Miley's Pic of the Week

Miley's Pic of the Week!!!

I call it "Tears of Joy"

Here's some other photos Renee just sent me with a note saying I caused this reaction... Now this is after she told me after 1:30pm to come home for lunch (which I could not do) because Miley had a surprise for me.

Of course, the surprise was Miley was wearing her new dress that Miley's Nanny had given her. I thought maybe she didn't like the dress at first, but then I realized it was just tears of excitement over the new dress! What's a girl to do??? Isn't she precious?!

Weekends...

Where do I begin??? It was an eventful weekend for me. (pics have now been added...)
I believe that I must have been oxygen deprived or something to have done all of this!!

Thursday night, I went with Micki, Ryan, T-Barry and Paul to see Pirates (arrgh) of the Caribbean at 10pm. I wasn't extremely impressed with the movie although the crab rocks part was kinda cool along with sailing into the cave (or whatever that was). I love the outdoor/ocean views they show. As far as the movie, not worth getting home at almost 2am for me! The company was great though!

Then Friday we have the most incredible Sparkle event we've had yet in my own humble opinion. THE LUAU! We had 15 amazing God chicks make "purity commitments" (choosing to live pure lives for Christ) with their parents or significant adults in their lives. We had hamburgers and hot dogs (special thanks to Paula for bailing us out with the grill at the last minute!!!!!!!!), ate some great desserts, took pictures and then took a dip in the pool. It was great! I managed to wind down about 12:30am. I was so blown away at what God had done.

Then Saturday I picked up my nephew for a few hours. Micki & I took him to McDonald's where he played for almost an hour in the playland. I sure wish I could fit in that playland! Kinda boring just watching. But the new Mickey D's Sweet Tea was great! Then we ended up at the mall riding the carousel after he endured Target' and Linens n' Things with us. He rode one short ride for $2 (who comes up with these prices??). Afterwards, we were off to the house we went where he and Mic did a hula and ate chips!! Great afternoon!

Later that night, Mic and I landed at Pastor T's house for another amazing night of Pathfinder fun! We had a lock-in at the Laser Tag. I believe I left my game at the house because I flat out stunk! Maybe because it was the middle of the night when I was trying to compete, and my mind thought I should be sleeping or something like that. There was a moment of sabotage that was uncovered in the wee hours of the morning. I'll mention no names (cough, Mic, Tori, cough, Paintball Lance/Steve, Menk). I'll leave that story for someone else to tell. It was a brilliant plan if I might say so myself! So at 6am, I climbed into the bed for a couple hours of sleep. Up at 10am for breakfast and a fast shower...then it was off to 12pm service where I was completely moved at the end of service praying for our other campus locations and Micki, Lacie & T-Berry. Such awesome kids with hearts on fire for God! I just love our youth and our church. It's by far the best place to be!

With all of that said (if you are still reading this I am impressed!), I didn't get much sleep this weekend! I'm really looking forward to this weekend coming and this summer. Summer Session/Navigate is kicking off! Camp is only 3 1/2 weeks away! Then it's off to South Carolina to visit family that we miss a lot! Woo Hoo! I have some pictures from above that I'll add later tonight. No time now, it's off to work!

Worth 1000 words!

Some pictures really are worth a thousand words. Take this one for example:



Submerge 2007 ............ you gotta go! You just never know what you're going to see!

Graduation

Last night was so cool! (Pictures to come, they wouldn't load right). Two years ago I embarked upon a mission to take 2 full years (TWO YEARS!!!) of Elevate. Honestly, as I entered that class, I was not sure I would be able to complete even one year. Last night, I had the honor and privilege to walk across the stage with some of my favorite people in life to receive my diploma from one of my favorite pastors, Pastor Dino. What an milestone for me! With God's help & guidance, I actually finished! The best part about it was spending this year in class with Doug. I am amazed at the change I've seen in him this year. I am so glad I married him! After a long battle, I have to say Doug won the Scripture challenge. All year, we've been competing and I just don't know how he did it! (we are very competitive so it's hard for me to say that!) Doug and I were excited that Renee and Miley came to our graduation last night. Miley was like a hot potato being passed from person to person. Mic bugged out on us...had to study for her Biology final that was this morning. Oh well, she missed out on some awesome food!

I'd like to give a shout out to Shannon Rasbury who I just love. She got "Elevate of the Year" last night! Woo Hoo! Being friends with and serving along side Shannon in Pathfinders and in Sparkle, I get to see a side of her that a lot of people don't get to see. She is an amazing, dedicated, sold out for God leader. Her passion for youth is above any I have seen (other than Pastor T and Crystal, of course). She is constantly pouring into the lives around her. I love sharing life with her. She is definitely worthy of that honor! Go Shannon!!!

Lastly, I'd like to say Pathfinders was well represented. Menk (Life of the Party), Shannon (Elevate of the Year), Ashley Looney ("someone gave me a car!!!"), Kaycee (Most Likely to be on Dancing with the Stars), and I all graduated last night. It's been a great year, but I am looking forward to an even greater summer & year!

Life just keeps getting better!!!!

Miley's Pic of the Week (3)

I LOVE this picture of Luke and Miley.

It's from Mother's day where we ate like pigs and had a great day!

A day in the life of Connie...

I love me some David Crowder so I started the day off with this blasting through my earphones...

I am full of earth

You are Heaven's worth

I am stained with dirt

Prone to depravity

And You are everything

that is bright and clean

The antonym of me

You are divinity

I could listen to his music all day. The words he writes are music to my soul in itself.

