I am wearing long sleeves, gloves and sometimes jackets, INSIDE my house! This is crazy and it is 40 degrees outside...what is the deal?
Friday, February 20, 2009
IT IS Freezing...
I am wearing long sleeves, gloves and sometimes jackets, INSIDE my house! This is crazy and it is 40 degrees outside...what is the deal?
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Another God Story
If you have not read "the Magic Pliers" post scroll down a bit and a enjoy. This goes right along with the amazing stories God is telling through our lives.
So Cessie has not felt good since we moved here 12 days ago. She just was not feeling right and had really nagging crumby sick days...12 in a row. It culminated Monday morning with an excruciating tooth ache...like the side of her head/jaw was going to throb out of her skull. We both were thinking, "great, here comes the laundry list of dental bills, that we cant afford right now." But, there was no avoiding it, the pain was too great so we had to 'bite the bullet' (excuse the pun) and send Cessie to the dentist.
Cessie does her best to find a reasonably inexpensive dentist that will cut us a break on the initial exam(remember, just moved from another state, no insurance)cuz its all going on credit at this point. Meanwhile I am at home, jobless preparing for the worst.
The Diagnosis was that she had an infected tooth, an infected cavity in one of her wisdom teeth. She needed some antibiotics and to remove the tooth. The catch is that you can't just remove one wisdom tooth, you have to at least remove the top and bottom of that side, better yet remove them all.
We heard this all before cuz a year ago it was going to be over $1100 to get them removed on top of the other work she had done. (curse calcium sucking pregnancies, it is war on the teeth!) Well at this point we could only remove one set and it was going to cost $700, ouch!
There was really no other option at this point, so we scheduled it the next day...today at 11am. ....So here is where it gets good.... We prayed last night and this morning that God would watch over all of this from the finances to the surgery, all the kids prayed and we went forward believing that I would get a job and things would be fine.
Cessie gets in the chair and proceeds to get her 2 wisdom teeth pulled on the left side of her mouth and as they finished one of the dentists came into the room and said that they talked about it and decided to do a SPECIAL TODAY ONLY, GET 2 WISDOM TEETH PULLED GET THE OTHER 2 PULLED FOR FREE! The special only applied to Pregnant women who had an 11am apointment. They totally blessed us and saved us several hundred dollars...We didn't offer a sob story to manipulate the situation, they just decided that we deserved a huge discount. On top of that Cessie said (almost in tear at this point) that they were the nicest, most helpful, most accomidating group of professionals she had ever experienced.
So God keeps amazing us with His favor and Greenville, NC keeps impressing us with the great people here.
Grace = getting what you don't deserve...we are soaked in grace, praise God!
So Cessie has not felt good since we moved here 12 days ago. She just was not feeling right and had really nagging crumby sick days...12 in a row. It culminated Monday morning with an excruciating tooth ache...like the side of her head/jaw was going to throb out of her skull. We both were thinking, "great, here comes the laundry list of dental bills, that we cant afford right now." But, there was no avoiding it, the pain was too great so we had to 'bite the bullet' (excuse the pun) and send Cessie to the dentist.
Cessie does her best to find a reasonably inexpensive dentist that will cut us a break on the initial exam(remember, just moved from another state, no insurance)cuz its all going on credit at this point. Meanwhile I am at home, jobless preparing for the worst.
The Diagnosis was that she had an infected tooth, an infected cavity in one of her wisdom teeth. She needed some antibiotics and to remove the tooth. The catch is that you can't just remove one wisdom tooth, you have to at least remove the top and bottom of that side, better yet remove them all.
We heard this all before cuz a year ago it was going to be over $1100 to get them removed on top of the other work she had done. (curse calcium sucking pregnancies, it is war on the teeth!) Well at this point we could only remove one set and it was going to cost $700, ouch!
There was really no other option at this point, so we scheduled it the next day...today at 11am. ....So here is where it gets good.... We prayed last night and this morning that God would watch over all of this from the finances to the surgery, all the kids prayed and we went forward believing that I would get a job and things would be fine.
