Love Never Fails

I have always been an advocate of love. I love love. :) It is a gift from the Lord that I can love. I love that He made me to love.

People say that love is an overused expression... but I couldn't disagree more. When God said, "Love unconditionally... Love as I love the church... Love your neighbor as yourself... Let love never leave you... Love must be sincere... Without love, you are nothing... Without love, you gain nothing... LOVE NEVER FAILS", I think He meant it.

We, as Christians, are blessed with God's peace. When we are going through trials; When we are scared; When we are lonely; When we are nervous or anxious.... we have God's peace to hold on to. His peace comes in and comforts me like warm towel, fresh out of the dryer. (only a billion times better..lol.) :) Non-believers around me can see that peace... but they can't experience it without God.

As Christians, we are blessed with God's joy! His joy is available to us 24/7. The troubles of this world can't keep us down when we look to the Lord. When I hope in Him, nothing can shake me. Non-believers around me can see that joy... but they can't experience it without God.

As Christians, we are called to LOVE... and I believe one of many reasons we are called to do so is because it is the ONLY way that non-believers can experience GOD without actually knowing Him. We may not be able to give our friends His joy or His peace without their consent... but His LOVE can be force fed into them. It shines through us and they can feel it without asking for it.

God, I pray that you help me to see everyone around me through YOUR eyes. I want to think like you, see like you, be like you. But I need you to make me more like you. Help me not to be judgemental... I know I was called to love, and judging isn't loving. Fill me so full of your LOVE that I can't contain it... and it overflows into the streets, into my workplace, my church, my friends, and my family. Thank you for your unfailing, everlasting love. I love you. :)

God,
I am not worthy of you. Of your love. Of your forgivness. Don't ever let me forget that. I, in myself, am not worthy of anything that's of you... or from you.

Thank you for being so gracious as to give yourself to the undeserving.... even when we foolishly think we are deserving. You don't have to do what you do for me, and you do it anyway. You do it because you love me. You want me. You are jealous for me. You want my full attention. You desire for my heart to run towards nothing less than your Secret Place. Help me to find that in you... Help me to desire truth in my inmost being. I don't want to look like a Christian... I don't want to just read Your Word.... I want to walk in Your Word and speak the words of Jesus. When I speak, I don't want people to hear me - let them hear you, God.

Help me to step aside and let you shine, Lord. Your heart is so much bigger than mine (if gargantuouser was a word... I'd use it to describe your heart in comparison to mine..... and it still wouldn't suffice.) I want to love like Jesus. I want to be His hands and be His feet. Help me to humble myself enough to make it about You and not me. I am not "better than thou"... and I don't want to ever convince myself that I am... or ever could be. Please, just help me to show your love to the people around me in a real, believable, and tangible way. Give me the strength to be a fisher of men for you, God.

I almost prayed for confidence to be bold enough to share you with people.... and you said, "If your experience with me has been real, you won't need confidence. You shouldn't be able to contain me in your little heart... it has to overflow. Just open your mouth and let me do the talking. I've got this... thanks for the vessel."

Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks?

The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.

The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.

When the storms of life come upon us - and all of us will experience them - we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward God. The storms do not have to overcome us. We can allow God's power to lift us above them.

God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives. We can soar above the storm.

It is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.

He Doesn't Call the Qualified...

The bible says, "The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few...".

It is time to rise up new leaders in the church. I'm tired of sitting in a chair and being ministered to every Wednesday and every Sunday... it's killing me. It's time for an overflow of God's mercy and grace. I am not anywhere near perfect... so for the longest time I have had the hardest time understanding the idea that I was capable of leading someone to Jesus. But God doesn't call the qualified to do His work... He QUALIFIES the CALLED! :) I am a child of God, with a great mission ahead of me. I know I am called to the mission field.... but I have never been sure where. Africa? Iran? America? Pensacola? Le'San? Northridge...?

I have trusted God in every aspect of my life... why am I just now coming to the realization that my battlefield has been set RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. It is my everyday life... there are so many people that I see every single day that are so hungry for something. So hungry for something REAL. So hungry for something valid and TRUE. They just don't know where to find it. I am that light. God is going to use me to reach people that I never thought could be reached. I am speaking that truth over my life. I will start to allow God to take TOTAL control over my life... over my body and my mind. I give Him full authority over me.. and my family.

God, USE ME. I'm SO ready. I'm tired of being poured into. Help me pour out!! I want so much of you, Jesus, that I can't hold in ANYMORE... you HAVE to overflow into my workplace... you HAVE to overflow into my marraige... you HAVE to overflow into my family and my friendships... and to the person that skipped me in the Walmart '10 Item's or Less' checkout line with 30 things in her cart. :) lol.

