About Us

Kristin is a Southern Georgia belle, who graduated from UGA as a veterinarian May 2010. Carter grew up in NC, went on to seminary, became an ordained pastor, and has completed his doctorate of ministry. After retiring from full-time ministry, Carter is thoroughly enjoying being a financial advisor (and volunteering on the ministry side of things). After about a month of emailing, asking questions, and going through the steps of eharmony.com, we were full of excitement and became very eager to meet one another face to face. October 25, 2009, we met and enjoyed every minute together. We had no doubt God was going to strengthen our relationship with Him as well as with one another. Carter proposed August 9, 2010 on the boat in the middle of Lake Wylie at sunset. Kristin said "Yes" after some happy tears. We got married April 2, 2011 and what an amazing beautiful day that was! God has continued to bless us throughout our marriage. On May 18, 2017, our family grew when God gave us our son, Micah. We look forward to see what He has in store for us each and every day. We are super blessed to be serving the Lord wherever we are. God is constantly surprising us with new callings!

A Simple Haircut

What a change! The last time I donated my hair was right before Micah was born. (March/April 2017) My hair grows so fast, esp when I was on prenatal vitamins! Well, this summer, my hair was already down to my rear so...it was time to donate yet again. During this process,  God pointed out to me a few things in a bizarre way (but who am I to say that; we all know that God has HIS ways)…how long it would take to wash my hair, dry my hair, straighten my hair, style my hair, etc while it was so long. (Super easy to just throw on top of my head though ;)) Once I chopped it off, hair washing was much shorter, drying my hair took a lot less time, and so on. Mind you, my new hair do was still down past my shoulders.



God took me back to when it used to take forever to pray, read His word, or hear His voice, kind of like how it would take a while to get ready with my super long hair.  With time and change in my relationship with Him, things got easier in a variety of ways. My excitement peaked when opening the Bible; I can tell when He is answering my prayers better now versus Satan trying to get in the way.

Gotta love when God speaks to us in a way we didn’t expect, like a haircut. In what ways has He spoken to you lately?

WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!!!


Before I kick off this post, I want to say that we don’t regret one bit following God’s lead to FL. Some amazing things happened there personally, spiritually, emotionally, relationally, ...  The Holy Spirit led us every step of the way, and we followed despite the fight from others.

Those who know us best know that our true home is back “in the South…” Much closer to family. What a difference it has been to be back!  Parenthood continues to be a blessing for us; Micah is still the most joyous little boy ever.  You should see him and “Pup Pup” together now. They are the best of buds. (More posts to come later about that.)


Back to differences we have really noticed and didn’t know we missed so much while in FL:


Driving...instead of being honked at constantly, folks actually wave their hand in a kind way to let you merge into traffic.  Horns don’t blow as soon as the light changes either or when you actually yield at a yield sign like you are supposed to.


Friendliness in stores...smiles, friendliness, and conversations with strangers take place.  Micah can wave and speak, and he’s not ignored. You don’t get run over by a grocery cart or honked at for actually moving a buggy (that you didn’t put there) out of parking spots so folks can park there.


Church...this will have other posts later but it’s really nice and a blessing to be able to worship together, to be able to church hop and explore, Sunday after Sunday. God has placed a new ministry in our laps (more to come later).  Prayers are definitely being lifted as we sort through options.


Back in the south...everyone told us that FL wouldn’t be “the south,” and they were right. Until folks experience the differences, they don’t understand completely.


Please and thank you...boy is it super awesome to hear these words again...constantly.


Yes Sir; Yes ma’am...simply out of respect, these words are used from older and younger folks.


Smiles...smiles get met with another smile or a simple “hi” or “how are you” or “have a good day,” not a glare or being ignored.


Holding doors open...men and women hold doors open for one another. Most of the time, if it’s a woman holding it, a man will walk up and hold it, and let her through. Southern gentlemen.


Cow boy boots... Yee haw!!!!! Not only do we have seasons here but those boots are worn any time of the year. With shorts, skirts, pants,... I love it!


“Thank You Jesus” signs in yard...you see these out year round.


Seasons...in FL, we were in the ocean practically year round swimming and diving. It remained that warm! Being outdoor people, we loved that.  I don’t think we realized how much we missed having four seasons though. Needless to say, we are still outdoor folks, whether it be cooler or warmer temperatures! We are enjoying fall colored leaves as we speak.


I could go on and on but for now, I’ll wrap this up. Yes, I will say, we miss our buddies and majority of our FL church family, but boy are we blessed to be back in the South...back home. We can’t thank God enough for the doors He has opened for us since returning as well as the blessings he keeps showering upon us.


P.S. We continue to thoroughly enjoy our vacations and visits back to FL.

When NOT To Support A Church

We heard such a powerful message, and it summarizes so much of what we have fought against the last 4-5 years, not just in the churches where we have been “pastor” and “pastor’s wife” but also in ones we have had the opportunity to visit when we’ve been on vacation, etc.

It was an interesting sermon considering it was around the time of turning in pledge cards, but we could totally relate!

