Posts Tagged Church
Baby Prohaska?
Just in case you hadn’t seen the facebook status and photo I put up a day or so ago, Denise and I are going to have a baby! 
Anyone who’s been following this blog for the last few years knows how much I’ve wanted to get married and have a family of my own. It’s a really surreal thing to realize that in December of this year I’ll officially be a father. That’s a scary but exciting reality and it’s already started some of the pressure to get some things together LOL. I’m already feeling like I haven’t studied the Word as much as I should, and I haven’t been spending money like I should, etc. Even if those things were false and I’m doing fine, it’s just easy to go crazy. Denise hasn’t been feeling that great at all with her sleeping and feeling sick most of the last week and a half or so. She’s pretty much been down for the count. We don’t have a doctor yet so we need to find one ASAP.
The more we talk about Georgia the more and more our talk of it morphs into a sure thing. We’ve just started talking like it’s happening and looking at life here in NY in light of that. That puts on some more pressure since Denise will be like 7 months pregnant in October when we had planned to go. Moving with a pregnant woman will be crazy enough, but moving with a new born baby is simply impossible. If we don’t go now, we’ll never get out of here. The housing situation still isn’t known. Basically we have the possibility of getting a house to rent that’s newly remodeled without a lot of strings attached, or we’ll have to get an apartment. We’re hoping for the house but you never know how things can work out. Finding an apartment will be annoying since it’ll be a temporary fix to a bigger problem. We need three bedrooms if we hope to keep our sanity because I need a space to work, ship, etc., and we both need a place to sleep as does the baby. I’ve known some to live in the same bedroom with the baby but I feel like that’s going to be more trouble than its worth, LOL. The cost of a 3 bedroom apartment is the same as a house most of the time, so it would just be a stepping stone whatever we find. The church I’ve been researching down there we’re both really excited about and continue to be the more we think about it. It’s called Christ Reformed Church and is about 30mins away from where we’ll likely be (Snellville, GA about 30mins outside downtown Atlanta). Their doctrinal statement is amazing, they’re family integrated, and they’re size is modest and something I’m used to. I’ve already emailed the pastor and spoken to him just to put the feelers out and see what kind of response I would get. I feel really good about this place but you never know until you attend. Finding a Reformed church that is supportive of family in the way this one is isn’t common. I look forward to getting back into a congregation that is more expository in the way they preach as well.
Please pray for my grandfather who had a stroke a matter of days ago and fell in a parking lot all by himself. Nobody knew it happened and he managed to get back to his car but sat there for a few hours before anybody found him and called an ambulance. My parents just drove in from Georgia to see how my grandma is and to visit him. Pray for the salvation of my grandparents. This will be hard on my grandma and my dad especially. The last I heard an update from my mom he was very disoriented and his memory a little fuzzy. That’s a bad sign but I haven’t heard of he’s doing OK now. We’ll find out more tomorrow. Either way it’s pretty scary and we really haven’t had anything like this happen in our family for as far back as I can remember.
On tuesday Denise and I fly out to Tupelo, MS to visit the American Family Association and be at the screening for Sherwood’s new film COURAGEOUS. I’m very excited to see the film and meet up with some friends there, and make some new ones! I guess my buddy there setup some time for me on the radio with AFR’s JJ Jasper on Wednesday morning so if you’re listening in perhaps you’ll hear me? To be honest I don’t know much about it, except that I need to get up pretty early. I hope our flights are on time and that it’s low stress. I’m not big on traveling and especially flying so I just hope all goes well. Special thanks to the AFA for their generosity and for being so accommodating!
I’m also pleased to report that I finished that Roy Rogers DVD Cover. Now I need to scramble to get the other cover done before a deadline, LOL. The cover for Roy Rogers came out AWESOME, and I’m very excited to add this one on my portfolio. It’s got a very cool and rich feel to it that I love. 
Who would’ve thought after all that worrying that it would come out so great? I got it done in like two days too, just like I figured. It’s funny when I finally see what I need to do I just sprint to the finish line. Too bad parenting won’t always be that way huh? Expect some interesting posts in the future in that regard, haha! I’m reading Steve Farrar’s Anchor Man over again right now, and plan on reading quite a few books this year to prepare my heart/mind as much as I can for this beautiful gift God is giving my wife and I.
