Casey and Jen Cruciano

Christmas Newsletter

2011-12-19T08:07:00.000-08:00

We are having so much fun reading everyone's letters and looking at your beautiful family christmas cards that we have posted in our kitchen.

Casey and I are about to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary this January 1st! My parents recently celebrated 45 years, Casey's parents 36 years, but the winner goes to Casey's grandparents that just celebrated 65 years!!! We are so thankful to be surrounded by such great examples.

We are thrilled to share with you that a new friend that has been coming to our weekly CS meetings just gave his life to Jesus and has plunged right in and began serving at the most recent surf contest in Flagler Beach.

Casey worked that entire contest weekend as the site manager and helped run the live webcast of the day contest and even the night contest off the pier! The Tommy Tant Memorial Contest had great weather, waves, music concert, food festival, and Will Tant shared a bit of his testimony and the gospel message in a very culturally relevant way. There were so many people hearing that very important message… it was an awesome weekend.

Most of you have been asking about our long awaited move back to the north and how it's going… Well, it's still going at this point, so that's good. It's been a very long and difficult process and we're still not packing just yet, but things are still moving along at a snails pace. I was really hoping to be moving home for Christmas, but all in God’s timing. Thank you so much for all the prayers.

We so appreciate each and every one of you, the gift of your friendship, and for continuing on this journey with us as we continue to bring the GOOD NEWS of JESUS to the surfers around the country!

In HIS love -

Casey, Jennifer, Ezra & Caris

Back in the U-S-of-A

2011-12-12T21:26:00.000-08:00

After a literal ton of paperwork and three months in his home country of Brazil, new CS Regional Coach Nestor Wagner has made it back to the states to begin working in the National Office. He arrived in Florida just days ago, and is busily looking for a house to get settled into. Nestor has been in Brazil since September working on his citizenship / green card status. Evidently, they make you go back in case they want you to stay! :) Well, it all worked out for Nestor and his family (wife Cyntia and daughter Isabella), and he is here to stay. Click HERE to see their December newsletter.

Four Down, Two to Go

2011-12-06T18:45:00.000-08:00

So we had our 4th of 6 small group training events called 2:6 (after I John 2:6 - Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus did). This weekend we tried to find ways to put into practice what we were learning ~ it's very practical stuff so it wasn't too hard to quantify, but it will be difficult to truly live it out. We've found that we all migrate towards other Christians, and soon everyone we hang out with are Believers. We made a commitment to try to spend more time with non-Christians, for the purpose of building relationship with them. I'm looking forward to hearing the results at our next meeting in March. Picture is about 1/2 the group, on our way to lunch after meeting at the new office.

Turkey Week

2011-11-29T18:50:00.000-08:00

Had a rad time hanging with the fam in VA over a really quick Thanksgiving trip. We learned our lesson and traveled on Tuesday (as opposed to Wednesday), were in Danville for 2 days, then skittered over to Virginia Beach for another 3 days before getting back on the road. Great Grandparents Jack & Barbara Greene just celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary, so a huge congratulations goes out to them!

Local Chapter Update

2011-11-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

We've settled into a new indoors location, the Groove Cafe on the island. The place is perfect for us, 70" screen playing surf movies, great food, and a back room we can meet in. So we started meeting there and drummed up some support from our members to show a 6-part video series done by CS South Africa called On The Rocks. Here's a picture from the launch of that video series.

Post

2011-11-15T19:12:00.000-08:00

So after an incredible weekend serving at the Tommy Tant, we are super tired and not really up for writing a big update. How about a video instead?

Pre

2011-11-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

This upcoming weekend we've got a major event on our schedule, the 11th annual Tommy Tant. We've decided that in lieu of doing our own contest, it would be better this year to serve at another event in a big way. So, Christian Surfers is running setup, security, the webcast, and tear-down. It's a lot of responsibilty, but we've got a lot of great volunteers who are up for the task. Be sure to check the WEBSITE to watch the live feed of the event, all day Saturday and Sunday.

Slater Invitational

2011-11-01T22:16:00.000-07:00

So we've been down to Cocoa Beach each year to support the chapter there and check out the Slater Invitational contest. This year, however, I actually got an invite to surf in it as well. I didn't do too great, but I had fun nonetheless and enjoyed a free comp! PC, Rogo, Ron Brooks, and Alan Lowe joined us down there, to pass out some RBC Life Sciences products to the competitors and spectators. The surf was pretty tiny for most of the weekend, with a windy uptick on Sunday afternoon. The Cocoa chapter seems to be doing well, they local surf community seems appreciative of their presence on the beach and servant's hearts.

Halloween

2011-10-31T19:34:00.000-07:00

So we had a little Peter Pan and an even littler Tinkerbell for Halloween this year (and someone dressed like the cat). We didn't do a full walk around the neighborhood, just to the closest couple of houses near us. Next year we'll probably be making the rounds, but this year the kiddos had just as much fun seeing everyone come to our house as they did walking around themselves.

Maize Maze

2011-10-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

A local farm in Elkton (1 town inland of St. Augustine) has a fall festival every year leading up to Halloween. No scary stuff, so it's perfect for the little kiddos. They've got a bunch of slides, sandbox full of corn kernels, hayrides, and a corn maze. We went there with our friends the Silvers, who have children about the same ages as ours. It was a lot of fun and we look forward to it every year.

Dean's 40th Birthday Party

2011-10-10T08:06:00.000-07:00

Amy surprised Dean with a 40th Birthday party on the beach. Everyone finds it hard to believe that Dean is 40, but middle age, here he comes... About 50-60 people gathered on the beach at Ocean Trace Road, complete with a bounce house for the kiddos. Unfortunately, Jen had to work that evening at the dance studio, so she was only there for a little while. She did drop off her award winning cupcakes, which were a big hit and were devoured by the ravenous crowd.

Here's to 40 more, Dean-o!

Neckbeard Family

2011-10-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

We participated in a silly contest for a local surf shop. It was to see how you could grow a neckbeard, the part of the beard below your chin. We figured it would be funny if the whole family did the beard thing and showed up to take our "after" photo.

Update - We didn't end up winning the contest, but it was fun to go in there and support the Surf Station (one of our National sponsors for CS). The winner got a free "Neckbeard" model Channel Islands surfboard.

Dominican Republic

2011-09-26T10:25:00.000-07:00

This week marks the first (in a long time) nationally organized international mission trip from Christian Surfers. Paul Hyers, newly minted "missions coordinator" for CSUS, took a small crew to the Dominican Republic. The intent of his position is not only to travel overseas, but to coordinate the myriad of stateside trips (ESA Easterns, Surf Expo, etc.). The group for DR consisted mostly of personal friends of Paul's, although future trips will be a mixture of CS members from all over the country. Stay tuned to our email newsletters for more info on future trips.

Here's a LINK to what's going on with the Dominican Republic branch of Christian Surfers.

Office Space

2011-09-19T12:33:00.000-07:00

For those of y'all who aren't aware, CS has some "rent to own" office space that we are readying to become the new National Office. It's a ±3000 square foot building, zoned for commercial and/or residential use. It will have 2-3 bunk-style bedrooms for interns, and 4-5 small office spaces for them to work. The goal is to have a flow of live-in interns every 3-6 months who help out with the local CS chapter, work on their own in the surf community, and also do national office tasks. CS South Africa has a similar intern setup, although theirs is across the street from JBay. While we can't guarantee 500 yard, perfect right hand points, we do offer an exciting missions experience.

