The Frazier Adventures Continue...

Well, after everyone left Monday, the rest of us Frazier's went up the mountain and found a new favorite spot called the Blue Hole Falls!! It was a very steep climb down to a wonderful deep hole of blue, ice-cold water cascading down the mountain and trailing down to areas I didn't feel comfortable taking our kids. However, I helped the get on the rocks a little and feel the water, wishing we had our bathing suits! The trip back up was steeper but well worth the view. This will be a place I can see going to without kids and following the water trail as far as we can go!!

Mommy with the kids walking around on the rocks!!

Since Doug and Lorena won't be able to come back up for Noah's birthday, we celebrated his birthday early. He was so excited to have two parties and was taken to the store to pick out his present from his grandparents. He looked for a plane, but couldn't find one so he got a "gola-copter" (aka, helicopter) which he just loves. And since grandpa wants to buy his first ball glove, he also got a little baseball glove and new clothes from grandma! We figured it would be easier to give him our presents and got him a Handy Manny repair shop tool table (I found it new in the box for $8 and at Walmart it is $72!!!! Couldn't believe my great find!) Hannah got him a basketball toy for the tub and they played with both toys for hours! We enjoyed singing Happy Birthday with Noah singing along and devouring some cupcakes and ice-cream.

Then while Andy had to still work (someone has to bring home the bacon!), Tuesday we went to Wilbur and Watagua Dam and a wonderful picnic beside some very, ice-cold water. This does not compare to anything I have felt before...there was no jumping in the water or rock hopping for this group! As we were watching a momma and baby duck, a group of kayak-ers paddled by us and said 15 minutes in this water leads to hypothermia. So of course, Joni and I tried to outlast the other with our hands in the water; he won. It stung your toes, but felt refreshing when a breeze would pass along. Also, we saw the oddest fog following along the water current and bringing a cool breeze as well. Beautiful does not even begin to describe this area! Later we tried to come back to eat at Bonnie Kate's diner but they were closed. Bummer!!

The next day we enjoyed more of Rock Creek Rec Park with the youth group (as in two of the toddlers, their moms/dad and one of the church grandmas!). Afterwards, I showed Doug and Lorena the infamous Beauty Spot! We made a slow trip up a one lane, unpaved road to the top of a nearby mountain. From there we had a 360 view of Erwin and the Valley Beautiful! Also, we hiked a moment on the Appalachian Trail!! Now I can say I have done the trail!! They had to leave early Thursday morning for their flight home.

The Frazier CLAN!!!

Well, they are here!! The Frazier clan has come up to our B & B this past weekend and are the first official guests here in our roomy new home! This includes Andy's dad (Doug), step mom (Lorena), brother (Joni), sister (Amber) and her kids (Aidan and Alyssa) and the Brinker's cubed (that is his two aunts who are married to two brothers -Uncle Keith and Aunt Leslie, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Andrea)!!



Amber and her kids, Aidan, 5, and Alyssa, 3, came (early on Saturday) and our kids played and ran circles around us all!! You could see the Hannah and Aidan playing together and Noah and Alyssa playing nearby. And then the boys pairing off playing swords or guns and the girls pairing off dressing up like princesses! They all love to get together and pretend. And it makes it easier on us parents not to have to supervise every moment, of course one of the kids would tell on the other if someone "pushed" or did something they thought was not nice or what they wanted them to do! ;-) All in all, they had fun.

Then the Brinkers arrived and we all got to sit down and visit while the kids played with each other. Until the decided climbing on aunts and uncles, grandparents and parents would be a better idea!
We have had a great visit and lots of memories shared and new ones made. We all went to church (so we could double the usual amount of people!) on Sunday and then out to Rock Creek Rec. Park to picnic and play in the cool mountain waters, a very nice park to visit and one day we will make it to a waterfall that is about a two mile trek.


After our rendezvous, Amber had to go entertain at her own house. Then on Monday we went to downtown Elizabethton and enjoyed the antiques and a wonderful ice-cream shop called Bonnie Kate's Parlor and Diner. Then the Brinker's had to leave to return to work and the rest of us Fraziers headed up the mountain to find new places to visit.

New Finds and paint buys

Well, today was a nice one for mommy...I went out all by myself and had adult conversation with my aunt and gramie (as much as we talk like adults!) AND bought paint for our home! I was so excited to get this last detail worked out so soon. Most of the rooms in our house were painted before we moved in, but since we came earlier than expected (we seem to do that!), they didn't get to all the rooms, so I got to go out and pick out colors and they are gonna rock! I love what we picked out and while I don't love to do the actual work of painting with all the fumes, I enjoy the look long after the memory of painting has worn off!

Also, tried out a new (to me) place in Elizabethton called City Market which has great, though greasy hamburgers. And then went to a new fav place called the CORNER NEST. ;-) It is an adorable, two story "mini mall" with lots of booths, one of which is the famous "Shabby Cottage" that my aunt Gail has filled with her finds and her work and expertise!

