He makes the BAD, GREAT!

However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you.

Deuteronomy 23: 5

I am sure that I am not the first person who has had to deal with difficult people. I am not the first person to express my anger towards a person or two. I am not the first person to admit that there are people out there that I would rather never see, hear from or run into again... these are the type of people that I would consider to be "Balaam" in my life... these are the type of people who would love nothing more than to bring a "curse" upon me, or better yet, be the driving force behind the hard times we all face.

But TRUST ME, I have witness the LORD turn their desires to bring pain, into something far more beautiful than anything I could dream of. I am currently working on some "stuff" with the Lord... as I am sure we all are... and I will tell you, HE has turned the ugliest part of this "stuff" into the most beautiful blessing and you know why? BECAUSE HE LOVES ME! That is the part that just blows my mind.

HE loves US enough to turn what people intend for evil into good. BECAUSE HE loves US, even the ugliest times in our life, HE will turn into beauty. I have seen it first hand, I have experienced the pure beauty the Lord gives those HE loves. They, the "Balaam" people in our lives can try as hard as they want, but they will NEVER triumph over HIS love for us... NEVER!

I will even go as far as to say, THEY will NEVER triumph over HIM period. To me, that brings comfort, that vary thought floods me with peace. I cannot help but PRAISE HIM...

Capable...

...See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

I walked by these flowers at Target a few days ago and the scripture mentioned above rang out loud and clear... so naturally I purchased them and they are now sitting on my dining table...

... the bright colors, fresh smell and simple beauty remind me of just how much HE is capable of...

Will you be THERE?

Heaven Fest is a Christian Music Festival happening in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, July 31st, 2010. Tens of thousands of people from all over Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, Utah and Kansas will be coming to Denver to see over 70 bands and artists perform on 7 stages with 7 interactive areas!

In 2008 Heaven Fest became the largest Christian music festival ever to happen in Colorado. In 2009 Heaven Fest nearly doubled in size to over 23,000 people.

Heaven Fest features an array of different musical genres from Rock, Hip-Hop, Hardcore, Gospel, Worship, Acoustic, Folk, Metal, Rap, Electronica, and Experimental. Over 70 artists will play on 7 stages all throughout the day so there will always e something to do!

At the end of the night, Heaven Fest will make Jesus Christ the headliner of the festival by having a nameless, faceless worship band with tons of pastors, prayer-ers, intercessors and worshippers. For the rest of the night, we will worship Jesus Christ and make him the headliner of Heaven Fest and the only name worth mentioning.

Heaven Fest also features a massive 111 Piece art gallery, a 100ft. long interactive art wall and several professional artists to display live their artistic skills through different mediums.

Heaven Fest also features professional skateboarders and will have a full Skate Park for attendees to come and display their skills during the day.

He NEVER leaves...

Cathryn’s blog yesterday couldn’t have been more right now. You see, she spoke about never being alone, and for me, right now, that hits home. You see, I am HIS people... I am HIS... YOU are HIS PEOPLE, YOU ARE HIS… and I have spent time pouring over this within the Word…

Everlasting Salvation for Zion

¹ "Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and who seek the LORD :
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;

² look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was but one,
and I blessed him and made him many.

³ The LORD will surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.

⁴ "Listen to me, my people;
hear me, my nation:
The law will go out from me;
my justice will become a light to the nations.

⁵ My righteousness draws near speedily,
my salvation is on the way,
and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me
and wait in hope for my arm.

⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment
and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my righteousness will never fail.

⁷ "Hear me, you who know what is right,
you people who have my law in your hearts:
Do not fear the reproach of men
or be terrified by their insults.

⁸ For the moth will eat them up like a garment;
the worm will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,
my salvation through all generations."

⁹ Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength,
O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days gone by,
as in generations of old.
Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces,
who pierced that monster through?

¹⁰ Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made a road in the depths of the sea
so that the redeemed might cross over?

