Who Says Cheerleading Isn't Tough?

You Asked

Even as a pastor, I have still received the same type of letters and emails as before so I figured that I would go ahead and to continue to answer them in the "You Asked" segment of my blog.

This one again comes from David G. of Easley

Dear Sammy,
With the thought of North Korea and possibly Iran getting Nuclear Bombs, I have begun construction of my very own underground fall out shelter under my home. So far I have poured 58 yards of concrete and used 275 linear feet of re barb. I have modeled my fall out shelter after the one featured on Happy Days episode #45 when Howard Cunningham decides to build a fall out shelter for his family. If you remember the episode then you remember how Richie didn't want to stay because he would miss his friends, Ralph Mouth, Potsy, and the Fonz and Joanie wouldn't stay because Joanie loved Chachi.

Anyway, I think I am nearing completion and getting ready to put the finishing touches on my shelter. I have stored away over 5000 gallons of drinking water in small 16 ounce bottles wrapped in lead.

The question I have is this: I am considering purchasing 15,000 MRE's(Meals Ready to Eat) from Military Surplus and was wondering if you recommended any particular flavor? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and for your help I would allow you to stay for a period of 16 days in my shelter should nuclear Holocaust occur.

Well David, that sure is a generous offer to stay in the shelter for 16 days and very much appreciated but quite frankly the thought of staying in a shelter with someone who seems a little bit too stalkerish really freaks me out. I will help you out with the MRE flavors though.

Just tonight, I was given a vegetarian MRE by my friend Scott Watson at home group.
I must say I was a bit skeptical about the taste. I first tried the crackers which was the best part of the meal. Next was some Pineapple mash looking stuff followed by pound cake. Melissa actually enjoyed the pound cake which was quite moist surprisingly. My favorite part was the mini Tabasco sauce bottle. Finally it was on to the Bean Burrito. I must say I was looking forward to this part but I really never could get over the rubbery outside of the burrito and the moving feeling that took place in my stomach afterwards. I have included some pictures David so that you will know which order to eat them in.

I will say stay away from the Vegetarian MRE or the results inside the shelter could be worse than a nuclear blast. Happy nuclear winter and I hope this answers your questions.

Sunday Update

Today was an awesome day. First off, Isaac was moved last night from a regular room at Greenville Memorial into a room in the Pediatric ICU. This afternoon he was released from the hospital straight from ICU to home and as of this afternoon he was sitting in the floor playing with his legos as if the whole weekend in the hospital never happened. We are certainly grateful he is feeling better and very appreciative of all of your prayers.

In other news, church today was great. You could sense the momentum beginning to build. I am excited to see what is coming in the coming weeks. We announced today that we have signed a lease on a building that will serve as our youth area and another part of it will serve as our church offices. We will kick our our student ministry on November 14th at the Velocity building on Highway 153 and then move over to "The Bridge" (our student ministry building) beginning the first week of December. This coming week we begin our new series Gravity and we hope to see you then.

Isaac Update

Isaac is still in Greenville Memorial Hospital. Today was rough with his blood pressure causing him to vomit and hurt. As evening came around he got to feeling a little better. They have started a new blood pressure med and it may take a day or so to get adjusted. Meanwhile he will still be in the hospital until they get it under control. He can't have visitors due to his immune system but your prayers are appreciated.

Honor Roll and Hospital

Isaac got his first report card in two years today and he made straight A's and the Honor Roll at Hunt Meadows. He doesn't get to go to school but the teacher comes to the house and he still has to take tests and all just like the kids that are at school.

Isaac is currently in Greenville Memorial Hospital with some blood pressure issues. His blood pressures today were in the 160s over 120s which is dangerous high so they have increased his meds to help drop that down some. Melissa is staying tonight and hopefully he can come home tomorrow. He still can't have visitors due to his immune system so no visitors please. Just remember him in your prayers. Thanks.

Volunteer of the Week

This week's volunteer of the week is really a staff member at the church but he isn't getting paid. My volunteer of the week is Chasen Callahan. Chasen and Casey were the first two people to come on board with the church. I told him about the new church start. I told him I didn't have any money to pay him, we didn't have a building, and we didn't even have a sound system, so would you like to come on board and be our Worship Leader. Sounds like an offer he couldn't refuse right.

The cool thing is that he jumped in with both feet. Chasen not only heads up our worship, he meets with me on upcoming messages and does our graphic print stuff and most of our video elements that we use in the church.

Another cool thing is that I told Chasen and Casey that we wanted to grow the church. They took this to heart and Casey is with child.(with child sounded like the Bible would say it.) Seriously though they are going to be parents in the next several months.

Chasen also travels a lot as his band is getting ready to release their first album at the start of the new year. Be sure to click on the link that says Chasen on the right side of the blog and check out their page. Be sure to support them by going ahead and pre-ordering their upcoming release.

The cool thing is that even though they are touring, he tries as much as he can to be back in time for church. That is something that you don't see everyday. Thanks Chasen for all you do.

Wednesday Update

Here's a quick recap of the week so far. I t has been busy but that is good. Keep Isaac in your prayers. His blood numbers dropped which the Doctors believe is because of a new medicine which they have now discontinued. Hopefully things will return to normal in a few weeks.

In other news, I saw this on the web today and it is pretty funny. These guys have just started as night watchmen in a cemetary.