Hailey Dances to Toby Mac

I found out just how much Hailey likes Toby Mac tonight. I feel I need to go ahead and lock her away until she is 30. Tonight, I am thankful for two older sons who will take care of any guys before I have to meet them when she becomes a teenager:

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How You Can Pray for Us

A few months back I posted about a house we were praying for and asked others to pray for/with us. Here’s an update, someone bought it before we could, so we won’t be getting it.

We are still praying for a larger home that will allow us room for the kids to grow. We’ve found another house that we like and once again it is a great deal. It’s not as large and does not have some of the extra features that the other house had, however, it would be great for our family if it should work out. It is newer than the other house we were praying for, but it is still 19 years old, so it’s far from new.

Fortunately, we are a step ahead at this point. I just got off the phone with Bank of America and we have been pre-approved for the asking price, so we are at least a step ahead of where we were on the house we were praying for previously. This is a VA Foreclosure, so the rates and fees are a lot better than a standard home loan or even a FHA loan.

Here’s the Two Biggest Ways You can Pray for Us:

  1. Pray that the seller accepts the reduced offer that we are going to submit (this request will have an impact on request #2)
  2. Pray that we can secure the upfront money that will be required to make the purchase. We have most of it, but are still lacking a portion of the estimated up-front fees.

As with the last house. Our desire is that God’s will be done. Period. We are not interested in forcing our will on God, however, we believe God is a God of provision and miracles. We’ve seen it first hand via New Passion Church.

So, if you know us and love us, we would love to have you pray with and for us!

This is a picture of the house we are praying for.

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Having Trouble Forgiving? Maybe This Will Help!

I don’t promote my own messages or sermons on my blog. It just feels awkward. However, this past Sunday, I shared a story of hate and murder that consumed my heart for almost two years. God freed me and gave me the power to forgive the person that had wounded me. Whether you are having trouble forgiving a spouse or a former friend or just an acquaintance in life, my prayer is that this message from our marriage series, I Do…Not Anymore, will bring you similar hope and healing.

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Conversations with a Four Year Old

Gavin asked why a nurse came to our house the other morning, so Nicki was explaining to both Gavin and Tristan that the nurse came to do different tests so we could increase our life insurance.

Here’s how the conversation went (paraphrased):

Nicki:If daddy died, life insurance would help pay to bury him.

Tristan:We can bury daddy in the backyard and pack the dirt down real tight so no one would see him

He says he learned it in school!

I am glad my family has big plans for me when I die. I think I may go ahead and make Tristan the executor of my will, it sounds as if he will be frugal with what little money I am able to leave behind. :)

Join the Conversation. Have you had any interesting conversations with your children lately?

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Reflections on 30 Years of Life

Well tonight at 9:35 p.m. (and not a second earlier) I will enter into the infamous old man’s club, as I enter my third decade of life. I want to use this post to reflect on some of my memories both good and bad over the last 30 years, so enjoy a little bit of my life….