¹¹ The ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

¹² "I, even I, am he who comforts you.
Who are you that you fear mortal men,
the sons of men, who are but grass,

¹³ that you forget the LORD your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?

¹⁴ The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;
they will not die in their dungeon,
nor will they lack bread.

¹⁵ For I am the LORD your God,
who churns up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name.

¹⁶ I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you with the shadow of my hand—
I who set the heavens in place,
who laid the foundations of the earth,
and who say to Zion, 'You are my people.' "

I can’t read it without sobbing. You see, people will say what they want, they will do what they want. However, their words and actions hurt. People come into our lives, remain for a while, hurt our hearts and leave, without even thinking twice. However, HE never leaves HIS people…

I love what He says in verse 7: DO NOT FEAR THE REPROACH OF MEN OR BE TERRIFIED BY THEIR INSULTS. . . MY RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL LAST FOREVER AND MY SALVATION THROUGH ALL GENERATIONS.

I keep sobbing and reading and he says - Was is not me who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed might cross over? Well, I guess if HE can do that, He can surly handle my junk... Even in the midst of all our junk, HE never leaves…

Regardless of what junk we have in our lives and regardless of what people come and go, one thing remains… HIM and HIM ALONE! I couldn’t love HIM more for just sticking around! Remember, we are NOT alone! You are NOT alone. I am NOT alone! Praise Jesus!

Same name -

We have the same name, her first name is my middle name. We spell our names different, but we are similar in many ways. We prefer jeans over skirts. We are comfortable in our sweatshirts and we LOVE our tennis shoes. We love Jesus. We express our frustration with a hard workout and we adore messy hair!

Cathryn, will be blogging... she will be posting her thoughts here... she will be refining her faith... sharing her life... and I could not be more excited about it!

I adore this young woman. I have enjoyed sharing my life with her. I have treasured her passion for the Lord and her heart for the younger generation is something to be admired. I cannot wait to see what she has to say!

I hope you enjoy her posts... I pray you get to know her like I have, I pray you see Jesus within her words and I pray you are blessed ....

Reflections from a year ago...

I originally posted this on my personal blog, over a year ago... a LOT has changed since then... but the thing that has remains the same, I still have "blistered but steady feet moments" ... even if the only shoes I wear are flip flops... How nice it is that Jesus remains the same, even when our lives change so drastically.

Originally Posted: Tuesday, June 16, 2009

I have been looking for new shoes for a while now. I wanted to get a cute pair of black and brown sandals that I could wear at work and on the weekends. I finally found something I liked at Payless, well, I only found a pair of black shoes there. However, I went to Kmart and found a pair of brown sandals, both pairs look fabulous. They are simple, cute and hied all the things I hate about my feet in a very stylish and fabulous way.

Following my weekend purchases, I had to get away from the office yesterday, it was the typical Monday. I was missing my baby and I longed to be at home, I had laundry to get done, I wanted to clean the house and I was drawn to the idea of having all the windows open, reading while Isaac napped and fresh air blew thru the house. So, since I HAD to be at work, on my lunch break I went to get my toe nails painted, I am too cheap to pay for a pedicure but I will pay the $8.00 to have them change up the color... I had the most uncomfortable, yet sassy shoes on and I wanted to slip into my new fancy black sandals but my toes nails were in no shape to be on display at work. So a little lunch out of the office was a must, plus it totally opened up the option to display my new shoes several times this week.

So today, I got dressed with my new brown sandals in mind. My entire outfit was focused around what looked best with my shoes. I changed my pants three times just to make sure I had on the ones that looked just perfect with my sandals. Once I had selected the perfect pants, the rest of the outfit just came together. The morning went smooth; I got Isaac to day care on time and to work on time. The trouble did not start until around 10am, just a little over 2 hours after I first slipped my feet into my new fabulous, fiercely adorable brown sandals from Kmart.

