Womens Marriage Ministry

Listening to what God is trying to tell us is very difficult sometimes, but then sometimes it can't be anymore clearer, as if it were written on a neon sign right outside your window. When you feel strongly in your heart that what you want to do is honoring God and is filled with complete love for others, then it is definitely a blinking neon sign.

Aimee has always had gifts that were given to her straight from God and I always knew that one day, she would be able to use those gifts to help others in a mighty way. Those wonderful gifts God gave Aimee consist of a highly intelligent mind, filled with quick thoughts to problem solve ideas quicker than anyone I've ever met. If it weren't for Aimee, I would not be the man that I am today because of the great tools she has taught me in life.

God also blessed Aimee with a beautiful heart, filled with love to always want to make things better for everyone else, even when her own family life was a struggle. Aimee was hard at work, helping friends or family in their personal struggles, even when our precious Kayleigh was having bad days, work was upside down, bills piled up and our house was slipping away. No matter what, Aimee was there for those who needed her.

Last but not least, God blessed Aimee with a forgiving heart and if it weren't for Jesus forgiving us for our sins, Aimee would have never forgiven me for so many things. She forgave me though, loved me with her beautiful heart and taught me ways to be a true and honorable man. These gifts were a blessing to not only Aimee, but to everyone who comes in contact with her.

She has decided to take these gifts and create a marriage ministry to reach out and help ALL EARS who will listen. The blog was created for women for a certain purpose, but it is for everyone who needs the help. If you are an honorable man, who isn't ashamed to ask for help, email Aimee or myself as we will never turn a soul away from God's advice. If you are a non-believer, please don't feel like we are speaking to only Christians and that you are not welcome. That is a bunch of mess because we are here for EVERYONE!

Speaking of EVERYONE, this marriage ministry is not just for those who are having marital issues, it is also for those are dating, someone who has close friends, or even single because it will prepare you for the next step. Even if your marriage is perfect and you have never had an issue in your life, EVERYONE can learn something new to help them grow in their relationships.

Aimee posted her first post tonight on the blog and would like for everyone to take up the 14 day challenge. To learn more about it and a little history on what drove us to lend a helping hand to others, click on the link after you read this prayer.

"God, Thank you so much for all the blessings and gifts you have given to us. We are all made differently, Lord, in Your perfect image. I pray that you will speak loudly to those who are finding a purpose in their own lives to honor You. Please guide Aimee through her spiritual calling to help others in their marriage, relationships, and friendships. Lord, Aimee nor myself are experts or have a degree, but you have given us life experiences to learn from and share to others. However, no amount of educating our flesh can guide us any wiser than You can through your teachings. So, we pray you will strengthen our hearts beyond the great love they already feel for others, lead us with a patient mind, and speak through us as we start this journey to help anyone and everyone who needs to listen.

In your precious name, Amen"

To start your incredibly amazing journey, click here - Women's Marriage Ministry

Freeman Family Weekend

This past weekend was such a wonderful time for us. We drove up to Raleigh to visit my oldest brother Scott and his family. Scott and Rebecca have three children, Julia, Jason and Penelope. So needless to say, Brandon and Allyson had such a great time playing with their cousins.

On Saturday, Julia had a swim meet and she did such a great job, especially when she was competing against other children who were older than she was. Both Aimee and I were very proud of her and we hope that she continues to work hard and excel at swimming. I also noticed that Julia has been getting fantastic grades in school landing her either on the A honor roll or A/B honor roll each quarter. Woo hoo! That is so wonderful!

Jason (J-Dog) is a stud muffin! He and Brandon had such a enjoyable weekend being boys. They played video games and jumped on the trampoline even when it was cold outside. Boys will be boys! I am so glad they are so close in age and as I have a cousin who I grew up real close with, I can see this relationship doing just the same. They are two wonder-hand-ful boys! Can't you tell?





Penelope is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! I had to share this story with you all for the soul purpose of sharing back with Penelope when she gets older. We were driving home from the swim meet and I had some Spree hard candies that I love so much and was enjoying every bit of their sweet taste.

Sweet P, as we call her, had asked for some Sprees and I had shared a few here and there until she asked for ALL of them. I told her that I could not give her ALL of them, but that I would share a few.

Next thing I know, she laid a pen next to me on the center console. I said to her, "Is this a gift for me?" I looked through the rear view mirror to see a simple nod of the head and a smile on her face. Now, before I go any further with this story, you must know the pen read "Lifepoint" on it. Lifepoint is a church that we attend in Wilmington.

So...I said, "Thank you sweetheart, that was very kind of you." Before I could get my response out, she blurted, "Now can I have the Sprees?" Aimee and I busted out with laughter. I decided to ask Penelope where she got this gift for me and she stated that she found it in this seat.