Later, as I was in service with Renee and Miley, I was overtaken with the thought as we sang "Savior, He can move the mountain. My God is mighty to save!" that God really has reached into my life in so many ways and moved so many mountains and saved me countless times. I am so thankful for where's HE has brought me! And so excited to see where HE's gonna bring me. I am so blessed beyond what I deserve.

This afternoon I went to Luke's (my nephew's) official last T-Ball game of the season. (Miley's first time to the ball field!) I love watching T-Ball games. The kids are soooo funny. As I watched the entire team run after the ball regardless of where it was hit every time it was hit, I wondered why as Christians we don't do the same for the lost? Shouldn't our entire lives be spent running to the lost every time we see one rushing to catch them and "throw them to home"?

When we got to the ball field, the funniest thing was the other team (primarily little girls) was warming up. They appeared to have done this before! Luke's team was a bit distracted playing in the ditch behind the backstop. They were like the Bad News Bears or something. It was a hoot! Beside that, I got a kick out of my dad. He inched his way to the other side of the backstop when Luke was playing first. The next thing we know, he's right next to Luke coaching him. I loved it!!! My dad has been waiting so long to have a boy other than himself in the family!


After picking up some decorations for this Friday's Sparkle Luau (cannot wait), I went to the car wash to vacuum my car and wash it. (LONG overdue!) Here's a thought for you: why do you have to pay $1 for regular vacuuming and $2 for mega-vacuuming? All it's doing is sucking up stuff for crying out loud! It's dirt! Anything for an extra buck! Ahhh! (sorry - sometimes I get on my soapbox...) I came home to Doug baking cookies while I washed my car. I really do have the best husband ever! We watched some show about airplanes and these prototype cars while we ate our cookies and I checked email. Then I read the first ever acceptance speech that someone recognized me...kinda cool!

Now I'm just posting on the blog getting ready for another day at work. This will be yet another busy week for me. Fun, but busy!

My Precious Savior, may I bring You glory this week in everything I do!!

Note: As I proofed this, it was really an uneventful day on paper, but I really do have a great life!

I wouldn't change it for anything!!

-Sparkle GIRLS ONLY! Life Group News-


Hey super chicks! Just a reminder to all of you who signed up for the Luau on May 25th:
Don’t’ forget your homework! If you signed up already, please confirm by Tuesday if you are still planning to attend. If you need the parent and/or student letter(s) / handout from last weeks Sparkle please let one of us know by email or phone. Laser Tag was so much fun, but we forgot the camera in my car, so guess what? No photos!

We encourage you to do the “homework” mentioned in the letter regardless if you are or are not attending the Luau! It is well worth the time and effort!
If you need directions and info about Friday, please email or call one of us!!!!

We still need some dad's to grill the hot dogs and hamburgers Friday night.
We love you all and cannot wait to see you soon! You are amazing!
Praise Jesus and much love!!

Miley's Pic of the Week (2)

Here is Miley's Pic of the Week. It's so hard to pick one because they are all so cute!

Question...

I have a question for you. "What does purity mean to you?" Come on, comment your answer. Don't be weak. No wrong answers so you have nothing to lose! ............. Really, I'm waiting to see them.

Miley's Pic of the Week

Instead of posting millions upon billions of pictures of Miley each week, I'm going to start

Miley's Picture of the Week!

Here is the first one!

Sparkle

Hey chicks! Just wanted to say we have plans to play Laser Tag on our next Sparkle outing. If you need details call me or Shannon. We'd love for you to join us. Remember in order to be a part of the Luau, you have to be at the next Sparkle. Cannot wait to see all of you!

Elevate...

As I sit here today taking a late lunch break and finishing my Quarter Pounder (which was basically a quarter pound of gross!), I cannot help but wonder what God's got for me this semester of my life. I'm trying to get things together at work from being out so long, processing the fact that last night was actually the last Elevate class for the year, and attempting to keep my house clean with all of the activity right now. Last year at this time, all I could do was cry at the mention of Elevate ending. (Diakanos!!!!) Life just keeps coming full speed ahead, and I just keep wondering "how can it get better than this??"

I remember thinking last year "what now?" when Elevate ended for the year. And you know, this year, I have the same question with the same answer with a twist... Next year, I will be attending Elevate AGAIN to get my Associates in Ministry. WOW! I've never done anything education wise for me other than graduate high school, so I am very excited about the opportunity to actually have a degree from these couple years of internship. I have always wanted to go to college and in fact, that was my plan all along. But with all that rambling, I just wanted to say that for me, Elevate began simply as an opportunity to learn more about the bible and faith in general, but it was so much more than that!!! More than college could ever be in my life. I've made life long relationships with incredible people, knowledge on top of knowledge has been deposited in my life by some of the most amazing people (pastors, teachers, missionaries, etc), my faith has been stretched to the max and grown, and I feel like I've discovered who I really am for the first time in my life. God has really shown up, touched my life in a massive way, and pointed me toward a goal. As I look back I wonder how I ended up where I am today. And as I look forward, the only answer I can muster up is GOD!

If you have even remotely thought about going to Elevate, I encourage you to check it out. If you want to grow closer to God, learn so much more about the bible, desire to find out what the church teaches, ......... Don't wait!!! You are never too old to learn and grow. It's one of the best decisions I have ever made!

(Elevate is Healing Place's intern program, but it's more than just an internship!)

Can you believe I posted something without saying the name Miley??!!??