Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Awakening Fest
We had a great time at Awakening Fest this past September. We met lots of awesome people living their life! We hope to see everyone next year in Leesburg, VA.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
2011 Live the Life Nominations
It is always awesome to meet people who are ‘living the life’. People who are growing in their faith, being spontaneous and having a blast with life, and pushing to make a real difference. Their enthusiasm makes you want to be a part of what they are doing and even makes you want to start living your life to the fullest like them. You walk away from the conversation excited and encouraged to live your life.
In the year 2011, Live the Life has decided to honor these people. The people who are living their lives loud, full and well. Every other month we will highlight one person or group of people who exemplify what it means to live the life. These people will be ordinary people, with ordinary families, jobs and lives. But after meeting them it is plain to see they have a zest for life, a love for people and a fire for making a difference.
If you know someone who is Living the Life and would like to nominate them to be highlighted in 2011, email us at livethelife@ilivethelife.com. We would love to hear from you and meet new people who are Living the Life!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
New PinkNow Announcement!
This past October, Live the Life created an initiative called PinkNow to support breast cancer awareness and raise funds for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Live the Life held several PinkNow events over the course of the month, including a Live Life Loud Benefit Concert, a Hoops for Hope Basketball Tournament, and the Liberty University Hockey Team dedicated a game to PinkNow. Live the Life also created a PinkNow product line, with 3 different shirts and a pink wristband, whose proceeds went towards the cause.
All of this might be old news to you, but I would like to announce that the final amount raised after all the events and product sales was $1,539! We would like to thank everyone who helped us make this possible and make a difference in the fight against breast cancer.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Ride the Tallest Roller Coaster in the World
Number 17 on the Living the Life List is to ride the tallest roller coaster in the world. After sitting in the vendor tent at Revelation Generation for hours on end, we decided that we need a break to do something fun. How very convenient then, that Six Flags was on our way home! We stopped at the park and rode the tallest roller coaster in the world! Here are some quotes from us after getting off:
“That was intense!”
“I couldn’t breathe!
“Holy Cow!”
“It was so fast I couldn’t blink!”
“It was so fast I couldn’t open my eyes!”
“Gross! I had slob running down my face!”
“Look at Craig’s hair!”
“I had white knuckles from holding on so tight!”
“My eyes were watering!”
“Let’s do it again!”
Click the link below to view this video and others from the Living the Life List on YouTube.
Living the Life List
Here is our Living the Life List! It is getting longer everyday from people who give us great ideas!! Thank you for your ideas and keep looking back to see us do our best to complete them!
1. Pay for someone’s gas
3. Crowd surf
4. Play an instrument for a crowd
5. Dance at a stranger’s wedding
6. Go camping in a tent
7. Go rappelling
8. Use hands to catch a fish
9. Meet someone from a professional football team
11. Donate blood
12. Learn to line dance
13. Go parasailing
14. Raise 15,000 for an organization
15. Go skydiving
16. Learn to surf
18. Donate hair to Locks of Love
19. Slap a bull on the rear
20. Do a polar plunge
21. Fly a plane
22. Go over 150mph in a car
23. Build a zip line and ride it *Next up! Watch the trailer below!
24. Sail a boat
25. Visit every continent
Look at our list above of things we want to do to live the life . We want to hear from you! What is your Living the Life list? What does living the life mean to you? What have you done and what do you want to do? What do you want to see us add to our list? As you submit ideas we are going to try and complete as many of the ideas as we can. We will videotape the story and put it up on youtube at our address at http://www.youtube.com/user/ilivethelifeblog. So send us some ideas!!! Use the comment section, or email, or call us. One Life! Live it Loud! Live it Full! Live it Well!
* Continue to check our blog so you can watch videos of us achieving items on this list.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
My First Apple Picking Adventure!
In Florida, I never got the chance to go apple picking growing up. We did go strawberry and blueberry picking. Strawberry picking was fun at first but since it was necessary to bend over to reach the plants, you left the trip feeling like a hunchback. Blueberry picking was not the best either. It was always so hot outside that I found myself choosing one tree and hiding under its branches for shade until it was time to leave. So, after moving to Virginia, every year when fall came around, I heard all about apple picking, pumpkin patches, corn mazes and hayrides. But even after living here for four years I had never experienced it for myself. So you can imagine, the day Craig and Tiyana decided they were going apple picking I was ecstatic and had to join them! We planned out our perfect day. Wake up late, take the two hour scenic route over the beautiful mountains of southwest Virginia to the apple orchard, pick our own fresh, crispy, juicy, apples from the tree, go on a hayride, try out the corn maze, drink apple cider, buy the fixings for an apple pie, drive home, bake the pie and enjoy a warm slice with vanilla ice cream as we sit by the fire. What could be better than that? Well, as everyone knows, things never work out as planned.