Pic - Painting the property to get it ready to be lived and worked in. Next step will be to find some cheap carpet!

CSIIDBDAUS

2011-09-12T10:26:00.000-07:00

Christian Surfers International Director Brett Davis was in town for his yearly visit over the last few days. Brett began CS in Australia, noticing that when he became a Christian, none of his other surf buddies were being reached out to by the local church. It became apparent to him that something needed to be done about this, so he started small, local group to help reach the surfers immediately surrounding them. That small, local group has branched out to include contacts in 35 countries, a few hundred volunteers, and thousands upon thousands impacted by the Good News!

We got a good surf in with Brett, CSI Regional Coordinator Cal Fisher, CS Puerto Rico contact John Foster. Brett said it was a better beachbreak than what he surfed regularly at home in OZ!

Katia Arrives

2011-09-05T09:49:00.000-07:00

Hurricane Katia ripped up the Atlantic seaboard last week, sending everyone waves from Florida to Maine. Our surf here was a little to big and closed out, due to our flat sand beaches and lack of distinguishing coastline features. It's still fun to be in the middle of it all, especially when the storms behave themselves and don't make landfall.

The pic is a screenshot of me taken from a video clip. It was the first day of the swell (while it was still pretty small), surfing a jetty up in Jacksonville.

C & J in St. A

2011-08-29T11:01:00.000-07:00

Although just in town celebrating Caris' first birthday earlier this month, Carrie and Jose made their it up here once again to hang out with us for a weekend. Actually, Jose had a game in North Carolina, so Carrie just tagged along for the ride and got dropped off on the way. She figure it was a long weekend with Labor Day on Monday, so she didn't want to just stay at home. We had a nice time cruising around downtown, going to the beach, and watching movies with the CS projector. Here's a cool shot of Carrie and Ezra, exploring a new part of downtown (the garden on the NW side of the basilica adjacent to Flagler College).

Jen's Birthday

2011-08-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

So it's Jen's birthday today and for the first time in a few years it's not raining (the past few years we've either gotten hit by a tropical system, or got an early nor'easter, always on August 22nd). So, we got out to an afternoon on the town with dinner and a downtown carriage ride with our friends the Plumlee family. It was our first ever carriage ride - because we live here we haven't done all the touristy things yet. Really fun role reversal to be the one in the buggy while the cars all stop behind you and have to wait!

Another Typhoon Lagoon Trip

2011-08-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Caris' 1st Birthday

2011-08-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

One year ago, it was super hot outside, and Jennifer was ready to have a baby already! Well, Caris arrived without incident and two happy parents (and one disinterested brother) went home with a new addition to the family. Hard to believe it's been a year now, Caris is walking and kinda talking and exploring new things. Ezra is almost ready to let her play with some of his toys (only a few are off-limits), and "dada" and "mama" couldn't be more proud of their sweet little girl.

Thanks for everyone for coming out to the party, and blessing us with your thoughtful gifts to Caris.

TS Emily

2011-08-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

I waiting all day to post this so I could officially say we've got the first named storm of the year headed right for us... Tropical Storm Emily is out in the mix and could be at St. Augustine's doorstep this weekend. It's still way to early to tell what's going to happen, Emily still has to cross a lot of water and land to make it's way to our house. The swell forecast has also been downgraded, because it's not in the open Atlantic it's not going to push the SE groundswell our way, so any swell we get will be from the local winds when it's on top of us. Those are actually my favorite - while they are short-lived they tend to give us the largest swells - lots of onshore winds then a quick change to offshore - usually means big surf and probably some barrels.

Here's hoping & praying for swell but no storm damage...

Office Update

2011-07-25T13:59:00.000-07:00

"Shovel-ready wasn't as 'shovel-ready' as we thought...."

This quote from President Obama sounds a lot like what's going on with the office. Originally, the plan was to move in there July 1st, but that date has come and gone and we don't have an office space. The latest news is that there was a discovery of mold, and that before we are able to move in the mold has to be taken care of (not safe to be inhabited). So, we're hoping the seller/landlord will take care of the problem, and their actions so far has indicated that they are willing to do so.

The net results is that there will be no office for the next couple of weeks until this all gets sorted out. My guess is that the earliest we could move in would be September, based on the snail's pace of the response time so far. On the positive side, it could all work out for the best if all the issues with the office are fixed on someone else's dime, and then we are able to rent and eventually own the place as we save up the money for it.

New CS Staff In Town

2011-07-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Wagners (Nestor, Cintia, and Isabella), visited St. Augustine this past weekend. They are from Brazil by way of Manasquan, NJ. Nestor has been serving as the chapter director of Manasquan for a few years now, even since current CS staff members Dan and Jessica Cotton moved to Panama to be full-time missionaries there. The Wagners have done a great job investing in their team in NJ, and Dean took notice of their efforts. When people join the staff, we often look for someone who is already doing a "national" task, and ask them if they'd like to do that officially. Nestor was already coaching chapters and inspiring others, so we thought, "who better to come on full-time as a chapter coach?"

Missing from the pic - Amy Plumlee, got really sick while everyone was in town and couldn't make it to our house for dinner this night >>>

Typhoon Lagoon

2011-07-11T03:54:00.000-07:00

We did a quick trip over to Orlando to surf the wavepool this past Saturday. We've done this trip almost every year with really good results. From a ministry perspective it's great to hang out with some new people in a different setting, where everyone is stoked on what's going on.

We've got another trip to Typhoon in early August - the first year we've booked 2 trips - but they have been so popular we thought we'd give it a try.

If you'd like to see a more hi-rez video, click HERE.

Happening Now ~ Prep School in California

2011-07-04T09:34:00.000-07:00

Prep School went of in San Juan Capistrano, this weekend. Groms and chaperons traveled from all over the country to take some training on "how to love their surfing friends." What that really means is working towards being able to personally share Christ with them. Doesn't mean going straight from no relationship to getting in their face all in one day, but slowly increasing your boldness to share with them via building your relationship to that place first. What we've found is that this methodology makes disciples, rather than just filling up stats in the yearly ministry Praise Report.

Photo at right is the group after a crazy lazer tag experience >>>

Full report with more photos coming on our website shortly.

Grom Contest Weekend

2011-06-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

Local World Tour surfer Gabe Kling sponsors a yearly contest for the groms. This is the third year they have run it, and our 2nd year serving at it as a chapter. Since the contest is in late June, the usual contest serving regimen is replaced by us handing out free snow cones. It's usually brutally hot, so the contestants and their parents flow to our tent whenever they hear our machine running.

The contest has grown each year, I think this contest has taken the mantle from the Turkey Classic and become the largest in St. Augustine. And we're stoked for them for it - it's free to enter and the groms get a ton of stuff to take home with them. It's cool we are able to make an appearance and help out, too!

West Coast Visit

2011-06-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

Since we are slowly moving towards selling our house, we decided to take a quick trip to see our family in SW Florida one last time. We stayed with Uncle Bill and Aunt Lucy, who live in a nice little town called North Port with their beautiful dog Pearl. They live just a few miles away from Aunt Fran and Uncle Harry (along with son Jay and grandsons Tanner and Matt), who have a really nice pool that the kiddos enjoyed on Saturday. We did the beach on Sunday, a place known for having a lot of shark teeth buried in the sand. Fortunately, no actual sharks were spotted while we were there. After that, we started up I-75, and did a quick lunch with Rolando. We're not sure how we are related (he's Jose's dad), but we love Rogo just like family!