Don’t support a church that is so scared of people that they focus on people pleasing and lose fear of the Lord!  When a church is afraid to lose those who are there and have lost focus on scripture in the process...Yikes! When trying not to offend folks is a focus…RUN!  When a visitor comes and gets told they need to move cause you are in his/her seat….Deep Breath! A complaint is made, but congregants respond with “Oh, that’s just ____ (so and so…insert name).  Wow, what damage to His kingdom!  Or when the same group of people don’t like pastor after pastor after pastor so they keep running them off… “Oh, that’s just _____ (insert name(s)). Then, those same people try their best to ruin a pastor’s (and family’s) reputation.  A church who you shouldn’t support are too focused on “keeping instead of reaching.” 

OR

Don’t support a church if they have decided “a new kind of gospel” is better than what scripture states.  Junk instead of truth is being preached. Our church knows best over scripture… If what the church says about marriage, sex, eternity, etc. doesn’t match what scripture says, RUN.

OR

Don’t support a church when the person in the pulpit thinks they are higher in nobility than the One proclaimed.

YOU WANT A CHURCH THAT IS DOING IN HISTORY WHAT WE WILL ALL BE DOING FOR ETERNITY.

When boundaries and barriers are demolished and folks are gazing at the Lamb who bled out for all, support that church.  Focus is on Christ and not the crowd.
When a church is “Christ centered,” support it!  (There should be no other kind of church out there!)

When generational diversity fills the church with blessings and wisdom to share with all, support that church.  Sometimes this can be difficult if that means changing part or all of a service so that the church will be multi-generational. 

When you continue to want to improve and be better than you are now because of who you worship with and have fellowship with, that’s a HUGE plus.  If you don’t want to be better than you are today, what’s the point?

When a church is able to buy a campus that would otherwise have been a dead church, how cool is that? 

God is the same yesterday, today, now, and forever.  Does the church you attend believe the same thing?  How does your church share the TRUTH of scripture, even during the hard or controversial times?  

YOU WANT A CHURCH THAT IS DOING IN HISTORY WHAT WE WILL ALL BE DOING FOR ETERNITY.

God Breathed


Boy have we cherished being able to worship together lately.  A church we continue to visit explains at the beginning of every service (as we all hold up our bibles) that they believe the Bible is a library of books full of scripture…and there is no other library like the Bible.  Scripture isn’t just words on a page but it’s inspired, true, God breathed.  God is our Authority and the One who guides and weaves His word and goodness into our lives.  What we learn in scripture isn’t just for Sundays but to be lived by and active in every day of our lives. We are a mess without God and His word, yet we are so blessed by Him and the scripture He gave us!



How awesome is that!?!?!  Do you believe this?  Are you living by scripture?  It’s amazing to be back in a place that believes scripture is true and authoritative…no if’s, and’s, or but’s!

Disconnect


Carter and I purposely disconnect from technology from time to time.  We do this for many reasons…1-to focus on God time individually as well as a couple, 2-we don’t have internet where we are, 3-to cherish family time…quality time together, 4-to communicate other than via texts or emails, 5-to get out and enjoy nature, …  We always have many positives that come out of this disconnect time.



As we were reflecting on the awesomeness of disconnecting, God reminded us how are are never supposed to be disconnected from Him.  We are supposed to stay in communication/prayer with Him at all times. Whether it be a good phase or bad, He is always there waiting for us to strengthen that relationship with Him.

The ConTENtment Commandments


We heard a great message about grace, condemnation, being content, and more.  Being able to explore and visit a variety of churches has been such a huge blessing in so many ways.  Isn’t it awesome that God knows what we need to hear exactly when we need to hear it?

You can go to http://elevationchurch.org/ to find the whole message, but here are some key points that hit us as we listened and worked our way through Philippians 4:10-19:

*Satisfaction isn’t based on your situation.

*Condemnation comes from man; grace comes from God.

*God wants you FREE!!!!  Find your freedom in Him!

*God supplies ALL of your needs.

*Stay free from focusing on yourself; it’s ALL about Jesus!  When you live like it’s all about Him, you are free indeed!

Oh yeah, and I can’t forget the ConTENtment Commandments:
1.     Remember to Rejoice…We are worthy of surrender. Rejoice in what He has done and continues to do.
2.     Refuse to Resent…Christ died to set us free.  We make decisions, meaning we choose to resent or forgive.
3.     Appreciate all seasons…know that now is just a season (and you are probably in dual seasons) so don’t get stuck.
4.     Keep a secret stash…have scriptures engraved on your heart to repeat, live by, lean on.
5.     Don’t confuse the supply with the source.  Every good and perfect gift comes from above. (James 1:17)  His hand is behind it all.
6.     Don’t downplay disappointment…we aren’t defined by disappointment.  Disappointment can lead to destiny.
7.     Recognize…recognize your blessings.
8.     Release…release things such as anger, worry, and the crazy cares of life.
9.     Receive…take what God wants to give you.
10.   Remain…remain in Christ.

So powerful!  And again, the timing of this delivery couldn’t have been more perfect!