General Session #4

Last night was pretty awesome once again, I Love David Crowder Band they really rock the house. They even did some old hymnals but with a rock tune so I was loving it. At one point he had all of us in the audience put our arms around each other and jump to the beat of the hymnal, I looked out on the audience and we were all moving together literally like the ocean. Everyone was very grateful for David Crowder Band to be there, on a side note I really LOVE his violinist. They will not be here today for the worship portion because they took a red eye last night to make it back to their home church for worship Sunday morning. Gotta love their dedication to their own church. I have added a few pictures I was able to take with my camera of David Crowder Band and Shaun Groves which by the way I love also. He has a real heart for people in ministry, also if you notice he actually left a comment on one of my previous blogs. Jars of Clay will be here for the rest of the weekend, pretty cool!

The speaker last night was Mike Pilavachi, he was pretty awesome. He was speaking at Spirit West Coast this last year. He is a British speaker, and had a lot to say. He was talking about he came to SWC last year thinking he was somebody because they had asked him to come and there would be 30, 000 people there. When he got up there, he choked and people left in huge herds... It was then he realize that he was nothing not even a little bit of something. How many of us, have someone give us compliments and we take it to our heads and think that we are something? He also talked about, how someone had told him you need to only speak at engagements that had 1000 people or more. But after SWC, he realized that Jesus never went to the thousands of people... in most of his stories he tried to stay away from the crowds and went out the save the "one". The one lost sheep that has gone astray, He wants to save the one. Like the woman at the well, or the man in the cemetery and called himself "legion".

Day 4

We woke up at 9:30am this morning, got ready and went to the General Session #3, did some more worship with David Crowder Band (and by the way sounds the same in person and on the Cd, so he must be an awesome artist) also had a speaker named Matthew Barnett..

He's a Senior Pastor in his later 20's at a church, LA Dream Center, from the inner-city of LA. He is taking inner-city LA by storm, he is a white- boy from Scottsdale, AZ that was asked by his Father, after 10 candidates had turned down this position, to be a Senior Pastor. Matthew took the position, moved from everything he knew to LA, his congregation went from 80 to a congregation on 2 in a matter of 6 months. One day, while weeping in his apartment in LA, prayed to the Lord... How can I be successful? The Lord spoke to him and told him to go to Echo Park, at midnight, no less... he thought sheesh God must be punishing me for wanting to be successful so he's sending me there to my death. Anyone familiar with how dangerous Echo Park is?

God spoke to him that night in the middle of Echo park and told him, I want you to throw away any desires you have of wanting to be successful. I want you to look around you, understand that this is your mission field. The gang's, the pimps, the prostitutes, and the drug dealers. When he set aside all of his desires to be successful, at the age of 22 now, his congregation grew from 2 to 700 in 6 months. He's converted gangsters, pimps and and prostitutes. They would go out to areas of LA that no one would want to touch, and give prostitutes a place to be able to run away. LA dream center had purchased 16 homes, and drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes could come here, live, and it would give them an option to be able to turn their life around.

He once brought this girl in from prostitution, grew up in foster homes her whole life. They had a van, smuggled her in there, meanwhile her pimp is chasing them down the street. Who is waiting at the church, but the gangster's, drug dealers, and pimps who had been converted waiting at the gates to scare off the pimp chasing after that girl. When Matthew had a chance to talk to her, she told him her story. She had been prostituting and she got pregnant and everyone told her that she could not keep it and continue in this business. She decided to keep the baby because she thought that this baby would somehow bring her dignity and that it would motivate her to want to change her life. Her pimp came in one day and told her to get to work, and she told him No. While holding her baby the pimp had shot her baby with a gun killing it, and then used a curling iron to ensure that she would never be able to have children again. LA Dream Center brought her in, changed her and now she is going out to those places she once worked to convert pimps and prostitutes. To even further this she had been talking to these 3 pimps in a donut shop for some time, so they told her because she had been so persistent that they would go to church with her just once. And in the back of the church stood 6 or 7 pimps she had brought in, that day all of them had confessed Jesus as Lord.

Another story, Matthew came into the church one day and noticed that a young gang boy had been killed just outside his church. And Matthew said, we've got to do something. The ex-gang members told him, that's not how it works out here... you need to just leave it alone. Matthew continued and said, I am going to do something about this. So they got together $28 to give to the young boy's family. We went across the street to the apartment of the family and knocked on the door, opening the door was the biggest, most tatooed gang member he had ever seen. He asked him what he wanted, well we got together $28 to try and help with the loss of the young boy and to pray for the mother. So he gave them the money and tried getting out of there as soon as possible. And as he walks away, he felt an arm grab him and said can you come in a pray for our whole family? Matthew went in, and had several gang members and the mother. So, he started praying, but nothing so he continued praying bolder and nothing. He prayed even bolder, and he felt the gang members hands tighten with him and he prayed bolder and he felt their arms raise above his head and when he had opened his eyes they were all crying. So, he ministered to them and was able to bring them all to Christ that night. Had he done nothing because of fear, these people may never have come to Christ.

This may be an extreme case, but how many times have we been to scared to do anything or go somewhere out of fear? I admire Matthew Barnett, not because he's saving lives... but because he's not afraid to go out into the scariest place and try and reach people. We will be purchasing the DVD of his speaking from today because it empowered us so much that if this white boy can go to the inner city of LA, then maybe there is somewhere that God has called us to be that we could have been scared of. Too often we stay in our comfort zone. We will be doing a Bible study with our kids on this speaker, He is very powerful and you know what He's under 30... so crazy.

**On a side note, today was my sister's baby shower. She is having a boy, naming him James. My grandma still has suspicions that it will be a girl, my grandma had guessed all of us grand-children's genders before we were born. My mom one times had even bet her house that she was going to have a boy, but just like my grandma had guessed it was a girl. My grandma let us keep the house! That was lots of fun, I can't wait til I will be able to have a baby shower and get all sorts of clothes and stuff. Maybe someday in the future :)

These things still amaze me...

Okay, now I got this email from Apple about the new Ipod Shuffle, and this sooooo awesome! I never thought that this would amaze me, but it still does.

Chris Folmsbee speaker

Chris Folmsbee -notes
An new kind of youth ministry: Incorporating new ideas and practices for
making disciples

Reculturing Evangelism
Proclaiming is with just our mouths, declaring involves every part of our
lives. The way I talk, what I do, and how I love.
Go from "I must obey".... To "I love..."
The Bible isn't easy and explainable but msyerious and complex, and it
should be.
Reculturing Education
Fill the education to meet the needs of the students, not our own
preferences
Never stay static, always evolve
Concentrate on the depth not the breadth
Interactive/Experiential education
People learn better in groups.
Stop worrying about the end product, concentrate on the process of their
own evolution instead of a cookie cutter end product

*** Never be content with where you are in your walk, constantly look for
God and seek after God's voice, Stay humble- never be to cocky to say that
you've messed up, never stop loving, read God's Word.

Recultering Mission
We shouldn't just support missions, but be a missionary everyday
Don't separate the sacred and the secular, realize that God is working in
every area of my life
Mission trips don't mean we have to go far away, missions can be right in
our own city!
Everyone is called to be a missionary, whether in town or overseas
Every has been given gifts and skills to be a missionary, given unique
gifts and skills

Day 2 Session #1

David Crowder and Kendall Payne were entertainment for the worship and had
a speaker Kenda Creasy Dean talked about have we been spiritually deaf to
being able to hear God's voice in his leading in our life.

Also, for fun you should download the song "I hate supermodels" by Kendall
Payne, we were laughing our heads off and she has a really pure sounding
voice.

Day 2 Morning

Day 2, completing the second part of the Critical Concerns course of
Techknowledgy. After we complete the course, we are going to go grocery
shopping and buy food rather than buy fast food all week. Man, they did
not provide any food at all...After that we have a General Session with the
David Crowder band and speaker coming up after that.

Reveal

After lunch today we started the critical concerns course, reaching kids
through today's techknowledgy. The speakers were Jay Delp (who does all the
videography for the convention) and Joel Lusz (Youth pastor for over 20
years). They went through a lot of video editing programs and what
different ways we could be able to use them. It was awesome to be able to
talk with others who are ministry like us and how they are using media for
their kids.
After the session we went into the arena and we ran into the speakers, and
we were able to talk with them about ministry and encouraged us that it
doesn't matter about the numbers. Also talked about having babies, and he
says you need to have them and especially a girl. You will love having a
girl! We said, I know but what happens when they get to 18... He says you
start when they're young.

