Thirsty Thursday...

As part of the New Year & trying to live a more healthy lifestyle (also during my fast). I tried out making a juice drink this morning.. I am a HUGE texture person so I was really nervous about how it would turn out...

It actually turned out pretty good! I finished it :)

Here's what I made (it's a combo of a few different pinterest ideas) :

2 cups of water (Yay that helps my H2O intake too)

Few handfuls of Kale (iron, I need that!)

Few handfuls of spinach

1 pear

1 apple

2-3 stalks of celery

1 banana 

1/2 of a lemon squeezed

& then I added 1 big spoonful of natural peanut butter but that's because I am obsessed with pb ;)

I am also trying to make better choices when it comes to sweets... Which for me includes coffee since I tend to put wayyyy to much sugar & creamer in my coffees. 

So my new coffee routine includes:

Coconut milk instead of creamer

Like a 1/4th of the raw sugar cane sugar as usual

Cinnamon & Nutmeg on top

DELISH!!

Anyone have any good dairy free juices/smoothies I should try out?! Or coffee tricks of your own?! Share them I would love to know :)

Sunday Musings

Today we got to have the first worship experience of 2013 at LifeChurch.tv Broken Arrow... What an incredible day it was!!! We had over 800 kids come into LifeKIDS at our campus over 6 services and 50 kids check into LifeKIDS for their very first time! Man, that just never gets old!! Getting to see new faces, the excitement on kids faces coming in for their first time or leaving after their first experience & hearing them say "When can we come back?!?!" It is truly an incredible thing to get to see God do! 

...And still some Sundays I catch myself thinking "it's just another Sunday..." or "two down, four more to go..." UGH. I hate that my mind can even go there. It's not a countdown.. It's a privilege!! But, I always love the little tiny ways that God takes those moments to remind me, not just that what He is doing is amazing, but that HE is amazing!

It may feel like just another Sunday to me, but not to the Mom who came back to a second service today after she already attended one just to bring her 21 year old son & his friend back!! Or the 6th grade girl who has been BEGGING her parents to bring her to church because her friends keep inviting her & her parents "FINALLY" agreed to come check it out & left today with tears in their eyes & "What's Next Kits" in their hands! Or even to the family who has been seeing it all over their facebook about LifeChurch.tv Broken Arrow so they brought their whole family to check it out!

So when I feel like I'm getting tired & my feet are hurting, because I am too stubborn to not wear 4 inch heels when I'm going to be on my feet for 13 hours... Or it feels like "another Sunday" the Holy Spirit so sweetly reminds me that it's not about me, not even for one second, but that it's about the incredible stories that He is writing in so many more lives than I can fathom. And in that moment I am reminded of my thankfulness for His grace and mercy in my life each and every day :)

and that... it's never "just another Sunday"!

Grow It Out!!

I've been trying to grow out my hair for about a year.. I always go back & forth cutting it & growing it, but I've really wanted to grow it long the last year. I've read so many links from Pinterest & some of the tips worked, while others not so much. Here's the 3 things that helped me go from Dec '11 - Dec '12:

Biotin. 3 more Inches. & Moroccanoil.

I could tell a huge difference in my ends after using the 3 more inches product, which helps me not have to get them trimmed up so much!

Other helpful tips I've loved are waiting 2-3 days between washes & using a protection serum before hot styling tools.

Im not done growing it yet, but I couldn't have grown it this far without my incredible stylist, Jen! She stopped me from continuing to damage it so much with bleach, she knew I wanted to grow it so she only trimmed up what was necessary & helped find products to protect it! Definitely tell your stylist so they can help!

Continue in Prayer...

That is my motto for 2013: "Continue in Prayer." 

No matter what this year brings, good, bad, or indifferent, I will continue in prayer. One devotional I started this year is from Charles Spurgeon. It is an iPhone app that has a morning and evening reading for each day. I am a big fan! I read some from it last year & I always get a lot out of the short readings. Yesterday he wrote about prayer and through that I realized that is what I am focusing on during my fast & throughout this new year. Spending more intimate time with God in prayer. When I am fasting I LOVE to have a scripture that reflects what I am focusing on, this time it is:

Colossians 4:2 "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful & thankful."

Here is the Charles Spurgeon Devo:

Continue in prayer.