The morning we were supposed to be apple picking turned out to be overcast and dreary. We checked the forecast and there was a fifty percent chance of rain over the whole area. But we didn’t let this slow us down one bit! We were living the life, rain or shine! So all three of us hopped into Craig’s car. (I feel like, in order for you to get the full effect of the story, I need to describe Craig’s car.) Craig has a 1995 Saturn SL2. It’s green, small and is not an automatic. (Which means I cannot drive it despite everyone’s best attempts to teach me how to drive a stick.) Anyway, we set out on our “scenic route” through Hungry Mother Park in the Saturn. Since, Tiyana and I are new to the southwest Virginia area, as we were driving, Craig told us the story behind the name of Hungry Mother Park.
This is what he said: A long time ago, a woman named Molly and her child were kidnapped from the New River Settlement and taken to this area by Indians. Molly and her child escaped and after wandering the mountains, eating only berries for days, she collapsed by the river. The child was found days later and the only words he would say were “Hungry Mother”. They found the body of Molly days later. This is how the park got its name. You should have seen Tiyana’s and my facial expression after hearing this story. Our “scenic route” took us right through the scene of a real life horror story! If this story didn’t make our stomach turn, then road to get to the park did. I am from Florida and Tiyana is from New Jersey, both of which are flat as a pancake. And the roads in both states stay at sea level and are mostly straight like railroad tracks. The road to Hungry Mother Park was the exact opposite. In Craig’s little ’95 Saturn SL2 we zigzagged our way up three huge mountains. Honestly, I was not sure we would make it to the apple orchard. Between the steepness in the road and Craig’s little car (no offence Craig, your car is nice) I was sure I was going to meet the same end as the “Hungry Mother”. At one point I looked up (trying to pray that God would get us there safely) and when I should have seen sky and clouds I saw a guardrail through the trees from the road that we were about to zigzag up to.
Needless to say, both Tiyana and I were as green as the grass in our front yard, but thankfully we managed to hold our breakfast down. (In my opinion, Craig secretly had a blast torturing two city girls by driving them into the backwoods and telling them horror stories). But, finally, we made it to Marion, the city on the other side of the mountain. We stopped at McDonalds to get our feet on solid ground and let our stomachs settle, and then we headed to the apple orchard.
The first thing I noticed when we pulled into the orchard was how empty it looked. No one was running around in the corn maze, no one was out by the apple trees with friends picking apples, and the tractor that pulled the trailer for hayrides was parked in the barn with the trailer unhitched. It looked nothing like all the pictures I had seen on facebook of people apple picking. Even the overcast sky made all the colors look dreary and dull. We pulled into the little store they had set up, and all piled out of the car. Inside they had huge bins full of every kind of apple you could imagine! Rome, Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Winesap and Gala. They even had a bin full of “bad apples” with bruises and cracks. Everything you could think of making with an apple they had for sale. Apple butter, apple cider, apple juice, even apple potpourri! I had never seen so many apple creations! They also sold beautiful mums, pumpkins and gourds in every shape, size and color.
After looking around we found a lady who told us what we feared, customers were not allowed to pick the apples as a liability and all the fun activities were closed on weekdays. I pouted for a short time about how my first apple-picking trip was turning out to be less than I expected, but I soon got over my sadness when Craig and Tiyana began talking about the last part of our plan, the apple pie! We tracked down the owner of the orchard, a skinny, old man in dirty jeans and a plaid button up shirt, whose teeth were all black, and asked him which apples were best to use to make our apple pie. He pulled us over to the Granny Smith and Rome apples and gave us a speech on taste and texture. We ended up buying a bag of Granny Smith apples, a bag of Rome apples, a jug of apple cider, and an apple scented car freshener. Then we all piled back into the car and took the interstate back home.
We stopped at Food City on the way home and got all the fixings for a delicious apple pie; crust mix, cinnamon, brown sugar, and nutmeg. When we got home we unpacked our goodies and began to make the best apple pie anyone has ever tasted! I started to help by rolling out the crust, but I am horrible in the kitchen so after three tries I handed it over to Craig who finished the whole pie and put it in the oven to bake. (A man who can bake? Yes ladies he’s single!) After waiting 45 agonizing minutes the pie was finally ready! When it came out it was so beautiful, I didn’t even want to cut it. Looking at it, I realized that even though our big plans didn’t quite turn out the way we planned, the end result was better than we imagined. We had a great time together and gained memories that we will talk about for a long time to come. I wouldn’t trade our apple picking adventure for anything! We sliced up the pie and scooped out the vanilla ice cream. We even shared our yummy pie with the rest of the family, and had a wonderful time, the rest of the night, sharing the stories of our adventure.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Italy 2010
For ten days Edson and Renda Knapp visited the sites in Italy. They had a blast living the life; eating authentic pizza and pasta, touring the famous buildings and artwork and relaxing in Italian luxury across the Atlantic. Here are just 9 of the 800 pictures that they took. Enjoy!
