When You Are Down To Nothing, God Is Up To Something

When You Are Down To Nothing, God Is Up To Something

That quote is so very true and it means alot to me.  I have been feeling a bit low myself for the fact that I haven't had steady work since November 21, 2012.  I have been finding out very well how to pinch each and every penny and make them go as far as they possibly can.  I began to get the feeling last night that my luck may be about to turn around.  I got a call from Lowes Home Improvement while at church last night saying that my application was in review.  I am really hoping that will turn into a job!  After I returned home and was getting ready for bed, this great feeling came over me that some good things were coming my way.  I can not explain it for it was so much at random, but I do know that I felt it.  I have been waiting and praying for a long while that something would come my way and wondering when I was going to catch a break.  I have had to really work hard on remembering the scripture that tells us that God's ways are not our ways.  Truthfully God's ways and timing are much better than ours.  If we got everything we wanted when we wanted we would be in quite a fix.  Human nature alot of times wants things when and how we want them regardless of the outcome.  That being said, if we didn't have God to tell us no sometimes or tell us to wait that this wasn't the right time or wasn't what we needed we'd all be in trouble.  God has been telling me to wait for a while now and it has been very hard for me to understand, but I know that in the long run it is better to wait on God's timing.  

Thank you Lord for all you have given me and done for me!

I await your blessed timing and I know that you know what we need when we need it!

I know that you are up to something since I have been down pretty close to nothing and I can't wait to see what you have in store for me!

Amen!

My Favorite Scripture Verse

My Favorite Scripture Verse

For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11

For a long time now this has been my favorite verse.  I can't tell you all exactly when it became my favorite scripture, but I just know it is.  This scripture to me is a promise from God to us that he always wants the best for us.  Lets break this verse down and analyze it for a few minutes. 

Lets take the first part "For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord".  This part of  chapter 29 verse 11 tells us simply that God knows for exactly what he put us on this earth to do.  God's initial intention when he put us on this earth was to serve Him and glorify Him as our creator and Lord.  Sadly alot of the people in this world think that God should be left out of our schools, our government, and practically every aspect of our daily lives.  That is all the more reason for us Christians to show the light of God and to proclaim His word, miracles, and promises to this lost world.  Another thing that we can say about this verse is that it tells us how omniscient and omnipotent (all seeing and all powerful) our great God is.  I say this because even before He placed each and every one of us on this earth, he knew what every person was supposed to do in his master plan.  Whether people will follow in God's will and do what He has set for them to do is a whole other topic, but I myself as a Christian hope that I try my best to follow in God's will.

Now as we proceed we come to the other half of this verse, "...thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end".  This first part of this half of the verse tells us very straight forward that God wants to do good and keep us from harm.  God will allow things to happen to people to teach them a lesson sometime, but He never wishes harm on someone.  The last part of this half of verse 11 tells us that God wants to give us an expected end, a future.  This goes back to when I was talking about God's plan for our lives.  In this part of the passage God's will and planning comes back into view for me.  I think when it says He will give us an expected end, it means God wants us to prosper and have a good life, but we must follow Him and do his will if we want our lives to be all He wants them to.  Just because we as Christians follow God that doesn't mean that we will never have trials and tribulations, it means the exact opposite.  That doesn't mean that we are to give up when troubles come our way, it just means that we must lift our eyes to God and pray to Him and ask for His help.  When we do pray to Him and ask for His help and guidance, He may not always give us the answer we want, but He will give us His answer.  We must remember that our ways are not God's ways and God's ways are not our ways.

What is your favorite scripture verse?  Please tell me in a comment what it is and why if there is a reason for the verse being your favorite.

Hope everyone enjoys reading my posts and I hope you all have a blessed day!

