Trusting blindly… November 3, 2009

 

do you trust me??

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re blowing things way out of proportion and you don’t really know how to change your perspective?  Well, I’m there. Lately, God has been teaching me all about trust and stepping out in faith to let Him be in control. He’s been asking me if I trust Him. Now, I’ve talked about this a number of times. I am a serious control freak when it comes to my own life. Not necessarily my job though. If there is someone at work who can do something I’m doing better, go for it. I’m all for them taking it on. But when it comes to my life: love, family, home, etc, it has to be my way. I am very detail oriented, pretty much all the time anyway, but this is exacerbated when I feel like I am no longer in control of something. It’s kind of annoying actually. Sometimes I am my own worst enemy.

Anyway, so I have this offer to live in someone else’s home, rent free, for a few months, before the buyers of their home move in after their house sells. This is a great offer! I can live somewhere for free and not have to worry about paying rent! I save money to buy my own home soon! What a blessing this is! It’s kind of funny how this happened, actually. I’ve been searching for a home for almost a year now. We haven’t found anything that I love that’s in my price range and isn’t snatched up by someone else almost immediately upon my discovery of it. I’ve been very down and just done with the whole process. So I’ve finally turned it over to God completely. I should have done it much much much sooner. But in my stubbornness,  I didn’t.  So yesterday, in staff devotions I asked for prayers for me and the housing process. And what happens a mere 4 hours later? A phone call with this rent free house offer. Seriously. No joke. There are no coincidences, only God incidences.

Now, as a result of this offer, I’ve been kinda apprehensive. I can’t place why. It hits me that it all goes back to my biggest fear: being alone. I don’t want to buy a house by myself. I don’t want to move by myself. I don’t want to have to deal with change by myself. I actually prayed this morning that God would give me a man so I wouldn’t have to be alone. Seriously. How pathetic is that? I don’t need a guy to deal with life. The man I marry should be someone who enhances my life, not necessarily someone who completes it. Remember Jerry Maguire, and that scene in the elevator with the deaf couple who are signing that he “completes me”. Ugh… seriously, no. I don’t need a guy to complete me. I only need God to complete me. And when He’s really complete with me will be the day that He comes back or when He calls me to my heavenly home.

I think my mom was right when she told me the other day that I need to grow up, be mature and make a decision on my own. So what if I’m out of my comfort zone for a few months. So what if I have to deal with myself and be alone for a while longer. So what if I actually save money, grow up, become and adult and make my life my own.  I remember in high school my phsychology teacher telling me that at some point, usually after high school, before college, we all need to “make the break”. That means that we all need to break away from our family and childhood and high school lives and move on and become adults and grow up. We need to cut the umbilical cord.  yeah, well, this is even more true for me. My family is very close to me.  For the most part of my life, I have consulted them in pretty much every major decision I’ve ever made. They help me see things from a different perspective. They show me love unconditionally even when i do stupid things. My family is always there for me and I am incredibly grateful for that. I don’t think that they can necessarily cut the umbilical cord. I think that I need to.  I think that I need to grow up. I think in a way, they’ve already done so. they’re just waiting on me to do it. I don’t think it’ll ever be completely severed until I do get married and have a family of my own, whenever that may be. But I can still grow up and use the experiences and opportunities that God is placing in my path as a way to move on and work through this and to grow up some.

I usually tell my kids to grow up and get over it. And sometimes I need a dose of my own advice. Sometimes, I need to trust God blindly, even when I don’t know what’s around the corner. Sometimes I need to listen for His voice and ignore my own, so that I can see the greatness of His plan for my life. Sometimes I need to take a risk (even when I really don’t want to) and step out in faith, and focus on what’s beyond the blindfold. The light at the end of the tunnel. There is something greater out there, and I know that Jesus has my back. I know that His plan is and will always be so much better than my own. I need to not focus on the blindfold, but focus on the Leader.

So God…lead me…mold me…direct me…comfort me…heal me…protect me…provide for me…guide me…and love me… because you are God and I am not. You are in control and it is in you that I place my trust. Remind me of who YOU are and what YOU are doing in my life every day. Help me to SEE you always and to forget my doubts. Help me to not focus on the blindfold, but to the focus on you, my leader…for you go before me in life and in death. Amen

to be a “Missionary of His Word”… July 26, 2009

So what does it mean to you to be “in ministry”? What does it mean to be a “missionary”? Like, really, what’s your definition?