Around 10am I tell ya, my feet were on FIRE! The sandals were easy to walk in, but the leather strap that ran across the top of my feet dug into the sides and just kept digging with each step. I am convinced I will break them in. They were cheap, they are cute and they are just a titch uncomfortable, but I am praying about that. Seriously, I am going to pray about the breaking in process of these shoes because my heart is just so fond of them.

It all got me thinking, Psalm 17:5 says, My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped. Then if you turn to Psalm 26:12, it reads, My feet stand on level ground; in the great assembly I will praise the LORD. And finally, there is Psalm 40:2, He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

During the entire day, I never had any trouble walking in the shoes. My feet were stable with each step I took, but with each step that leather strap just dug farther into the skin on the sides of my feet. I left for work with a cute outfit and new shoes and I came home with blisters. How many times in our lives do we experience the exact same thing? How many times do we find out selves in the midst of trying times, painful times, yet it is in those times that we are stable, our feet don’t slip, our faith holds strong, our foundation is rock solid. Those are promises I cling to. Those are promises I pray over my son, that his days, no matter how difficult, may be days with steady feet. I pray that he might stand on holy ground, steady ground and stable ground, regardless of what might come his way.

I am so honored to serve a God who places my feet on a rock; He gives me a firm place to stand and He makes sure my feet do not slip; regardless of what shoes I happen to choose that morning. Regardless of the choices we make, His promises remain. How great is our God? Seriously? How Great Thou Art!

Sweet Jesus I love you – Thank you for keeping my feet steady, regardless of what shoes I choose to wear in the morning. Regardless of my choices, you are You, and You are God. And I LOVE YOU! I praise you Abba, I praise you! Oh and Daddy, please heal my blistered feet and ease the break in process of my new shoes. Bless me with comfortable brown sassy sandals. Amen.

Sticks and Stones ...

We have all heard it "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me"... well I am here to tell you that is a HUGE lie... but here is how I will re-write that "sticks and stones may break my bones, words will hurt me and the WORD will heal me"...

You see, I am no stranger to people saying things that aren't true. I am no stranger to believing what other people say about someone and realizing it wasn't true. I am no stranger to being wrong. I am no stranger to saying something when I should have just kept my mouth shut.

I often joke about the fact that I have gotten comfortable with my foot in my mouth and I don't think there is anything wrong with taking the "learn as you go" approach to life. You see, just because we make the choice to fall madly in love with the one and only perfect Son of God, the one and only who created the heavens and the earth, doesn't mean we ourselves have to be perfect.

I am getting comfortable with the idea of not being "perfect" at things, I am getting comfortable saying what I really feel, even if that means I might have to go back and apologize later. You see, when things get rough and people say mean things or do things that really, REALLY hurt, I turn to the book of Habakkuk and it is there that I find comfort.

I am not the only one who has ever said to the Lord "Why do you make me look at injustice? Why you do tolerate wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife and conflict abounds."

And then, I turn to Psalm 119 - which I ADORE!

Right now... verse 85-88 hit home for me. "The arrogant dig pitfalls for me, contrary to your law. All your commands are trustworthy; help me, for men persecute me without cause. They almost wiped me from the earth, but I have not forsaken your precepts. Preserve my life according to your love, and I will obey the statues of your mouth."

At the end of the day, mean people suck and I don’t think I am the only one who has ever wanted to just say so. These are people that will say what they want to say. They will do what they want to do. They will continue on their way, and there is NOTHING I can do about what they do or say. We cannot do anything about what other people say, all I know, is what HE says...

Mark 13:13 says it so well "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."

Within my desire to figure out what happens when you have nothing to say AND lots to talk about, I am left searching within the WORD, after all, that is where the TRUTH is.

Within my desire to leave the people behind that have nothing nice to say and frankly I am getting really tired of, I am left within the pages of the WORD, after all, I am not the only person who has ever had an experience or two with a few people that make our skin crawl.

And finally, as I come to understand that sticks and stone may break my bones and words will actually hurt me, I am left to cling to the very fact that the ONE & ONLY Son of God, experienced the very pain that breaks my heart and makes me more mad than anything I have ever experienced.

