Alaska

Before I begin to share my heart regarding Alaska, there are two things that should be kept in mind while you read this.  First off, I’m writing this post at 4:15 in the morning as I’ve been up since 2:30 this morning due to a minor illness.  This post may end up taking me longer than one sitting for me, so bear with me as I’ll do my best to be as alert and seamless as possible.  The other thing I wanted to let you know of is that I had a decent start to this post a few days prior…but I lost all my work due to a forgotten step that I failed to take to save all my work.  So, what I’ll do for you is give you this link:  It is a blog post from a while back that explains how I got involved in aviation in the first place.

A few years ago, as I sought the Lord as to what He would ultimately have for me to do for His glory and His kingdom, I prayed that God would allow me to work in the aviation field as an avenue for ministry in my life.  After all, I don’t think it was an accident that I received a college degree in Christian Ministries in the first place.  It was at that time that I started looking into the idea of bush piloting.  It looked quite exciting to me and the idea of assisting those in need in remote areas of the world was also quite appealing.  As I did further research on bush piloting, I was drawn to the state of Alaska and its challenges.  Yes, the state has a couple of decent urban areas within its borders (Anchorage and Fairbanks), but there are many areas of the state where poverty is prevalent, roads are few, and winters are bitter cold.  What made this state especially stand out for me, though, is the fact that it is the least churched state in the U.S.–with most of its residents being either Catholic, Mormon or Eastern Orthodox.

It was at that time that I prayed that God would give me a desire and a love for the people of Alaska.  Shortly afterwards, Shawna and I sat down and began a ten-year plan of moving to Alaska.  It did seem like a daunting task at first.  After all, the idea of moving out of the state of Georgia would be a huge step out of my comfort zone.  Plus, I didn’t know if it was really God’s plan for me to move there in the first place.

A few months ago, I started to reconnect with an old friend of mine from high school.  He and his family attend a large church in the metro Atlanta area called Cross Pointe Church.  What caught my eye regarding this church, as I visited their YouTube page, is that the church takes yearly summer mission trips to Alaska.  It was at that point that God really started to get my attention and I believe that He is starting to open some doors for me to go.  I’m not sure how soon I’m supposed to go to Alaska on a permanent basis…but my journey to Alaska continues this summer as I’ve signed up to join a missions group from Cross Pointe to assist a missionary aviation ministry in Soldotna in August.  The people that I’ve met regarding the trip have been warm to our family and enthusiastic about my passions for Alaska.

In closing, I’m not exactly sure how things will work out overall.  I’m not expecting to know anyways.  However, I know that God is in control and that He will guide us…yes, my whole family and not just me…as we continue to connect with His heart and His Holy Spirit.  Please pray for us during this time.  My first meeting with the Alaska missions group is in two weeks.  Hopefully, I’ll have more information to share after the meeting.  In the meantime, pray for God to send laborers into the harvest field of Alaska.  I do believe that He has a love for that state and that He has a plan for those who will work in that state.

Yes, Alaska is a cold state…and I know I may seem crazy in starting this expedition.  But, I believe in a God who works in mysterious ways…to show His love to all people and to bring glory to His kingdom.

Thanks for your time and your prayers for me and my family.  God bless you.

The Lord DOES Provide….

There is simply no question or doubt about it…we serve a mighty God!

I’d like to take a few minutes to share with you a little testimony of how God has provided for our family in a way that only He can do.  I will mention that I have no plans to reveal the other individual’s identity out of respect for his privacy, but let’s just say that this gentleman was truly a blessing sent by God himself.

Not long ago, a need came up for our family to have a car.  The car that we originally had was a good car, but many mechanical problems arose at once and we weren’t sure if it was feasible for us to get it fixed.  Eventually, the car was unusable, so my wife and I started to pray for direction and provision for us to either have the car fixed or to have it replaced with a new car.  Throughout the summer, we were only able to use one other car between my wife and I.  Obviously, it meant sacrifices and inconveniences that my wife and I had to experience throughout the summer…and when I have to work 45 minutes away and she with two energetic kids, it wasn’t easy either way.

Last week, a gentleman approached me about a 1997 Jeep Cherokee that he was going to sell as he had recently inherited a newer vehicle from an older relative.  He told me that he was willing to sell it for about $1800, but was also willing to work with us on financing, saying that “money is no object”.  After further discussion, I told the gentleman that we would seriously consider the offer after thought and prayer.