Dictionary.com says has muiltiple definitions of both:

min⋅is⋅try

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// ]]> –noun, plural -tries.

1.	the service, functions, or profession of a minister of religion.

2.	the body or class of ministers of religion; clergy.

3.	the service, function, or office of a minister of state.

4.	the body of ministers of state.

5.	(usually initial capital letter) any of the administrative governmental departments of certain countries usually under the direction of a minister of state.

6.	(usually initial capital letter) the building that houses such an administrative department.

7.	the term of office of a minister of state.

8.	an act or instance of ministering; ministration; service.

9.	something that serves as an agency, instrument, or means

mis⋅sion⋅ar⋅y

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–noun Also, mis⋅sion⋅er.

1.	a person sent by a church into an area to carry on evangelism or other activities, as educational or hospital work.

2.	a person strongly in favor of a program, set of principles, etc., who attempts to persuade or convert others.

3.	a person who is sent on a mission.

–adjective

4.	pertaining to or connected with religious missions.

5.	engaged in such a mission, or devoted to work connected with missions.

6.	reflecting or prompted by the desire to persuade or convert others: the missionary efforts of political fanatics.

So, if we take it purely on definition… what does it mean to be in ministry, and what does it mean to be a missionary? It means to provide a service and a function of a religion. It means to be a minister. It means to be a part of governmental body (Britain has many “ministries” that compose their government. JK Rowling created the Ministry of Magic.) To be a missionary, you are purely someone who has a passion and a purpose. You are someone who has been sent  by some organization, relgious or not, to a place for a purpose.

Many times over the last 2 years, as I’m been “in ministry”, I’ve remembered a quote I learned in college… “You’re not doing youth ministry until your youth are doing youth ministry.” What that means, is that you’re not really doing what youth ministry is all about, if you’re not teaching, leading and equipping your youth to be in ministry themselves. That doesn’t mean that when I have a ton of students go to a Concordia for college and aspire to be DCE’s, then I am a youth minister. No… it means that when your youth are confident and secure in their faith and trust their Lord, to be at the point where they are reaching out to their friends. They are the ones planning meetings, discovering scripture, exploring events and retreats and truly in teh nitty gritty day to day realities of what it means to be a teenager in a world that doesn’t respect faith of any kind. They are the ones reaching out and inviting their friends to youth group and taking ownership of their youth ministry. It’s for them anyway, isn’t it? I dont do what I do for me. I do it for them. Because I see the need for it. So I’m not really doing youth ministry well, until I am at a place where they are bringing  their friends and learning and growing, doing peer ministry and when THEY see the need for youth group.

I had 3 kids at HS youth tonight. 3! When there were 17 in Bible study this morning, and 18 on our retreat last month. I recognize that it’s summer and there were many contributing factors as to why there weren’t more kids there tonight, but still. 3. What a shocker. I don’t know if truly means anything (it probably doesn’t), but still. It kinda bugs me. Very few of my friends invite their friends to youth group or sunday school. I don’t know why that is. Are they afraid? Are they not confident in their faith walk enough to be that vulnerable? Do they not want to invite their friends? I’m just kinda curious as to why this is.

Anyway…. so back to the point… my best friend is a missionary in Taiwan. She loves the students that she’s teaching and she loves being able to teach them and share her faith at the same time. She has a purpose and a passion and has been sent. Have I? Yes, I have. I am more confident in my call as a DCE and my call in my church, more today than ever. I know that God placed me here for a purpose, and He not only has a passion for me, and these kids, but He’s placed a passion for them and His Word in my heart. Over the past year, I’ve had an incredibly difficult time getting into my Bible for me. I hate that. I feel like such a hypocrite because I tell my kids over and over and over and over how incredibly important it is for them to be in the Word, when I’m not in it myself. How ridiculous is that? I never wanted to be that teacher who would tell her students to do something that she herself didn’t do, and claim that it’s important. I fully recognize that it’s crucial. And I fully recognize that it’s a huge reason as to why I’ve struggled with anxiety, fears, loneliness and depression the last 6 months. I also fully recognize that the few times in the last 6 months that I have been in my Bible, a huge weight has been lifted in my heart and a huge peace has filled it. I know first hand how important it is.

