The Most Horrific Thing Ever

Something horrific happened to me last night.....

I went to bed around 11:00 or so and passed out right away. I was so tired. The next thing I remember is feeling something kind of tickle my neck a little bit. Then, for some reason, I ended up grabbing whatever was tickling my neck and throwing it on the ground besides my bed. Keep in mind that this is all happening in my deep sleep.

I woke myself up after I threw whatever was tickling me on the ground. It seemed to just have all happened so quickly... it's like I was dreaming about all of this, and then when I finally realized what was going on, it woke me up.

So, the more I come to my senses, the more I realize that I wasn't really making up the fact that something was on my neck. I then turn on the light to see what the heck is going on. So..... I start looking through all of my millions of pillows that are on the ground...beside my bed.... where I threw this "tickling thing".

And then.... I see it..... THE BIGGEST COCKROACH YOU HAVE EVER SEEN.... oh my word! There was a cockroach crawling on my neck at 2:00 in the morning! Is that not SICK! Ugh! I just get the creepies thinking about it. So, this BIG guy was now crawling up my window curtains. I was so mad and disgusted. I got out of bed and just kept saying "sick sick sick sick" over and over again and grabbed a shoe from my closet and killed that sucker. Any nasty bug that has the nerve to crawl on my neck at 2:00 in the morning is going to die a hard death.

But seriously, I have no idea what made me have the reflex while I was asleep to grab the roach and throw it on the ground, but I am so glad I did!! What if it just kept crawling all over me? Sick.... I still feel gross from the whole thing. I'm sure it would've been really humorous if it was all on film, but it certainly wasn't funny last night. As you can imagine, I had a VERY hard time falling asleep. Thank the Lord that the dudes are coming to spray the house today.

So... I hear that these creatures are bad here in Texas. Extreme hot and lots of cockroaches. GREAT. Why did I move here again?!?! =)

Has anything like this ever happened to you before?

The Sabbath

I think I've mentioned to you before that Sarah Smith and I have been going through the old testament (very slowly). I think we have been on Leviticus since I moved to Texas which was like six months ago. But anyway, It's really been SO good for me, and I think Sarah would say the same thing as well. We are using a Kay Arthur inductive study, and I really encourage you to do it if you haven't before... guys or girls. It's so helpful and really easy to do!

So this mornings read was really easy. Leviticus 23:1-3
¹The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ²"Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, These are the appointed feasts of the LORD that you shall proclaim as holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts. "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places.

Ok, so just stop there. It's pretty easy to understand what this text is saying. The Isrealites are being commanded to have a Sabbath. Who is commanding this? The Lord. Let's read a little bit more...

Genesis 2:1-3
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

God had a Sabbath. It was obviously really important that even He Himself rested. He worked really hard six days of the week, but was sure to take a break one day. Let's read a little bit more...

Exodus 20:8-11
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 31:12-17
And the LORD said to Moses, "You are to speak to the people of Israel and say, 'Above all you shall keep my Sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the LORD, sanctify you. You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death.Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever. It is a sign forever between me and the people of Israel that in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'"

So, this was obviously something that was really important to the Lord. For the Israelites, if they didn't keep the Sabbath, they were put to death. Why? God knew that they needed to be working really hard six days of the week, but needed one day of refreshment. God needed refreshment. Why don't we think we need refreshment?

I don't know about you, but I don't really have a Sabbath. This is something I have been thinking about a lot and this morning it was SO good for me to read this. What does this mean to you? Do you think it still applies to us today?

I definitely think it does. All through Leviticus God is establishing ordinances for the Israelites to follow. Not just to have rules, but to set them apart as holy. He wanted them to have abundant living. And God knew that in order for them to be as effective as possible, they needed a Sabbath. Just like God did.

So I guess the question in... do you have a Sabbath? What does a Sabbath look like in the 21st century?