Instead of taking a photo this weekend, we found an old photo of the Cruciano family at old family house in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware, circa 1984. Front Row - Matt, Michael, Ginny, Donna, Carrie, Linda, Angela, Casey, Paul. Back Row - Harry, Fran, Jay, Pat, Chessie, Bill, Lucy. Pretty neat that almost all the kids in the photo are the parents' ages, many with children of their own.

Article in the Record

2011-06-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

Our St. Augustine paper, The Record, wanted to do a story on Christian Surfers. Actually, we contacted them to try to do a write-up back in April right before our auction, but they didn't get to it in time until now. But, the writer did a great job, keeping the quotes in context and writing a nice article.

Rather than me tell you all about it, click the image to the right to read it yourself, or go to this LINK to read the online version where you can comment about it.

Niece Hailey's Graduation

2011-06-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

We ventured 2 states North to Beaufort, South Carolina, to witness Hailey Connors' high school graduation this weekend. We were joined by Jennifer's parents, who drove down from Virginia Beach. We had the benefit of some insider knowledge about the graduation - to sit on the "visitors" side of the bleachers so the sun would be out of our eyes. Congrats to Laura, too, for getting another kiddo finished up!

After graduation on Friday, we went with Fred & Jane to Charleston, somewhere I had not been since I was really little. We did a tour of Fort Sumter, an island in the middle of the harbor that was the starting place of the Civil War. Later, we went on a walking tour of the town, saw the marketplace and the big houses on the water, etc. It is a very pretty town that has a lot of similarities to St. Augustine... Only bummer was not having enough time to contact the local chapter there and have a surf, maybe next time!

Hanna Park Campout

2011-05-30T17:35:00.000-07:00

Just got back today from the first annual East Coast / Southeast / Florida / Hanna Park Campout. I'm using all those terms to describe it because it's had a few different names in the past six months. First off, we tried to make it an East Coast thing because the West Coasters already had their annual camping event (San Onofre). Later, when we realized that 18 hours is a long way to drive to the campout for our Northern chapters like Manasquan, it kinda became the Southeast Campout. When the event actually transpired, we did have people come from as far south as Miami, as far West as Panama City, and as far North as the SC/NC state line.

The event was a lot of work for Jen and myself, we really didn't think about how much extra difficulty it would be trying to direct the event and at the same time take good care of our kiddos. We managed, but it was enough of a strain that we learned for 2012, we'll be looking for some help! :)

NEWS ARTICLE ON THE CHRISTIAN SURFERS HOMEPAGE

PICTURES OF THE CAMPOUT

VIDEO CLIPS OF SURFING DURING THE CAMPOUT

Dance Recital

2011-05-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

Jen's been teaching dance at a local studio for the last few years. It's called On Pointe Dance Center and located in the World Golf Village area. At the end of each year there is a performance, this time at UNF in Jacksonville. Jen was in 2 dances, "Cats" and a Rockettes-type number. It's funny because the rest of her class are teenagers, and everyone thinks Jen is around that age as well.

Virginia Trip

2011-05-16T19:38:00.000-07:00

Have just gotten back to Florida from VB, we just love that 12 hour car trip with the kiddos! We had a great time seeing old friends, sharing the ministry with new people, and even having a date night out. One highlight of the week was our supporter update, held Saturday at the Cruciano house. It was a blessing to spend time with all those folks who are so dear to us and allow us to remain in ministry with Christian Surfers. Thanks so much for spending an afternoon hanging out with us.

New CSUS Office

2011-05-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

Dean just signed a deal on a great place for a new training center for CS. It's located just across the street from the beach, has plenty of room to expand, and has an acre behind it just in case. One of the neat features is a bunch of small bedrooms ideal for the internship program Dean wants to start in the fall. We're looking to begin fundraising immediately, with hopes that we can purchase the property at the end of our rental agreement. If you'd like to plop down a few thou, get on our online donation page and help us bring this dream to fruition! :)

Contest Video

2011-05-02T19:19:00.001-07:00

A little video was worked up from the contest last week. As you can see the waves weren't epic, but certainly better than average for a contest in Florida.

Waiting Period Surf Contest

2011-04-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

After a few weeks of waiting we finally did it. Actually, this year was a bit easier for the "green light" call because it had been so flat that the first time anything decent came up I knew we had to go. So, we got a multi-day Easterly Wave swell, pretty unusual for this time of year (this is a precursor to tropical storm formation). The surf was waist to chest the whole day today, really consistent so it gave each competitor a lot of opportunity to catch waves. Everyone seemed to have a really good time, event the guys who lost out early.

The purpose of the contest is to get to know the local surfers a bit better, unlike the Turkey Classic where it takes all our volunteers just to keep the event running. So, we get to hang with all the competitors and involve them in the contest more. The eventual idea is to get to know somebody new and start investing in their life more....

If you want to see some pictures, click HERE, or the contest website HERE.

Eastern Surfing Association SouthEast Regionals in St. Augustine

2011-04-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

That title is a mouthful, we had the ESA SE Regionals here, which is the premier amateur surfing contest for Florida. It switches location each year, and this time it was our turn (the last was in 2005). Interesting how much has changed, in '05 we had to convince the ESA we were there for their best interests - to serve and not preach over a bullhorn. After five years of serving they now come to us to ask if we can help out. It's great not to have to beg the contest officials to give away food and drinks anymore!

This year we didn't have a huge amount of volunteers, so we decided to do a little something well. Instead of serving all day in every capacity, we brought a really nice breakfast that was on the beach by 7AM each day. It was for staff, competitors, and attendees alike, as long as you got there early enough to enjoy it.

Special thanks to the CS Jacksonville crew for doing security for the contest all weekend. Security means getting zero sleep with all the people trying to climb on the scaffolding all night long, then getting woken up by airhorns microphone announcements at 7AM. You guys are awesome!

PopPop in Town!

2011-04-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

PC got some tickets to the Masters in Augusta for Christmas. They were tickets for one of the practice days, which turned out good for him because he said everyone was taking it lightly and doing multiple shots on each hole. On his way back from Augusta, he made a quick layover in St. Auggie before flying back to Va Beach via JAX. On the morning of his departure, we went to a restaurant that's right on the airport, the Fly By Cafe. Ezra had a blast watching all the planes arrive and depart, and even saw his favorite, a helicopter (or hell-e-ka-ka as he pronounces it).

New Prep School Video

2011-04-04T15:13:00.001-07:00

Prep School is only a few months away (end of June). We try to get a little something new out there each month to gain some awareness about it and put it in the front of people's minds again. I worked on this video - the Prep School schedule - last week for distribution in our monthly newsletter. Click above to check it out, it's very detail-oriented, so try to stay with it all the way to the end to get through it. :)

Ezra Turns Phree!

2011-03-28T14:20:00.000-07:00

Or is it five? Context - When I ask Ezra how old he is, answers, "FIVE!" I've been trying to get him to start answering, "Twenty-One." But that has not caught on completely yet.