Colossians 4:2

It is interesting to remark how large a portion of Sacred Writ is occupied with the subject of prayer, either in furnishing examples, enforcing precepts, or pronouncing promises. We scarcely open the Bible before we read, Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord; and just as we are about to close the volume, the Amen of an earnest supplication meets our ear. Instances are plentiful. Here we find a wrestling Jacob-there a Daniel who prayed three times a day-and a David who with all his heart called upon his God. On the mountain we see Elias; in the dungeon Paul and Silas. We have multitudes of commands, and myriads of promises. What does this teach us, but the sacred importance and necessity of prayer? We may be certain that whatever God has made prominent in his Word, he intended to be conspicuous in our lives. If he has said much about prayer, it is because he knows we have much need of it. So deep are our necessities, that until we are in heaven we must not cease to pray. Dost thou want nothing? Then, I fear thou dost not know thy poverty. Hast thou no mercy to ask of God? Then, may the Lord's mercy show thee thy misery! A prayerless soul is a Christless soul. Prayer is the lisping of the believing infant, the shout of the fighting believer, the requiem of the dying saint falling asleep in Jesus. It is the breath, the watchword, the comfort, the strength, the honour of a Christian. If thou be a child of God, thou wilt seek thy Father's face, and live in thy Father's love. Pray that this year thou mayst be holy, humble, zealous, and patient; have closer communion with Christ, and enter oftener into the banqueting-house of his love. Pray that thou mayst be an example and a blessing unto others, and that thou mayst live more to the glory of thy Master. The motto for this year must be, Continue in prayer.

New Year. New Reading List.

Welp, it's a New Year & this year one thing I want to do more of is read. 

So, I complied a little "wish list" and decided to share it with y'all :)

If you have some suggestions that I should have I would LOVE to hear them!

My Journal..

I am not usually one to be sentimental... I'm not the Mom who keeps everything Presley makes at school, usually, it doesn't even make it to the fridge (gasp, I know). But for some reason, when I've filled up a writing journal, I just can't seem to part with it! It's hard enough to put it in the closet.. I definitely don't think I could throw it away..
This morning I made the transition to a new journal, my previous one was full of writings, thoughts, quotes, prayers, and scriptures that meant a lot to me over the last 6 months. Wow, has it been a full 6 months!! It's funny looking back because I can see so many ups and downs, tears and victories, lots of asking "Why?" and then I can see God's fingerprints through it all! I can see how He was leading us and teaching me all entire way. I can also see how much more I have to grow and learn! I am so thankful that His Love endures forever and that He won't give up on me :) Because trust me, I'd give up on me sometimes! My heart is so full as I reflect on everything that God has done in my life and in so many other lives within 6 short months!! I see prayers that I wrote as a COMPLETE long shot, God answer!! Like our family not only coming to church, but seeking Him & MORE family coming now, until we have an entire row of our family that we 6 months ago NEVER would have imagined be sitting with us. I see changes in my amazing Husband and how He is leading our family in ways far beyond what I prayed for! It's just incredible to look back over all the ways He has provided when we didn't know what we were going to go and to see Him leading us when we didn't even realize He was there!

One of the key themes that I noticed as I was looking back over the pages and pages of my heart on paper was Proverbs 4:23 "Guard your heart above all else; for it determines the course of your life." 
Then this morning I read Proverbs 15:15 "A miserable heart means a miserable life; a cheerful heart fills the day with song." I always giggle at God because He knows me so well, He knows that when He needs to get a point across to me, He has to send it to me in MULTIPLE ways and several times :)
So this morning as I am praying, reading, and writing in my new fresh journal, I am going to take some time to evaluate my heart and truly focus it on Him! I have came a LONGGG way in the last 6 months with getting rid of the excess to make more room for Him, His calling, and His Kingdom, but there is still excess to remove in our lives and it starts in our hearts!! I am so excited to have a new journal to fill with all that He still has in store and all that I have to learn!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." Psalm 107:1

Being The Church..

I know you guys are going to get so sick of me telling you things that I'm reading, but I can't help it.. So bear with me :)
I told you guys about the books I read by Jen Hatmaker, well no matter how hard I tried I could not get Jacob to even consider reading them. Then I realized, Jen's husband, Brandon, just released a book late last year! Genius, I could totally get him to read it from the guys perspective! And that worked, haha! So the last week Jacob has been reading, Barefoot Church, by Brandon Hatmaker. He has talked about it so much I started it this morning! Here is what Brandon said about his hope for what this book will help people realize and empower them to do:
"My hope is that we are continuously being challenged to be good news to a lost, broken, and dying world. That God would open our eyes more and more each day to the needs of our community and world. That we would see it as the charge in making a difference, not just in our own church campus, but also in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our city, our nation, and our world."

