Do you ever wonder why you are here? Do you ever wonder what exactly is your purpose on earth? Sure you do, we all do, I do all the time. I have been fed, spiritually fed, a good deal this past month, and have come to the conclusion that all that I have ever thought about my purpose is wrong. I did have some small understanding that I was here to further Gods Kingdom and to live my life for the Lord, but I never really got it. I knew this because I was told this and for a few years I believed it. I still believe it but there is a much deeper understanding and slightly different definition that I never knew or began to understand until now.
We are made by God for God. Its that simple. Our purpose is to connect with the Creator. To form a relationship with our Heavenly Father. Yes, we are supposed to further his Kingdom, and yes we are supposed to live our lives for the Lord, but once we understand that we first need to connect with Him, to form a relationship with Him, the rest will fall into place.
I used to think that my God would want me to be happy. I used to think, why would God create me and not want me to enjoy life, to have fun while I am here? It didnt make any sense to me. Most of the young Christians in and out of my circle of friends have told me at some point that God would want them to have fun, to be happy, especially when they wanted to do something that wasnt quite the right thing to do. God does want us to be happy. What we dont get is that Gods idea of fun and happiness has nothing to do with the worlds idea of fun and happiness. We all have different ideas of what fun is to us and what it looks like for us to be happy, but I guarantee that very few of us have a picture in our heads that would line up with Gods picture.
Once we truly connect with our creator, only then will we truly be happy. Once we focus our lives on God, only then we will understand what happiness really is. Happiness and contentment can be measured in our attitude and reaction to what is going on around us. God did not make us to moan and groan when things dont go our way. Unless our thoughts are lined up with Gods thoughts then we dont even know if our way is His way. All we have to do is connect with the Creator through prayer, worship, study, praise and the Holy Spirit. Once we form a good connection, once we understand that we were made by God for God, only then we can begin to understand what happiness really is.
Mercy Is...
The ability to look past what someone did and ask yourself why did they do it with compassion and understanding. A gift we receive that is undeserved. An act of love and kindness. Not getting what you deserve. The opposite of justice. A blessing of divine favor.
We all want to receive mercy, but we dont want to give it away. No one deserves mercy, but we all need mercy. Mercy is necessary in any relationship because none of us are perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, fails from time to time. Mercy and forgiveness are true expressions of love. Mercy is love.
We all want to receive mercy, but we dont want to give it away. No one deserves mercy, but we all need mercy. Mercy is necessary in any relationship because none of us are perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, fails from time to time. Mercy and forgiveness are true expressions of love. Mercy is love.
Anythigng Goes
Gwinnett County Special PopulationsThis is Montes first ever experience with organized sports! We are on the "Anything Goes" league that the Gwinnett County Special Populations does for these kids. It is really anything there are basically no rules: each kid bats til they hit and after three misses they get a Tee if they want one and each kid runs all the bases, there are no outs and no score! It is perfect for Monte Man! They have a team of typical children that have volunteered their time out on the field the whole game helping the kids telling them when and where to run and teaching them the ins and outs or the game.
So it was the most hilarious thing I have seen in quite a while... Monte hits the ball (with the help of the coach) and runs through the field from home plate to third base to pick up the ball that he hit....and why not? No one else is trying to get it and it needs to be picked up, right? so with the help of mommy yelling to come to first base ( not that he knows what first base is but mommy is pointing to the white square) he begins to run himself to first base with the ball in his hand that he hit and everyone else is thinking ok this is just normal... that is the first time monte is up to bat! He then proceeds to give the ball back to the other teams coach, who says great job to him, and stands at first base, READY TO RUN AFTER THE NEXT BALL HIT (pictured above). I call for someone to help Monte from the older kids league (typical team) who have volunteered their free time after their game to help direct the special populations team (this breaks my heart BTW). Now he has a runner, a kid to show him how to play, necessary because whatever mom says to do is automatically wrong and he deliberately decides to do the opposite! Oh this is good stuff! I couldnt make this up if I tried! And Monte makes it all the way around the bases while his other teammates proceed to do the exact same thing Monte did with their own twist! Three innings and game over...we all won! Woo Hoo! Its a Success!
Make sure you turn down your volume when watching the videos... Mommy is yelling pretty loud :)
In this video: Monte (in royal blue with his special personal helper girl in the pink) is running home to score the winning point...ok so there is no actual score and no one actually wins but in Monte's mind he won!
in this video: Monte man(in blue) is running the bases and when he gets to third base he decides to take a bow!
