2,000 -- the total value of our cards, and then double! Whoo.... awesome?
Here's the freaky thing. Glenda and another friend went to look at the fire pit where we burned our cards. There was only one card remaining.
CREEPY! Tim showed me a story from the bible that reminded us exactly of this event.
Acts 19:19-20 -- I encourage you to read the whole chapter so you can see the content of the story.
19. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.
20. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
Obedience begets blessing. Our group was able to go to the beach because we chose to obey. How many blessings have we missed because we didn't obey?
Have you gotten your 50,000 drachmas?
Monday, March 29, 2010
Prayer: God can respond quickly!
So Sunday morning was a rough morning for Ali and I. We had had an incredibly busy weekend, many friends coming in from out of town and our daughter, Natalie (YES Josh! I'm a dad now! April 14 was one of the proudest days of my life) was awfully fussy that morning.
I went out to move the car seat from my truck into Ali's car. Lo and behold, passenger seat had papers and stuff ALL over it from the glove compartment. There was also a hammer in there that didn't belong to us. We had our cars broken in March of '09 and quite a few things were stolen (couple of GPSs, my work laptop and some other stuff). Of course, I was pretty upset, I asked Ali to come out and look at what had happened. She looked around to see if anything were missing. Our stroller was still inside, books and a few other things were still there, my limited edition Gameboy was still there. It had me confused until.... Ali said the cashier check for daycare was missing. A cashier's check for $910. NINE-HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS. I was fuming mad.
On the way, I was thinking why do people do this? I was really upset and disgusted. I also was planning on what to do. We had a guest speaker at church that morning - Kevin Clark for our deaf worship. I was planning on dropping Ali and Natalie off at church then going back and seeing if I could put a stop to that check -- call the bank or something. I pulled up to the parking lot and told Ali what I was planning on doing. She told me that I needed to go to worship and be there for others. I was like, "NINE-HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS!!!" You all know you would have done the same! :) NINE HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS!!!! A thought suddenly popped in my head. I have to explain this thought with some background info.
In 2001, I went to SBCD (Southern Baptist Conference for the Deaf) in West Palm Beach, Florida with Ali's church - Parkwood Baptist. While at SBCD, I met this CUTE girl -- her name was Sonja. Being the young boy I was, of course, I was all woohoo for her. She wasn't a Christian. I talked with Beryl Corey (from Tennessee) about this and she encouraged me to share Christ with her. I became determined to lead her to Christ because it wasn't cool for Christians and non-Christians to date (apparently, oftentimes, I didn't agree with that of course -- I was only 17 years old! lol). During the week, I got to know her quite a bit, she shared with me some of the things that had happened in her life -- rough things. It became very apparent to me that Christ, of course, was the best option for her. On the final night of worship, she hadn't made a decision. We all gathered in church and got ready for worship but Sonja wasn't anywhere to be found. I asked everyone where she was. I checked the cafeteria, the gym and the youth worship center. I still couldn't find her. I truly became afraid and worried for her -- Beryl came up to me and I told her what was going on. She said this and I remember this as if it happened yesterday.
"You have two choices. You can choose to trust God and receive your spiritual feeding for tonight or you can go and look for her." COME ON BERYL!!!! That's not fair. We all know what the "right" answer is supposed to be. UGH. So.... I... DID NOT WANT TO STAY.... but I did. I prayed and asked God to allow His will to happen. He knew what I was looking for to happen. I told Him I was going to choose to stay. As soon as I said "amen," Sonja walked into the church. WHAT??? Ok God, you win.... thank you. Sonja received Christ that night.
So... in the parking lot while I'm fuming over the NINE HUNDRED TEN DOLLAR CASHIER CHECK...... a thought pops in my head. "You have two choices. You can choose to trust God and receive your spiritual feeding or you can go and figure out the whole check stuff." COME ON GOD!!!!!! THAT'S NOT FAIR!!! NINE HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS!!!!! UGH!! I'm like, "Ok, ok, I'll stay. You're right. I need to trust You. You'll take care of my business....... I hope.... its NINE HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS!!!!" As soon as I said "amen," Ali walks up to the passenger side of the car, looks at me through the window and says, "hey, check under the passenger seat, make sure it's not there."
YEAH!!!! YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I looked under the passenger seat and, lo behold. A cashier's check written to our daughter's daycare for NINE HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS!!!
Ok God. You win. Again.
Thank You God for this simple lesson, a reminder that obedience is expected all the time and is surely rewarded. Sometimes the rewards come later. Sometimes, its instantaneously.
But still.... did I need to have that kind of heart attack?? :)
I went out to move the car seat from my truck into Ali's car. Lo and behold, passenger seat had papers and stuff ALL over it from the glove compartment. There was also a hammer in there that didn't belong to us. We had our cars broken in March of '09 and quite a few things were stolen (couple of GPSs, my work laptop and some other stuff). Of course, I was pretty upset, I asked Ali to come out and look at what had happened. She looked around to see if anything were missing. Our stroller was still inside, books and a few other things were still there, my limited edition Gameboy was still there. It had me confused until.... Ali said the cashier check for daycare was missing. A cashier's check for $910. NINE-HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS. I was fuming mad.
On the way, I was thinking why do people do this? I was really upset and disgusted. I also was planning on what to do. We had a guest speaker at church that morning - Kevin Clark for our deaf worship. I was planning on dropping Ali and Natalie off at church then going back and seeing if I could put a stop to that check -- call the bank or something. I pulled up to the parking lot and told Ali what I was planning on doing. She told me that I needed to go to worship and be there for others. I was like, "NINE-HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS!!!" You all know you would have done the same! :) NINE HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS!!!! A thought suddenly popped in my head. I have to explain this thought with some background info.