After my wife and I had discussed the option and prayed about it, we were interested in the offer…but we were also praying that he would consider selling the Jeep at a lower price.  I called the gentleman this past Monday and arranged a time for the two of us to meet on the following day.  That day, we met at the paint store where I work and we began the transfer of paperwork from his possession to mine.  As we finished up, he asked me to sit down and said something to me that I would never forget:

“Chris, when you signed the title, the Jeep became yours….no money necessary.”

I was in absolute shock….God came through for us yet again!!!

My wife was overwhelmed with joy and emotion upon hearing the news.  My parents were in a state of shock.  Our prayers were answered above and beyond what we had asked for!

I conclude this post with some encouragement:  Don’t be afraid to ask God.  God is able to give His children what we need…and what we desire…above and beyond what we could ever ask or even think to ask.  Sometimes, what He does for us may not make much sense at first, but when you look at the big picture, God works in all things to the point that all that we can do is to give Him the glory…and He’ll be more than happy to receive our praises to Him.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

A Positive Spin On Tech Failures….

“Better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.” (Proverbs 17:1 NKJV)

I’ll be really honest: It isn’t very often that I get the notion to blog these days. I guess with the busyness of the summer season at my job at the paint store, I find it much easier to take it easy during the evenings than taking the initiative to blog. Plus, when you discover that your Internet service has been disabled for the evening, then anything related to technology goes out the window.

Yet, here I am blogging…on my phone, believe it or not…because of something that has inspired and challenged my heart.

When I had discovered that the Internet would be down for the remainder of the evening, I sat down and began to search through the Scriptures regarding the word “quiet”. The verse I found in Proverbs 17 is a great example of how God can minister to our hearts in quietness and solitude.

Now, don’t get me wrong…I think that technology is a great thing. Yet, I do get reminded on occasion of what technology can do for us in both positive and negative ways. We live in a society that thrives on technology. However, we can allow technology to create so much more confusion…more “noise”, shall I say…than what we originally intended. This can ultimately lead to tension, stress, anger…even strife.

Sometimes, when we are living in such a technology-driven society, we can easily get distracted by all the “noise” that surrounds us that prevents us from a genuine walk with God. Strife is one way that the devil can use to separate us from the love of Jesus Christ.

If you find yourself getting distracted with all the noise that technology offers…enough to separate you from God…it’s time to turn off technology, enter into a place of solitude, and find the love and peace that can only come from Jesus Christ.

Get disconnected with the world…and get reconnected with God!

“The LORD your God is with you,  He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love,  He will rejoice over you with singing.”  (Zephaniah 3:17 NIV)

Nature is Calling….Someone Has To Answer It!

Hey, sorry for the lack of updates on the photo headers as of late.  I thought you would like the newest photo that I recently took a few weeks ago during our family trip to the Greenville Zoo.  Hope you like!

Cleaning the Bird Poop….

When I first started this blog, I had named it “Hope, Households & Hockey Pucks” because I love God, my family and hockey….yes, in that order…and I thought I could write about the things that I love.  However, I have tried to stay away from the hockey aspect in my blog because I didn’t want my blog to be all about hockey.

Yes, the Stanley Cup playoffs, which start this week, does have my attention to a great degree.  I love postseason hockey regardless of who is in or not.  Now there are plenty of blogs and articles related to this year’s postseason….certainly, I don’t need to add to the cornucopia of opinions on who will win this year’s hardware.  However, I do want to share my feelings on one particular franchise who missed out on the playoffs again this year:

Apparently, this offseason happens to be spring cleaning time for the Atlanta Thrashers.

After another season without a taste of the postseason, the Thrashers made wholesale changes to the structure of the front office staff.  They promoted Don Waddell to the office of President, making him responsible for the business operations of the team.  The Thrashers also promoted Rick Dudley to the office of General Manager, making him responsible for the actual hockey operations.  Finally, the team relieved the entire coaching staff….including head coach John Anderson….of their duties after roughly just two seasons.

I have been a loyal follower of the Atlanta Thrashers for the ten seasons that they have been in existence.  Sadly, I have been unable to attend more Thrasher games on a regular basis due to logistics (i.e. distance from home), but have always tried to keep up with their progress on a daily basis.