I thank GOD for what He is doing with our Young Married Couple's Group.... He has HUGE plans. :) It's gonna be AWESOME!!!!

He is the potter.

You may think that I'm just fine. You may think, "How could anything even be out of line?". Well, even though I've got the lines rehearsed....a picture only paints a thousand words.

Things aren't always what they seem. Don't you realize you're only seeing part of me? There's more to me than you could ever know. I'm incomplete... and I'm undone. But I suppose, like everyone, there is so much more that's going on behind the scenes.

God, THANK YOU for making my life so beautiful. Mercy reached in and saved me. You took a woman so repulsing and turned me into something... breath-taking. I am so unworthy... and OH-SO GREATFUL.

You are all I need, Jesus.

Something Stinks?

Oh my.. I've been SO busy lately. Tonight was the first night in probably 2 weeks that I actually turned on the TV and watched it... for an hour! I know that sounds... well.... lame. But seriously, I feel like I haven't even been home long enough to turn on the TV, much less watch an entire show... Or write a blog... or Shower!? Seriously, it's been 6 days.



My laundry has managed to pile itself up (I hate when it does that.. rude.). Everything has Baxter hair on it. Speaking of HAIR, my hair is SO dry... I'm seriously gonna have to SLEEP with conditioner on it or something (don't know if that will help or hurt? But I do know I will wake up one hott, crispy mess.). OH.. and my car, considering the fact that I've practically LIVED in it for a week, is TOE UP! I'm TOTALLY getting up BRIGHT and EARLY (like noon..) and washing my car. That will make me feel a little better.



OH! On a good note (finally) I'm TOTALLY getting my hair done tomorrow! I'm gonna have to cut like, an inch or so off... but I'm staying blonde-...ish. AND Matt comes home tomorrow.. He's been at work for 2 shifts in a row.. and I'm cranky tonight because I miss him. Tomorrow (after my hair appointment, ofcourse) we are going to Orange Beach to meet up with lots of Matt's FAMILY... and FRIENDS... for FOOD... and FELLOWSHIP... and F...-ARTS? It should be a ... FUN FAMILY FUNCTION. On FRIDAY.



OH.. I gave blood on Tuesday... and something went wrong?... check it out...:.

Stupid Girl Scouts....

So... today... was... a day...?

I slept until 10:00am..... then I got up and ate cereal... then an hour later... ate lunch... then an hour later, I ate an entire roll of THIN MINTS (all the while... I'm watching these stupid soap operas cause that's all that's on with our stupid digital converter box...). Then, at 2:00pm, I got out of my PJ's and into the shower... where I brushed my teeth for the first time of the day.

I drove to work for one client (who, Praise God, put BIG smiles on my face)... then drove home while talking to Nikki (one of my FAVORITE people in the whole wide world... who ALSO put a BIG smile on my face...!).

Feeling guilty for wasting 93% of my day... I ate grapes for dinner, and now I'm going to bed.

Goodnight. :)

I've always believed that God can do anything. But yesterday, my faith in God was completely revolutionized.

My friend Emily is 15 years old. A few weeks ago she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease — also known as Hodgkin's lymphoma. It's a cancer of the lymphatic system, which is part of your immune system. Three Sundays ago, we prayed for her as a church - believing that God could heal her. I prayed for her these last few weeks... truely believing that He could follow through with what His word says.

Yesterday, around lunch, Emily went in for a routine CT... just to see if the cancer had spread more, or if it maybe shrunk a little. The cancer is gone... COMPLETELY... GONE. Praise you, Jesus.

You would think my imediate reaction would be pure excitement (I thought it would be too.). But... athough I was truely thrilled for Emily... my initial reflection of that moment was, "Why am I so amazed? I knew God could do this... I knew it." And now He did what I knew He could do, and I'm standing in disbelief.

I do understand that the Christian walk is a walk of continuous growth. We all fall short of His glory, and yesterday was one of those many days for me. God showed me that believing that He can do something is great... but believing that He will do what you know He can do is what we're called to do.

James 5:15 says, "And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up...". I choose to believe the Bible, and when the Bible says it will... I believe it will. Here, it says He WILL make the sick person well.. He WILL raise him up... and I choose to believe that.

"God, Thank you so much for healing Emily. She is a precious girl that is going to do great things for you kingdom... I just know it! Thank you for teaching me some things about myself though the life experiences of others. I love you.. and believe that you will do what your word says you will do... today, tomorrow, and forever."

Yesterday, we had this FABULOUS surprise birthday party for my friend, Lindsay! Her 23rd birthday is this Saturday, but her and Jon were heading out of town and won't be back till next week.

During all of the hustle and bustle, I took a sec to look around... soaking up everything about the night. It blessed me so much to see such a fantastic group of people there to do nothing more than love on Lindsay. Her smile made the last 12 years of our friendship so rewarding!

