3.31.2009

Whirlwind

What happened this weekend at Redemption I really cannot explain to you. We were in Memphis, TN for a multi-cultural revival where thousands of women gathered from every culture, denomination, and age, to worship the Lord together. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen! Never before have I been in a room where there were just as many Caucasians as there were African Americans, holding hands, praying together, worshiping wholeheartedly together. IT WAS AWESOME. I do wish that you could have been there to experience it for yourself. I don't believe that anything close to that magnitude has happened in the city of Memphis, among many other places as well. Every woman left that place with a prayer partner of a different race and religion - revival is truely occuring in Memphis, TN. I believe that this is just the beginning of a huge movement of God. GET EXCITED!

Anthony Evans and his band led worship and it was just so good! The Lord really used Priscilla in a powerful way. I'm just so thankful that I was able to be such a small part of it all and was there to experience it. That city will forever be changed!

This weekend was such a whirlwind and wore me out, but it was all so worth it! It was so good to be in the Word this morning and read through Matthew 16. "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?"

(Austin - so good to see you last night. SS - I miss you like crazy! So good to talk to you last night.)

3.26.2009

Dilemma

I am in a huge dilemma! For the first time I can remember, I'm about to fill up my journal and don't have a new one to start on next! For those of you journalers, you know what a big deal a journal is. I can't just write in some crappy journal. The one I have been using for forever is from Italy, which comes with so many amazing memories, and it is by far my favorite. It's actually more of a cover, so if I could find a bendable journal that is the right size, I can take out the old one and put a new one in it. But, it's a weird size so that is really hard to do.

So, help! What is your favorite journal and where can I get it?!?

3.24.2009

Matthew 9

We are in Matthew 9 today for those of you who are following the Crosspoint Challenge, we are in Matthew 9 today. I always struggle with reading such meaty chapters like these in one whole setting, so I try to pick out the verse or verses that I really feel are speaking to me, and focus on those and dig a little deeper into them, so that I'm not so overwhelmed by all that I have read.

In this one chapter, Jesus heals a paralytic, He calls Matthew to follow Him, the Pharisees are always bugging Him and questioning Him, He heals a sick woman on the way to raise another girl from the dead!, and right after that He heals 2 blind men and a mute! And then after all that he kept going through the towns preaching and healing every disease. What a ministry, right? And so much to think about as you read.

Today I couldn't help but go back to the section where Jesus calls Matthew to follow Him. "While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate him Him and His disciples." Pause. Jesus is among believers and non-believers. He is among the "sinners." At this the Pharisees just can't fathom why Jesus would eat with these people, so they stir up a bunch of commotion and go to the disciples, not Jesus, and ask them why Jesus is eating among sinners. They just liked to get everyone stirred up. It's like the Pharisees' goal is to make everyone else miserable b/c they were miserable and confused. So, Jesus of course hears them and says to them: "Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy not sacrifice."

Now, the part most people dwell on in this part of the chapter is the next part of the verse which says "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." But there is an urgency in what Jesus says when He tells the Pharisees to "Go and learn what this means." So I want to learn what that means; to desire mercy not sacrifice.

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."

"With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God?.... burnt offerings... thousands of rams...shall I offer my firstborn for my transgressions..the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does He require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with the Lord your God.

This is all that Jesus was looking for.. acknowledgment that He is God, that we need Him, and have a desire to walk with Him. His ministry of preaching and healing was for us to realize that we are "sick", we need Him to touch us and heal us, and then we just need to follow Him.

That's something I can do. It's so easy to feel like I'm so incapable of being the woman God calls me to be, but I can relate to needing my Savior... desiring and craving His presence.. and following Him. Be encouraged to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with the Lord your God today.

3.22.2009

The Weekend

Well, I am really bad about taking pictures at our events. I guess I'm just thinking about too many other things so I always forget to have my camera on me, and unfortunately I don't have a camera on my phone.. so it takes that much more effort to have a camera handy.

It went really well, though, at Prestonwood. There were about 900 women there, which is crazy! This was just a womens church retreat. Just goes to show how big the church is =) It's huge! From the feedback I got, I think everyone really enjoyed it and loved hearing Priscilla speak and learned a lot.

I still feel like I have a lot to learn with my part in the conferences, but they are definitely one of my favorite things about my job! I love traveling around and meeting all the different people and just connecting with these girls. They are all coming to these events expecting to hear from God, and so it's neat to hear how God uses Priscilla to speak to them. He really knows what He is doing! I'm just thankful to play such a small part in it all!

