2nd Annual A Phi A Open Golf Tournament

The brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, Omicron Sigma Lambda (OSL) chapter from Murfreesboro, Tennessee are gearing up to host the "2nd Annual A PHI A Open Golf Tournament", which is scheduled for Saturday, June 28th, 2014 at the Windtree Golf Club, 810 Nonaville Road, in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. 

This annual event is designed to create a day of excitement centered around the game of golf, while purposefully generating capital funds to support the OSL Foundation's scholastic initiatives. Through the financial support of the participants and other donors, the organization is able to provide scholarship funds to deserving students attending high schools in the Middle Tennessee area, who are pursuing higher education. In 2013, over $10,000 was raised and awarded in the form of collegiate scholarships to students graduating from Murfreesboro high schools and to one student enrolling as a freshman at Middle Tennessee State University.

This year's much anticipated event will include a Youth Golf Clinic, 4-Person Scramble tournament, Hole in One competition, Longest Drive competition, Closest to the Pin competition, Putting competition, Silent Auction, a complimentary meal, an enjoyable post-event mixer, and a number of other great prizes and amenities.

 

This golf event will also offer a great opportunity to market your product or business to a diverse group of individuals. There are a number of sponsorship packages available to suit any budget; however, a specially customized package can be created to meet the unique needs of your business. 
 

Package Sponsorship Levels:

Title Sponsor  - $5,000.00

Platinum Level - $1,000.00

Gold Level - $750.00

Individual Sponsorship Options:

Hydration Station - $500.00

Longest Drive - $500.00

Individual Hole Sponsor - $100.00

Refreshment Cart - $500.00

Closest to Pin - $500.00

Hole in One Sponsor - $500.00

Driving Range - $500.00

The primary goal in the sponsorship offerings is to ensure a quality event, where you can effectively market your business, product or service to potential consumers, while at the same time, supporting a noble cause.

This tournament will include approximately 144 golfers, 36 teams and several volunteers and youth. In addition, with the afternoon golf event, the OSL members will host a golf clinic for youth in the community. Through a partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters, members of the Men of Distinction Mentoring Program, an organization sponsored by the Omicron Sigma Lambda chapter at Oakland High School, and other youth agencies will be invited to participate and learn the basic fundamentals of the game. 

The event will culminate with a reception and awards banquet for all participants. Consider this your invitation to join the brothers of the Omicron Sigma Lambda chapter for a day of fun, fellowship, and funding, and if you are unable to attend, your donations are welcomed and appreciated. For more information on this event, please contact one of the individuals below.

Maurice Danner, Sponsor Chairman, 
(615)364-5935 
Maurice.Danner@comcast.net

Warren D. Isenhour, Tournament Chairman
(615) 394-7407
dub1906@yahoo.com 

 Photo Credit: All Images taken by Photography by Sean Ponder

www.PhotographybySeanPonder.com

Thank you for visiting our blog. Please visit www.aphiaopen.com to find out more information about this great event and how you can get involved for a worthwhile cause. You can find out more about us and our style of photography on our website at www.PhotographybySeanPonder.com. Like us on FaceBook and follow us on InstaGram and Pinterest!

Here's to living life with purpose and passion!


Angela
The Creative Director

www.PhotographybySeanPonder.com
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Mountain Moving Faith... Our Son's Story

"Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)

When you have children, you just want to wrap them up in a bubble and protect them from the dangers and uncertainties of life, illness and even the effects of their own wrong decisions... but in the end, all you can do is introduce them to Jesus (this is a MUST by the way), teach them right from wrong, cover them in prayer and trust God to do the rest. Sometimes things are just out of our control, and it is then that we realize we have to operate in mountain moving faith. Here is our son's story.

Our son, Sean, was born on September 24, 1999. I can remember like it was yesterday, when he was only a few weeks old, I was led to Mark 9:24 which reads in part, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" There was movement in my spirit, and at that moment, I knew our first born son would be a constant reminder that we must hold fast to our faith, no matter the circumstances. Verse 23 says, "Everything is possible for one who believes" and finally in verse 25, Jesus speaks to the impure spirit and says, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." Bookmark those last two verses. They will be relevant to our story soon. 

Sean has overcome so much in his 14 years... severe colic in his infancy, inability to sleep through the night until he was four years old, and an ADHD diagnosis (which he overcame); but the greatest test he would face by this age would be when we received the call that he had cancer. I will never forget it as long as I live. It was Friday, December 13, 2013. I was home on bed rest, just having had major surgery four days earlier, when the surgeon who removed a mass from the ball of our son's right hand index finger back in October, called to tell me that after receiving lab results from several facilities around the country (including Johns Hopkins), what I assumed was simply a cyst turned out to be malignant. It was cancer. Everything from that point was a blurr. My eyes immediately began to fill with tears, and I could barely wait to get off the phone with the surgeon before the tears became screaming sobs. I have never cried out to my God in such a desperate way in my life, but I felt so helpless. How could this mass that seemed to appear out of nowhere in July be cancer? How could this have happened? Was it something we didn't do? This can't be real! My mother, who was there caring for me in my recovery, came racing around the corner and all I could do was scream, "Sean has cancer!"