My First Lenten Experience
This year I have been growing in my Christianity like never before. God put it on my heart to give up something for Lent. I have never celebrated Lent and never knew what it was all about. The extent of my Lent knowledge was that some people, whose religions told them to do so, gave up something for Lent. I knew that it was supposed to be something that you enjoyed, something that you didnt want to give up and from passover to Easter you gave it up. I knew that some religions (dont even know what religion it is) gave up meat on Fridays til Easter. Working in the restaurant business taught me that. Thats all I knew and I thought it was only for certain religions. I thought for a while about why was I going to give up something and what would it be that I would give up.
I started to research Lent and found out that it is so much more than just giving up something that you like. It is to be a time of prayer and reflection and sacrifice. This intrigued me. What would it be that I gave up? Chocolate? Sweets? Soda? Coffee? I do like all of these things but I wanted it to be something much more meaningful. SO I began to pray that God would lay it on my heart what it was that He wanted me to give up. God had already been working on me in a certain area, a bad habit so to speak, yelling at my children. Some of you will say that this is horrible, how could i ever yell at my children! Others will say that this is normal, that all moms yell at their kids. It was acceptable and normal for quite a while in my home, until God started to work on me in this area, telling me that it is not acceptable. So it became very clear to me that God wanted me to give up yelling and screaming, raising my voice in general.
I have not spent enough time in prayer or reflection regarding the yelling, this condition of my heart. But with Gods help, with Gods grace I have begun to do less yelling and am aware of my yelling more now than ever. Sometimes it is necessary to speak louder to get attention or to communicate between rooms and floors of the house, but yelling AT my children is not ever necessary! Screaming AT my children out of anger is never acceptable! Today I am making a commitment to pray every day several times a day that God will supply me with the grace and mercy necessary to continue to work in this area. I am committing today to continue to change this bad habit and turn it into a good habit of speaking only in love. I desire so badly to have a love walk, not an anger walk. After all anger is submitting to the Devil to live by his ways and never brings glory to God. Anger opens doors for Satan to walk into my life and have his way messing things up and hurting others. I do not want to be angry and I certainly do not want to open the door for Satan to enter my life my home or my relationships.
I am not a perfect mother or wife and I am definitely not a perfect person. I do not think that I will ever be perfect, but I would like to be better. I would like to be pleasing and acceptable to God. I would like for God to look down on me at any time and say "that is my daughter and she is pleasing to me"! I will continue to work in this area and I will work diligently during the rest of this Lenten season. I will pray every day several times a day. I will be a better mother, a better wife and a better person striving to be more like Christ walking in love. I will put on Gods Armor and continue to fight the enemies of the unseen world. I will begin to walk in love. I will have the fruits of the Spirit. This is a heart condition, as my cousin so wonderfully puts it, and I want my heart condition to be that of love.
I started to research Lent and found out that it is so much more than just giving up something that you like. It is to be a time of prayer and reflection and sacrifice. This intrigued me. What would it be that I gave up? Chocolate? Sweets? Soda? Coffee? I do like all of these things but I wanted it to be something much more meaningful. SO I began to pray that God would lay it on my heart what it was that He wanted me to give up. God had already been working on me in a certain area, a bad habit so to speak, yelling at my children. Some of you will say that this is horrible, how could i ever yell at my children! Others will say that this is normal, that all moms yell at their kids. It was acceptable and normal for quite a while in my home, until God started to work on me in this area, telling me that it is not acceptable. So it became very clear to me that God wanted me to give up yelling and screaming, raising my voice in general.
I have not spent enough time in prayer or reflection regarding the yelling, this condition of my heart. But with Gods help, with Gods grace I have begun to do less yelling and am aware of my yelling more now than ever. Sometimes it is necessary to speak louder to get attention or to communicate between rooms and floors of the house, but yelling AT my children is not ever necessary! Screaming AT my children out of anger is never acceptable! Today I am making a commitment to pray every day several times a day that God will supply me with the grace and mercy necessary to continue to work in this area. I am committing today to continue to change this bad habit and turn it into a good habit of speaking only in love. I desire so badly to have a love walk, not an anger walk. After all anger is submitting to the Devil to live by his ways and never brings glory to God. Anger opens doors for Satan to walk into my life and have his way messing things up and hurting others. I do not want to be angry and I certainly do not want to open the door for Satan to enter my life my home or my relationships.
