Third times a charm?

OK - this is my 3rd time this week trying to post!! Each time I've written something completely different but it has not allowed me to post it. This has really been such a great week for me. We had an amazing sleepover with Sparkle, One-Way was awesome, Elevate class - laser tag (what can I say - had a blast!!), Chick Night for Student Ministries last night, and so much more. Last Sunday I had a marathon of sleep (all I can say is Ps 127:3 - the NASB version is best!). "...for He gives to His beloved even in their sleep!" I was just receiving!!!

One of the biggest lessons I've learned this week is this. I witnessed someone looking down upon another person. They didn't say anything or make a gesture. It was just a passing glance. I'm not even sure that anyone else saw it. But God showed me something in the situation and it's this: no matter who you are, don't forget where you came from. You have luggage just like the person that is struggling to close his/her luggage. It may hold different things for each of us, but we all have a spring loaded latch that is waiting to burst open and send things flying out of it. And we all have the same need: JESUS!!

As leaders, we need to be aware of our facial expressions at all times. That one glance may or may not have been loaded with judgement, however, it could have been the one thing to send that person home bitter. I wonder what my facial expressions say to people. Is it a glance of compassion or judgement, disgust or love??? At any rate, take time to thank God that you are not where you were! We should do that EVERY day! He could have left every single one of us in our own pit for eternity, but thank God He didn't.

Praise You Lord!!! Thank You so much for taking me out of that place and putting me here. Let me never get too big in my own eyes. I love You, I need You! Use me today Lord for Your will. Let my desires align to Yours!

Quote of the day...

I found this quote and thought it my be a great post for today!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who are we to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually who are you not to be? You ARE a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the Glory of God within us. It's in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

-Marianne Williamson

I hope you get as much from that as I have. Read it many times. I get something new from it every time! Have a blessed day! Also, if you have not seen Facing the Giants, you should go see it while it's still out!

Heavenly Father, I pray for every person that comes across this blog, near or far, that You speak to them as loudly as You have spoken to me through that simple quote. Give them peace, mercy and love more than they can hold so that it flows into the lives around them. Let them know You better with every blink of the eye. Let me know You better every second! I love You more than words can ever express. Thank YOU for answering my cry. In Jesus MIGHTY name I pray!

Hmmm...

"You can sit in a garage all day, but that doesn't make you a car!"

-Joyce Meyer

I heard that yesterday on a podcast by Joyce Meyer. What a great thought! To take it a step farther, do Fords wish they were Toyotas, or Hondas try to be Cheverolets? Are we trying to be something we're not? Or are we trying to fit a mold? I just wanna be what Christ wants me to be...just ME! Why is that so hard sometimes? Why do we seem to battle the easy for something hard? I think I'm going to make that my focus for this next week: Be the person Christ created me to be with or without approval of others. To add a twist: I think I'm gonna log every time I realize I am seeking someone other than Gods approval to see just how much that is happening. This could be dangerous!

For those of you following, I have had such freedom since deleting my Myspace! It's been great. GREAT idea Tori!!!! I strongly recommend it! I've had so much more free time. I love it!!!!

IMPORTANT: A friend's neice (I cannot recall her age - 7 or 8 yrs old?) needs your prayers. Katie is battling brain cancer. Evidently tumors have come back after the surgery she had over the summer. Pray for strength, her family, and wisdom for the doctors. God knows every tear she cries. He knows her so intimately. Pray for a miracle for this precious child! She and her family need it!

"Wisdom from Steve"

I just love my dad! He always knows the right things to say. He is not a man of profound words, but he comes out with these incredible one-liners when you need them. I'll give you an example: Last night we were just talking about some terrible news that we received about a family's friend's daughter that ran away last Saturday. (Please keep this family in your prayers - they are in need of MAJOR prayer for their 15 year old daughter Jill) Somehow the conversation turned into a nugget of wisdom. "We all fall down, but it's how you get back up that counts."

I've been thinking a lot about that since he said it last night. I don't even know where to start with it. So I'll make it simple. It's evident that we all have the same problem: sin. (It just manifests in different ways for each of us.) BUT we all have the same solution: JESUS.

I'll just leave it at that, and let that marinate!

Blog vs myspace

OK guys & gals...I want to hear some opinions! I've been thinking a lot about deleting my myspace (which I decided already it's gonna happen today thanks to inspiration from Tori and Jordan's blogs). Due to technical problems with myspace, I haven't actually deleted it yet. I really think it's become an idol in a way. I "have" to check it every day. I "have" to reply when someone comments. I "have" to change my layout when I'm tired of looking at it. Too many things I "have" to do! So now, I "have" to delete it. I don't want my life to have anything to worship except Jesus. I want to have as few distractions as possible. I think now of all of the hours I've wasted. WOW! I wonder if my book would be finished right now if I'd just have used that time to write and study God's word.

