Boo!

Hey all! Hope your Halloween was...non-paganistic?...lol.

I didn't do much Halloween related except went to a 7 course meal dinner party on Wednesday night and the theme was orange and black. Posting a few pics to entertain ya. That dog is a pomapoo (pomeranian/poodle mix). The pumpkin outfit was TOO MUCH! Loved it. We had a great time and some wicked good food too. Like for real. I had to bring store-bought pumpkin pies b/c I ran out of time to make them. If you know me, you know that made my heart sad...but what can I say, I'm a busy gal.

This weekend so far has been excellent! Helped a friend shop yesterday, then met up with some others for coffee (pumpkin lattes are the bomb!) Much needed time with my covers and pillow until 11 a.m today! Then some Elevate reading, a wedding shower, then a fajita dinner and bonfire at Maddi's house with a bunch of awesome people. Tomorrow's menu: church, walk with Maddi, more Elevate reading, birthday party, healing and prophetic service. Far from dull huh?

I got complimented on my eyebrows today by one of my girlfriends. Random! I've gotten that comment one other time from a guy when I was in college. Hey, I'll take it :).

Can I just say...I LOVE it when the high is 75. Perfect. Thank you Jesus for these lovely, lovely days!

God is teaching me to be patient and wait on him. He's teaching me to not move until I've heard from him. So I'll pray, and wait, and expect. Expecting is key...that's where faith comes in. Believing in the unseen. Lord, I know you will speak. I know you love it when I call on your name. Holy you are. Friend you are. Mercy giver you are. Ruler of the universe, thank you for being concerned with my very breath. You are my everything and I will adore you.

I'm also pretty excited about our Fall Outreach at A&M next weekend!!! I believe God's gonna do big things. BIG things. The ACC College Station church planters (Ashley and Tyler Hardy) came and spoke on Thursday and imparted their evangelistic giftings to us. Wow, after their talk and prayers, I feel much more empowered to share the gospel. I was feeling pretty sheepish about the whole thing. I go through that a lot...just wanting to avoid evangelism because it weirds people out and it can be pretty uncomfortable. Well...God said he's gonna get me over that, that all the power I need is resting in my bones through the Holy Spirit. I have everything I need and he wouldn't call me to do something that I cannot do. If God can use Moses, he can use me! Tyler Hardy said that we were made for evangelism. It has nothing to do with our personalities. Declare with me, "Boldness is my personality! I am a person that changes the world."

I'll have a weekend unhindered by distractions to just really GO FOR IT and make His name known in the College Station area. The church plant there is doing really well from what I hear. They meet in the Hilton and are averaging like 200 people each Sunday morning. That's pretty good since they just started this summer. So please pray for me, my classmates, and the people in College Station who are about to get rocked by the love of Christ. I want to be so full of God that I spill over!

Ashley Hardy had some good practicals about evangelism:
1. Believe that the kingdom of God is inside of me. Believe that we truly have what they need.
2. Go out with direction (seek the Lord for words, pictures, etc). Ask God who he has already been working on!
3. Love the next person set before you.
4. Compliment people to strike up a conversation
5. Figure out how the Lord uses you best. What's your sharing style/what works for you? Figure that out and do it confidence.
6. Move in the opposite spirit. In a place where no one interacts, start talking, etc.
7. Whatever it takes to break off the fear of man...DO IT.
8. Burn in the secret place with God. Contend to burn brighter each day.

John 6:40 - "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Victory

"Death has been swallowed up in victory.

Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Cor 15:54b -58)

Rain and Abba

Oh my. What a day. Rainy with flats, not the best idea, but an out-the-door-in-a-hurry idea nonetheless. Had too many sweets today to make up for none last week...oops! Can anyone tell me why our gigantic Wal Mart does not carry women's rainboots? There was one style and it was not like anything I see people my age wearing to trod the mini lakes around here. Hmmph! Well, I still think they'd be super useful. Then my rainy with flats wouldn't be such a bad idea after all b/c I could bring them with me and put them on at work...where there are not interior puddles.

Tonight in class, Kevin Johnson came and talked about the Holy Spirit. The passage of the bible he pulled from was 1 Corinthians 12-14, which I am going to read more in depth in my quiet time tomorrow so I can continue processing. Paul talks about love and prophesy, and other gifts of the spirit. He says that we are to desire prophesy over any other spiritual gift. Yet without love, we are nothing.

