Blessed!

The latest thing I would like to exclaim my praises to God for are the continuous outpouring of new Christian friends through CharlotteOne. I love being apart of the body of Christ. Last night was the Shane and Shane concert!! As always it was amazing. I think my new favorite song of theirs is burn us up. Check it out!

I almost forgot!.. so, I'm a greeter at CharlotteOne each week and since last night was the concert, I was one of the peeps taking the tickets to get in. While I'm taking tickets,this guy trys getting in without a ticket and says, " I'm with the band, I'm with the band." My skeptic self is like, yea whatever go ahead. It wasn't until my friend Daniel told me, the guy I tried to keep out of the place was the guy I had came to see! Talk about hilariously embarrassing!In case you are aching to know who it was, it was Shane Everett. It just goes to show you how ordinary "famous" people look. It was a neat reminder to me that we all fall short, and no matter how "famous" we are, we all will bow down to the FAMOUS ONE.

Here's to Change..

It's so easy to do the norm..wake up, work, eat, hang out with family, friends, sleep, repeat... but seriously... BLAH!! I love my friends and family, don't get me wrong, but I want to Seek the Lord daily.. I want to have a real personal relationship. Yes I read my bible, yes I pray, yes I sing in the shower and car my favorite praise songs, but it's not enough. I want more of Him, my Jesus. I dont' want to just live life my way day in and day out. He blessed me with hands to interpret, to have a job, to pay my bills, to have shelter, to have a car, .. the least I can do is give him credit for all He has done. I'm disgusted with myself so often for watching television programs mindlessly when I have yet to see what my Savior, Father, Creator has to tell me. I'm NOT a morning person but if the Lord had no place to lay His head when on earth, the least I can do is give up a little bit of comfort (literally) to enjoy what my Savior has instore for me. He makes each day new for me to enjoy. He brings me sunshine and rain, he brings me rainbows and butterflies, dogs to pet and children to hold. What a mighty God I get to serve!

To my readers: Please pray that I will add more time to my days by waking up earlier or locking my self in my room sooner (before bed) so I can seek His face and have that "date time" with my Heavenly Father. My friend gave me a 90 day plan for reading the Bible all the way through. I'm definitely interested. I want to read His word like a Karen Kingsbury Novel, not that I've ever read one, although I hear they are quite the read!

Father remind me of your great love minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day. I want more of you Jesus. Make me uncomfortable so I seek your face more and more. When I'm weak, you make me strong. Your love is better than life Lord. Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice so that I can live for you and be with you in Heaven.

I love you Lord.
Amen.

*Celebrity Look-A-Like*

This would be me...

Starting from Top L-R:

Nicole Kidman, and Marg Helgenberger

Bottom:Isla Fisher

Out of the three, which one do you think I look most like?

CharlotteONE

I am so thankful for CharlotteONE. In case you haven't heard, CharlotteONE is a place of worship held on tuesday nights where hundreds of young adults come together to praise the Almighty Father. I'm so blessed to be a part of CharlotteONE! Instead of looking forward to the weekend, I find myself moreso looking forward to Tuesdays! The Lord has brought so many amazing men and women in my life with different gifts and talents. It's encouraging to see people my age, without a husband/wife, without kids, without anything but themself and the Holy Spirit. It's easy to lose your focus in our world; forgetting our sole purpose for life, to SERVE Him, Jesus Christ!



If you are between the ages of 18-35 and are looking for a place to plug in and serve the Lord, CharlotteONE is a great place to be. There are tons of ways to volunteer; making coffee, set up and tear down team, "greeters", connecting, hospitality, technology. All of these groups are in need of willing volunteers to be the hands and feet. This Monday, February 15th, Shane and Shane and John Mark Mcmillan will be in concert! Tickets will be sold at the door for $15 each.

My friend,Rachel, found this video and I thought it was too cute not to share! haha!

http://www.todaysbigthing.com/2009/09/22

check it out!

