welcome back to the blogosphere

I'M BACK AND I'M MOVING TO WORDPRESS!!! Go me!

we don't want blessings, we want you

Just wanted to take this opportunity to let you all know that Jonathan Stockstill and the Deluge band BROUGHT IT @ the conference a few weeks ago.

Check it out!

Do I really look like them?

I have recently been mistaken for Heather Stewart(right) twice. We ARE cousins, but it's way too distant to have an effect on our looks.

I also got told that I look like my mom today.

What do you think?

Acquire the Fire

Wow! I got the chance to volunteer at Acquire the Fire this weekend. It was so amazing. The theme for this year is "let your voice be heard." It was basically about using the talents and gifts you have to make an impact on the world. It really made me think.

God showed me a LOT throughout the weekend. He is showing me that it is not only ok, but it is also godly to be a dreamer. He was the ultimate dreamer of all time! He dreamed this whole world up!

Yesterday, I got the chance to watch the sunset over the Mississippi river. It was beautiful, and I felt a sense of wonder that I haven't felt in a long time. Everyone was out on break... hanging around the levee. The air was crisp and cool. There was a breeze. It was perfect. Perfectly beautiful and wonderous.

God is SO GOOD!

a world of possiblities(I miss dance SO MUCH!)

I recently paid a visit to my girls at Jean Leigh Academy of Dance, and it just reminded me not to put God in a box.

I'm always trying to figure out what I'm called to do... I keep saying stuff like, "I'm called to missions," or "I'm called to children's ministry." I guess I just want to have all of the answers.

I've always known that ministry in a secular setting is just as much ministry as in a church setting, but when I was with the girls this weekend, it took on a new meaning to me. God really spoke to me in that arena, and showed me how He moves even there. He's opened my mind up to a new world of possible ways He might use me. Now I'm just waiting for Him to show me the way.



The girls rehearsing musical theater(for only like the second time, mind you). Choreography by JT Hornstein.

They also did an awesome piece by Jason Parsons to World at Large by Modest Mouse. I'll post it later when I have the time.

dearest Haddar

Since Heather blogged about me, I decided I'd do the same for her.

Heather is my lovely friend who works in Children's ministry with me. We share a lot of the same passions, hopes and dreams, and most importantly, we share a great sense of humor. I love her, and we have a lot of fun together.

Here's a video of a party Brandon, Gabi, Hannah, and I threw for recently threw for her.

Check it out:

I miss my town. :o(

So...

God has been really teaching me some cool stuff lately about purity of heart... How sometimes you have to make huge sacrifices to recieve the annointing. He's been asking me, "Are you willing to have my will and give up your own?"

I recently read Hebrews 5:11-6:12. I've read it a million times before, but the opening verse just struck me this time: "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because YOU ARE SLOW TO LEARN." Guh! I am? Yeah, I think I am!

I've really been drifting away from my first love, and getting caught up in the "idea" of ministry. Losing the passion, and the hope of possibilities. I've been stuck on trying to find out what my calling is, whenever I could just live for the moment and let God lead me. God just keeps telling me to go back to where I started, and learn to love Him all over again.

It's good! AMEN!

---

I hung out with Bethel Baptist this weekend. Here are a few pictures I thought you might enjoy:

The mattress game:

There were three teams and Charles drove us each and equal distance away from the church.

The goal:

Beat the other teams back to the church.

The catch:

You must keep the mattress above you head at all times. If you are caught breaking this rule you will have to put your mattress on the ground and the whole team will have to jump on it for five minutes as a penalty.

You can only do it in a small town w/o getting arrested.

Martha climbing the inflatables. She went down the slide w/ a little girl on her lap. I wish I would've caught it on video. She's SO good with children.

Two of the coolest ladies I know: Martha and Emily

Sawubona!!!