So I am not afraid of the mean people that suck. I am not going to invite fear and anxiety into my home and I am not going to loose any more sleep over them. Rather, as a dear friend of mine once said, "take these trials and consider them to be an honor, because Jesus himself wasn't the most popular person either..."

So dear one, if you have people in your life, that fit into the "mean people suck" category, take it to Jesus and tell HIM all about THEM! Talk about THEM until you cannot say anything more. Cry over it with HIM until you have no tears left, but leave it with HIM. He is BIG enough to deal with it and you can trust HIM enough to have the very best in store for you.

Tears and Talking...

I have recently lost a dear friend I went to high school with. He and his wife were great friends of mine and I love them dearly! Well, as it turns out, my dear friend died unexpectedly last week and his memorial service was on Saturday.

And to be honest, at 29 years old, I am not old enough to start to loose people I love, not to mention those that I love that are my age. I just don't think I am old enough to loose people I went to high school yet... and frankly I am pissed about the entire situation.

I think part of this journey, part of where I am in life, you know, when I have nothing to say AND lots to talk about, is being painfully honest about the things that are going on in our lives. You see, this woman that has been making my life rather tense is still around, and now, the death of a dear friend of mine, all seems to be a little much.

I am not in the business of questioning the Lord, nor am I going to start getting into that type of business. But I am in the business of telling HIM exactly what I think about HIS plan and where I am in my life right now. I think I have come to terms with having nothing much to say, to other people, and LOTS to say to HIM.

After all, HE is my savior, best friend and the greatest secret keeper I have ever told anything to. And I LOVE that about HIM. I don't think my issues are too small for Him, nor do I think they will ever be too big. I don't think I am wasting my time by pouring out my heart and soul to HIM as I cry and talk until I have no tears left.

I love just knowing that HE will wipe my tears away as HE listens to every word I speak. So, the journey continues, I am sure I will stick my foot in my mouth more than once but I am also sure I will talk HIS ear off until the sun comes up. The tears have dried up, and yet I still have more to say.

"I'm good, how are you?"

You see, I am on an adventure to attempt to figure out how to be REAL with people. You know... when someone asks me "how are you"... I normally replay "I am good, how are you?"...

And the reality is if I were to answer that question right now, today... I would say: "I am in an interesting place. A woman has decided to make my life as stressful as possible, she is wealthy, I use to respect her, technically I use to work for her, and now, she just haunts my dreams. She has made my nights filled with night mares and restless sleep, she has stirred up fear and anxiety that I refuse to allow in my home and she has brought out a kind of person within me that I frankly am not sure I like. Other than that, I am good, how are you?"

Is that too much detail? Is that something that would fall into the "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" category?

I don't know if I can go another day without saying something. This woman is DRIVING ME NUTS! I know the Word says we are to pray for our enemies and to be honest, I am at the point that I am praying for her to wake up in the middle of the night with indigestion, I am praying that her money disappears which means she would no longer be able to eat food from Whole Foods and fancy restaurants, there fore she forced to shop at Walmart and I pray she goes on a SUNDAY!

(Side note: this woman HATES Walmart, and has said to people that you can catch something from the kind of people who shop there)

Her disgust for Walmart annoys me, mostly because I shop there, always have and I find the people pleasant, the food good, the toys delightful to my two year old and I have yet to catch something from the "kind of people" that shop there...

Truthfully, I am at my whits end. I am tired. I am spent and I am done being a "I'm good, how are you" kind of person when it's not true.

So, I ask... How ARE you?

Nothing to say, but lots to talk about...

Sometimes I think there comes a point in one's life when they come to terms with the fact that there are things in life that fall under the "nothing to say" category and then there are other things that fall into the "lots to talk about" category.

But what happens when you have nothing to say AND lots to talk about... for example....

