rooftops

The Lord has been stirring up a new desire in my heart. a new desire to seek after him with everything once again. He's teaching me so many different things that i want to seek Him more and need to really do it!

So i have the new Jesus Culture cd, Come Away. The second song is called Rooftops and every time i listen to it, I think of China. When i was there in 2008 i got to spend fourth of July at a golf camp. my team were having some bonding time and we went on the rooftop of our building and worshiped the Lord with a laptop playing music. I remember the laptop dying but we continued to sit in the presence of God. It was wonderful to sit under the stars and just listen to His creation and laying at His feet. God is so good to us.

so, now you have to go listen to that song.

love this christmas song:

two girls from muscle shoals, alabama.
the secret sisters.

the ballerina

what you are about to click on is the little ballerina. It is filmed by David Eustace. It's a little "dark," i guess you could say, but it is beautiful and unique in its own way. i hope you enjoy it.

The Little Ballerina

up on the house-top

i really like this commercial only because of the song:

wedding year

it is wedding year for me... that's what i like to call it.
since september, i have been to five weddings. i still have three more to go in the next 6 or 7 months! and i love it!

i love going to weddings and i am so thankful that i am even invited! all of these wonderful people are special to me in so many different ways. so here are a few pictures of the weddings i have been to so far. Enjoy!!

starting from the top left to right:
lauren & jacob
kaitlin & allan
suzanna & tom
emily & john
erika & chadwick

thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week is over. this year, i really didn't have a thanksgiving.
i worked on thanksgiving day. as i reflect on this week i realize that i missed my usual traditions but in a way, i am glad. i got to experience another side of Thanksgiving. i experienced the "hospital" aspect of it. being at work while your family is at home enjoying one another & they miss you. However, you cant go see them because everyone has left by the time you get off. I also understand now what it means to not have your family home if they are in the military. I am very grateful that i got to work and then go home but our soldiers are in either another state or across the world. of course i will never know how it really feels unless it happens to me but i now understand a little bit of what they are going through. i pray for all those soldiers out there who are willing to fight for us. it really is an honor to know someone who is fighting for us.

i am thankful for:
1. my God, Husband, Daddy
2. my family
3. my wonderful friends
4. my job
5. my church
6. the awesome kids who i get to spend most of my time with (FUEL SM) :D

apartment

so i tried taking a few pictures of my room in my apartment. the lighting was terrible so i will try again tomorrow and will post them on here. B&N is about to close and i wish it wasn't, but it's probably a good thing so i can go home and go to bed :D

quick update:
my new job is going well. it's gotten even better now that i have a friend who works with me now. we have been in training all week. we have gone out to lunch every day & we have gone to only local restaurants. i will have to expand on where we went on my next post.

time to go because they are closing.
have a wonderful night!

TOMS

tonight, i got to see Blake Macoskie speak at Birmingham Southern College. it was great to hear how he started the company as well as see his passion for TOMS. i can tell his passion has grown more now than ever! i loved his honesty on how he felt about the business when it started. we all had some great laughs from the stories he told too.

my favorite part about his stories was the story about his very first drop off. he mentioned his mother going on the trip and as she was giving out shoes, she washed the kids' feet before putting on the shoes. i was reminded of when Jesus washed the disciples' feet.

i was in awe of the stories that he told & i wonder if he believes in the Lord. all the stories he told about the shoe drops made me think about the Lord & how he can move in the smallest ways. giving shoes to those who need them, using people who will sacrifice their time to travel to see these lovely children who are in need but really want to be loved.

the longing of returning to China returned and my heart is stirred again. i want to be there again so badly. I want to see all the girls i formed friendships with again & be there to encourage them & to love on them. i found out that TOMS has a factory in China now & that really excites me because now some Chinese people have jobs. goodness, i love China.

needless to say i know what design i want to put on a new pair of TOMS. now i just need to buy some more :P

my excuse for not blogging

once again i have failed at keeping up with my blog. although, since no one really reads it i don't feel too bad. i do have a legitimate excuse for not blogging. i do not have cable nor internet at my new apartment.

i really enjoy not having cable or internet. i have resulted in watching TV on DVD. i am currently watching Reba. my lovely roommate has all seasons so we have been watching Reba & Harry Potter.
on another note, i have found a new job! it's at a doc in the box type clinic. i started yesterday & i had reality check after i got off work. i will be working four days a week 10-11 hours a day & it really hit me last night when i got off late & i had some where to be. i will learn to adjust & learn that it is ok to be late sometimes. the Lord has blessed me with this job so i will trust that everything will work out in His will.

ps i will be posting pics of the apartment soon.

awakening please.

this past weekend i got to escape to the beach for a retreat.
i really enjoyed spending time with the other young adults that went from my church. we had a great time bonding and getting to know each other more than ever.

the Lord really woke me up this weekend. some of the people in the other group that we were with decided to watch some scary movies this weekend. that really spoke to me because i realized that these people really don't understand the love of God & how much these movies can really affect them. while they were watching one of the movies in the living room of the girls' room, i went out onto the balcony & just prayed & worshiped. praying for us to get it; to accept His love for us. my heart was broken.

