Well obviously I haven’t been on my blog. Smile! Sorry for those of you who come here to check my blog from time to time to remain seeing no changes. I apologize, but it has been very hectic around here. I wanted to fill you in on what I have been doing and what my next few weeks will hold for me.

I looked and noticed I didn’t blog anything since UK beat Tennessee at home…that was still a blessing though. But turned out, Vanderbilt whooped UK for their 5th ever worse loss in the history of Kentucky basketball. My goodness! SO bear with me if I seem out of words as I am still recovering from watching that loss.

So what have I been doing lately? Well we are actually in the process of pre-planning and praying for our lauching of our Deaf church on March 22nd. We have had numerous meetings, plannings, discussions to get things ready to go.

Probably the highlight of the last few weeks was when me and my family traveled to Flint, Michigan. I was asked to preach at the Michigan-based Deaf Cafe ministry event on February 9th. As we drove up, it was so awe-inspiring to actually see 12 inches of snow. Kentucky hasn’t seen that much snow in ages. As we arrived at the home of one of the teammembers, I began to wonder what my life would be like if I was still working for Deaf Cafe. Would the Louisville Deaf Cafe be MORE effective…would it be the same….would it have went in a different direction….would it have… I began to wonder and wonder as I reviewed my sermon for the next evening.  The team-member, Vonnie, began talking about all the cool things that they have done with their Deaf Cafe and I was checking off my list…done that, done that, done that, done that….but it was good to remember those memories of what I had done with the Louisville Deaf Cafe.  I think we didn’t go to bed until like 1 am that night. It was good chatting with Vonnie and be able to know that the Deaf Cafe Michigan was good and strong.

Saturday morning, we got up early to take the kids downtown for snowsledding. We had brought our own snow sled and the kids had a blast. I will post some pictures on that later on when I get around to it. For about 2 hours, we had snowball fights, sledding down the hills, slipping and sliding down hills because we fell so many times. It was fun. But as we all know, fun can only be so much time because somehow work creeps into it. 2 hours later, we went back to Vonnie’s place and changed and headed to Deaf Cafe practice.

I stayed around to watch the practice and get an idea of what the program was about. Mandi and the kids went to the nearby mall to keep the kids busy and do some shopping. (Thank God I got paid before we left, whew!) Anyhow, the Bible story theme was Rachel and Jacob. Which was pretty easy as I had preached about them back in November at another location. But I put an additional thought into it, as I was praying “Lord, what will you have be add or remove from this old sermon that you led me to preach before?” I was watching the dramas and the songs…and then it was revealed. Apparently alot of people connected to the message afterwards and it was a much needed reminder for many who showed up that night. The Bible story was about Rachel and Jacob… the topic was “We dont always get what we want”  Sometimes God reveals somethign to us that we CANT have, but shows that He is in control and He will allow us to have what HE wants us to have.  God revealed Rachel to Jacob…Jacob wanted Rachel….in return…God wanted Jacob to have Leah first….then Rachel later…. but then Jacob understood later why he didnt get Rachel first…Rachel was very “unsatisfied” woman.

Im sorry to say…in today’s world…many of us are the same way….we become not satisfied with what we have… but when we do get that one thing that we want…we sometimes become jealous because someone has something better… I used a movie that I had shown before at our Deaf212 event. A couple of parents had lost their child after 99 days of living……suppose those parents, who had lost that child, witnessed that a friend of theirs was having an abortion or giving up their rights for adoption for their kids….we question other’s actions because we are not satisifed with what happened to us.   In the story of Jacob….I seem to think that he questioned God on the “wife-swap” thing with Leah and was not satisfied which in return….he became blind to what God was revealing all along….”God is in control”

Anyhow…aside from the event, I very much enjoyed it and was honored that God allowed me to see and speak at every Deaf Cafe that was established through the years that I had helped encourage other areas to launch their own. Its been a blessing and I hope the Lord blesses all of the Deaf Cafes that are still serving our Lord today.

So that is what I have been doing…what will I be doing in the next few weeks, months? March will be a busy month as we are approaching the Easter pageant season for our church. It supposed to be the best one ever since they took a year off to reorganize what was important and what needed improvement. From what I have been told, its about 70% technical and movie screen shots that were all acted out by church members. Its going to be interesting…if you haven’t gotten your tickets yet..we still have some left for March 14th, March 20th, March 23rd, and March 28th which will be interpreted. The cost for the tickets are $15 each but it will be worth it, trust me.

