Fish On!

Posted on May 27th, 2005 in Cool Stuff, Family, General by Fred

Hey Ya’ll,

I’m writing this from my hotel room in Dallas, TX … out on a business trip visiting some clients (and prospective clients) for our hosting company ….

My Dad and older brothers try to go fishing together every year … it’s sort of a “father sons” thing, and it’s always a blast. This year we had an unfortunate issue where the younger of my older brothers, Rob, couldn’t get off work (sorry, bro!) … so it was just going to be my Dad and my oldest brother, Billy. Since it wasn’t just “Father and Sons” anymore, we invited some other folks - my cousin John (the mostest awesome video/TV guy on the planet) and my pastor, Dan Harris, of Christian Renewal Church, St. Simons.

Allz I can say is “fish on” … we killed them. We chartered a boat off of Tybee Island, GA and went bottom fishing. We almost didn’t make it out - the seas were very rough (4-6 ft) but things settled down after a bit. We limited out on snapper - red snapper and vermillion (we call’em “B-Liners”) and caught some shark and a big grouper as well.

Towards the end of the day, we fished with some “live bait” on the bottom for the “big ones” - I was pumped to be the grand price winner - I landed a big 31-pound red snapper (see below) … it was one of the biggest the captain of the charter boat had ever seen!

So, here is my fishing post and pictures - nobody can have a catch that great and not brag a bit, LOL!

For the Kingdom,
Fred

The 3 Big Ones:
3 big fish

The Catch - 160+ pounds altogether:
the catch

Worship Under The Stars

Posted on May 11th, 2005 in Faith, Music, Worship Under The Stars by Fred

Hey Ya’ll -

Long time no blog … mainly, due to the fact that I spent all of last week on VACATION! Joy and I left the kids at my parents (Me-Ma and Pa-Pa) in McRae, GA and headed up to Myrtle Beach, SC for 6 whole days of R&R … we missed the kids but sure did enjoy the peace and quiet!

While on vacation, I woke up at 4:00 AM with an old vision racing through my mind - a dream I’ve had for a few years - to produce an outdoor worship concert where I’d lead worship with a team of great musicians and singers. I’ve thought about it off and on for a couple of years but never moved on it … until this day on vacation - and I felt the Lord say “It’s time”.

So now, “Worship Under The Stars” has been formed and everything seems to be falling into place. Keep updated here on the blog for more info as it progresses.

The first hurdle to jump was getting the venue. My first choice was to use the big amphitheater on Jekyll Island - what better place to have a worship concert!? I started praying for God to lead me to the right people and to have favor with them … and I felt impressed to look at the Jekyll Island Authority’s webpage … to my surprise, one of the contacts was Kevin Udell … the father of one of my handful of piano students. Moments later, Kevin walks in with his daughter. I mention it to him and he says “funny, we just had staff meeting and were talking about how we could use the amphiteater more, etc.”. By the end of the next day, the venue is secured and the Jekyll Island Authority was so excited about the event that they pledged to help in any way necessary!

It’s been a while since I’ve been over to the Jekyll Island Amphitheater … Valdosta State University usually uses the venue all summer long with broadway plays and theater stuff produced by their drama/theater department. This is the first summer in ages that VSU hasn’t used the venue. It can seat well over 1,000 people and it has a huge stage. The entrance takes you down a wooded path and into the theater - it’s out in the middle of the woods on a beautiful coastal island off the beach. I took a drive to check it out yesterday and took a few pics … see below.
Entrance to Jekyll Island AmphitheaterJekyll Island AmphitheaterJekyll Island Amphitheater, Top viewStage View, Jekyll Island Amphitheater

At any case, things are shaping up - I’m forming the band, singers, and the support teams. I hope to secure a lighting crew, video crew, and sound engineers to produce a full audio CD and video DVD of the evening. I’m still waiting on confirmation from the Jekyll Island authority, but the initial date is either Friday or Saturday, Sept 9, 10.

Other than sharing the vision with you, all I can ask for now is PRAYER. LOTS OF PRAYER. Pray for wisdom and guidance and for the rest of the “puzzle pieces” to come together. Pray for the teams we’ll be forming - marketing, advertising, church-relations, media, etc. Pray for perfect weather before, during, and after the event (yeah, it’s the start of hurricane season!).

Until I have more info ….
For the Kingdom,
Fred