Tomorrow from 8:30-11:30am they will be continuing the course and talking
about use of Myspace and Xanga blogs for ministry to reach the kids in your
youth group. This will be a very great convention.

The Core

Woke up this morning, went to a free breakfast at the hotel, finished
getting ready and then headed over to the convention center to register. We
got a free backpack that has our whole schedule of events for the next few
days and some cool promo stuff. We looked around in the bookstore, and I am
pretty sure we are going to purchase the whole set of Nooma videos. If you
have never heard of Nooma, the set is awesome. They are inspirational DVD's
for ministry that have incredible messages behind them. They are so cool!
Right now we are just waiting around until 1pm for our Critical Concerns
course to begin, we sat and decided which seminars we wanted to go to,
looking forward to all of this! Tonight from 5pm- 7pm they are having a
madness sale on their bookstore, 30% off all their items. We are waiting
til then to purchase the Nooma series. More to come soon!

Children of men

Saw a preview of this movie yesterday, it looks so intence. I hope to be
able to see it when it comes out. Hopefully, it won't be too violent.

A futuristic society faces extinction when no children are born and the
human race has lost the ability to reproduce. England has descended into
chaos, until an iron-handed warden is brought in to institute martial law.
The warden's ability to keep order is threatened when a woman finds that
she is pregnant with what would be the first child born in 27 years.

Man of the Year movie

This might be becoming a tradition for Halloween, we yet again went to see
a movie on Halloween because we did it last year and the theaters were
empty, so we decided to see Man of the Year with Robin Williams. There were
some questionable parts, and a couple of words. They were few and far
between, we really enjoyed the movie and Robin Williams kept us laughing
almost the whole movie.

A site that you all might enjoy would be the Focus on the Family "Plugged
in", they do reviews on movies, music, video games. It tells you how many
cuss words in each movie, sexual content, etc. Pretty good, and we almost
always check every movie we see on this site. Check it out!

National Youth Worker's Convention 2006

Starting Thursday Nov 2nd through Nov 6th, Andrew and I will be attending
the National Youth Worker's Convention in Anaheim by Youth Specialties. We
signed up for a Critical Concerns course labeled "Reaching kids through
today Tech-Knowledgy", it will be discussing using media to reach your
youth group. We are very excited about this course. There were a lot of
other courses, like marriage and ministry, helping hurting kids,etc. But
they all cost extra money to go to those so we just chose the one for both
of us.

Also, on Saturday night from 10pm- 11pm they will be having a course called
"Using your Mac for Youth Ministry", so we are ecstatic about this one too
since we only use Mac's.
We're wondering how much this will be able to show us, since we really use
almost everything on our laptops for ministry. Andrew especially is
interested to see what they can show him, since he thinks he is the Mac
guru, which to his credit a lot of our friends have purchased Mac's because
of Andrew and his skillful salesmanship!
Awesome speakers coming every day and night, and also some of the coolest
bands: Shaun Groves, Jars of Clay, Kutless, Hawk Nelson, David Crowder
band, and also Kendall Payne for entertainment. David Crowder band will be
leading worship every night, which I am so excited for!! This convention, I
think, will helps us a lot in our ministry and show us some new things :)

We reserved a hotel for the time we are out there because of the times of
the convention, we didn't want to have to wake up at 4am to make it out to
Anaheim. A Queen Suite with free wireless internet, what else could you ask
for? Ha ha. We are so blessed to have a church that will be sending us to
this convention, yipee!
Keep watching the blogs because the next few days I will be blogging a lot
with all the events going on.

Bill O'Reilly

Tonight we went over to Andrew's parents house in Cherry Valley... Holy cow
that fire was close coming off the freeway.

Anyway, while we were there she was watching a Oprah when she had Bill
O'Reilly on and I normally would not like him because I have heard some
things from him before but this time almost all of the subjects he had an
opinion on I agreed on like the war in Iraq, government, etc. I thought he
was an ultra liberalist but he's pretty conservative on his thinking. He
said in the show when debating with an audience member "You probably pulled
that off the internet..." she interrupted and said "No I read it in the
newspaper and I have all the clippings." Bill says, you've regurgitated
that from someone else. He says, "The news shows are jokes" they sit in
make up for 4 hours and read the teleprompter... Ooooooohhh.
I agree, that most people do not know where they truly stand on issues,
they read an article that makes a lot of sense and try to call it there
own.
Most people will agree that soldiers being killed in Iraq is bad, but who
am I to say that their life was not valuable that their purpose was not
valiant? It's one thing to not agree with the reasons for the war, but
don't ever stop supporting our troops!!! They went into the military some
before they knew they were going there, and some because they wanted to go
there and fight. Their reasons may be different, but who are we to say that
their purpose should have been different?
I guess, I feel so passionate about our soldiers because my Grandpa
served, my Father served, and my Brother is serving now. My Dad has told me
stories of when He returned from Vietnam and being yelled at "Baby
killer"... where was the welcome party then? Do you even have a clue how
much morale soldiers lose when their own country does not support them?
Imagine being one of those soldiers, another reason why I am so passionate
about supporting our troops is because so many other don't. I see
protestors wanting to be-head Bush, and I am so stinkin sick of it...
People want someone to blame and he just seems to be the easiest target.
God puts in place all authorities, so why I do I back Bush and support out
troops because "In God we trust"

Mission Mandate

Mission mandate Acts 1: 1-11, Matthew 28:16-20 by Pastor Cor Pool
* Sermon notes

Evangelism- not everyone is gifted with evangelism but we all do have the
responsibility to be a witness for Christ.

"And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."

Jerusalum- start with the people closest to you
Judea and Samaria- beyond the comfort zone, people that are different than
you.
End of the earth- go everywhere, Global Mission

- Finish the missions that Jesus has started, there is no "Plan B" in the
missions of Jesus Christ.
- Americans are more interested in spiritual things now than they were 10
years ago. 65 million people do not belong to a church. 34 million people
said that they would go to a church if someone invited them.
- 2 Peter 3:9
- Our mission here on earth has eternal consequences, sometimes that means
stepping out and taking a risk.
- We know the path to salavtion, why would we not want to share that with
other?
- We are called to be bridges to people not walls, we need to reach other
that may be different than us.
- Reach out to the homeless, the loveless in their plight.
- Are you fishing for men, if not, everyone deserves to hear The Word of
Christ.
- Is anyone going to be in heaven because of you? Is anyone going to say
Thank You for sharing your faith with me?

Buttercups

A little while ago Andrew's parents gave me a little bucket full of
buttercups (which smell delicious when they are bloomed) from there house
out at Cherry Valley because they were blooming literally all over their
3/4 of an acre backyard. So my Father- in - law took a shovel and dug some
up for me and I took them to our little place and have been sitting outside
our door for about 6 mos. A few months ago, I could have swore I killed
them off. I remember Andrew's mom telling me that they are resilient little
flowers, but I thought I still killed them. This morning I came outside to
find them growing still and on top of if they have multiplied the bulbs.
Crazy! So, I am excited for them to start blooming because they smell so
wonderful. I can't wait to have a full garden of my own, or a backyard or
front yard to plant... someday.... Ahhhhh :)

Eyelash implants

Listening to Air 1 this morning, the news mentioned that cosmetic surgery
has now allowed for a person to be able to get eylashes sewn into their
eyelids so that you could have longer eyelashes. The surgery would cost
$3000/ per eye. Yikes, I say forget that crap. You would have to trim your
eyelashes because they use human hair, weird huh?

Briggs Wedding 10-21-06

Create Your Own!

1 Corinthians 12

Spiritual Gifts (by Pastor Cor)

The divine ability distributed by God to fulfill his purpose for us for the
common good of the will of God.

If you are gifted in teaching, Teach. If you are gifted in leadership,
lead. If you are gifted in reaching people, evangelize. If you are gifted
in music, then play. We cannot copy someone else's gift, we need to use the
gift that God has blessed us with. We need to discover out gift and then
develop our gift. If you are not using your spiritual gift God has given
you, maybe it's because you are scared but when you do use your gift it
will give you the greatest thrill you could ever imagine.
After you discover and develop it, deploy it. Put it into action (1 Peter
4: 10). God has given us each a gift so that we can use them. No Christian
is ever left out of receiving a gift, God has given each Christian a gift
to be able to function as one body. There should be no spectators within
the church, no one should ever just be sitting in the pews. The body of
Christ suffers, when one part does not use their gift. When we come here to
serve God we need to put aside any spector attitudes, not just listen to
The Word but be doer's of The Word.
God's plan is brilliant!!! Every Christian receives a gift, so that one
ever feels insignificant. No ever feels left out. Every person is an
important part to furthering the Kingdom of God. No such thing as "little
people" in the body of Christ. Every gift is needed, and we compliment each
other by using your gift. Start now by contributing to the body of Christ
and serve by using YOUR gift :)

Bored at lunch!