We had his birthday party a few days early (actual is on the 30th), in one of his favorite parks - or are they all his favorite? The weather was beautiful, just warm enough that the kids got all sweaty and the parents stayed cool in the shade. It didn't rain, which is a miracle in itself this time of year (last year it did). The party was EVERYTHING Thomas, presents, gift bags, plates, invitations, even the cake itself. Ez did a good job opening his presents and trying to disperse as much wrapping paper in little pieces ~ sorry EPA.

We had some family in town - Carrie up from West Palm and Laura and her clan from SC. Thanks to all for making the trip and making Ezra feel special!

Ouch!

2011-03-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

While playing around with Ezra in downtown this weekend, I sprained my ankle. There never seems to be a good time for this kind of thing, but I do have a lot of work I guess I can catch up on! :)

I'm thinking I'll be out of the water until mid-April. Someone I told that to asked me if I measure everything in terms of surfing. The answer is yes.

I'll be doing my R.I.C.E. and practicing the letters of the alphabet with my left foot for a few weeks, mabye my spellling will imporve.

Spring Newsletter

2011-03-14T22:20:00.000-07:00

This newsletter marks our sixth year completed in full-time ministry with Christian Surfers! I think I say this every year, but I can't believe it's been that long already. This also marks the tenth year I've been serving with CSUS as a whole, first as a Core Team member and then as a Chapter Director in Virginia Beach. It's been a great ride so far, here's to ten more...

The New Gospel of John Is Here!

2011-03-07T22:05:00.000-08:00

A few of the guys from CS Jacksonville were mega-servants and drove out to Tallahassee to pick up the second edition of the Gospel of John. After distributing almost 20,000 last year, we were in need of some more copies for the upcoming summer season. The fundraising dollars came in, and we have another 15K in stock now.

Each of the chapters were mailed a box of them, and they are now posted on our webstore if you want to buy one or a bulk package for a discounted price. They are a great resource to give away at large events, or especially if you are 1-on-1 with someone, talking about life and your beliefs.

Pic - We made Dean a chair out of boxes of the Gospels, since he happened not to be able to join us for the unloading at his office...

Memorial Day Campout

2011-02-28T21:53:00.000-08:00

The West Coasters seemed like they were having so much fun with their campout, we decided to do one on the East Coast this year. May 27-30 at Hannah Park is sure to be a time of (hopefully) good surf and good fellowship. It's only $40 for your food and site and all the extra activities we have planned. So cheap you can't even book a site for a day and a half for that cost. We're expecting about 75 attendees, not the 150 they get out West, but a good start.

If you wanna register or just read up for more information on the campout, click HERE and be magically transported to another website.

California Training Event

2011-02-21T21:19:00.000-08:00

Had our second of six meetings with the study group called 2:6 (weird - two of six). We met out in CA this time, to give the guys who live out there a break from traveling each time. Since there are more of us than them, they ended up logging about a thousand miles of airport pickups between them! So much for taking it easy...

We met at a pretty good clip for surfers during a decent swell. It was head high or better the whole time, but we still cranked through 12 hours or so of training. The focus this time was Jesus' early ministry, and again the relation to what we are doing in our respective ministries. There's no better way to examine your own life than compare it to the way Jesus lived his.

CS Webite - Big Changes On the Way

2011-02-14T21:09:00.000-08:00

National Operations Director Josh Peevyhouse has been working tirelessly on our new website. As with most things, we started off thinking it would be a little side project, but it turned into a massive undertaking that has taken about triple the time to be completed we thought it would.

But, things are happening quickly and we are looking to launch the site the first on next month. One of the best things about it is that we (CSUS staff) are able to update the site ourselves, since it is a blog-style website. So, we'll always have current news and won't ever have to wait on a webmaster to update for us. Also, users can comment on news stories, share it via Facebook or Twitter, just generally have more involvement inroads than we've ever been able to give them before.

So, check your email March 1st for our monthly newsletter, with a link to the new page!

Virginia Beach Trip

2011-02-07T20:34:00.000-08:00

Atlantic Shores Baptist Church had a missions conference last weekend. We had been a part of this last year - we were a highlighted missionary family - got to speak at a bunch of functions, introduced in front of the congregation, and had a booth set up to showcase CS. ASBC switches their highlighted group each year, so this time around we just had a booth in the foyer, no special speaking engagements or anything. It was still great to be able to catch up with everyone at our home church, and get a few new people to hear about what we do in Christian Surfers.

Side Note - missed a day of good surf and a contest put on by a few CS groms by 1 day - bummer!

St. Augustine Chapter Meetings

2011-01-31T20:16:00.000-08:00

We just changed up our meeting schedule for 2011 for the local chapter. Instead of meeting monthly like we have done in the past, we moved to weekly meetings. It's much easier for people to remember, so we don't have to send out so many reminders, and we get to impact people on a more regular basis.

We're also working through a different meeting setup than we've done before. Instead of just having a "surfer friendly" discussion, we've got an actual study we are doing called The Story-Formed Way. It's a 10 week, open-dialogue course designed to stimulate thought, while at the same time be easy enough to understand that non-Christians can be involved. It's going great so far, will be sure to update on the latest developments on CSSA.

Kid Pictures

2011-01-24T22:28:00.000-08:00

This was a slow news week for CS, so what better than to show off the kiddos latest pics?!

New Chapters

2011-01-17T19:55:00.000-08:00

Some new chapters of Christian Surfers have been springing up lately. In the last few months, Malibu (CA) and Surf City (NC) have begun. In the works are Jupiter (FL) and San Clemente (CA), which we hope to see cranking real soon.

A few years ago, when I began my job with the ministry, chapters were starting up at a massive pace, about one every other month. Since that time we have slowed down quite a bit, a "walk before we run" mentality. We've found that chapters that start up quick tend to burn out quick, but those that are in it for the long-haul with solid leadership stick around. Here's hoping and praying that the Lord leads these new chapters on to reach their surf community and serve them well.

Surf Expo

2011-01-10T19:22:00.000-08:00

Christian Surfers has come a long way from our first years at a surf industry trade show. At first, we were set up as a single guy at a single booth outside the actual show (where all the non-profits were). We eventually made our way inside where all the other booths, and gathered up a little crew each time to man it. But, it wasn't until we began helping break down other people's booths that we saw ourselves making an impact. This was around 2006, and we've steadily seen more and more surf industry folks realize what we do for the surf community................serve.

Change is in the Air...

2011-01-03T19:13:00.000-08:00

Along with a change to a new year came some changes for me in Christian Surfers - we've moved over from one accounting system to another. Now, you might be sitting there thinking, "No big deal." But, this kind of thing is like learning to drive on the left hand side of the road - you know all the rules, but when you do it it just all seems backwards. So, I'm adjusting to it in the first few days, making plenty of (correctable) mistakes, and learning the hard way how do what was simple in the old system.

Hopefully, I'll report back in a few months and say how much easier it is than the old system, how it's cut my workload and how I can do everything faster now. Maybe that's a little bit of a pipe dream, but us accountants have to dream about something! :)

Christmas in FL

2010-12-27T06:52:00.000-08:00

For the first time since we've lived down here, we had the family (cru side) come down here instead of going up to VB. We had already been North for Thanksgiving, and had a late January trip planned for a missions conference at ASBC, so to make it happen down here was a blessing. We enjoyed beautiful weather the first few days, until the blizzard caught up with us. While it didn't dump 10" of the white stuff on us, it was still plenty cold here.

