I love answered prayers...and answered prayers that come with a yes not a no or a wait. I don't really love the no or the wait response but the yes, oh how I love the yes! It seems that recently I'm getting more yeses than I can remember ever receiving and I am loving this!
I have been praying for my precious 10 year old niece to be able to attend Allaso Ranch this summer with Chris & me. We'll be volunteering and after two summers of being out there, I can't express just how awesome this camp is. No offense Falls Creek but Allaso Ranch is flipping amazing. Last night I spoke with my sister & Jasmine gets to come to camp with us! YES!!!! Thank You God!
Now this may not seem like such a big deal but let's look at the back story: Jasmine and I have a special connection. She just might be my mini-me....except way taller than I ever was. Seriously this girl will be taller than I am by the beginning of the school year. She's my amazon mini-me. Two summers ago, God allowed me to share the gospel with her & she became a Christian! WHOA!!!
My sister isn't a Christian & until recently hasn't really wanted anything to do with God. With the custody arrangement, my sister has her for 6 months during the week & the other 6 months during the weekends. My mom tries to take Jasmine to church either on Wednesdays or Sundays depending on the time of the year. This precious girl loves God and really enjoys church but doesn't get the opportunity to go as often as she'd like.
So I've been praying that God would place people on Jasmine's path to encourage her, show her Who He is, love her and help her spiritually mature. She comes and stays with me whenever the custody arrangement allows--this is typically a few days each summer.
Jasmine made the choice to not live with her dad & only see him sometimes rather than on a consistent basis. This means I can let her stay with me more often...I can pour into her more, she can spend more time with Chris and she gets to come to church on a consistent basis! This is a huge blessing.
I know it might sound odd to be rejoicing about lack of contact with her dad, but I'm praying for him. He's not a Christian. He's mean. He's judgmental. He is hurtful to his children and continually breaks promises. I pray for his salvation. I pray for life change. I pray he experiences the abundant life Christ talks about in John 10. He is lost and without hope. All I can do is pray for him & show him God's love/grace whenever I'm around him.
My precious baby amazon niece is coming to church camp. I see such potential in her & I can't wait to see what Christ does in her life!
Thank YOU God!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
No Sleep Weekend
What a weekend!
Friday
Chris & I volunteered at our church's 3-5th grade lock-in. We had just shy of 500 kids attend. It was so much fun to see how excited they were to be there. Preston gave a great message, Matt & Kenneth led the kids in some minute to win it games and the Cloud 9 concert was fantastic! Then I had a flash back to my teaching days as we loaded up school buses to go to Speedzone. I had 70 people on my bus. The kids loved Speedzone...and I ended up with a baseball sized bruise on my shoulder blade. When racing go carts, make sure to properly adjust your buckle. It should be snug and secure...unless you want a really large bruise. :-) When everyone returned to church, I made a giant pot of coffee and headed home to catch about 4.5 hours of sleep.
Saturday
I got up, prettied up, and headed out to Amanda's wedding. Do you ever go to a wedding and you can tell it's everything the couple wanted? Yep that was the Dearing wedding! So Congrats A-town! Unfortunately Chris & I couldn't stay for the reception since it was my first weekend in my new role. Everything looked beautiful & I heard the cake was awesome.
Service was very fast-paced and I felt like I learned a lot in a short amount of time. Now I know I still have a lot to learn...a lot. I look forward to being stretched in this new role. I look forward to being challenged. :-)
After Saturday service, I met up with Connie & the Sweeneys for dinner. A short, three hour dinner was a fantastic way to top off a busy Saturday. I really wish there were a way to be able to just stop by Connie's house after work for tea and Gilmore Girls like senior year at college.
Sunday
After services, Chris & I chilled out before going to see a movie. After the lack of sleep from the previous day, it was fitting to see "A Nightmare on Elm Street". Having never watched the Nightmares from the 80s, I was so surprised that I really hated Freddy. Then we had some good time talking about the future on a beautiful night. Ahhh...love that!
For those of you who prayed I'd get through the weekend, thank you! I slept for about 9 or 10 hours today so I should be good to go for the rest of the week. :-)
Friday
Chris & I volunteered at our church's 3-5th grade lock-in. We had just shy of 500 kids attend. It was so much fun to see how excited they were to be there. Preston gave a great message, Matt & Kenneth led the kids in some minute to win it games and the Cloud 9 concert was fantastic! Then I had a flash back to my teaching days as we loaded up school buses to go to Speedzone. I had 70 people on my bus. The kids loved Speedzone...and I ended up with a baseball sized bruise on my shoulder blade. When racing go carts, make sure to properly adjust your buckle. It should be snug and secure...unless you want a really large bruise. :-) When everyone returned to church, I made a giant pot of coffee and headed home to catch about 4.5 hours of sleep.
Saturday
I got up, prettied up, and headed out to Amanda's wedding. Do you ever go to a wedding and you can tell it's everything the couple wanted? Yep that was the Dearing wedding! So Congrats A-town! Unfortunately Chris & I couldn't stay for the reception since it was my first weekend in my new role. Everything looked beautiful & I heard the cake was awesome.
Service was very fast-paced and I felt like I learned a lot in a short amount of time. Now I know I still have a lot to learn...a lot. I look forward to being stretched in this new role. I look forward to being challenged. :-)
After Saturday service, I met up with Connie & the Sweeneys for dinner. A short, three hour dinner was a fantastic way to top off a busy Saturday. I really wish there were a way to be able to just stop by Connie's house after work for tea and Gilmore Girls like senior year at college.
Sunday
After services, Chris & I chilled out before going to see a movie. After the lack of sleep from the previous day, it was fitting to see "A Nightmare on Elm Street". Having never watched the Nightmares from the 80s, I was so surprised that I really hated Freddy. Then we had some good time talking about the future on a beautiful night. Ahhh...love that!
For those of you who prayed I'd get through the weekend, thank you! I slept for about 9 or 10 hours today so I should be good to go for the rest of the week. :-)
Friday, April 30, 2010
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!
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!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
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!
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!
Monday, April 26, 2010
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!
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!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
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...
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...
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
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:
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.
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