I was watching a movie on the Hallmark Channel tonight and one of the charcters prayed that God would help them to be “missionaries of His Word”. It made me think about what that really means. To be a missionary of God’s Word is to be so passionate about it that we have a purpose in proclaiming it to the world. We are sent by God to read it, learn it, live it, believe it and tell others about it. We are all called to be missionaries. Be a missionary of His Word.  Even though it’s hard for me to be in the Word lately, I truly want to change that. I want to grow closer to my Savior by diving deeper and deeper into the majesty of His Word. But I don’t want to do it because I have to. I don’t want to do it in preparation for a lesson for my students. The little 3 minutes random Word-diving isn’t good enough anymore. I want clear, quality, time-limit-free  time in God’s Word where I am fully awake and alert and fully invested in growing closer with Him. I know that I can’t do this by my own strength, but that the Holy Spirit would guide me and see me through. He will fulfill me and strengthen me and encourage me. I pray that He would give me a person who could be my accountability partner in this process. I need that, I think.

So… here’s my challenge… be in the Word… live it, learn it, love it, believe it and tell it! AMEN!

Psalm 119:105 “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”

Where’s my easy button? July 25, 2009

Seriously, where is my easy button? Where’s the easy button that says “Oh, you want a house for a reasonable price, nice area, good interest rate, doable mortgage payment, minimal repairs needed? Here it is!” Where’s the easy button that says “Oh, you have a student who’s depressed and needs a friend?” Poof! here’s the friend and life is happy again! Where’s the easy button that says “Oh, you want to meet a good Christian guy the real way and have a friendship in person prior to marriage?” Here he is!

Really….where is the easy button? why can’t there be an easy button in life? Why does life have to be so frustrating, complicated, technical, analytical and annoying? Seriously! I’m so frustrated with this cond0-buying process. Why does it have to be so complicated? Why do there have to be so many fees? Why can’t you just find what you want, like it, and buy it??? Let’s take the middlemen and all of the other people out of the process. lets make it simple again. Like in the 1800s when you just found an empty house and paid the bank for it. It was simple then. Life was simple then. Of course, you didn’t have running water or toilets unless you were incredibly wealthy, and electricity is nice too. But I digress…

An easy button to our every complicated situation would be nice, wouldn’t it? It would be REALLY nice. But in reality, that’s just not how life works. There is no easy button. I think God has us go through these challenging times to teach us things. Sometimes, I don’t always approve of His teaching methods, but at the same time, I can’t necessarily argue with Him either, since He’s God. I know that He’s the One in charge of my life, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like it all the time. I want an easy button, but it doesn’t exist, so therefore, what can I do to help myself learn from these situations and experiences and grow through them?

For one, I can do the research on buying a house. I know what I want, I know what I can afford. I can not get my hopes up on something outside my price range. I can ask my Realtor to do their job and get me the info, rather than let me do all the work. I can not argue with my dad over these petty things when he has more important things to worry a bout at the moment. I can seek counsel from others when in a situation over my head. I can pray. I can rely on the One who created me to lead me through these frustrating, complicated, annoying, challenging moments of life. And more importantly, I can make Jesus my easy button. He’s the one who loved me enough to die for me. So I can let him take my burdens. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.He’s the One who’s already written my story, not just my love story, but my entire book. He’s got me planned and prepared and He’ll daily continue to do so. I just have to let Him. I have to let go of myself and let Him reign in me. It’s not easy, not by any means. But that’s not what life’s about…being easy. It’s about being real, and being wise and discerning through the most difficult of days. It’s about remaining true to yourself and reminding yourself of God’s leadership and Lordship over your time, your desires, and your life.

Lord, take this burden from me. Guide me and lead me. Captivate me. Captivate my heart and mind, soul and strength. Help me to love you with all that is within me. Lead me to your truths and to your path. Remind me of the path that you have chosen for me. Remind me of the calling that you so desperately placed in my heart. Help me to do your Will, in all ways. In Your Name, Amen.