We got to surf a bit, play golf, and enjoy Jennifer dancing at the Christmas Eve service at Family Worship Center.

Mega special thanks to Coquina Community Church for helping us out by housing all of the guests.

Winter Newsletter

2010-12-20T10:05:00.000-08:00

Just sent out our last newsletter of the year - Volume 6, Number 4 if you can believe it! It seems like only yesterday we were moving to St. Augustine, truck breaking down just a mile from the house upon departure, getting a ticket for not going through the agricultural inspection stop, figuring out a way to get couches up to a second story... ah, the memories. :)

Prep School 2011

2010-12-13T07:02:00.000-08:00

While we did have a local chapter Christmas party the other day, I forgot to bring my camera so no update on that. It was fun but cold, with everyone huddled around a fire while at the same time trying to keep the little kids out of the fire.

Since I cannot fully report on that, I figure I can give an update on this upcoming summers' Prep School - CSUS' annual junior leadership event. We are changing the location up once again and doing our first Southern California event, likely to be at a church in Dana Point. We're expecting more groms this year, although we are limited to 50 people total. It will be neat to see how things shake out and who makes it, considering we've had 95% East Coasters for the past few years. Daniel (Regional Coach - West) and Josh (Operations Manager) are running full steam ahead with the organizational details, look for all the info to be posted in the January newsletter.

NEW Gospel of John

2010-12-06T06:55:00.000-08:00

In the past year, we've distributed nearly 20,000 copies of the Gospel of John. We had no idea they'd go so fast, catching us pretty off-guard and only realizing of late that we'd need to start working on a new edition. So, the talks with the graphic designer and printer have begun, all we need now is the funds to print the thing! It costs about $5000 total to do this, so if that's on your heart, click here for more info. This has been an amazing resource because it's cheaper than a Bible to give away, and is more likely to be read as well. It also has a really cool cover that has gotten lots of compliments and is definitely eye-catching - thanks Covered Images for letting us use that photo!

Thanksgiving Trip

2010-11-29T06:50:00.000-08:00

We had a great time enjoying our family during the Thanksgiving holiday. We usually don't take too long a trip, but added a few extra days because we are staying in St. Augustine for Christmas. Anyways, we first visited Danville, VA, and got to see Casey's mother's family. Then, we drove back to VB late Thanksgiving Day so that Jen and her mom could do the early AM "Black Friday" shopping thing. They didn't have any big items to buy, but they have fun just getting up early and hunting down all the deals. The rest of our time we used to stop in and say hello to a few of our supporters, go to a CS Virginia Beach meeting, and show off little Caris to everyone who had not yet seen her.

Andy Irons

2010-11-22T06:29:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, 3x world champion Andy Irons died on his way home to Kauai from a surf contest. The surf world was in (and maybe still is) a state of shock at his untimely passing, Andy being just 32 years old and expecting his first child in December. Fortunately, the ASP has a chaplain on tour, who is a part of Christian Surfers, and will be able to console and help the tour surfers through the grieving process. His name is Abe Andrews, an Australian who has surfed his share of contests and is able to fit right in with the professional surfers. If you'd like to read more about Abe and his counterpart Liselle on the women's tour, check their blogs:

ABE LISELLE

Aqua East Turkey Classic presented by St. Augustine Alligator Farm

2010-11-15T06:23:00.000-08:00

I always say that the one thing that a contest director has the least control over, the waves, is the most important thing to the competitors. You could have poor organization, bad judging, but if there are barrels everyone is stoked. The opposite is also true, you could have a WCT level contest and if the waves don't show up everyone is bummed. We were blessed this year with not only great waves, but excellent weather as well.

Rather than tell you all the details, just check out the WEBPAGE or the article we had posted in ESM.

Tommy Tant

2010-11-08T06:11:00.000-08:00

This was the 11th Tommy Tant contest in Flagler Beach, FL. Christian Surfers has been sponsoring the event for the past few years, but only in the last 2 serving on the beach with free food and drinks for all the competitors. We've found it's a much better use of our time and funds to sponsor the contest in this way - so that we can interact with more surfers and connect them with a local chapter. The weather was cool on Saturday, and downright freezing on Sunday. We split up serving at the contest with the Daytona chapter, and they go the short end of the stick when they chose to have Sunday as their serving day! Thanks to Wes Hewson, CS Daytona Chapter Director, for partnering with us at the 2010 Tommy Tant.

Last ESA - Halloween

2010-11-01T18:52:00.000-07:00

The sixth and final ESA contest was held this weekend. Our chapter has, of course, been going out to serve at all of them. We arrive (mostly) early and help set up, then post our tent on the beach with some donuts and other snack-y stuff. This contest was the Halloween one - there was a heat where everyone went out surfing in their costumes.

Next ESA should be sometime in March or April next year, hopefully we're able to serve them again.

2011 Budget

2010-10-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

Been working all week on the 2011 Budget for CSUS. Oh yeah, this is the exciting part of my job!

Actually, it is pretty cool to dream up what we could do in certain situations - like making a spending plan for if 10, 20, or 50 thousand extra dollars were to come in. While we don't spend the money if we don't have it (we only use cash), we do make a plan in case fund do come in unexpectedly. So, Dean, Josh, and I met over the phone and wrote up all the ideas and projects we had in our heads. We got the final document over to the Board for approval, and they'll vote on it in an upcoming meeting...

time for a surf video

2010-10-18T18:29:00.000-07:00

Did a little local trip to a surf spot on Anastasia Island with a few CS members. It was a little smaller than we expected, but there were still some fun waves coming through and this was one of the last days we had with warm water.

Chandler & Laura Cole

2010-10-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to officiate my first wedding since I was commissioned as a minister last summer. It was yesterday on 10-10-10, the most popular wedding date of the decade! You couldn't have asked for a better day, 85°, a bright sunny day with a nice breeze off the water. Each of us had a job - I did the pastor thing, Jen was the flower arranger and the photographer, Ezra kept the rest of the kids entertained by running around non-stop, and Caris was there just to look cute.

A great time was had by all who attended, best wishes as newlyweds to Chandler and Laura!

ESA in St. Aug & Hatteras

2010-10-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

We had a local ESA (Eastern Surfing Association) event this weekend, meanwhile the yearly Championship has just finished. Similar to what our chapter does locally, CSUS does for the ESA at the Easterns - serve them wherever it is needed. For the last few years, that has meant helping direct traffic in the parking lot. Not a fun job (people are mad at you a lot for telling them where to park), but since that's what they want us to do, we do it! Extra special thanks to Rocky Godwin, a CS member who led the charge at Easterns - heard you did a great job, Rocky!

Beach Cleanup

2010-09-27T06:47:00.000-07:00

Got the chance to hang out with the Surfrider Foundation crew this Saturday as they did a beach cleanup in St. Augustine. As a chapter, CSSA hadn't done one of these before, so it was good to serve in a new way and clean up some trash off the beach as well. All in all, I'm estimating 30-40 lbs of trash was collected, which included about a thousand cigarette butts. I'm told cig smokes flick them because they are bio-degradable, but the one I saw weren't.

No matter your political views, keeping our playground clean is something we can all agree on - Surfrider link

Pic - Ezra wasn't much help actually picking up any rubbish, but we did manage to get a photo of him pretending to help out...