"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"
Matthew 6:22-23

purity is such a big part of my life. i strive for purity. my heart is burdened for purity of this nation and for my generation. we need an awakening. it's an urgency that we need in our hearts once again. this is my prayer.completely random but i love this picture.

i am currently watching one of my favorite shows, Psych. If you haven't seen it, you need to watch it from the beginning. It's about a guy named Sean who is a "psychic detective." we all know that this position does not exist. he was raised to be more observant than the average person. it's hilarious. go watch it.

august.

i have come to a habit of updating once a month. i need to change this.

here is what happened in August:
my grandmother turned 85! she is slowly declining in her health but she made it to her birthday. she is truly on of my heroes.
i tried to upload a video of my two aunts playing the piano but it's not working so i will keep trying later.

my heart

so the last couple of days i have been listening to Jonathan David Helser. He is a musician who loves the Lord. the last couple of weeks i have been unsteady & restless in my walk with the Lord. i have become complacent once again & it has to stop. my heart still yearns for God & His presence but my actions do not show the same thing.

there is a song called "Likeness of Jesus" that JDH sings. it's a song that i love to hear because it is prayer of mine. i don't know all the lyrics so you will just have to go listen to it yourself.

recently, i went to visit my dad's side of the family. my grandmother is basically dying but i know that she is going home soon so i'm not too worried. i was very happy to see her before she goes. anyways, as i was visiting i realized that i just didn't fit in. i long for purity more than anything in this world with everything i do. it is hard to do at times but it is something i long for.
my sister & i went to church with my dad & the verse that struck my mind was in Matthew.

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Matthew 5:8

it's been in my mind all week. also, having child like faith has been on my heart all week.

i think the Lord is trying to tell me something...

the question is if i will open my heart & ears to hear Him. i will. Will you?

it was a crazy week at work. sometimes i wonder why i still work there.
the best part about it is this: we have two cake decorators & one of them is a Christian. We talk about the Lord all the time. the other decorator is Guatemalan. i don't know what she believes but she requested to listen to Kari Jobe's, No Sweeter Name in Spanish. so we listened to it at least three times yesterday at work on the other decorator's iphone. how wonderful is that?!

it made my week after all the crazy things that happened. the Lord is good.

i started to clean & organize my room today and i came across some notes from a Song of Solomon study i was apart of in college. Here is one thing i wrote down:

"Quit negotiating when you are in God's presence, let Him like you."

it was so good to read that this morning. those words are not mine. i could not get those words out of my head all day today. "let Him like you." i am replacing the word "like" with the word "love."

"Quit negotiating when you are in God's presence, let Him love you."

Let Him love on you. i don't know how many times i do not allow Him to love on me. usually pray for myself or for others & not rest in His presence. i have to remind myself to just relax in His presence. it so good to be rest & feel His peace when i do that.

a challenge to those who read this. relax in His presence, enjoy His presence during your quiet/devotion time, allow His peace to flow through you. it's a wonderful feeling i promise.

i am challenging myself since i don't get to take the advantage to be myself when i can.

good night friends. i pray blessings & wonderful dreams to you all.

5 seconds

here are some of the kids dancing to the song of the week by Canton Jones.

another month gone

so once again it has been another month since i have updated. so here it goes:

the youth & i went to Texas, June 26-July 3.
we had a great time.
15 teenage girls & 1 female leader (me).5 teenage boys & 2 male leaders (Jason & Bo).
needless to say, we were never bored & i had my hands full.