It's so easy to see all the massiveness of the needs in our world and be so over-whelmed that you don't even know where to start or what cause to fight for or what to even think about doing. It's also easy to feel like some of it is so far away, but in reality it's just not. I 100% wholeheartedly believe that there are those of us who are called to support and help to fight hunger in the world, to stop human trafficking, and help to free the people who are enslaved! But that doesn't mean that God is calling each and every one of us to sell everything we own and go feed the hungry in Ethiopia, although He does call some of us to that very thing! But for me (& Jacob) and maybe many of you, He is calling us to BE the church, to be the GOOD NEWS, and to meet the needs we have right here in our community! There are also AMAZING organizations out there that we want to support in what they are already doing to combat hunger, one of my favorites is, Hello Somebody, you can check them out at hello-somebody.com. They not only are feeding the hungry, but giving them education and teaching them to grow their own foods and focusing on rehabilitating them not just providing food. So while we feel called to support some of these organizations that are doing incredible things we also feel called to serve Broken Arrow, OK! Don't get over-whelmed with the how huge the needs are, start right here, serving your neighbor, your schools, and let God guide you!  A great resource if you are trying to sort through some of this is a message series Pastor Craig did last year, "Changing Your World in 52 Days" You can watch it online here: http://www.lifechurch.tv/watch/change-your-world/1
Actually, I think I'm going to re-watch it soon :)


In my opinion, the key is taking the things that God is using to speak to you, like for me the books I've been reading and messages I've heard, I'm using these things then seeking God, allowing HIM to guide me to where He is wanting to use me to serve and change my life to be focused on Him! For us, there are things we've learned from the Hatmakers, from Pastor Craig, and what we are doing is a mixture of all that craziness and what we feel like God is asking us to give up, give away, and change to live a tiny bit more like Him!

I couldn't be more excited to get started loving and serving in BA! I am praying for God to stir in so many hearts that are broken, abused, sad, lost, and that He will bring them through these doors and give us the chance to love and serve them! I cannot wait to hear all the stories of lives that He is going to change right here in this room! But you know how these people are going to come here to have this opportunity? From us, all of us, being out in the community showing the love of Christ everywhere we are. Meeting the needs we see! People will come because they see how much we care!

It's just like our code says, "We are spiritual contributors NOT spiritual consumers. The church does not exist for the world. We are the church and we exist for the world."


There are "7 Easy Ways to Begin Your Own Personal Mutiny Against Excess" that Jen Hatmaker posted. I just wanted to share them with you in case you are looking for that first step to fight the excess in your own life to make room for His Kingdom! I'll give you guys some insight into what The Whites did like this soon :)

Humble & Hungry

One of the many things I learned while serving under Pastor Tome Dawson at the South Tulsa campus was staying "Humble & Hungry." His repetition in saying this really worked on me, it will forever be etched into my mind. Those words pop into my mind (or more likely the Holy Spirit reminds me of them) at the most un-opportune times, again un-opportune for my fleshly side but perfect timing for what I should already be thinking. But what a great thing to strive towards every day!
I have never felt more humbled and hungry as I do right now. Humbled that God would allow me to be even a tiny part of all HE is doing at LifeChurch.tv and in the Broken Arrow community and more than that humbled that He is taking the time to change my heart and to slowly teach me how to live and serve a little more like Him.
I hope that it is very clear that I don't judge anyone else based on what He is doing in my life and where He has called me. He calls each of us differently and what He is doing in our lives is just where we are right now. There is so much more for us to learn and much further to grow. There are so many couples God has placed in our lives as examples and who are so much further down this road than us. I'm only sharing what He is doing in our hearts so our friends can be praying and for support for anyone else who may be feeling that tug on their heart that God is calling them to a little more :)

I have also never been more hungry! Hungry for more of God, more of His Word, more of His kind of service, and more of His grace and mercy! Because we all know that I need that daily!! I am hungry to serve our community, hungry for us and our leaders to BE the church and be meeting the needs around us! Hungry for an Isaiah 58 fast. Hungry for people who don't know Christ all over the Tulsa Metro area to feel a wave and rush of His amazing love and come to know Him! Ahh it gets me amped up!

This week I'm going to try to figure out some of the specifics of how we are going to truly follow where God is leading us and make it into practical steps, with Gods direction of course :) So be praying for us! Looking forward to sharing this journey with you all and looking forward to hearing from you guys who are Hungry for what God is doing in our community too!!