In this picture: Me, Natalie Spera, and Heather Stewart

HEY GUYS!!! For all of you who haven't heard, I'm going to Africa! That's right! I am SO EXCITED. I've really developed a heart for missions over my time in Elevate, and I can't wait to get out there and love on those hurting babies!

My team will be leaving for Swaziland, Africa on May 14th. While we are there we will be helping the team from Children's Cup get the Healing Place Swaziland campus up and running.

While we're there I will get to visit a good friend of mine, Natalie. Natalie is leaving next week to move to Swaziland, and will be there for nine months. I'm really glad that God is letting us share a part of this experience together. He is so good!

I am also going to be visiting Mozambique, Africa, while I am there. I sponsor a child in Mozambique through Mission of Mercy. There is a good chance I will get to meet him. I can't wait!

Please keep us in your prayers!

P.S. Sawubona means "hello" in Siswati.

katie

I live in an apartment with a girl who characteristically says of herself, "I'm the funniest person I know." Recently, she decided she wanted to borrow our other roommate, Mary Beth's, computer. Unfortunately, Mary Beth was asleep, and the only way to unlock her computer is by fingerprint recognition. Here's a video of Katie trying to swipe Mary Beth's finger while she was sleeping. It's not very good quality, but it's still funny if you know her. :o)

Live the Dream Opener

Finally found the opener online. Check it out. Our productions team is amazing.


Live the Dream 2007 - Live Opener from Healing Place Church on Vimeo.

P.S. I'm the first dancer.

reflections

It's strange how quickly time passes us by...

And how if we aren't careful, we'll miss all of the important moments in life

Holidays are perfect for reflecting on where we've come from, what we've learned, and where we're going.

Some things I've learned this year:

1. Even though I'm no longer the youngest in our family,

It's still ok to act like a kid sometimes!

2. You can never have too many friends.

3. God brings people into our lives

and when the moment is right, He moves them away.

4. The best part of Christmas is giving

and the best gifts are suprises.

5. Even though our family is growing,

there's always room for a few more.

5. And most importantly, there's no place like home for the holidays. :o)

God's Wrath

It's been awhile since I've posted a blog, so I figured "what the hey" I'll post one today... No rhyme intended.

Today I want to talk about one of the funniest and most disturbing passages I've ever read in the Bible: Judges 3:15-25

At this point in the Bible the Israelites have not been very nice people, so God has given them over to the Eglon King of Moab. The Israelites cry out to God and God feels sorry for them and sends them help in the form of Elhud, a left-handed man(yes, it actually specifies that he was left-handed). Then the Bible says, "Now Ehud had made a double-edged sword about a foot and a half [e] long, which he strapped to his right thigh under his clothing. 17 He presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, who was a very fat man.

At this point I'm imagining this rich obnoxious blue-blooded nasty sweaty meanie, but as if that isn't bad enough then it says, "21 Ehud reached with his left hand, drew the sword from his right thigh and plunged it into the king's belly. 22 Even the handle sank in after the blade, which came out his back. Ehud did not pull the sword out, and the fat closed in over it." Can we say gross?

Ok so to top it all off, God puts a line in the Bible that I think is in there solely for my intertainment:
3 Then Ehud went out to the porch [h] ; he shut the doors of the upper room behind him and locked them.

24 After he had gone, the servants came and found the doors of the upper room locked. They said, "He must be relieving himself in the inner room of the house." 25 They waited to the point of embarrassment, but when he did not open the doors of the room, they took a key and unlocked them.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? They're king was in the upper room dead and they thought he was CONSTIPATED!

The moral of the story: Don't mess with God's people or else you will be remembered like King Elgon, a fat and constipated man.

fabulosa

Here is a picture that we Gabi took of me after "mandatory fun time" on Tuesday night.

We are all so busy that we are sometimes required to just chill out and have fun. All of full-time and evenings went to Celebration Station instead of going to class on Tuesday. It was a BLAST. I about killed some people on the go-carts. We had a few wrecks, but I guess now they know I DON'T PLAY! That's just how I roll yo!

