SPARKLE GROUP!!!!

I just LOVE these girls!!!!!

Mystery Night

Sparkle had an awesome night last night!! We had "Mystery Night". First off, I'd like to give a huge shout out to Crystal, Lisa, Ashley and Ashley for helping me and Shannon last night. We could not have done that without all of you!!!! Back to Mystery Night...The suspense was killing the 23 girls to know where we were going. As we left the annex with the van and 3 cars of girls, they guessed everything from movies to eating to laser tag to an art gallery. They were stumped! Oh! The suspense! As we pulled in the parking lot, Lisa, Shannon and I (and the girls that came to the first official Sparkle slumber party last semester) had to laugh. That was our 'rendezvous point' that night! I'll save that for another post! First destination: "Happy Nails"! If you get the opportunity to go there, GO! They are AMAZING and quite fun too! They treated us like ROYALTY! (Girls - don't forget you are ROYALTY!) We got our nails and toenails painted. Macy, Cara and some others filled up my entire memory card in my camera with photos. I think I have a shot of every moment of the night!!! I think there are like 300+ pictures.

Second destination: Scoop N' Doo's! Ice cream and girl time!! While we are there hanging out, sporting our new nail polish & minding our own business, here come the Ignite boys. What a surprise! That place was packed! I'm sure they made a fortune!! They probably have not seen that much business at one time on a Friday night until now. The girls that served us were great! They worked SOOOOOOO hard with a smile the entire time. I bet their arms were hurting after scooping all of that ice cream! It was a GREAT night!!!!

The highlight of the night was right outside the door. While we were all packed in this place as the guys were walking in, there was an car accident on Airline. The guy leaders immediately ran to help the people in the two cars (we have such great guy leaders at PF) and the boys came in for ice cream. Then there was another wreck on the opposite side from people being nosey while they were driving past the first wreck. Overall, it was quite an eventful evening!

Now, tonight, we all get to show off our nails at "Party on the Go"! Special thanks to Mr. Johnathan/Happy Nails and Scoop N' Doo's for making our night so cool! You guys rock!!! Can't wait to see everyone again tonight! I guess I better clear out my camera for a new set of photos... :)

Heaven...

One thing you will learn about me if you read this is that I have lots of questions. As I sit here this morning, I think about a friend that passed away earlier this week. What a GREAT MAN OF GOD he is!! A true example of Christ's love in action. I sit here thinking WOW - He's actually walking hand-in-hand with Jesus down the banks of the River of Life. He's dancing with the angels and singing praise to Jesus face-to-face. WOW! He's meeting the apostles, family, John the Baptist, Mary & Martha, Paul...maybe watching replays on the big screen of heaven of things that were written in the Word and hearing them comment "Remember that?" Oh, I cannot wait to see that screen. I want to know what Jesus wrote in the sand when He was helping the adulteress woman, I want to see and hear the feeding of the 5000, I want to see what Jesus' childhood was like? What was it like when Saul experienced God in the flash of light on the road to Damascus? So many questions. In fact, I have a list of questions for God when I get there. What is the purpose of lovebugs? Why were snakes created with poison? Why didn't we start out like older people and get more energy as we grow older? I could go on for hours!!

With all of that rambling, I leave you with the thought: "What legacy will I leave?" The answer will be different for each of us. For me, I just want to leave a trail of Christ's love!

"For we are but a fragrance of Christ..."
2 Corinthians 2:15

Lord, I ask that You surround Trudy and the Siddle family with love and peace that surpasses all understanding. Wrap Your loving arms around them. Give them strength and courage. They are such a precious family! I love You Jesus!

Cold

Man, has it been cold (last night and this morning). Maybe I'm just weak. Who knows?! Last night we had an amazing service at PF. I believe lives were touched in an amazing way. Pastor Crystal delivered an amazing message and the panel of "experts" (?) had some comical stories about dating and purity. It's moments like last night that I see God just reaching down and impacting young people in amazing ways. I love it! Speaking of God impacting people...This morning I stumbled across the coolest verse. Ps 57:2 NLT. Sorry, I'm gonna make you look it up. Kidding...

"I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me."

The thing that stood out the most was the "who will fulfill His purpose for me". How can such a little sentence be packed with such an incredible punch. "who WILL (not optional) FULFILL (not half way but completely) HIS (not mine or someone elses) purpose for me". I think I'll just absorb that today.

God, I don't want to do things my own way. As I read that verse this morning, I thought about the fact that You will fulfill Your purpose in me; I can make it easy or I can take the long route. O Lord that I would stay on the straight and narrow of Your plan in EVERY area of my life and not vear off. I pray that Your love would pour forth from me today flooding every place I go. Thanks for showing me Your love and mercy.