2:6 Training

2010-09-20T12:22:00.001-07:00

Just got done with the first of 6 meetings studying the life of Christ. The goal is to make closer inspection of how Jesus organized his ministry, and to think about and learn from that.

The most interesting thing that I learned is how Jesus model of ministry wholly relied on his disciples. Jesus didn't rent a building, try to "save" as many people as possible, or anything like that. Instead, he poured into 12 people for three and a half years, with the knowledge that his time spent there would yield more results in the long term than anything else.

Pretty interesting stuff... (click here for more photos)

Caris' Dedication

2010-09-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

(video coming eventually)

San Onofre Campout

2010-09-06T12:22:00.000-07:00

Had a great time at the largest CS gathering in the US - the San Onofre Campout. What started as a group of chapters joining together to have fun and reach their surf communities, has branched out into a national event (international if you count the one surfer who came from Canada)! Nearly 200 surfers showed up and camped just a short walk away from Lower Trestles, one of the best waves in California.

One thing that was new this year that I was tasked with was an impromptu surf contest. I decided upon a team format, so it would take place quickly and overall be more fun than a typical contest. It all went really well until the parks service showed up and asked to see our permit. Uh..... we don't have one. To their credit, the parks officials said we could finish, and that next year we need to get it or else we can't do the contest.

Overall the campout was a blast, some people made decisions for the Lord at the movie night outreach, lots of good connections were made, and we didn't run out of food! Stay tuned in Spring of 2011 to book your spot at the next one... CLICK HERE for all the photos.

Christian Surfers International

2010-08-30T02:02:00.000-07:00

The bi-annual CSI conference just finished "somewhere" in Australasia. There is a degree of secrecy here because the country is not fully open to Christianity. It is open to surfing, however, and that was the "in" for the group to set up it's conference. I did not attend, but CSUS did send a handful of members to the meeting. It's a really long trip from wherever you are in the US, but was eventful for the attendees to see the impact of CS chapters across the world.

Check THIS LINK to get a day-by-day rundown of the Groundswell Conference.

Trade Show Support

2010-08-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

A bunch of the West Coast CS chapters and members got together to volunteer at "Sacred Craft" the surfboard-only surf expo held once yearly. This show is a little smaller than the main Association of Surfing Retailers (ASR) show, which allowed us to have a bit more impact. Our main purpose is helping with tear down of the surfboard shapers' booths. Unlike a normal trade show, most of these folks don't have a team of employees, a la Billabong or Quiksilver, to help them break down. That's where CS comes in, to serve them in a useful way. We're stoked to help out, and looking forward to the show in August of 2011.

Click HERE for photos of Sacred Craft

more baby photos...

2010-08-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

We knew you'd want to see more :)

(all taken within 2 months of Caris' birth)

Prep School

2010-08-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

We had ±30 groms and leaders from across the country come to St. Auggie over the weekend for Prep School. This is a junior leadership training event that we've held for 3 years running. It's an intense weekend, completing about 12-15 hours of training on "how to better share Christ."

I really like it because it's detailed. Rather than platitudes on sharing in general, one of the big parts of Prep School is writing down who you are going to talk to when you get home, then following-up later with how that went. Also, there are other parts of the training where, if your relationship isn't solid enough with someone to share but you'd like to, there are some concrete steps to take to get to that point. Really usable training that the groms can immediately take back home.

It wasn't all training - we did surf, of course! Funny enough, the waves for the time the groms were here couldn't have been much better. They got to Typhoon Lagoon on Thursday night, and then surfed the Tropical Storm Colin swell for the remainder of their time here. The surf topped out at around head high plus on Saturday night, and clean leftovers were on hand for Sunday morning as we broke camp and went our separate ways.

LINK TO OUR PHOTOS LINK TO SURF PHOTOS BY JOHN REGAN LINK TO MEMORIAL PADDLE OUT THAT THE GROUP ATTENDED

Caris Virginia Cruciano

2010-08-03T18:26:00.000-07:00

The Story - Jennifer had felt that the due date was a bit off, and since Ezra had come early, was thinking Caris might come extra early. When Jen went to an appointment on the 27th, the midwife asked, "are you in labor now?" That was enough to put us on high alert, and even had Nana Jane change her plane flight and arrive early. Jen had been having enough contractions over the few days that followed that we went to the hospital on the 30th of July to get checked out. It wasn't full-on labor, so they turned us away but told us to come in when conditions changed. On Tuesday morning, Jen woke up feeling a bit different, so we went back to Flagler Hospital at 7AM, and the nurses confirmed our suspicions, Jen was in real labor. She got hooked up to the instrumentation, everything went fine, she even got to nap a little bit. Then... the nurse called the midwife over, Jen started pushing, and 5 minutes later there was a baby in our arms. Our little lady arrived at 3PM on August 3rd, happy and healthy with no complications. Here are some photos from the big day!

Left to Right:
(1) Jen holding Caris for the first time after they got her dressed in her newborn clothes
(2) through the looking glass, sleeping beauty
(3) Ezra took hold of an available camera and did his first self-portrait
(4) the "Caris Alert Crew" happy to have her out and about

Ezra's Dictionary

2010-07-26T07:33:00.000-07:00

Afalcuck (uh-fal-kuk) - what the firefighters drive in, fire truck

Albor (all-abooor) - what the conductor says right before he leaves the station, All Aboard!

Amo (ah-mo) - things that are really cool, awesome

Cacker (cack-uh) - good tasting carbohydrates, Cracker

Care (cair) - what his sister's name is going to be, Caris

Ganky (gank-ee) - an item to sleep and snuggle with, blanket

Piecy (pee-cee) - one of Thomas the Tank Engines colleagues, Percy

Hanging with the Brownlees

2010-07-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

Former National Director of CS, Chandler Brownlee, was in town with his family vacationing in St. Augustine last week. We got to catch up with them, see how much they've grown up, and enjoy a nice dinner on the Intercoastal Waterway in Vilano. Ezra has a great time at these outdoor restaurants, that means he gets to run around way more than indoor ones.

If you don't know Chandler, he was the chapter director of Virginia Beach when I first met him (circa 1999). After serving for a few years and growing the chapter tremendously, he was selected to become the National Director in 2001. From there, Chandler oversaw the increase in CS chapters from 5 to around 45 within a 5 year period. He finally got some help in the National Office (up until that time he had only 1 intern), with 4 new staff members arriving in 2005. I was, of course, one of these, as Chandler stayed connected to me whilst in Florida and talked me into serving as a missionary in Christian Surfers. Chandler moved away shortly thereafter, and Dean Plumlee took the reigns in 2007. Since then, Chandler has dabbled in real estate in North Florida and South Georgia, but has recently gotten a position that has enabled him to visit St. Aug a lot more.

Family in Town

2010-07-12T07:21:00.000-07:00

Had a houseful last week - Laura and her friend Chandler with their kids. Got to take them surfing, on a tour of downtown, and lots of really good dinners. Ezra had a blast with Madison, Lucas, Sierra, and James - running around the house being the chas-er or the chase-ee. Everyone lives in southern South Carolina, so it's a pretty quick trip to St. Augustine for them.

Didn't snag a good photo of everyone, but here is Jen, Laura, and Madison on St. George Street, hanging with one cool cat.

