Empty Arms Real Promise

There are some stories in the Bible that capture my heart no matter how many times I read them. The story of Hannah is very much one of those kind of stories. In 1st Samuel chapter one we get to meet this amazing woman.

There are some people in the Bible it is so easy to see yourself in their shoes. Although the time which we live in is so varied and even the difficulties differ yet there is something that makes our hearts connect.

Hannah wanted a baby so bad while her sister had children with ease Hannah had none. She had a dream in her heart of a baby yet it says year after year she had none. All the while her sister uses this as an opportunity to belittle her sister.

We have created a society that is so unwilling to wait for anything. We want instant dinners along side our instant success. Unfortunately in life things are anything but instant. I think about how Hannah had a dream in her heart for a family and she was unwilling to budge no matter how things looked or how long it took. She knew that God was going to give her that which she had asked for...

How confident are you about the desires in your heart? Do you quit at the first sign it isn't going to happen? Would it be written that year after year you still believed?

I preached a message on this the other day. Take a moment and listen here hope you enjoy it!

Together we make an Impact.

Sometimes you have moments that are God given, and you don't even realize it till quiet sometime later. There are times where a thought will come across our mind, and when that thought is captured there is no limit on what can happen.


The thought came to me about doing something that would make a difference in the lives of women, and would pull a community together. So with that said we began our steps toward our first ever Susan G. Komen 5K. I have been the women's pastor at our church for 3 years and have helped host many events. I set a goal of 50 runners with around $5,000 being our projected goal. In my heart I felt like the goal was so large that I feared that I would be dissapointed in the end.

As time went on excitment spread in our community like wildfire. Within the first hour that the posters went up around town we had 100 runners signed up. I knew in this moment that God was about to blow our mind......

"If ever there comes a time when the women of the world come together purely & simply for the benefit of mankind, it will be a force such as the world has never known."
-Matthew Arnold
19th Century British Poet
(excerpt from Lisa Brevere Lioness Arising)




The morning of October 23rd 2010 I looked out over a crowd of well over 900 people with over $16,487 raised. All because of a thought......One little thought......With a goal of what I thought was impossible of 50 runners and to raise five thousand I had watched grow into something bigger than I could have ever asked. All because of putting one little thought into action.


A thought that brought together people of all backgrounds, denominations, education levels, ages, colors, economic status'. Yet in those moments none of those things mattered. We all stood united behind one cause. I looked over that huge sea of pink, and could feel Jesus smiling down on us in those moments....In those moments we came together to make a difference in a life that we may never meet face to face, but in those moments our heart knew them well.


We are called to something so much bigger than the 9-5 work weeks. Trying to get the biggest best house car and job. We were created to make a difference in the world which we live in. Our potential to play a part in making a difference is directly reflective to how we respond to the time we are given today.


Esther 4:14 You were created for such a time as this and for this very occasion


I hope this inspires you to do something that will make a difference where you are in your community! This is our time chiks lets rise up as one body and make a difference in our world! What do you say?!

For some reason I am having trouble uploading the video so click here to see the all the pictures from our event.

Barbie Dreamhouse

Every girl no matter what age you are can say that at some point you dreamed of having a Barbie dream house. A wonderful home that Barbie can have everything she needs.

I always wanted one as a child. My parents unfortunately didn't have the money to buy such an expensive item for my birthday. My grandpa built a wooden shelves that held dolls with different small compartments. I would stack books and other random objects to make these wood shelves a "home" for my Barbie.

My daughter just turned 5 and has decided that she LOVES all things Barbie which is the best news under the sun for me. I am so excited to play dolls with her. Something that is so coming of age to dress and primp your Barbies just says you are no longer little but that you are more mature (this coming from a 26yr old mom that is giddy over her daughter liking Barbie so much). One thing that Brailey Kay wanted for her birthday was a Barbie dream house.

We were able to get it for her thanks to her amazing grandparents that jumped on the opportunity of having the hands down hit gift of the party.

As we assembled it I began to think of the hours spent playing with those wooden shelves when I was younger. I began to remember how I would wish I had a Barbie dream house.... There I am 26yrs. old sitting on the living room floor.

I began to think of all that God has done in my life in the last 10 years. Barbie's dream house comes with all things wonderful....

Beautiful furniture, chandeliers, bubble bath, fully stocked kitchen, bedding, and a cute closet. I remember thinking as a child if I had a place of my own stocked with all those beautiful things how it would make life great.