Think about that. Without love, you are nothing. A clanging of symbols. In this state, we would still have substance (and noise!), of course, but in our relations with others, we are dead. There is no life to speak into another. I'm sure we've all met people that have little love to give. What a sad lifestyle of bondage and despair. For love brings life! It brings growth, connection, warmth, intimacy. It makes us feel known and valued. It lifts us up from out of the quicksand and sets us firm in our identity, making it more natural for us to love others out of the abundance we have received. How can we truly love another when we don't love ourselves?

I want more love and I desire to give it too! I know I can never be loved more by God, for he is 24/7 enthralled with my beauty for my whole life. WOW! But I can certainly work on deepening my love for him. I think it starts with a hunger to know him in unconventional ways. How can you know a person unless you set aside more time (consistently) to find out who they really are? Beyond the surface. I want to push my boundaries with God. To ask more of him, to see how he responds. To ask for more of his spirit to pour out upon me. I want to know the yearnings of his heart, that mine might fall in line. I am confident that each prayer, each acknowledgement of his presence, each praise, each song, each loving thought towards God draws me into a deeper revelation of who he is, thus enhancing my love for my heavenly father. Even when I cry out in my weakness, he does not condemn me. He just pulls me in closer.

I don't know how people call their parents "mother" and "father" when "mom" and "dad", "mommy" and "daddy" carry such a nearness lacking in the former terms. Less blood relation and more relationship. I have heard people call God "Papa." It's so foreign to say that. Even to call God "dad" is new for me. But I like it. And I think it makes him smile. Not that he doesn't want to be feared and revered as well; after all, he is Holy. But as children of the Most High, we have inheritance in his kingdom. Why not call out to him as the coheirs and children that we are?

I was burdened tonight that I need to pray more for the people in my life who I know need a fresh touch from God. Some of them Christians, fallen away, and others seekers, and others, the very ones who think all of this stuff I am saying is hogwash. I want others to experience the God I know. The God I am discovering. The God who is exciting, who has a plan for me and who gently prods me along in that process, refining me with fire and encouraging me with his presence and other believers.

So I will seek Him while he may be found. I pray the same for you dear ones.

The Great

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Most-Emailed-Photos-newborn-babies-Indonesia/ss/1756/im:/090925/481/dfc98aeafe29493da1cf5325e72045ce/

Open Heaven

Sometimes words can't really express what just happened. Ya know? At Lifegroup tonight, we literally had an open heaven. The Lord brought to mind the scripture "knock and the door will be opened unto you, seek and you shall find"...and then I heard him say we don't even have to knock because the door to heaven is flung wide open. Thank you God for an open door policy!!

A newer attendee of our Lifegroup received from the Lord a curve in her neck, and also one of her legs grew out to match the other one. Yep, that's right! We prayed for her because her neck was hurting; and visibly, her cervical spine was straight, lacking normal curvature when she came tonight. She had been experiencing hip and back pain forever because of the leg length discrepancy. That was healed too! Unfortunately I didn't get to see the leg actually grow out because I was praying for another one of my friends...but suddently everyone got super loud and excited and the girl just was sobbing uncontrollably. She was so thankful and so touched by God in a physical way that she literally was wailing. She couldn't even control it! It was amazing the work the Lord did. And then when we were praying for her inner healing, God just brought even more things out to the surface and I really believe God moved deeply in her heart, healing up old wounds and depositing peace. She said later that her whole life she had dealt with secret hurt and shame and not told anyone what she was going through, but that tonight she was set free and given a new heart and new body parts too. It was evident that God's spirit was on her because her worship was completely unhindered and she could care less what anyone else thought of it. I couldn't help but laugh with joy. God you do crazy things! Let us never put you in a box!!!

P.S. This is just ONE of MANY testimonies of how God is moving. He's doing something radical here in Waco, TX. It secures me in my wavering about whether I was supposed to be here this year doing Elevate. I have such a rich community of people here that are all growing in the Lord and seeing signs and wonders. Renew them in our day, God! Let people see that healing and miracles still happen today and that you are not a God of the grandfathers of old.

I was really down on myself today about various things and just not feeling near to God, so I just prayed that in my weakness he would be all the stronger. I was so encouraged by tonight and my faith level has been raised to the Nth degree! Thank you Grady for your affirmation that you do see me as a bold person who would have no trouble witnessing. That was uber encouraging.