Rainy Fourth

2010-07-05T09:54:00.000-07:00

It's been raining every day here for what seems like a week. Might not be that long but rain days always have at least twice the length of sunny days ("it's science"). There was a surf contest on Sunday (3rd Oldest on the East Coast), but no pictures because it was raining sideways while I was down there helping set up. Did get Ezra having fun indoors - took him to the outlet mall to run around a little bit. It's great, he doesn't even want the little toys to rock back and forth, cheaper for mom and dad and he has a blast.

Here's a photo of Ezra fitting just fine but daddy-o having to squeeze into the toy car.

Ezra the Tank Engine

2010-06-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

Had a weekend off from ministry events, so we checked out the "Hands On" Children's Museum in Jacksonville. Ezra had a blast, but spent 90% of his time at the train area. Almost all the little boys were there, all grouped around 2 tables.

Baby countdown is in full effect - only a bit over a month to go. Hard to believe that we will be the parents of kids (plural) soon. The mom and mom-in-law will be coming to help out with Ezra while Jen and I take care of the new little one, Caris Virginia Cruciano. Jen is finished with her dental hygiene job now, a major blessing since her back has been hurting for a while now when at work. We're both going to be working on our fundaising a lot more now, basically switching to a single-income situation. If anyone out there reading this would like to support what we do, now would be great timing!

Typhoon Lagoon Trip

2010-06-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Our chapter went on a surf trip to inland Orlando, FL on Saturday. We did a morning trip, our first time, getting up beyond early to arrive at the park before 5AM (a 2 hour drive away). The trip was especially well-timed, there's been a 2-week flat spell leading up to it, so everyone was frothing to get a few decent waves.

Any time you are in a car with someone for a couple of hours, you get a chance to know them a lot better than you would by seeing them at weekly meeting, or even surfing with them. This is why surf trips are such a good way to build relationships with people. We're hoping this trip kicks off our chapter's monthly meetings, and made a good impact in a few people's lives.

Link to photos
Link to other set of photos
Link to YOUTUBE & VIMEO video

Gabe's Grom Contest

2010-06-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

Had yet another contest to attend this weekend. Decided to do it a little different, though, and instead of being there all day just come for a few hours and serve snow cones. The idea was a hit, we had a line (more like a mob) of people each time we turned the machine on. It was the perfect day for snow cones, 95°, not a drop of wind, and not a cloud in the sky. While handing out the treats we also gave away Gospel of John booklets, and Walking on Water and Heart of a Soul Surfer DVDs. Hoping that we get a few of the groms out to the next meeting.

Graduation Trip

2010-06-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

Just got back in town from South Carolina this weekend. Morgan Conners, our niece, graduated from high school. The gang was all there, the Dantonio's and Stevens' from VA, and us from FL, all meeting up with the Mindermann/Conner family in Beaufort. We didn't get to attend the actual graduation (it was on Monday) because Jen had to work, but had a really nice time with all the family over the weekend. Pictured - All of us after a nice meal on the water / Ezra having a blast in the hotel pool.

PS - I remember graduating at the lowest possible grade point average to still get "with honors." I think I was a 3.000000001 or something like that. Jen did a little better than me with a 3.2. College is a little easier because if you fail a class you can take it again and replace the original grade - definitely used that a few times in my post-secondary education.

Surf Contest

2010-05-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

Ran our own surf contest this week. By "our own" I mean that we really ran it instead of just showing up at a surf contest and helping out (which is what our chapter usually does). This contest is the 2nd edition of a (hopefully) annual contest in the Spring of each year. The contest format is different than the Turkey Classic - we have the whole month as a waiting period, so we only run when the waves are good. I was getting pretty stressed come the middle of the month - already 2 weeks had gone by but the waves had been nearly non-existent - but a bump was on the horizon for the end of the month - and it turned out to be pretty good. It was around the head high range all day, with light offshore winds in the AM sliding into an afternoon seabreeze - a contest director's dream for the East Coast. We crowned local junior pro Keto Burns the champ, after a hard-fought battle with Chris Ropero. For more info, photos, and video, check out THIS LINK to the contest page.

West Florida Trip

2010-05-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

We knew we weren't going to be able to travel much later this summer due to Jen's pregnancy, so we hitched our wagon and headed west when we got the chance. Carrie & Jose met us at Rolando's house in Brandon, FL, which is just a bit away from Tampa. That was our home base, but we drove south to Lucy & Bill's Saturday to hang out with them for the afternoon. It had been over a year since they had seen Ezra, and we so surprised to see him running around and saying, "peas" and "tink you." The video is from a warm water spring in Brandon, Ezra's first up close encounter with fish.

Computer for Sale

2010-05-17T14:06:00.000-07:00

My computer died a few months ago. I was going to send it in for recycling, but saw on eBay that people are selling dead computers for parts. I don't know how much usable stuff is still in there, but here's Ezra helping me get some photos taken!

TPC

2010-05-10T18:18:00.000-07:00

We've lived here for over 5 years, but have never been to the Player's Championship just up the road in Ponte Vedra. It's just a 30 minute drive, so when some free tickets fell into our lap we took advantage of that and saw the back half of the day from the famed 17th green. Ezra did really well, entertaining the other fans around us in between the golf shots (the players, not Ezra's golf shots). We hung around long enough to watch a few famous people, and eventually the final pairing. Pretty neat to be around all of that for the day - a really well run event that puts pro surf contests to shame.

Spring Fling-ing

2010-05-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Went to help out the Daytona chapter with their annual contest - the Spring Fling - on Saturday. It's held in Ormond Beach, right across the street from the place the chapter meets, at the "Birthplace of Speed" beach park. The park is a great venue for an event - no need for scaffolding because the boardwalk is up high, big beach out front to accommodate all spectators, and restaurants right across the street for a quick bite to eat. The comp was scaled down from a 2-day event to 1-day with double-beaching, great for me since I didn't want to be there away from home all weekend. I was down there with another St. Augustine chapter member, also helping out judging during the day. We each put in 15-20 heats, enough to earn our free parking passes! :)

Amy & Eric's Wedding

2010-04-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

Amy Sheppard is now Amy Stevens! She and Eric were married on April 19th, at a beach house in Sandbridge in Virginia Beach. It was a neat location to have the wedding (at the house, not on the beach), using the home's huge, multi-tiered back porch. We all looked on from the main house, while the ceremony took place on the 2nd level of the backyard patio. The food was amazing, catered by Eric's restaurants Still and Bardo's, probably the best wedding dinner that I've ever had.

We all got to stay at the house for the week after the wedding. It is massive - sleeps 35, has an indoor and outdoor pool, a putting green, and an 18-seat home theater. Nice time of relaxation, movie watching, Ezra learning to swim, and hanging with new family.

Baptism!

2010-04-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

I had the honor of baptizing Joe & Jennifer Maggiore's daughter, Erin. It happened during the 9:30 service at Atlantic Shores Baptist Church, in front of a full house. Erin did great job, didn't seem to be nervous at all, and remembered her "lines" well (we went over the questions I would ask her the day before and again that morning). It was my first baptism, so I met with the ASBC pastors beforehand to go over the broad strokes what to say exactly. Some churches are really specific, but they just had a general outline they wanted me to follow with a few set things at the end.

One funny thing that happened was that Erin went back a little early and without holding her nose, so I had to hoist her back up and finish my speech, then we went along with it. :-)

I Can See!

