Jun 28
-Wow, I miss blogging!
-It’s been a while now since I’ve posted a SNT. I did post a couple small things this past week.
-Here I go, wish me luck:
-Great day today. Shannon is on vacation, so I was the dude in charge today.
-Everything went smoothly, and people were excited to be at Foothills this morning.
-Great set, short, but great: All B/c of Jesus-Fee/All We Need-Hall/Oh You Bring-Hillsong United
-Oh You Bring is my new favorite song to lead, worship to, study to, listen to in the shower… ANYTHING! It just sets a mood and gets you thinking on who God is and what He does for us. Amazing song and people loved it this morning. This will be in our arsenal for a long time to come.
-My buddy Podge was supposed to play guitar this morning… instead, he was playing flu and ear infection. Boo. He’s on his way to recovery now that he’s seen the doctor today. Because of that, we went with a 3-piece today. Me, Bass, Drums. I had a BLAST… it may have sounded a bit thin, but Ron did a great job of fattening our sound up. It was cool, I’d do it again.
-Speaking of instruments, I got my new Strat this week. I traded my Gretsch G6120 for a PRS Goldtop (the story on that is coming) and a G&L S-500 Stratocaster. Daddy likey! It sounded HUGE this morning, and plays like a dream. I can see myself keeping this thing for a LONG time. And all that said… IT’S BEAUTIFUL! Click here for a pic.
-Ok, the PRS. First off, the guy shipped the PRS to the wrong zip code accidentally. Address was right, zip code wrong. So I’ve been calling to get it rerouted. It got rerouted. Everything was cool. I called Saturday (supposedly the delivery date) and the lady confirmed my address and said it would be there by 1p. Didn’t get the package by 1p. Called the FedEx people. Said everything was fine. Called back because I didn’t like that person’s answer. The second person called the actual driver and let me speak to him. The driver said everything was fine until that morning, when a lady (first employee I spoke with) called and said it was on the wrong truck and to have it changed. Long story short: It was on the truck, headed for my house on Saturday. The lady called and screwed it up. They stopped the truck and took my guitar off and sent it to Laurens, SC (about 2hrs away). Fedex doesn’t deliver on Mondays, so now I have to wait until Tuesday. Boo
-Long story huh?
-It’s gonna be good once it gets here though 
-I’ve been thinking a LOT about leadership today, had these couple thoughts: 1. The best gauge of your leadership ability is the morale and effectiveness of those who directly report to you. 2.if everyone you’re in charge of is burned out… you’re doing something wrong.
-Things are going well in Toccoa… good things happening all around!
-I love it when people stick in because the work they do is too important to not do it. That gets me FIRED UP!
-I can’t wait for the Baptism & Lake Party this Sunday at 3:30p. Click here for details!
-Going to hang with the wifey… later.
Mar 29
-First off, I didn’t do a blog post for last Sunday. It was an amazing day!
-Today at Foothills Toccoa was A BLAST!
-We had a record number of adults today… wow! Even on a weekend where it rained all day Saturday and parking lot was still pretty much a mess.
-We had a few technical issues today: Mics not being placed before the countdown started, Lights on and off in weird places, etc… HOWEVER… our technical team is amazing and I appreciate everything they do!
-My sound team came in Saturday morning and spent hours tweaking the system so we could still run fairly loud without it being ear-piercing. Wow, they’re awesome!
-From the feedback I got today, whatever they did worked, and people were engaged with the sound but not blown away by the high-end. Success!!
-Set today was: Today is the Day/Brewster – O Praise Him/Crowder – Lord I Give You My Heart/Deyo Version – Give Us Clean Hands
-I felt great about the set today, and the band played awesome.
-Our new drummer Jason plays loud… I’m gonna get him some lighter sticks.
-By the way, Jason is an amazing guy. They started coming to FCC Toccoa just a couple months ago… they’re already plugged into a life group, playing in the band, setting up sound every Saturday morning at 8a, tearing down stuff even when he’s not playing… that’s the kind of volunteers we love! This week our drummer bailed on Friday, and Jason even sat in with only 24 hours notice… SHOULD I GO ON??
-I had a band of Toccoa people, with one supplement person from Seneca. I like that. That is filling a task I was charged with when I was hired at FCC. Thanks to my people for all their help and support.
-Shannon is a great campus pastor.
-We had lunch at Bell’s in Toccoa today. Probably the best hamburger I’ve ever had.
-Be looking for a new Weight Loss Journey post tomorrow afternoon. I finally got going with that! Better late than never. (Spoiler alert: I’ve lost 13lbs in the last two weeks!)
-The baby is about to go to bed and Candice and I are gonna watch Nights in Rodanthe. Hopefully it’s not too stupid and sucky.
-Again, be watching for a WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY POST TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND MORE BLOG POSTS ALL THIS WEEK!
Mar 15
-GREAT day at Foothills!
-Had a good crowd, especially to have been a rainy day.
-My new friend Anna Taylor sang a Miley Cyrus song with us, The Climb… and nailed it.
-The funny thing is, today is the first time Anna has sang with us, so I put her on just the feature song. However, I woke up this morning with NO voice. Problem, I know. So I caught her as she walked in and put her up there for the whole set, singing melody alongside me to reinforce the vocals. SHE ROCKED THE HOUSE! People loved her, connected right away, and worshiped Jesus… even with me having little to no voice. I L-O-V-E when stuff like that happens!
