My Daddy

I am sitting here typing this on my day off. I should probably be doing something more productive like cleaning my house since we do have people coming over tomorrow, but blogging is just more fun. It's a rainy day. It's been raining since I got up this morning! I got up this morning, got ready, spent some time with Jesus in the L3, and I've been trying to clean up some. Lunch is in the oven now, and thus I feel like blogging while I wait. I am sitting here reflecting on the events of last night, more specifically, my daddy.

Last night, Bryant and I attended a reception honoring my dad for his ministry at Crossgates Baptist Church for the last 10 years! Yesterday was his last official day to work there. It was so neat to see all the people gathered together to honor my dad. These were people that have volunteered to be a part of the media ministry God allowed him to start 10 years ago. I remember when it was nothing. God gave him a passion and desire to take the message of the church outside the walls of the church years ago, and the rest is history. Crossgates is now, by far, the best church TV program in our area. The ministry didn't just stop with TV either, God put it on my dad's heart to purchase a radio station a few years ago, and thus WSKM 104.3 exists today. It's a non-profit radio broadcast that plays worship music and teaching 24/7.

What I have learned from my dad as I have watched him over the past few years, is to trust God completely even when it doesn't make sense. My dad has always been a man of great faith in God. Even when people looked at him and told him he was crazy! He didn't waver in his belief that his God wanted to do incredible things through him! He even quit his job that was offering him a sweet promotion at the time, to pursue the media ministry full-time, even though there was no full-time position even available! He was hired full-time a month later! They told a story last night about a certain church service that my dad was editing for TV. He was having a hard time editing the service, because he couldn't figure out which parts to cut out. After he finished editing, he took the tape to WLBT, our local NBC affiliate station to air the next week. On his way there, his van collided with a truck which ended up colliding with an electric pole outside the TV station, causing the station to lose power. The devil, he thought, does not want me to get this tape inside! So he grabbed the tape and walked it into the station to be sure that whatever the devil was trying to stop from happening, would NOT be stopped! The following week, my dad found out that during the broadcast that aired, there had been a man ready to commit suicide with a gun to his head. In frustration and anger, he picked up the remote control at his house and threw it across the room. The remote control hit the wall causing it to turn on the TV. The Crossgates program was on the TV, and the man watched it in its entirety. Because of this incident, this man ended up not only saving his life, but he gave his life to Christ as a result! A story that can only be explained by our amazing God!!

Both of my parents poured their heart into serving God through Crossgates Baptist Church. My mom was "Ms. Crossgates" for about 8 years. She basically did everything but preach! Her title was Admin to the Senior Pastor, but she was much more than that! While her time there ended somewhat unfairly, I am so proud of both my parents and all they accomplished there! It's weird to think that my family won't have any more ties to the church that they have been a part of since 1988, but I'm excited about what God has in store for them in the next season of their lives! I'm also excited that they will be able to experience God in new and exciting ways than what their former church offered. God is so good and His work is a kingdom thing!

To find out more about dad and his work, you can visit http://www.vimeo.com/toddsreel.