2012 Fast

I cannot forget & hope to never forget the feeling I had in my heart and stomach about a year and a half ago, when I left my shoes and brand new shirt in the front of the room to be given to women who needed them more than me.. I had went with my Mom and her church (First Baptist Skiatook) to a Baptist Women's Convention at Falls Creek. I had no idea who the speaker was going to be but I just went because my Mom invited me and also because I was getting ready to start what felt like a whole new life going from corporate America to being employed at LifeChurch.tv. So we got there, listened to some praise and worship, typical women's event. Then this cute sassy girl gets on stage and starts talking about living and serving as Jesus did. (You can read more about her and her amazing story here: http://jenhatmaker.com/) Wow, I had never realized how un-like Him I truly lived. I never realized how consumed with myself and "the american dream" that I live. Toward the end Jen told us her story of how God brought them to a place she never thought they would be and on Easter Sunday night they were at a tiny run-down church in Austin and the pastor asked them to leave their shoes at the alter because good shoes were the biggest need for the homeless. She left her brand new really expensive cowboy boots at the alter. She then challenged us to bring our shoes and anything else we would like to donate to the front and leave it there and they were going to donate it all to the DaySpring women's shelter in Tulsa. My eyes were bursting with tears and I knew God was messing up my heart as I walked down that aisle and left my sandals (it was summer) and my brand new shirt I had bought just for that trip at the front for someone who truly needed it because lets be honest, I didn't NEED it. Jesus jacked me up that day, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I came home and immediately read her book, Interrupted, An Adventure in Releasing the Essentials of Faith.
Jen challenged me in this book to pray a simple prayer, and I do have to admit, it said in bold letters at the top of the section, READER BEWARE: LIFE-ALTERING PRAYER AHEAD. 


Her prayer was simple, "God, raise up in me a holy passion." and that was what started God's transformation of her life. I am 100% sure that God brought me to that conference on purpose. I can look back now and see that he used that time to spark a change in my life. But let me be honest, it was only a spark, I did not come straight home and sell everything I had to feed the poor.. I finished reading Interrupted, started my new job at LifeChurch.tv, and went on about life. The entire time knowing I was ignoring something but not ready to really listen. I can of course make excuses, I was insanely busy learning LifeKIDS, making relationships, scheduling leaders, it was a crazy, extremely awesome kind of crazy, time in my life. Jesus continued to work on me throughout the next year, we took tiny baby steps forward, we leased our house and moved into an apartment to save on gas and to pay off some debt. God continued to work subtly through relationships and messages at LifeChurch. Then we would take BIG steps backwards and would go on spending sprees. Ughhh. 


Read John 21:15-17.


Jen described the feeling she had after reading this scripture like this:
         "I think our natural tendency is to treat our spiritual lives as endless efforts in trying harder. But we rarely stop to question whether we're trying hard at the right thing. That's why I was so shocked by what came next. I told Him one last time: 'I thought I was feeding your sheep, but I'll try harder.' And this is what I heard in response: 'You do feed souls, but 24,000 of My sheep will die today because no one fed their bellies. Eighteen thousand of them are My youngest lambs, starving today in a world with plenty of food to go around. If you truly love Me, you will feed My lambs. My people are crumbling and dying and starving, and you're blessing blessed people and dreaming about your next house." 


Ouch. So that hurt. But apparently not bad enough, because I went on with my life, I mean I work for a church, I help when I can, I read my Bible and I LOVE LOVE LOVE God. Must be doing pretty good. Nothing to worry about. 


Okay let's fast forward to 2012. We started out our year fasting, I couldn't be more thankful that our Pastor taught us the importance of fasting, especially starting out the year with a fast. So I will be transparent, I prayed for two specific things during my fast, one was for Jacob, my hubby, to deepen his relationship with Christ & be able to truly hear Him and then for a specific verse for me (& us). I prayed to live this verse and it be alive in my life: Romans 12:1-2 MSG
"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life-your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life-and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out."
And changed from the inside out is exactly what is happening to me. Let's go back to Jen Hatmaker, she released her latest book, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. I thought this would be a great book to read while I was fasting and starting a new year... And Bam, God ROCKED MY WORLD again. I truly have a love/hate relationship with Jen. I needed this reality check, but it's not easy to swallow. Talk about my verse "Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking." Umm that's exactly what I have been doing and exactly what Jen teaches practical ways to stop doing and truly important reasons why. I could quote the ENTIRE book of 7 to you but I would rather you just read it :) 
One specific part that rocked my world, she talked about imagining a family in Ethiopia, and she says "As I gaze upon their hopelessness, I imagine them calculating what I've spent on clothing alone, realizing that same amount would've kept their family fed and healthy for thirty years."
Is my closet full of clothes that I don't even wear really truly more important than an entire family being able to eat?! What is wrong with me? 
And because God knows me so well and knows I need to hear Him in multiple ways to truly "get it". He so nicely worked it out where Pastor Craig did his message series "Better" at the same time that I am trying to process 7, fasting, and praying for Him to radically change my life and ignite a holy passion within me. Man, God has turned my world upside down, he's changing me from the inside out and helping me to truly see that it's not only about doing my devotions & checking all the boxes, but living like like He did. Craig said in week 2 of "Better" "My life is too valuable, my calling is too great, and my God is too good to waste my life and resources on things that DONT MATTER." He then said "You will never change the world watching re-runs." Why do I feel like it's okay to spend countless HOURS every day watching t.v. that isn't real?! Sometimes I feel like I have a better connection with characters on shows than with REAL LIVE people. People who need God's love and light in their lives. My family who God has blessed me with, they are so much more important than a show. 