Funny picture of me because I am bored at lunch now.... Geesh. If I had my
internet acess that would be nice! Can't use my work computer for personal
business.

Bachelorette Party

Last saturday was the Bachelorette Party for my cousin, I rented a 2007
Jeep Commander, which I loved!! Picked them up at 11am and went to eat at
the Elephant Bar in San Bernardino. After that we went to the Picture
People (which I wouldn't suggest going to unless you have children) and
took some pictures (seen above) then after that headed out to Palm Springs
for manicures & pedicured at the Spa Resort & Casino (do not go there,
staff has horrible customer service and prices are outrageous) so it turned
out the girls only got pedicures but that is fine. It started getting dark
so we headed out to the Aerial Tramway (www.pstramway.com) to go up the
hill and have dinner. We got there and it was 38 degrees, we ate at the
Peaks Restaurant (yummm) I got the Kobe Burger, 1 girl got the linguini,
and the rest got the steak and fries. Excellent service, quiet, and had a
spectacular view of the Coachella Valley at night. We all gave Nicole some
sexy lingerie and fun marriage stuff, who hoo! 2 days for Nicole as a
single woman! Riding down the tramway at night was scary and cool at the
same time :) We all got back to the meeting place and 1 girl left her
headlights so I used the rental (which seats 7 by the way) to jump start
her car. All in all besides the horrible service from the Spa place it was
a pretty good bachelorette party!

Barefeet Costume Party

Create Your Own!

Bridesmaid Dress

2 pictures of me in my bridesmaid dress:

Busy days

So Saturday 21st is my cousin's wedding and I am the matron on honor. These
last few months have been hard, especially since I still think of her as so
young still (and really she is only 1 year younger). Tonight I have my
final dress fitting and Friday I should be able to bring it home. Thusday
is the Rehearsal Dinner and Friday is going to sleep early because I have
to wake up at 4am for my hair appt... I know I know she is crazy for making
me wake up at 4am. So I also have to come up with a speech for the toast,
yikes, I have so much that I could say. Pray that I can keep up the energy
through the weekend and try and rest on Sunday and go back to work on
Monday. It's so utterly crazy how fast we truly grow up, and thinking about
families and wow so amazed still. I always get butterflies thinking about
having a baby, he he.

Date & Time stamp

Okay so I have been in search of a Electric Customizable date & time
stamper but have been unsuccessful. I used to use this one by DYMO called
the datemark but it is not customizable. I need it to be able to say my
company name and department. If anyone has any resources of where or how I
can find this please let me know.

Thanks!!!

Question?

Did anyone ever actually eat the top of their cake at their 1 year
anniversary. We still have the top of our wedding cake and wondered if it
would be actually safe to eat after that long. Anyone?

Bitterness? No!

I can look back on recent events and honestly say I have made a lot of
mistakes, I am not so prideful that I cannot admit that.

One thing I won't do, is take responsibility for someone else's mistakes or
actions. When will people step up to the plate and stop pointing the finger
at other people for their problems? When did society teach people to point
the finger instead of taking responsibility? I may have said things the
wrong way, but what excuse can someone else have for their own actions?
They take none, and because they take no responsibility it only shows their
lack of maturity.

When did it become okay to always act like the victim to get your way? Who
taught these younger generations to act in such a way? These people act
like victims all the time so that someone will always pity them and feel
sorry for them and always come to their "rescue".

When did it become okay to shut your eyes so you purposely not see the
truth or reality of a person? How can we shut our eyes to reality of who
people are or excuse them away because of their behavior. At some point in
your life you will be face to face with the truth, will you close your
eyes? You can only shut your eyes for so long, before you are backed into a
corner with the truth.

I never claimed to be perfect, and I never will... I have a lot of my own
issues. The great thing of having a good relationship with Christ is that
he is constantly showing me where I need to improve and every part of my
life is a learning experience. I will not let the love in my heart grow
cold because of other people's thoughtless and selfish actions, because
Christ is constantly pumping my heart full of warmth because I am seeking
His good and perfect will.

RMC

This a picture of me in my company logo polo shirt, they are really
comfortable. Supposed to only wear them on Friday's but I am too lazy and I
work in the admin so they are cool with it. Man, I am tired lately. Keep
thinking... Why am I so tired? Sheesh. Try and watch some TV tonight and go
to bed early.

Clint's 27th birthday

We had Bible study and also Talia and I decided to make a cake and decorate
it for Clint's birthday. Had a lot of fun. Happy Birthday Clint!!!

Talia's hair

The New life Drama company having fun with Talia's hair!!!

Gone...

So... When I was 17 years old I decided to get my belly button pierced.
Everyone was doing it... Ha ha. I was a lot skinnier back then and I
thought it was totally cool to be able to get one so I did. Well,
embarrassingly I have still had it in til this day. I decided this morning
that I have had this in for 6 years and that it is time to just get rid of
it. With me wanting to have kids someday... It was just time. So I have
moved along now, it is quite weird since I feel like it was almost a part
of me but it's gone now. Man, I can't believe I kept it in for that long.

Connecting

How weird would it be to walk around this earth and have no connections with people. Our sermon for this Sunday morning was all about the connection with people. How much relationship effect our ability to minister to people or not. Each of us has been designed as a different part of the body of Christ(Romans 12:1-21). Without us being unified as one body, how can we work together for Christ's purpose. We all need to be plugged in to the church and ministries. If all we do is sit in the pews every Sunday but walk away without a connection, then you are missing part of the purpose of our being here on Earth. If you expect to walk into a church and meet perfect people then you are coming into church with the wrong objectives. We are all a bunch of messed up people who have issues and we are not perfect. If we were perfect then we wouldn't need a God who forgives. Because we are imperfect, we need a God who forgives us and cleanses us. As people, we need connections in order to have fellowship. Most people do not respond to street preachers, the main reason I believe for this, is because when people street preach they don't portray their faith being real to them. How do we show people that our faith is real... By creating relationships and showing them that your faith is consistent in every area of our lives. Show kindness, be patient, always forgive, offer commitment. Just some thoughts of my own from the sermon this Sunday.

Gosh!!

Okay, So I have been signed on for this wedding on November 17th. I was like totally nervous before, but then I went on the internet and found out where the wedding was going to be held and now I felt even more nervous because the site where the wedding and reception is going to be held is in a lot of ways not very attractive. So, now I am even more nervous because I don't quite know how I am going to pull off good photos in a place like this. I have my flash and I have been practicing but am still nervous anyway. The reception shouldn't be so bad but the ceremony I am pretty nervous about. Keep me in your prayers.

Details from Monday

Well, I spoke to my Dad who had his meeting with his Union Rep and with Human Resources. The meeting went really well, the Union Rep said he represented himself really well. They asked him questions about the specific situation, what happened in the classroom full of students and teachers. He told them that the student asked for my dad to show him her pressure points because she had a headache.

When he mentioned that he knew who had made the allegation, they were surprised that he knew who it was. They asked him how he knew, and he answered by saying that she is the only person in this facility that doesn't like me. When she has an issue with me, she has never pulled me aside to discuss them with me, she will say what she needs to say in front of the children and in front of other counselors, which is inappropriate. They asked him for a specific example of her not liking him, so he made mention of a situation where he made a joke about people who wear low-rider pants. He said there are 3 kind of people who wear low riders, Britny Spears, britny spears' fans, and plumbers." She came storming over, and scolded him because her husband was a plumber.

He also told them, that in this profession because they counsel kids, it is not unusual for counselors & teachers to hug one of the children, in some instances we are hugging children 3 or 4 times a day. Especially, when they are going through a hard time. The probation officers feel that they should not have any physical contact whatsoever with the children. Which, is ridiculous, due to the nature of their profession.

All of his co-workers they talked to gave him praise, that he is well liked, the children get along with him, has been here for 15 years.

Me being in Human Resources myself, I tried to get as many details as possible... They took my Dad out of his work which I can understand because they don't want to compromise the investigation. The part that could get the County of Riverside and Probation dept. in trouble is the fact that the Chief Probation Officer banned him from Van Horn, and made him clean out his desk which in other words is claming him guilty before they have come to this conclusion and told him he would be transferred. you cannot force someone out of their job without reasonable justification as to why you are forcibly transferring them. My Dad thinks he is going to be consulting an attorney depending on the outcome of the investigation. It is defamation of character, which he would not be going for any money but a formal apology from the County of Riverside, Chief Probation Officer, and the officer that accused him for falsely accusing him. There are a lot more details to the interview, but this is what I have for now.