On the STANDING FIRM front, we just released the Soundtrack of the film for download on iTunes! People have already started downloading some of the songs from the film that they were asking me about, particularly the end credits song called “Overcome.” It’s a fantastic song and I listen to it all the time! God is also opening some possible doors for STANDING FIRM on DVD far beyond what we’ve seen it do already, and that blows my mind. I found myself in shock after an email last friday, but I can’t tell you right now! I’m such a tease huh? Nothing is for certain yet anyways, so it could be nothing, but time and again God has taken this movie to heights I never would’ve dreamed. Perhaps he’s planning to take it just a bit higher?
Time to hit the hay! G’night!
Uneasy Territory
Today I woke up energized and excited. I checked emails and got a few things done as quickly as I could before driving to my old house in Ransomville, NY. The window people had come recently so all the windows in our 100 year old house are now new. It was odd driving up to it and pulling in the driveway. I do miss my house in a lot of ways. I miss the familiar little town, and I miss the smell inside. It’s a mix of wood and maple. It just has that old house smell but it’s not musty. It’s just a pleasant thing that I always liked but never missed until I left longterm. I needed to grab milk from my mom (we get milk delivered in glass still…yea I know…crazy!) and some jackets I had left there, and a few other things. I got to see my dog as well! He’s getting grey on the front of his nose. It seems like we just got him a little while ago and here he is getting grey already!
I’m not sure why but my joy began to fade during the day. When I got back to my apartment I wasn’t home long since I needed to go get a new Bible down the street. I had left mine under my chair when I was waiting to walk up to the stage at the SAICFF Academy this year. I like the ESV translation. I’m not a KJV only guy, but I really only find the ESV, KJV, and the NASB to be something I would use on a regular basis. The NIV is OK but has it’s issues and the NLT, The Message, etc. are just ridiculous. I can’t stand those “translations” at all.
There’s been a bit of depression under-riding life since I got home. I know it’s only been a few days, but I just don’t feel like I fit in right now. I think SAICFF this year and the Academy, the fellowship, etc. all really opened the flood gates for me on a lot of issues. Many of them are things I’ve pondered for many years but not until now have they become so incredibly heavy on me. I’ve always wanted to homeschool my children, but the passion for it hasn’t ever been this strong. I’ve wanted to be a Godly man and a husband/father but never has it struck me in my daily thoughts as it has lately. I suppose a lot of the depression comes from the fact that not many around here seem to affirm that kind of living. Not the Godliness, there’s support for that but more just the way I think my household will run. There isn’t a lot of discipleship around here in that regard. Me and Denise have spoken many times about just how weird we’re likely going to look to everyone else around us, particularly the majority of Christian folks. I’m not trying to imply anything with that so don’t misunderstand me, but it likely our home will be very different in its approach to parenting, instruction, schooling, and the church and what role the church has in that and me and my wife’s interaction and participation within.
It’s very daunting, and coming back to NY I feel like an alien. It’s not a fun way to feel I can tell you. I really need to seek the Lord on some of these issues. They won’t become a real issue tomorrow, but I do need to seek some clear direction from God on it. My desire to be a Godly father and husband has to be my top priority. Because so many read this blog, I won’t for now speak of all that God has taught me and convicted me of recently. It’s likely to cause some backlash and I’ve already gotten some for a lot of what I post here. I’m not refusing to post it out of fear, but right now I just don’t feel equipped to handle it.
I want a peer group and a church that can disciple me in the things I find the most important, and for that to be possible I need a leadership and a community around me and my future wife that has an understanding and passion for those things. If I don’t have that, then I leave the future of my children in the hands of chance and folly. Knowing what I do, can I really keep things as they are? It’s not an easy question, and as I said not something to be answered right now. I know the answer is yes, but what to do about that yes, and when and how is to be determined and will require much prayer.
Denise and I have spoken of a few things she might be able to do after we get married as well that would allow her to work in the home. There are a few things that can be done so she can make the exact amount she currently does to keep our projected incomes the same but the ultimate goal is for me to be able to handle all of it. I want a one income household, and that will take some work but I have been for years seeking that out and pushing towards that goal. We’ll see where we end up.