  • I remember that first evening at St. Joseph Hospital in Augusta, GA. It was cold, I really wish they would make hospitals a little warmer for new babies, however, that could not take away from being the best looking baby born that night December 16, 1980. I remember the doctors saying out of all 25 babies born that night, I was also the best behaved, and I looked the most like Jesus. They were so kind!
  • I spent most of my childhood with a chipped tooth. In most of the pictures where I am smiling as a child you can see it. It really didn’t bother me, it was kind of like a badge of honor. I was kind of sad the day it fell out.
  • I used to not be able to pronounce the “R” sound. I would say it like a “W” – My fourth grade speech therapist threatened to cut the little thing under my tongue. I learned to say the “R” sound.
  • I was convinced for a LONG time, like up until last year, that Santa Clause was real, because a dad dressed up and sat out on his porch at the corner house on Heard Ave. peering into his child’s bedroom. Wait…I hope it was the child’s dad.
  • I used to love going to the Mall and eating at “Corn Dog”  and getting an Orange Julius. Those were great times.
  • There is a seafood restaurant in Augusta called T’s. I liked going there because I thought “Mr. T” owned it.
  • I loved watching Knight Rider, the A-Team, the Fall Guy, Air Wolf, CHiPs, The Justice League, Transformers, their poor man knock-offs the Gobots, and I loved Saturday Cartoons along with USA’s Cartoon Express.
  • I love(d) Superman.
  • I am Superman.
  • I collected all of the Justice League Characters.
  • I wasn’t allowed to watch the Smurfs growing up. My dad was a very strict for a while, until we took him to a Third Day concert.
  • I grew up in some very legalistic, fundamental churches.
  • I am still in therapy.
  • Honestly: I am thankful for the Christian heritage and foundation that God has given me. I am thankful for every Church and Christian who has invested in my life. I believe that it’s through those churches and people that I have found God for who I know him to be today. I love what Acts 17:27 says, “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.” I believe He placed me where I could find him best.
  • I used to love going to my Granny’s house on Friday nights. Most of our family would be there. We grew up together and all of us are very close. We dressed up and performed songs for our family, we played together in the play room, and it was awesome when Granny would open “K-Mart” (the back room where she kept the toys she found on clearance) to give us a special toy. My cousins always put me up to asking Granny to open K-Mart, even after my dad told me in the car, “Don’t ask for anything!” So, Granny would open K-Mart, give us a toy, and then I got to stand in the corner. I think my Cousins owe me.
  • My Granny died one early Saturday morning after one of our visits on Saturday night. I miss her.
  • I love(d) going to my Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Covington, GA. I’d go up for week’s at a time and I would help my Grandparents work and Grandma would take us shopping at Sears. They took me on a tour of parts of the U.S. from Georgia to Florida to Illinois to New York City, and then another trip to Cherokee and Santa Land. Those were good times!
  • I am thankful for great parents who raised me in a Christian home. For a mom who stayed at home to raise my brother and sisters. She was doing backyard Bible clubs with my family and cousins before they were cool. I am thankful for a dad who at many times worked multiple jobs to make it possible for my mom to stay at home with us and to do Backyard Bible clubs.
  • We used to have a Sky City right behind our house, so we would walk to it during the day. I would ALWAYS get a free coke out of the coke machine. My cousins would even go bang on the machine before me to try and get one first. It didn’t work. It only worked for me. It was crazy! My family was poor, so me and my sister and all of my cousins (8 total kids) would cram into this little machine that played a quick cartoon for .25 cents.
  • I was a Coke-a-holic. I hate drinking water, so all I used to drink was Coke.
  • My parents tried to limit my intake of Coke.
  • It didn’t work. I was 50 pounds overweight three years ago, mainly because of Coke.
  • I lost 53 pounds and went from 193 lbs to 140 lbs, I am now around 145.
  • I knocked myself out in Middle School. I was running and tripped and landed with a curb up my ribs. My girlfriend (not to be confused with the love of my life mentioned next) cried, she thought I was dead!
  • In 6th grade I met the love of my life. She didn’t know it yet. In fact I had to persuade her to be my girlfriend with a box of chocolates.
  • I broke up with her a couple of weeks later because my best friend dumped her best friend.
  • She practically begged me to take her back when I was in 12th grade. We’ve been together ever since.
  • I have the most beautiful, stubborn, kind, hardheaded, patient, hardworking, frustrating, and loving wife. I have been honored to be married to her for a third of my life (10 years for the math challenged).
  • She won’t leave me alone and I can’t tell her no, so God has blessed us with three amazing children, Gavin, Tristan, and Hailey.
  • I attend the greatest church in the world, New Passion Church. We have one of the greatest looking pastors in the world! We are on the brink of seeing God do amazing things through our church. I can’t wait to be a part of it!
  • It would be a mockery of God to not acknowledge that I am truly a blessed man. God has done great things in my first 30 years, I cannot wait to see what he does in the next 30 years.
  • If you are reading this and you know me. Thank you for being a part of my first 30 years! My memory may fade and I may not know you after today (you know us old people) but I am grateful for you.
  • In honor of my birthday, you can help make memories for people in Africa that do not have clean water. A donation of any amount towards my birthday campaign will help provide clean water for many people who may not live to see 30 without it!
  • http://mycharitywater.org/nickcarnes

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Conversations with a Seven Year Old: The Degree

Gavin

Interesting conversations Nicki and I have with our children…

This is a conversation Nicki had with Gavin this morning about earning money.

Nicki: “If you want to make good money when you grow up you’ll have to go to college and get a degree.”

Gavin: “How can I get my degree now so I can make a better allowance?”

Smart kid.