October 2010 - ITALY
We visited Venice, Florence and Rome. VENICE, city of canals and cathedrals. It is home to St. Mark's Basilica and St. Mark's Square. FLORENCE, home of Michelangelo, is a city filled with art and history. ROME, an ancient city, exudes history. The Coliseum, Circus Maximus, Roman Forum and the Vatican with St. Peter's Basilica were a few of the sites visited.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Makwale Baptist Orphanage
The Story of Baraka
Her father died before she was born. Her mother cared for her until she was two years old, then her mother died. She cried of hunger, she cried of sickness, she cried of loneliness. There was no one left to care for her. All her relatives had died. Her name, “Baraka”, is Swahili for blessing.
Someone found Baraka and took her to a local church and left her there. There were other children living at the church, sleeping on the cement floors. She found shelter there. Kind women from the church came every day with a hot meal for the children who had been abandoned there. One meal daily to fill their bellies; and they were so grateful for that! The church members prayed for the children, they wanted to do more, but most of them could barely feed their own children. How could they take on more? Most of the families were farmers who survived on what they could produce with their farm.
In 2004, the CEOs of Live the Life, Edson and Renda Knapp, found Baraka living in the church along with 20 other orphans. God laid it on their hearts to help them. The Tanzania Baptist Association donated land for the project and asked for their help. They asked their friends and family and their church family for help. The response they saw was overwhelming and the result was A HOME for these children.
The Makwale Baptist Orphanage was dedicated in 2006 and now is home to 80 children. God’s blessings abound there. The Orphanage is a HOME filled with love and peace. Church members still care for the children. These children are growing up knowing God’s love for them. They have a home and a family – a church family. They have food to fill their bellies and they have shoes to wear and clothes that are not torn. They are attending school. They have hope for their future. Praise the Lord!
God has truly blessed this project. This is the story of God’s blessing – “Baraka ya Mungu”!
Click the link below to view this video and others from the Live the Life Blog,
in better quality on our YouTube Channel!
Friday, October 1, 2010
Living the Life List
Here is our Living the Life List! It is getting longer everyday from people who give us great ideas!! Thank you for your ideas and keep looking back to see us do our best to complete them!
2. Kick a field goal10. Jump off a Waterfall
1. Pay for someone’s gas
3. Crowd surf
4. Play an instrument for a crowd
5. Dance at a stranger’s wedding
6. Go camping in a tent
7. Go rappelling
8. Use hands to catch a fish
9. Meet someone from a professional football team
11. Donate blood
12. Learn to line dance
13. Go parasailing
14. Raise 15,000 for an organization
15. Go skydiving
16. Learn to surf
17. Ride the tallest roller coaster in the world *Next up!
18. Donate hair to Locks of Love
19. Slap a bull on the rear
20. Do a polar plunge
21. Fly a plane
22. Go over 150mph in a car
23. Sail a boat
24. Visit every continent
Look at our list above of things we want to do to live the life . We want to hear from you! What is your Living the Life list? What does living the life mean to you? What have you done and what do you want to do? What do you want to see us add to our list? As you submit ideas we are going to try and complete as many of the ideas as we can. We will videotape the story and put it up on youtube at our address at http://www.youtube.com/user/ilivethelifeblog. So send us some ideas!!! Use the comment section, or email, or call us. One Life! Live it Loud! Live it Full! Live it Well!
* Continue to check our blog so you can watch videos of us achieving items on this list.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Jump off a Waterfall
Number 10 on the Living the Life List is, to jump off a waterfall. The guys took a road trip out to Russell Creek Falls on the Clinch River one day after work. They took the newest member of the Live the Life team, Harry, to test out the dangers of the falls to make sure it was safe. Some people were pros and just jumped with no fear, and others had some fears to conquer, but in the end everyone made the jump and no one had any regrets! They had a great time living the life! What do you do to Live your Life?
Click the link below to view this video and others from the Living the Life List on YouTube!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Kick A Field Goal
Number 2 on the Living the Life List is, to kick a field goal. Matthew was the kicker for his high school football team, so we all headed out to the football field and he taught us how to kick a field goal. We were at the field for about an hour and a half, and in that short amount of time (while Matt perfected his 40yd field goal) we all were able to get the ball through the uprights! Some of us had a harder time than others, and some of us had to get pretty close to the uprights, but in the end we all accomplished what we set out to do!
Click the link below to view this video and others from the Living the Life List in higher quality!
