Weekend Blessings

What an incredible weekend! It was everything I was hoping for and more. I know some of my Bloggin' Buddies were praying for me, so thank you! I was thinking about you.

God blessed this weekend from the get-go. Friday evening, when I got off of work, I had to go to the church and check on things for the rummage sale. Well, there were a couple of boys there that were able to go with me and pick up the rest of the furniture. So, you know what that means, don't you? I got to sleep in a little later on Saturday! Actually, I didn't sleep any later, but I didn't have to run around. It was nice to have some quiet time. Anyway...the rummage sale was a success on Saturday. The youth made $1000! I wish I had taken pics, but I forgot my camera. Argh!

Saturday's Bible Study went very well. It was comfortable and relaxed...even if it was with adults! Seriously, though, we are doing Breaking Free by Beth Moore and it is going to be a good one. I am sure it will provide some very good blogs in the not so distant future. We had a great time fellowshipping. We talked, laughed, ate, studied, and prayed. What could be better?

Sunday started in church singing praises to our Lord and it ended at an arena singing praises to our Lord. I am talking about the Casting Crown's concert, of course! What an incredible band. They have such a heart for spreading the Gospel. I refer to them as an outreach band because they are all about us being the hands and feet of Christ, being real....not 'playing' church, and recognizing that the love of Jesus stretches far and wide. Their music is beautiful, but hearing the singer speak, well, lets just say that he really wore his heart on his sleeve. He was compassionate about children in far off lands and he was passionate about reaching a lost world. We had an amazing time. Did I mention that we were on the main floor six rows back from the stage???? Yea, we were! :)

And we even left with a new child! OK...not exactly.

World Vision is an organization that helps children in other countries to have fresh water, food, and to go to school. The Lord laid it on the hearts of Connie and I to adopt a child for our youth group. So, we went to a table, found the most adorable little girl with a name I can't begin to pronounce, and brought her info home with us. We are going to ask the kids in youth group and Sunday School to make weekly donations and help us to give this beautiful little child a better chance at life. She is 4 years old and we call her 'Triple T' (all 3 of her names begin in the letter T and we can't pronounce any of them accurately. Hence the name:). She lives in Vietnam. Please pray for her.

I hope all of you had a blessed weekend, too.......;0)

God and Me

My 2nd post of the day....boy I'm on a roll!

This weekend is going to be busy, but I am really looking forward to it. For the first time, in a long time, there is a weekend that is busy with things that are all about....ME! Well, actually they are all about God......and me:)

Saturday my day will start at (insert eye roll here) 6:00am. That is NOT all about ME! Our church is doing a rummage sale for some of the youth (one of mine is included), so we will begin our day by picking up some young men, loading some of my furniture into a truck and taking it to the church. I guess this really is for me, too since I will be the one who has to pay for my daughters mission trip if she doesn't raise enough money.

After that, I will attend the first day of my new Women's Bible Study with some dear friends of mine. You know them as Joyful Mom 6, Wilderness-Shiloh, and Nana of Eight. I am really looking forward to this (Yes, ladies...I seriously am). I was a bit apprehensive joining a women's bible study because I, well, don't usually do 'adult' groups. My passion is youth ministries and that's where all of my time is spent. Working with the youth, teens preferred, is my comfort zone. If you put me in a room full of adults and 5 teens, you will find me with the teens. I just gravitate towards them. Plus, I usually don't like women very much. These women and a spattering of others are truly an exception. God has been working on me though. Mostly through this blog and the women I have had the pleasure of meeting via the blogosphere. I just love all my bloggin sisters! So, I am anxious to be out of my comfort zone and deepen my relationship with Christ and my sisters in Him. I'll let you know how it goes. (Unless it goes bad. Then I can't tell you because, you know, the above mentioned bible study women read my blog:).

Sunday is the icing on the cake. First, and most importantly, my girls and I will go to church and worship our Lord. After church is over....we will worship some more.....at the Casting Crowns concert! My Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve bought us tickets for Christmas, so we have been (not so) patiently waiting for 4 long months. I love this group and the message they spread, so I am really looking forward to it. One of my daughters decided she does not wish to attend, so my good friend, Connie, is going with us. She is our Pastor's wife, MelMac's mom, and Director of Youth Ministries at our church, so my girls are extra excited she is going. They adore her. Poor Connie! The concert doesn't start until 7pm, but we are leaving right after church so we can have lunch at Panera and grab a Starbuck's or 3 before the show starts.

See.....all about God and me this weekend.....and I'm LOVIN' it! I can't wait to post on Monday and tell you all about my time of fellowshipping with my sisters and worshipping our Lord.

