....of a talker

"Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

Still adj

1. Free of sound.

2. Low in sound; hushed or subdued.

3. Not moving or in motion.

4. Free from disturbance, agitation, or commotion.

5. Free from a noticeable current:

   I was up early this morning and this thought went through my head.  To "be still and know that I am God".  This verse often will come to me when I'm trying to make a decision or when facing a difficult situation.  This time though I felt like God may have been trying to tell me to stop talking and listen!  Not about anything in particular that I know of, but in general.  Just listen.  Listen to Him most importantly, but to listen to those around me.  Pay attention! I think He's trying to tell me.
I immediately thought of my kids.  This happens all the time now that I'm a parent.  God often will tell me things in relation to my most current life situation.  You know when you're trying to tell your child something be it an important life lesson or just simple instruction, if they aren't looking at you you know they aren't listening?  I think it's the same between us and God.  He's constantly trying to tell us instruction, trying to love on us, trying to teach us something, but are we looking at Him?  Most of the time we are probably like a child wanting to go on to the next thing or at something "more entertaining".  You know what I'm talking about.  We feel God nudging us to Him, but we are too busy.  Too busy watching our show, or too busy playing.  I'm not trying to condemn.  I'm really talking to myself! (ha)  From my experience God just wants US!  He longs for our attention so He can whisper things to us to help us on this life journey.  I'm reminded of another verse 1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray with out ceasing" or "Pray continually".  How can we possibly do that?!  I don't think that God really expects us to sit and pray all day.  He knows that we live in a world and that we have responsibilities.  I do believe, however, that He wants our attention....our hearts....a relationship with us.  Maybe instead of thinking of randomness or things we shouldn't be thinking about, speak to Him.  It doesn't have to be aloud all the time.  Just give your thoughts to Him.  Give a little more of your attention to Him today and see what happens.  You may just find yourself praying continually....talking a little less... being still and finding God.

....of a Worship Leader

Today was such a great Sunday at Highland Chapel! It really was! I can see how God is moving in our church.  Not just in numbers (even though it's incredibly awesome to see the church grow!), but I can see it in many other areas.  One of which is worship.  Each Sunday I come to church expecting God to show up and meet us there.  He's our Daddy and WANTS to be with us so why not expect Him to show up?  He comes because He loves us, because He desires to be with us probably more than we desire to be with Him.  Isn't that a crazy intense thought?  That the creator of the UNIVERSE desires US...desires YOU!? 

We did a new song this morning.  Hillsong's "The Greatness of Our God".  For me the song is a prayer.  If you truly sing the lyrics and mean them...WOW...God shows up!  The chorus gets me every time:

"..And no sky contains, no doubt restrains all you are.  The greatness of our God!  I spend my life to know and I'm far from close to all you are.  The greatness of our God!"  The second chorus speaks of how no words can say and no song convey all He is, the greatness of our God! It's so true!  I try to write about how great our Lord is, but there truly aren't enough words to describe Him! 

I love to see the peoples faces in worship.  Some raise there hands, some clap, and some it's simply an expression.  Worship isn't just outward, but it's mostly an inward expression to the Lord.  If you raise your hands but don't mean the worship in your heart then what good was it to raise them?  We raise our hands as an outward expression to God.  That we surrender to Him and are in complete awe of Him.  If we raise our hands with out the meaning (true worship) behind it, it's more for us than for Him.  I dance because that's all I can do to contain myself of the love I feel for our Father. Not because I'm a good dancer (lol).   It's exciting to serve Him and to worship Him!  These are things I remind myself often.  I pray for God to use me and to work through me.  I honestly don't want to be seen.  I want God to be seen and heard.  This is my heart's cry anytime I sing a note.  I want to encourage others to Him...to worship Him with their whole heart and life!

As I said before, church was great today.  It was great because Jesus came and loved on us.  He came and changed lives.  There were 145 of us worshiping God today.  Some adults, some little people, but we were all worshiping Him....our creator:)

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." John 4:23

.....of a beach lovin' lady:)

We recently went to Florida for a mini beach trip.  It was originally just so my hubby could measure a house for cabinets, but we ended up using it as a little family get away.  It really was a lot of fun!  Even though it was January and 50 something degrees.
We stayed in a cute little place near Rosemary Beach.  I loved the way they decorated the place!  It was very simple but it made me want to go home and redecorate my house!  I was so inspired.  Not just by the condo but by the whole area!  I took home lots of mental pictures;)

On Sunday we took the boys down to the beach in Seaside.  Of course there wasn't hardly anyone there.  The ones that WERE there looked at us like we were crazy! Why? Because our 3 year old decided it would be a good idea to go swimming..lol  It started out by me telling him to come put his feet in the water.  One thing led to another and he was asking me to take off his clothes! Of course I didn't..lol  Our oldest, Dinoboy, even got in on the action, but he was mostly interested in flying his kite with my hubby.  He's been wanting a  kite and waiting for the day we had some wind to fly one!  He had such a great time:)