Charlie Brown Christmas

Before I leave for Aussie, I wanted to do one last thing with my kids from church, so on Dec. 27th at 6:00, we will be performing "A Charlie Brown Christmas". I'm playing the part of Charlie Brown, as well as directing and doing background and props... and Cheree is helping (thanks for the dog house!). Taylor, my little sister, is playing Sally.. what a great character to play. The whole gang will be there, along with a Snoopy and The Vince Guaraldi Trio soundtrack. Im really looking forward to it (If I can just remember all of these lines! :) ) Anyways, I would love for all who can, to come out that night and watch the play. It's at First Baptist Church of Bonneau.( ..and yes Kandie, all the way in Bonneau!) Look forward to seeing you there.

Been a long time..

Ok, so, life's been busy, but Im taking time to update my blog. Since the yardsale I wrote about earlier, Ive had another, and it didnt do near as good, but that's ok. A little is more than nothing! :) I have received my passport and my Visa (stressed out about that for nothing!). I've also purchased my plane ticket, so I'll be leaving Charleston on Jan. 17th and arrive in Sydney on Jan. 19th. I'll stop at Chicago and LAX on the way there. I've also payed my accomodation setup fee and payed for the shuttle bus to pick me up from the airport. I'm beginning to get really anxious, nervous, well... there's a lot of emotions messing with me. Mom's having a fundraiser dinner at church this Wednesday night and I'm selling ornaments to raise money for the trip. I've paid for all of my current expenses, but I still need savings to live off of while I'm there. (I heard it's difficult to get a job there, so that scared me a little.) However, God's will is always fulfilled, and He has done so much for me, I know He will continue to bless this ministry. So, now I think I'm up-to-date.. :)

Ode To The Studio

Stephanie.. Jessica... What doesn't kill us, makes us stronger! :)

Where would I be without you guys.. The visions. The teamwork. The fights. The outcome. I love you guys from the bottom of my heart. The ministry that we began together, that we watched grow.. It's all been to prepare us for where we are now. God used you two to teach me a lot and to prepare me for the adventure ahead of me. Although we will be continuing our ministries from two opposite sides of the globe, I feel as though our hearts will always be connected and we will in fact be able to look back and see the difference that we made. I thank you for your dedication and loyalty and I will miss you guys incredibly! I love you both!

The Man at the Yard Sale

So, I told you all the great news about the yard sale and how God truly blessed and multiplied. It was so great sunday to teach my children in children's church about faith and courage, and be able to give a recent and personal example of God's Grace and what happen's when you have faith. We began the yard sale determined to raise money that would go towards my plane ticket. That was our objective. We looked online, and plane tickets ran approx. $1,500. I raised $1,500. How amazing is that!

But, I also have another story to tell. A man, someone I had never met before in my life donated $100 to me at the yard sale. He actually didn't even come to the yard sale. He was told what was happening, and he gave it to someone to give me. No personal boasting at all, he wasn't even going to let me see his face. Well, mom and I ran across the parking lot and caught him just in time as he was leaving. This man, named Billy, let us know that God had used him to bless us. That he was not the one to thank. He also said to go by the icecream shop when we were done, get something, and just tell the owners (which he knew), that it was on Billy's tab. Mom quickly said that we could never accept his offer, especially seeing that he had just donated $100 to a complete stranger (me :)). He said, and this is the part that got to me, that when you receive a blessing with no strings attached, it's straight from above. Strings = the devil, but a generous offer and blessing is when God uses someone else to help you out. It made me soo happy to know that people are still willing to give like that and allow God to use them! With the economy in the shape it is, and the wickedness in the world, there are still those who are completely surrendered to Christ, and are willing to do whatever he tells and uses them to do. Lord, please use me! Let me be a "Billy". Allow me to bless others, not for my own gain, but to show your love and your power! Amen.

Yard Sale Outcome

So... I just got home from the yard sale fundraiser. It was nice this morning, but "whoa" did it get hot! Got up at 5:00 this morning, finished loading up, started setting up around 6:10 at Brown's BBQ parking lot. We raised a total of... are you ready for this... $1,200. With some other donations, I have a total of $1,500. Whoa!! Isn't God great! I couldn't have done any of it without my mom... she gave of herself tremendously and I thank God so much for her. I also want to thank Tanya, Mama, Papa, Lee, Taylor, Tyler, Mary Jo, Chantelle, Aunt Peggy, and even Kayla, who were all ready to unpack at 6:00 this morning. Dad and Mr. and Mrs. Peterson for dropping of their rather large donations. Aunt Lisa, Kandie, and others who came out and spend their time and efforts to help. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such great friends and family. God has truly blessed me and this ministry that He is only beginning. I pray that he uses me to do great things for His kingdom, because I am fully ready and I give my all. ... side note.. Kandie (Deana) your so great! Thanks for all you do and for traveling "SO FAR" to help us out and for your great ideas on "How to better sell yard sale items." You def. have a gift! lol :) Just Saying! Anyways, sorry I rambled on, God is Blessing, continue to tune in to Dustin's Blog to find out what all is going on.