On a side note, a verse I have been reading over and over lately is John 5:44..
"How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God."
I have found myself worrying about friendships lately - and I'm getting caught up in finding my identity in my friends and looking for their acceptance and praise and approval - and I really hate that I am doing that. That is so not my desire to get caught up in missing my friends and letting it get me down - and so I just want to let God handle my fears and worries - and I want to focus on Him and the praise that He deserves - and I know that He is going to take care of all my needs - I'm really loving reading through John and Matthew! So interesting to read about Jesus' life here on earth and the words he spoke to His people.

3.20.2009

Prestonwood

It's time for the weekend events to start picking up again. This weekend we will be about 45 minutes away from home in Plano, TX at Prestonwood Baptist Church joining them for their women's retreat. I'm excited to be with our fellow Texans and I think it's going to be great.

I must say that I never quite realized how much planning goes into all of these things before I started my job. There are just so many details that I would have never thought about. So grateful for all of the women who make these things happen!

I will keep you posted throughout the weekend. I'll try and take some pictures and put them up tonight! Pray for us if you think about it. Hope you have a wonderful Spring weekend! (It is officially Spring today, by the way).

Well.... after saying all of that, I just got off the phone with the director of women's ministry at Prestonwood who has put this whole event together. Her husband was taken to the emergency room last night due to heart problems. Please join me in praying for them as he is 45 years old and this was such an unexpected thing. These types of things always seem to happen when God is about to move and work and we just want to pray against the enemies attacks. My heart breaks for Debbie - I'm praying for an overwhelming peace for her and for the doctors to figure out exactly what is going on with her husband. Things just aren't always what they seem!

3.18.2009

Crosspoint Challenge

The pastor from my church in Nashville gave a 28 Day Challenge on Sunday at church. He challenged his congregation and those reading his blog to all read through the 28 chapters in Matthew as Sunday marked the 28 day countdown until Easter Sunday. I really still count this as my home church until I find a place here in Dallas. (if you are in Nashville and need a church, you should definitely check it out; or if you just want a good blog to read or sermons to listen to on iTunes - you have my approval :) )

So today we are reading through chapter 3. There are a whole lot of things going on in this chapter. I really love the gospels (Matthew,Mark,Luke, and John) because we get different viewpoints of significant events in Jesus' life. Verses 13-17 are about John baptizing Jesus. What an amazing thing to have encountered! Do you hear John's amazement as Jesus comes to him to be baptized? John is like "Jesus, I can't baptize you. I'm the one who is supposed to be baptized by you." But Jesus responds and says "Do it. God's work is coming together right now in this moment." So they experience this glorious moment as Jesus is baptized by John and the heavens are opened and God's spirit comes down, appearing like a Dove, and lands on Jesus and SPEAKS and says "This is my Son with who I am well pleased." wow.

Now, that's chapter 3. Do you know what happens next? The same Spirit that came down from heaven like a dove, leads Jesus INTO THE DESERT to be TEMPTED. Does anyone else think this is nuts? They experience this amazing encounter, and they are probably all just pumped up, and God leads Jesus to experience temptation/trials/hardship.

Why do you think this is? My thoughts are that this is exactly the beauty of knowing and walking with God. This is what happens in our lives. We experience and taste the Lord, and then something happens - we hear from that guy/girl that we broke up with who we have been hurt by and don't want to talk to, our lives become really busy and we don't feel like we have time to spend alone in the Word anymore; whatever you are tempted by - and then our hearts are shattered as we have such a hard time grasping the fact that just yesterday we had an amazing prayer time or God spoke to us at church or we were just simply feeling His presence. So we get mad or angry or lose faith. But we all know that hardships exist so that God can be glorified all the more. God is gracious enough to let us experience Him, so that WHEN we are in fact lead into the desert to be tempted, we can overcome and don't have to fall into temptation. Right? because our enemy doesn't want us to have those "baptism" moments... he sees them and will everything he can do to shatter them.

So, today, I'm worshiping the Lord. Tasting His goodness. Thankful for His presence in my life.

3.16.2009

Family

It was such a great weekend hanging out with my siblings and nieces. I could hang out with them over and over again and it would never get old. We are all spread apart on the map so it's so fun when we can hang out. I'm really thankful for my family for many different reason.. but we are very blessed to all be so close and such great friends. We had some amazing food at Breadwinners and La Cubanita (I recommend both of those places if you are ever in Dallas ), I made a pretty darn good meal for us Saturday night, props to Britney Grayson for her amazing "Chickan" recipe, and we just hung out and shopped. Sara and JJ - we missed you much!