Oh, and I liked this.

it’s been a while… May 26, 2009

Wow.. has it really been almost 3 months since I’ve written on here? I’ve thought about blogging sooooo many times lately, but just never get around to it. It’s funny because so many things perk my interest and I think to myself “Hmm..i should write a blog about this”… but I don’t. And now, I can’t even really remember what they are!!! Oh well…

So lately, I’ve been thinking alot about the mistakes I’ve made in the past. I’ve never wanted to go through life with regrets. I don’t have many, thankfully, but I have some. I’ve hurt some people unintentionally and intentionally that make me feel awful now, thinking about how I’ve treated some people in the past. And thinking that maybe some of my own issues are my own fault. Maybe I’m single because I really don’t want to be in a relationship. But that’s not true, because I do! I want to get married and have the big wedding and have a family. But I guess what I’m saying is that I’m more content to truly wait for the right one. Wait on God’s timing rather than jump the gun a bit and go on my own choosing. I’ve met some great guys lately, but none of them are really…for me. At least not yet. But I don’t know when the right time is, or who the right one is. And I’m truly more content than ever to truly WAIT patiently. I think that God is definitely teaching me a lesson on patience and control right now. Self control that I need to have more of, and less of a need to control everything else. Because when I control things and get my way, it tends to backfire in my face and hurt not only me but many others in the process. So, I’m sorry.

Ok, on a different note, but still connected…Does anyone out there watch Jon and Kate plus 8 on TLC?? The season premiere was last night and as I was watching it, my heart literally broke in pieces for this family. It’s so sad to watch. Jon and Kate are a couple in PA who have 8 year old twin girls and 5 year old sextuplets. I’ve loved the show up until the end of last season that just got…weird. Jon and Kate are having some serious marital issues, and every time I watch I just want to tell them to get into Christian marriage counseling as SOON AS POSSIBLE! They need it! They can still salvage their marriage. I don’t think that any marriage is truly DONE and over with, even at divorce, especially with kids involved. God designed marriage to be FOR LIFE. Now, I’m not saying that divorce is totally wrong, because it’s not. I see many situations where divorce is clearly the only alternative to eternal suffering and pain through emotional, phsyical abuse or whatever. I get that. But at the same time, these two people clearly loved each other at one point in time. Wasn’t it just a season ago that they went to Hawaii to renew their marriage vows? I loved that episode. It spoke of how they were truly willing to sacrifice for each other and their children. But now, all I see is true selfishness. It’s time to show  us that sacrifice.  Jon said he “needed a break for the weekend”… excuse me??? You don’t get a break from parenting! Kate, I appreciate that you’ve been dealing with this for over 6 months, but stop playing the martyr and the victim. An affair and a divorce NEVER comes from just one side. Both sides contribute. Jon and Kate are consumed with fame and fortune and doing “the right thing for their kids”, which they think is continuing the show to gain a substantial income and financially provide for them. I have a feeling that even if they ended the show, Jon got a job and Kate and continued to write books and go on the occasional book tour, they’d still be set financially. But they spend their money on sportscars (did you see the one Jon got out of at the park?) and expensive trendy clothes. I know that they want the best, but there comes a point, especially in this economy that the best thing to do for your children, your family, YOUR MARRIAGE, is to stop being in front of America and truly focus on your marriage. The best thing for these kids are two healthy parents who clearly love each other and positively communicate it in front of their children. Nothing changes family dynamics and the health of the children in the future more than two consistent, Godly, positive, loving parents. So here’s my advice: get marriage counseling, separate and together, to really work out your issues. Don’t use the couch and interviews on the show to be your “therapy time”. Get your kids into counseling, because pretty soon they’re gonna know everything that’s going on (as if they don’t already), and are going to feel like your potential separation and divorce is their fault. Jon clearly resents Kate and Kate sees him as a bum! They need to get into counseling as quickly as possible and they both need to WANT to save their marriage and their family. As I watched the show last night, I couldn’t help but think that I was contributing to the demise of their marriage by watching and reading all the gossip online and in the grocery store aisle. So from now on, I refuse. I refuse to watch this family fall apart. I refuse to read the beyond the headlines.  What I will do with my time is pray for this family. Pray that God would guide them and restore their marriage. Their kids depend on it.