2010-04-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

^ Jen tells a funny story about me waking up one morning early in our marriage and announcing, "I can see!" It turns out I had just left my contacts in overnight, and forgot about it as I woke up. My vision is pretty bad, I can't read close up or far away well at all, surfing, fahgeddaboudit. Well, I got corrective surgery, and now I can see first thing in the morning. Got it done in Virginia Beach, at AAPECS Eye Care, which gave me a ministry discount (so go there to support them if you can). All in all it took about 2 minutes per eye, was painless, and I could see pretty well later on the same day. Overall, I'd recommend it to anyone who's on the fence about doing it.

Ezra's Birthday

2010-04-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

The little guy is not so little anymore and just turned 2! He had a great time at his party with a few friends and family. It was raining, so unfortunately we couldn't go to the carousel park as planned at had everyone over to the house. Ezra got a soccer ball and net, a play crossbow, and a bunch of other "boy" stuff. The weather is finally warmed up here, so I'm sure all those outdoor toys will get a lot of use.

The "yearbook photo" from his picture session at the mall >>>

We Found Out!

2010-03-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

ESA Contest Season Begins

2010-03-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

The Eastern Surfing Association St. Augustine district began it's season over the weekend, marking the official start of contest season for us. The comp was greeting by some really fun waves courtesy of a NE groundswell from a few thousand miles away. Local winds cooperated and turned the 2-3 ft swell into groomed lines, and the entrants were stoked. CS helped out by showing up first thing to set up the site, and later had our tent stocked with wax and some foodstuffs. We are hoping to once again sponsor the ESA with a scholarship, and just need some additional funding to make that happen. Next contest is May 15th, and we'll be there.

Yearly Board Meeting

2010-03-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

On Friday, CSUS had an in-person Board meeting in St. Augustine. It was great that nearly everyone could make it on relatively short notice. Some topics of discussion were the Mission & Vision of CS, and setting up some 2 year goals. After the meeting we had dinner at the Plumlee's house and strolled around downtown and saw all the sights. Look for a slightly more focused direction for CS in the coming months...

Just the Fellas...

2010-03-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

Jen was out of town this weekend, visiting friends in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jen finally got to cash in a freebie Delta ticket she's been holding on to for a few years. She had a great time, and left the boys (Slater, Ezra, and me) with the house to ourselves! My goal was to clean up the house only once right before she got back on Sunday, but we had potential buyers call up each day and ask to see the house - master plan foiled. Ezra and I went to the park a few times and did all the usual stuff - fun but tiring with his endless energy.

Photo - We got our picture in our church bulletin this Sunday (they put a different member in there each week) >>>

Prayer Calendar

2010-03-01T10:02:00.000-08:00

I completely missed the mark on this one, but wanted to share it anyways. In February, CS released a prayer calendar - each day had a prayer item we were all supposed to lift up. These kinds of things happen a lot in churches, but because of geography we had never done it in Christian Surfers. Even though it is now March, you can still check out the calendar and pray for whatever you want to in it.

Five Year Anniversary

2010-02-22T06:29:00.000-08:00

This past week marks our five year anniversary as Christian Surfers staff. If you've never heard our story before, here is the Reader's Digest version:

I had been involved with Christian Surfers for quite some time, and eventually became the chapter director of Virginia Beach. Our former chapter director of VB, Chandler Brownlee, had become the National Director and we had kept in touch during that time. Chandler knew I was about to graduate with a degree in Accounting and Finance, and thought I would be a useful member of the national team (the "team" at that time consisting solely of Chandler). I really enjoyed being a chapter director, and accepted the position, figuring that the opportunity to support other CSers would be a truly fulfilling job.
At the same time, a young lady named Jennifer Dantonio and I were spending a lot of time together. We had gotten serious enough that by the August of 2004, we were engaged. The wedding date was set for January 1st, 2005, so I knew we'd be moving soon after.
I began fund-raising in the fall, after attending a training called the Bodybuilders (as in the 'body' of Christ). Jen and I went full-on into fundraising mode in October thru December, raising about 90% of our goal level. As we got closer to the the holidays and the wedding date, we changed gears and focused more on that. The ceremony and reception were great, and we had a wonderful honeymoon in St. Maarten & Anguilla.
After we got back, since we weren't at our goal level yet we stayed in Va Beach and continued to have meetings with potential donors until we reached 100%. We were living at Jen's parents house, and both looking forward to getting out on our own eventually. We arrived in St. Augustine, Florida in mid-February, just before Valentine's Day, and moved into the upstairs floors of the then CS National Office. My first job title was National Manager, which was an administrative "jack of all trades" kind of role. It started off slow at first, but within a few months I had a full inbox of emails every morning and was working on multiple projects. Not much has changed in that department, I still have a busy schedule, but I do look forward to going to work each day. Knowing that I play a small role in the end result of reaching surfers with the Gospel is a good thing.

(that really wasn't the Reader's Digest version, was it?)

It's been a great ride, and we'd love to be here for another five!

(pic was 1st day of work in 2005, with dog to wish me well)

Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T09:42:00.000-08:00

We were thinking Christmas was going to be the first holiday with presents that Ezra would enjoy, but it ended up being Valentine's Day. He opened his presents for the first time, and seemed genuinely excited to see what was inside. It was neat to see that happen, opposed to Christmas when he walked into the other room and we opened everything for him. He got a book that makes a kissing sound when you push a button, and another book that is touch-and-feel.

In other news, we had our first CS St. Augustine open meeting of 2010 earlier in the month. The idea is to meet monthly and try to get a larger group, instead of weekly with a smaller one. We're meeting a stone's throw away from the beach, offering free dinner, a surf movie, and a quick talk by chapter director Dean Plumlee. At the first meeting, Dean gave a short explanation of death and resurrection of Jesus from a historical perspective. He cited Josephus and other secular writers to show that his rising from the dead is historically accurate. We had about 25 people in attendance, so this year is off to a good start. Next meeting is March 4th @ 6PM.

Key West Trip

2010-02-08T10:08:00.000-08:00

Our anniversary is on January 1st. Since we were in Va Beach during it, we had a nice night out but didn't do anything super special. Instead, we planned a getaway to Key West for this past weekend. One of our good friends even offered us a free night in a hotel, using the points he had logged! Well, the weather was beautiful and the scenery was amazing down there. Since the island is small, you can basically walk from one end to another and see all the sites in one day. During our stay, Carrie and Jose looked after Ezra at their house in Palm Beach. We drove back up on Sunday and watched Super Bowl commercials with them, then left the next day. A good way to spend a long weekend...

Weekend Board Visit

2010-02-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

Took an extra workday over the weekend to meet with Bill Hogan, CS Board member. We discussed the CSUS financial system and ways to improve it. It was great to hang with Bill, who really has a heart to serve the ministry and to reach surfers. Dean stopped by during Bill's visit, and we talked strategy and fundraising and other particulars. Bill showed off his Quiksilver/CS bookbag, pictured above.

In other news, there was a tremendous snow storm for pretty much the rest of the East Coast. The parents sent us some photos from Virginia Beach, which received between 6-10 inches of snow on Sunday. That's a once in a decade occurrence, the last time I remember snow like that was in 1996. Not missing the snow too much here in Florida!

Secret Spot Session

2010-01-25T20:26:00.000-08:00