I also bought a beautiful T.V. Armoire that is a distressed black and quite small which is what I was wanting. We are not big tv watchers (me and the kids that is except they would watch more if allowed!) and I want my tv to be hidden so the focus isn't about watching something but talking to someone! And I got a good deal and was able to pay half now and half later with my "allowance"!! Can't wait to pick it up and let my mom off the hook. (I have been bugging her for her extra armoire that she uses in their guest room and was nice to have as a "guest")

Finally, I will post some pictures of things I made or hemmed up last night and yesterday evening. A week ago I found the most adorable rose fabric to use in Hannah's bedroom and have also used it else where. Actually, it isn't in her room yet, because she can live with the window panels the way they are...they are finished enough!! I did make her a headband out of the material and she loves it. Going to go back for more to make some longer window panels in my room! You can see the window when the drapes are closed!!

While I was out of town, Andy found a new spot for us to visit and rock hop and swim! One exit south of Erwin is a place called Chestoa Recreation Area and him and the kids had a great time splashing in the water and deciding we should get tubes to take down the Nolichucky River!! Can't wait to go there myself and enjoy the cool mountain river!

Well, that is all for now, will be getting on later to add the pictures of creative expression!

Keepin' On

originally written on April 18th, 2010

   As many of you know I have been on a hiatus from paid ministry for the last 4 1/2 months. The questions I hear most often concerning this are, "what happened?" and "what are you doing now?". I'm not sure I can answer either of those with great accuracy or authority, but since Shawn Grant wants me to blog I thought I'd give it a try. :-)

   What happened? The end of my service as Youth Minister of Dade City Christian Church was for the most part a mutual decision, ultimately decided by financial circumstances. The conversation went something like, "Hey we love you and your family but can't pay you," followed by my reply, "OK, I guess I'll see what else God has for me to do." Not exactly the makings of a Lifetime movie, though there were and are tearjerking moments whenever you part company with people you've spent nearly every day with over 5 years.

    Shortly before we wrapped things up in Dade City, I found a church within driving distance of my house that was looking for a preacher. Everything about the situation seemed to be the perfect fit for me, and every step along the way in the interview process seemed to confirm God's leading for both us and them. The day of the big vote came, and the conversation went something like, "You're exactly who we've been looking for, but apparently not everyone in the church trusts our leadership, so we can't hire you," and I said, "OK, I guess I'll see what else God has for me to do."

   Since that time, prayers have been lifted and more resumes have gone out, but it seems clear that what God has for me to do is wait. That is to wait for the right time, place and ministry opportunity to reveal itself in the way He has prepared, and also to wait on tables. A few weeks ago I went in to a local Chili's Bar & Grill, and after months of ministry rejection, I was pretty much hired on the spot due to my previous 3 years of serving experience at a restaurant I worked at almost 10 years ago that is no longer even in business.

   For the sake of being brief (and to prevent the building energy in my kids from exploding into a house trashing) here are a few of my recent observations on my life circumstances:

• God ALWAYS provides the right thing at the right time for His righteous purpose. ALWAYS! I don't understand it, but I see it.
• I was made to serve people. My people pleasing nature combined with knowledge of what people need will allow me to do nothing less than serve them, whether in ministry or at tables, and I love it.
• I secretly wish I was brave enough to always live in a state of desperation, where I truly relied on God for answers every day. Don't tell my wife, but I sort of enjoy having no money, the threat of foreclosure on our house, and the mindset that all our stuff is expendable. It feels much more like truth and it's much easier to see what matters in life.
• Waiting tables is significantly easier than ministry, sometimes with better pay and benefits, but life is too short to only do what is easy or just enough to get by. A passage I've been considering a lot lately is Acts 6:2, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables." I can't wait to have the opportunity to again commit all the time and energy of my career towards the word of God.

A Heart For Haiti

originally written Jan. 16th, 2010

    Like many of you, I have been overwhelmed with grief and compassion for what the people of Haiti are enduring. I have been spending a significant part of the past 3-4 days reading missionary blogs, watching news reports, praying for the needs I'm aware of, and talking to others about what any of us can do to help. In 2000-2001 Kim and I both had an opportunity to visit Haiti on mission trips. We didn't go on the same trip, but we went to many of the same places at different times and had similar experiences. While I can't do as much as I'd like to help the current circumstances, one thing I can is to share some of why I have a heart for Haiti.

    There were many things I experienced on my trip that forever changed me as a follower of Christ. I remember arriving in Port-au-Prince, and seeing, hearing, and smelling first hand what life is like in the most "prominent" city of one of the poorest nations in the world. I remember worshiping with a group of Haitians in the remote village of Seguin, who will always be to me the embodiment of what Paul meant when he told the Roman church to, “rejoice in sufferings." (Romans 5:3-5) I remember the moral conflict of being back in the richest nation in the planet and seeing the wealth of resources that I and those around me invested in things so much less significant than a beautiful but struggling people well within our reach to serve.

    The overwhelming memory I have of Haiti is that in the poorest nation in the western hemisphere I met some of the richest people in love for the Lord and realized my own spiritual poverty. I went on a mission trip there expecting to give out of my abundance and bless them, and returned feeling as though the opposite had happened. I hope all of you who read this will join me in doing your part to help Haiti, not only in the quick and convenient ways, but in the ways it is needed for as long as it is needed.


In Christ,

Andy