For me, I feel like my Sabbath needs to be on Sundays. I work a lot during the week and even weekends, which some of you can relate to. I have had numerous people speak into my life and try and help me take some time off, especially when we have events on the weekends. So, what I feel like God is speaking to me, is that I need to "de-plug" from the world on Sundays. No email. And no email for me means that I don't even need to be on the computer at all. It means no working at home or filling orders from the website or making phone calls. No twitter. None of that. It DOES mean that I go to church, enjoy good fellowship, go sit at a coffee shop during the day and just read and reflect on the week.

Honestly, it sounds really hard for some reason. But I want to do it. God tells me that He is going to bless it and make it holy. I need rest. I need "refreshment" as God says in Exodus 31. Do you have a Sabbath?

Going Beyond Austin - Weekend Wrap Up

Thanks for thinking and praying for us as we went to Austin this past weekend. What an awesome time! Some of the highlights included:

• Sitting in the back with little Jude in the car driving to Austin - He makes us all laugh
• Anthony and the worship team and Vicki Yohe.. I love that Anthony and Priscilla get to do the events together
• A woman catered our food at the church at it was AMAZING - especially the banana bread!
• We had some women who gave their lives to Jesus!!
• We had an AWESOME time of prayer early Saturday morning - we are waiting to hear how God is going to work miracles through that time
• We got to eat some great Mexican food on our way home with the praise team before we all departed our different ways - yummmmmmmmmmmmmm
• Priscilla and I LOVE our chocolate, so we made Jerry stop at Dairy Queen for a Blizzard for me and Priscilla got the molten chocolate cake at Sonic with extra whipedp cream and oreos on the side. She does not mess around with whipped cream!

Seriously, such a great time. You should come to our next event in Louisville, KY August 21-22! Go here to register and for more information.

Austin, here we come

Well, we are on the road in just a few minutes to head to Austin. I'm excited for one, because this is my first time to Austin! I know that I'm going to fall in love with this city and want to stay forever. But, more importantly, if you want to keep up with what is going on during the event, you can follow us on Twitter with #goingbeyond.

Anthony Evans and the band and the whole Lifeway team are already there and finishing setting up this morning. So fun! We can't wait to get there.

I'll keep you posted on how the event goes!

Going Beyond - Austin, TX

The Lifeway Team is headed to Austin, TX today for our Going Beyond event at Great Hills Baptist Church this weekend. We will be driving that way tomorrow morning. We are so excited for this weekend! I was on a prayer call meeting yesterday morning with the women who have been planning and anticipating this event for quite some time now, and it was so neat to pray together and ask God for big and bold things to happen this weekend. It's neat how even though we are all in different places planning for events like this, God seems to always unite our hearts together as He leads us to pray for the same things and gives us all the same desires. SO NEAT.

I'm ready to have another event as we have been off for the past few weeks. We LOVE Lifeway and the women of Great Hills Baptist church and everyone who is going to be there this weekend! It's going to be so FUN and such an encouraging weekend.

My prayer as we enter into this weekend is that we will experience the love of God so much that we will leave CHANGED and never the same again! You've got to come and join us for one of these events if you haven't been before! You can check out the rest of this years' schedule here to see if we will be near you.

Have a great weekend!

My favorite song right now

If you have never heard the song "How He Loves Us", you need to listen to the words of this song. David Crowder just did this song on their new CD and it is so moving! Listen to it here. I personally love Kim Walker's version, but any version is good. You need to own this song!

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath
The weight of his wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these
Afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize how beautiful you are
And how great your afflictions for me

Oh how he loves us so
Oh how he loves us
How he loves us so

We are his portion
And he is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meats earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart burns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way
He loves us

Today, do you know that He is crazy about you? He loves you. He loves you. He loves me.

Weekend

This weekend was so much fun! My mom flew in to Dallas Friday night and we went straight to Waco to visit my brother and his fam. It seems like every time I go it's never long enough, but that's just because we have so much fun together. My little niece is just about the cutest thing I have ever seen. She is so funny - the most passionate 2 year old I have ever met.

Mom and I came back to Dallas around 5:00 Saturday evening and went straight to Northpark mall of course. That's pretty much what we do here in Dallas - shop and eat. We just about closed the mall down and grabbed a late dinner at Central Market. I'm going to be bold and say that I almost like it better than Whole Foods. If you come visit me in Dallas - I'll take you there.

