trip – Reflections

Our Honeymoon

What better time to post pictures and a blog about our honeymoon than eight months after the wedding? We have been enjoying being married too much! But here goes…

We spent our 11 day/10 night honeymoon in Servierville, TN at the Great Smokies Lodge. The room was beautiful condo with a full kitchen, one bedroom, one bath, laundry, living room, and also a hot tub in the bedroom!

We arrived in Tennessee on Christmas Eve around 7pm. We were getting hungry and could could not find anywhere that was open (except one place). We ate at Gondoliers Pizza Italian Restaurant. The staff there was very nice. When the owner found out that we were on our honeymoon,
he made sure the waitress brought us a homemade strawberry cheesecake. It was very delicious. The pizza and the baklava was also very good! The leftover pizza and bread sticks went by to the room with us for Christmas lunch and supper.

After we ate supper, we went grocery shopping because we knew we would not find anything that was going to be open on Christmas day. The only shopping place that we could find open that had food was Walgreen’s. So we purchase the overprice small amount of food that would get us by until the day after Christmas.

It snowed Christmas day and the next two days after Christmas. It also snowed on New Years Day! It was so beautiful.

We drove out to Pigeon Forge to vist a few places. One of the places was the Apple Barn and Cider Mill. Such a great place to tour. It was built back in 1910. At the barn, they sale unique applewood smoked hams and bacon, apple butter, old-timey handmade candy from their Candy Factory, ice cream from “The Creamery” ice cream parlor, handmade crafts, fruit wines, and apple cider.

We also drove out to Gatlinburg to walk around and go in a lot of the shops there.

On our second to last day, we visited Cades Cove which is an 11-mile, one-way loop road circles the cove located in the Great Smokey mountains (as suggested by Pastor Dwight and Norma Mabry). We saw lots of beautiful scenery for sure! As you drive along the road, you see rolling hills, mountains, wildlife, old log cabins, and several old churches.

That’s not all of the pictures. Go to the gallery to see all of the pictures from the honeymoon.

Also, on one of the days that it was snowing, there was an accident that happened right in front of us…and we got it on video.

11.26.2010 | This video was shot while we were driving back to the resort in Sevierville, TN. Praise God no one was hurt and that we were not involved.

http://matthewandpaige.com/wedding

Upcoming Honeymoon

I am looking forward to our honeymoon. It has been almost a month since our wedding (which seems like just yesterday). After working and me finishing up classes and exams, we are so ready to get away.

We will be leaving Christmas Eve morning to go to Sevierville, TN [map], and we will not be coming back until next year! We are seriously going to enjoy our 11 day getaway. Please pray that the Lord will watch over us as we travel.

We will post pictures after we return.

God Bless you all,

-Matthew

View information and pictures from our November 27th wedding @ http://matthewandpaige.com/wedding

PBC Youth Mission Trip: Savannah, GA 2010

Below is a letter regarding a mission trip that the youth from my church and myself are going on.

Dear Friends:

The youth from Philadelphia Baptist Church in Stanfield, NC is sending a mission team back to Savannah, Georgia during the week of July 31 – August 6. We [the youth] are excited to be part of this team again this year! Last year we held Bible School for the adults at the Baptist Center. This year, one of our goals is to team up with another youth group to hosting vacation Bible school for the kids at the Savannah Baptist Center. Our main goal is to reach the children of Savannah for Christ. We will be sharing our faith with the people we meet on the trip. Also, we are looking forward to reconnecting with those that we met last year.

We are writing to invite you to become a part of our team. There are several ways in which you can:First, you can pray for our team as we prepare for the physical and spiritual labor. Pray that we will share Christ boldly and show everyone we meet His gentleness and love.

Also, please pray for the safety of our team and that through this mission trip our team will continually deepen our personal commitment to Christ.
Finally, if you would like to help financially support the trip, your help would be greatly appreciated. To do so, please click here for more information.

We are looking forward to helping others who are less fortunate than us. Thank you, in advance for joining the youth of Philadelphia Baptist Church as we share the love of Jesus with the people of Savannah, Georgia!

-PBC Youth

Total Abandonment

I have a friend, Jon Harris, that is going to be going on an 11-month mission trip to 11 different countries. The mission trip is called The World race. In his blog post “A little Broken, A little Blessed “, Jon expresses “I’m scared. I’m afraid. I don’t know if I will get what I need for the race…I cry to God to help me. But I hear no answer. I cry out in tears to Jesus. But no answer. Just peace, encouragement, or simply it will be ok is all I need.” Many times we are called by God to do something for His Kingdom, but then it feels like God steps away and is no longer with us. We feel like Jon does; we feel “scared that through everything I will be left here with nothing, still broken and scared. ALONE” We start to break down within our spirit.

It is in the lowest, darkness times of our life that God is preparing us to do something great! He has to humble us before we surrender everything to Him.

This is what I told Jon, but it goes for everyone of us–no matter what you are going through.

Jon,

Just remember that God said that He would never leave us or forsake us. He will provide our every need. All we have to do is TRUST. We have to trust Him. Trusting means not worrying and not trying to “fix” the situation. Trusting is surrendering yourself and all that you are to God. Total Abandonment! Trusting means not doubting God. When you start doubting God, you start putting limits on what God will do. When you fully rely on God, you place no limits on God, and He is free to move as He KNOWS is right. God is all powerful, and He can do anything that He wants; but humans can limit the work that God does by doubting God.