My Dad is hurt beyond belief about this whole situation, I pray that Human Resources would find no fault in my Dad. That those who accused him would understand the severity of trying to accuse someone of these actions. Lord, give my Dad a peace about the outcome, that your will would be done. Pray for the accusers, that they would be able to see the truth. Thank you for all of you that were praying for him, and continue the prayers on until they reach a conclusion to this investigation.

***Update***

My Dad was originally supposed to meet with Human Resources today but
instead he scheduled it for Monday so he can have his Union Rep. With him
to help him with the investigation because He does not know all the
legalistics. He has a peace about this whole situation, he knows God is in
control. Pray that Monday the interview with Human Resources would go well
and God would give him the right words to say.

Sacrifice

What is it Lord that have asked of to sacrifice for your name? I look
around and see a greedy society... People always wanting more. When they
get what they want... They continue to want even more as if what they have
is not enough. I think goals and dreams are important, but when those goals
and dreams consume your thoughts more than than the will of God then it is
time we start sacrificing. When Jesus asked his disciples to follow Him,
one asked to wait so he can bury his family and another wanted to say
Good-bye to his family. But Jesus told them, No, to follow me you must
leave everything(Luke 9:59). Isn't that what we are supposed to do also
with out faith? God says don't stop along the way to finish your business,
I put you here with a purpose. The hardest part of our life, is figuring
out God's purpose for our lives. Yes, we are to witness but in what ways
has God asked of you to witness to those around you? Do you encourage your
fellow believers to not JUST believe but to have depth to their
relationship with our Savior? To not stop at what's comfortable but move on
towards areas that are out of your comfort zone? To not be satisfied with
where you are spiritually? To be teachable? What is it that God has asked
you to do that you have ignored or flat out refused to do?

When I read Hebrews 12:1-2, throw off everything that hinders us and
entangles us...throw off!! That means not letting that $ an hour distract
you from your devotion to Christ. Sometimes we have to throw off the many
things that we want for the greater purpose in life. When I sit before God,
He's not going to say why didn't you get a house? He's gonna look at me and
say, while you were so busy trying to get that house or that more money you
missed the opportunity to help someone or encourage a fellow disciple.
Ouch! I don't want that! I would be grateful for a house for a family but
at the expense of God's will for me... That I will not do just so I can get
a house. I am so thankful Lord, that you saved me. Thank you Lord for
remembering me when I am crying and in pain. Your are so faithful Lord, I
praise you Father for all you're doing and all you are going to do.

Need hardcore prayer!

Yesterday, I went to my Dad's house to find him off of work. So, I asked
him why he was home so early, they sent him home early. My Dad currently
has been working for the County of Riverside for 15 years, and due to
retire next year. Where he works is called Van Horn, it's similar to
Juvenile Hall but these teens stay there long term because of their
behavior problems, or getting into trouble. They go to school at Van Horn
and sports, etc. My Dad counsels the kids and the parents to understand the
reasons for the behavioral issues, he also has been a coach for
Cross-country for these kids for about 10 years now!

My dad has been able to be such a great witness to his co-workers and his
kids and over the years has been able to bring some to Christianity. It has
been such a blessing to my Dad.

Yesterday, my Dad told me that one of the kids came up to him and told him
that she had a headache, can you show me the pressure points to try and get
rid of the headache? So my Dad, showed this girl her pressure points on her
head... Meanwhile he is in a classroom full of kids and adults. One of the
probation officers thought it was inappropriate and reported him as
touching students inappropriately!! My Dad never touched anything below her
neck. Human Resources is now investigating the situation, and he is off
work and with the kids until they come to a conclusion about the situation.
The probation officer that reported didn't like my Dad to begin with which
was more of the source of the report than what he was actually doing.

Bogus!!! My dad has cared for these kids deeply like he would his own, and
gosh darn it... He's good at what he does.

I pray that Satan would not get a foothold in this situation, that Human
Resources would see the truth of the situation. I pray that God would
reign, I truly believe that Satan has used the probation officer to try and
attack my Dad because he is one of a few Christians in his workplace. Pray
that God would be sovereign, that my Dad would be able to stand strong.
That the people being interviewed would use the right words to clear the
investigation. Lord, we need you to reign through this situation, we need
you to take a hold of this investigation and bring to the surface the
truth. Wrap your arms around my Dad and let Him know that you love him and
you have a purpose. Rest your love upon my Dad as he goes through this
trial.

A new chapter!

Well, we thought we were going to begin this new chapter in our life. We
spent most of our afternoon looking at land properties or houses. No luck
on this aspect of our lives, too many were out of our price range. We even
said we would buy a not liveable house and live on the land til we can
re-build but that aint happening either :) The realtors were very helpful
and knowledgable just can't find the price we need right now. So I think
that was God's way of closing the door for us... Right now anyway.

Andrew and I were talking and looking at each other like.... What the heck
are we going to do???? We both shook our heads and said " I have no idea!"
Our plan is this: We are going to buy a different 5th wheel... Not new just
one with a better floor plan. Hopefully near the same price we bought the
other one for. That way we will actually be spending less because of the
interest rates. Yeah, we won't have a house when we have a baby but this is
God's plan for us as crazy and how scary it might be, it seems to be the
only road that God has lead us. Financially, it's better for us just to
save what we can.
So, after being not so sure this morning about all these plans. I got a
wonderful opportunity to talk with my co-worker who is a Christian and has
4 children. She asked me when we thought we were going to have kids and how
many. I told her that I was scared because of our living situation. She
smiled and said, When I got married I was 28 years old and me and my
husband waited 2 years before we started to have children. Within those 2
years we had all these things we wanted to get before we had kids... like a
house. And when we realized that these things were not going to happen
before we wanted to have kids. We just said what the heck, we are gonna
have kids anyway. You put aside all those pre-set ideas you had and you
make the best of the life we had. We didn't have much, but we didn't need
much either just food on the table and a roof over our heads. I had
girlfriends that made a lot more money than me and my husband and she had a
very nice house filled with expensive furniture. She was so worried about
getting it dirty,that even her own children were not allowed to sit on the
couch. She said, I see that and didn't want to live my life that way. We
bought multi colored couches and carpet so dirt wouldn't be so obvious and
our kids could actually "live" in the house. I never wanted too nice of
things, because I realized they were just that... Things! I am excited for
you to have kids, you'll never regret them no matter when you have them,
it's when they get older and they don't want to hug you and cuddle with you
that kinda hurts. I wished they could go back to being little ones again.

Listening to her talk made me smile and made me feel encouraged in my own
life. That people can make it work for them, even if you don't have a nest
egg and "planned" financiallly to have a family. Because of the life we've
chosen, ministry, we will probably never make a lot of money. Whoever says,
people get into ministry for money, is kidding themselves! It's so hard to
decipher God's will for us right now. I feel like we're kinda just
wandering around looking for the right path. The right path and knowing
that the one we're standing in front of is the right one, is hard. The last
thing we want to do is step away from the will God wants for us. Crazy!
Crazy! Thank you for bringing this co-worker to me so she could encourage
me :)

The flash is here!!!

I am so totally stoked right I just can't contain myself.... My flash is
in!!! I just can't wait to actually use it :) Anyway, I just had to write
that really quick !

Land for sale?

Hey everyone- If you know of any land for sale in your areas please let me
know as soon as possible. We are looking to buy a piece of land. Just send
me the number for the realtor and we will call them.

Thanks!!

I don't need your pity

I am so sick and tired of people's reactions towards where we live. When I
say that they automatically assume that we are so poor beyond compare that
we can't afford anything. I mean we don't make 100,000 a year but I feel
like people who make that kind of money just pity us and I am so stinking
sick of that kind of attitude towards me. I don't need you to feel sorry
for me. God has blessed is many other ways than money. I never wanted to be
make a lot of money, because money distracts people!!! People who have
money depend on it for their lifestyle and I won't do that. I will depend
on my Savior for my provisions and my blessings because greater is the
woman or man who depends on the unearthly God of Heaven than on earthly
matters. We are only here for a short time, and when you sit at the throne
of God... He won't ask you to pull out your checking, savings, or 401K and
ask how much money you have or made. He'll ask you, where is your heart?
Was it with me here in heaven or there on the earth? My heart lies within
the hands of God, I rest in his arms because I know that from that I will
grow closer with Him.