We were hyped up for a long time afterwards, so when we got home, we turned on the radio and danced. At some point I put on that hat, and Kelly Pitts decided she needed some props too. She escaped into her closet, and then came out looking like this:

Needless to say, I had to borrow her glasses. It was muy fabulosa.

Another recent and cool happening was our outreach marathon. We spent the whole day last Friday reaching out to our community (from 6:30am to 3:00am no lie). We cleaned houses, painted houses, gave out bottles of water, and even had a little time to buy some ice cream from the ice cream man. It was a blast.

The first thing I did on Friday was clean Ms. Violet's house in St. Francisville. Ms. Violet was born on a plantation and has live in St. Franny all of her life. The property she lives on now was actually part of the plantation she was born on. The owners of the plantation left some of the land to her family when they died!

She was so happy we were there that she gave us some free copies of her cook book! It is a cookbook that she wrote which has old plantation recipes in it. It is called "Aunt Shug's Favorite Plantation Recipes." She autographed it and everything! I can't wait to cook something out of it.

I think we were blessed all around. She was happy to have us, and we were happy to listen to all of her magnificent stories!

Joy, Katherine, Ms. Violet, Me, and Cousin Heather

a quick look back

This picture is from the first week of Elevate.

On about our third day here, the second years kidnapped us

in the middle of the night, and made us clean the church.

Stephanie, Joy, Mary Beth, and I

The first prank of the year!

Clockwise from left: Marybeth (in red), Hannah, Kelly, Shana, Stephanie B., Me Middle: Stephanie D. aka my lovely roomie

a couple of things

Random Pictures of Me and Johnny

Epic is tonight! Yay! I'm so excited. I've never been to a Refuge event before, so I volunteered to help out.


Last week, I talked about how God is expanding my capacity for love, and I realized a new aspect of that last night. My roommate is house-sitting for someone, so I got to spend some alone time with God. During that time, I realized that God is truely cultivating a heart in me to serve others. I want to see other people's dreams come to fruition.


That's part of the reason I am so excited about Epic. Some of my close friends, friends who I'd go to the mat for, are leaders in Refuge. It's where their hearts are. They love it, and God has given them a vision for the future of the high school ministry. I seem them pour themselves into that vision on a daily basis. They have such a passion to reach the young people in our community.


I feel like their dreams have become my dreams(and I guess since God's dreams are their dreams, then my dreams are becoming God's dreams). I've been really busy, but I wouldn't miss this opportunity to serve peers' dream for the world.

According to this story, these two are best friends!

WOOOOWWWWWWWW

Man, it's been so long since I've posted a blog!

Elevate is so awesome! I love love LOVE my intern family. We've already been through so much together I can't imagine life without them.

God is doing such amazing stuff in my life right now. He's teaching me a lot about grace and mercy and discipline, but mostly He's just expanding my capacity for love. Sometimes it's overwhelming to be around so many people who I love and trust so much. He's blessed me with such amazing friends. Just thinking about it makes me tear up with happiness. I've never been more content and happy with my life as I am right now.

I'm getting to spend the weekend with my family. I've been very busy, so it's nice to have some down time. My brother was baptized today, so I took the day off to see him. I'm staying at my parent's house tonight. I had almost forgotten how much I miss them. Sometimes I get wrapped up in my day to day life and forget about my family back home. They only live 45 minutes away, but I never get to see them, so they might as well live further away. My mom is asleep on the couch next to me. It's nice to just be in her presence.

Soooooooo guess what!? Football season is here and we are starting a new session in KIA. Some of the Children's ministry staff got together and did a football themed rules video. Check out the picture:

Heather and I

what mom and I did today

oh the glory of sidewalk chalk!

my masterpiece. voila!

pretty flower

Mom's tree and cows

Mom's stuff from a different angle

up close and personal with mr. butterfly

star antennas