After March events are over…April will be a much more smoother month as i travel for a week to two cities in Tennessee. I am possibily staying a few days in Gatlinburg (provided that God wills it for our family vacation) and then to Knoxville to preach at the University of Tennessee Baptist Campus Ministry  (formerly known as BSU in the past). It will be interesting as I am planning to wear my big blue UK shirt to preach in (smiling at Stephen..ya think i will come back alive from doing that?) It will be a good experience. I am seeing more and more that BCMs all over the region are asking me to speak and its been an honor to serve God in those areas.

Until next time…keep me in your prayers as I will pray for you as well….God bless!!

Not sure if some of you watch the show or even heard of it. On Tuesdays, NBC shows episodes of the the Biggest Loser which is a TV show where contestants come together in attempt to lose as much weight as possible before the end of the show. In the running of the show, there are contests, eliminations, and heartbreaking dramas that are exposed.  Its interesting to watch how they workout, what they eat, and see how much the trainers encourage their teams.

In 2008, I had prayed that the Lord help me to lose weight. Since 2003, I gained little by little. Part of the reason why I have gained so much is because I have a condition called hypothyroidism and have been off medicine for awhile due to no health insurance for the past few years. For those of you who don’t know what that is:  Hypothyroidism is a condition affecting the thyroid gland, which decreases your metabolism and can leave you fatigued and overweight. Underactive thyroids are very common, especially in women, but only 15% of men worldwide are affected.

In 2003, I weighed almost 310 lbs.  Right now to this date, I weigh around 283 lbs. But the Lord answered my prayers today! I was selected to join the Biggest Loser challenge at my church. There is a total of 51 people involved. I have a team of 3 other staff men who are excited as well.

At the end of every month, we have to keep our team up to date of how much we weigh. We will set up times to workout together at the gym on our church campus and have regular lunches together as well. I think its a super idea for support not only for spiritual support but physically as well. My goal is to get down to at least 220 lbs. That’s where I felt the most comfortable. This is a 6 month challenge and sometimes in August. They will announce the winners of the challenge to award us with a major prize, what that is, I have no clue. At the end of every month, I will update you guys on my weight loss, and what I did to lose it. Please keep me in prayers as I do this.

….I think we all go through that stage. Friends or relatives usually ask this question in the middle of a conversation, “Steve, what do you want for Christmas?” And usually I get stuck or I think of something totally crazy that I know I will never get (like them Hummers, eh?) But seriously, what do you really want for Christmas?”….

I can think of a million things that I always wanted when I was a kid but never got. I remember asking for and getting a Masters of the Universe: Castle Grayskull play-set along with some He-Man action figures. I remember asking for and getting a Star Wars: Millennium Falcon ship. I remember asking for and getting Transformers: Optimus Prime robot figure. I remember asking for and getting a stereo system with CD+cassette+record player. I remember asking for and getting alot of other things…but as we grow older, it seems almost harder to ask for something and receive it when you actually want it.

I can honestly say that my perspective on Christmas changed dramatically when I had kids. Why? Because its not about what will I get….its about what can I give them? Its not about how many gifts will I get….how many will they get is the focus. Its not about how will we afford to get me something…my joy at Christmas comes when I see my wife and my kids enjoy the gifts that they have. I can remember one Christmas where me and my wife agreed to not get anything for each other and only focus on the kids…but I couldn’t stick to that agreement, I wanted my wife to enjoy as well…

So what do I want for Christmas? I would love for everyone to have a satisfying Christmas with their eyes on Jesus as the true reason. Its not about the cookies and milk, its not about the fancy decorations, its not about the snow, its not about the number of presents under your true. We need to look back to the humble sight of that manger with that little baby in it that had a future to provide US a future. 

So may your next few weeks be joyful. may your next few Sundays in church be focused on Jesus, may your next few family gatherings be full of cheer and happiness. And may you look back with thanksgiving and gratitude for what the Lord has done in hopes that 2008 will be a better year for many of you!

God bless and Merry Christmas to all!

As I was going through my old files, cleaning up my computer, found a few of papers that I wrote for a seminary extension class a few years ago. I read it and pretty much still stand by what I wrote….check it out!

Redefining Deafness                                                                

May 21^st, 2005  By: Steve Dye            

While I was reading Chapter 2 about the changes in the deaf world of “Deaf Diaspora”, so many memories came back to me after reading that short piece of information. It mainly spoke about “gaining or having access to the Deaf World.” Many deaf who are mainstreamed will never gain that “membership,” sadly.            