I love You. I need You. Be my delight!

Sleepover!!!!

We had the most incredible kick-off for Sparkle this semester. We attended the Student Ministries Chick Night. The girls loved it! Then, the 26 mini-chicks (that's what I call them) and 6 leaders split into 3 different houses to have sleepovers! The real win for the night was the message. All of the girls (me included) were moved completely by Amber's testimony and encouragement to stay true to ourselves and see ourselves as God created us: beautiful! The girls ate cookies, worshiped, and made cool shirts...I saw some serious creativity!! It was a GREAT night!

I am reading Mere Christianity by CS Lewis and came across the following...thought I'd share it with you:
“The Christian rule of chastity must not be confused with the social rule of 'modesty' (in one sense of that word); i.e. propriety, or decency. The social rule of propriety lays down how much of the human body should be displayed and what subjects can be referred to, and in what words, according to the customs of a given social circle. Thus, while the rule of chastity is the same for all Christians at all times, the rule of propriety changes."

Deep stuff! When I read it I had to go back and re-read it a couple of times. Purity/Chastity has really never changed. Our society just keeps attempting to change or bend the rules. Think about how much that view has changed from when you first became aware of that virtue until now. For some that may be a while, for others the virtue may be brand new. Either way, if you take a stroll through history, man has constantly attempted to change our perspective on purity; constantly trying to adopt a new standard. The fact is that the perspective keeps changing and becoming worse of a mess than before. Why can't we see that God never intended for this to change. If He did, the situation would have/should have improved over the years.

We have been surrounded by propaganda (music, tv shows, movies, books, magazines, etc) trying to influence change to God's word. Regardless if 'they' (whoever 'they' may be) feel or say anything about the Word, it (the Word of God) has been the battle for centuries. What is acceptable? Whose standard are we going to follow? Who decides what is acceptable? Chew on that for a while.

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart!” Ps 37:4

One Great Day!

Today has been such a great day for me. Not because anything spectacular happened, but just because. I began the day at the Annex with the awesome team there. I love the atmosphere there. I'll have to say I'm learning a lot about the lifegroups at HPC in all areas. Kinda a challenge and a stretch for me. Then I came home to make brownies for the SB party get-together at my sister-in-laws house (Go Colts!).

Life Lesson #1: When the brownie batter is too thick and seems like somethings missing, you might want to investigate that!
I forgot to put the fudge packet in there, but then I tried to fix it and pretty much flung brownie mix all over barely missing Doug! From there, I managed to get Jesse, Renee and myself over to my in-laws where just about everyone was there. Seemed like Christmas!! We planned some baby shower stuff. And I love going over there because they are boardgame playin' fools! I'm the only boardgamer in my house, so I get my fix there. You ALWAYS eat well there too! At any rate, it was just a great day! Today I just felt God's love wrap around me. I love that!!

Life Lesson #2: Great Adventures never come without a price!
This past week, I set some goals for myself with the book. I've been trying to get it finished and I'm just about done. I am challenging myself is to finish for editing by Feb 14th!! I was talking with a friend about it a couple days ago and it occurred to me...right now, this book is safe. It's my ideas unchallenged and untapped. They are on paper, but no one is seeing them. BUT, when it gets published, it's no longer going to be my private thoughts and stuff. It will be for anyone that gets their hands on it. Scary thought since I am such a private person. It will cost me a lot no doubt, but in the end, I'd do it again in a heart beat!

God, I'm just glad YOU are in charge. I'm excited about the thought of things progressing and cannot believe that we've gotten to this stage. WOW! It really is happening and most of all, this really has to be You and not me. I am thrilled and petrified at the same time!!!!

Food for thought:
Complement or Insult? You be the judge:
Song of Solomon 4:1b "Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead."
What the heck does that mean?? Of course, Doug and the guys he works with determined that would not be what you tell your wife to express your love today. I guess we'd have to see things through King Solomon's eyes to understand the part of the verse. But I thought it was rather funny. A flock of goats????

I'll close with this. I've come to realize I have the BEST family. They are such a joy for me to be around. We've had our moments, our arguments, our tears, but over the past few months, I've watched God infuse us with joy and peace that are beyond understanding. I have amazing friends too! I am so blessed beyond what I ever deserve! I'm so glad I found Jesus and stopped running from Him. I cannot imagine (nor do I desire to) life without Him. He is my rock, my foundation, my strength, my courage, and my joy! So if you do not like my book when it gets here, that is alright. I just know the journey I've been though to get to this point and the adventure has been amazing. It's worth every step even if it only inspires one girl. Thank You Jesus!

God, however You plan things to go, thanks for the ride of a lifetime

and the lessons that have changed my life forever!

I love You and I need You now more than ever!