Still laughing our butts off, I said to Penelope, "So, you found this pen in your seat, in my car, and gave it to me as a gift?" Penelope then said, "No, I found it in my house." Confused now, I said, "But you just told me you found it in the seat in my car"

"I lied" she said. LOL

Here is Miss Little "Sweet P"





The things kids do and say for candy these days are hilarious! And by the way, mean Uncle Adam has a hard time sharing ALL of his candy because he is spoiled. lol

Another reason we planned the trip to Raleigh as to cheer on our four fighters from Evolution Mixed Martial Arts.
For those who didn't know, I trained in Jiu Jitsu and MMA in Charlotte for a year before Kayleigh was born, took a year off, and then started training again. I competed in a grappling tournament a couple weeks before Kayleigh was born and you can see that my last post on that blog was that tournament. CLICK HERE to see that post and video.

Anyhow, after Kayleigh had went to Heaven, I made an effort to get back in to training and continue my quest to fight in the cage. When I chose Wilmington, I made sure there was a great camp to train at and I couldn't ask for a better team to be a part of. Team Evolution was brought to Wrightsville Beach from Hilo Hawaii by Jeremy Owens. Jeremy and a few other guys who trained in Hawaii under Renato "Charuto" Verissimo who is the Jiu Jitsu coach and teammate to the greatest 155lb fighter, BJ Penn (UFC Lightweight Champion of the World). I had the ultimate pleasure of meeting Charuto and trained with him at Evolution last week.

Now that I have been training hard for the past several months, I have been able to impress some of the current fighters enough to land an opportunity to fight in February at the Schwartz Center here in Wilmington, NC. It will be my first amateur fight, but my ultimate goal is to win 5 amateur fights to gain my pro status. You can view the website at Carolina Fight Promotions . So, I have to stay healthy and train hard over the next four months to pull out a victory.

Getting back on track...we went to Raleigh to cheer our fighters on. George, Grant, Simon and Jon were all fighting. George and Simon both pulled out a win and Grant lost by decision to the hometown kid. Everyone felt it should have gone Grant's way, but you just can't leave it up to the judges or stuff like that will happen. Jon, which is our 5-1 pro fighter, was injured in a last second submission attempt after the bell had rung by the other opponent. It was unfortunate that he was hurt and couldn't continue, but I heard that his knee will be fine and he will be fighting again soon.

We had a great time going to see the fights at the RBC Center in Raleigh where the Carolina Hurricanes play. It was a big venue, but excited me even more to know that I could be fighting there in the near future. With hard work and dedication, anything is possible. I know that I have a good team to train with who have been very successful.

Other than the swim meet and the fights, we all hung out and enjoyed our time together. One thing I am so thankful for is our family. We are truly lucky to have the love and support that we have. Thank you Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful family.

God Bless,

Feelings Follow Choices

Before I start my post tonight, I want you to sit back and really think about what I am saying here. You may be dealing with this in your life in one way or another and this could seriously help you make things better. It most definitely did for Aimee and I, and it really didn't take a lot of work to fix what had been broken.

Aimee and I know some people who are dealing with marital issues right now and this post is for them. Although, this information is also great for those who aren't having issues or don't think they are having issues as we all need to strive to be better people. You may find this helpful to share this to someone you personally know who may need to hear it.

A little while back, I posted briefly about Aimee and I were having some troubles in our marriage but that everything is back on track. I spoke about how my choices started to follow my feelings, which was completely backwards, causing me to swerve off track in my life. Just as Brent Riggs mentioned to me before, you can't lead with your caboose (aka feelings) or your engine (aka decisions) will run off the track in the wrong direction.

Whether or not Aimee or myself were at fault for the things we did to get us from point A to point B, I realized that the negative feelings were controlling my decisions. I didn't want to deal with the pain, the anger, the sadness and mostly, the fear of these negative feelings going on forever and ever. I wanted out! I wanted the easy route! I wanted to go where the grass was greener! I wanted to start over!

I wanted all these things because I was SELFISH! I made a promise to my wife when I asked her to marry me. I made a promise to my family when I married her and I made all these promises right in front of God. Oh, but a promise can be broken. Oh, but I will ask God to forgive me for this divorce and I promise not to do it again so that will be okay. Oh, but no one understands what I have to live with and life would be so much better if we weren't together. Oh, the kids will be okay and they will still get to see me. Oh, but I never loved her in the first place. Excuses! Excuses! Excuses!

I made all the excuses and I look back on them now and I was trying to convince myself only to make me feel better for the wrong thing I knew I was doing. Aimee may not be perfect and I may not be perfect, but I know that I was attracted to her enough to ask her for her number. I knew that I once laughed for hours without a single argument. I knew that I once tried to go out of my way to impress her so she would think I am not like all the other men. I knew that I once told her I loved her and I felt the love in my heart when I said it to her without being forced. I knew that I once couldn't wait to spend every waking hour with her, cuddle with her, and give her long, wet kisses that beat all the motion picture awards for "Best Kiss."