first, we drove to Paris, TX first & ministered at Pathway International Church of God. Paris is a small town with some crazy road signs that tell you which ramp to exit onto. (i don't have a picture of that unfortunately).
the second thing we did was go to Arlington to see the Rangers play. i am now a fan :D
it was my first major league baseball game & i loved it! i actually payed attention. here are two pictures: first one is Josh Hamilton (he really loves the Lord & he's cute) & the second one is most of the Rangers stadium.after the game, i got to see one of my oldest friends. we have known each since we were one or two. she moved to Dallas ten years ago & we got to catch up! i loved it! she actually saved a few of us by picking us up from the game. all of us didn't make the trolly that takes us back to the hotel where we were staying.
the next day we got to tour downtown Dallas by riding the Dart train. We got to see the street were JFK got shot & the window where the sniper was standing. it's kind of morbid but really cool. we then proceeded to eat lunch at the spaghetti warehouse (which was super cheap). then off to shop at a mall in Dallas. it was the coolest mall i have ever been to! it basically had everything from Urban & Anthro to Dior & Juicy Couture. (i got me a fossil watch).

after our fun in Dallas, we made our way to Weatherford for the Texas COG youth camp. it was an adventure to get there, & to texas, with our GPS. we finally got settled in & had a "come to Jesus meeting" as a group. we prayed & confessed to each other & worshiped til 1am. it was wonderful because we all needed to lay thins down to the Lord before we could minister to the campers.

the camp was fun! i loved seeing my kids unite as one & see how the campers would watch them to either follow in their footsteps or not.
there were 150 kids at the camp.
with our team there ministering:
26 got saved
106 rededicated
51 got healed emotionally/physically
35 got called into the ministry
38 were filled with the Holy Spirit
I pray these kids continue their walk with the Lord & submit to Him alone.

the trip overall was fun & hard for me. I had to be in charge of the girls & the boys since i help with the dramas. we also had all of the girls, including me, in one room with one bathroom and one outlet. let's just say that was really hard for some of the girls. i had to be mean at times b/c they would not listen but what can i say... they are teenagers.

i am glad i am back home to normalcy.

this week consisted of:
work (my first open to close)
seeing HS friends
seeing toy story 3 & eclipse
hanging out with my HS girls

i'm pooped!!!
have a wonderful night.

The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, "What is this? A new teaching-- and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him."
Mark 1:27

I'm reading the New Testament in 30 days with my kids who are going to Texas in a couple of weeks. It has been challenging & wonderful at the same time. I am still behind but I am loving this challenge to read the Bible.

This verse above really spoke to me as well as others. The way Matthew and Mark have mentioned the word 'authority' more than once has really stood out. The people were amazed at what Jesus did... the miracles he performed as well as his teachings. The best part about it is the way he spoke. He spoke with authority & he believed in what he was saying. I have started to meet with the girls on the team to talk about what we have been reading because it is important to understand what the Word says. I told the girls today that we need this authority in our lives. We have this authority in our lives if we believe in what we read and trust what it says.

The Word is truth. I want more of this authority in the way I speak and the way I live my life. I pray that the Lord will give us this for our trip to Texas and for our lives.

we are witnesses

so i just started to read the book of John. i am reading it because i am going to texas this summer for a week with my kids and Jason (YP) wants the team to read it together.
as i started to read John 1, John was being described as being "the witness to the light" (jn 1:8). i was so convicted by that statement. i have often prayed as well as heard others pray for us to be the light in the midst of darkness. we are not the light, Jesus is. Jesus does use us to bring light into the world but we are not "the light." we are "the witnesses to the light." we are the witnesses to Him. we are also witnesses to the world by showing the pure & true love of God. we show that through grace, mercy, & the words of our testimony. i truly enjoy His love. it's simple & wonderful.

the prayer room is singing "dark but lovely" by Sarah Edwards. it's so good. this song touches me every time i hear it.

it's been a sobering week.
a former co-worker's brother committed suicide, a creeper has been coming into work to check out the high school girls i work with & i got to reunite with an old friend at church under a sad circumstance.
my friend that i got to catch up with for a few minutes came home due to the death of his mom. she had breast cancer for some time now. what got me more than anything is that on tuesday i watched First Wives Club with some friends. the movie is hilarious but it is really sad to reunite with friends because of a death. it really made me sad and it also gave me a reality check. this world is suffering and i have only been thinking about my life and the people who are in my life.
needless to say i have had a crazy week & i am very thankful for the Lord's grace.