Sunday turned out to be a busy day. I got to take mom to my church which was so fun for me! I'm really so thankful for my church here. Absolutely incredible. Then we had AMAZING brunch at Taverna and hung out before I had to take her to the airport. That is a whole different story. There ended up being a bomb threat at the airport, and they closed it down for a while, which caused my mom to miss her flight. BUT the good news is that she got to stay another night and left early this AM.

I secretly pray that God will bring the rest of my family to Texas. Half of us are in Memphis and half are in Texas, and then my other sister is in Colorado. One day, we will all live much closer to each other. I'm confident of that.

I wish every weekend could be a family weekend. Don't have enough of those these days. We are actually all headed to Lake Michigan next week (on my birthday) and will be there for Fourth of July. So fun!

Next weekend: Austin, TX for Going Beyond! It seems like forever since we've had one of our events. Cannot WAIT to be in Austin! It's going to be amazing.

Family Time

I'm so excited because my mom is coming to visit for the weekend! She gets in tonight and leaves Sunday evening. It's so weird not being able to drive 3 hours to where she lives. Now, we have to get on planes in order to see each other. I guess it's really not that far of a drive, but it's a little much if you do it by yourself in one weekend.

We are going to drive down to Waco tonight to hang out with my brother and his family. So fun! It is always such a treat for me to spend time with them now that they live so close. And then we will come back to Dallas sometime tomorrow afternoon and SHOP and EAT. What else is there to do in Dallas anyway? It's what we're good at.

I'm really looking forward to spending some time with my Marmee. She is the best!

Hope you have a great weekend! Thank God I don't have to run 15 miles this weekend =)

Gabe

My car... his name is Gabe... he's giving me grief right now. Theres a big piece at the front of my car on the bottom that keeps falling off and scraping across the ground when I drive. Not good, I know. I keep having to pull over and "hook" it back on to my car in hopes that it will stay and not fall off again. I pull over, get out of my car, get on the ground and fix it back to how it was, get black ALL over my hands, get completely gross and sweaty because it's 1 million degrees outside.. and start driving again.

BUT, every time I hit a bump, that sucker keeps coming off. Probably would be a good thing to take it in somewhere so that I can get it glued back on or whatever the heck needs to happen =) Can you tell I know nothing about cars? I guess I better go to Honda in the morning to get it fixed before I pick my mom up from the airport and we drive to Waco tomorrow night.

So as we speak, I'm avoiding getting it fixed. I'm sitting here at the coffeeshop knowing that when I leave here I'm going to have to affix this huge piece of something back onto my car before I drive home tonight. ohhhhhhh welll. That's what happens to old cars I guess.

Poor Gabe......

15 Miles

So I am now on my 14th week of marathon training. To be honest with you, the first 13 weeks have been a piece of cake. It was so encouraging to be training for a marathon and feeling as great as I did. Hah! Our schedule is manageable to do and we make it up to 13 miles for our long run and I was just floating along.

UNTIL THIS PAST RUN.

Yesterday I had my 15 mile run. I was supposed to do it on Sunday, but I had to change it to yesterday for several reasons. For some reason I just wasn't looking forward to the run. The farthest I have run before this was 14 miles, and 15 miles just seemed like so much longer than 14 to me. I woke up super early yesterday morning so I could drive out to White Rock Lake to do my run. I absolutely love running out there and it's the only place here that I want to do long runs. It's 9 miles around the lake and it really is beautiful - as beautiful as it can get for being in Dallas, where we have no scenery to look at =) I had my gatorade, my water, and my jelly beans that I could munch on to burst my energy.