Barbie's Dream house is just an empty shell. The beauty is all in there. It is waiting for the dolls that it was created for to come and play inside.

Made me think of life. I have everything I have always wanted. Not because I live in a nice home with nice cars and a great closet full of wonderful clothes (and shoes). But the wonderful thing about my home is the people in it. My amazing husband and beautiful children. They are what makes my home into a dream home. It's the laughs we share, the cuddle time spent on a Saturday morning, dinners with family that we love around the dinning room table, and the hallway filled with the sound of running feet in a game of chase....That is what makes my home a dream home.

I looked around and thought about the wooden shelves and how many amazing memories I have of playing with my dolls in those old shelves. Sure I always wanted the fancy home, but the memories made with my brother and sister weren't based on what that home looked like. It was based off of the laughter and the love we shared as we played. It was still fun even though it wasn't the marketed DREAM HOME by Barbie. It was our dream home and we loved it. I wish I still had those shelves....

Do you see your life as your dream home? Or do you see it just as wooden shelves?

Maybe the dream home you have been asking for is what you already have...you just are looking at it in the wrong light.

Big Steps in New places

I remember the night Bryan and I went out on our first date...We were sitting in his old white Ford pickup truck (sounds like something out of a country song huh?). We began to talk about where we were heading in life and what were our goals. Bryan at that time told me that all he ever wanted was to be in full time ministry. Months later after we got to know each other more and more I realized that this wasn't just a dream of his, but a passion.

Time went on and bills came. We decided that while waiting for that dream to happen he needed a different career then at the lumber yard. So he went to fire school just a few short months after we got married. Then there were the multiple applications to get on at a fire department. Lots of time passes and we still aren't able to be full time at the church. Inside him though the dream was very much alive.


As far as I can remember all I have known is shift work, fire uniforms, smells of smoke after a long night, Bryan missing Christmas, birthdays etc. This has been my life for I don't know how long.

Our church has grown so much in these last few years. We knew that he would go full time at the church soon....Bryan came to me and told me by October 1st he would leave the fire department. Not long after Pastor came to us just a few months ago and said it is time!

WOW! Here we were on the verge of everything we had prayed for the last 9 years. So many emotions came upon me as Bryan worked his last shift last Thursday. Happiness, joy, sadness, and a little fear of the unknown. I felt like we were taking one huge leap off of a cliff not knowing what was below, but knowing that God was going to take care of us.

Sunday morning at church it was a normal service. Our anniversary was last Tuesday. I love love love love the song "Then" by Brad Paisley after Bryan showed it to me a few months ago. In fact it is the ringer on my cell phone when he calls :)

Right there before everyone he begins singing this song to me. You want to talk about cry! I was in a heap! How faithful God is! So many people go through life never finding happiness and here I am with joy over flowing in mine! Not only have I seen God's faith fullness in every area of our life, but I also have an amazing husband that after all these years is still head over heels for me!

How blessed I am! How thankful I am to be going on this wonderful journey of life with the most amazing guy in the world! I love him more today than ever!

Why am I blogging this? To brag on me? NO! To inspire you! God is no respecter of persons what He has done for me He can do for you too!! Just get a purpose and a dream in your heart and go for it! Don't worry about the details God will take care of those a long the way!

Digging to China

When I was a little girl every day in the summer you would find me in my back yard with a spoon. I would start digging everyday and work as long as I could. I was digging a hole to China. You are probably laughing right now. I was totally convinced that if I dug long enough and hard enough I would eventually be looking down on the people of China.

My mom tried to tell me time and time again that you can't dig to China. Everyday I thought "Today is going to be the day that I dig a little further and see the people walking on the streets in China and she will see that you really can dig to China".

The Lord brought this to my mind the other day.......

How simple our faith is in things when we are young. You see all of the facts said that you can't dig to China. The world is round after all. Even if it wasn't could you really dig to China with plain old dinner silver wear? Even if I did dig to China how would I get to the ground to see the people?

Somewhere in life we get bogged down by all the details to tell us if something is really possible or not. When God doesn't want us to look at the facts He just wants us to look at the word to tell us what we can do.

You see when you start believing God for something big. Whatever your China might be there will be facts that say it is impossible. There will be people that tell you that it is impossible. You might not even have what you need to get to your China.