I am so thankful that God heard my prayers during our fast, He is teaching me how to live a life with one handful. He is teaching me how true it is that "One handful of tranquility is better than two handfuls of toil." He is taking Jacob and I to a whole new level of simplicity and devotion to HIM & His mission! As we finished our fast I could not get Isaiah 58 or Matthew 25 off my heart. Man those have to be two of my favorite chapters of the Bible. The kind of fasting & life that Jesus truly called us to. 
So we are getting rid of stuff, because stuff doesn't matter, we can't take it with us! We are paying off debt, because we want to be able to give everything we can when He asks us to. We are treating His creation with respect! We are treating our bodies, which are His temple, with a kind of respect that we have never known before, eating better, watching what we put in, and taking care of ourselves. We are applying for adoption! And we are serving. Jesus was serious when He said that "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me". He was serious in Isaiah 58 when he said "This is the kind of fast day I'm after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts.7 What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families."


God confirmed to me this week that we are following where He is leading us and that this isn't just an emotional thing for me, when Jacob texted me out of the blue to tell me that he had sold his xbox (if you know us, you know what a big deal this is) and wanted to put that money towards debt. He texted me all nonchalantly while I was about to burst into tears yet again :) God is doing something in our family and I have never been so excited to get rid of the excess and focus on the things that truly matter!! I don't think it's any coincidence that God has brought us to this place right before we launch a brand new LifeChurch.tv campus in Broken Arrow! He is clearing out the crap in our lives so we can hear Him even more clearly and serve as He would serve in the Broken Arrow community! He has called us to serve and love the families, especially the least of them in that community and I CANNOT wait to see what he has in store!!!

Biggest Parenting Lesson that I have learned

This is our little princess, Presley Rae. This picture is just a little example of what God is teaching me about parenting right now.. The biggest lesson that I have learned from Him lately is that if you want your kid (or kids) to learn something, you HAVE to live it yourself. Man, that can be hard though. But just like she has her "pistols firing" in this picture because her daddy has his pistols firing every Saturday this fall too! She sees that her Daddy loves to cheer for OSU and at 2 1/2 years old she is all over yelling at the TV, cheering on the cowboys, and watching some Cowboy football! More than any words I could ever say, she learns from every single thing we do. Some good things, she prays and thanks Jesus for everything, the latest cute prayer was "Thank you Jesus for my Daddy working and paying our bills" haha! How does she know what paying bills is?! Because she learns from Mommy, that day I had called Jacob in the car just to tell him thanks for working and providing for our family. She is so precious I know! But then she also learns the not so great things that she sees us do as well..
She is such a sponge right now and my guess is she will continue to learn from our example, and the other example that influence her life as her primary basis of learning for quite a while. That is a HUGE job, my struggle is, how in the world can I be the best example for her every second of every day? The answer is I can't, I will mess up, BUT, what gives me hope is that I can focus on Christ and keep my eyes on Him daily and that is something that I am so excited for her to learn!
I start my day in prayer, asking Christ to lead me and give me the wisdom to keep my eyes on Him and through that I know it is HIM who will be leading her through me!! So thankful for my Father, Jesus Christ!


-tair

Catching up to do. . .

Welp, it's been about 10 months since I have been on my blog.. Sorry about that :)

I decided now is a good time to start blogging again, since God is leading Jacob and I to start an incredible journey this week as we begin a new chapter in our lives, transitioning from the South Tulsa LifeChurch.tv campus to the brand new launch of the Broken Arrow campus!!! It is a bittersweet weekend for me.. I could not be more humbled and excited to get the opportunity to join the Broken Arrow team, but I sure will miss the amazing friendships that I have made at South Tulsa! Thank goodness for cell phones, facebook, and twitter ;)

God has really been showing me some about parenting, a little about teamwork and leadership, and a LOT about it being ALL about Him! I am really looking forward to TRYING to put that into writing to share with whoever reads this. First up this week is going to be the biggest parenting lesson that I have learned so far. .

All the kingdoms of the Earth?