Lord, I pray for my brother Jon. Lord thank you for the work that you have called him to do abroad. Thank you for saving him and giving him a testimony to share with others. Lord, surround Jon with love and comfort. Give him peace within. Let Him know that “every little thing is going to be alright” just as the song by Delirious says. Lord protect his heart. Help Jon to focus on the work that You have called him to and not on the financial aspect. I pray for funds to flood in for support. I pray that you will take care of the funding, and I trust that you will. I have seen you do it; what is stopping You from doing it again? NOTHING! God I ask that You rise up in power! Cast out any doubt, fear, and brokenness. This I pray in the mighty name of Jesus! ~Amen

Jon, Just keep fighting the good fight. Do not back down. Go after God like never before. Do not let a moment in time go by without worshiping God in Spirit and in Truth for His awesomeness! Just keep the faith man!

-matthew

When God seems to be silent and not moving is when He is moving and working the most. The power of God come in the stillness!

Trust God through it all. Divorce, separation, death of a loved one, financial struggles…..nothing it too BIG for God my friend! Only trust Him. Only Trust Him!

Here is the song that I mentioned to Jon:

Every Little Thing

Everything must change
Theres a mirror
showing me the ugly truth
These bones they ache with holy fire
But Ive got nothing to give, just a life to live
If your world is without colour
I will carry you, if you carry me

Every little things gonna be alright
Every little things gonna be alright [x2]

Theres no-one else to blame
I live my life between the fire and the flame
Ive built my house where the ocean meets the land
Its time to live again, pull my dreams out of the sand

Let your world be full of colour
I will carry you, if you carry me

When its all falling down on you
Youre crying out but youre breaking in two
When its all crashing down on you
When theres nothing you can do
There is someone who can carry you

God Bless you all!
-matthew

Collide Video

I spent most of my day yesterday working on the mission trip video that will be presented in church on Sunday. I had like 500-600 pictures to go through. My goal was to keep the video under 10 minutes for time sake (for both time limit at church and time limit to upload on YouTube). I had to borrow down my picture selection to around 145 or so. That would allow me to display the photos for 4sec and also have time to put other pictures, video, and effects on the begging and end of the presentation. I am not sure how many hours I spent on editing pictures and video. [view video HERE]

When I got ready to burn the DVD, my DVD burner decides that it is not gonna work for me. I have had it for many years now, and in the past year or so it has been acting up. It will make really loud grinding noises may or may not read/write the data to/from the disk. So, I finally broke down and ordered me a new internal LG DVD burner from NewEgg that I am going to put in an external enclosure. I cannot wait to finally have a drive that will operate correctly again!

Holden Beach

This has been a great time at the beach. Hangin out with the Benge’s. I hate that we have to go home tomorrow. I am gonna miss the body surfing in the ocean and chillin in the sun. The weather has been very nice; not too hot and a little breezy. Pictures will be up in the photo gallery on MatthewAndPaige.com and on our facebooks soon.

Update:

Click here to view our Holden Beach Trip pictures on Facebook

Collide Mission Trip

-PHILADELPHIA BAPTIST YOUTH MISSION TRIP-

My youth group from Philadelphia Baptist in Stanfield, NC will be going on a mission trip to Savannah, Georgia from July 25 – August 1, 2009. We will be sharing the love of God during worship, assisting with Vacation Bible School, hands-on missions activities, cultural experiences, sports camps, and light construction. In this mission effort, we will be working alongside churches that are a part of the Savannah Baptist Association.

In order to raise money for the trip, our youth group will be hosting a spaghetti dinner on Sunday, June 28, 2009. We will start serving around 5:30pm. The meal will be free of charge. Donations towards the trip are welcomed. The meal will include spaghetti (choice of several different sauces), salad, and garlic bread. There is also an option for kids to get chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese. Desserts will also be available. The dinner will be held at Philadelphia Baptist Church‘s Fellowship Hall. We will stop serving around 8:00pm, so be sure to come hungry and ready to eat! [Update: Tonight we raise a little over $1000. We still need to raise more money though, but the Lord truly blessed us tonight. I would like to thank the ones that help make this possible and the ones that showed up to eat.]

We will also be holding a walk-a-thon on Wednesday, July 1, 2009 beginning at 6pm. We are asking people to sponsor our walk. If you would like to sponsor our walk, click here.[Update: The walk-a-thon went very well]

WE NEED YOUR HELP: Would you be willing to donate soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, washcloth, comb, hair brush, deodorant, and white socks? Your donation of these items will be greatly received by the needy people in Savannah. By donating something so small, you can make a HUGH impact for Christ. These items will be given in the name of Jesus to those that really need them. Thanks in advance for your donations. You can give your donations to one of the youth, mail them to the church (click on the donate button below for the church address), or use the donate button to send a gift to go toward the purchase of the above items.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

For more detailed information, visit the Collide 2009 website.

If you would like to donate funds to help cover the cost of our mission effort, click here.

We greatly appreciate your support. If you would like to send us words of encouragement or scriptures that the Lord lays on your heart, then please use this contact form.

Video that I made for our spaghetti supper:

Video that I made for the presentation on Sunday, August 23:

PICTURES:

Photo gallery 1 of 2

Photo gallery 2 of 2