On another point, today has been really rough for me. Satan seems to lurk in every corner trying to make me fall constantly. I have been struggling a lot with family decisions that are very complicated yet so simple. I know that 'faith in God' is what will pull me through things, but until now I didn't know just how easy it is to say that and how hard it is to walk it. It's so easy to give advice. I'll leave today's post on this from my journal 9/8/06:

"I guess faith is gonna be required here. EXTREME FAITH! Faith of a giant! Faith of David who killed the giant! God, infuse me right here and now! Teach me!! Don't let this dream die! I love You and I NEED You now more than ever!"

Ditto that for today!

Sparkle takes over the mall...

OH MY GOSH! Girls everywhere! Headlines will read tomorrow:

"36 of the most awesome women of God
overtake the mall Saturday night for Jesus!"

We had a scavenger hunt and everyone left with smiles from ear to ear. The picture above was the first night where we had 30 girls for the Pajama Party! I love hanging out with the girls! They have such energy and such a great outlook on life. They inspire me to love life & friends to the fullest.

Which leads me to this thought...
What are we doing when we go places? Well, tonight, the team I went with helped some sales associates in Ambercrombie with their job by folding clothes that were messed up. Their faces were instantly covered with a smile because we helped them. They loved it!! Then we had to take a picture of couple holding hands. The couple we found was probably in their mid-20's (precious couple). The girls asked and they held hands and held them up with a huge smile (cute picture). Then we treated a sweet 5th grade girl to a cold coke and had the opportunity to share with her about our church's youth ministry. Her mother seemed interested and the young girl was so very shy. But, she had a major smile when she walked away. So again, I ask "what are we doing when we go places?" Hopefully, we are spreading the love of Jesus by bringing smiles to the faces of others. And tonight, I saw just that!!!

Thank You Jesus for allowing me to be a part of something so much larger than me. I cannot wait to see what you have in store for tomorrow! Bless every girl that came out for Sparkle tonight and 2 weeks ago. I love You; I need so much of You Jesus. Use me as You will, and may I bring joy to those around me. Good night Jesus!

Is Heaven in this House??

Right now, I am reading a book called "Heaven Is In This House" by Bobbie Houston. Awesome read! Even came with a Hillsong music CD!!! It is full of amazing photos, but more than that, it's packed with amazing insight about how the "House of God" should be. As I have read through the pages of this book, I've noticed one thing repeatedly: our church is much like theirs. Not saying this in a bragging way, but in appreciation. I am so thankful that God has lead our family to HPC. What an incredible place to do life! I am so very blessed!

Today as I read, I found something very interesting to think about. In chapter 16, there are some questions that you and I can apply to Lifegroups, Church, work, etc. "How can we effectively welcome these people (people from your community)? How can we make them feel like they are the most important people on the planet? How can we make them feel like we've been waiting a lifetime to meet them? How can we negate fear and remove all the obstacles? And my favorite one: How can we effectively prepare the House for invited visitors, strangers and returning prodigals?"

Sunday, I had the pleasure serving at the Annex services. I truly love our church and the family I have there!!! I was a greeter at the interior doors there. A gentleman (an invited visitor) came in for the 2nd service and was waiting for some friends. He told me that he was meeting someone there. We talked for about 5+ minutes just asking each other questions. I invited him to come find a seat & get a coffee, but he said he'd rather wait by the front door. He asked some questions about service & HPC, and then he walked over to the front door. I watched him as he planted himself by the window until service began. Then while the greeters at that door were busy welcoming people in, he quietly exited when his friends didn't show up. My heart was broken for him!! I wanted to run out that door after him. "WAIT - DON'T LEAVE!" I am challenged to rethink the situation. Was there anything that I could have done differently as a greeter? Was there anything we (as a church) could have done differently?

I had an opportunity at the end of service though. A girl randomly picked me while I was standing around talking with people after service (she spotted the Elevate badge). www.healingplacechurch.org/elevate.php She was a visitor and needed someone to talk to. We sat down and she began explaining to me where she was and asked if I could pray for her. God is too funny because I felt the need to ask someone to pray with us, so I got my friend Natalie. What do you know??? Natalie talked with her on the phone about 3 weeks ago. Amazing how intricately God works out details for His children. At any rate, we talked with this precious 23 year old for a while and were able to encourage her and pray with her. I believe that God is in the business of connecting people. He's constantly making connections around the world. The only difference between Him and Cingular is that He doesn't drop calls! If you took a piece of string and tied it to every 2 points that are connected, first off you'd likely run out of string. Secondly, you'd have complete darkness because the entire earth would be one big ball of twine. How does He keep up with all those connections? How does HE do it? I just love God so very much!!