** venting through a hard day today**

Mobile Homes

Well, we checked out the mobile homes within our park yesterday and from
the outside they don't look that spectacular but we are going to try and
schedule a time for us to go inside. It's 4 bedrooms and 2 baths just
recently remodeled so we will see....
Also, Andrew and I are endeavoring into possibly buying a piece of land in
colton with another young couple we know and make sure the land is big
enough for 2 houses and either build a house or put our own mobile home on
the property. There is a lot of land for sale in the area we live in Reche
Canyon so we are looking into the prices of the properties for sale. Some
are like 10 acres of property!!! We will see, the couple we went camping
with are also in youth ministry like us... I think this would be soooo
cool! We will see the prices first before we get ahead of ourselves here :)

Weekend at San Clemente w/ Fitzpatricks

Friday night after work headed to San Clemente State Beach for camping with
another married couple Eric & Becca Fitzpatrick. We will be there til
sunday. This is a picture of all of us on the shuttle, we are on our way
now to the Harbor Days in the Oceanside Harbor. Before that we came from
the Mission Del Rey off the 76 hwy. More pictures to come from our trip!!!
Hope you all are having a nice weekend :)

Beautiful Sunset

This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Thank you Lord for making this sunset for me :)

14 lbs...

Whooo hooo.... I now weigh 134 and I am still looking to lose about another
10 lbs and I will be satisfied. I messed up on meals here and there and had
fast food one night bu overall I feel I have been disciplined and been
picky on the foods I have chosen and eaten. I am slowly but surely getting
back to where I want to be and I feel so great and energized most of the
day. I don't normally get tired as early. I am so proud of myself cause
everytime I try to lose weight I fail, but this time is totally different
and I love the foods.

** P.S. A mobile home in our park is for sale for $55,000 4 bedrooms and 2
bath. We are going to take a look this weekend and see how we like it. Keep
us in your prayers that God will would be done.

Barefeet dodgeball

We played Dodgeball with our youth group, we didn't keep points or try to
hurt each other. We did, however, have a lot of fun! Pictures are low
quality because they were taken by my phone. Wish more kids could have been
here for this one! Totally hilarious :) Play for Barefeet and continual
additions to the youth group. I am working on door hangers we can make, we
will be heading out to the community to put these on doors to hopefully
make our numbers increase.

Is this God's ministry for us? Is the lack of growth and decrease of
numbers due to us? Is it because we are doing something wrong? Oooh Lord,
we call upon your name to reveal to us what we are doing that may be wrong
or what it is we need to do to make your kingdom flourish even more? Lord
show us your wisdom and show us the true answers according to your will! We
call upon your mighty name, use your power, Lord, to bring more kids your
youth group Lord. We thank you Lord, for your marvelous Love and endless
renewals in our life. We come before you Lord, humble and open, that we may
know more about your will for our lives.

Production work

Here is an example of one of the wedding invitations I have made, my own
creationg!! Hope you like it.

Life's frustrations

I can say that no more than 2 weeks ago, that for sure God spoke to us and said just stay where you are and don't worry about getting a house. Start your family when I want you to and don't worry about the rest. Andrew and I are faced with some questions now because of the recent turn of events that arose with us having to pay our own utilities now through the park. We've searched and searched every possible resource on the internet to see if there were other places we could move the 5th wheel to but unfortunately, it seems like the park we are in is pretty much the only decent one to live in this area. So, we looked on the internet at apartments that might be cheap... nope, no luck there unless I want to live in a gross area that would be dangerous. Looked at condo's, nope, once again still too expensive. So, now we are faced with quite a dilemma. Right now, yes, we are going to stay here. A few months down the line, rent will go up again and we will be faced with a problem where we will be paying as much as an apartment. We are working to pay off Andrew's truck as soon as possible so I started helping him on my side to help with the payments and get rid of it. Other than that, we still have no idea what the heck is going on with our future. We thought for sure we were going to buy a bigger RV and start a family, but we cant afford the bigger RV with the raise in rent. I am a little confused as to what direction God truly is trying to lead us. We will start a family next year still, but now we're faced with quite the pickle. Gosh, if I could just be pointed in a general direction that would be so helpful but no... nothing yet. I keep praying relentlessly for now 3 or 4 months about this living situation and yet I am still waiting for an answer. We are still paying less for an apartment now, and come January I should be getting a raise too but I don't know how much yada yada yada. Andrew, feels strongly called to stay at his current job (even though it doesn't pay very much) because we has been able to minister to a lot of the employees there. We've been given a great gift of having somewhere to live at all with the income we have. By now means, am I ungrateful for God providing for us. Money, is and hopefully never will be the focus of our lives. If anyone knows of any inexpensive apartments or living areas in the Riverside, please let me know so we can check them out :) Thank you for praying for, continue the prayers that God will show us the direction to take.

Tears up my heart

An employee came in this morning and her daughter in law gave birth 2 weeks
ago and the baby was premature by 2 months. The part that killed me was,
she went in for a check up and the dr told mom to come back in 1 week. In 1
weeks time, the mom started gaining massive weight quickly... When she went
in for her check up the baby went from 4 lbs to 7 lbs in a weeks time. The
employee said she could see panic in the Dr's face when he realized this.
The mom was scared to death so they had to deliver the baby. The baby 2 mos
premature wa swollen up like the pillsbury dougboy. The Ob/Gyn said he has
never seen a case like this in the 30 years he has been doing this. Mother
has health problems, unexplained, and so does their baby girl. The mother
has 2 older boys... The employee explained in tears that they were going to
be pulling to plug on the babies life support this afternoon. Pray for
Shannon and baby girl.

A Wedding and an Engagement session

Alright, So I have scheduled a wedding for November 18th at a local church, so this is my chance hopefully to prove myself worthy as a photographer. Luckily, Andrew will be by my side helping me with some more creative shots also. Also, some friends, Aaron and Jolene are engaged and going to be getting married Sept 2007. They asked me to schedule them for an Engagement photo session, I am thinking the beach area like Aliso Beach not sure yet. That will be scheduled in December. Is it possible that people might actually want to hire me for real? Totally cool and yet I still feel a little pressure especially for the wedding in November because I have yet to purchase my flash and I really need to get practicing on it so that way I will know how to use in come November... yikes!!!! Not a lot of websites have tips on using a professional flash, unfortunately. If you know of one... please let me know. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I am so totally stoked for this wedding :)

Side note, we are home from the desert, I took some funny pictures of people innertubing, jet skiing, and misc. I will be posting them on my flickr account pretty shortly here. Also, SOME (and I quote, some)of my photo work in on my Flickr account also, Most of my work can be found on www.BeeZion.com.

Youth Specialties conferencce

Andrew and I registered for a Youth Specialties Conference in Anaheim Nov
2nd-6th. It will be going over a lot of issues with the youth today and we
will be going to a critical concern class on Digital Discipleship:
Transforming teens through today's TECHknowledgy- digital, dynamic,
do-able. Should be a really cool conference. Downside is that we have to
wake up at the crack of down to be in Anaheim for 5 days, can't afford a
hotel :(

Woe to the rent!

Well, as of November 1st, 2006 our park decided that we were going to have to pay for our electrical separately. Since we've been here our space has always paid a flat rate for electrical and water... which til now has been great because we can use as much as we want and still pay the same amount. So, we got a notice from our park that each space will be paying separately for their usage of electric. Yikes! Okay we started out paying very little like $600/mo that's with what we pay for the RV we purchased. So, it went up again a few months back. So we were paying $700/mo including the RV rent. Now, we are looking at somewhere around $750 to $800/ mo. Well, we were saving a lot of money going this route, now Andrew and I are trying to figure out if God is trying to tell us something. So, I have been researching some alternative ideas so that we can maybe live in Riverside or something. We are going to be praying hard for the answer that GOd is hopefully trying to send us. Gosh, it's like one thing after the next, you'd think that our sewer line breaking and DSL going out the last few days wasn't enough. Ahh, well onward to my prayers so maybe God can show me something and then off to sleep I go. I am so excited tomorrow is Friday and this weekend is Labor Day. I hope all of you stay safe this 3-day weekend :)