I am not a perfect mother or wife and I am definitely not a perfect person. I do not think that I will ever be perfect, but I would like to be better. I would like to be pleasing and acceptable to God. I would like for God to look down on me at any time and say "that is my daughter and she is pleasing to me"! I will continue to work in this area and I will work diligently during the rest of this Lenten season. I will pray every day several times a day. I will be a better mother, a better wife and a better person striving to be more like Christ walking in love. I will put on Gods Armor and continue to fight the enemies of the unseen world. I will begin to walk in love. I will have the fruits of the Spirit. This is a heart condition, as my cousin so wonderfully puts it, and I want my heart condition to be that of love.
Where The Spirit Of The Lord Is
For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.~2 Corinthians 3:17, NLT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNpusaxlDVcI went to Passion City Church again last night. This is the most amazing church experience I have ever had. I consider it an encounter with God every time I get to go. A burning desire to return next week. Two hours of worship with Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman Christy Nockles and Kristian Stanfeld and the Word with Louis Giglio, can we say amazing enough to really describe this encounter? Never before have I seen so many young people worship together never before have I seen so many pour out their hearts to God in worship, worshiping like no one is watching, worshiping for the right reasons to glorify God. I consider myself blessed to be a part of this movement. I consider myself so very lucky to have this opportunity and if we weren't living in Atlanta Georgia we wouldn't have this opportunity. There is no building yet so they travel around the metro Atlanta area using whatever venues they can acquire. There is no bulletin no time commitments no restraints no human input...just God and The Holy Spirit moving and touching hearts, saving souls and lifting spirits. Last night while I was worshiping my heart out, I began to cry. Tears are running down my face my throat is closing up I am literally being touched by the Spirit for the first time ever during worship. I can feel my worship touching God and I can feel the Spirit moving through me. Not bad tears, not a bad chocking in my throat, but good heart touching, soul searching, spirit filled emotions running through me. I am constantly reminded of the few moments in the past year that God udes to prepare me for this moment. When we were getting ready to leave Ohio last summer I remember listening to Klove and hearing that Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman were moving to the Atlanta area to start this Passion Movement... I thought wow that must be the place to be and I remember I told Tony that it would be so cool if we were able to find them and see what they were going to be doing. I remember when we were in Ohio for my grandfathers funeral and my Aunt Colleen decided to give us a CD, her favorite CD that she had been listening to it was in her car. Now this was not premeditated it was definetly a God thing. Colleen went to the car to get it out and see if we had heard it, if we had this one yet. She didn't know who the musicians were but was for sure that we would love this music and gave it to us saying that she loved it so much she wanted to share it with us and that she would buy it again! I thought wow she must really like this CD. We listened to it on our way back to Atlanta and without having the case knew immediately that some of the voices were familiar and that one voice was definitely Chris Tomlin! One of our favorite worship singers/writers! So months went past and nothing came of it then Colleen sends us the CD case after she stumbled upon it and remembered that she wanted us to have it. When I got the case I saw the names on the back, Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, David Crowder.... OK so we were right, and is this the passion movement I had heard about almost a year ago? A few months passed again and them my new friend Ally says out of the blue, "my moms church has teamed up with a new church and last week Chris Tomlin lead worship and Matt Redman was there too, they are having service again tonight do you want to go with?" Well I thought that if this was true there was no way that it could happen again but why not, lets go and if these amazing worship leaders happen to show up how cool would that be? It was my Tony's birthday I will never forget and we decided to go! So we get to this place about 30 minutes from our home and the parking guy says yes, that Mr Tomlin will be leading worship tonight! WOW ok so we totally lucked out! Sure enough there is Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, a few others and then who is preaching but Louis Giglio! WOW somebody pinch me because I must be dreaming! Nope its not a dream its a new church with an audience of young pepole that dont really fit in anywhere else. Not only did Chris and Matt show up but they are the worship leaders! Not only did Louis speak, but he is the preacher! This is their church! This is their Passion Movement I had heard about! This is their Passion CD that colleen gave me! And they are releasing a new CD now (that is even more amazing than the first)! I am a part of this new church, Passion City Church, and its amazing! It is an encounter with God every time I go. We have been to 3 services in the past 4 weeks, and I will be going to all that I can! It is so weird to think that Louis GIglio could be my pastor! Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman are my worship leaders! Somebody pinch me because I must be dreaming! Could this be part of Gods plan could this be part of the reason that He brought us here? Or is it an added bonus? Either way I am so glad, so lucky, so blessed to be a part of it! Thank you Lord for this wonderful experience! Thank you God for your faithfulness! Thank You Father for you faithful servants and for the gifts you have given to them! Thank you Heavenly Father for Your God moments and for placing Your Spirit in our hearts! I know where the Spirit of the Lord is and its everywhere! The Spirit of the Lord in in all of us that believe and accept it! Praise the Lord!
this is me and Hollie with 15,000 other people at the Passion City Church Good Friday event:
A Contemplation And Celebration Of The Cross
Out of an Abundance of the Heart the Mouth Speaks
I know I am not the only one who says things that I dont really mean. It happens all the time, especially in an argument or heated discussion. We say something mean and nasty and then immediately afterward we say "I didnt mean that". Right? You know you have said this! If you dont think you have then you are just lying to yourself. God has put this on my heart today so lets explore.
