Wedding Bells!

Good Morning!

  I woke up wedding day feeling really calm. I was asked plenty of times through out that day if I was nervous. In all honesty I felt completely calm. I spent most of the morning running around and doing little errands to help out. I got up very early and went to downstairs to the hotel breakfast. Sure enough, my father in law was already there. The early bird himself. I nodded at him and sat with him. I will admit I was feeling tired because my guys didn't let me go to sleep. They were up all night! We had multiple rooms but many of them wanted to stay together, so I got no sleep. I understood they were just all excited for me.

  I told my fiance at the time, to embrace it all. You only get this experience once. All our bridal parties excitement for us, it was a long and crazy busy process for us. So as it was coming up on the big day, we really had to step up and allow ourselves to enjoy the last moments building up to it. If that makes sense. lol I wanted us to make sure our bridal party know we were having a good time.

  Back to breakfast, it was almost as a last confirmation from God. It started with me taking my father in law to breakfast and asking for his daughters hand in marriage and now here we were on the big day, having breakfast.

  So I'll fast forward to moments before the wedding. I actually spent over an hour stuck in a room. You would have to understand the the layout of the beautiful church we had the wedding at. Well I couldn't really go out because there were many guests that I wanted to wait till the reception to really talk to them so that we could really have a conversation. My coworkers came early and they brought them to the back where I was able to get a picture with them. They had been along for the ride since the moment I started planning the proposal!

  Photographers came and they are seriously great guys. Very professional and skilled. What I enjoyed was their ability to calm the nerves and make everyone feel comfortable. I would gladly forward you their information so just say the word!

   It was all over so fast and we moved on to the next phase, photos! Then back to the reception. I was living up the last moments with our bridal party and then I couldn't wait to get back to all the friends and family. I didn't know who all was there. I am not really going to talk about the actual wedding ceremony,  itself because I really can not put it into words. I am blessed.

  After the reception we drove off, till we couldn't see them in the rear view mirror. It was a blast. We stopped and changed into comfortable clothes. If you wish to run around in a suit and wedding dress all evening, more power to you! lol We then hit the road and the rest was history.

   Be faithful to God, that's what I will end this post with. You won't be perfect but God makes up the difference. He honors them that honor him.


   Okay here are some pics!

To God be all the glory, have a good day!

Elias
20171109

Been There, Done That

Good Morning!

  Its finally getting cold over in So-Cal. It feels like at this point we might as well skip winter. lol We have been having a great church as of late. Many, many, many bible studies and people added to the church.

   The main point of this post, is this...

   Although I feel like I should really take my time with this point or even make it a series of posts, I want to talk about Elders.

   I can say that for most of my teenage and adult life I have had an appreciation for elderly people. This world teaches that we really don't need to pay any attention to older folks, they are sort of a hindrance. There in the way, holding back "progress". This perhaps one of the most devastating mind sets a young person can hold. Whenever I hear of old people being disrespected its cringe worthy. Don't equate older people with wisdom necessarily. You can pray for wisdom at an early age and not all elderly people should be looked to for wisdom but for the most part they should. You see life teaches you many many tough lessons. The elderly brothers and sisters are usually eager to share a little wisdom with an up and coming young person. A pastor can't do it all, the saints serve a vital role as well. With that said, looking to peers for direction can set you off course. If the goal is heaven, we need to ask those who have had life experiences come along, tribulations and stumbling blocks. The day will come when we will have children of our own, why wouldn't you ask godly parents of now older kids, for advise? Elders are very important. 

   "Trail Blazer" seems like a nice title. There are somethings that however don't need new trails. I highly esteem those that have given a lifetime to the kingdom of God. Although there is a special place in my heart for older ministers and their family, there is something precious too about elder saints that have been a pillar at their local church.

  We were all blessed to have Elder Abbot and his family with us for a couple weeks. Health conditions have made mobility more difficult for him. You can see that his desire to help people has not changed. God has been good to him. He expressed to me his frustration with not being able to move around and pray with people at the alter. That really stirred me up, we hear preaching about the importance of alter working all the time. I will end this post here, don't forget the gift that God has given the church. Elderly folks, pillars in the church. Elders in the form of ministry, all help saints stay on the right path. A valuable asset to God's people. After all, they have been there and done that.




   The Abbott's are, as many people know, very musically talented. I'll include a link to their iTunes songs. The family album, has a track titled, "He's my Lord and my God". Check that one out.

"Take me to Jesus" is actually on Danae's solo album, which is one of my favorites.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the-david-abbott-family/id639829470


Have a good day and God bless,

Elias
20171108