I can't believe it

I have lost now 10 lbs in 5 weeks, I am so unbelievable stoked!!!!! I
messed up on my eating here and there, like 1 small piece of pizza, tacos
one night, fried chicken... Which kinda surprises me even after I ate all
those horrible foods I am still losing weight. A lot of people tell me it's
because of my age and not having children yet, but I still believe I had a
hard time keeping weight off and that was mostly in part to eating too much
and of the wrong things. I think I have 1 pair of work pants that actually
aren't falling off my waist :) The best part is I eat starches (which are
my favorite) and I still lose weight. The part I hated about other diets
was they cut out my favorite parts of eating and I always lost the battle
because I had a craving for the foods. My goal weight is 125-128lbs, I am
at 138lbs now... Only 10-12 more lbs to go!!!! I should be able to do in
only 4 more weeks... Yeah!!
Best advice yet on eating: When buying foods, read the ingredients... If
you don't know what's in that food like maltodextrin, you shouldn't be
eating. Ever seen a maltodextrin tree? I haven't :) Buy organic foods
whenever you can. Stick to whole milk dairy products (no low fat), and
there is no limit on fruits and veggies servings so EAT UP!!! Cut in half
what you would normally serve yourself, eat slower!! And if after eating
that smaller portion you are still hungry than you may go back for a little
more. Remember it takes your brain 10 minutes to comprehend that you are
full. Never eat til you are stuffed, you want to shrink your stomach :) Any
questions... Just let me know, I have been completely happy with my results
:)

Untaming the heart

(1:7) For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
(1:8) So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, (1:9) who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

Andrew's sermon from last sunday was on these verses. Speaking about how we have been given power by Christ. Don't be tame about witnessing or ministry, why are we tame as Christians? If you have ever seen a Tiger starving, you'd see how weak they look as a creature. But untame and fully fed they are majestic and powerful creatures made by God with a purpose!!! Take a hold of God's power today and live for Him.

Life changes

So, with being a wife to a husband in ministry it is difficult to put roots
down somewhere and then maybe be moving. Andrew and I prayed and have come
to a conclusion that with ministry being so unstable that it wouldn't be
smart financially to buy a house for the time being anyway. So we have
discussed our other options for babies. Andrew's quote recently "There is a
lot to be said about living a humble life".

Andrew recently met a man who had everything income of $6K a month a 10,
000 sq ft. House and it was all taken away... Right before he lost
everything and they had just purchased this RV and now him and his 5 kids
live in a 31 ft trailer. The man said " It had to happen this way for me
understand life isn't about money. It's about my family".

Our conclusion, to wait for the Lord on what to do. We both want to have
babies so bad, so that's why it's so difficult to fathom having them in an
RV. But we also think, at least our children will know it's not about the
stuff and that won't distract them. We are still considering just upgrading
our current RV to be more liveable so we can start a family. Somehow, we
both just have this funny feeling that we need to be mobile so God can move
us if called, We won't be tied down to a mortgage. I don't want anyone to
look down on us because we want to start a family but don't have a house
for them. Our kids will be loved so much no matter where we live, I used to
have this idea that we should own a home before we have a family but I am
throwing that out the window and go with God's plan for us and ahh well we
live in an RV. It's pretty great living the simple life!

Get some tissue for this one:

Jesus says..."If you deny me before man, I will deny you before my Father
in Heaven

A Simple Thank You

Last week, while traveling to Chicago on business, I noticed a Marine
sergeant traveling with a folded flag, but did not put two and two
together. After we boarded our flight, I turned to the sergeant, who'd been
invited to sit in First Class (across from me), and inquired if he was
heading home.

No, he responded.

Heading out I asked?

No. I'm escorting a soldier home.

Going to pick him up?

No. He is with me right now. He was killed in Iraq. I'm taking him home to
his family.

The realization of what he had been asked to do hit me like a punch to the
gut. It was an honor for him. He told me that, although he didn't know the
soldier, he had delivered the news of his passing to the soldier's family
and felt as if he knew them after many conversations in so few days. I
turned back to him, extended my hand, and said, Thank you. Thank you for
doing what you do so my family and I can do what we do.
Upon landing in Chicago the pilot stopped short of the gate and made the
following announcement over the intercom.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to note that we have had the honor of
having Sergeant Steeley of the United States Marine Corps join us on this
flight. He is escorting a fallen comrade back home to his family. I ask
that you please remain in your seats when we open the forward door to allow
Sergeant Steeley to deplane and receive his fellow soldier. We will then
turn off the seat belt sign."
Without a sound, all went as requested. I noticed the sergeant saluting the
casket as it was brought off the plane, and his action made me realize that
I am proud to be an American.

So here's a public Thank You to our military Men and Women for what you do
so we can live the way we do.
signed: Stuart Margel -- Washington, D.C.

Photos of the Year
First Place
Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News
When 2nd Lt. James Cathey's body arrived at the Reno Airport, Marines
climbed into the cargo hold of the plane and draped the flag over his
casket as passengers watched the family gather on the tarmac.

During the arrival of another Marine's casket last year at Denver
International Airport, Major Steve Beck described the scene as so powerful:
"See the people in the windows? They sat right there in the plane, watching
those Marines. You gotta wonder what's going through their minds, knowing
that they're on the plane that brought him home," he said. "They will
remember being on that plane for the rest of their lives. They're going to
remember bringing that Marine home. And they should."

Second Place
Todd Heisler The Rocky Mountain News
The night before the burial of her husband's body, Katherine Cathey refused
to leave the casket, asking to sleep next to his body for the last time.
The Marines made a bed for her, tucking in the sheets below the flag.
Before she fell asleep, she opened her laptop computer and played songs
that reminded her of 'Cat,' and one of the Marines asked if she wanted them
to continue standing watch as she slept. "I think it would be kind of nice
if you kept doing it," she said. "I think that's what he would have
wanted."

The first thing a soldier says when asked "What can
we do to make things better for you?" is ..."We need
your support and your prayers." Let's get the word out
and lead with class and dignity, by example, and wear
something red every Friday.

What is God's will for you in the tenth commandment?

From H.C. 113

That not even the slightest thought or desire contrary to any one of God's
commandments should ever arise in my heart.

Rather, with all my heart I should always hate sin and take pleasure in
whatever is right.

* Ps. 19:7-14, 139: 23-24, Rom. 7:7-8

8 lbs!!!

I weighed myself once again and following the French don't diet plan I have
successfully lost 8 lbs. I don't miss the fake food at all and love all the
great tasting real food. I have been following the French eating plan for
now 4 weeks and have successfully lost 2 lbs. Per week and am on my way
down to 125 ....
Whooo hooo!

Forgot to mention

I was busy reading Nicole's blog when I remembered.... ha ha I have my very first wedding photograhy job November 18th. Now, my fees are still pretty low because I still need some equipment to do the job, like maybe a PROFESSIONAL FLASH :) So, I charged only enough so I could buy the flash I needed for the job since all of it will be an inside wedding and reception. I charged $350.00, plus if she wants any prints of the photos that will be an extra charge for those. I still need my reflectors, the awesome ones are a 5 in 1 reflector for lighting but I don't have an assistant so I am not quite sure yet how that is going to work... I am going to have to think about this a little better. So anyway, I am very nervous because well I have done a wedding before but I was using a 35mm and this time I am using my very nice camera. Yikes, pray for me that this goes well and God will inspire me with creativity so I can get some good shots for their wedding. Let all my equipment work and that nothing will fail. I can't believe I forgot, Thanks Nicole for reminding me.

Side Note: My dad inspired me to love photography, he took a lot of classes in college but eventually stopped taking photography classes because a professor told him he was only a mediocre photographer. My dad has consistently encouraged me and told me how good he thought my pictures were. Love you Dad! Thanks for encouraging me :)

If tears could build a stairway

If tears could build a stairway
and memories a lane
I would walk right up to heaven
and bring you back again

No farewell words were spoken
No time to say "Goodbye"
You were fone before I knew it
and only God knows why

My heart still aches with sadness
and secret tears still flow
What it meant to love you-
No one can ever know

But now I know you want me
to mourn for you no more
To remember all the happy times
life still has much in store

Since you'll never be forgotten
I pledge to you today-
A hollowed place within my heart
is where you'll always stay.

Miss you Josh!

90 day evaluation

I met with my supervisor last Wednesday and received my evaluation. To my
excitement, my whole evaluation was excellent... Nothing but praise about
how good of a job I am doing. I always hated evaluations, but since I have
switched jobs I have worked my little butt off to make my boss look good.
She said everyone she talks about how great my customer service and how
quick and accurate I am. I love my job and how great all my co-workers
truly are. Thank you Lord for blessing me at this job. I can't wait until
my annual evaluation in November where I am actually going to get a raise.
Whooo hooo!!!