Wow.. It has been a long time since I have made a blog post! Not because there hasn't been lots to post about, I guess more because I don't have as much free time on the computer. Today during my quiet time with God, He really challenged me with a couple passages of scripture and I process them the best through writing, so I thought I would share it with whoever reads this :)

I am reading the "21 day fast" reading plan on youversion.com, it is really good if you are looking for one! I will be completely honest with you, I missed my reading yesterday :( I know I am terrible and working is no excuse. But I did read both Day 9 & Day 10 during my alone time this morning. In Luke 4 it talks about the time when Jesus went into the wilderness and fasted for 40 days and nights. During that time he was tempted by the Devil. My first thought while I was reading this was, if the Devil is going to tempt JESUS during his fast, why would our fast not be prime time for him to tempt us as well? He is already targeting us, and during this time that we are truly seeking God for this of course it's a perfect time for him to try to take our focus off of that.

Then in verses 5-8 it tells us that the devil tempted Jesus by offering Him all the kingdoms of the Earth. I have read those verses several times, but I never really put a lot of thought into it. All the Kingdoms of the Earth! It's not easy for me to say that if I was offered ALL the Kingdoms of the Earth that I would be able to say that I will only worship God, our God... But Jesus did know that He already would have all the Kingdoms one day. But the most awesome thing that God reminded me of today, I get to live in the BEST Kingdom one day with the KING of KINGS!! That is so much better than any or all of the kingdoms of the Earth!

STRENGTH

Verses about strength from Beth Moore's blog post :) SO great I couldn't help but sharing and saving as all one post to refer back to when I need it!

“Your problem is that you don't know the Scriptures and you don't know the power of God.”Mark 12:24 NLT

"Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength." Isaiah 52:1 NIV

“For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” Deut. 20:4 NIV

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9 NIV”Do not fear, for I am with you;Do not look anxiously about you, for I am your God.I will strengthen you,surely I will help you,surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10 NASB
”Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14
”It was for freedom that Christ set us free;therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery!” Galatians 5:1 NASB

"No, in all these things [trouble, hardship, persecution etc.] we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."Romans 8:37

"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always”. Psalm 105:4

"I am He. I am he who will sustain you. For I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you and I will rescue you."Isaiah 46:4 NIV

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3

“Seek the LORD and his strength;seek his presence continually!” Psalm 105:4 ESV

“It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.” Psalm 44:3

"He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength." Isaiah 40:29 NKJV

"God is my strength and power, and he makes my way perfect." 2 Samuel 22:33 NKJV

"Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You." Jeremiah 32:17

"My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26

"She will have no fear of bad news, her heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord, Her heart is secure, she will have no fear, and in the end, she will look in triumph on her adversaries." Psalm 112:7-8

"The Lord goes before us AND will be with us.He will never leave us nor forsake us.DO NOT BE AFRAIDDO NOT BE DISCOURAGED!" Deut. 31:8

"Many are the sorrows of the wicked but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.” Psalm 32: 10

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV

“He is your constant source of STABILITY, He ABUNDANTLY provides SAFETY and great WISDOM, He gives all this to those who fear Him.” Isaiah 33:6

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7 NIV

"God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles, They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind." Isaiah 40:28-31The Message

“I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’" Psalm 91:2

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NIV

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Gal. 5:1 NIV

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble." Psalm 46:1 NIV

”She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.” Proverbs 31:25

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” Romans 12:12

“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength” Isaiah 40:29

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV

”I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4 NIV


“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:10 NIV

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds." 2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV

"Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" Gal.3:3 NLT

"It is not by strength that one prevails." I Sam.2:9b NIV

“For I will pour water upon him who is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground. I will pour My Spirit upon your offspring, and My blessing upon your descendants.” Isaiah 44:3 (Amplified Bible)



“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! ... Be still, and know that I am God! Psalm 46:1-3, 10a NLT

“Depend on the Lord and his strength; always go to him for help.” 1 Chronicles 16:11 NCV

“For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.” 1 John 5:4 NLT

"He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord." Psalm 112:7 NIV

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34 NIV

“He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with STRENGTH and makes my way perfect.He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.You give me your shield of VICTORY; you stoop down to make me great."2 Sam. 22:31b-33, 35-36 NIV

"Be strengthed with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance, patience and joy!" Colossians 1:11 NIV

”The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.” Psalm 30:11

"I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber."
Psalm 121:1-3 NIV

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds' feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]!” Ephesians 6:10 NASB
"For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, BUT OUR EYES ARE ON YOU.This is what the Lord says to you:Do NOT be afraid or discouraged...For the battle is NOT yours, but God's...STAND FIRM AND SEE THE DELIVERANCE THE LORD WILL GIVE YOU... The Lord will be with you..." Habakkuk 3:19 AMP
“But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.”
2 Thessalonians 3:3 NASB