It’s things like this in the world that once again, remind me of the power of our God. He’s in the one in control. He knows our every breath, every step, every decision. He has already chosen the man for me and in HIS timing, not my own, He will reveal this man to me. I will continue to let Him be my leader and show me the ways He would have me go. I trust Him. He’s making me ready for when He’s ready. That’s what I’m waiting for.

teenagers and boundaries March 1, 2009

So once upon a time there was once this thing called propriety. hahahaha… maybe i’ve been watching too many Jane Austen movies based off her books! Anyway, there was a way to behave in public with your “significant other” or “intended” or “betrothed”. Well it seems like the 21st century has blown those rulse out of the water. Seriously. When did teenagers not understand that there are things that you cannot do during youth group? Like… sit on your boyfriends lap. or leave Bible Study without telling anyone. or be in your girlfriends tent in her sleeping bag on a camping trip? SERIOUSLY people! when did parents stop doing their job and teaching their kids how to behave with members of the opposite sex? are parents ill-equipped to deal with these things? or are they just blind? I love my kids to death (and granted, not all of the above has happened, but it’s possible!!! I was exaggerating a bit!) but sometimes I hate having to be their youth leader and their parent. Sometimes it’s just annoying to have to be almost 25 years old and parenting a bunch of 17 year old babies!!!!

ugh. Oh well… i guess it comes with experience, huh? in how you deal with these situations??? What words do you say to a 17 year old girl or a 15 year old boy, who really do not know how to behave in church or youth group or public with their bf/gf?? Any advice?

My List January 25, 2009

Have you ever really contemplated your life? Like, is this all there is? What if I do absolutely nothing spectacular with my life. What if my dreams go completely unfulfilled? What will make my life “complete”?

Well, I contemplate them quite often. I’m always wondering where God is leading me next and if what I’m doing is really what He wants me to be doing. I get so angry and upset when things don’t go the way I planned them or the way I dreamed them happening. I couldn’t sleep tonight, it’s now almost 1am, and as I was watching PS I Love You tonight and that movie, within 15 minutes, ALWAYS makes me cry. But it also makes me think. Hilary Swank’s character “Holly” is such a planner and a controller that she feels she always needs a plan. I can so relate! I’m always making plans for myself and dreams for my future. I always have a task list of things to do each day. Some days they’re more important that they be completed, and others not. So after watching most of this movie that I love, I’ve decided to resurrect my “List” of things I want for my life, and put it up for anyone to see. This is a glimpse into who I am and what I want most of this one life that God has blessed me with. They are in so specific order. Just things I want to do, see, experience, feel, live and be.

1. I want to know what it feels like to fall in love; to love and be loved in return. Not the love of my Savior, because Jesus already shows me that kind of love through His death and resurection, but the love of a man, a spouse, someone to share my life with and start a family with.

2. I want to travel: I have always wanted to travel around the world. Ever since I was in French 1 in High School, and even more so after I went to France when I was 17. I want to go to London, Ireland, Scotland, Germany, Russia, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Africa, Prague, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Auckland, Hawaii… I want to experience being at the top of the Eiffel Tower and looking as far as I can out on the brilliant beauty of Paris. I want to experience the joy of seeing a pack of kangaroos hop across the Australian outback wilderness. I want to stand on the moors of England where Emily Bronte imagined Wuthering Heights. I want to feel the irish wind in my hair as I stand atop the cliffs of Galway soaking in the sunshine. I want to see the great and beautiful earth that my Creator designed.

3. I want a family. I want to have children. yes, I already have names picked out, but I know they will change. I want to see them grow up and learn about Jesus in Sunday School and wrestle with their faith and understand the ultimate sacrifice their Savior paid for them. I want to see them get married and have families of their own.

4. I want my Daddy to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day. I want him to be healthy enough to see me and give me away to the love of my life. I want to be able to dance with him at the reception. I want my Daddy to see his grandchildren and meet them and get to know them. I never knew my mom’s father, who died shortly after they were married. I want my kids to know who their grandpa is and how much he loves them and how he is an incredible man of God, with many gifts and talents and so much life left to live.

5. I want to see my students grow in their faith. I want to be at a church long enough to see them wrestle, grow and mature in their faith, to be spiritual leaders in their families and future congregations. I want them to be able to internalize their faith and truly see what grace and mercy and peace and trust is all about. I want them to not just know, but believe, to the core of their being that Jesus Christ, true man and wholly God, died on the cross to forgive them of their sins, and rose from the dead to conquer sin and death. To truly get it. I want to be there to see the lightbulb come on.

