Paid In Full!!

This week I received the above notice informing me that my student loan has been PAID IN FULL!!! I felt just as fabulous as I did the day I walked across the stage at FAU and received my degree - it was the same feeling of accomplishment and relief all wrapped up in one amazing package!!!! Even though my degree has hung on the wall for the past 10 years doing absolutely nothing for my bank account, my self esteem, or my marketability, it still reminds me that God allowed me to start AND finish my degree while at the same time working full time in Student Ministry. Although my degree probably isn't worth as much as the beautiful frame my mom chose for it, it reminds me of all that God taught me and did in me and through me during that time. There were SEVERAL times I just wanted to quit and focus on ministry - there were also several times I went days without sleep so that I could work AND go to school. It was extremely challenging, but with the support of my mom and several friends, I finished. I am so thankful that I didn't quit or lose focus to spend more time on my job - now that the job I planned on having forever is history and my time in full-time ministry has come to an end, it makes me glad that I didn't give up on my dream of graduating from college - and with honors, I might add :)

Not to overspiritualize this post, but when I got this notice, my first thought was of another debt of mine that has been paid in full, but this debt was one that I did nothing to repay, nor could I ever repay...My past mistakes have been erased, my life has been rescued, and my future is secure - I don't deserve it, I didn't have to earn it, and the One who paid it was happy to do so because of His incredible love for me. My student loan "paid in full" letter now sits on my desk as a reminder of all that God has done for me and reminds me of one of my favorite passages...

Psalm 116:12 (NIV); "How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?"

BIG Announcement!!

I am so excited to share some BIG news with the 3 of you who read my blog :)

Our dear friends, Jon and Melissa Elswick, are going to be planting a church in February 2010 and have asked John and I to be a part of the Launch Team. We have been praying through this leap of faith with Jon and Melissa and have total faith in the dream that God has placed in their hearts. We're thrilled to have been a part of West Pines Community Church for the past 10 months and have been blown away by their support and excitement for Crossway Church! It is such a blessing to be a part of a church that believes in building the Kingdom instead of building their own kingdom. While we are sad to leave numerous friendships and areas of service we have fell in love with at WPCC, we can't wait to see what God has in store for us and for the community at Crossway Church!

Check out the new website and the blog for Crossway Church and please keep Jon and Melissa in your prayers. Not only are they about to launch a new church, but they are also preparing their hearts and home for a little one from Korea! Their passion for Christ, His Gospel, and His creation inspires me each time I am around them and I hope you'll join me in praying for this fabulous couple!

The Great Elswick Adoption Yard Sale

Our amazing friends, Jon and Melissa Elswick, are in the process of adopting a precious baby from Korea. Because the cost of international adoption is so expensive, they are coming up with several creative ways to raise money for Baby Elswick. One of their ideas is coming to fruition on Saturday, July 18th in the form of a Yard Sale.

If you have items to donate or if you would like to come to the Yard Sale and do a little shopping, please visit their blog for all of the details about the Yard Sale.

James 1:27 (ESV); "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Another Crazy Dream

Last night, I had another crazy dream, and it has been on my mind all morning!!!! In my dream, I was "forced" (not sure why or how) to switch husbands and families and ended up with a guy that I dated in college and his 3 kids (that I am pretty sure do not exist). At first, I was a tiny bit intrigued at the thought of getting to see what my life would have been like if I had hung on to this guy, but the longer the dream went on, the more I found myself asking everyone in my dream where John was and if I could PLEASE go back home to him. Everyone kept telling me that I really wanted to be with the new guy, but I was begging to get back to John. The thought of not being with John and having to start all over again was sickening!!

Of course, it was only a dream and I am definitely not going to be submitting an application to "Wife Swap" any time soon, but it has been on my mind all morning. How many of us start to think how much "better" life would be with someone else when times get a little tough with our spouse?? How many of us still hang on to the thought of someone else besides our spouse paying us a compliment or paying even the slightest bit of attention to us? How quickly do we entertain the idea of someone new??

At the same time, how many single ladies settle for so much less than God's best simply out of fear, loneliness, or the lie that they cannot do any better than the loser they think they are "stuck" with only to find themselves in a less-than-God's-best marriage while they unfairly compare their marriage to everyone else's?? No, I'm not advocating leaving your spouse if they are not a Christian or are not doing the things they should - what I AM advocating is being extremely discerning and listening to all of the warning signs BEFORE that person becomes your spouse. Once you are husband and wife, there are so many new struggles and temptations that come along, and you don't want to set yourself up for disaster by ignoring the warning signs before you say "I do." (As someone who often settled for dating guys I KNEW were not God's best for me, I know what fear and loneliness can do to your brain!! It's DANGEROUS!!!)

I heard this story last week and it has stuck with me as I have thought about discernment...

There was an old man sitting on his porch watching the rain fall. Pretty soon the water was coming over the porch and into the house. The old man was still sitting there when a rescue boat came and the people on board said, "You can't stay here - you have to come with us." The old man replied, "No, God will save me." So the boat left. A little while later the water was up to the second floor, and another rescue boat came, and again told the old man he had to come with them. The old man again replied, "God will save me." So the boat left him again.

An hour later the water was up to the roof and a third rescue boat approached the old man, and tried to get him to come with them. Again the old man refused to leave stating that, "God will grant a miracle & save me." So the boat left him again.

Soon after, the man drowns and goes to heaven, and when he sees God he asks Him, "Why didn't You save me? I thought You would grant me a miracle and You have let me down."

God replied, "You idiot, I don't know what you're complaining about. I sent three boats after you!!"