choose life

so i have been thinking about the words life & love lately.
i went to visit my dad this weekend. my little brother turned 7 yesterday! he's getting so big! anyways, i went to his church today. it was tiny & they sing out of the hymnal books. needless to say i did not know a single song we sang today. the pastor spoke on having a firm foundation, especially after becoming a believer. i started to think and pray about life. i was praying for the people in this church to SEEK LIFE (deut 30:19-20) and to SEEK GOD & LIVE (amos 5). then i proceeded to think about His love for us. of course, How He Loves came into my head. it was just good to think about how much God loves us and that HE IS JEALOUS for us. HE wants to be with us all the time and yet He is willingly let us choose Him or not.

i choose Him.
i choose Him no matter what situation i am going through, good or bad.
His Word is truth and life.

prayer room #7

i love you, i love you
Lamb of God
I give all my love to you.

today is a new day
i give You my heart again
i surrender, i surrender

today is a new day
i give You my heart again
i surrender, i surrender

tim reihmer's set

behind the counter.

it was another holiday week.
usually the day before the holiday is the worst. however, today was not that bad! i praise the Lord for that b/c i usually stressed, irritated, & lose my temper at least once. today was different. i prayed before i walked into the doors for joy to do my job in the midst of chaos. i only had two ladies get an attitude with me and honestly, it was not my fault. it's hard to please everyone since we are under-staffed. but i think most of the customers knew we were all doing our best to get them out in a timely manner. i am just so thankful for not leaving there and being in a bad mood. today, one of my favorite things i said was when a lady asked if we had any strawberry cakes left. i told her, "nope, we have nothing strawberry left." i'm not sure why but i just thought it was funny.

if you ever want to know what it's like to work in a bakery, just ask.

on another note, i am a little obsessed with Lomography. i have a Diana F+ and i love it! i need to post some updated photos but i need to scan them. unfortunately i don't have a usb cord to do that... i will soon have it. i've gotten a little better at it but i am still learning.

here is one picture i took that i like:

the waterfall at the Colonnade froze during january/february in one of our cold spells.

it has been a crazy month.
i feel like there have been so many emotions this month... thank you stress.

the Lord is so good & yet i do not deserve his grace and mercy. I have been in this crazy dry season. yet, the Lord has just loved on me & that is all i have needed for now. I've been learning so much in this season of listening, following, and sitting. and during all of this, He has used me to reach out to the kids in youth group. i love it. it's encouraging to hear parents tell me how much their kids look up to me. i couldn't ask for more and i cannot take all of that credit. thank you Lord.

tonight at church our new youth pastor, jason (yay!), talked about the cross & reminding what it means during Easter. i really needed to hear it. working in the food service industry makes me hate holidays. so pray that i will serve with an actual servant's heart & do it for my Maker. while Jason was talking about the cross, he asked what we all need to lay down. the Lord revealed "past hurt" to me. i have hung on to so many things & i haven't really thought about it until tonight. i don't know what all i have hung on to but i know i need to let all of it go. it cannot hinder me any longer.
the Lord is good & i'm so thankful for what Jesus has done for me.

favorite quotes i've heard this month:
"Jesus, You love the praying church." -Paul Hughes
"It's easier to believe than it is to follow." -P. Jason Sharpe

my girls

i love talking about purity with my girls.
this past weekend we had a girls' retreat up at Horn's Creek. even though it was only for one night, i loved every minute of it. the girls that went on the retreat opened up in different ways to each other & unity came. the theme was on purity but also on the path where God or Satan can take you depending the choices you make.

the Lord used me to tell a girl how beautiful she really is. me and two other leaders were praying for her and i was asked to find a verse for her. earlier that night we talked about two of my favorite verses: Song of Solomon 4:7 & Psalm 45:11. and as i was telling her how beautiful she is and how God is amazed by her, i could just feel the Lord crying out and saying "you're beautiful, you're beautiful!" i almost started crying. my heart was broken for her. the way i felt has stuck with me the last couple of days. the Lord wants us.

i saw Valentine's Day (the movie) tonight. it was really cute and funny. certain parts were a little awkward. a couple of parts were kind of inappropriate to me. after talking about purity and guarding your heart, it makes you more aware of everything you do. i like that b/c the Holy Spirit is moving.

i've been praying for the desire to read & study the Word.

one verse that i really love is from Psalm 100, "sing into his presence" (message). i thought about it tonight as i hung out the youth band during practice & so i read the NIV version and read the whole chapter (5 verses). verse 5 really stuck out to me:
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

i've been reading Exodus and i have realized that God's faithfulness is truly sufficient. He blessed the midwives who feared him & would not kill the male babies (ex 1:17-20). He truly has been faithful in all generations. prayers from past generations are being fulfilled in our day and we have no idea. it's amazing.