Cessie gets in the chair and proceeds to get her 2 wisdom teeth pulled on the left side of her mouth and as they finished one of the dentists came into the room and said that they talked about it and decided to do a SPECIAL TODAY ONLY, GET 2 WISDOM TEETH PULLED GET THE OTHER 2 PULLED FOR FREE! The special only applied to Pregnant women who had an 11am apointment. They totally blessed us and saved us several hundred dollars...We didn't offer a sob story to manipulate the situation, they just decided that we deserved a huge discount. On top of that Cessie said (almost in tear at this point) that they were the nicest, most helpful, most accomidating group of professionals she had ever experienced.
So God keeps amazing us with His favor and Greenville, NC keeps impressing us with the great people here.
Grace = getting what you don't deserve...we are soaked in grace, praise God!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
My First official Sunday @ Discovery
Jason is the lead pastor here and a long time friend...almost 10 years...wait I think it has been 10 years this year...yikes. Well he gave me a chance 10 years ago to minister to students in his student ministry at KABC. I was a goofball, 19-20 year old who was very green and unfamiliar with church life and how to "do" ministry. Jason took me under his wing..errr...put up with me because I wouldn't stop showing up Wednesdays at around 2pm and leave for home around 10.
I dont know what got into him lately, but he heard my ideas and read my ministry plan over a year ago and felt like God has something instore for our ministries...TOGETHER. Old friends reunited? or maybe a green 29-30 year old tagging along to learn a thing or two about building ministry from the ground-up. I'd like to think both...I think he agrees too...I definitly know Lora (his wife) loves me around, being a bad influence on her kids and teaching them lots of sneaky annoying tricks (Luv ya Lora!:))
Jason gave us the week off, since we moved in Thurs, and where frazzled and the kids were sick...actually he is awesome and said that he just wanted me to attend for a few weeks and not feel pressure to jump right in and start running things (I tend to do that).
Jason had a tough week and Sunday service was a doozy, he said the word "Homo-sexual" a number of times. That word and others tend to raise the stress level and make Sundays hard...spiritually and emotionally. My first order of business and as the new tag-a-long from Florida (yes there have been others before me...many others...if you are missing a friend they probably moved here to Greenville and go to Discovery) I plan to pray. I want to pray on Sunday mornings and get as many people (especially men) to join me. Simple but not easy, Powerful but extremly mysterious. I would love to raise the level of anticipation people feel as they enter our service, like they expect to meet with God and offer their very best to Him.
I dont know what got into him lately, but he heard my ideas and read my ministry plan over a year ago and felt like God has something instore for our ministries...TOGETHER. Old friends reunited? or maybe a green 29-30 year old tagging along to learn a thing or two about building ministry from the ground-up. I'd like to think both...I think he agrees too...I definitly know Lora (his wife) loves me around, being a bad influence on her kids and teaching them lots of sneaky annoying tricks (Luv ya Lora!:))
Jason gave us the week off, since we moved in Thurs, and where frazzled and the kids were sick...actually he is awesome and said that he just wanted me to attend for a few weeks and not feel pressure to jump right in and start running things (I tend to do that).
Jason had a tough week and Sunday service was a doozy, he said the word "Homo-sexual" a number of times. That word and others tend to raise the stress level and make Sundays hard...spiritually and emotionally. My first order of business and as the new tag-a-long from Florida (yes there have been others before me...many others...if you are missing a friend they probably moved here to Greenville and go to Discovery) I plan to pray. I want to pray on Sunday mornings and get as many people (especially men) to join me. Simple but not easy, Powerful but extremly mysterious. I would love to raise the level of anticipation people feel as they enter our service, like they expect to meet with God and offer their very best to Him.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
It felt like I was sprinting a marathon...
So much goes into an out-of-state move! I didn't realize this because this is the first time we've moved out of state. There is still so much to do and everything that was last minute yesterday is even later today...but our lights are on and the rooms are starting to look a little more normal as we clear the boxes and bags out. I am very beat, yet there is a sense of adrenaline, excitement still keeping me going, but the tank is getting low. It is like the last turn in a track race; you know, when you sprint to the finish, trying to beat your old record...yeah well no one told me it was NOT the last lap, I got a couple more to go!