-Our set today was: Forever/Tomlin – Reign in Us/Starfield – The Climb/Miley Cyrus.
-We cut a song at the last minute… it wasn’t working, vocals were straining, didn’t really go with the message, so we canned it and went with a two-song set and a feature.
-It actually worked out great that way, because Greg taught on Faithfulness this week, and Shannon had some COOL stuff to say to our campus today about the subject. He said that we should always keep our eyes on the vision on FCC, no matter if we’re in a gym, or a building, or a school, wherever. He brought it and we needed it!
-We went out to eat with an old friend today. We used to hang almost every day, and I hadn’t seen her in over three months. It was good times.
-Our friends Scott and Catherine had their second baby Friday morning… and their two year old is in the hospital for a terrible ear infection, so they’re WIPED out right now. Candice dropped the baby and I off at the house and spent the ENTIRE afternoon and most of the evening up there with them taking some of the load off. She’s good like that. We’re praying for the O’Brien family… wanna join us?
-Another big happening this week is that we have done AWAY with Abigail’s “binky” cold turkey. She’s been getting really attached to it lately, so we thought 18mo is as good a time as any to do it. It has been hell on wheels getting her to fall asleep for the last two days for naps and two nights for bed… but tonight we said our prayers, put her down, and she didn’t give a peep. Wow. Thanks Jesus for that one.
-I’m hoping to make a “half part-time” hire sometime soon for the Toccoa campus. We need it, and Sundays will be totally different because of it. Details coming…
-I brought my old Martin acoustic out of retirement today. It sounds great.
-My Tacoma acoustic (that was broken in two and completely restored 5 months ago) is coming apart again. I’m BUMMED. I’ve already started saving for a new acoustic. It will be a while, but I only wanna buy once.
-My POD X3Live sounded amazing today. What a cool little box that is!
-I’m going to bed now, but I’m STOKED about work tomorrow! I love what I get to do.
Feb 09
-First of all, I can’t BELIEVE I missed Stevie Wonder on the Grammys tonight! AHHHH!!!
-We were hanging with Scott and Catherine and Emma… which was well worth missing Stevie. I can watch the replay tomorrow.
-Foothills Toccoa went great today!
-We changed up the service order a bit, and I think I liked it better and people connected better. We did 3 songs straight at 0:00 (on the countdown) instead of breaking up the set with Welcome and Announcements. I like. We’re gonna keep it through this series, and then ask around and see what people think.
-Speaking of this series, it’s called “Revolution – The Beatles Guide to Family”
-Greg BROUGHT it today! He spoke on marriage and our responsibility to our spouse.
-We are doing a Beatles song each week that corresponds with the message. It’s challenging, but people really connect and get into it!
-The set today was: All Because of Jesus (Fee) – All We Need (Hall) – Jesus Paid it All ( Stanfill) – All You Need is Love (Beatles, Robert Walsh arrangement).
-I had a great band today that played TOGETHER! It made my job EASY.
-Shannon is doing a great job leading the people of Foothills Toccoa. He gave a little speech this morning during prayer that FIRED US UP! It was about remembering why we do what we do… loved it!
-Foothills Toccoa is a church that meets in a gym. That means we have to turn the GYM into a place for PEOPLE TO ENCOUNTER CHRIST. Another thing is, the gym is used during the week, so we have ONE DAY to do it! It’s gotta go up Saturday and come down Sunday. We have the best volunteers in the world, and their commitment to Jesus and the vision of FT is evident and inspiring.
-Did I mention I love our volunteers??
-Candice and I are thinking about a home. We’ve been cool with living in an apartment for the last 3 1/2 years (since we’ve been married). But, it seems like it may be time to make the plunge, especially since the big tax credit thing is happening now… please be praying for us.
-Also, be praying that God would lead us. We now live in Central, Candice works in Easley (30min north of Central), and I work in Seneca (30min south of Central) and Toccoa (1hr5min south of Central). It would be great to work closer to each other and closer to our jobs. Candice’s job (teacher) is pretty tight right now and schools aren’t doing much hiring… but what would be AMAZING is to move to Seneca/Westminster and for her to find a job around there. That way we could be a few minutes from work, a few minutes from each other during the day, and actually PLUGGED IN TO OUR CHURCH AND COMMUNITY. It’s a big jump, but if Candice can find a job, we’d make the move in a heartbeat!
-I just got finished doing bills for the month and I’m amazed how God has blessed us. Candice just took a pay cut and I’m only part time… but, He has given us a few extra dollars a month so we can bless people, and I LOVE IT!
-One of my favorite things to do is pour into people… emotionally, spiritually, AND FINANCIALLY!
-Tithing 10% to your local church is a mandate given by the Word of God. Just thought I’d say that.
-Offerings are anything over and above your tithe that you give to the local church or use to bless others. Just thought I’d say that.
-Jesus said that we should give all we’ve got. Just thought I’d say that.
-I’m about to crash… it’s been a long day.
-Our power bill was $45 higher than it was last month. Wow. Was your’s higher this month?
-I’m so grateful to be where I am right now in life. I’m 25, and BLESSED BEYOND BELIEF! Beautiful wife, wonderful daughter, supportive family, amazing church family, and SO MUCH MORE! I’m humbled when I think about how big God is, and how He takes care of His kids.
-You’re a child of God. How’s He taking care of you?
-I’m gonna crash. Goodnight!