Struggling to Praise

I hear songs on the radio playing... " I don't wanna go through the motions.. "and I sing it loudly as my prayer to Christ Jesus that as I live my life daily living some type of motion, that it will be a mustard seed size of satisfaction in His eyes. I must say, "It's hard to be a woman in America, and at the same time, it's hard to be a woman in Africa"(singer-Alli Rogers,"Tanzania"). I feel my sword becoming dull and my armor beaten from all that life "gives". I see the world with all of it's desperation and disappointment with people wondering, "How'd I get here?" What steps did I take? I often see so much at once that in return I feel suffocation sinking in wondering if I'll ever feel release from all of life's "offerings". I seek to serve in a world full of "needs", where routine is the norm and going with the flow is waking up, getting yourself (and your kids) ready,"quiet time"/if any, hitting rushhour to get to work;Loving your job or possibly hating it, I don't know your situation, only to finish a days worth of routine and motions only to start it all over again. I can't help but ask the Lord if this is really what Life is all about. Is this the greatness of the Lord? I see yes, .. and I see no. Work is good! It says in His word!, Genesis 2:2, 2:15, ... But I am in search of what the word,WORK means to God and what the word, WORK means to the world. I don't type this to talk bad about working, like I said work is good and if you( and I) can work serving the Lord then that much more to praise Him! I often forget my importance and am bogged down with the future, the what if's, the "yet to be done" and am struggling with the "Praise Him!" part. I want to praise Him when I'm happy and when I'm stressed ,when I'm sick and when I'm scared. As Matt Chandler put it very well in one of his sermons, I want to come to my Heavenly Father looking up, not out, with arms open wide saying, as a child ( of God), I'm hungry, I'm tired, I'm scared. I don't have it all together and honestly I know never will but praise Jesus I know who does and forever will. My prayer today is to rest in his mercy and goodness. For Him to owe nothing to me but His presence, knowing when I'm scared, He's right there, when I'm lonely, His word told me, He'd never leave me. Thank you Lord for your comfort through the sunshine and the rain. You pour down your love and the least I can do is offer you Praise..

-Your broken Child.

As I carry on..

I'm back to my ol' stomping ground and I must say I am feeling much more like myself:). Being in Texas was a wonderful journey God took me on and with that in mind, I have no regrets. I have often referenced Texas in several conversations while back home in NC. I somewhat feel like "Texas" is my ex boyfriend's name. I've said the word Texas so much that even I am tired of hearing, "In Texas....". I can't help but laugh though knowing the memories in Texas are still with me even if I'm not with Texas. I guess the Texans were right, "I can leave Texas, but Texas won't leave me".

Since I've been home, I've been busy working. In a new place, with a new office, new co-workers and pretty much everything around me is... well.. new. I'm enjoying my time with my family and recognizing how much more I appreciate them than before. I now am clearly aware that I must accept all people as Christ does, just as they are. Counting others better than myself with constant humility towards my Savior(Philippians 2:3). Have I mastered this? By no means! Will I ever?probably not. Should I just quit while ahead? No way. If that were the case, Christ should have given up on me a long time ago!

My pastor at my church here in NC preached two days ago on how Jesus is Savior but how it is up to us to make Him LORD. That really hit home for me. Making Him LORD ,to me, meant submiting everything to Him. I must confess, here lately it's not been the case as much in my life. My mind has been so preoccupied with work that I've barely had a chance to catch my breath leaving my "quiet time" with God slim to none. It's made me question my motives as I adjust to being back home. I literally fear slipping back into an old routine or away from my heavenly Father. He knows I'm exhausted from my new job but I know as His child that not making time for Him is not an acceptable excuse. If I am to put Him first in everything I do, then whether I'm in the shower, car or in my office, I am to praise Him, talk to Him and submit to His will every step of the way.

As I come before you as a child saved by grace, broken and weary, I pray that I lead my life from this day forward completely SOLD OUT in all I do for my Savior and LORD, Jesus Christ.

Amen.