Please pray for me this week as I share his word with people I encounter. I am kinda stressed and I've got to make sure I am not being self-centered, and that I don't miss out on opportunities. I need true confidence to share like the believers in Acts. I need the Spirit of God all over me, so that I can touch others with his love. So that it is not anything that I can claim to have done, but that it was all God. Show me who needs you Jesus, and let me be your hands and feet. Let me not wrestle with my fallen nature this week, but be completely abandoned to you!!

Shout Outs!

Hey peeps. So I just feel like I should say that I am extremely...

T
H
A
N
K
F
U
L...

For my amazing parents: You lavish their love on me and help me develop my character and my talents. Enjoyed singing with you this weekend dad! You are so gifted and I respect you so much. The faith you have is immovable! And mom, you are the bomb! You are such a nurturer, kind and compassionate, teaching me about God's heart with the way you live your life.

For my friends here in Waco: You are the best community a gal could ask for! Seriously. I have never found so many people that I loved so much and I am still getting to know more people so that's exciting! Thank you for encouraging me and pointing out the good qualities in me.

For my friends scattered all around: you have all been so important in my life...at different phases of my life you have shown me a different part of who I am and have caused me to see things differently than I would've had I not known you. You have shown me what love is, and that it stands the test of time and space. Although I may not see you much, know that you are precious to me and will always be a part of my story and who I am today. May we keep in touch better!

For my two sisters: You will always be my best friends. I love you deeply and always enjoy our time together. I miss it!! I think the world of both of you and I see so much potential in your futures. Not only are you outwardly stunning, but you are so creative and wonderful and funny. I love your personalities and funny faces and how even though we are all different, we bear the mark of each other in even our expressions.

For my fellow Elevate classmates and administrators: you guys spur me on to know God more intimately! Thanks for taking the time to invest in me and in the kingdom. Thank you for your prayers and words of knowledge. Glad we are in this learning process together and can't wait to see what the rest of this year holds!!

Ha, so as I was doing that, I feel like I just won an Oscar or something! But seriously, I am soooo sooo blessed and I think it's important to remember that and to recall it. My life is rich with what matters most: family, friends, God...and chocolate? mmmm.

Kitties

This is pretty funny, check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtX8nswnUKU

Desert Song

Watch this video from Jill McCloghry from Hillsong:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE33ejdgWIY

What an amazing testimony of faith!!! This song will now hold such greater depth when I sing it. I pray that I will continue to always sing and choose to worship like Jill when I don't always feel like it or when I don't sense God's presence. As she said, "God is still God. It doesn't change what he's called me to be or what he's called me to do...He's still on his throne!"

As Kim Walker says, I don't wanna talk about God like he's not in the room. I don't want to segment my life into "God times" and "me times." Ashley had a word last night for me at Elevate that God wants to pick out my outfits in the morning for me. She saw a banner with "FREEDOM" written on it over my closet.

At first I thought, well that's kinda cool. Sometimes I expend too much effort and time in the morning on that, which can be frustrating! Then I realized the underlying message is that God wants to be involved in every part of my life. It's not like I only enter into his presence when I am praying in the morning, or when I'm at lifegroup or church. No! Jesus is with me and in me. "He always lives to intercede for me." (Hebrews 7:25) Hallelujah :).

I am loving the rain this morning!!! It makes me want to keep writing and staying in my bed. Good day to you all, it's time to get moving!

Psalm 37

"Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret--it leads only to evil." (Psalm 37:4-8)

It's going to be a good day! Lord you say of yourself in Ps. 37:36 that if you delight in a man's way, you make his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall for you uphold him with your hand. Thank you that you never forsake me, but that you are literally holding me in your hand. Lord, direct my steps today. You delight in me!

Denominations

This article caught my interest. While lengthy, it gets more humorous as it goes along. Quite astute observations actually! And if you are Episcopalian, (shout out to Sean), you will like the author's conclusion.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/blog/1451-6-denominations-in-6-weeks

*p.s. Days 2 and 3 of fasting went well! I was so full of joy, especially during worship in my quiet times and corporately. Broke the fast at the Olive Garden and ate too much but had a good time celebrating Carmen's b-day with work friends. We gave Carmen a hard time about her obsession with James Pattinson from "Twilight." She likes jokes and sarcasm, thank goodness. Seriously though, I do love that girl and am thankful for her friendship!

No major stories to tell, (tonight anyway), although I've got some stuff brewing. Hmm...I wonder if my mind auto-selected the word "brewing" because this morning I forgot to turn off the coffee pot and had to come home during lunch to turn it off...boo.

...ya k, I know...time for bed!! Goodnight before my mind gets even more riled up!