Whether you are choosing a date, a spouse, a job, or even entertaining the idea of someone new (other than your spouse), look for God's rescue boats - they are everywhere!!! If you're having trouble recognizing them, ask a trusted friend if they see any circling around you. You may be surprised at the number of warning signs God is sending your way!!!

WPCC Missions Team

The WPCC Missions Team left today for Guatemala and will be traveling June 14th-20th. I am so excited for them and for all that they are going to witness and experience while working alongside Compassion International. I had the awesome privilege of helping the Care Ministry Team to collect supplies for the missions trip and seeing the team off at church this morning. Hopefully John and I will be able to be a part of the next trip!!!

You can follow the team by clicking on this link: WPCC Guatemala Missions Team

Please join me this week in praying for each of the mission team members by name!

Robey Barnes

Rebekah Barnes

William Elmore

Sheila Englund

Cera Gomez

Matt Mashburn

Christine Sherlock

Nicole Torres

Danny Vendrell

Letty Vendrell

Completely Random

• I am so incredibly thankful for West Pines Community Church. I have never felt as challenged, as encouraged, or as healthy as I feel at WPCC. I have made some amazing friendships and have been able to get involved and serve in ways that complement my gifts and passions without feeling like I am under a microscope or not doing it the "right" way. I love their commitment to keeping the main thing the main thing and their unwavering belief that our job is to be obedient; God's job is to foster growth and results.
• I am horrified and saddened by the new Britney Spears' song, "If You Seek Amy." I wonder if she just sits around thinking of new ways to be shocking and disgusting - she's a mom of 2 young boys - it makes me sad that she is so wrapped up in herself and keeping her image "trendy" and shocking. It must be exhausting to keep that up all of the time.
• Speaking of music (if you can classify Britney Spears as music), I have found that people either LOVE or HATE the new Black Eyed Peas song. There's no in between.
  
• It is summer in South Florida which means that pretty soon we will be able to tell that it is 3 PM without looking at a clock. When the thunder and lightning are simultaneous and you can't see past the hood of your car because of the sheet of rain in front of you, it's 3 PM. (As long as I am not driving in it, I love it!!!!)
• My niece, Jordan, is the coolest girl in the whole world. She is graduating from K5 in 2 weeks and yes, I will definitely cry at her graduation.
• I have recently been asked to lead the Care Ministry Team at WPCC and I could not be more excited!! I have so many ideas for our 1st meeting on May 31st, some of which involve the church's upcoming missions trip to Guatemala...more to come later!!
• I am planning some BIG surprises for my hubby...more to come on that later, too!!!
• I love re-connecting with long lost friends on Facebook, but it seems like everything I know about my long lost friends AND even my close friends is stuff that I have found out on Facebook and not from actually speaking to any of my people. It's kinda sad and really has challenged me to spend less time on Facebook and more time WITH my friends and family.
• I just finished reading "Unlikely Angel" by Ashley Smith - the girl who was held hostage in her apartment just outside of Atlanta by an escaped prisoner and used "The Purpose Driven Life" to minister to him. Yes, I'm a little late - it happened a LONG time ago - but what an amazing story!! Check it out!!!
• Colossians 2:18-19 (MSG); "Don't tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They're a lot of hot air, that's all they are. They're completely out of touch with the source of life, Christ, who puts us together in one piece, whose very breath and blood flow through us. He is the Head and we are the body. We can grow up healthy in God only as He nourishes us."

Nightmare!!

I have very vivid and realistic dreams - so real that many times I will think that what happened in my dream is actually real and will go through an entire day believing what I dreamed to be true. I have also been known to talk, laugh, and even walk in my sleep. I once woke up at the top of the stairs in my townhouse - have no idea what I was doing or where I was going - I'm just glad I woke up when I did!!

Most of the time, I can explain why I had a dream about something - something that was said during the day or something that I saw - it's usually very logical. I have recurring dreams about being back at my old job (and wondering the ENTIRE time what in the world I am doing back there and trying so hard to get out and get away from the people there!), being back in college (usually something like I have a final for a class I forgot I signed up for), and having all of my teeth fall out (yeah, I have no idea where this one comes from).

As real and as "explain-able" as most of my dreams are, my nightmares are even more realistic, but usually not logical or rational. Most of the time, I wake up right before the really bad thing happens and I am able to go right back to sleep without any trouble. Unfortunately, the nightmare I had last night did not fall into this category...

I was dreaming that I was at a water park with some former students from student ministry (don't ask me why), and in my dream, I woke up and was in my room - so I thought I was really awake and had stopped dreaming. When I opened my eyes, there was a man standing over my bed (I am getting the creeps just typing this) and he was bent over and looking right into my face. I started screaming at the top of my lungs and threw myself over on John's side of the bed. By this time, I actually DID wake up, but didn't really have any distinction between waking up in the dream and waking up in real life. I was lying extremely close to John and couldn't move the lower part of my body. Poor John got up and was visibly shaken - apparently, everything EXCEPT for the man in my dream had been true and I scared the crap out of my poor husband (who not only had to get up at 5 AM to go and fly, but also sleeps with his gun close to the bed).

It took both of us a couple of hours to calm down enough to go back to sleep, and by the time we did, it was time to get up and go to the airport. Before we left, I asked John to check all of the rooms and closets just to be sure that it was a dream - and being the amazing hubby he is, he did just that!

I hate being scared (especially since I am alone so often) and I hate the feeling of something unknown having the power to control me and my emotions - and more importantly, having control over my sleep!!

So, are your dreams realistic or crazy?? Have you ever had an experience like mine??