Ps. Thank you to all of the people who donated stuff to the yard sale. We had SOO much stuff. :) I think mom is really happy it's out of the house now. :)

Enrolled!

Wow! So... I sent off my downpayment last week for college. (Includes my first semester tuition and all 3 years of my healthcare). I received my certificate of enrollment from the college today, officially an up-coming student! (This is soo cool, and nerve-racking! It's becoming soo real!) Anyways, I have to have these certificates to get my visa.. but now I have to wait for my passport to come in before I can apply for it. I ended up with a little over $400 dollars from the doughnuts and some donations during the fundraiser (obviously some people don't eat "those things!"... haha... they don't know what they are missing!) Since last Wednesday, I've continued to receive some larger donations, so I now have enough to pay for my Visa (which is approx. $500). So, the yardsale this saturday will go towards my plane ticket. We serve an awesome God!

Thank you all for everything!

Doughnuts.

Well, the doughnut fundraiser is over, and I raised approx. $300.00. Not too bad I guess. I still have a ways to go, but now I'm working on the yardsale on October 3rd. Hopefully it will be a success! Got any junk to donate!? :)

With my savings, donations, and doughnut money (and mom let me borrow some :)) I now have enough to pay my downpayment for classes.. I can now get my certificate of enrollment (which I need in order to get my Visa.) I will also be getting more information about my accomodations for while I'm in Australia.

Faith Has No Backup Plan

So far, my adventure has been one full of faith. I've always had a lot of faith, but It seems, now that I look back at my life, it seems like I've always had a backup plan. Therefore if I were to far out on that branch and it broke, I would have something to fall on... something that I have waiting there instead of relying on God to catch me. Well, I decided at the last moment in August that I wanted to attend Hillsong College. It was only days before the school I was enrolled in, CSU, took in for the 2009-10 school year. I talked with my mom, I decided that It was something I wanted to do. I thank Ashley so much for her inspiring words, "let tomorrow happen tomorrow, instead focus on today." I've always tried to plan everything out and try and see what will happen. So, I jumped, I withdrew from CSU, meaning I lose all of my scholarships... in other words, "No turning back." Now, this was before I got my acceptance letter back from Hillsong. Those were the most nerve racking weeks of my life, waiting to get a response from the school. The fear of becoming a bum was very realistic! :) Well, God's will is always perfect, and I got the letter!! Where I'll get the money to pay for school, healthcare, food, plane ticket, and everything.... well, I have no clue, but I know now that this IS what God has planned for me, and Im just along for the ride! Isn't our God SOO GREAT!

I encourage you all to take a chance, get really far out on that branch.. and know that He will catch you if you fall... Don't try and have something waiting to fall on. :)

Movie Night

So, I've been doing some research tonight on the internet, and I now have my top 5 list of movies coming out that I have to see... I can't wait! Ok, here they are...

1. Where the Wild Things are
2. Toy Story 3
3. Airborn (I loved this book!)
4. Cloverfield 2
5. Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (just because I'm curious, not a big Tim Burton fan)

PS. What a random blog! :)

Hey, It's Dustin C. Kinard and this is my new blog! Alright, now that we cleared that up, I wanted to let you all know that I've decided to start blogging so I can let you all in on what's going on in my life. I have some new, strange, and exciting things happening, and I wanted to share them with you all. So, Wednesday I applied for my passport.. o yeah, In case you don't know, Im going to Australia in January for school. I plan to be there 3 years in order to get my advanced degree in Children's Ministry. I attended Charleston Southern University last year, but felt higher callings in my life. I have gotten my acceptance letter from Hillsong (the school in Australia) and returned my papers. Now I'm in the process of fundraising so I can get there. Doughnuts are on sale now, and the fundraiser yard sale is Oct. 3. I've had such great support from my family and church family so far.. I know that if this is God's will, I will collect what it is I need to get there. This was a spur of the moment thing to apply for Hillsong, so don't ask why... It's a God thing! :)