Having said all that, I do believe that this team needs some major help…a fresh vision…and Rick Dudley could actually be the visionary that puts this team back on the right track.

His previous successes in Tampa Bay, Ottawa and Chicago could give longsuffering fans in Atlanta the encouragement they need, but they’ll want much more than encouragement.  They want a winner.

Waddell is no longer responsible for making the choices that shape the team, itself.  He believed in this team to the point that he was willing to chain himself to the sinking franchise.  However, after ten years, the evidence of a stable, successful franchise under his watch was severely lacking.  At some point, when you know that you’re just not cutting it, sometimes you have to check your pride at the door and step aside for someone else to mold the team.

The coaching staff?  Well, two years is a very short time to get established on a NHL franchise.  However, when one of your veteran players questions your system, then you start to wonder what kind of foundation is being laid out.  I do like John Anderson and was very supportive of his hiring two years ago, but it’s time to bring some experience back behind the bench.

I had the opportunity to ask Mark Bradley, sports writer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, to see if any possible coaching candidates have already surfaced.  His response:  “I listened to Dudley’s teleconference…he wouldn’t give specifics, as you’d expect. But he did say that with a young team, which the Thrashers have, teaching is essential.”  (You can see my question and his response in the comments section of his blog post here.)  I agree on the teaching aspect, but a great teacher is one who has had plenty of previous experience in his coaching career to fall back on at anytime.

So far, some of the coaching candidates already being mentioned include Craig MacTavish, Ken Hitchcock & Michel Therrien.  One blogger suggested John Stevens, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers, but he seems like he’s still somewhat wet behind the ears to be that great of a teacher.

Another name that has recently popped up is somewhat of a surprise simply because of his previous involvement with the Thrashers:  Bob Hartley.

As far as I’m concerned, I loved Hartley when he coached the team from 2003-2007.  He is a great teacher and has plenty of experience (and success) from his days both in the junior leagues and as coach of both the Thrashers and the Colorado Avalanche.  Today, he is a well-respected hockey analyst for the french-speaking RDS cable channel.  In my opinion, despite starting the 2007-08 season 0-6, Hartley should not have been fired as coach of the Atlanta Thrashers.  Jeff Schultz, another columnist for the AJC, maintains that the players in the locker room tuned him out and were responsible for the slow start that year…to which I wholeheartedly agree.  Do I see Hartley return behind Atlanta’s bench?  I seriously doubt it, but would highly recommend him to any NHL coaching post available.  He’s been away for too long and would be an excellent asset to any team needing the leadership that he brings.

Obviously, I did have a lot on my mind in regards to the state of the Thrashers….and I do appreciate your willingness to bear through this post (a.k.a. rant).  As far as I’m concerned, the 2009-10 season is over and I’m willing to let it go as the Stanley Cup playoffs take place over the next several weeks.  The beginning of the 2010-11 season does not start until the month of October.  The Thrashers have plenty of time to get their house in order before then.

Let’s hope that these changes are a step in the right direction towards a cleaner house.

The Simplicity of the Season….

An overbooked motel.  A run-down animal shelter.  A wooden feeding trough.

All this to set the stage for the greatest evidence of redemption in the history of mankind.

My, how times have changed.

To Christians (myself included), sometimes the Christmas story seems so routine that it becomes an afterthought.  After all, the world bombards us with commercial and materialistic messages that come at us during this time of the year.  The idea of saying “Merry Christmas” is almost like walking around on eggshells, not wanting to offend anyone within the sound of our voices.  Stress levels reach an all-time high among even the most optimistic of people…just because we want to please everyone during the holiday season.

Christmas has become too complicated!

And, yet, the reason for the season came to us in the simplest of ways.

Christ wasn’t born in a four-star hotel.  Heck, he couldn’t even come to us at the local inn in the town of Bethlehem.  The “NO VACANCY” sign was lit.

So, Mary and Joseph stayed in a run-down animal shelter filled with horses, donkeys, chickens…a petting zoo of sorts.

There, the Son of God came upon this earth and spent His first few days here on this earth resting in a wooden feeding trough.  No gold-plated, diamond-encrusted crib was around.  This wasn’t necessarily about a little king looking good while sleeping.  This was simply a place of rest…because it was handy and available…for a Savior.

