not a good sign

This morning I woke up at 7:30 like I do most mornings. I prayed, set my alarm for 10, rolled over and shut my eyes really tight. But sure enough my body was screaming at me to get up. So I did.

Now most Fridays this wouldn't be a big deal but today I really needed to sleep until 10. Tonight is an all night lock-in for our 3-5th graders that Chris & I are volunteering for. We're stoked to help but I would be a bit more stoked had I slept longer.

It's 5:15 and I'm so tired now! No joke. I want to take a nap. I want to pull a Costanza and sleep under my desk....but we have a meeting in 10 minutes to go over logistics for tonight.

Tomorrow a former roommate is getting married at 2 & I need to be at work at 3:30 so a nap isn't going to happen.

This is my first weekend in my new role at the preschool....oh folks why didn't I sleep in this morning?

If you read this post before Monday, please say a pray! :-) Thanks!

Courage

Today is my first day in my new office. I know a lot of changes are in store.

First change: I'm in an office by myself. Yep. It's me, my desk, inflatable t-rex Roarbert & some pictures of my family just chilling out in here. At my old office, I was with 6 other people in one large room. Now it's very odd to hear my keyboard clacking so loudly. Has it always been this loud & I'm just now noticing it?

In my new office I have a window. It's pretty big & it's nice to be able to see outside...and randomly enough I can see Chuck E. Cheese from my desk. That seems fitting somehow.

In my new position, I'm no longer teaching. I'm not the elementary discipleship coordinator any longer. I am now the minister of the preschool greeting team. In my new job, I get to shepherd a team of about 100 volunteers. We greet families coming to the Preschool, help in any needed classroom, do whatever is needed to ensure a successful weekend and I also am over the maintenance of the main parts of the preschool building.

That's a huge change.

Sometimes I do very well with change & sometimes I do not. Thankfully I just had a weekend conference & sermon that had a ton to do with courage. I know that I can't do this alone & this is going to be a season of stretching me but I am looking forward to learning. I was so comfortable in my old position and I know this new opportunity will challenge me to totally depend on God. I can't do this on my own but God can. I don't have to be afra9d of all of the unknowns in this new position because God knows.

Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked hard at them and said, "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it." (the Message)
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (NIV)

So here's to change, trust and courage!

Flavour 2010

I'm incredibly blessed to be a part of Fellowship Church. I am reminded quite often of just how fortunate I am to sit under the leadership of my senior pastor & my boss. I am also so thankful for Lisa & her vision for women in ministry (because all Christian women are in some form of ministry--just think about your sphere of influence, you have a ministry).

This weekend we had our Flavour conference! I couldn't wait because last year's was phenomenal plus the theme was from my all time favorite movie & musical: The Wizard of Oz and Wicked. Yep, the speakers pretty much challenged us to defy gravity.

The journey we're on requires wisdom, heart, and courage. Tianne Moon told us all about wisdom--how we should seek the Giver of wisdom and not the gift. Janay McDonald Wilborn talked about heart--how we've got to have a purified heart. Christine Caine talked about courage & how we shouldn't put off until tomorrow what we know God has for us today. Lisa tied it all together by reminding us of the journey God has for us.

Not only were the speakers so encouraging and challenging, but we also had a party. Friday night we had an Emerald City after party. We had food, hair flair stations (no joke!), bling stations (aka scrapbooking), flip book photography station (we danced it out & the book makes me smile), photo booth and Elfaba, Glinda, Dorothy, Toto, Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion walking around the event. Although the Tin Man has traditionally been my favorite friend Dorothy made in Oz, I now have an incredible love for the Scarecrow. Chris was the Scarecrow & he couldn't have been more perfect for it! On Thursday night we watched The Wizard of Oz so he'd be ready!
Isn't he the cutest Scarecrow you've ever seen?

My favorite thing we had at the after party was Purse for a Purpose. Women from our church donated purses & every single penny brought in is going to a girls' orphanage we've adopted in Haiti. Currently those girls are living in tents but we're hoping they'll have a permanent building soon! Celebrities donated purses too & we had a silent auction for those amazing bags. The best bag donated in my opinion was from Kristin Chenoweth--the original Glinda in Wicked, the amazingly gifted girl from Oklahoma who has taken Broadway by storm! This was one of her prop purses as Glinda. Amazing. Just amazing!

All in all it was in amazing weekend & I'm so thankful for it! I've already registered for our 2011 conference & bought my dvd of this year's. I can't wait to watch it all again! So if you're in dfw, you can swing by & watch it with me if you want.

Happy Monday!

cart before the horse much?

I try to not get carried away by dreams...and sometimes I'm successful, sometimes not so much. I love to dream but when I dream, I dream BIG.

Lately I've been dreaming about Chris & my future. It's been a lot of fun. A LOT.

We're not engaged yet so I'm trying to keep a handle on my dreams for now....





...but when you see beautiful antique engagement rings on your facebook side ads, wedding specials on tv when you flip through the channels and people start asking you questions about "THE DATE", it's difficult to not get carried away. So I try to keep it reigned in...

learning...

The last few weeks have been full of triumphs and hurts. I've been more diligent to faithfully journal. It's amazing what happens when I journal--things become so much clearer. I know that not everyone has the same experience but it's been so helpful.

The storms currently blowing through my life are teaching me a lot about extending grace and letting go of hurt. I've got to admit: it's really difficult. I find myself waking up and asking God to take away the hurt or anger that I'm feeling. I find myself throughout the day having to ask God to take away the same hurt or anger. And HE is faithful. The hurt and anger start to wane...and I realize that healing happens. My Savior restores my soul.

The winds of the storm are really starting to die down and I'm so grateful. One of the ladies from Bible study has reminded me to count the baby steps as victory. I keep seeing Bill Murray climbing onto the bus on "What About Bob?" and hearing 'Count Your Many Blessings'. It might sound silly but that's really helping a lot.

So let me count some of the blessings:

• I'm in a job where I get to dream, disciple, and share Christ's love.
  
• I get to sit under incredible teaching from my senior pastor.
• The wisest man I've ever met is my boss.
• I have friends who love me even when I'm being ridiculous.
• I have an entire family who loves me...and they aren't even related to me.
• I am blessed to be able to dream and plan a future with Chris.
  
• Mountain Dew Throwback is still on store shelves.
• My copy of "Stuff Christians Like" is cracking me up and bringing some sunshine to my day.
• Bullet points make my blog posts more organized.