This is what happens when you are married to me…

I love to throw special occasions for people. Especially birthdays. I love to throw together parties.  The food planning, party supply shopping and decorating for the event.

So it is safe to assume that if you are married to me and have a milestone birthday approaching, I’m going to do this to you:

 

Yep, I threw him a surprise party. Now I know I said I love to throw a party, but SURPRISE parties are HARD to throw. Or maybe it’s just hard to throw one for your spouse. I did A LOT of lying and sneaking around to get this party together. But the best part: I TOTALLY SURPRISED HIM!!

And this is probably the look you would give me too:

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY

DAVID!!! I LOVE YOU!

Antsy Pantsy

I am excited. No  really, EXCITED! I am so excited that I just canNOT sit still. I am pacing the floor. I am bouncing all over the web trying to find games, blogs, ANY activity to keep me calm. Why?

I’m going to Catalyst!

On Thursday I am going to get a sliver of a glimpse at what worship in heaven will be like. Having 12,000 people worshipping at the same time, in the same place give you goose bumps.

And I get to be smack in the middle of it again this year.

This time  last year I was complaining wishing that I didn’t have to go. Wasn’t interested, figured I would be bored.

WRONG.

For anybody who has never been to a Catalyst Conference all I can say is this: BUCKLE UP, it truly is a crazy ride.

And Jesus is the center of the “madness”.

SERIOUSLY, I canNOT wait.

On your mark….

Scrubbing toilets for Jesus

We had a “guest speaker” at staff meeting last night. He’s visited LIFE Church for a few weeks now and has agreed to help us move to “a nutha level” you might say.

I really enjoyed the sermon speech motivation we got. It gave me tons to think about. My main thought is: Am I doing my best for LIFE Church?

Three things he said stood out to me.

1. Don’t settle for “good enough”.
2. It is an honor to be in the position you are in at LIFE Church.
3. If you don’t think this is the greatest church in the world, do LIFE Church a favor and resign.

Those three statements don’t apply to just the staff at LIFE Church. It applies to everyone who makes up the body at LIFE.

• Do we over look things because, eh, it’s “good enough”?
• Do we grumble when we have to do stuff? (Ooops, raising hand, that’s me sometimes {sheepish grin})
• Do we believe that LIFE Church is THE greatest church in the world?

LIFE church IS the greatest church in the world! Why? Because it’s MY church and Jesus is at the helm!

So if that means I have to scrub toilets (ewwww…lol) or wipe off sticky tables (by the way…how DO those tables get so sticky?!?!?) then I will do it. For THIS very reason:

Ephesians 6:7 – Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men,

Are you serving or sitting?

Why do you go to church? To hear the music? To hear good preaching? To hang out with your friends?

Or do you go to be the hands and feet of Christ?

Even though I work for LIFE Church on Sundays, I still want to find areas to serve in. The children’s area is out, this post would kind of hint to why I don’t work in that area. ( I know, I know, I worked in the children’s ministry for years. But it finally wore me down. Again, check out this post for a hint of why I just can’t anymore.)

But there are plenty of other areas to serve.

Maybe you are like me and KNOW you want to serve, just not sure where. No problem! On Saturday, October 24th, LIFE Church is having Volunteer Revolution!

(You’re thinking, “Umm, okay, now what IS Volunteer Revolution?”)

Volunteer Revolution is a ONE day training to develop and equip volunteers to serve at  LIFE Church. You can read details here AND find links to spiritual gifts websites to help you understand what gifts God has placed within you.

So, are you ready to start a Volunteer Revolution? I am.

There’s still hope.

So I still am childless, still not pregnant and still not sure if I will ever get my chance to be a mom. Nothing has changed from yesterday.

But today is a new day and the sun still came up to shine (eventually after the rain left, ha!).

Another ordinary day, just called Tuesday instead of Monday.

A day filled with hope.

The same hope is there today as it was yesterday, only today I see it better. The layers of grief and sadness from yesterday have been peeled away to reveal the hope that never left, just got lost in the shuffle of emotions.

Even though it’s emotionally and mentally tiring, I press on, clinging to the hope that one day I get to be a mom.

Until then, the greatest Hope is in my Lord Jesus who lifts me up and dusts me off each time to get knocked down.

Some Anniversaries Just Suck

Some anniversaries really do suck. Today is one of them.

Today is the fourth anniversary of my miscarriage. And I hate it. I don’t want to be constantly reminded of it. But how can you forget?

The child I was over the moon about was gone a week after I found out about him/her. That fast. Snap…it’s over.

And four years later? No siblings for that child. THAT is a whole OTHER post. Someday I’ll write it.

Today’s post is about my first child that I never got to know.

The ONLY image that actually gets me through every day, that I cling to and makes me happy is this one:

 

 

Catalyst Crazy!!

The Catalyst Conference is ONE MONTH AWAY!! Last year was my first time there and I am still in AWE! I've never heard 12,000 people worship before....WOW! The lighting was really cool too. They had an almost blacklight that made white glow...LoL

Here are some things I was tickled about:

• Hubby sat behind Perry Noble on day one. BTW Perry, Hubby says he's sorry he kept kicking you! LoL
• We were a few rows behind Steven Furtick.
• To our left sat Craig Groeschel.
• All 12,000 of us acted like kids towards the end of day two. (Lack of sleep maybe? LoL)
• Steve Fee rocks!
• Jon Foreman is a little cutie! LoL
• Jeff Foxworthy and Lanny Donoho are nuts! LoL

Here is what I have learned:

• Our message is the message of forgiveness. Prioritize your family over your ministry. To lead generous people, YOU need to be generous.  - Andy Stanley
• God has an affection that is relentless in our direction. - William Paul Young
• There is a process in between the promise and the payoff. - Steven Furtick
• Without a catalyst, we get stuck in our own world. - Brenda Salter McNeil
• God makes "it" happen. We cannot create "it". "It" is not a model or program. "It" has an upside - people are healed, lives are changed. "It" has a downside - people criticize. - Craig Groeschel
• There is no synergy where there is no unity! Five main enemies of unity are: Poor communication, gossip, unresolved disagreement, lack of shared purpose, and sanctioned incompetence. - Dave Ramsey
• God uses His Gospel to touch people's hearts. - Franklin Graham
• What are you cultivating? What are you creating? Who is in your creative circle? - Andy Crouch
• There is a way to live and teach that shows people the Gospel. - Matt Chandler
• Success breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure. - Andy Stanley

I am SO ready to go again!