I usually try to write something light on Saturday, since most people are trying to recapture their sanity from a long workweek. I hope you enjoyed this weeks Happy People Blog Series! I loved writing it for you! Blogging is one of my favorite things to do… because I know the difference it makes for so many people everyday!
Today, I’m posting a variety of photo’s from my daughters 18th birthday celebration. As you will see, we had a highly memorable family moment!
That’s all for today… I just finished praying for everyone. Have a super Saturday! Hope to see some of you tomorrow 10am @ Destiny Family Center! With much love…
Heaven Day? What is Heaven Day? Today is my daughter “Heaven Ashlee Balsamo’s“ 18th birthday! I’m positive, I’ve never seen any person this excited about a birthday. You guys have no idea how long a list of requests I will be trying to carry out (successfully) today! God help me. lol
Here are a few of my favorite Heaven photo’s of the past few years!
**Special note: Did you see the “creeper” photo? I laugh out load whenever I see it! We were at the beach and there was this creepy guy that came help everyone burry Heaven… and I didn’t realize it at the time when I took the photo, but his was forming boobs on Heaven with the sand! Look at her face… and Coree’s face!!! Believe me, you had to be there to get the entire effect… and no, my daughter was not in any real danger. It is a story we will tell a hundred times in the future and we’ll laugh just as hard every time!
That’s all for today. I’m off to pick up 2 carmel donuts and 4 strips of crunchy bacon! lol
I just finished praying for you all. Make this a most triumphant day! With much love…
Yippeee wooooaaa! That’s how I feel every time I remember yesterdays service at Destiny Family Center and I think about how much of a difference it’s going to make for people all week long! Our worship team was unbelievable, so was everyone in the congregation… love, unity, and the spirit of worship! It felt almost like the beginning of an awakening. I honestly wish we could have spent the entire day together!
You guys should see this place right now. We’re set up for the High Seas Vacation Bible School… very fun! Check out the photos…
VBS happens Monday through Friday 6:30-9pm. Send your kids and your neighbors kids… and come see it for yourself! Please pray for our success as we aim to make a huge and lasting difference!
I’m still thinking about the sermon from yesterday morning, 4th Down & Inches To Go! Pete Baska helped me out with his football coaching expertise… a message to remember! It was so encouraging! Felt like so many people walked away with new spiritual strength!
Ok, so I just spent a few hours trying to figure out how to stream the DFC webcast from here… grrrr. Sorry, I tried my best. (smile)
Here’s a (decent) video of a phenomenal song: Jesus Culture, Show Me Your Glory
I’m out of time, gonna have to post this blog before you guys send a search party! I just finished praying for you all! Make this a most triumphant day! With much love…
This was a week of tremendous effectiveness, a week of unity, a week of love, a week of multiplication, a week of vision! On thursday night, we had the best prayer meeting of the year! It was delicious taste of heaven for everyone!
Tomorrows church service @ Destiny Family Center is going to be very powerful! Im preaching about blasting through the curses at 4th Down and Inches to go… to break into your blessing zone! Yes, it is positive, encouraging, and highly motivational… the kind of message that’ll expand your concept of God and make you want to ten times your future! So, shut up bottom dwellers; I already know how you feel about this kind of message and I’m preaching it anyway! (lol) Dear God, I can see it in a vision this morning… and I’m counting down the hours!
Today, our church (Destiny Family Center) is hosting a FREE station at the Sweet Dreams Festival in Stuarts Draft! We’re giving away free waters, soft drinks, and snacks… and we hosting a private diaper changing area. No, we will not be changing diapers… just proving a place for Dads (and Moms, lol) to work on their babies in private! Oh, and we’re having face painting and kids games!
Before sweet dreams, Emily and I are going to the Staunton Farmers Market for some tasty fresh fruits and vegetables! If it get hot enough, we’ll stop back by the house and jump in the pool a few times throughout the day!
This morning, we’re coming home. Vacation is over. As soon as I post this blog, I’m going to wash the suburban, load the trailer, drive my mother in law to Richmond and drive my family to Stuarts Draft!
I’m sad to be leaving, but I’m very happy about seeing my family and friends! I especially miss my grandmother… gonna have her over for dinner sometime this week! I miss my church family… can’t wait to see everyone tomorrow morning!
I hope you guys enjoyed the vacation photo journals. I enjoyed posting them for you! As you can see, God blessed our vacation… His love was felt throughout every second of it!
Next week, I’ll be back to spiritual blogging! I hope you’re ready for a new season of inspirational messages.
Yesterday, we went to Ocracoke Island, rented bikes and went to a hermit crab sanctuary! We ate fish taco’s on the water @ the Jolly Roger Cafe, saw the most beautiful sunset of our lives… I captured the best photo’s of this vacation!