I can see her passion for God growing every single day! She is becomming more and more aware of how real God is and just how much He is crazy about her. :) How could He not be? He made her to be absolutely fascinating! Before she started wholeheartedly running after God, she was sweet, gorgeous, and just flat out hilarious! But with Him... ohh... with Him she's all that and more! She's compassionate, loving, forgiving... and even more beautiful than she was before!

Lindsay - She is my best friend. I thank God every single day for what He is doing and what He is going to do in her. It's Great!!!

Taking every step (or lack therof) in obedience.

"my sunshine"

The last month or so... I've had this indescribable feeling inside of me. Today... this emotion became expressible.

We are just waiting on the Lord with this insane peace? It's like... when you ask your parents for something.. and you know they have it stored up for you... but you don't know exactly what it is.. or if they'll give it to you for your birthday, or Christmas... or an anniversary... You just know it's good... and your excited.

We just know that God has a really cool plan for Matt and I... but every time we take a step or two in what we think is the right direction, that door gets slammed. Which is exactly what we pray for... but it's just a really bazarre feeling to entirely trust God with our future, knowing that we have all these "plans" for ourselves... what we want... when we want it... why we want it. But as bad as we want these things.. that desire doesn't even compare to our desire for God's perfect blueprint for our lives.

Waiting is painful for me sometimes... but I will worship while I wait.

While I'm waiting...

I am waiting.
Waiting on You Lord.
And I am hopeful.
I'm waiting on you Lord.
Though it is painful.
But paitentially I will wait.

I will move ahead bold and confident.
Taking every step in obedience.

<chorus>:
While I'm waiting,
I will serve you.
While I'm waiting,
I will worship.
While I'm waiting,
I will not fade.
I'll be running the race,
Even while I wait.

I'm waiting,
I'm waiting on you Lord.
And I am peaceful.
I'm waiting on you Lord.
Though it's not easy.
But faithfully I will wait.
YES I WILL WAIT.

And I will move ahead bold and confident.
Taking every step in obedience.

<chorus>

I will move ahead bold and confident.
I will be taking EVERY step in obedience!!

<chorus>

I will serve you while I'm waiting.
I will worship while I'm waiting.
I will serve you while I'm waiting.
I will worship while I'm waiting.
I will serve you while I'm waiting.
I will worship I'm waiting on you, Lord!

This has been the 'story of my life' this past year.. or two? I am so greatful for the life God has blessed me with. Seriously, my mom and sister are my heart. I have the most amazing friends and family... truely. Our church has blessed me in more ways than I can put into words. Matt and I are so happy with our place of employment... and ahhh .... Matt. He's mylifesaver. He's my husband.... and he's very very good at that. :) I'm just so blessed... what more could a girl want?!

Actually.. My heart wants babies. I'm only 23, and I know that I could wait like 10 more years to start having kids... but I don't wanna. I'm ready to grow our little family.

I have always told Matt that when we get a bigger house, I can get a bigger belly. And since I've said that for 3 years.. I'm sort of stuck on it to be honest. The only problem... we can't get out from under this house. We bought it right after Ivan and owe more on it than it's worth.

A little less than a month ago, Matt was at work, and I was praying. I have always wanted God's will for my life... but that time it was different. I told God that I truely wanted what He had planned for Matt and I.... and if that meant staying in our little townhouse for the next 20 years and having a family here... that's what I wanted. It was the first time that I was ever able to say that and mean it from the bottom of my heart.

The next day Matt and I were on our way to Saraland to see his family, and I got a phone call from my sweet Lindsay. She said, "So, I think I found a buyer for your house.....". What?! I didn't even know what to think. Our house wasn't even on the market to sell.

Long story short, these 'snow-birds' from Virginia (?) saw the house 2 doors down and loved it, but the owners took it off the market before they could buy it. Their realtor overheard Lindsay talking to my Momma about us eventually trying to sell or rent our house, called her buyers, and they were very interested in seeing our house!?

So we sent them pictures of the house, and heard that they loved it and wanted to see it in person. They are coming to Pensacola in 2 weeks. It's between our house and one other one. Man, am I hoping they like ours. :)

It's just hard sometimes not knowing what God's will is, but knowing you want it. I know that with all this excitment, God's not caught off-guard. He knows exactly what is going on, even when I don't get it. He is truely in control, and knowing that gives me a peace like no other. I'm just waiting. Waiting on God's timing. Waiting on His permission to make a move. Until I hear a clear word from the Lord... I will be right here, in our beautiful little town house... with my wonderful boys (Matt and Baxter.. ha.)... just wondering when it will be our time to start a family of our own.

Man.. my heart is there... and the Bible promises that God sees the desires of our hearts.

Thank you God for having my best in mind.