“The ETERNAL GOD is your REFUGE, and HIS EVERLASTING ARMS ARE UNDER YOU.He drives out the enemy before you;he cries out, ‘DESTROY THEM!’”
II Chronicles 20:12-15, 17 NIV”Who has ever challenged him successfully? Without warning, he moves the mountains, overturning them in his anger. He shakes the earth from its place, and its foundations tremble.” Job 9:4-6 (NLT)

"Blessed is 'she' who has believed that what the LORD has said to her, will be accomplished." Luke 1:45 NIV

“You give me your shield of victory; you stoop down to make me great.” 2Sam 22:36 NIV
”Forget the former things; do not swell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV

”Search for the Lord and for His strength, and keep on searching.” Psalm 105:4 NLT
”When I pray, You answer me; You encourage me by giving me the strength I need.” Psalm 89:17 NLT

“He said to me, "My grace is enough for you [sufficient for you; all you need]. When you are weak, my power is made perfect in you [For (my) power is perfected in weakness]." So I am very happy to brag [boast]. Then about my weaknesses Christ's power can live [reside, or rest] in me.” 2 Cor. 12:9 The Expanded Bible

”In my anguish I cried to the Lord and He answered by setting me free. The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?The Lord is with me, He is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.” Psalm 118:5-7


"For God is SO WISE and SO MIGHTY.”
Deuteronomy 33:27 NLT

“You will keep him in perfect peace,Whose mind is stayed on you,Because he trusts in You.Trust in the LORD forever,For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.”Isaiah 26:3-4 NKJV

"I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word." Ps. 130:5 NLT

“If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Mathew 17:20 NIV

"The Lord is my strength and my song and He has become my salvation." Exodus 15:2 NIV

"So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you maybe filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV

“I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Phil 4:13

“Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” Psalm 84:5 NIV
”And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6 NLT

“He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded THAT GOD HAD POWER TO DO what He had promised.” Romans 4:20-21 NIV

“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save."Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

“The joy of the Lord is your strength”
Nehemiah 8:10 NIV”A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all” Psalm 34:19 NIV

“Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.” I Chronicles 29:11-13 NIV

“The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” Ps 118:6 NLT

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” Psalm 23:4

"... they trusted and YOU delivered them." Ps 22:4b NIV

“He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.” JOB 5:9 NIV
"My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26

“He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.” Psalm 91: 4-5 NIV

My anwers and thoughts from the So Long Insecurity Blog on http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/:

1-This season of my life is different than any other I have ever encountered, it has come with a fresh invigorating breeze. There are still a few things lingering from seasons that have come and gone, the root of many of these problems from the past is insecurity. That is why I am so excited to read this new book, So Long Insecurity. If I take time to sit down and really try to get the foundation of my sins, I can pin-point insecurity in almost all of them. The insecurity of being needed, needing affirmation, and not feeling good enough. Even the choices I have made for my life path somehow were made out of my insecurities. If I feel like I want to do something, I will mention someone else doing to just to get a reaction out of Jacob so I will know how he feels before I decide to tell him that I feel led to do it. To be completely honest, I am even insecure in what to write in the blog post.. I tend to seek acceptance and affirmation in everything, even in my relationship with Christ. I want to do good and do what's right so He will be impressed and love me more, but I have to remind myself that no matter what I ever do or don't do, He will always love me with the same amazing love. I find myself trying to find security in beauty, cute clothes, make-up, and compliments the most. I, of course, look for security in money, my job, my schedule, but the one that see the most is beauty and people perceptions of me. I want to ask myself: if, God forbid, I had an accident that terribly tore up my face, and I was scary to see, would I still feel as valuable as I do? I am not for one second saying that I think I am beautiful or look great or anything like that, trust me it's the opposite, but I do constantly try to improve and find that contentment in having cuter make-up or hair or clothes. How superficial?! I know.. My insecurities run much deeper than just these superficial things, but I want to change. I want to be able to do something with the passion that God has ignited in me to help girls feel valuable and know their worth in Jesus Christ. But because of my insecurities I am scared to do anything with this passion. I am scared to even admit it to anyone. My fear of failure and rejection is stronger than my will-power or my trust in God to do what he is calling me to do. Which is why I decided to read this book. My prayer is that God will speak to me through this book and renew my mind with His Holy Spirit through the words in this book. To teach me to find security in Him, even on the days I feel the ugliest, I don't need Jacob to tell me he thinks I am beautiful, I don't need affirmations from my friends saying Oh yes you do look cute, I can find all the security and contentment I need through the Holy Spirit who lives right inside of me! I pray that the Holy Spirit will use this book to guide me into a security with my life in Christ. Help me to understand that the more I look for contentment in the things of this world the more I will be disappointed and the more I will be susceptible to falling into sin. I pray that He will strengthen my relationship with Him through finding security in Christ the solid Rock! He loves me no matter what I do or what I've done, He will never leave me, He will never forsake me, He is FOR ME and made me just exactly the way I am, He has great plans for me and I want to find everyday security in those truths in His Word!