I hope I’m not fooling myself here. I hope that what I’m feeling is legitimate. I feel like it is, but if I had complete confidence that was the case, I wouldn’t feel depressed. If any of you that read this could pray for clarity I would appreciate it. In the coming years this blog is probably going to change quite a bit and you’re going to see monumental changes in the content I think. I have much ahead of me and I don’t take the responsibility lightly.
Thanks for the support.
Beyond Blessed
Tonight was the screening at Niagara Frontier Bible Church (my old home church, the one I grew up in). I had a headache all day and wasn’t really looking forward to later if the headache continued. It drifted in and out, but stuck with me all day. I think today is the day this week finally caught up with me and hit me hard. Every morning I’ve gotten just under the amount of sleep I needed so I’ve gotten progressively worse every day that continues. Tonight will be the night to sleep until I feel like getting out of bed, because my body doesn’t need it anywhere near as much as my mind does. After dinner I quickly got dressed and headed to the church early to make sure things were setup right and pray with some folks. Rob, Kevin, my mom, Shawn and a few others were there. We prayed for the night and weeped quite a bit. Rob was giving the Gospel after the film and we prayed over him as well, that he would speak the words the Lord would have for him.
After we were done praying the hallway was already full of some people waiting to get in. I paced around a lot, not sure how to feel. I wasn’t really nervous I just wanted to get it started. The only thing I was nervous about was going up before the film and publicly thanking certain people for working on the film. Before you knew it, the place was pretty full, maybe 200-250 there or so. That’s a lot for our little church! Kevin got up there and welcomed everyone, and then I went up and thanked everyone for coming and pointed out Rob, Shawn, and a few others. I felt terrible though because I was forgetting people and slowly got around to thanking them, but then at the end I forgot Kevin. If you’re reading this Kevin sorry!! My head was going crazy and I had my unsaved family up front staring right at me the whole time, I was freaking out a little. I had a lot of other things I had planned to say but just wimped out and started the film, LOL.
I’m surprised I sat through the whole thing. I had expected myself to get up and leave a time or two during a lot of the parts in the film I can’t stand, but I stuck around. I can’t believe how well the film played there. I had yet to see it with an audience before, and it was a home run I think. Like three minutes into the film I heard the sniffles starting all around the room. Grown men were crying, even the guy friends of mine who’re my age. It seemed like everyone was crying at some point during the film. When funny scenes came along the laughs were very loud, much better than I expected. As I watched the film I studied every single frame wincing at every mistake, every line I wasn’t happy with, every shot that was poorly filmed or blown out. Some of the color-correction could’ve been done better, and some of the sound-mix I found some things I didn’t catch, and some music things I wish I knew about. There was a ton going through my mind. I hadn’t seen my film in a month and a half, so it was interesting getting a pretty fresh viewing of it. I’m shocked that it even works, I really am. That film is a miracle for more reasons than one. I really think that calling this film my “Flywheel” wouldn’t be an understatement at all. So much that shouldn’t work…works. The budget definitely shows it’s ugly head at times, but even regarding that the film looks more expensive than it is so I praise God for that. Overall I was absolutely thrilled with how the film was being received, and when the credits began to roll I felt like my heart was going to explode because I was waiting for the moment when people would start clapping. When they started, they didn’t stop for quite a while, lol. It was awesome!
Afterwards there were a ton of handshakes and hugs, everyone seemed very pleased and blown away by the film. I’m so incredibly thankful for all that everyone did to help bring the film together, it was a team effort. The fact that the film played that well there makes the results I read about the Costa Mesa screening even easier to believe. That’s an encouraging thought. The more positive reviews and comments come in, the less worried I am about the film being enjoyed. I think I would be comfortable showing the film to almost anyone now, and not worry too much about their response.
Some people went forward after Rob spoke, although I didn’t get to confirm if there were any souls saved that night, just a few folks that I knew of that had some junk to work through. Either way I found out that my grandparents were moved and cried which threw me for a loop. To hear that was very surprising and I’m thrilled to see what kind of doors this could open to witness to them.
Tonight was a great time of closure for this project, especially concerning my church family and those involved. Since I’ve moved on from NFBC and God is moving me to new things and has moved me to a new home church, it was a great way to end out my history with NFBC and begin anew. God is good, and he showed up in a big way tonight. He gets the Glory! Thank you Jesus.