Here's a pic of the fam. It's from a while back 'cause it's hard to get us all together at one time, but it will have to do.




What about you... are you close with your fam?

3.13.2009

Webcast

Last night was one of my favorite nights in Dallas thus far. I had a WEBCAST DINNER with Sarah and Mason. Now, some of you might think this is completely strange, but I don't really care. =) It was so fun. Sarah went over to Mason's and they made dinner, and then I made a dinner here for myself... and we both got on our computers at "g-video'd" for about 3 1/2 hours! It was amazing - and really hilarious! We chatted about many things such as: American Idol, updates on all the Nashville peeps, church. etc, AND I gave them a tour of my new house.

But seriously, what a great invention! You should really try it out sometime, especially if you have a Mac. Super easy to use!

Here is a pic from last night....


I really miss you guys terribly! Thanks for having dinner with me =)

What about you...Have you ever done a webcast dinner?

3.12.2009

So grateful

Today, all I want to say is that I am so incredibly thankful for where God has me right now. I have the best job in the entire world... and I would argue anyone for that =) I have absolutely no reason to brag for it either - because it is only by the grace of God that I have been given this opportunity. The people I work for are entirely too wonderful and amazing; I work in ministry and get to share the Lord with people all day; I get to use my gifts to help the ministry; and I work and live in the same place as I sit in front of the fireplace. It's just a dream come true.

But the thing about it is, is that it makes me crave the Lord so much more. It makes me depend on Him more and more each day. I am continuing through the book of John and this verse sums up my feelings perfectly for today:

He must become greater; I must become less. John 3:30

So simple. That is few words with a whole lot of meaning. More of Him, less of me.

Have a wonderful rainy/sleety/snowy day!

3.11.2009

Running

My brother and I have started a really cool tradition of running every time we are together. I usually see him over the weekends so we will go on long runs Saturday or Sunday mornings. I look forward to our runs so much! It's been so great living so close to he and his family because we have lived so far from each other for several years now. But now, we are only 1 1/2 hrs from each other which is wonderful! We are working on moving our whole family to Texas ;)

I don't know if I have told you guys this, but he and I have signed up for the Chicago marathon. HOLY COW. So exciting and yet very nerve racking. This past Saturday we ran
14 miles, which by the way is the longest I have ever run. It was actually not bad at all, despite the fact that we ran at 5:00a.m. which was really 4:00a.m. because of daylight savings.

What I want you to know, is the difference between girl and guy runners. On my long runs, I bring water and gummies to eat. When my brother runs, he brings M&Ms and snickers bars! I just can't fathom eating chocolate while I am running. It cracks me up. This was the picture I took of all the stuff we wanted to bring with us. Everything chocolate is Brian's..


3.10.2009

Choosing To Believe

I love running for several different reasons. Getting up really early and going on a run while it is still dark might be my favorite moment of the day (except of course when I get to eat my Kashi cereal in the morning). It's still pitch black at 5:30, super quiet, and I am able to pray and reflect on the day ahead of me.

This morning I was expressing a lot of my doubts, fears, worries to the Lord while I was on my run. Just struggling between being so hungry for the Lord and wanting more of His presence in my life so bad, but also feeling like I miss it so many times and not doing the right things in order to walk closely with Him.

After I got back home and cleaned up, I read through John 2:12-15 where Jesus has just gone into the temple to find everyone selling and trading things, and gets so mad and upset with his people. Where I would usually focus on that aspect of the passage, I believe God had a different word for me this morning. If you read, and re-read verses 20-25 there is a huge message being told about our faith. The Jews demand a miracle from Jesus since He tells them to destroy the temple and He will rebuilt it in three days.. it took them 46 years to build it and Jesus was going to rebuild it that quickly? Of course Jesus' word had so much more meaning than just rebuilding the temple. Sure, He could rebuild it that quickly, but He was speaking of going through hell and death for these Jews and being raised back to life in 3 days.

What really gets me is verse 23. It skips ahead into the future to give us the disciple's point of view from this whole scene. It says that the Jews remember AFTER Jesus was raised from the dead the words he spoke to the Jews in the temple... and THEN they believed the Scripture and the words Jesus spoke.