Catalina pictures

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Journal Entry 8/14/06

We may not have the best paying job
But we know that where we are is where we are supposed to be

We may not have a lot of money
But at least we know that it is not our focus

I may not be the prettiest woman in the world
But at least I know that this is how God intended me

I may not have the most serene voice
But know that God still enjoys me singing

We may not own a home filled with decor
But at least we know that God is still blessing us

We have a roof over my head
But at least we know it's not the roof protecting me but GOD

We may not own a lot
But who says blessings = stuff?

I know that what I say may not always make people "feel good"
But at least we know that God has called me to say them

We may not have "everything"
But at least we know that we are following God's will and not our own

My Daddy's home safe now!

After all the London terrorist mess, my dad rerouted his flights through
France and finally got home around 3 am safe and sound! Thank you to all of
you who were praying for his safety! I should have some stories from his
trip later on.

Catalina here we come!

We are sitting on the boat with our Youth group getting ready to depart for
Catalina Island. I am so excited, it should be lots of fun. We will be on
the island until 13th Sunday. We will be camping and snorkeling. Should be
lots of fun this year! I will be posting a slideshow with the pictures as
soon as we get back. Pray for our safety there and back home.

Fixed the sink!

We have been housesitting for my Dad for the last 3 weeks and this was the last week that we have been staying here and of course everything has going smoothly until BAM!!! the kitchen sink decides to start backing up on me. So, I of course did the natural thing went to the store and bought some drano... after using the whole bottle still nothing happened. So, I tried soaps of all kind, still nothing. Andrew remembered from High School that the powder Drano is supposed to work better, I said POWDER DRANO... I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF POWDER DRANO. I grab the plunger and begin to start plunging the sink but it makes it even worse, I turn on the garbage disposal and yet it still makes it worse. I got to the store, and behold the crystal/powder Drano. I used it 3 times... nothing. I went about the rest of my errands and when I sick and tired of waiting for the thing to drain to I could wash my dishes. I, once again, grab the plunger and just start plunging the drain as hard and fast as I can. I hear a plunk!!! And all the water begins to drain faster than I can say "Thank you LORD!" So, I finished my dishes and ecstatically sang because of how proud I was that I took care of the clogged sink and thought I didn't even need a plumber.... WHOO HOOO!!!!

My Dad

My Dad was supposed to be home tonight from his annual missions trip to
Spain. As some may have heard there was a terrorist attempt in the UK. My
dad's connection flight was from Spain to UK and then onto the US. Well,
because of the terrorists, the earliest flight my dad could have gotten was
Sunday. So he should be home then. By the way... Because of the attempt and
it being a liquid, the security was checking everything even contact lens
liquid and liquid in baby bottles. Keep his safety in your prayers!

Mother of Israel

Awesome!!! Reading through Judges today in my devotional and about
Deborah. What I found awesome was that she never called herself a leader,
judge, general, wife. She referred to herself as the Mother of Israel. We
can be mothers of our job, our friends, etc and by that I mean be an
influence to them.
People often ask the question about female Pastor's and so we explain. I,
personally, do not believe that women should be Pastor's. I am a woman,
yes, and can honestly say that statement and be fine. The reason why is
because men and women play different roles, God has set it up like that. I
believe that women can play roles within the church, but to be a head of a
church, No. The highest place a women should be in a church is a deacon.
This is my opinion, remember, when you feel your blood rising because of my
comments... It's my opinion. Why, then you say, is it that Deborah was a
leader? If you read earlier in Judges you will find that Deborah had tried
to pass this responsibility onto a man to be a leader, no man would step
up. If in the case that no man is within the church to be the leader of the
church, only temporarily should they be leading the church. This is ONLY if
a man is not able to lead the church. Women and men play different roles,
typically the man is be the leader, at church and at home.

During the women's movement, women really fought to be allowed rights and
equality, but I think our society has gone so far the other way that women
think they don't need Father's for their children or Men as their Husbands.
Families need a man to be the Head of the family despite what society has
skewed the reality to be. Women have been able to accomplish so much since
the women's movement, but we still apply Biblical principles. Now, if by
reading all this and your blood is still boiling because you feel women
should be able to pastor a church think about these verses:
1 Timothy
"(3:2) Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one
wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,
(3:3) not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome,
not a lover of money. (3:4) He must manage his own family well and see that
his children obey him with proper respect. (3:5) (If anyone does not know
how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)"

Stand Out

Jessie Daniels, Stand Out Lyrics

You're staring in the mirror and your looking back at me
Somehow you've replaced yourself and don't like what you see
You've been a slave far too long to what other people think
So you bend and you break and you lose along the way
What once was beautiful I want to

Stand out
I wanna stand tall
I wanna be myself even if it means
I won't fit in at all
I wanna be real
I wanna be me
Cause everything I am is who I'm meant to be
I was meant to be free

Why are we so quick to hide originality
We try and try to fit inside a false reality
We're all the same when it comes to putting on the face
and its such a shame
Oh its such a waste
Cause what makes us beautiful
Is what makes us
CHORUS
We are we are beautiful
We are we are beautiful

6 lbs. and counting....

Whooo hooo!!! I have lost a total of 6 lbs in about 3 weeks and my clothes
are totally feeling looser already. I a very impressed at my results, I
have not worked out that much which is surprising and exciting. We walk a
lot of places and eat better. I am definitely heading towards my goal of
125 lbs!!! I will let you know of the continued progress.

Joie de Vivre

French for The Joy of Living. The joy of living is being forgiven, and
being free from our sin. The Joy of living is being able to read the Bible
freely without persecution. The joy of living is being able to take each
breath and remember it's all mercy. The joy of living is thank our Heavenly
Father for sending His Son as a ransom for many. Let us remember that we
have joy's in living... So many I do not even think to try and name them
all. Thank you Lord for blessing us all beyond what we deserve.

Matters of the Heart

"Author Bob DeMoss writes " Yoour heart is rhe core of your being. It's the
essence of who you are. It's where your mind and will, your emotions and
convictions come together to shape what you believe and the choices you
make." He's saying that our behavior is determined by what is in our heart.
scripture backs up this idea: "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart
reflects the man." (Proverbs 27:19)
Behavior dictated by the heart sounds fine- except that our hearts have a
fatal flaw: "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyong cure. Who
can understand it?." (Jeremiah 17:9).
-From "Disciplines of a Godly woman" by Barbara Hughes

Freedom in Christ

Galations (5:1) It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm,
then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

(5:4) You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from
Christ; you have fallen away from grace. (5:5) But by faith we eagerly
await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. (5:6) For in
Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The
only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
(5:7) You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from
obeying the truth? (5:8) That kind of persuasion does not come from the one
who calls you."

This was in my readings this morning and it totally lifted me. I have such
freedom in Christ, that I am no longer tied to the sins that have enslaved
me. I have a hope in a God that I will be righteous in His sight. The Lord
calls by name His children, I have called on the Lord and he has rescued me
from the pit of despair. I am grateful once again for each breath that he
has given me. Others may have more stuff, but I have more Love for Christ
because He has given me less than others. The nails in His hands set me
free because He has paid a ransom for my soul. Lord, thank you for the
people you have put in my life. I will sacrifice for you, nothing in
comparison to what you sacrificed for me but I will spend every day trying
to pay back the ransom you paid for me. Lord, do not let your blessings be
in vain, hear our prayers and see our desires and answer them according to
your will. Forgive me for my lack of trust in your plan for us. Lord, show
us where we are to go, when to start a family, where to live, what to say,
and how to follow your path. Reveal Lord to us through your eyes what you
want us to do. I thank you and praise your name, Lord.

I don't need Weight watchers

Thanks to reading "The French don't diet plan" by Dr. Will Clowers, I have
already lost 4 lbs in 2 weeks and my pants are already fitting looser. I am
very excited, and I don't really work out that much either. The key to this
eating is eating non- processed foods and cutting back your portions. I
still have chocolate when I have a sweet tooth, and I still eat pastas,
breads, and potatoes. Good weight loss should never be lost quickly because
it actually puts your body into shock. I am not hungry most days until I
get home from work. If you want to lose weight and still enjoy the foods
you love, seriously read the book... It makes complete sense and its
healthy eating!!!

Toilet bowl syndrom

The idea of eating and flushing food down with a drink.
"Try this as your homework:Eat your dinner without a drink. I know it seems
strange at first, but just try it. You'll find that you have enough saliva
in your mouth naturally, and your food has enough moisture, that you don't
actually need a drink at all. Eat small and you can swallow without
incident, without having to flush it down your throat.
If you have trouble swallowing, your bite was too big. That's how you
know." Dr Will Clower- The French don't diet plan
Put down your fork or spoon after every bite and enjoy your food by eating
slower

- Sounds like maybe some mumbo jumbo to most but reading through the
book... And following the ideas I have lost 3 pounds already in about 2
weeks !!! Yahoo.