Political correctness wasn’t even considered.

And the birth announcement?  Only some shepherds and a few wise men got word of the blessed event from angels and a single star.

No commercials.  No media.  Not a single phone jack around for internet purposes.

Did Mary feel any stress?  Based on this passage found in Luke 2, I highly doubt it:

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  (Luke 2:19 NIV)

If Mary had enough stress to deal with like we do today, there would hardly be any room in her heart for any kind of “treasures”.

As I conclude, I remember growing up with two acronyms that my dad taught me in my youth:  K.T.O.Y.S. and K.I.S.S.  The first stood for “Keep Track of Your Stuff”.  (Sorry, but not relevant this time.)  However, the second acronym stood for “Keep It Simple, Stupid!”  Instead of allowing the hustle and bustle of the season to complicate things, why don’t we just take the time to remember that simple act of love that God demonstrated to us long ago:  sending His Son, Jesus Christ, as a baby born in a manger.  The simplest and, yet, most perfect gift that He could give us this holiday season.

Merry Christmas!

How’s Your Ministry?

This past Saturday (yesterday) was another workday for myself and a coworker at the paint store.  The first two hours of operation on that rainy morning produced no customers & no phone calls.   I had expected a very quiet, slow day to begin with–thanks to the endless hours of precipitation falling on the Northeast Georgia terrain.  What I did not expect, however, was a nudge from God through a customer.

About an hour before closing time, while my coworker assisted a couple on a paint project, a gentleman came in to our store carrying a large, molded piece of plastic.  The gentleman was short in stature and seemed a little older than I–but not by a whole lot.  He appeared to carry a large, off-white colored piece from an automobile–almost as if it came from a door of a mini-van.  The two of us talked for a few minutes as he asked what kind of material that he could use for touch-up.  I did the best I could to assist him, still somewhat amused that he brought such a large piece in to our store.  Our conversation was friendly and, hopefully, I was able to help in offering some suggestions to what he could use for his project.

As he selected his paint and we finished the transaction, he asked me a very simple question:  How’s your ministry?

My mind raced as he asked this simple question.  Do I know him?  Where have I seen him from?  What ministry is he referring to?  Without showing any signs of being flustered, I had told him of my interests in aviation ministry that I have been seeking God regarding and studying in recent days.  He proceeded to offer me a few words of encouragement before walking out the door of our store–automobile part and paint in hand.  Even today, his visit and question still remain fresh on my mind and my heart.  Though it is possible that I will see that man again sometime down the road in my life, I felt as if God was the one who had asked me this question:  How’s your ministry?

St. Francis of Assisi is quoted to have said, “Preach the Gospel always, and if necessary, use words.”  I believe that God spoke to my heart that day not to ask about my ambitions on serving Him through the aviation field but, rather, to ask about how my life will impact those around me to the point that they see something different about me…something that will impact their own lives to seek out a relationship with Christ on their own.  Sure, Jesus does command us to go and preach His good news, but our lives MUST back up what we preach.  If we send out mixed signals, this world will get even more confused and our message will be nothing more than “white noise”.

God sent a messenger into my life to help me retain my focus on His kingdom.  Today, I ask you what He asked me:  How’s your ministry?

Tweet, Tweet!

Just wanted to let you know that I’ve joined Twitter, but I will continue to blog from time to time on here so that I won’t be a stranger to you either way. Of course, if you would like to join my Twitter “circle”, please feel free to drop me a “follow” request on my Twitter profile. In the meantime, have a safe, restful and happy Memorial Day weekend! Don’t forget to thank the ones who have served our country in the past and to pray for the ones who are overseas protecting our liberties. God bless you and may God bless America!

Good Friday

In remembrance of the ultimate sacrifice that my Lord gave in my place on this Good Friday:

Lose My Soul

This is one song that both of my kids and I enjoy listening to and singing with each time it comes up either on the radio or on my Blackberry: “Lose My Soul” by tobyMac with Kirk Franklin and Mandisa. tobyMac has been a favorite of mine since his days with dc Talk and, nowadays, my kids have really enjoyed some of his music as well. I guess there’s just something about his music and ministry that attracts people both young and old. Anyways, I hope you like…