• Yesterday, my daughter turned 19. She insisted on inviting the whole world over to the house for a “cookout.”  Our grill is the size of a large pizza, so I insisted it needed to be changed to a potluck. Thanks to everyone who came out and brought food to share.  We had a great time and the weather was beautiful.  Skyler grilled hot dogs on the back porch while Eric kept the fire going on the front porch. Michaela received so many nice cards and gifts. She will now be preparing for her next “event.” My Dad will be taking her to Spain, Portugal and Morocco next week for her graduation “historic lesson tour” gift - his gift to each grandchild after high school graduation.  She is making me nervous with all this world traveling and making new friends everywhere.  When she invites the “whole world” to her party next year, I might need a larger house.

• Over this past weekend, we had a wonderful visit from our pastor, Dan Stallbaum from East Coast Christian Center in Merritt Island, Fl.  We had fun catching up and sharing stories about our churches and all the amazing people involved in them and all that God is doing.  We talked about our future and the crazy plans we have to bring  more people closer to God.  Pastor Dan spoke to Shoreline on Sunday morning and there were not many dry eyes in the place. After church we ate at Aj’s where the Destin Rodeo has the fish weigh ins. Dan met both Miss Destin and that crazy pirate guy at AJ’s who likes to squeeze girls as they get a picture with him, and then HE wants a tip - the nerve of that old pirate dude! Later in the day, he spoke to our volunteers at a potluck and spoke about having “IT.” He gave everyone Craig Groeschel’s new book and gave us all a good dose of wisdom - which is his strength. I usually hate potlucks and all the funky food things people bring from home with possible cat or dog hair in them.  This potluck was typical Shoreline style, with beautigul, creative food that was real yummy.
• I have been feverishly working out with my friend and trainer Mary Ann Myers.  I am starting to see results after 6 months of hard work.  Pray for me that I stick with it and get to my glorious goal!

That’s it for today. I’m off for a run on the beach and ready to get to work on some Shoreline Church business. More updates coming…

I started my 2 week “husband vacation,”  by having sushi by myself at Harbor Docks.  I really enjoyed chatting with the sushi chefs and watching the Coast Guard board boats for seemingly no good reason in the harbor.  Another cool thing was that Yoshi ( THE famous sushi chef) made my sushi tonight.

More tomorrow…

Darlene

Ps. To keep this blog party going, check out my oldest kid’s blog from today - http://calltopreserve.blogspot.com/.  It is from an interview he did with a Christian Music website about their new Cd being released this fall.  Great interview, Harbor!  You make me proud!

http://ourcircle.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/jesus-has-an-awesome-laugh/

Michaela’s blog (she is now in Bali and has begun sharing her thoughts and some pics) www.mobilelikethewind.com

Harbor’s latest acheivement has been announce at http://calltopreserve. blogspot. com/2008/06/weve-signed-with-facedown-from. html

Darlene

PS.  Since I didnt mention John or Skyler and what they are up to, I will make each of them their own blog in the next week!

I have a guest blogger today. Monica Blowes is the wife of our favorite associate pastor at Shoreline Church! She and Sam have 2 precious children, Will and Amy. I love what Monica has to share about helping out. Enjoy…

Helping Out

So I’ve come to a realization recently. Beginning to understand my role as a wife. Finally, right? I never truly understood what it meant and was actually a little offended by being described as a “helper.” In Genesis 2:18 where it says~~ The Lord God said, “it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” I just didn’t get it. It made me seem like a lesser human to be described as simply a helper. Can’t I have goals and dreams of my own? Why do I have to help him? Why isn’t he helping me? Oh, the selfishness that goes on in my head.

Anyways…what I’ve come to realize is that by being Sam’s helper, in making sure he has what he needs and that he’s taken care of, I’m making things easier for him. When things are easier for him, the less stressed he is, the less work he has to do and the more time he can spend with the family. By volunteering for jobs that he would have to do, I’m making things less complicated for him. Seriously…the guy doesn’t have a thorough understanding of cooking and recently I’ve needed to HELP him with stuff at church that involved several things that I’m passionate about. Why not join in on the fun with him and help him out. I’m not a lesser person because of it. I’m a more loving person because of it.

I’ve amped up my responsibilities by quite a bit in the past couple months and honestly, I like the work. I enjoy making phone calls for him. I enjoy emailing back and forth with brides about wedding vows and reception plans. I enjoy handling props for church on Sunday. I enjoy doing a little computer work (restricted by my serious lack of knowledge on how he does what he does) and am interested in doing more.

I’m not just a housewife/cleaning lady/chef. I’m a HELPER and I’m proud of it! I’m helping the best man I could ever possibly help to do the best job he has ever had. By helping Sam, I’ve discovered more about myself and have gotten rid of the terrible resentment that accrues in my mind when he’s working long hours. Because now, I know what is going on and how much work it actually takes. I’m a part of it.