Living the Life in Africa
From an African missionary (names changed for protection). What a statement of truth. Read at the risk of being convicted!"What joy there was today. We were having a hot conversation with two seminary grads about the future of the church. Their take was that our local priest was old and there weren’t enough graduates around to teach correctly. And besides that, they won’t pay us to go and teach despite the fact that they have enough money. We will see the changes we long for, but it will be 50 years hence when we can get the clergy to change their ideas.I responded with, ‘Of course these are very grave circumstances. And of course since it is unlikely that I will live another 50 years it saddens me greatly. But fortunately, the disciples did not agree with you. They did not wait for there to be enough graduates from seminaries. In fact the only person who was part of the ‘clergy/ disciples’ that had been to such a school was the Apostle Paul and he had to be blinded before it was possible for the Father to use him.‘And as far as money, if the disciples waited for money before doing what they were told to do we would still be waiting for the Message to reach us. We were given very clear instructions: Go and tell all I have commanded you. That was to all of us. If all we have is a cup of cold water and we give that away in his name, that is enough. Our empty hand is a signal from him that we need something more to give. Teach whomever He puts in front of you, don’t wait for the clergy to show up for a meeting where you will teach them what they need to know. ‘At this I called Rachel in and asked her to tell them what the gospel message was. She did this so beautifully and from such depth that our eyes were misty afterwards. And then she said, ‘I tell this to every taxi driver when I go home. I tell it to all my neighbors. I tell it to the children who come to my house. And my son is 6. He knows all about the gospel. He tells his friends and fellow students. Sometimes people persecute us and insult us. But they all know the gospel. Who knows if L‘rd will come and they might not have heard. I want them all to know. Everyone should hear the story.’I didn’t need to say any more. The issue was settled. We said we would pray for them every day so that the Father would show them how and with whom they should share. But the real person in the room who was doing what they were supposed do was Rachel.The seminary grads went home to think about what Rachel had said. We will lift them up. Perhaps they will learn to do as well as our house worker, offering what they have instead of worrying about what they don’t have."
Living the Life in Kenya
Harmon Parker is Living the LIfe! He is using what he knows how to do to help people in need! What do you know how to do that can be used to help people in your community, in the nation and around the world?
Check out www.bridgingthegapafrica.org/. This is a great example of living the life.
The Adventures of Edson and E: Rocket Launch!!!!!
The boys in the family had a "boys day" together, without the girls, (because the girls all went to the Justin Bieber concert and the boys won't admit that they like Justin Bieber songs), so they bought a rocket from Walmart and went to the park to set it off. The rocket was big and plastic so they didn't expect it to go very high but after they counted down from three they were surprised at just how high it went! Take a look!
Fly me to the moon!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
What is your Living the Life list?
Look at our list below of things we want to do to live the life . We want to hear from you! What is your Living the Life list? What does living the life mean to you? What have you done and what do you want to do? What do you want to see us add to our list? As you submit ideas we are going to try and complete as many of the ideas as we can. We will videotape the story and put it up on youtube at our address at http://www.youtube.com/user/ilivethelifeblog. So send us some ideas!!! Use the comment section, or email, or call us. One Life! Live it Loud! Live it Full! Live it Well!
Living the Life List
Live the Life is about living your life to the fullest everyday. It’s not only about fulfilling your purpose for your life, but it’s alsoabout enjoying your life. Having a blast with what God gives you everyday. The Live the Life staff made a “To Do” list to live the life. Each thing on the list is something we want to do. Not all of them push us towards our purpose in life but all of them will let us enjoy what God has given us. What do you want to do with your life? Make your own list. We only have one life. Live it Loud! Live it Full! Live it Well!
Pay for someone’s gas
Kick a field goal
Crowd surf
Play an instrument for a crowd
Dance at a stranger’s wedding
Go camping in a tent
Go rappelling
Use hands to catch a fish
Meet someone from a professional football team
Jump off a Waterfall
Donate blood
Learn to line dance
Go parasailing
Raise 15,000 for an organization
Go skydiving
Learn to surf
Ride the tallest roller coaster in the world
Donate hair to Locks of Love
Slap a bull on the rear
Do a polar plunge
* Continue to check our blog so you can watch videos of us achieving items on this list.
The Adventures of Edson and E: Belly Bump!!!!!
The Adventures of Edson and E
My parents adopted a son from Ethiopia in February and since he is so close to the age of my littlest brother, Edson, everyone was worried as to how the two would get along. Well you can see for yourself that not only to they get along but he has already become part of the family. We all already feel comfortable enough to laugh at him when he falls! (Little Edson even takes it as far as to point and laugh!) This video and the ones to come will show how my two little brothers become not only the best of friends but also the best brothers in the world!
Its Still Fun and Games Even When Someone Falls
Saturday, September 18, 2010
New PINK NOW Shirt
So we are going to make this shirt. We are getting the ribbon and the logo with pink foil. Leave us a comment about what you think. We are going to sell this with a PINK NOW bracelet. We are also going to donate $5 to the Susan B. Coleman foundation for breast cancer for each shirt we sell.
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