In the beginning when I was entering the Deaf World, it was not easy to learn the language in a time where my wife was so used to ASL. Many times I have been labeled “hard of hearing” instead of deaf. Many times I have been asked which residential Deaf school did I attend, only to be turned off when I share that I was mainstreamed. Many times have I been asked if I am hearing because of my strong social and verbal skills. Many times have I been asked if my children are Deaf or hearing. In my mind, I know why these questions are being asked, but its sad to see that Deaf cannot see beyond those questions and visualize what’s really important. The book explained that many Deaf blame the “mainstreaming of deaf kids” as one of the reasons of the Deaf world declining. I have always disagreed with that. Why? Because we cannot argue with what God was already planning years and years ago. But for the non-Christian Deaf, that comment means worthless. What would I say to them of the reasons why the deaf schools are declining? I have no answer. Only to say that I know the majority of the time, it is the parent’s decision to pull Deaf children out and put them into mainstreamed schools. I also would tell them that the success rate for Deaf residential schools are not the same as before. I would also say, from what I have been told, that the Deaf children’s safety would be more in mainstreamed schools than in Deaf schools. Why? Because many Deaf students have been raped, sexually abused, verbally abused, physically abused, and the list just keeps going. I would think that being able to go to school everyday and come home to the parents everyday (hearing or not), would build up a secure feeling that someone cares about them. Whereas, many Deaf are left at Deaf schools all week, and sometimes never came home except for special occasions in the past. This is probably one of the reasons why Deaf people have no sense of family-time, or closeness to family, or respect of other family when they want to be left alone. Because they, themselves, never had the idea taught to them what a family does on a regular day-to-day basis.           

Membership to a Deaf World is not as important to some. But for those who are married to a Deaf person or the majority of their friends are Deaf, it may be important. Its sad to see that in a world that “takes care of its own,” it will not include everyone who is adequately able to fit in. For the “hard-of-hearing” people or those who think “hearing”, we are stuck in between both worlds which we operate sometimes as a liaison. Is that good? In most cases, yes. Will the label of being a “mainstreamed, oral-deaf, hard-of-hearing” person ever come off? No. But to think ahead in the future, all of our “labels” will come off eventually when we get to Heaven. I mean its not like Jesus will sign to the deaf, then put his hands down and start speaking clearly to the hard-of-hearing, and then talk normal to the hearing people. That’s silly. Jesus will speak loud and we will all hear it, period! So my question to Deaf people all around the world, why can’t we start taking each other’s “labels” off now and enjoy it?

i found an interesting article while I was preparing for my sermon for an upcoming event at Western KY University, where I have been asked to preach. It talks about the comparing of people who use “family-time” as an excuse to miss church… read it here: http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070315/26345_Study%3A_Family_Time_Trumping_Church_Time.htm

Heres a video that I captured at a Deaf camp that I was the pastor of in Junly 2007. One of the guy’s counselor, Chase Armstrong has been looking forward to seeing…enjoy the national popularity, my man!

Wow! I’ve been reading other people’s blogs for about a year and a half. And I felt it was high-time that I started my own so that people can get a glimspe into my heart and what Im thinking. I probably wont post as much as some of you others out there do but hey, if I got the time, I will do it. Please keep me in your prayers and I figure this blog thing out. It seems easy but then again, always gotta learn something new.

I guess one of the first things I wanna share is that God is good. All the time! After 10 years of volunteering to lead deaf ministries, God answered my prayer finally…with a full-time paying job. Now I know some of us out there are saying, money is not everything. But when you volunteer for 10 years with little or not pay at all, and you have a wife and kids to help feed, it begins to bring you more harder on your knees to pray for that one blessing to happen. Lo and behold, God answered! 

 So adding to that and finishing this blog, my thanks and appreciation goes out to those who helped me along the way to this position. A few to name would be Colin Bruner, who was and still is my mentor through the 10 years of my learning. Tim Bender, who is the deaf pastor at Louisville Baptist Deaf Church in my city. The Lord helped him to start me on a journey that helped me to learn the postives and negatives of being a “pastor.” If not for him and leading Deaf Cafe, I have no idea what kind of a leader I would be today. Bob Ayres, who was my first “general” to help me use my gifts as a leader in DeafTeen Quest. And then of course, above all of these guys would be my parents. Mom and Dad has always prayed and prayed for me in my paths into the world. I dont think they would ever have thought that their oldest son would be a pastor to the deaf. But overall, they were my ultimate cheerleaders from before I started my path to serve the Lord. Thanks guys! And thanks to all of you who helpled me along my way. With thanksgiving coming around the corner, we need to take the time to thank those who helped us on our journey to where we are today.  Until next time, lets do that, shall we?