Monica

My best bud from our previous church, Suzanne Ellis, stayed with us and we attended the wedding together. We laughed, stayed up late hours, ate great food, and talked about our children and the future. We got the opportunity to take her and Tony and Debbie Demarzo out to Crab Island, to eat at Dewey Destin, and then for a cruise through Cinco Bayou. It was fun to show them where Eric and I grew up and to proudly expose them to our little piece of paradise.

What a great pleasure it was to worship with my family at Shoreline Church, along with some members of my family at East Coast Christian Center (ECCC). Pastor Chris Johnson from ECCC led worship at Shoreline and God showed up big. Chris was just a young teen when he got involved in our youth ministry and it was rewarding to see the incredible man he has become and to see him walk in the incredible giftings God has placed in his life. I can’t even express the gratitude I have towards God and my ECCC family for their support for Shoreline Church. Just their presence in our service yesterday reminded me of mine and Eric’s great heritage in ministry and made me thankful for the people God placed in our lives during our time at ECCC.

Thank you, my East Coast Christian Center family, for coming to visit. I can’t wait to see you all again!

Darlene

Over this past weekend, our family attended Flagler College’s graduation ceremony. Our oldest son, Harbor, was in the line up. How great it was to glance back on his childhood and think about how God has prepared him all this time to embrace a future so full of adventurous possibilities

St. Augustine is such a beautiful city. We walked through the Flagler campus with great appreciation for the architecture and Florida history. I am sure that was an inspiration for him as he studied for the last 4 years. After receiving his diploma, we crowded around with other families on the busy streets in front of the college to give hugs and congratulate our graduates’ accomplishments. When we found Harbor in the crowd, everyone could sense the pride as he was holding the red leather bound diploma. Harbor opened it up for us to see. We all read “Bachelor’s Degree” as Harbor said, “I’ve been working a long time at being a bachelor. Now I’ve finally received an award for it!”

Harbor received a bachelor’s Degree of Arts and majored in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism. He loves to write and aspires to write for music magazines and hopefully one day his own book. For now, his plans are to complete the lyrics for his band’s next CD, which will be recorded sometime this summer. He will spend part of the summer in Brevard County with his band working on the project and hopefully part of the summer taking advantage of Destin’s tourist season, working as a crew member of a charter sailing vessel, taking tourists out for day and early evening sails. After the CD’s release on Facedown Records, late summer, they will tour the country - again.

Thanks to Beth Scales and her family for the beach front condo and Jay and Melissa Wachsmuth for their beautiful condo that my family vacationed at during our stay. Harbor, John, Michaela, and Skyler enjoyed some sibling rivalry surfing right out back. My dad, Eric, and I enjoyed the weekend watching them fight for waves and fight about other things, too (maybe some of that was not too enjoyable). But we all were grateful to be celebrating with Harbor, this marked time in his life.

We are so proud of him. It’s been really cool to see how God has shaped Harbor the last 4 years and to see God’s expression through his writing and his abilities. He is one cool kid - talented, kind, generous, and full of integrity and God’s character. Harbor, great job on achieving your Bachelor of Arts degree and great job on being such a good bachelor! And in the words of Doc Brown, never forget, “Your future isn’t written yet, so make it a good one!”

Darlene (Mom)

Eric and I were so excited for this young family who attends Shoreline. Jeff has been in the restaurant business for a while. It was encouraging to see God’s faithfulness to them because of their faithfulness to Him. Jeff and Dawn have been a blessing at Shoreline Church and it was great to come and eat dinner with them and see how God has blessed them back. And as usual, the food was amazing.

Dawn is a cake-maker, too. She prepared a special cake for Harbor’s graduation this weekend. Thanks, Dawn, for the Back to The Future cake!

Make sure to check out Graffiti if you have never eaten there. The atmosphere is southern artistic eclectic at its finest with local artists paintings covering the walls. I have never eaten anything there I didn’t like - the Hazel Grouper is my fave. We will actually be having a special event there in May. We will be auctioning off surfboards and skate decks painted by local artist and have a special spread of food, to raise money for the Indonesia mission that my daughter Michaela and Lindsay Barfield will be doing this summer. It’s going to be a fun event and we are grateful to Jeff for offering us such an incredible location.

Darlene

PS. The pictures were taken from my phone. GO check out Graffiti live for more vivid detail and color!

Run to win! Prepare yourself for winning! You can win the battle you are in for yourself. You can win the battle for your future and what God has called you to and what God has planned for you. But you have to train to win:

1 Corinthians 9:24 - 27
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Who are your coaches? Who encourages you? Who are the people that God has put into your life to help guide, direct, and train you for the race? Know the race you are in and what it will take to win it.

Now, when you run, you would never wear clothing that would weigh you down, or carry your belongings with you. So you wear your lightest clothing and if you want to win, you don’t take anything that would drag you down…

Hebrews 12:1
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.

What are you carrying that is weighing you down? What is slowing your progress? Throw it off. Run towards the mark - the finish line! You are almost there!!!! Don’t give up!

I know you can win. Go after the prize.
Darlene

Dance on Michaela! On to your next Adventure!