What happens when someone hurts your heart? What happens when someone terrifies your dreams? What happens when that same person is powerful and wealthy?

Which category does this situation fall into? Well, currently in my life, I have spent the last few months with this situation in the "nothing to say" category and now I have choose to move it, into the "lots to talk about" category. I am making the choice to talk about something knowing that some people will look down on. I am making the choice to voice my opinion knowing the powerful and wealthy woman that is haunting my dreams is only powerful if I give her the power, and right now, I am taking the power back. I am going to talk about the damage that she has done, I am going to talk about the pain she has caused and I am going to talk about my feelings!

So how do I do that? How do I talk about the vary things that I shouldn't talk about and remain committed and in love with Jesus? How do I talk about this situation and represent Jesus well?How do we talk about things and watch what we say? How do we do this?

So... here is to the journey that is ahead! Here is to learning how to talk about something I technically have shouldn't talk about... here is to learning more about life, here is to being real! Real with YOU. Real with Jesus and Real with MYSELF...

More EVERFOUND Pictures

WE found HIM ... HERE... IN EVERFOUND

Tonight, we went out, the girls and I, and some other fabulous adult drivers...

... we went to a concert...

... and we found Jesus there... It was FABULOUS!

Can you find Him here? Day 6

I don't think a day has gone by in my entire life where I couldn't use a wish... Now, 29 years into this adventure called life, I just turn those "wishes" into prayers...

Can you find Him here? Day 5

You see, I believe with EVERYTHING in me, it does NOT matter what we do, who we did it with and how many times we ask for forgiveness... What matters is that our hearts belong to HIM.

You see, He loves strippers, drug dealers and me... He doesn't love me more or less than the strippers and drug dealers... He doesn't love them any less... He just loves...

Can you find Him? Give me Jesus

There is nothing I want more than Him, there is nothing that makes me whole like He does, there is NO ONE that loves me like HE DOES.

I just want to find HIM everywhere, mostly because I cannot get enough of Him...

Can you find Him here? Day 3

Day #3

Song #3

I love Pink, the artist and the color. But more so the artist. I love that she is a kick butt and take names kind of girl. I love her edge, I love her personality, I love the fact that she says what she means and doesn't care how she says it and I love her physical appearance - I love that she is not a size zero!

Please keep in mind that this video could have explicit language in it... however, I believe, this song represents conversations I have had with Jesus time and time again...

Can you see Him hear? Can you hear Him?

Can you find Him here? Day 2

Day # 2

Song # 2

Can you see Him here? Is He speaking to you?

Can you find Him here?

As the girls and I got together on Tuesday Night for dinner this week we talked about finding Jesus in everything, even songs that aren't "Christian" songs. So during the next seven days the girls and I are going to look into our music selections and iPods and we are going to find Jesus in the unexpected songs...

So here is our first one...

Do you see Him? Do you see Jesus in this song?

I'll Pray for You...

Watch the video below and let me know if has anyone else ever felt like this? Has anyone else ever wanted to just "pray" for another person...

Seriously - I was once told that what is not dealt with here and now will be dealt with there and then... Thank you BETH MOORE, she is a good woman I tell ya!

Which means, no matter what may happen, HE will deal with it... I am so glad HE will deal with the very person who I am currently dedicating this song to...

So today, I am going to grab a Starbucks coffee and over priced coffee cake and pray for this individual as I drive an hour away from the town I live in, to deal with the situation they are involved with...

I will remember the words of sweet Beth Moore and not take this issue into my own hands. I will let HIM deal with it, even if I have to wait until then and there to see what happens... I will not deal with it myself...

See, that was me talking myself into letting HIM handle this for me...

Note to self, this is not the day to miss the Starbucks drive thru line or the lunch time Mnt. Dew or the afternoon Pepsi...

Plan B

PlanB Promo from Cross Point Church on Vimeo.

This video speaks to me. This video is real, it is raw and it is life. I am in the midst of my own "plan B", it's just nice to know I am not alone... neither are you...