I am definitely not complaining. God has been leading this whole thing (see The Magic Pliers post) and people from Discovery have already planned on bringing some meals by next week. I still have to find some part-time or full-time work, follow-up with a couple of partners who committed to support us here, write a newsletter for February, and help Cessie get the house organized...so just keep us in your prayers. We need more energy and to work efficiently, and of course to keep our eyes on Jesus!
I am definitely not complaining. God has been leading this whole thing (see The Magic Pliers post) and people from Discovery have already planned on bringing some meals by next week. I still have to find some part-time or full-time work, follow-up with a couple of partners who committed to support us here, write a newsletter for February, and help Cessie get the house organized...so just keep us in your prayers. We need more energy and to work efficiently, and of course to keep our eyes on Jesus!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
I think it's sinking in...
We had an awesome time this weekend. Saturday we had family pictures with my parents, my sister (her boyfriend Brad and their daughter Leah) and of course our little rascals...we had a photographer come to the house and setup a mini backdrop in the living room and we just had a circus in there. This is the best deal for a family picture, I will never go to a mall studio again, it was great.
Saturday night we had a little party with our boardgame friends. They gave us a great night of laughs and a very touching wall hanging thingy...they prayed for us and encouraged us. Cessie lost it...like crying and stuff lost it....it hit her that we are really doing this.
I was feeling pretty confident, until....Sunday at church. Then it hit me that we are really doing this. I cried, but not too blubbery. I think it's sinking in...we are moving to North Carolina and it is awesome
Saturday night we had a little party with our boardgame friends. They gave us a great night of laughs and a very touching wall hanging thingy...they prayed for us and encouraged us. Cessie lost it...like crying and stuff lost it....it hit her that we are really doing this.
I was feeling pretty confident, until....Sunday at church. Then it hit me that we are really doing this. I cried, but not too blubbery. I think it's sinking in...we are moving to North Carolina and it is awesome
Friday, January 23, 2009
Notable Quotables
In light of the new series at Discovery "(6? )things people hate about Christians".
One thing I hate about Christians is that they are so cliche', the same canned answers that they stole from someone else...(I am so guilty of this). Like "if you dont stand for something, you will fall for anything" or "Dear Jesus, thank you for this day...and please be with..." (guilty again daily) or "people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care". I need some more examples...
I am not opposed to the truth behind these statements but regurgitating old quips and sermon titles to give someone counsel or help someone hurting, just doesn't cut it. Many times it shows a lack of individual thought and caring. People want to see authenticity and they want to know you are listening.
I know that I use cliche's because I feel like I have to give an answer, I mean God has all the answers, I am a child of God, so I must have something to offer. What I end up doing is frustrating people with hollow advice and reinforcing bad stereotypes, like being quick to judge.
However if you must be Cliche then...come up with your own fun ones. My closest friends hear these all the time and can even finish my sentences like...
"Thursday" if you ask me when something is going to happen expect it to happen on a Thursday.
"Change your life" is something I use when trying new foods, if you have yet to taste a grand recipe from the Rice household it will "change your life".
My newest patented phrase is "Pork and Beans" in an effort not to use potty language around my kids (cuz they are catching on) I choose the phrase "pork and beans" when i am frustrated, frazzled, or freaked out...or if I smash my thumb with a hammer.
Alright you gotta share with me your favorite expressions...
One thing I hate about Christians is that they are so cliche', the same canned answers that they stole from someone else...(I am so guilty of this). Like "if you dont stand for something, you will fall for anything" or "Dear Jesus, thank you for this day...and please be with..." (guilty again daily) or "people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care". I need some more examples...
I am not opposed to the truth behind these statements but regurgitating old quips and sermon titles to give someone counsel or help someone hurting, just doesn't cut it. Many times it shows a lack of individual thought and caring. People want to see authenticity and they want to know you are listening.
I know that I use cliche's because I feel like I have to give an answer, I mean God has all the answers, I am a child of God, so I must have something to offer. What I end up doing is frustrating people with hollow advice and reinforcing bad stereotypes, like being quick to judge.