Thanks for reading! - Col. Andy Hunt

Archdale Friends Meeting

Archdale Friends Meeting

Sunday October 21, 2012 was the date when I first started attending Archdale Friends Meeting.  I had attended Cedar Square Friends Meeting and played banjo for their am service.  Then after attending that service it was off to Creekside Park for my cousin Kay's birthday party.  Before we left the party Faith and I were invited to Archdale Friends Meeting for refreshments and a renewal service (same as a revival service in other denominations) led by great preacher Ben Hurley.  That was a very special service for me.  I don't remember the topic of the sermon or the songs that were sung, but I do remember the feeling of warmth and peace that came over my body that night in that meeting house.  It felt to me like God was telling me, you belong here.  Ever since that night I have felt at home in that church.  David Mercadante, pastor of the meeting, is one the best preachers I have ever sat under.  He preaches from God's word each and every Sunday.  I very much enjoy his scripture filled, but practical sermons that he translates in such a way that his congregation can put them into practice in every day life.  Not only do I feel fed by the preaching, but also by the music.  Each week we sing the beautiful, old hymns that church congregations have been singing for a great number of years.  There is no more wonderful sound than a congregation or a choir singing Rock of Ages or Beulah Land to the powerful sound of a church organ!  One aspect of the Quaker worship service that I have come to enjoy very much are the times of "Open Worship".  Open Worship is a time for the congregation to reflect on the pastors sermon and to pray.  It is also called a time to "center down" and forget all the cares and worries in our lives so we can focus on our personal time with God.  If anyone feels led to stand and speak during this time then he or she is allowed to do so. The congregation of this church is also one of the friendliest I have ever encountered in any church I have been in.  Each and every member I have come in contact with is always so pleasant and cheerful when we pass in the halls of the church.  For this reason and others as well, I have found it very easy to become deeply involved in the ministry of the church.  One of the ways I contribute is through my God given musical talent.  God has blessed me so richly with my talent of playing the banjo, that one of the best ways I can show him praise and honor is to use my talent for him.  The last Sunday of each month in the fellowship hall there is an "Old Timey Hymn Singing" from 9 - 9:45 am where myself and other men in the church sing and play the hymns we have all grown up with.  It is now Sunday January 27, 2013 and I am proud to say that after my membership request is passed through the monthly meeting on the second Wednesday in February, I will officially be a Quaker and member of Archdale Friends Meeting!  I believe that I am following in God's will by attending this church for the fact that we are to go where we feel like we are being spiritually fed.  I want to thank God for sending me to a place where I can be fed by His word and I am so very blessed to have such a wonderful church family at Archdale Friends Meeting! God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

Paddle Faster...I Hear Banjo Music!

Paddle Faster...I Hear Banjo Music!

Whilst I am listening to www.worldwidebluegrass.com I am thinking back through my banjo playing life from its beginnings.  Travel with me back down memory lane if you will to the time when I was 11 years old in 2003.  I had been wanting to play the banjo for a time at that point.  Who inspired me to start playing?  Well first off I have an uncle who picks a five string a bit really got me started thinking about playing.  He won't play much in front of crowds, but I heard him play at family things from time to time.  Besides him my earliest influences were probably Ralph Stanley and Earl Scruggs mainly.  Well as time went along I would ask my mother and daddy when I could get a banjo and start playing.  They would always say that I had to wait until I was 12 so I knew that my instrument was not just a toy.  Finally around Thanksgiving of 2003, surprisingly about 5 months before I turned 12, I got my wish and the rest is history!  I went upstairs one morning in late November of 2003 as I did normally to watch mother get ready for the day and I was posed with a question.  "Guess what?" What, I said?  Then she said words that would change my whole life.  "You are going to banjo lessons today."  I was overjoyed to say the least!  I said mama pinch me because I thought I was dreaming.  She pinched me and I felt it. I wasn't dreaming!  I was actually going to start banjo lessons.  That day we went to Smith Whitley Music on Westchester Ave in High Point and started my lessons with Brad Dobbins who taught banjo there at the time.  My cousin Charlie Sumner started taking lessons about the same time as myself.  Anyhow, I took lessons from November of 2003 to 2004 or 2005 with Brad, then he stopped teaching there so I just had to go off of what I had learned.  After a year or two of not having a teacher, I realized at that point in my musical journey that I still needed the guidance of a teacher.  I also found myself slipping on what I had learned and almost getting discouraged to the point of laying the banjo down.  Luckily when I told mom and dad that I needed a new teacher, they got on the search.  My next teacher came from an add in the classifieds section of the High Point Enterprise.  John "Randy" Flynt was his name, and he worked wonders with perfecting my talent.  At that time I had big problems with my timing, but he got those things worked out pretty quickly.  He wanted to teach me notes when I first came to him, but after about two lessons or so he decided that my ear was good enough.  I spent a couple of years under John until I felt that I could move at a faster pace than I was learning at then.  After my lessons were finished with John I began doing shows around with him and playing at many different places by myself.  Now we will skip on to August of 2010.  At that time I started college in Hyden, Kentucky at Hazard Community and Technical College's Kentucky School of Bluegrass & Traditional Music.  That point in my life helped my music more than any other time so far.  I learned alot while at college from the top notch instructors including Bobby Osborne, Dean Osborne, Curtis Burch, J.P. Mathes, and Chris Mullins.  While there in little Hyden, I made an album with my band called The Hyden Colonels.  That album entitled "Old Man Dancin' In The Graveyard" has sold between 600 and 800 copies all across the United States.  I graduated from KSBTM on May 5th 2012 and came back home to old North Carolina.  Since then I have been playing at many different places around including The Osborne Brother's Festival in Hyden Kentucky (2011 & 2012), Galax Old Fiddler's Convention (2012), Sparta Fiddler's Convention (2012), The Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver Festival (2012), as well as many other smaller venues.  Soon I will be starting my DJ career on the WWB (www.worldwidebluegrass.com) spinning some great Bluegrass for anybody who wants to listen!  I will let everyone know when I'm going to be on the air!  Tonight I will be playing from 6-7 pm at my church Archdale Friends Meeting for their 3rd annual Chili Quake that runs from 4:30-7 pm tonight.  For $5 you get a chili tasting bowl, bread, and a drink and some great Bluegrass music from Robert Spry (5-6 pm) and me (6-7 pm)!  If anybody is in the area come on out and join us for some good chili and Bluegrass with friends!