As soon as my mother began to scream, the fear that was beginning to overtake me left. I hopped out of bed (as if I had not had surgery), and ran to the kitchen to grab my oil. I became angry. There was a spirit of infirmity that had invaded our home and attacked our son and I was not having it. This illness had to go! I cried out and commanded the spirit of infirmity (our mountain) to leave our son. He had a purpose in God's plan, and nothing and no one was going to hinder him. I anointed everything my son could possibly touch when he got home and prayed that it would be like a healing stream! I knew God would get the glory from his testimony and in that knowledge, I found great comfort. After some time I settled down, called my husband to tell him the news, and began to pray for the strength to tell Sean and his little brother later that night. I repeated over and over again... "Lord, we trust YOU. We know YOU will heal our son. Our faith WILL NOT waver." This is a statement I would continue to speak aloud, with confidence, throughout his experience.
 
We have always been straightforward with our kids. We have made every attempt to be as honest as possible with them (after all, we were the parents who never taught Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy). We're realists, and we wanted to make sure our sons were the same. However, this was a moment of honesty I didn't want to face. We gathered around the dinner table, like we always do, and I broke the news. Stefan, who turned 9 one week prior, immediately burst into tears, while Sean sat staring... speechless. He didn't show a lot of emotion, which concerned me, but later that night, after his brother was asleep, he came to me and sobbed in my arms. It was heartbreaking. I told him that we would pray and have faith that God would heal him. I began to pray the scriptures over him and I told him God honors His word above His own name. This illness was nailed to the cross. He would be healed and we could not waver in our belief that he would. I anointed his head, we prayed and I sent him to bed. We soon mobilized prayer warriors across the nation to go before the thrown on his behalf. This was one battle we would not fight alone, but we would surely get the victory!

Our first visit to see the surgeon and oncologist left us with an option we were not anticipating. They felt the best recourse, if his fingertip was the origin of the cancer, would be to remove the tip down to the first digit, resulting in a negative scope. Mind you, this was his right hand (dominant) they were talking about. The thought was devastating. As parents, we first had to research, ask questions, and seek out a second opinion, and at the same time be very aware of the timeline. Sean underwent numerous tests and scans, but they could not specifically identify the type of soft-tissue sarcoma he had. What they discovered was that he had no other cancer growths in his body (Thank you, Jesus!). Since they were unable to attach it to any other family of sarcomas, because it was so rare, they had to create a name for it until further research was done. It was referred to as an unclassified epithelioid round cell neoplasm. 

They would have to continue running tests to find out more about it, but what they could confirm was that it was very aggressive and every oncologist we spoke with expressed their concern for what could happen if it spread. The surgeon and the entire Department of Oncology group at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, suggested the same treatment plan; he would have to have the fingertip removed in order to save him from possible life-threatening spread. Test after test was run to make sure there was no other cancer in his body and they all came back clear. They could not believe it was discovered while it was still very small and still at the source. These types of cancers are usually not discovered until they are either much larger and require removal of the entire finger, or after they have already spread. We were so grateful and we knew the power of prayer was hard at work!

His father recalls talks with Sean, where Sean would ask, "Dad, why me?" He explained that sometimes life seems unfair, but no matter what happens, we need to learn from life's trials and remain strong in the process. He never wanted Sean to see him worry, but remain strong in spirit and full of faith, so Sean could be the same. Attitude and perspective are everything. Sean's surgery was Wednesday, February 26, 2014. The entire time he remained brave and very mature in how he handled his circumstances. He has continued to impress many, including his doctors, with his positive attitude. We have continued to live our lives as usual, the entire time, refusing to waver in our faith; and as a result, he did not develop fear of any kind. He accepted what needed to happen and he was ready to be rid of the disease so he could get back to life and basketball. It is one thing to SAY you walk by faith, and not by sight, but it is something TOTALLY different when you actually have to WALK it out. He watched us, and through our faith, he knew God had everything all under control. His faith grew from this experience.

Sean is now getting back to his old self, with full use of his finger though some modifications. He never missed a beat and went through it all while still playing basketball for his middle school. He refuses to allow this situation to discourage him. It happened and he has accepted that his shorter finger is a part of who he is now. He has been healed of this disease on THIS side of heaven, with no chemotherapy or radiation treatments necessary, only semi-annual scans until he is well into college. He has a reason to be excited about life and we, as his parents, have a reason to rejoice! His story had to be told. It happened so quickly, all over the course of seven months, that it's almost hard to believe... BUT GOD! He has returned to AAU basketball and is looking forward to heading to high school in the fall. For those of you who prayed, THANKS will NEVER be enough, but please know that you are appreciated more than you will ever know. May you be blessed beyond your greatest imaginations, in health and in every area of your lives!

Victorious Cancer Survivor!

"Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." I Chronicles 16:22

Thank you so much for visiting our blog. I know this post was long, but we really felt the need to tell our son's story in as much detail as possible. This is our heart and our prayer is that it encourages someone, that no matter what you are going through, your faith can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Trust God in all things and pray without ceasing... No, pray His WORD without ceasing. It works and we are living witnesses, when your faith is activated, there is NO room for fear. Our son is cancer FREE and has a testimony! What an awesome God we serve! Visit us on the web at www.PhotographybySeanPonder.com. Like us on FaceBook and follow us on InstaGram and Pinterest!

May you each be blessed with God's most divine blessings!

In Him,

Angela
The Creative Director

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