However if you must be Cliche then...come up with your own fun ones. My closest friends hear these all the time and can even finish my sentences like...
"Thursday" if you ask me when something is going to happen expect it to happen on a Thursday.
"Change your life" is something I use when trying new foods, if you have yet to taste a grand recipe from the Rice household it will "change your life".
My newest patented phrase is "Pork and Beans" in an effort not to use potty language around my kids (cuz they are catching on) I choose the phrase "pork and beans" when i am frustrated, frazzled, or freaked out...or if I smash my thumb with a hammer.
Alright you gotta share with me your favorite expressions...
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Stop the Presses!!! Who ordered Snow??
(thanks for the pic, Jon)Winter Stormwarning
Local Weather > LOCAL WEATHER ALERT for Winterville, NC (28590)
.Issued by The National Weather ServiceNewport, NC 3:40 am EST, Tue., Jan. 20, 2009
... WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EST THIS EVENING...
A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EST THIS EVENING.
LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPING OFF THE SOUTH CAROLINA COAST THIS MORNING WILL INTENSIFY AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST OFF THE NORTH CAROLINA COAST THIS AFTERNOON. RAIN... OR A MIX OF RAIN AND SNOW WILL DEVELOP EARLY THIS MORNING THEN GRADUALLY CHANGE TO SNOW BY LATE MORNING. THE SNOW WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION ARE EXPECTED TO RANGE FROM 2 TO 5 INCHES... WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE.
A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED... THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS.
I might be rethinking heading north after all...no one said anything about SNOW! I wont know what to do, I have only seen snow fall from the sky once in my life and now I'll be living in 2 to 5 inches! Please tell me it's dehydrated instant potatoe flakes, right?! Snow bunnies set my heart at ease!
Friday, January 9, 2009
House Hunters. Attack!
We searched high and low...from safaris in the wilderness to expeditions across the prairies, we found the lost treasure of Lake Titicaca (I love that lake..it makes me giggle) within the firy depths of the Urban Jungle called Ayden, NC...(dundunduuun).
God once again amazed us by getting us a house in North Carolina. We were blessed beyond our imagination the first Sunday. A newlywed couple had 2 houses, they have been trying to sell one since they got married in the spring. The market has been as bad there as it has been in Tampa and they couldn't sell it. So when we came into town, they were excited to show it to us and we were excited to see it.
It is a 1900 farmhouse in downtown Ayden, it has 22oo+ sqft, with all of the retro carpentry of an old home, but it has been completely updated. They are even leaving us their Foosball Table...and washer and dryer. When we talked about our max rent, which wasn't much, they actually beat it by 50 bucks per month! "
We left there optimistic but we still wanted to look around to see about other opportunities, that turned out to be a waste of time, because they were 200 dollars per month cheaper and 1000 square feet larger than the next best deal. I cant tell you how blessed and releaved we are, this is just more confirmation that we are on the right track. (as if we needed more).
God once again amazed us by getting us a house in North Carolina. We were blessed beyond our imagination the first Sunday. A newlywed couple had 2 houses, they have been trying to sell one since they got married in the spring. The market has been as bad there as it has been in Tampa and they couldn't sell it. So when we came into town, they were excited to show it to us and we were excited to see it.
It is a 1900 farmhouse in downtown Ayden, it has 22oo+ sqft, with all of the retro carpentry of an old home, but it has been completely updated. They are even leaving us their Foosball Table...and washer and dryer. When we talked about our max rent, which wasn't much, they actually beat it by 50 bucks per month! "
We left there optimistic but we still wanted to look around to see about other opportunities, that turned out to be a waste of time, because they were 200 dollars per month cheaper and 1000 square feet larger than the next best deal. I cant tell you how blessed and releaved we are, this is just more confirmation that we are on the right track. (as if we needed more).
Monday, January 5, 2009
The Magic Pliers
We were blessed with an extra large trailer to carry some of our house stuff to Greenville N.C. We are officially moving there to partner with Discovery Church and figured if we were driving all the way up there (12 hr drive) we might as well bring some stuff with us.
