Standing near the Shoreline

Allow me to start this post by simply saying that while I do not know exactly what the future holds for the "Family Velasco" I know where I feel The Lord is currently leading us and I feel increasingly excited about it with each coming day.

Let me start with a little bit of background:

When I was a junior in high school I made the decision to be a follower of Christ.  I became a member of a terrific youth group at a local church that was "sold out for Jesus" and saw growth never before seen at that particular church.  I was in a place that it was "cool" to be a Christian.  We had a large student lead prayer circle each morning in a public school with regular attendance of over 100 students.  It was not hard to follow Christ at that point in my life. Which ended up being a great thing as it allowed to learn what it meant to be a Christian in a relatively "safe" environment.

Shortly after graduating high school, the following summer in fact, our youth group went on our annual youth camp week.  During that week that was incredibly blessed by God, I began to feel God tugging at my soul, but could not really put my finger on what was being asked of me.  As teenage decisions were being announced left and right; this friend coming to know the Lord for the first time, this other guy that I vaguely know from another school "rededicating his life" to Christ, and many of my dearest friends feeling God's call into a full time Christian ministry role, I could only assume that God was calling me into full time Christian ministry as well.  This conclusion came from a very logical place from a teenagers point of view.  Specifically, since I had already given my life to Christ and was doing the best I could to live that way, the only other thing God could have possibly put on my heart was for me to become a pastor.  I walked down the aisle, told the camp pastor of my decision, and was met with the usual hugs, cheers, and tears.

Now let's fast forward to college.  It became clear to me about two years into college that the Ministry (proper noun to reflect any and all Christian vocation) was not going to be where I spent the hours between 8am and 5pm once I had my degree in hand.  I wrestled with this as I was still sure that God had put something very real on my heart and was still convinced that it had something to do with ministry (notice the lack of a capital letter, more on that in a moment).  I sought the council of friends and mentors, both that knew of the youth camp decision and those that did not, and during the conversations (and in all likelihood some maturity on my part) it became clear that what God had put on my heart was a desire to minister, not necessarily get paid by a church.

Fast forward again.  Over the last half decade or so the Lord has continued to put on my heart and Meggie's as well, some form of church planting.  We have had conversations with staff members who have left our church to plant new ones, friends planting churches, others who give strategically to their church in an effort to promote church planting, etc.  At no point have we ever stepped out, been a part of a plant, or even helped to organize one.  The reasons have varied from, "well, it really isn't going to be near the house at all" to , "we just don't have the time to devote to it right now".

So here we are in the present and as of today, right now, God is making his desire for us pretty clear and that is to be a part of the Core Group at Shoreline Church.  Shoreline is a new church being planted by an old friend with the backing of a terrific church, but with the freedom to be whatever God calls it to be.  As I wrote that sentence it occurred to me.... isn't that how it should be with everyone who follows Christ?  We should all have the backing of a great church, but feel free to be whatever God calls us to be.  The most amazing thing about this experience so far has been this:  We were never asked by anyone to be a part of Shoreline.  We didn't ask anyone if it would be "o.k." if we were a part of Shoreline.  It has simply been a leading of the Lord to Shoreline that I personally can trace back to a call I couldn't exactly place almost 16 years ago.

For anyone interested check out www.shorelineknox.com or on twitter @shorelineknox.

As always thanks for reading.

Well it has been about a year...

Earlier today I was on my Twitter page and realized that I started a blog right at one year ago.  I have a grand total of three posts in my blog.  I am apparently a very prolific writer.  Today's post is simply a promise to post more.  It will likely only ever be seen by me, because I won't even link this entry to Facebook or Twitter.  Anyway, that is all for now.

It is almost here.....

May 26th, 2011.  A day that will either live in infamy or be a great day in my life.

 Now, let me clarify a little bit.  I am in no way putting that day in the same realm as anything truly important in my life like the day I met Meggie, my wedding day, the day Noah was born, etc.  It could merely be a great day in terms of those great days you have when the event doesn't really matter, you just look forward to it more than you should and actually find yourself nervous before the meaningless event take place.  Now, where was I?  Ah, yes....

In a scant nine days The Hangover Part II will be released.  I will be very honest with you, I truly cannot wait for this movie to come out. There is a good chance I will see it multiple times the first weekend.  I want to love this movie, I want them to catch lightening in a bottle twice, I want to be as impressed by the structure of the movie as I was when I saw the original.  But I am very afraid I won't be.  The original Hangover was just that. Original.  It took an overused premis and turned it on its ear.  It told the story of what happened in a night without ever really showing us that night.  Add to that the chemistry of the performers, a script that was able to base that crazy night in some form of reality.

Will the Part II be able to accomplish the same things?  From the previews we have seen that the delivery style will be the same.  So will it seem stale?  Will the actors be able to connect with the audience with the characters being familiar (and thus giving the audience expectations) rather than unknown?  I hope so.  I don't want to leave the theater feeling the way I did after seeing Star Wars Episode I or Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  I am hoping for a Dark Knight experience.  I want to leave the theater knowing it was as good if not better than the original.  I know this is typically the exception and not the rule.  But as I said... I hope.

             "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."
                    ~ Andy Dufresne
                      The Shawshank Redemption

A Great Mortgage Product

I am a mortgage officer.  Most of you know this. It has not been a great few years in my chosen industry.  Houses are not selling the way they did just three years ago, lenders have discontinued loan products, and there have been more foreclosures than any of us care to think about.  However, out of this trouble, a great mortgage product has arrived.  Fannie Mae has created the HomePath Mortgage to aid buyers in financing its foreclosed properties.  This will allow a buyer to purchase a home for as little as a 3% down payment, with no mortgage insurance, and no appraisal necessary.  The rates will be slightly higher than a typical Conventional or FHA loan, however the payments are lower and more of the payment goes toward principal and interest because there is no mortgage insurance.

So all that to say this, if you are looking for a house, call me I can tell you which homes in the area you are looking for qualify for HomePath and prequalify you for the loan.  If you are a buyer's real estate agent, call me and I will tell you how to find the houses that qualify and prequalify your buyer.  And if you are a real estate agent that wants to list HomePath properties, call me I can help you get that done as well.

Thanks for reading.  I promise the next entry won't be about work.

Adam
avelasco@keystonemg.net
(865) 207-3550

So It Begins....

Yes, it is true.  I have joined the legion of bloggers out there.  I can't say that this blog will be all that different from any others out there.  I plan on writing about what I know (mortgages and work stuff), what I like (sports, movies, music, etc.) and what I love ( my God, my wife, my son).  I hope that anyone who happens to read what I write will at sometime or another, agree, disagree, feel challanged, feel inspired, or laugh out loud.  Let me know if you are reading, how you feel about it, or just drop a comment to say hello.  While Facebook has been terrific for reconnecting with friends that I haven't seen in a while, a true conversation or exchange of ideas very rarely takes place via status updates or wall posts.  That is what I really want this blog to be.  I want to start conversations with a post and continue them through your comments and updating the posts.  Now, it could be that my wife and immediately family will be the only people who will read any of this, that is fine.  Some of these ramblings and opinions are just clogging up my head and putting them down on "paper" will help clear my head.  So that is it.  We are off and running.  Wish me luck......