Catalina

Well I have been disappointed once again. I put a lot of time and money
into preparing an annual trip for the youth to go to Catalina and well
let's just say we didn't meet our quota.

It seems at this point no matter how much I mean to do good things or try
to say the right things... I am always wrong or I am "too honest"... Things
just come out wrong. I try to help people, and I fail. I try to be a friend
and I fail. I try to do things right and I fail, everytime I turn around I
am failing. So, I don't know what to do except for just go into seclusion
until I can figure things out.... I don't know what to do anymore and the
tears just keep coming.

My soul waits for you, Lord

Pslams(130:5) I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
(130:6) My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Another night with tears, I have been so emotional lately and it sucks.
Things right now feel like a tornado, just everywhere and I am being pulled
in every which direction. All that I can hold onto is my hope that somehow
the failures is my life will be turned around and made into successes. I
don't understand how people can look forward to the future when I am scared
of the future... Scared! That sucks!! I want to be hopeful that maybe...
Just maybe we'll be able to afford to have a family but I can be
overzealous and assume anything about God's plan for us. "Prosper us and
not to harm us", but in what terms does prosper mean... Most people think
that that means that God will make them wealthy and happen to completely
disagree. Prosper in mind means to make complete and happy, and HEY who
says you have to have MONEY to be complete. Jesus had not even a penny to
his name, the only thing he owned was the clothes on his back and the
sandals on his feet... Do we deserve anything just because we work hard?
No. Anyway, I am so torn between what God wants for us and what we are
actually doing, God has blessed us and that's what I can be content in.
Geeesshhh give me a breather and send us your prayers.

Don't know what to call this blog....

I feel as though we are always failing at what we do in ministry, and I
don't think anyone who isn't in ministry can truly know how it feels until
you've been here. It is so heavy and so hurtful sometimes to be in ministry
and people's expectations they force on you are almost too much sometimes.
I just cry because no matter what we do or how we do it someone people have
the worst things to say about our duties within ministry. It's hard to work
8 hours and then give your all to a ministry and have people be so
ungrateful. I don't know why our ministry hasn't grown more and I don't
truly know if where we are as youth leaders is truly where God wants us for
the future. This path that we are on is temporary and I have recognized
this now. Where we are going I don't know, but when God leads us I pray it
will be evident. I am in tears a lot, and not because I want to be be but
because of being so deeply saddened and not understanding how God is
working in this moment in our life. I wish I understood, and I wish I felt
I knew what it is we need to do to make this youth group successful.
Oooooohhhh Lord, please show Andrew and I the way, so that we do what's
right.
Keep us in your constant prayers.

We are like Goldfish

"Portion Distortion
Put food in front of a Goldfish and it'll eat it. Put a lot of food in
front of a Goldfish, and it'll eat it all. In fact, it'll eat until it
hurts itself.
And yet, are we so indifferent?"
-Dr Will Clower, The French don't diet plan.

Question to be pondered truly as American who are gluttons. I have read
about halfway through this book and have followed his ideas about food to
eat and I really like eating healthier. We bought all natural and some
organic foods from Trader Joes, and the foods are so much better. The rule
of thumb for what we buy is, of we can't understand what is on the back of
the label then we don't buy it. I have followed this for a week now and
have already lost 3 lbs in a matter of 1 1/2 weeks. The great thing is, I
still have chocolate when I have a craving and still have bread, pasta,
rice, potatoes, etc. ( I jus don't eat anything processed of those items)
Carbs are not the enemy, processed foods anf over eating is the enemy. I
have do 20 minutes of cardio in the morning and 10 minutes of toning
exercises. It is so awesome, I love it. When you get a chance, I am telling
you... Read " The French don't diet plan" by Dr. Will Clower.

Galations 6:14

Sermon notes from Guest Pastor VanderPol
(6:14) May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

He left heaven, so that we can go to heaven. He left his home, to save us.
He gave his life as a ransom for us.
God is so Holy and as pure as white clothing, no dust (sin) fills the Lord.
Yet we as Christians can only be as pure as God by knowing God. When we get
to those gates, it will by God's grace and mercy that we may enter into
eternity in Heaven. Jesus sets you and me free, as if you and me have never
sinned. Psalms 103: 12 "... As far as the east is from west, so far as He
has removed our transgressions from us." Let our transgressions be nailed
to the cross and let them die there.

Hebrews (12:1)... Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that
so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out
for us.

Do not give up!!! Let us throw away anything that gets in the way of us
being what God has called us to be. Run free of weights that make it hard
for us to run steady and strong, through Christ we are made free from our
sins.

Thank you Lord for your freedom, thank you for saving me from myself! Let
me take my sins that hinder me be nailed to the cross and die, so I may be
free!

Where is God leading us?

This is a question that obviously fills our thoughts. This may always seem like a repetitive question, but none the less always a question in the back of our mind.

How do we decipher the difference between our wants and our needs? Do we really NEED a house, or do we WANT a house? Sometimes, I get so lost in my desires and I constantly ask God to show me HIS will for our situation. How does one decide that you are ready to have kids? I often wonder how long you would wait to hear God's voice and say "Now is the time". Sometimes, I find it very frustrating because we try very hard to listen for God's will and we follow it. We are particular about our spending, and whether or not buying this (item) would be beneficial for ministry or is it just something we want.

I would like a house, but how long will it be before we get a house? Should we truly wait til we get a house to have a child? Or is having a house an "American" thing that society has forced upon us to make us believe that we need it? How much should we really owe a man? When the Bible says "Do not let any debt remain outstanding" (Romans 13:8), should we really commit our finances to owing a man $300,000? How seriously does God see debt? I struggle with this thought all the time, would us sacrificing getting a house allow Andrew and I to be able to help others out who are not in as good of a financial situation?

Lord, please help me to decipher your will for our lives. Show me to steps to take, so I can walk in your wonderful and perfect will. I chose to live for you, and give for you and to your teachings. I pray that you would take away anything that hinders us from growing closer to you and blinding us from seeing your true will. Thank You Lord for giving me such a wonderful sunset tonight!

Good Eatin

What we had last night was a really good dinner, we had organic chicken with Masala sauce (which is authentic sauce from India, not spicy and really good)placed the chicken in the skillet and just cooked it with the sauce. We also cooked some butternit squash and put some butter and honey on top and also Artichoke Ravioli and Iced Tea to drink. Mmm.... really good. I highly suggest the Masala sauce.

$$$

You know what I have found about most people is this: People who have money
mostly are the same people who say not to worry about money. They don't
have to worry about it because they have it.

Just a quick thought.

Losing weight

Alright, I know everyone has their own way that "works" for them losing
weight. "The french don't diet plan" by Dr. Will Clower...I am trying to
eat healthier so I am reading this book, a friend did this plan and lost 45
lbs. I don't need to lose that much, but I do need to eat healthier and
lose some chub. I am reading the book to get a better concept of how it
works. I am working out 20 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of stomach and
thigh/butt exercises every morning before work and I can already see the
difference. Americans are gluttons, and I am one to be included in that. I
used to eat everything I wanted without a thought, now I really think about
it. French don't diet but they eat smaller portions and eat slower... They
also walk a lot. You can still eat sweets and things you like but in
smaller portions. According to the book you mouth only tastes the first few
bites of foods, so to satisfy the taste have a few bites and be done. I
will let you know of my progress on this plan so far.

Video from Monday Night

Really crappy video because I was taking video with my phone but oh well still funny none the less:

Crab Soccer

Picture of youth group doing some crab soccer on a monday night. It was a
lot of fun. Some video to be posted soon of the memory!

Update on fire

So, Andrew was coming home and the traffic was so bad he started walking home. I left the park, I told the cop I needed to go pick up my husband he is running up the street to be able to get here. He took down my name and space #, so I left the park. I got to Andrew picked him up and on our way back to our RV to get some more stuff, there was a road block, I informed the officer that I have spoken to another Officer at our park and He was going to let us back in. So, we sat there for 30 minutes, we spoke with another lady and her car was beyond the road block. She drove Andrew to the RV, meanwhile I am back at the car still and out of nowhere the officer take away the road block... ERGH. SO, we get back to out place get something to eat go outside and look at the progress of the fire and it is starting to back down. So, we decided to stay here for the night. When I woke up this morning, I could not see any fire on the hill at all just black. Thank You for all of you that were praying for us.