i just read Psalm 101 and i feel like David is speaking my life in a way. i pray that if anything is ungodly will not stick in my mind. especially when it comes to guys. there has been a bunch of boy talk lately, i guess it's b/c of valentine's day. but i'm so tired of girls being so desperate for a guy. a friend told me that she hates being 'alone' & she asked me how i deal with it. not only am i used to being single but that is where the Lord wants me right now. i know he send me the perfect husband for me & i'm waiting patiently. i don't give a guy attention b/c he just wants it. it has be because the Lord is the conversation or if the Lord is telling me. i'm learning to depend on the Lord right now and i'm loving every minute of it. i can't wait to see who my husband will be!

the Lord is good.

v-day

today was not the greatest day. valentine's day has never been a day that i have hated but after working in food retail during the holidays makes you not enjoy the actually holiday. people were crazy for valentine's day. we were super busy yesterday and people were not the nicest... but what can you do?
i am thankful that my most important relationship i have is with the Lord. He is the only thing that is worth living for. He truly is my valentine.
but that was not why today was the greatest day. i was just discouraged by friends and with some kids in my youth group. but it did end well. i watched Love Happens with two of my girls & ate some starbucks ice cream. we really liked it. it was funny & then only one part was really sad. i definitely recommend watching it.

highlight for the day:
we got a new youth pastor!! i'm so excited.

so when i went to starbucks the other day and this is the cup they gave. i liked it so much that i took a picture of it. enjoy:

i feel like it's been forever since i last wrote a blog. so much has been going on in my life that i barely have time to rest.

i went to houston for theCall & for the LIFE siege. it was an amazing weekend full of prophetic words from the Lord. people got healed & people got saved! it was wonderful.

work has been okay but it's been really slow since no one is really spending money.

this past weekend i went on a retreat with the young adults from my church. we went to pigeon forge. i had a great weekend. i got to reconnect with a couple of people i met last year who live in WV & i also got to spend time with a friend who is doing mission work in downtown Atlanta. it was so good to hear how the Lord moves in her & just to see much she has grown in her walk. on our way home yesterday, we spend the whole time just talking about the Lord and worshiping together. i loved every second of it.

the Lord is so good. I was reminded of the His love for me again. i love Him.

weird

do you know the real meaning of the word "weird?"

it doesn't mean strange...

this is what it means:

1.	involving or suggesting the supernatural; unearthly or uncanny

2.	fantastic; bizarre: a weird getup.

(from dictionary.com)

so it's more prophetic than we thought!

how cool is that??
well, at least natalie, cierra, and i thought it was on our way to atlanta.

theCall crisis

are you a Nazirite?

so i'm reading NAZIRITE DNA by Lou Engle. it's really good so far. Lou Engle writes about the meaning & what it takes to be a Nazirite. there are people who are called to be a Nazirite & be completely devoted to the Lord. John the Baptist was a Nazirite in the New Testament. Lou talks about the first time God gives the invitation of becoming a Nazirite is in Numbers 2:6. Being separated from man & be completed devoted to God.
I really like it & i can't wait to finish it. one thing that really stuck out to me as i was reading last night was this:

"Don't be afraid of loving God too much. The religious status quo will never understand your Nazirite passion. But love never counts the cost. It always gets the most expensive thing in the house an pours it out on God."

i really just loved that. i know sometimes i feel like i can't love God as much as i want too and i have conformed to it. that is such a lie! i need to stop doubting myself. our generation needs to stop doubting. i have decided that my time is now to be radical again, like i was in tuscaloosa. birmingham has been different for me but i know that i can do this. so, now i am dedicating myself to the Lord & really letting Him use me for anything. i pray for boldness & courage for myself to do what He wants me to do.

on a different note:
Saturday, Jan 16th, myself & a few others are going to Houston, TX for theCall crisis. Planned Parenthood is building their largest building yet for abortion. please pray for us as we go. i will probably post something before i leave for that.

so this christmas "break" has been good. this is what i have done:

hang out with paige & bethany, who are home from Lee. i miss having them around 24/7 like in high school.

one of my best guy friends got married & had an awesome 'flying v' shaped cake.

new years with paige, watching tv on dvd, & drinking sparkling cranberry apple cider.

work.

got a yorkie whose name is Queenie but we are calling her Sadie.

visit the church of brook hills. they had really good worship.

gotten new worship music.

got a snuggie for christmas.

and watch some good movies.

now i'm wishing my friends didn't have to go back to school.... oh well, we get snow on thursday!