3-"Insecurity refers to a profound sense of self-doubt, a deep feeling of uncertainty about our basic worth and our place in this world. Insecurity is associated with chronic self-consciousness, along with a chronic lack of confidence in ourselves and anxiety about our relationships. The insecure man or woman lives in constant fear of rejection and a deep uncertainty about whether his or her own feelings and desires are legitimate."
This is the definition that resonates with me the most.. Almost every word is screaming my name and I so badly want to change those feelings. Once I am about to figure this out for myself this is exactly what I want to help young girls with so they don't make the same mistakes I have because of their uncertainties about their own self-worth. So at a young age they will have someone to tell them they do matter, and show them where to find their true worth, which is in Christ our loving Savior!

One of the quotes I really liked so far in this book is:
"We are going to come to a place where we stop handing people the kind of power only God should wield over us."
This explains a huge foundation of what I am hoping the Holy Spirit will do in my heart through this book.

Water wears away stones. Job 14:19

"Everything that has value is worth intentional, daily commitment and obedience."

When reading this week's Faith to Faith blog from Women of Faith this sentence really stuck out to me. I kept reading it. Shelia Walsh wrote about how all good things take time, she references Job 14:19 "Water wears away stones." then she talks a little about where do we want to be in a year's time. We have to go somewhere, we have to change, none of us get to stay the same as we are today. One day at a time our actions and choices shape who we will be one year from now.

--You can read the full blog post by clicking on this link: http://blogs.womenoffaith.com/blog/2010/01/all-good-things-take-time/

With that in mind, I want my choices and actions to be intentional. I don't want to just let the days and months go by and let who I am on 1/11/2010 be someone I don't want to be. Who I am today and in the future is definitely of value. So again "Everything that has value is worth intentional, daily commitment, and obedience." There's no better time than now to start being the person I really want to be, there has to be a first step sometime. I know I will fail and I won't always be the joyful, kind, caring person I want to be, but that's no reason not to start each day with that intention and trust in my Father and His Spirit to guide me and form me to be that person a little more everyday.

So today I am going to begin with prayer to ask the Holy Spirit to bring me joy and love and guide me towards the person He wants me to be, both spiritually and relationally.

Above alllllll else

God has been doing a lot of work on my heart lately. It is amazing to me how he knows exactly what I need to hear from Him. It seems like every time I have a trouble, all I have to do is open His Word and He finds a way to speak to me, draw me closer to Him, and guide me towards His Kingdom.
Last week I read a facebook post from LifeChurch.tv it said "Matthew 6:33 says we are to seek God first before everything else (money, clothes, food, needs) and when we do He will give us what we need. How in the passing of the moments of your day, do you keep God first?"
It really made me think about what I do each day and if those things seek God or not. Well for most of them they don't. Then this week Pastor Craig talked about creating Margins in our lives. So I one area I believe God is wanting me to delete to create more margin is facebook and twitter. I tend to get a little obsessed. . . Not as much during conversations or dinner or anything but every time Jacob and I are driving somewhere I am on my iphone creeping on facebook or twitter. How is that seeking God first? I could be having a meaningful conversation with my husband during that time we have to spend together but instead I am more worried about peoples posts. That is ridiculous and not how I want to spend my time. My excuse is that I am "bored" but during those times of "boredom" I can be seeking God and what He wants me to do with those moments, I can be reading His Word, talking to Him, spending quality time with my family, many other more important things than facebook.
So this week I am only going to check mine once a day, if that. I want to seek God and His Kingdom above all else this week, even above my new blog :)

Getting started...

Well this is my first post. . . Not sure what I am doing on here yet.

Today started out frustrating. I got up three times last night with Presley, she sure gets hungry a lot during the night these days. But she made up for it when I peeked in to check on her this morning and she was wide awake and had gotten her bottle that she had left over from the night and was just eating it and smiling from ear to ear :) Her smile makes every second of lost sleep worth it! I love her more than I ever could have imagined was possible to love someone (besides her Dad). Then I was a tad frustrated when I arrived at church ready to serve and there wasn't really a need for me. . But during my quiet time I realized that it is awesome that our church is blessed with so many great volunteers and it is nothing to be frustrated about! God reminded me of what the important things in my life are and the many many blessings He has given me and instead of letting some of those very blessings frustrate me I should remember "All things work for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 I love how He is a constant teacher and always refining me to be more and more like Him!

Now I am getting off so I can play with my little Princess and think more about how I am going to make more "margin" in my life this week :)