Sweet 16!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICKI!!!!!

Micki, Melissa, and Anestasia

MMMMMmmmmm! Crawfish!

Today is Mic's 16th birthday! I cannot believe the "baby" is 16!! Amazing how time has flown. Seems like I was just 16 yesterday (well, kinda). We had a crawfish boil yesterday and had a great afternoon with family and friends.

It's amazing what a tub of crawfish can do to entertain kids. My nephew Luke had a blast picking them up before they were cooked.

But, the icing on the cake (or I should say the decorations on the cake) was the birthday cake itself. I found the greatest cake for Mic!! Fit her personality perfectly!! Hope you enjoy the pictures...Wish her a happy birthday if you see her!

He's here! He's here!

I had the awesome privilege of helping to welcome WHITAKER into the world yesterday. He is so precious! Tyler and Crystal make such awesome parents. They are definitely going to be the hang out house for his friends! Crystal did an amazing job and was in such great spirits! Tyler just absorbed every view of the baby he could take in. Absolutely amazing! I love babies!

As we sat around talking yesterday, I couldn't help but think: 'WOW - we'll be here in no time with Renee welcoming our granddaughter into the world!' I am so excited and cannot wait to meet Miley!!! In the mean time, I guess Whit will do! He's definitely ready for Kindergarten next week. At 3 weeks early, he weighed 8 lbs 7 oz and was 22 in long! He made the other babies in the nurseries look weak! Here's a picture - sorry - it's from my cell phone and it's not that great. If you go to Kaycee's blog, I'm sure she'll be posting tons of photos there! I'll try to get a better picture today when I see them!

Amplified

First off, I'm trying to think of just where toeven begin and what to share about the weekend (so much to share and so little space to cover it!)...the Holy Ghost showed up, God's fire fell, and hell was plundered! There is NO better place than at the feet of Jesus with young people passionate about GOD and changing the world!!

Doug & I had the pleasure of adopting 14 tenth grade chicks & 3 leaders for the weekend. AMAZING group! I hope they all come back! I love packing the house! We had awesome co-hosts that really took great care of us. I'll have to think about all that happened this weekend to pick out the highlights to share. I'm just overwhelmed right now!

Some of the highlights are JESUS!, home cooked breakfast, facelift for Belfair, Holy Ghost encounters, baptism at 11pm in the HPC pond (in the freezing cold), vaseline under car door handles, great worship (Obed Edom & Refuge Band), even more Holy Spirit, in-your-face truth, No talent, not much sleep, my twin sister... I could go on for days! That only scrapes the surface of what we experienced. Let me compose my thoughts over the next day or so, and I'll fill you in on the details! More later!

Book, Amplified, and Car Rides Home

Eventful weeks seem to fill up my calendar! Among other things I finished the draft of my book titled Passion for Purity (what else would I call it?!), and it's being edited right now by some AMAZING people! God has blessed me so beyond what I deserve during this process. I have learned so much!

Woo Hoo!!!! AMPLIFIED is this weekend! If you are 6th-12th grade and have not registered, then go online to www.healingplacechurch.org and click on the link for Amplified (or search the keyword AMPLIFIED). You've got to go!!! It is going to be a great weekend experience. Chad Daniel is speaking. You know it's gonna be loud and packed with energy! Watch for some new pictures next week. I'll be sure to have my camera ready and waiting to capture what I can of the weekend! I cannot wait!

Tonight I brought home some great girls from Pathfinders/Refuge! I think that has to be some of my favorite moments each week. Car rides are always the best! As we ate frosties, chicken nuggets, fries, and jr bacon cheeseburgers, we talked, got brainfreezes, and laughed & got laughed at! I love those moments. My favorite moment tonight has to be when one of the girls at Pathfinders told me that Mic (my youngest) had said to them Friday "my mom rocks!" Nice to know she still loves me! : )

Devotion in email

Hey Sparkle Chicks! Check your email for the latest e-devo and updates from Sparkle! Shannon wrote the devo and it's really good! :)

Look ma, no braces!

Mall Madness

Tonight was a blast! We gathered some of the greatest Super Chicks around and headed off for the mall. We ate together and then shopped until the mall closed. Then we returned to the Annex for a little tumbling and hanging out until everyone was picked up! Here's a couple of pics from tonight.

X-Ray Vision

It's been an eventful week to say the least and it's only Thursday. Last night, we (Pathfinders) had the honor of having none other than our very own David St Romain come hang out with us for worship. He poured his heart out to the students about how much God has called him to not be afraid and how much none of the lights, camera, or great people he was around meant anything to him without God. With tears he prayed over everyone. He is so precious. Such a GREAT person! He even led us in Take It All. The Holy Spirit was all over last night.

Yesterday, I had an x-ray of my neck done. It was really cool because within minutes, I saw my skeleton on the screen. It is amazing what technology can do. But last night during worship, God started putting on my heart that just like my doctor sent me to have the x-ray done so she could see "inside" my neck, God wants to x-ray our hearts. He wants to show us what He sees with His x-ray vision. WOW! I wonder what would show in my heart? Would there be roots of bitterness growing inside? Would there be seeds of compassion not yet sprouted? Distraction buildup? Overflowing love? I have to admit when I looked at the x-ray yesterday I thought "cool - I didn't know my neck looked like that!", but would I have the same reaction to my hearts x-ray? What is in there that I didn't see or know about?