6. I want my best friend to continue to follow her heart and soul in ministry. I want her to be near me, yes, of course, but i know that’s not where God wants her. I want her to follow God’s lead and his direction, as she always has.  I want her to continue to see what amazing things God is doing in her heart and through her talent and desire to share the Good News with the world.

7. I want to be healthy. I want to lose weight and be healthy and look healthy, inside and out. I don’t want to have to worry about my health any more. I don’t want to have regrets that I die at a young age because I didn’t care of myself when I should have. I want to be healthy mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, professionally.

8. I want to eat more chocolate a (but without the guilt! hahahah) nd life live to the fullest.

9. I want to write a book. A novel about faith and life and love and what it truly means to me, to be a child of God. A book from my heart, that hopefully will touch the heart of someone else.

10. I want eliminate all addictions from my life: Starbucks, facebook, whatever. Just get rid of them so that they are no longer true addictions. Obviously, these are not major addictions, but still. It gets in between me and my Lord, and that’s not good.

11. I want to begin and end my day with complete trust and knowledge that God is in control. I usually start my day like this, but it tends to waver throughout the course of the day. I want to know and trust no matter what. I know that I’m not in control, despite how much I might want to be.  I want my own faith life to continue to grow and mature with what it means to have someone die for me. To have God die in my place. Because that’s what He did, and sometimes it all seems a little too surreal. But it happened. I know that to the core of my being.  I want to fully and wholly, completely and unrelentingly, gratefully and changingly, give my entire being over to my Savior. Of course, this is a daily occurance, and as scripture says, we daily die to sin and live a new life in Christ. Each day He gives us a new lease on life, because it’s another day that we get to live and love and show others His love. I want to show that kind of love to others, and not be as sinful and prideful and selfish as I am.

So there… that’s a glimpse into some of the many things that I want out of life. Of course, there are more. But that should give you a little tidbit.

May the Lord of life and love, the Creator of the Universe, the Father of all Nations, the Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, guide you and bless you, lead you and forgive you, love you and daily remind you of the love He has for you. May you continue to open your heart and mind to what He tells you and shows you and teaches you and blesses you. Amen.

Immanuel…God With Us December 8, 2008

“Oh Immanuel, God With Us

Spirit Revealed in us,

That we may be Your Hope to the world

Oh Immanuel, God with us,

A Light to break the darkness

That we may show Your Hope to the world

Immanuel, be God with us!”

Wow..what a strong proclamation. What a statement of faith. Immanuel. God is with us. Jesus. here. on Earth. He came as a little baby. A mere man. But no… he wasn’t just a man. He was divine. He was Immanuel. God WITH US. God IN US. Jesus resides in my heart and because of Him I know I have eternal life. Because of a little babe, who had humble beginnings, and a tragic, yet glorious ending.  He lived, loved and died full of glory, majesty and compassion. Wow. What a life. What a God we love and serve!!

I am so thankful to be able to proclaim that I love my Lord, Jesus Christ. Seriously. I have life. I have a heart that beats (usually in a regular rhythm!), a brain that works (most of the time!), a love for people, and a passion for Jesus. It is because of Him that I exist. And yet, why do I still have such anxious thoughts and busyness plaguing my heart and soul. I’ve recently realized how much my life is filled with constant anxiety about one thing or another. Finances, family, my health, my weight, my lack of a love life, my friends, my youth, my church family, my career, God’s plan for my life.  This anxiety can be overwhelming to say the least. But I think I have also realized that most of what I’m anxious about, I have absolutely no control over. I can’t worry about where God wants me, because He will make it known to me in His time. I can’t stress over being single, because He will guide me to the man He wants me to be with in HIS TIME. Not my own. There are some things that I just cannot control, by my own strength. He will guide and direct me. I need to take my own advice and let it go and pray about it and let it go. Leave it at the foot of the cross. He will not abandon me to the depths. He will give me rest. He always does. Because He loves me. And I love Him in return. Because He first loved us.

