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??

Easter Is Coming!!

Easter is right around the corner - hard to believe, right?? It seems like we just put all of the Christmas decorations away!! I love Easter!! It is the holiday that reminds us just how powerful our God is and to what lengths He went (and continues to go) in order to bring us back to Him. I love that it doesn't get as much hype and commercialization as Christmas - it really helps me to focus on exactly what happened on the Cross and then 3 days later at the empty tomb.

While Easter is the most reverent holiday that Christians celebrate, it is also celebrated by society with a focus on Easter eggs, Easter baskets, and Easter candy. While I love to celebrate what my Savior did for me by participating in Communion, observing Good Friday, and thanking God like crazy at the Easter celebration service, there is a smaller part of me that appreciates the good folks at Cadbury for choosing to make the most amazing candy ever for Easter - Cadbury Creme Eggs and Cadbury Mini Eggs!! Some people would even go so far as to say that Easter has the best candy of ANY holiday! Some people like Peeps (I hate marshmallows, so no Peeps for me!) and John REALLY likes the Reeses Peanut Butter Egg - he says it has the perfect ratio of peanut butter to chocolate - and then of course, there is the infamous Chocolate Bunny that begs the question, do you start with the ears or the tail?

Where are you celebrating Easter this year?? I'd love to invite you to celebrate with us at West Pines Community Church!! Just click the link for all of the information. It's going to be an amazing time of worship and celebrating what God has done - ALL of the focus will be on Him!

After you decide where you'll be celebrating, what Easter candy will you and your "peeps" be munching on????

Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?

John and I are going to a wedding on Friday and I couldn't be more excited! I'm totally looking forward to seeing the bride and her family, who I have known since I was 8 and were an integral part of my life and my spiritual growth. There will be people there that I haven't seen in years as well as some of my dearest friends. Of course, it's also going to be a gorgeous and romantic event and I can't wait to see how the couple's personalities are reflected in the details of the wedding and both receptions.

My wedding day was the most incredible day of my life. I remember it like it was yesterday! I remember feeling so overwhelmed that there was this amazing guy standing in front of me who wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, and then there were 300 people all around me who came out to support us and show us how much they loved us. I cried harder than I have ever cried in my life during our first dance, simply because I was so overwhelmed with thankfulness for God's abundant blessings.

Recently, John and I have experienced some "bumps" in our marriage and while sharing these with a couple Christian girlfriends recently, I was amazed to find that I'm not alone in this. Although my friends and I love our husbands more than anything on earth and while we have all given our lives to Christ and are actively pursuing Him in every area of our lives, our marriages are not immune from experiencing problems. Last week, I picked up a book called Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas and have been amazed at the truths in it. Between the book and some amazing advice from an unbelievably sweet and caring Christian friend, I've come to realize that while I tend to point out all of the areas in which John can improve as a man and as a husband, I've REALLY missed the mark as a woman and as a wife. Instead of focusing on myself and the areas in which I need to improve, I've wasted all my time and energy focusing on the person I can't change, and he doesn't really deserve to be judged by his imperfect wife!

While praying about this last night, I had a thought that helped me to wrap my head around how I can change my focus, so I want to share it with you so that I can make more sense of it as I get it out in writing... I truly believe that we as girls really sabotage our marriage as soon as the engagement ring is put on our finger. How??? The wedding. How many weddings have you been to where it was all about the groom? How many reality shows are on TV that show Groom-zillas? How many magazines feature hundreds and hundreds of pages of tuxedos and cuff links and shiny black shoes? None, because we are told by everyone on earth that the wedding is all about the bride, and so we start planning for this day thinking that not only does this one amazing day revolve completely around us, but so does every day after the wedding. This amazing man who truly wants you to have a perfect wedding day (and who really doesn't care too much about the color of the flowers or the chair bows or whether or not the ribbon on the programs is thick enough) ends up being treated like a stagehand during the wedding planning and then after the wedding, this man who wants nothing more than to make you happy continues to be treated as a slave - someone whose only purpose is to keep you entertained, give you everything you want, not have too strong of an opinion about anything, and not argue when you ask for something - just like he was treated during the wedding planning. Now I am sure none of us would admit that we acted this way and maybe some of us gave our husbands a little more respect during the wedding planning, but I really believe that this theory still has some merit in most marriages.

I want my husband to know that no one respects him more than I do. I want him to be confident that I will follow him no matter where he asks me to go. I want him to never hesitate to share something with me out of fear of what my response will be. I want him to always choose me when there is a choice between being with me or doing something else, not out of obligation, but because he truly enjoys my company. I want him to be free to be himself and know that I am behind him, encouraging him to be exactly who God has created him to be. And I am sure that none of this will happen if I expect his whole world to revolve around me and my desires.

My prayer is that I will be so focused on my relationship with Christ and on my role as becoming a wife that treats her husband the way Jesus calls me to treat him that I can honestly say that I don't have the time or the energy or even the awareness to point out his shortcomings. I know it will be tempting to sneak a glance at what he could do better, but I know where that will take us, and I have no desire to live that way any longer!!! He gave me everything I asked for when we were planning our wedding - now it's my turn to bend to his desires as we share a life together!