Father, I give you my heart. Show me the things that I've tucked away that may be blocking Your love from flowing through. Give me strength for the rest of this week. Pour in Your courage and boldness. Mold me until I'm nothing less than the vessel You desire! I love You and need You! I cannot do much without You!

Scavenger Hunt

At Elevate last night we had a scavenger hunt. Now, to be honest, I started the night with a grumble because last years hunt was my LEAST favorite thing we did. I don't like going in public places and having people think you're a nutcase for doing some of the things listed. Last year was crazy - we did have fun, but I was completely embarrassed walking my friend Paula on an imaginary leash through the PetSmart and singing "I wanna be an Oscar Meyer wiener" in Walmart.

This year was different! We had much smaller groups which made it much easier and the tasks were not as embarrassing. We had a fun time and met some amazing people. One gentleman that stands out was Mr. Felton. As we pumped gas into his bus, he shared a story with us about HPC impacting his life. He told us about a health screen that was going on. He regularly visits his doctor every 6 months to a year and wasn't due for a little while for his next check up. He happened to visit his wife that was working at the Health Clinic and decided what the heck, I'll get the free screening. Come to find out they discovered he had prostrate cancer, but his doctor said it was caught very early (Praise God) and he hasn't had problems since. Mr. Felton was the highlight of our night. We washed dishes in Las Palmas, congratulated the Golden Corral for having the "best breakfast in town", took a picture with Briggs at Pastor's T's house, interrupted a life group to find Kristin Rentz, put our team in a buggy at Albertsons, and so much more. Overall the night was a blast. We ended up in 3rd place with 940 points out of about 10 groups. Not bad for a bunch of girls!

Sparkle

Hey Super Chicks,

Watch your email for details about this weekends Sparkle stuff!

Hint: we will be shopping! Cannot wait to see you! Yall are awesome!

If you need details, call me or Shannon - we'll fill you in!

Don't forget - YOU ARE ROYALTY!

Fresh paint...

This weekend was great! Sunday I got to visit with lots of family and friends that I don't get to see often. Baby stuff is so much fun and so tiny! Yesterday I got to spend most of the day with my dad. His house was recently remodeled leaving LOTS of dust on everything. Natalie came over to help out cleaning. She is such a blessing! It was so great to see the finished product after it was clean yesterday with new blinds and curtains hung, pictures in place in some of the house, and light pouring in the windows. The weather was amazingly beautiful and his house just let's it all in!

I think of weird stuff, so here it goes. As I think of Dad's house, it was outdated and needed some new life before the remodel. Sometimes our lives get like that. We get distracted away from things that produce life in us. Before we know it, we find ourselves outdated or uninformed or just plain stale. Sometimes we just need a little fresh paint and other times we need a complete remodel. The house was ok before. Wasn't the most appealing place to hang out. Nothing special about it, but now...when you walk in, it's like a breath of fresh air! It's beautiful to look at. No walls were moved or anything like that. The structure is unchanged, but there's new life now. My question is what is distracting me in my life? Are there any rooms in my temple that need cleaning out? Do I have thoughts or feelings that need total remodeling? (ok, it's never just one question...it's like pringles!) I guess I'll get the paint brush & broom out now. I'm sure there's something I'll need to paint and/or clean!

Lord, I never want to be stale or outdated. I want to be right where you want me. I want to be full of life able to pour into those around me. Show me any areas that need fresh paint or a complete makeover! Teach me, mold me. I want to be clay in Your hands!

Mall Madness...

Sparkle:
Be watching your email for the details with our next Sparkle! Shop til you drop! Today, we sent out the "e-mail devo" as Pastor T calls it. Ashley did a great job on it!! If you didn't get it, just let me know. I'll add you to the list. Last night, if you couldn't make it, we had a OneWay service. I just love going to services like that where we can just come together and worship the whole night!

By the way, I met a cool chick named Samantha and hope to see her at Sparkle/Mall Madness.

Time flies when you're having fun!

This week has been full speed and will be racing into the weekend! By the way: last night, one of the songs they sang at OneWay was the Revelation Song. That song has such new meaning for me after learning what I am about to post. In the Hebrew or Greek meaning (I don't recall which but I heard it on a Mosaic's podcast) there was no meaning for holy, holier, and holiest...only the word holy. So, when they wanted to express holiest, they would say HOLY HOLY HOLY, meaning holiest. Think about that next time you hear or sing that song or when you're reading the bible. I love that song!

This year is going by so quickly. It's already March!!! I am amazed Renee only has 8ish weeks until the baby get's here. Our lives are about to take on a new season. The funny part is months from now, we will not be able to really remember life without Miley. Funny how that works. I wonder what she'll look like and what she'll sound like. God already knows and has such an awesome plan for her life!

I also cannot believe this is the final Nashville Star. I am so proud of David St Romain. He has done such a great job. In my eyes, he's the real winner despite the outcome of tonights show and America's votes! I read this verse the first week of the show, and I still think it applies to him 100%. "A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before great men." Proverbs 18:16. Well David's gift has definitely brought him before great men. No telling who has been watching the show. Because of this amazing talent that God hand placed in David, he is now in a position to impact countless lives through his singing. Go David - Make Jesus more famous!