Most importantly, I knew that I wanted to spend forever with her when I got on my knee and asked her to marry me. I knew that I wanted to share forever with her when I agreed to have a child that I would have to help raise as a team. So, for making negative excuses against all of this love I knew I once felt was completely letting my feelings run my decisions.

When I wake up in the morning, I brush my teeth, wash my face and put on some deodorant. I do this because it is a routine for me, but mainly because I don't want to completely scare away my clients with goops of eye boogers, rotten breath that stinks just as bad or worse as the onion patch growing under my arms. Not everyone, including myself, really enjoys doing any of these routines, but we do it anyway. My point is that we are choosing to do something regardless of how we feel about it and not to mention that we probably have a lot more people who like us because we do it.

The whole point that I am getting at, which turned my life right-side-up, is that I chose to do something that wasn't led by my feelings and wasn't really what I "felt" I wanted to do at that time. I know God put us together for a reason and He wouldn't let two souls get married if they weren't supposed to be married. Besides our salvation, marriage is one of the most important things. I made many decisions in my life that I felt were right and maybe some of them were wrong, but we NEVER make the wrong decision to marry someone because we love them.

To give love, you must feel love. If you resist being selfish, forgive easily, know this world is not perfect, and go out of your way to do the right things for your husband/wife, that lost feeling of love will find its way home very quickly. God gave us this greatest gift for a reason and it was not to be selfish and love ourselves only to make ourselves feel happy, but to love others unconditionally so that they can see and feel how amazing this gift truly is.

I had moved out and I had started over. I felt the world was a better place for making the decision that I did and my life felt like it was going in the right direction, but the devil is so deceiving. I am not ashamed to speak my faults to the world, but I was dead wrong.

Aimee and I are happier now than ever before. We understand each other more for having gone through this. We both show each other love and respect, and now we go out of our ways to mold our lives to fulfill each others needs.


Summing it all up in to 3 parts:

1. Remember that you once made a decision to be married because you loved one another or you were at least attracted to each other at some point to engage in a relationship.

2. Lead with your choices and your feelings will follow, but of course you have to make choices that are with a pure heart and without sin.

3. Know that you are not perfect and neither is your spouse, but forgiveness is key and you must give love and respect in order to receive love and respect. You can never give love and respect to your wife/husband/children with a selfish heart that focuses on your own feelings.


Aimee and I will be praying endlessly for those who are struggling to fix their marriages. Just know that we are not experts in anyway, shape or form, but that we love you all and we pray that we were able to help you with our situation in one way or another.

God made men a special way in a "blue" color and woman a special way in a "pink" color that when you join them together it makes purple. Purple is the color of royalty and a husband and wife are joined together in God's beautiful image. There was no mistake when He blessed us with marriage, so leading with God as our engine, the caboose will always be on track. Let your feelings follow your choices!

Brent, thank you for giving me the best advice and allowing me to use it to help others. You are a blessing to me and my family.

God Bless,

"Make A Wish"

Disney is such a memorable place for so many families and I know it is going to be such a memorable place for Abby too.

Abby Riggs is such a special little girl to our family. I had the pleasure of meeting and living with the Riggs Family for a week while I went out to Oklahoma for a job interview and this family has been such a blessing to us in so many ways.




"Arrrrrrr" ;) Even though Abby was so very sick, she made the whole hospital laugh so hard with her pirate immitation.

Abby has unfortunately been battling cancer for quite some time now and is currently at Disney World because of her granted "Make a Wish." I know that a lot of you have prayed for Abby along the way while times were tough and I wanted you all to rejoice with them as they live it up in Florida right now!



Brent has been capturing each day and you can see tons of photos. Go visit the Riggs Family blog and see how their trip is going by clicking: HERE

God Bless,

Butterfly Release Memorial

On Saturday, Levine Children's Hospital held the Butterfly Release Memorial for all the children from the NICU who went to Heaven this past year. It was a very beautiful memorial and we were able to celebrate the lives of all the children who fought so hard and left a mark on many hearts.

Every year, the NICU staff donates a brick to a special little angel and this year they had more than one. Kayleigh was one of those who received a special brick and it was already placed on the walkway at Frazier Park near downtown Charlotte, NC.

Tears were flowing as the gospel choir sang Amazing Grace and as poems were read aloud. When the butterflies took to the air and fluttered to the sky, all heads were raised with smiles that broke through all saddened faces and comfort surrounded our hearts.

Thank you so much to all the Levine Children's Hospital NICU doctors, nurses and staff who took care of our precious Kayleigh as well as all the other children. You certainly made this day a special one for all of us to remember.

God Bless you ALL!