The Jews remember AFTER they spent all of that time with Jesus and saw Him perform all of those miracles, AFTER Jesus went through all of the agony, AFTER He was beaten, AFTER He was hung on a cross, AFTER He died, AFTER He was raised from the dead..... AFTER He goes through all of this.... THEN they believed.

There's something really wrong with that. At least I think so. And then I remember the words I spoke with the Lord this morning... how I don't always feel His presence or always feel like I'm doing the right things or being with Him enough or believe He can do what He says He can... and then I read these words. I don't want my life to be one where I'm always looking BACK to see His evidence in my life NOW. I want to believe NOW that Jesus is who He says He is... That He WILL do what He says He can.

The last verses speak about how God doesn't depend on man's faith. He knows us, and knows how our faith struggles. But He continues to be and always is faithful to His words and character.

Such encouraging words for me today. Believe now. Trust now. Believe more. Trust more.

3.05.2009

Stuck

I finished Crazy Love last night. He ends the book with words such as these:

We respond (to sermons, books, blogs, etc) with words like Amen, Convicting Sermon, Great book.. and then we are paralyzed as we try to decipher what G
od wants of our lives. I concur with Annie Dillard, who once said, "How we live our days is... how we live our lives." We each need to discover for ourselves how to live this day in faithful surrender to God as we "continue to work out our salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12).

Should you put your house on the market today and downsize? Maybe. Should you quit your job? Maybe. Or perhaps God wants you to work harder at your job and be His witness there. Does He want you to move to another city or another country? Maybe. Perhaps He wants you to stay put and open your eyes to the needs of your neighbors.

I urge you to consider and actually live as though each person you come into contact with is Christ.

Allow God to be creative with you, just as He is with your favorite musician or pastor or author.

You need to live out in your daily life the LOVE and OBEDIENCE that God has asked of YOU.

So I went to Target yesterday to buy a gift for my niece for her birthday, and I ended up getting two shirts that I found on sale for $5. Great deal, right? I don't know. As I'm praying about how I can act in immediate obedience to God, and be a good steward of my money, I just wonder if He really wanted me to buy those shirts? Maybe that sounds weird... they were just $5. But they are sitting on my bed with the tags on. Because I didn't really ask the Lord if I could spend His money on that. I just want to walk in obedience daily. I might keep the shirts. I might not. What do you think?

By request of Mason Jones.... Here are pitures of the shirts....




3.04.2009

Crazy Love

I'm reading Francis Chan's Crazy Love Book , and I have to tell you that God is using this book to rock my world a little bit. These last few chapters have just really stirred up a lot in me, about my life and how I'm living... really how much I am committed to living my life for Jesus Christ.

I read through chapter 9 this morning, as Francis gives some examples of different people who were totally obsessed with living for Christ and how they are going about that lifestyle.

I don't really know how to communicate my thoughts from my time in the word and prayer this morning. I am so completely desperate for Jesus. I mean, there was this man... who came to the earth thousands of years ago.. who we still know and talk about TODAY because of His love and passion and lifestyle.. who died for me.. so that I can have this Crazy Love relationship with Him and have it eternally... forever and ever and ever.... John 1:27 says "He is the One who comes after me." How can I respond to such a thing? HE comes after ME. HE comes after YOU.

Chapter 9 gives example after example of people who made themselves less so that others could have more. It talks about people who had tons of resources and time and gave it to those who didn't have resources or time. They were sick, poor, homeless, dying.. and they were given the opportunity to know this Crazy Love because someone became selfless to serve the less fortunate.

Read this passage . Pray about it. Dwell on it. See if God wants to say anything to you about it.

3.03.2009

Redemption 2009

We went to Memphis for the day today to do a press conference for Redemption2009. It is so exciting to see how God is working in that city through this event. If you haven't heard of it, check out the website. I'd love to see some of you there if you can make it, and if you are a woman =)

I can't wait to see how it all unfolds within the next couple of weeks. I will keep you posted.

3.02.2009

Weekend Away


We had such a great time in Shreveport! Marg and I did some amazing bargain shopping, (she did better than myself, of course... but I was still proud of my good deals), Marg cooked some amazing meals, and we had the best Turkey Burger at Byronz Grill that I have ever put in my mouth! We of course went on a run on Saturday morning and she showed me where all of the movies are filmed, and watched a movie Saturday night after dinner. The best part of the weekend: just hanging out! I miss those two kids so much and we were just able to relax and talk all weekend long while we ate some great food. And of course I can't forget.... Biscotti! What a precious puppy! She is the best little doggie!