Other Conversations with our kids…

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10 Years Ago Today

nicki-and-me-3-spring-2010It was on Saturday, November 4, 2000 that my life changed forever. On that day, it appeared not to be a big deal, just a simple Wedding Ceremony. A small gathering of family and friends, a small wedding chapel, repeat a few words, say ‘I do!,’ and then the Honeymoon. Nothing much would change (so I thought), I practically saw Nicki everyday anyway, but now we got to live together. Hey! I’m a guy!

That’s why I tell everyone who says, “Wow, you two got married young!” that we actually got married “Young and Dumb,” however I had enough wisdom to land Nicki while she was dumb enough to say ‘Yes!

10 Years later…I have no way of telling all of the great and not so great memories that we have shared so far in a blog post, but I can say I am eternally grateful to God for giving me the greatest wife in the whole world. She has stood by me when I’ve  followed some of the dumbest dreams and ideas that have ever popped into someone’s head, she’s let me make horrible decisions (and only brings them up every once in a blue moon), she’s been hard headed and difficult (which I am thankful she’s not always been who I wanted her to be), she’s helped me grow and become a better person, she’s been flexible to not always demand her own way. She is loving and merciful when I am a little less so. She is a great mother to our three wonderful children, Gavin, Tristan, and Hailey. Simply put I love her for who she is.

As a bonus…she is an awesome cook and is sexier than your wife (and if you are a woman, she’s sexier than you)!

Happy 10 Year Anniversary Nicki, I love you and look forward to the next 10+ years together!

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Dad Life

This is an awesome video from The Church on the Move called “Dad Life” – Check it out:

Posted by Melanie on Facebook

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Spring 2010 Family Pictures

Here are some of the pictures we had taken yesterday by Jeri Ann Dean in Augusta. Jeri did an amazing job, so if you are ever looking for a photographer just leave me a comment to let me know and I’ll email you her contact information, or you can find her on Facebook and her blog. Check out the pictures:

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2009: What A Year!

2009

I heard on the radio this morning that people had a shredding party to end 2009 and this decade. Since I am headed out of town for a few days, I thought I would go ahead and list some of the things I am thankful for in 2009. It’s been an interesting year, but I still have plenty to be thankful for:

1. My amazing wife Nicki. I, along with the rest of the world, am thankful that she is definitely not me. God knew what he was doing when he put us together. We couldn’t be any more different from each other, but that is not a bad thing. We help balance each other out. Nicki is full of mercy…I try to be, but its not my strength. I’m the type that calls it like it is, and I’m okay with that. Nicki has been a huge help to me in our new endeavors this past year. She is a great mother to our children, I couldn’t ask for a better woman to live my life with.

2. My amazing children: Gavin, Tristan and Hailey…yes they are still more amazing than your children :) Each have their own personalities and characteristics. I love the way they make me smile. They are definitely a gift from God!

3. New Passion Church – Wow! I cannot believe it actually happened. There were days I just didn’t believe it was going to launch. There were so many thoughts and ideas that I had about launching this church that when they didn’t happen, I thought I had made a mistake. On September 13, we launched with 109 people and averaged 91 in our first month. We’ve now settled in the upper 60′s to low 70′s every week including our volunteers, children, and adults. We’ve already lost families to deployment, some of which jumped in and assisted from day one…I hated to see them go; and we’ve lost others because we didn’t fit their idea of church, it’s funny, I’m definitely at peace about that. We purposely started with our series “Rediscover Church” because we know we will not be for everyone. I am blown away by these numbers because we started with Nicki, our three kids, and myself, so yes, I am amazed at what God has done so far! I can look back over the first three months and see answered prayers and life change, and I know New Passion is definitely a movement of God and its definitely been worth it. I am thankful for the amazing team that God has assembled, they have huge hearts, have sacrificed greatly, and love Jesus with a Passion. They were definitely gifted to be church planters. I am thankful to everyone who has selflessly invested financial and material resources to help New Passion be successful in living out its vision to “lead people to a passionate relationship with Jesus.” I can’t wait to see how God uses us in 2010.

4. True Friends – “Best” friends is an overrated and overused term. “True” friends are what matter in life. I’ve come to realize in 2009 that “people’s actions are rarely as big as how they promote themselves” A true friend is someone who you can rely on and who is honest. I think those two characteristics and qualities go a long way.

5. Jesus

Of course there is plenty more I could list, but this should be sufficient. I hope you all have an awesome send off to 2009 and a Happy New Year!!!

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