Trust and Obey

Adam and Samantha - Trust and Obey from Adam Sandoval on Vimeo.

I (Adam) am not much of a singer, in fact it has been over 4 years since I sang a special. So when I saw that my name appeared on the schedule along with Samantha, fear and trembling set in. :-)

Now dont get me wrong, its not that I dont like to sing, but I just figured I would leave the singing to those with better voices.

Normally its Samantha that sings, not me. She has sung specials pretty much all of her saved life. God has really blessed her with a beautiful voice.

However when you work in the teen minisry, you find out very fast that you have to sing your heart out just to get the teens to sing along. If you want the kids to sing on a bus route you have to be the one to get them started, and you have to be willing to sing alone if need be. If you want kids to sing in a Sunday School class you have to sing with passion and excitement and again if need be you have to be willing to sing alone.

Most teens have a hard time singing hymns, mostly because they think that singing is not "cool". Added to the fact that they are already shy and embarrassed about their looks or persoanlity, and really dont want to draw attention to themseleves.

But if you can get a youth group sining good God honoring songs then you can have a youth group that is on fire for God. When the youth of a church get on fire for God almost always the church has revival.

Merry Christmas

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11

Each day I am married, it reminds me that I am not living just for me, everything that I do will either effect my wife and future children, for the Lord or for the world.

This is our first Christmas together married. One year ago today Samantha, her family and I drove to Arizona to celebrate Christmas with her grandma, grandpa, and uncle Jeff.

One year ago toady

Back then we had been betrothed (engaged) for just about a month. It was a very exciting time.

This year has been just as exciting. Having our first Christmas in our home, with our tree, and opening presents. Sharing this time with Samantha has been pretty amazing.

I think that because we have done so much, by way of ministry and traveling in this short 9 months, people forget we are still newlyweds. It is very important to spend the holidays with family, but it is equally important for Samantha and I to be able to have/start traditions of our own. For us to build special personal memories, things that we can look back on with joy.

Last night was one of those moments. After dinner at Mom and Dad Leeders, we drove out to a little town just north of us, where they put out thousands of little candles placed inside of a brown paper bag. They are called farolitos.

Image courtesy of  Steve Immel Photography

.Based on Las Posadas, the hispanic celebration of Mary and Joseph's search for lodging and a place for Jesus' birth, the families of Velarde have been lighting the roadway for almost thirty years.

This morning was another special moment as Samantha and I got up early to open presents. It was pretty fun just to see the little gifts we got each other. Most of them just small things that we knew would mean a lot to each other.

NASCAR!!!

Through out today I have been thinking about how blessed I am. To be Saved, to have a wonderful wife is Saved, to serve in the ministry, to have my immediate family (both sides) Saved.

This video was a blessing to us, we hope it will be to you too.
Merry Christmas!!

Happy Birthday Samantha

Samantha, from everyone who knows and love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Christmas Tree Time!

Its that time of year again! Where we celebrate the birth of our wonderful Saviour! It has been fun for Samantha and I to start some family traditions of our own.


Something like decorating a Christmas tree, might not seem like much to most people (especially if you have done it for years with your family), but for Samantha and I it is just another chance to set in motion something that our family (future children) can to together for years to come.

Our Tree

Putting together an artificial tree with out instructions can be a little bit confusing. But we figured it out! It was fun to try and figure out which branch was longer, and which one went where.

Out cat found a new place to take a nap!

Almost done!

Going to Get Mom and Dad's Tree

Another importnat tradition for Samantha's family is going in to the mountains to cut down their real Christmas tree. I have been told, that in years past, it has been quite the adventure. Things like getting stuck and almost sliding off the mountain and Flesh wounds left me a little nervous.

So this being my first time I was a little bit worried, but mostly excited.


 I figured that since Samantha and I were going to follow along in my truck and Mom, Dad, and Rodddy were going up in their car, it should be ok. (I brought the tow strap just in case!)