I hope you'll leave me a comment and let me know what your plans are:)

He Makes ALL Things New

Spring is such an amazing time of year. Everything that has been dead for months begins anew. It never ceases to amaze me how fast this change occurs. You can drive by a field that is completely brown one day and the next day....it is entirely green. Yesterday I was in awe of how lush the grass looks. It has been cloudy and rainy the last couple of days and the dark green grass against the gray backdrop of the sky is absolutely breath taking. New buds of life adorn the tree's and flowers are beginning to poke their heads up out of the ground for their first glimpse of the year.

I don't think there is a season that reminds me of God more than Spring. It is truly the paradox of our life in Christ. We come to Him brown, broken, wilting, lifeless. He speaks Truth to us and we become stronger. He speaks Hope to us and we become green again. He speaks Love to us and we begin to bloom, poking our heads up out of the ground for our first glimpse of eternal life. Our branches begin to flower because our Vine is strong and provides us with all we need to produce good fruit. Jesus is the Spring of our lives and we are new.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

God On The Mountain

Yesterday I had to drive to Storm Lake for training. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from where I live. I was totally un-excited about it. However, my mom went with me (thanks, mom:) and I found a really great Christian radio station to listen to. One of the songs they played on this station was an old country-ish Christian song called "God on the Mountain". I was immediately 'put-off' by the music of this song. I ADORE worship music, but I really gravitate towards more contemporary worship music. Although, I must say I do love old hymns.

Since I was in the car, in the middle of nowhere, I was pretty much stuck listening to this song and I am sooo grateful. What incredible lyrics. The song spoke of how things are pretty easy when we are on the mountain, but the valley is hard and we shouldn't lose faith because..... the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.

What a wonderful reminder. God is still God. He doesn't change. Circumstances will change, but He remains faithful, loving, merciful, and full of grace. He is there whether we are on the mountain or in the valley......and He is the same God.

I wrote a post titled 'Is He Good' earlier this month as I feel God has been speaking to me about this subject. This song was just His love song to me yesterday.

If you would like to hear it....hokey music and all.....click here.

Check It Out!

I have had a busy day today, so I don't really have time to write a post. However, I do want to link to Lori's blog at Manna from Heaven. She has an awesome video that you HAVE to see!

I also want to link to a captivating blog from Angie Smith. She is the wife of Todd Smith who sings with Selah. Her blog is called Bring the Rain. Please don't go to this blog and plan to read one page. If you don't have time to devote to it, then may I suggest you bookmark it and read it at a later time. Preferrably with a cup of coffee and a gazillion tissues. It is an incredible story of faith, love, trust and above all.....hope. It is centered around a tiny miracle that changed the lives of a family forever.

Blessings to you my friends:)

Locks Of Love

On March 28th, my youngest daughter donated her hair to Locks of Love. I was working and couldn't be there, so my mom took her and took these pictures to capture the memory.

Jordan began growing out her hair in December 2006. By March 2008 she had plenty to donate.

OH MY GOODNESS...my baby's hair is GONE! Her loss.....somebody else's gain:)

The finished product:)

I am very proud of Jordan. This was not an easy decision for her. She was adamant that she wanted to keep her long hair. Then, one day while we were sitting at the dinner table, my cousin, Kaeleen, and I talked to her about Locks of Love. Without hesitation she wanted to donate her hair. As soon as she realized she could help somebody else, she was willing to make the sacrifice. What a big heart for a such a little girl. Well, maybe she's not so 'little' anymore, but she will always be my baby!!

Thank you sweetie for being so selfless when it comes to others. I know Jesus is proud of you.....and mommy is too:)

Blah, Blah, Blah!

So we were blessed with a few days of sunshine and now it's raining and cold....again. I guess I shouldn't complain because I know it could definitely be worse! I could live in Washington:)

I haven't had much to say lately and I haven't felt like blogging the last couple of days. Not sure what that is all about. Maybe it's the whole 'be still' thing. I am forcing myself to blog today, though because I don't want to get out of the habit. I'm one of those people that if I get on a roll with something.....I can't stop or I won't start again. So, here I am blogging about how I don't feel like blogging. Obviously you would rather be reading this than some other blog that is actually full of good Scripture or advice....right?

Tonight is prom and my girls are forcing me to go to the walk-in. In case you are unfamiliar with what a walk in is, allow me to explain:

Walk In: A place where local town folk gather to watch the teens enter into the prom. A place where you can hear adults ooohing and aaahing AND mumbling under their breath about how ugly that dress is, how expensive their childs attire was, can you believe she went with him?etc.

Sounds exciting huh? The kicker? My girls aren't even going to prom, yet! However, we do know quite a few kids who are going, so it will be fun to see them all dressed up. Well, maybe fun isn't quite the word.

OK....please go read something fun, exciting, interesting.....something other than the excessive ramblings of moi. I am going to try to post pics of the family for you this weekend, but I have 400 pics to download from my camera. Can everyone say S-L-A-C-K-E-R? :)