May 2, 2011
by Sus
in Our Ministry, Technology in Ministry
Tags: beach, Bethany Hamilton, champion, fiath, ministry, Prayer, recommended, shark attacks, soul surfer, true stories, Who is Jesus
Soul Surfer, recently released in theaters, is a powerful movie about surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lost her arm to a tiger shark and courageously overcame her new limitations to become a surfing champion again.
Campus Crusade for Christ’s Global Media Outreach (GMO) and Campus Alliance created a ministry tool that God is using to open conversations about faith in Christ. They launched the evangelistic website, SoulSurfer.com, on April 1st. As of that day, the site has had 95,000 visitors with over 10,000 indicated decisions for Christ.
Global Media Outreach is available to meet spiritual needs and present the gospel 24/7 over the internet. Every day, over two million people search on the internet for “I need God,” “Who is Jesus,” “prayer” and other spiritual questions. Every few seconds, some of these people find one of GMO’s 100+ websites and indicate some sort of decision for Christ. Many of these ask for e-mail follow-up.
Read more about Global Media Outreach and how you can volunteer to answer e-mails from people who are seeking God.
RESOURCES: Campus Alliance offers resources to use the movie for ministry and has suggestions to promote the movie through social media.
April 8, 2011
by Sus
in Family News
Tags: barbecue, barber shop, baseball, beach, birds, Daytona Beach, DeLand, Disney, Florida, highway, I-95, interstate, museums, Orlando, pictures, recommended, restaurants, road trips, State Park, Stetson, things to do, tourist attractions, travel, university
Looking in the window of an old barber shop
DeLand, Florida, is just an hour or less from Orlando or twenty minutes from Daytona Beach and offers a variety of things to do. Now that Jenn goes to school in DeLand, we’ve been in the area more and have made some great discoveries. If you’re a tourist visiting Disney or the other attractions, maybe you would find something to break the “tourist mold” on your way to Daytona Beach. There’s something for everyone! (See the bottom of this post for a link to restaurants, for a blog with updates on events in DeLand and for the Stetson University calendar of events.)
What we recommend personally:
- Blue Spring State Park – we saw the historic Thursby house and did some birdwatching and hiking, but we’d like to come back in the winter to see large groups of manatees gather in the spring for warmth
- Concerts at Stetson University (see our photo of the organ inside the beautiful Lee Chapel in historic Elizabeth Hall)
- DeLeon Springs State Park - besides the usual swimming, boating, and hiking, make your own pancakes in the old mill at your table (read our story)
- Downtown events – Mainstreet DeLand organizes a lot of fun events. We attended Taste of DeLand in January and enjoyed sampling foods from 25+ local restaurants.
- Gillespie museum at Stetson University – largest collection in the Southeast for minerals, rocks, and fossils
- Historic Downtown – the buildings in the area are on the National Register, so stroll, shop, or enjoy a nice restaurant. We love taking photos, like this one of the old barber shop. Mike really wanted to get a haircut there. Maybe next time. Stop in Pat & Toni’s Sweet Things, too, for a trip back in time to a candy store filled with goodies.
- Sports at Stetson University – The Hatters baseball team is nationally ranked this year. We recommend Hatters baseball if you want to watch an affordable and fun baseball game while visiting Orlando. Read about our night at the ball game.
We haven’t made it here, but hope to:
We’ll not try this!
- Skydiving
- Cave diving in some of the local springs
RESTAURANTS:
NOTES:
NOTE: This post is part of the series of recommended tips for enjoying I-95.
December 25, 2010
by Sus
in Family News
Tags: beach, birds, Disney, ecotourism, Florida, highway, I-95, interstate, Orlando, pictures, recommended, restaurants, road trips, things to do, travel, Vero Beach
The Ocean Grill in Vero Beach, Florida
I definitely want to go back to Vero Beach!
We arranged to meet friends at The Ocean Grill in Vero Beach, Florida, for dinner three weeks ago. (It’s less than two hours down the turnpike from Orlando and then you take route 60 from Yeehaw Junction until it dead ends at the restaurant.) The Ocean Grill has very tasty food (pricey, though) and a fun, eclectic interior. It was full very soon after it opened at 5:30. I’d put in a reservation for the restaurant and be prepared to pay $22/dinner, but there’s a few lower-priced items or even a tasty soup and appetizer. I had Chicken Oscar. Their lunch menu is definitely cheaper (under $10.)
I felt like we were in “another country” just because Vero Beach was so different from Orlando. You could park near the restaurant and do shops and walk the beach. There’s plenty of beach access points along A1A north and south of Vero Beach. Disney has a resort north of the restaurant on A1A.
We arrived in Vero Beach well before dinner, so we stopped at the McLarty Treasure Museum. It takes less than an hour to do this museum and only costs a few dollars. It was fascinating to learn about 1,500 survivors stranded here when a fleet of Spanish treasure ships sank off the coast in 1715.
Pelican Island NWR
We only had a half hour to stop at Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge was America’s first National Wildlife Refuge. President Theodore Roosevelt signed an executive order to set aside this land for wildlife in 1903. (Read more…)
I can’t guarantee you would see dolphins, but if you want to try, go straight in past the first parking lot in the Refuge and then turn at the next right into the Centennial area. It’s an easy walk to the observation tower overlooking the Indian River. We saw a pod of dolphins feeding in the river.
After dinner, we drove past a large home with lots of Christmas lights in a huge front yard off of route 60 not far from the restaurant. If you’re in Vero Beach in December, read this article first and then this article to learn more. Apparently you can drive around the outside of this large home, at least, to see hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights. (Maybe we should have stopped.) They also have special times to see the twenty decorated rooms as well.
Here’s a good list of things to do in and near Vero Beach; most of the things in the second half of the list “within an hour” are south of Vero Beach.
NOTES:
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