I like to think that I am a nice person, that I put others needs and feelings ahead of my own. But when I say something I dont really mean, I am doing the exact opposite. As a child of the king it is even more essential that I watch my mouth. After all if a person can control his tongue he/she can truly have self control. This is the hardest area of self control to master and possibly the most important. This is how we can keep the enemy at bay. Satan wants us to say these nasty things and when we give in we are not glorifying God, we are glorifying Satan. It is a way for him to come into our lives and mess things up. It is like an open invitation for the enemy to come in and have a free pass.
This also applies to yelling, grumbling, fault finding, complaining, gossiping, judging and criticizing. Our words have the power to heal or wound, build or destroy. The mouth was designed for one purpose and one purpose only, to glorify God. What will you do with your power today?
I like to think that I am a nice person, that I put others needs and feelings ahead of my own. But when I say something I dont really mean, I am doing the exact opposite. As a child of the king it is even more essential that I watch my mouth. After all if a person can control his tongue he/she can truly have self control. This is the hardest area of self control to master and possibly the most important. This is how we can keep the enemy at bay. Satan wants us to say these nasty things and when we give in we are not glorifying God, we are glorifying Satan. It is a way for him to come into our lives and mess things up. It is like an open invitation for the enemy to come in and have a free pass.
This also applies to yelling, grumbling, fault finding, complaining, gossiping, judging and criticizing. Our words have the power to heal or wound, build or destroy. The mouth was designed for one purpose and one purpose only, to glorify God. What will you do with your power today?
Dealing With Offense
The Spirit has been speaking to me on offense lately and has directed me to share some of what I have discovered with you.
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. Proverbs 17:9
An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars. Proverbs 18:19
Overcoming Offense
Offense, especially within the body of Christ, is a sin. It is so easy to allow yourself to become offended by what others say and think about you. Too often we all say things that we don't mean or something we say is misunderstood. As a result of a lack of communication, we allow our feelings to take over and we begin to think about it over and over taking our focus off God. This only leads to unforgiveness and and a cycle of negative thoughts. Offense is Satan's number one tool to lure you into his trap. Being offended is a trap the enemy uses to prevent us from being who we are in Christ, and thus failing. Anger, hurt, bitterness and unforgiveness all begin to hold you in bondage to the stronghold of offense. The good news is that you can escape the trap! God gives us weapons to win this battle. The sword of the Spirit-the Word of God, is our weapon against offense (Ephesians 6:10-18). Believe in the effectiveness of God's Word. Study it and apply it to your life daily. Choose today not to stay in bondage to this sin. Offense will stop you from enjoying your life and from receiving God's blessings. Jesus came so that we may enjoy life (John 10:10). The enemy uses offense to steal our peace, not the other persons peace! Refuse to be offended today and give all the glory to God!
Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. Proverbs 17:9
An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars. Proverbs 18:19
Overcoming Offense
Offense, especially within the body of Christ, is a sin. It is so easy to allow yourself to become offended by what others say and think about you. Too often we all say things that we don't mean or something we say is misunderstood. As a result of a lack of communication, we allow our feelings to take over and we begin to think about it over and over taking our focus off God. This only leads to unforgiveness and and a cycle of negative thoughts. Offense is Satan's number one tool to lure you into his trap. Being offended is a trap the enemy uses to prevent us from being who we are in Christ, and thus failing. Anger, hurt, bitterness and unforgiveness all begin to hold you in bondage to the stronghold of offense. The good news is that you can escape the trap! God gives us weapons to win this battle. The sword of the Spirit-the Word of God, is our weapon against offense (Ephesians 6:10-18). Believe in the effectiveness of God's Word. Study it and apply it to your life daily. Choose today not to stay in bondage to this sin. Offense will stop you from enjoying your life and from receiving God's blessings. Jesus came so that we may enjoy life (John 10:10). The enemy uses offense to steal our peace, not the other persons peace! Refuse to be offended today and give all the glory to God!
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