Today, we’re going to frisco beach for the entire day… gonna surf till we drop! Tomorrow, we’re returning to our home sweet home!
I thank God for a blessed and beautiful vacation. The more time I spend with my family, the more I love and appreciate them!
I count it a huge blessing that my 19 and 17 year old kids will spend 24 hours a day with my wife and I, for 24 hours a day… and love every second of it! They seldom used their cell phones, never cried for their friends… they lived in every moment like we were their best friends!
Nobody will ever understand how much this means to me. I’ve thanked God for my family 1000 times on this vacation. Despite the relentless pressures and pains I face every single day of my life, despite the continual sacrifice… God has given me a family worth a 100 billion dollars. Selah…
Ready for yesterdays photo’s? Click on the thumbnails, then click on the medium image to get the largest version. You can click back to return to the blog.
Yesterday, Emily and I walked to the Hatteras point! It’s been closed for something like three years… and they’ve opened it to walkers only. We fed a lonely seagull with a broken wing. Took some great pictures!
Today begins the last two days of vacation: we’re going to Ocracoke for the third time, tomorrow we’re going to surf at the Frisco beach, Saturday we’re driving home, Sunday we’ll be seeing everyone at Destiny Family Center!
It’s crazy to think that after two weeks I’m still trying to get healed from so many emotional issues. I feel like a person that was told 20 years ago, he needed 7 root canals and hasn’t been back to the dentist since then. Wow, nobody will ever fully understand how much of a beating todays Pastor absorbs over time. No wonder the average Pastor only makes it 5 years in ministry. I’m having so many epiphanies on this trip… more than ever in my life. Stepping out of my life to this degree… it’s been dangerously revealing.
Im 39 now, desiring more than ever to spend my life in the face of eternity. On this trip, I’ve been asking the question, “What changes will I have to make in life and ministry order to actually fulfill the dream God gave me 10 years ago?” Not an easy question to ask.
Ready for yesterdays photo’s? Click on the thumbnails, then click on the medium image to get the largest version. You can click back to return to the blog.
That’s all for today… love you all so much! I just finished praying for your day to be great… hope it is.
Here’s a song I’ve been listening to this morning. Let it move you, the way it moves me…
Yesterday, we surfed (saw a shark), bought fudge from The Scotch Bonnet, won a bunch of stuffed animals and played air hockey at the Buxton Drive-in arcade (Emily is the world air hockey champion), ate ice cream at Uncle Eddies, fed the turtles… another beautiful vacation day!
Ready for yesterdays photo’s? Click on the thumbnails, then click on the medium image to get the largest version. You can click back to return to the blog.
I just prayed for you guys… have a most triumphant day everyone! With much love…
Had an adventurous time on Ocracoke Island yesterday! That ferry ride was unbelievable! It felt like we were in Caribbean waters!
We rented bikes again. Millie and Heaven rented a golf cart. We surfed and I caught the wave of my life (at shark feeding time)! Millie treated us to Jimmy’s Seafood Buffet for Pastor Appreciation Day (an annual tradition)! We ate so many delicious crab legs (one of my favorite foods)! Maybe the best day of our vacation so far!
Ready for yesterdays photo’s? Click on the thumbnails, then click on the medium image to get the largest version. You can click back to return to the blog.
That’s all for now… who knows what we’ll get into today! I just finished praying for my friends, wishing you a most triumphant day! With much love…
Yesterday, we surfed! So much work getting past the breaks… I thought I was going to die a few times. (lol) Really, Coree and Heaven caught a million waves… they were shocking me with their mad skills! I did only fair… caught the best wave of my life and a few others, that’s about it. One nice ride is worth the effort! Sadly, we don’t have photo’s because our camera man was surfing. I’m training Abby, so we’ll have something before the week is over… I hope. (smile)
Last night, we made fire on the beach and shark fished until 1am. No catches to report, but we had a very good time laughing at the fire. Heaven and I both saw a shooting star and then we both saw another one together! The sky was amazing!
I love my kids so much! Yesterday while we were driving off the beach, I started to cry one time when I thought about them going to college this fall. Dear God, please help me when that time comes. We are so close.
On to happier thoughts… Ryan and Danae decided to stay an extra day, so today, we’re going to back to Ocracoke Island… gonna rent bikes and tour the village again! I think Millie is renting a golf cart!
Ready for yesterdays photo’s? These fire images are BEAUTIFUL! Click on the thumbnails, then click on the medium image to get the largest version. You can click back to return to the blog.
I spent quite a bit of time praying for you everyone this morning. Especially for Joel Gunn. God is with you and He is delivering you, Joel. Make the courageous decisions and you’ll never regret it! With much love…
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