First 8 miles were great. I was praying, thinking through work, and just relaxing and enjoying hearing the water brush up against the rocks. Then mile 9 came. I hit somewhat of a block. I started to think about the actual marathon and how I wasn't even CLOSE to being finished. That's like the worst thing you can do when you are running.. think about how much farther you have to go. Anway, I knew that once I finished mile 9 I would be back at my car from where I started and I could get some gatorade and stretch and then finish out the last 6 miles. Thank goodness for Gatorade! That's all I have to say. I drank a little bit, stretched my knees, and was off again. I have to admit that I have never actually talked out loud to myself while I'm running in order to encourage myself - but I sure did do it this time. I just kept telling myself I could do it - OUT LOUD - hah! Whatever works, right?

It's amazing how after 13 miles, each mile after that is a huge milestone. At least for me. I'm so proud to have fun 15 miles by myself. I really do enjoy the challenge of going the next mile.. and then the next.

I thought this marathon training was going to be no big deal - but I was wrong.. obviously. Who thinks that anyway? But I know that I can do it. The goal is to just take it one mile at a time. You can't think about all the many miles that are ahead of you. This is so true with life in general. Not worrying about what is ahead, but keeping your eyes fixed on the prize (which for me is the finish line in the race, and eternity in Heaven for this life) and focusing on today and what this day holds.

A verse I seem to repeat over and over when I am running:
However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. Acts 20:24

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinathians 9:23

And I cannot WAIT to should this verse aloud when I finish the marathon:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

I'm Nothing Without Coffee

So, for some reason I've been on this kick of trying not to really drink coffee. I really don't know why it started. Probably because I was drinking about 2 cups in the morning and then one in the afternoon, and once I thought about it, I realized that no one needs that much of anything in one day. So, I haven't been making it in the mornings. AND IT'S KILLING ME. Ok, so maybe it's not killing me, but I am SO SLEEPY. Really - it's amazing once you get off of coffee, how much you realize it helps!

So, I'm sitting here relaxing a bit before I have to go back to the conference, and I'm really realizing that it would be better for me to have at least one cup in the morning, than to not have it at all. Does that mean I am addicted? Probably. Is that a bad thing? I don't think so. There's nothing better than walking downstairs in the mornings to a house that smells like fresh brewed coffee! I already know that when I get to the conference, I'm stopping at the starbucks that is in the hotel to get a Cafe Misto! I can't wait!

Hope you have a splendid weekend full of cups of coffee!

Storms

Last night might have been one of the most unrestful nights of sleep that I have had. I went to Crooked Tree for a few hours yesterday to read my book and decided to leave around 6:30 and just go back home. Thankfully, I left when I did, because right after I got home, the storms hit. It seems like Texas storms are way more windy, but I think that's just because it's so flat here and there is nothing to block the winds.

Needless to say, there is a big tree layed out across my porch that fell last night, the power was out for about 7 hours, the sirens were going off ALL night long, and the intense thunder kept turning my car alarm off. It was almost humorous how many times I had to get out of my bed and go downstairs to turn my car alarm off.

However from about 7:30-9:30 I so appreciated the state that I was in. The power shut off at like 7:00. I lit all the candles in the house because it was super dark already, and decided that I would go get in bed and just piddle on my laptop, because it still had a full battery. Well, of course the internet wasn't working because the power was down, so then I thought I would turn on some music and read my book. Well, of course my little Bose wouldn't work without power, and I didn't want to use my iPhone for music because it was about to die.. so here I am, sitting in my bed with the candle lit, having nothing else but a little light and a book to read. It was absolutely FABULOUS. I almost wish that it would happen several times a day so that I have access to nothing but my mind and a little light.

How many times a week, or even a month, do you go without using any power, any distractions, etc? We say this over and over again but we really don't have enough quiet in our lives. From 7:30-9:30 last night it was quiet, I was listening to the rain, and I was able to read my book and pray for a while - with no distractions. I was so thankful!

Now, about 2:00AM when it was still thundering and the tornado sirens were going off, I wasn't as thankful, and really hoping that the power would come back on so that all my food wouldn't spoil, but at least I could enjoy it for a while.

Try and get some peace and quiet in a few times over the weekend! You'll be thankful you did it!

Back on Track

My blogging has been so miscellaneous lately. I think it's because my schedule has been way out of whack for the past two weeks. I plan to change that - I have a lot of goals for this month and blogging more is one of those.