Mom and Samantha packed turkey sandwiches and hot chocolate. So we could have a little picnic when we got there.

After a good little drive we finally arrived at the spot where the search for the perfect tree was to began.

We found it!!

This was a really fun trip for everyone! 

Fun time and a great memory!

Birthday Fun

Yup its my birthday!

 29 Years old!

I am so blessed to have a wonderful wife and family.

I want to thank everyone who came to my party, you all really made it special!

All day long I kept getting phone calls or text messages wishing me a happy birthday.

One of the best moments of my birthday was getting a call from Memew, Pawpa and Uncle Jeff, they sang to me over the phone!

I love you all!

Glad to see I'm not the only one who enjoyed my cake!

Busy Youth-Workers

Well it sure has been a busy month for Samantha and I, as well as our youth/school group. We have been so busy that we finally have been able to update the blog. 

Ice Skating

On the 4th of November our Christian Academy had a ice skating field trip. Samantha and I drove the boys van while the girls followed in another van. This trip was to celebrate all those who made honor roll.


Normally one of the jobs of being a married couple is to drive the ladies to games and events, (they like the idea of having a male around for safety), but this time we had the ... privilege... of driving the boys.


If you have ever been in van with all teenage boys, then you know just how different of an experience it can be, compared to driving with all girls. There is usually a lot of rough housing, belching and other things. Now keep in mind these are pretty good kids, however as the old adage goes, "boys will be boys."


Before we went skating we stopped at Pizza Hut to fill all those empty bellies.

Once we were all done eating we headed over to the Skating Rink

Everyone is hanging on to the wall for dear life!

Yup, I cant skate 

Skating like a pro!

Saturday Teen Fellowship

Then the next day, being Saturday we took a small group to a youth fellowship in Taos, NM at Pastor Estevan Montoya's church.

This church is currently in a building program, because of this they are currently having servies in this apartment complex.

Time for a little belching contest!

This next game involved catching M&M's in your mouth.

Even though, (or because) it was a small group we all had a really good time. We played games and sang songs and enjoyed pizza.


After the pizza Pastor Montoya, preached a powerful message on "Choices". The heart of the message was: The choices you make right now as a teen, can and will affect what you become.


It seemed like everyone that was there was at the altar. We hope to have a bigger group next month.

Monday-Tuesday Volleyball Tournament

Then monday and Tuesday (November 6th and 7th), we (Samantha and I) had the privilege to dive our school's volleyball team to a tournament in Albuquerque. There were 9 teams, and a few of them were from out of state,as far away as California.

We had to get up at 5 AM to leave the church by 6 to make it to the tournament at 9. It was a long but good day.

Getting up so early and then having to drive for a little over an hour, our girls needed to run around and wake up. Even during the game you could see that they were still groggy.

It was a blessing to see some of our older girls, step up as leaders. Here one is being a line judge for another game.

 Lunch Time

Yummy, Subway!

One of the hard things of having a large tournaments is the time between the games. We would play then have to wait a few hours before we would play again. This gave us all a change to watch some of the others teams.

Pledge Time!

Pledge to the American Flag

Pledge to the Christian Flag

Pledge to the Bible

Our girls got off to a tough start, losing their first game (day one), which put us in the losers bracket. This ment they would have to win every game they played after that to make sure they were not eliminated.

And they did win their next two games that day. But the next day, they were defeated in a really close match. 

I really thought this was funny, this care had three apple stickers and one Android.

All in all they played their hearts out and we ended up with fourth place.

Third place went to the hosting team, Christian Heritage Academy

Second Place went to Cornerstone Baptist Academy from Colorado Springs, Co

We were very proud of  one of our players winning one of 6 MVP/Sportsmanship awards.

The winning team was from Rio Grande Baptist Church

On the ride home we all signed the banner and left it on our pastors desk as a surprise.

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do [it] with thy might; ...

Ecclesiastes 9:10a