The good news is God knows how to get you to your China He has a perfect plan (Jeremiah 29:11) All you have to do is trust His word and He will get you what you need to get there and see you through. So weather it is healing, finances, a relationship, dreams in your heart or whatever is your "China" I encourage you to get God's word on it and don't worry about the facts or what other say! You just go for it and see what God does in the process!

I love you guys have a wonderful day!

Cinderella....

One of my favorite movies hands down is Cinderella. If you are thinking "Yeah ok whatever". Then you obviously haven't seen it in quiet sometime or else you would note how wonderful of a movie it is.

I was shopping at Canton the other day and there were those cute signs you know the ones with the little sayings on a wood board. The ones that probably only cost like $5.00 to make but the charge you $25.00 because they know you will never get around to doing it yourself....Those signs.....

*I crack myself up*

Well I see this one that catches my eye

"One shoe can change your life"

Cinderella

Sounds silly but that is a powerful statement. So from that point on I had this urge to watch Cinderella. I watched it the other day finally with my daughter and realized how powerful that is. The story that is.....

You see she was going through life not where she wanted to be. She woke up every morning seeing the big castle up on the hill and dreaming of what life will one day be like, but still having to do the chores for her wicked step-mother and sisters. Then one day when she didn't see it coming she got her miracle. Everything in her life turned around.

You see Disney took this story from Joseph in the Bible he was the same way. He could see the dreams in his heart yet he had to keep doing what he was doing. Then one day his dreams came true.

I talk to people all of the time that have two things down

1. They don't like where they are

2. They know where they are going

What a lot of people fail to realize is that there is a road from #1 to #2, and what it takes to get there is a lot of patience. You see if Cinderella would have gotten fed up and just walked out she would have never had met the prince. Sure she probably would have gotten a some what better life, but not the wonderful one that she got at the end of the movie.

You see when you stay faithful where you are and in what you are doing God is working behind the scenes to make all of your dreams come true. You just have to do what I call "work the dream". Your job is to just do what you can with what you have till God shows up.

I love what Joyce Meyer says "People always see where I am today and want that. What they don't see is the 32 years it took for me to be here. The fact is they don't want those 32 years they just want my present situation".

That is so powerful when you think about it!

Girls let's work the dream. We are all on the road to our dreams. Well at least I am. I am not going to bail out for an easy out. I am going to keep working the dream because I know in the end it will all be more than I could have ever dreamt!

Dream BIG

I believe in life there is absolutely no such thing as "luck". What happens in life is when preparation meets opportunity. That is what I think luck is. It isn't by chance that things happen. There is lots and lots of preparation that goes behind the moment that you see your dreams happen. All along God is working to make those things happen. When you are being faithful right where you are then God is moving behind the scenes making your dreams come true.



My dream is to one day preach all around the world to thousands of ladies. I know that one day God will open the door for me to do so. When I worship I close my eyes and picture them all standing behind me worshiping. When I step up on stage to preach I may just see 100-150 people but in the spiritual I see this.................

I have seen it so many times in my heart that this picture is so real to me. I know that this is my destiny. I know that one day tons of people like this is something that will happen.

I encourage each of you to go for your dreams. Realize that God has planted each of us with UNLIMITED potential. You know the only difference between people that see their dreams come true and those that don't? The difference is the ones that quit and those that don't.

I don't know about you, but I refuse to quit. I am not giving up never.

I always think of Joseph. He didn't know the week before his dream was going to come to pass. He didn't know the day before. He didn't know ten minutes before they would come get him to promote him above all the land.

I think so many times we see people doing what we know we are called to do. We don't see the years of faith fullness it takes to get that person to that point in their life.

Like Joyce Meyer. She served for years in her local church doing small Bible studies in her home before she preached to thousands. She was taking steps to her dreams even back then.

Same with Joseph he was taking steps to being over all the land when he was in prison. You see you just never give up you just keep putting one foot in front of the other. Never give up!

Joyce Meyer always says "Quit waiting for your dreams to come to pass. Act like you are already living where you want to be. When you start doing that, that is when God starts making things happening on your behalf."

Isn't that so good?

So girls lets start dreaming big, and making steps toward it. Don't let anyone tell you it is too big. Don't let anyone tell you it won't happen. You just keep doing what is in your heart. All of that preparation will eventually meet that opportunity!