This weekend turned out to be so great! It was only two days but really seemed like an eternity. We actually drove this time which was kind of nice for a change. Oklahoma City is only a 3 hour drive from Dallas. Friday night Wendy Treat from Seattle spoke on Acts 20:22-24.

This scripture was basically jumping out at me the whole time she was speaking. Can I just be honest with you and say that right now verse 24 is really all I have to offer to the Lord right now. I just feel like there are so many "uncertain" things in my life right now, and there is so much to learn and do every day for me, but all I can think to say is that I just don't care about anything else but "finishing the race and completing the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace." I just want to know Him and press into Him. I want to keep it simple right now. I'm really trying to focus on nothing else than glorifying Him and letting Him do the rest.. because I'm tired of trying and failing, myself. Do you know what I mean?

This weekend was such a refreshing time in the Word. God really spoke through Priscilla Saturday morning and evening. There were some who came to know the Lord for the very first time, others were encouraged in their season of life, and others just enjoyed such an encouraging and empowering time in God's word. I'm so spoiled that I get to go to women's conferences all the time and hear from such amazing leaders at each event. I never want to take it for granted or become numb to any of it.

I encourage you to read Acts 20:22-24 a few times and just see what the Lord brings to your attention through it.

Clean v Unclean

Sarah and I have a bible study book that we have been going through VERY slowly. Last summer we decided that we wanted to start studying the Word from beginning to the end. So we ended up picking Kay Arthur's inductive studies that takes you through every book of the Bible. The first one is Genesis-Deuteronomy, the Pentateuch. It has been one of my favorite studies that I have done. There's nothing special about it, it's quite simple actually. She just gives you specific readings for six days of the week and on the 7th you do a recap of what you have read. She really doesn't give her input at all, but really leaves it up to you to hear what God is speaking to you through the scriptures.

We are reading through Leviticus right now. Let me be the first to admit that it took me a long time to be excited about reading Leviticus. I actually put off Leviticus for months. It's very intimidating to try and figure out what God is saying between all of these laws and rituals/offerings, etc.

I have learned way more from the first 10 chapters of Leviticus than I ever thought I would. Today I read through Ch 11 and 12. You should read them today if you have a chance. Notice how many times the word "unclean" is used.

If you read it and want to know my thoughts:

I was trying to reason out why God was so specific about what the Israelities could/couldn't eat. And why, even if they touched an unclean animal unintentionally, they were considered "unclean" and remained that way for hours. But then I started to realize that God was SO incredibly merciful to these people. He rescued them! From Egypt... from the pit basically. These were HIS people. He set them apart. These laws were just another way to set them apart from their past... from the unclean. He wanted them to be totally separate from the things He had forbidden.

In v. 44-45, God says "You must be holy, because I am holy." He doesn't want us to just "technically" be void of sin, He wants us to COMPLETELY avoid it. To not even go near temptation. He was us, as Christians, to be set apart.

What areas in my life am I "technically" innocent, but have actually been involved in sin?
What areas in your life have you been "technically" innocent, but have actually been involved in sin?

It's not easy to be holy in an unholy world. Be encouraged that we are able to be set apart in a world full of wickedness! Colossians 1:22

Busted

Ok, so...... I have to admit. I didn't finish my book by Sunday. Not anywhere near being close to finishing. I did read a lot last week, but for me to finish by Sunday was probably a little too unrealistic.

So, here goes another week. Let's see how far I can get by Sunday! Sarah, I owe you a trip to Nashville to return your book to you in person =) (Maybe I didn't finish so I could secretly take another trip to Nashville)

Lot's going on this week.... getting ready for Oklahoma City this weekend at Church of the Harvest for their annual Girlfriend's Conference. This church reminds me a lot of the one we were just at in Gainsville, FL. We are also getting ready for our first Deeper Still event of the year with Beth Moore and Kay Arthur in Greensboro, NC at the end of next month. I can't wait for this one! It's going to be incredible. You should take a trip to NC and hang out with us! Let me know if you are interested.