Myself as I was getting ready to audition for Dollywood in February 2012

My Ol' Girl

My strap handmade by my father in our basement 

The headstock of my banjo with the Cheat-A-Key D Tuners I purchased  from Vernon McIntyre of Ohio 

Winter Dreams of Summer Pastimes

Winter Dreams of Summer Pastimes

As I sit at my computer after a day of freezing rain, sleet, and a small amount of snow, I find myself drifting off to fond memories of those long summer days.  Thursdays in particular are what I am thinking of at this moment.  Every Thursday from the time we start having more warm days than cold until "Old Man Winter" chases the crisp, but mild fall days into bone chilling cold there is a group of dedicated men (and women) that get together to show of the labor of love for classic automobiles.  That group of people come out to the Let's Talk Cars show every week (unless there is a chance of rain) to a large parking lot on South Main St. in High Point, North Carolina.  From about 5pm until it starts getting dusky anywhere from 15 to 100 or more classic cars and trucks cover that parking lot.  There is usually a large amount of people who come out, almost religiously, each week (like myself) to kick tires, see old friends and meet new ones, trade stories, take pictures, and just enjoy seeing some awesome restored vehicles.  I always long throughout the winter months for the long, warm summer days when it's car show time again in High Point.  Come on out if you are in the area during the warm months and enjoy a summer Thursday afternoon of music, motors, and down to earth good times with the people (and cars) at the Let's Talk Cars show!  See ya'll there!

1931 Ford Model A Owned By Chip Holden
The car was bought by Chip's father Vernon in 1959 and restored about 1960

1957 Chevy Bel-Air Rear View

1957 Chevy Bel-Air Front View

 1958 Cadillac 60 Fleetwood Sedan
This car was originally sold to Lewis & Marjorie Whetman of Denver Colorado on 5/27/58 with all the bells and whistles for a grand total of $8083.23!

1955 Chevrolet 3100 

1969 Chevy Camaro SS
This was one of the original pace cars for the 53rd Annual Indy 500 on May 30th 1969! 

1960s Chevrolet Impala

1950s Ford Thunderbird

First Post To My New Blog

Good Evening Everybody! I figured I would create a new blog as my old one was outdated, unprofessional,  and hadn't been used since 2008.  I wanted to make a more professional, well rounded blog so here we are.  I hope everyone enjoys their time visiting Col. Andy Hunt's World! Thanks - The Col.