In 2001, I went to SBCD (Southern Baptist Conference for the Deaf) in West Palm Beach, Florida with Ali's church - Parkwood Baptist. While at SBCD, I met this CUTE girl -- her name was Sonja. Being the young boy I was, of course, I was all woohoo for her. She wasn't a Christian. I talked with Beryl Corey (from Tennessee) about this and she encouraged me to share Christ with her. I became determined to lead her to Christ because it wasn't cool for Christians and non-Christians to date (apparently, oftentimes, I didn't agree with that of course -- I was only 17 years old! lol). During the week, I got to know her quite a bit, she shared with me some of the things that had happened in her life -- rough things. It became very apparent to me that Christ, of course, was the best option for her. On the final night of worship, she hadn't made a decision. We all gathered in church and got ready for worship but Sonja wasn't anywhere to be found. I asked everyone where she was. I checked the cafeteria, the gym and the youth worship center. I still couldn't find her. I truly became afraid and worried for her -- Beryl came up to me and I told her what was going on. She said this and I remember this as if it happened yesterday.
"You have two choices. You can choose to trust God and receive your spiritual feeding for tonight or you can go and look for her." COME ON BERYL!!!! That's not fair. We all know what the "right" answer is supposed to be. UGH. So.... I... DID NOT WANT TO STAY.... but I did. I prayed and asked God to allow His will to happen. He knew what I was looking for to happen. I told Him I was going to choose to stay. As soon as I said "amen," Sonja walked into the church. WHAT??? Ok God, you win.... thank you. Sonja received Christ that night.
So... in the parking lot while I'm fuming over the NINE HUNDRED TEN DOLLAR CASHIER CHECK...... a thought pops in my head. "You have two choices. You can choose to trust God and receive your spiritual feeding or you can go and figure out the whole check stuff." COME ON GOD!!!!!! THAT'S NOT FAIR!!! NINE HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS!!!!! UGH!! I'm like, "Ok, ok, I'll stay. You're right. I need to trust You. You'll take care of my business....... I hope.... its NINE HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS!!!!" As soon as I said "amen," Ali walks up to the passenger side of the car, looks at me through the window and says, "hey, check under the passenger seat, make sure it's not there."
YEAH!!!! YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. I looked under the passenger seat and, lo behold. A cashier's check written to our daughter's daycare for NINE HUNDRED TEN DOLLARS!!!
Ok God. You win. Again.
Thank You God for this simple lesson, a reminder that obedience is expected all the time and is surely rewarded. Sometimes the rewards come later. Sometimes, its instantaneously.
But still.... did I need to have that kind of heart attack?? :)
Sunday, May 17, 2009
My First Post
Hi everyone!
I was looking through several different blogs and this particular blog got me thinking. Josh Bruffey's blog - Heart-Full, Mind-Full http://mindfullheartfull.blogspot.com/ has several wonderful blogs that were actually topics of conversations I've had within recent months. I thought it was interesting how these things happened to coincide.
Today I returned home from Camp Caraway, where we had our annual Deaf Youth Retreat. This weekend was a true blessing, as it always has been, and today, I realized that there are so many tools in our world that we don't use. Blogs are one of them. Proverbs 27:17 says "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." After reading Josh's blog, I actually was "chain-linking" through so many different blogs and I was so into reading other people's thoughts and views on different things. A great blog I just read discusses the Easter Bunny and how it distracts people from the true purpose of Easter. I'm rambling. I think you will notice this as I continue to post. :)
Anyway, back on track, I decided that it would be good to have a place where I can channel things I've learned, receive feedback and thoughts from others to help enrich my contribution to God's kingdom. He has blessed me so much and I'm excited about this "endeavor" (if you will call it that...?).
My email is grippedbyhisgrace@gmail.com so if you will update this and share this blog with everyone. I truly look forward to sharing this with everyone and hearing your views on whatever we may discuss in the future.
-Frank
P.S. I'll be posting another blog soon about myself, my family -- my beautiful wife, Alicia and our new baby girl, Natalie. I'll have to see how to post pictures of us.
I was looking through several different blogs and this particular blog got me thinking. Josh Bruffey's blog - Heart-Full, Mind-Full http://mindfullheartfull.blogspot.com/ has several wonderful blogs that were actually topics of conversations I've had within recent months. I thought it was interesting how these things happened to coincide.
Today I returned home from Camp Caraway, where we had our annual Deaf Youth Retreat. This weekend was a true blessing, as it always has been, and today, I realized that there are so many tools in our world that we don't use. Blogs are one of them. Proverbs 27:17 says "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." After reading Josh's blog, I actually was "chain-linking" through so many different blogs and I was so into reading other people's thoughts and views on different things. A great blog I just read discusses the Easter Bunny and how it distracts people from the true purpose of Easter. I'm rambling. I think you will notice this as I continue to post. :)
Anyway, back on track, I decided that it would be good to have a place where I can channel things I've learned, receive feedback and thoughts from others to help enrich my contribution to God's kingdom. He has blessed me so much and I'm excited about this "endeavor" (if you will call it that...?).
My email is grippedbyhisgrace@gmail.com so if you will update this and share this blog with everyone. I truly look forward to sharing this with everyone and hearing your views on whatever we may discuss in the future.
-Frank
P.S. I'll be posting another blog soon about myself, my family -- my beautiful wife, Alicia and our new baby girl, Natalie. I'll have to see how to post pictures of us.
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