As you know, i love exploring new music. My 2 favorite songs this Christmas are  “Immanuel God With Us“, by Point of Grace,which is excerpted above, and MercyMe’s “Joseph’s Lullaby“. Amazing. Click on the songs above and you’ll get video of them that I found on YouTube. Enjoy. And Merry Christmas.

post-election and other such non-sense November 6, 2008

Ok, so the election’s over right?? HA! Congratulations Barak Obama, our President-Elect. Good luck. May God’s guidance and hand be upon you from this moment on. You’ll need it. May your road and your path be just as difficult as every one of your predisessors. The whole world is watching. Be prepared.

I don’t know about you, but I really don’t feel united as a country. We’re pretty evenly split. John McCain took 48% and Obama took 52%. That’s a 4% different. Just above the margin of error. I am pretty critical and cynical of President-Elect Obama when he says things like how under his leadership we will be united as a country. I doubt that. The democrats might be united now, post Hilary-Obama feuding. But our country is more divided that ever. It’ll be an interesting 4-8 years on what policies he does follow through on, and what havoc is wreaked upon our contry and our world. I think the number one thing that bugs me the most about America’s obsession with Barak Obama is the fact that he has a celebrity-rockstar status. His campaign was almost 100% emotional and very little about the real issues. I highly doubt his capability as a leader. But nonetheless, I will support him. He is my President. That is my duty as an American. I am proud that we elected an African American. That’s pretty darn cool. But I think that we need to get past the race card and the campaign and move into the real issues and the battle for freedom that’s ahead.

However, I have no doubt that God’s will be done. For some reason, God wanted Barak Obama to win. That was pretty evident that He would win weeks ago. My question now is: what does this mean for us as a country? What is God trying to tell us?

My challenge is that we remember why we’re here. as a friend of mine said on his blog yesterday, “we’re here to be Jesus’ hands and feet.” So TRUE! We should be Jesus with skin on in a world where clothes are only a comodity. We should be the change and not just vote for it, because it’s something and someone different. We need to be active. Hebrews says that faith is living and active. let’s remember that in our actions to the world!! Let your faith and your values live through your life!!

It is my prayer that our Lord would continue to heal our country, guide us, protect us and reveal Himself to us. We need you now more than ever Lord. Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Shadowfeet by Brooke Fraser and other musical snacks October 3, 2008

here’s Brooke Fraser with Shadowfeet:

here’s Meredith Andrews with You’re Not Alone:

Here’s Brandon Heath with Give Me Your Eyes:

Here’s a clip from Fireproof! An AWESOME MOVIE!! GO SEE IT!! 

Here’s Warren Barfield’s Love is Not a Fight, which is in the movie Fireproof:

Here’s John Waller’s While I’m Waiting:

New Music! October 3, 2008

Ok, so its been a while since i posted on here! Life has been so busy i can’t even begin to explain that! Anywya… ive been exploring alot of new music lately. I’ve spent way too much money on itunes, but i cant help it! I needed it! LOL! )

Ok, so here’s some of my newest music discoveries:

John Waller: The Blessing…. AMAZING! I love the song While I’m Waiting. It’s my new life theme. Seriously. It’s insanely good. Insightful lyrics with catchy tunes.

Meredith Andrews: The Invitation. I’ve always loved her, but this is just beautiful. Mellow and poignant at times and catchy and upbeat at others. Makes you think. I like it

Brooke Fraser: Albertine… her song Shadowfeet is AWESOME! I can’t stop singing it and it’s truly how i feel about my relationship with Christ right now. Seriously, it’s just wonderful. I’ve posted the video to Shadowfeet on here. I love it

Brandon Heath: What If We… his 1st CD was awesome and this one is excellent as well. I love the song Give Me Yoru Eyes.. about how how he wants God to give us His eyes to see the brokenhearted and to see things around us that we’re usually too busy to notice. I love it!

Lincoln Brewster: This is the Day… awesome Worship leader! I’ll get to see him at the National Youth Workers convention next week. I can’t wait!!!

Joel Auge… i saw him at Bayside last week and he’s incredible. His song Out on the Blue is wonderful! LOVE IT!

So that’s a recap. Check it out for yourself. Myspace is my favorite place to go and listen to new music for free, and you get teh whole song. Go to these artists’ sites. Enjoy!

In other news… the weather is finally turning into fall!!! YAY! its raining today and that makes me very very happy!