So here we are in north Florida driving down I-10, only 3 hrs into our trip when, POP!, Thud, Thud, Thud...we get a flat tire on the trailer. I see rubber pieces flying from the wheel well, so I decide to pull over right away, in the middle of nowhere.
I thought to myself that this is fairly routine, I have fixed a million tires in my day and we should be back on the road in 15 minutes. That was until I discovered the spare tire was secured to the trailer by a homemade bracket with 2 little nuts and washers. At that point I got a little frustrated because I knew that I forgot my tools at home and it would be 2 hours before AAA could help us (thanks grandpa) and at least that much time for Cessie to go to the local parts store to get me a wrench or pliers and to return safely to the middle of nowhere. I didn't want to get a ticket for abandoning the trailer so I decided to unlatch the hitch and send the wifey on a tool-searching adventure while I waited with the trailer.
Just as I had the SUV unhitched, I noticed some men on the other side of the 6 lane interstate trying to cross and coming right towards us. I was a little concerned because they looked homeless and dirty, so I told Cessie to get behind the wheel and take off if they attacked me or tried to get into the car. I was not scared but very leary and guarded.
The first man greeted me with a smile and asked if I needed some help. I told him of my tool-less dilemma and basically tried to send them on their way. Here is where the story gets interesting...After explaining my situation the guy looked puzzled and he kind of smirked. He said "That is a funny coincidence. I was walking along the side of the interstate and stumble upon these PLIERS, they were just on the side of the road. I didn't need them and really didn't want to carry them but something told me they would be useful. So here you go, these must be yours."
WHAT?! God sent a homeless, hitchhiker with black teeth and stinky clothes to give me a pair of pliers to fix my flat tire! Better yet, they helped change the tire and did most of the work to get me back on the road.
I only boast in Christ because God has done this throughout our life. We are so blessed to follow Jesus. He is interested in the seemingly little aspects of our lives. God is big, but He is oh so close.
So here we are in north Florida driving down I-10, only 3 hrs into our trip when, POP!, Thud, Thud, Thud...we get a flat tire on the trailer. I see rubber pieces flying from the wheel well, so I decide to pull over right away, in the middle of nowhere.
I thought to myself that this is fairly routine, I have fixed a million tires in my day and we should be back on the road in 15 minutes. That was until I discovered the spare tire was secured to the trailer by a homemade bracket with 2 little nuts and washers. At that point I got a little frustrated because I knew that I forgot my tools at home and it would be 2 hours before AAA could help us (thanks grandpa) and at least that much time for Cessie to go to the local parts store to get me a wrench or pliers and to return safely to the middle of nowhere. I didn't want to get a ticket for abandoning the trailer so I decided to unlatch the hitch and send the wifey on a tool-searching adventure while I waited with the trailer.
Just as I had the SUV unhitched, I noticed some men on the other side of the 6 lane interstate trying to cross and coming right towards us. I was a little concerned because they looked homeless and dirty, so I told Cessie to get behind the wheel and take off if they attacked me or tried to get into the car. I was not scared but very leary and guarded.
The first man greeted me with a smile and asked if I needed some help. I told him of my tool-less dilemma and basically tried to send them on their way. Here is where the story gets interesting...After explaining my situation the guy looked puzzled and he kind of smirked. He said "That is a funny coincidence. I was walking along the side of the interstate and stumble upon these PLIERS, they were just on the side of the road. I didn't need them and really didn't want to carry them but something told me they would be useful. So here you go, these must be yours."
WHAT?! God sent a homeless, hitchhiker with black teeth and stinky clothes to give me a pair of pliers to fix my flat tire! Better yet, they helped change the tire and did most of the work to get me back on the road.
I only boast in Christ because God has done this throughout our life. We are so blessed to follow Jesus. He is interested in the seemingly little aspects of our lives. God is big, but He is oh so close.
Friday, December 5, 2008
What happened to fall?
As an anti-global warming guy, I have to laugh at the freezing temps we are experiencing this year. It seems like we skipped fall and have been ushered quickly into winter. I want to hold onto fall as long as I can, so here are some pics to keep you thinking about Autumn.
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