FredMcKinnon.Com

Hey Ya’ll,

- Many of you know him on Twitter as @recreate
- Many of you know him as the guy who hosts the “re:create” conference in TN
- Many of you know him as the guy who does the “Lifework 2.0” seminars.
- Many of you know him as an author, an artist, an entrepreneur, a mountain climber, a husband, dad, worship guy.
- Many of you know him as the guy who called out Perry Noble last week.  (haha)|
- Many of you know him as a mentor and life coach.
- Everyone knows him as the best customer at Merridee’s in Franklin, TN..

Well …

I know him as an inspiring man, full of passion for Christ and His Kingdom, a man whose eyes sparkle with vision and hope, and best of all, a man who has seemingly undressed himself of the layers of religiosity and legalism that so often cover a person who has been involved in ministry for decades.

This man is Randy Elrod.

I met Randy for the first time at re:create this year.  It was one of those moments where you feel an instant bond, a spiritual connection.  I could “so relate” to this man. I remember pulling Randy aside and saying “Randy, I’d love to spend some time with you.  I don’t need to confess some deep, secret sins, though I know it would be safe to do so.  I’ve just got this constant battle of ministry, life, and entrepreneur blood going on and I can’t make it stop, and I know I’ll never be successful without getting some outside help and focus”.  Half way through my sentence, Randy’s eyes got big, a few more sparkles started flashing in them, and his head began to nod with am emphatic “yes – yes, I can help you, I know what you are feeling”.

So, what do you do when a man who knows everybody, and that everybody knows, offers a day of mentoring?  You book it fast.  You do what it takes to make it happen.

TODAY IS MY DAY.  Pray for us.  Pray for me.

Hey Everyone,

What a great start to “FreePlay Friday”.  Joy has been after me to be more proactive in creating family traditions.  Not a bad idea, right?  Any other wives reading this who keep wishing that?  Joy’s been a great encourager, and she really has been the one to lead here, for which I’m both ashamed, and grateful.

Family Time

So, we kicked off our first (of hopefully, many) “Friday Breakfast” dates.  We all packed in the car and drove to our favorite breakfast spot, “Sweet Mamas” on St. Simons Island.  I didn’t wake up as early as we’d planned, so we were a bit rushed and really didn’t get to make “quality time” out of it, but I think if we are consistent on this, it will mean a lot to the kids.  I had the chocolate cheese danish and pork pops with coffee.  Joy had some yucky looking egg pie stuff.  JM and Will both had the chocolate cheese danish, and Rebekah and Andrew each had a chocolate donut.  Healthy, huh?

We dropped JM and Will off at school, and Joy’s off to get a haircut … Bekah and Andrew are at the brother/sister-in-law’s house.  I didn’t rush to get upstairs to my home office this morning – I spent the last thirty minutes finishing up “Quiet Strength” - “The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life“, by Super Bowl winning coach (now retired), Tony Dungy.

Can I just say this was one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had in a long time.  If you are a football fan, you’d love this book.  Read about trades, drafts, the pains of winning and losing  – both in football, and in the loss of their son, Jamie.  This book will provide enjoyable reading and will quietly challenge your leadership as a father, role model, and Christian at the same time.

Kudos and thanks to my friends Deane and Dana for giving this to me on my birthday last November.  Yeah, it takes that long for me to read through most books.  It was worth it.

Now I’m in the process of planning something special for Spring Break.  Last year we hung around St. Simons and we found ourselves just doing the “same ole”.  I’m learning more and more that these times with kids, though demanding and crazy most of the times, are precious and won’t be here forever.  I’m determined to make more of that time, so we’re checking out some “get away” cabins up in the North Georgia Mountains.  For those of you who read my blog that have kids – please … BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT MAKING MEMORIES.

Prayer

Please continue to pray for my friend Will Pufall who is fighting for his life in the hospital in Pensacola, FL.  (see yesterday’s emergency prayer post) They don’t know what is wrong with him, and have called in an “infectious disease” specialist.  Pastor Bobby Lepinay (Will’s pastor, boss, and my friend) is updating his blog several times a day.

Highest Praise

I’ll devote a full blog with more information to this shortly, but those who follow me on Twitter have seen a few posts about my relaunching HighestPraise.Com, my original site for my company.  It’s been neglected for some time, but I’m re-working it from a fully static .html site to a dynamic site driven by WordPress.  The main focus of HighestPraise.Com is to provide resources, specifically – original praise and worship songs from HPP-Published writers to the Body of Christ.  There is still a lot of work to be done, but I’d be grateful for your visit, RSS-subscribe, email-subscribe (Free Giveaway every month!), and support over there.

Comment and Check-In

OK – As always, it’s “check-in” time … for those who are reading, please leave a comment, check-in, let me know about your weekend plans, who you are, and where you’re hiding!  (oh yeah, I’m trying out the Disqus comment system now!)

So yeah, I had a card …. I bought little boxes of chocolate candy for each of the kids … funny thing is, Joy got the exact same boxes (Spiderman, Sponge Bob, etc) for the same kids.  I guess we know our kids well.

My impromptu moment with Joy was the best, though.

She retreated off to my studio this morning to have some “quiet time” – read her Bible, and do some of her homework for a Bible Study she’s involved with.  I’m downstairs getting the kids breakfast and stuff.

Then I remember – I can access (and control) my studio Mac Pro from my MacBook Pro (laptop). (thanks to LogMeIn.Com) I’ve got Lappie down here on the bar in the kitchen …. so I connect to the upstairs studio computer, and launch Text Edit, maximize the notepad, choose a big ole’, bold font and type

“Dearest Joy, Happy Valentines Day, I Love You!
Will You Be My Valentine”?

Then I open iTunes on the studio computer and find one of “our songs”  …. THE song …
“Love of My Life” by Sammy Kershaw

I click play, and cross my fingers that the volume is turned up in my studio.

If all goes as planned, Joy is just sitting there doing her Bible Study when out of nowhere, “You are the love of my life” starts playing and she looks up to see the note filling up the screen on the studio monitor.

Guess what?

WORKED LIKE A CHARM!

Hey Everybody,

Today is “freeplay friday” – anything goes … let’s hear what’s on your mind today.

Rebekah (my 5-yr old) has suffered from the flu all week.  We’ve been washing hands and “Germ-X” rubbing like crazy, trying to protect the rest of the clan.  Andrew (the 2-yr old) came down with it last night.  He’s running fever, but outside in the backyard playing – so he doesn’t know he’s sick!

Joy and I have a babysitter set for Valentines Today (tomorrow night) … if we still have fever and sickness going around I doubt we’ll have her over, though.  Thought we’d try “Sal’s Pizzeria”, a new place here on SSI.

What are your plans for the big ole’ Valentines Day?

“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” (Proverbs 31: 10)

Today is my wife’s birthday.  Joy is 39, and she is beyond amazing.  She’s an incredible woman, a wonderful mom of 4, she loves Jesus, she is a passionate worshiper (and oh, I love that), and I think she’s the most gorgeous chick in the universe.

This morning, she’s out with a few girlfriends eating her favorite pancakes at Sandcastle.  (yes, she’s breaking that 21-day fast early for her birthday, and I don’t blame her!)  Our church is having a prayer conference this weekend, so we’ll be @ SSCC tonight (Friday) and Saturday (AM).  She says she wants to go shopping Saturday afternoon, and then Sunday night we’ll all be done with our 21-day fast and we’re planning on feasting with some friends.

Joy doesn’t blog … she doesn’t FaceBook … she doesn’t Twitter … so, if you’d like to leave her a birthday wish, just leave it right here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!