He is So Good to Me!

When I think about the Lord
How He saved me, how He raised me
How He filled me with the Holy Ghost
How He healed me to the uttermost
When I think about the Lord
How He picked me up
Turned me around
how He set my feet
On solid ground

It makes me want to shout
Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus!
Lord, You're worthy
Of all the glory, and all the honor
And all the praise!
Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus!
Lord, You're worthy
Of all the glory, and all the honor
And all the praise!

Lyrics by Shane & Shane

Ephesians 2:4-7

But God--so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved us,

Even when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him, for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation).

And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

He did this that He might clearly demonstrate through the ages to come the immeasurable (limitless, surpassing) riches of His free grace (His unmerited favor) in [His] kindness and goodness of heart toward us in Christ Jesus.

2 corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!

   

God is writing my .... sitcom??

Who is this God that I serve? Who is this One that provides in unimaginable ways? Who is He who makes the impossible ... possible? My God, my Savior, my Everlasting! The things He does totally blows my mind. I think often about all the things He's done for me, and those on this wild ride called life. How can anyone deny the incomprehensible power of the Lord?

So this week, we were believing for some money to come into the company to be able to do the things we needed to. So we prayed. And believed. And sold a coffee kiosk to missionaries in Yemen. Yemen? Yes. Yemen! Now tell me......who could arrange something like that besides God? I'm just giddy inside as I attempt to wrap my mind around it!

And yet....we've seen these miracles before. Miracles happen on a daily basis for us, and I shouldn't be so shocked when it happens. But perhaps it's more "awe" than "shock". I am so in awe of what He has done and continues to do. So today begins another part of the journey. I just want to laugh and cry at the same time at the awesomeness of it all. If you are close to me, then you already know the story behind all this. So more of this saga will unfold as the weeks go on. I'm just so excited that words can hardly describe the elation in my heart. And I'm rambling...again. ;-)

I get to share my story of how this all began for me Sunday evening at a Missions meeting at church. I'm excited to be able to share it. Not many know about it, or grasp the magnitude of it. For me, 5 minutes painting a dorm room changed my life forever. Really. :) God orchestrated it, and I just followed through with where He led me to go.
I'm a little nervous, as I'm not exactly a public speaker. I stutter sometimes and say "umm" a lot. *cringes* But nonetheless, I will share, because it could help someone else step out in faith and believe for the impossible.

Impossible = Me, a Missionary

Possible = God making it happen

I need another adjective here.....But I really am excited to see what and how God is going to work out these next several months. Stay tuned on this Sitcom of my life....written, directed and produced by the Almighty God.

White Chocolate.... but is it really chocolate???!

So a friend had me intrigued over his statement that White Chocolate isn't even Chocolate. (*shock, gasp*)! So of course I go to the most reliable source I know....wikipedia! Check out this stuff:

White chocolate is made of cocoa butter, milk, and sugar. Most often, the cocoa butter is deodorized to remove its strong and undesirable taste that would negatively impact the flavour of the finished chocolate^[3]. Regulations also govern what may be marketed as "white chocolate": In the United States, since 2004, white chocolate must be at least 20% cocoa butter (by weight), at least 14% total milk solids, at least 3.5% milk fat, and less than 55% sugar or other sweeteners. Before this date, U.S. firms required temporary marketing permits to sell white chocolate. The European Union has adopted the same standards, except that there is no limit on sugar or sweeteners.^[4] Although white chocolate is made the same way as milk chocolate and dark chocolate, the ingredients are different. Because of the ingredients, many people (including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration) don't consider "white chocolate" to be chocolate at all ^[5], but in most cases, it does contain cocoa butter: a product that, like many cocoa solids, is derived from the cacao bean. However, some preparations (known as confectioner's coating or summer coating) are made from inexpensive solid or hydrogenatedcocoa. These preparations may actually be white in color (in contrast to white chocolate's ivory shade^[3]) and will lack cocoa butter's flavor. vegetable and animal fats, and as such, is not at all derived from

Because it does not contain any cocoa solids, one benefit of white chocolate is that it also does not contain any theobromine, which means it can be consumed by individuals who must avoid theobromine for medical reasons. Theobromine is only found in the cocoa solids and other ingredients of chocolate that give it the characteristic brown color. In contrast to white chocolate, dark chocolate contains the largest amount of theobromine, because it contains the largest amount of cocoa solids. The theobromine content of milk chocolate falls somewhere between white and dark chocolate.

So White Chocolate has less chocolate (cacao) than Milk or Dark Chocolate. Do I think it is really chocolate? Knowing that it now contains cocoa butter (isn't that what the put in lotions?) and vegetable and animal fats (eww!), it is hard for me to consider it real chocolate. I think I'll stick to dark chocolate. ;-)

Everything About You

Everything About You
By Sanctus Real

Be my light in the darkened room
I'm on my face and I'm calling you
I can't fathom all you've done for me
Every time it finds me on my knees

Like sunlight in the winter cold

Everything about you, it takes my breath
Away...Hallelujah
I tried this once without you and it was my
Great mistake...Hallelujah

Questions fade when you invade
You chase all my fears away
With your love in my atmosphere
All confusion disappears

And nothing but your truth remains

Questions fade, you remain
You are color on a page of white, bright
Like eyes beneath black lights
Like a glowing city on the plains, you call
My name

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Devotion

I'm just so amazed at how the Lord is working out things....things I really never thought possible. Not that I didn't have the faith to believe for it. But in reality, I didn't think all this would happen for another 10 or 20 years! And so continues my life as an epic movie. You know the 8-hour mini-series type movies.

I told God, and James and Cassie that I would follow them wherever they went. That I felt like the Lord wanted me to. Even if it meant going all the way to Mexico. Well....it's looking more and more like that will be the case.
The thought literally blows my mind! Why would God make me a missionary? Geez! Crazy sounding huh?

I read in my Bible last night about devoting ones tithes and possessions to the Lord. And it went on to read in the side-panel about how serious devotion was. That it can't be taken lightly. That devotion is an all-out, wholehearted dedication to the Lord. Having a willingness to do and go wherever the Lord purposes you to go.
So, I'm asking the Lord for help in increasing my faith to be able to live up to this type of devotion.

How He Loves Us

I had to share this with you. A very precious person led me to this today, and I had to share with you how much it truly touched my heart, i hope it does yours the same.
The song is How He Loves Us...but the implications go so much deeper than I can relate via email. My heart constricts with...with a supernatural love that can only be the kind of our Father.
So often we (I) let the "troubles" of this effervescent world bog us down. The things in the here and now, that require our attention, but have no relevence to eternity, yet that we let get the best of us, when there are so many more important things that require our focus. The precious precious people of the unreached world for one. How often do they cross our mind during the day...and how often do we tuck that thought aside for later. It breaks my heart to think how much I've done that. It breaks my heart to think how often I've placed my miniscule "needs" above those people's. Have we not been commissioned for that...the time is our now.
I struggle to express this thing that the Lord has pressed so heavily into my heart. I feel my human vocabulary cannot even begin to describe the magnitude of it.
Simply saying...He loves us. Even when we can't see it or hear it or sometimes feel it. But He's there in the stillness... supporting and holding us up nonetheless. We are His physical extension...His arms to the hurting and lost...for His love to shine thru us.
I don't know if I've managed to explain what He has shown me tonight... But my prayer is that whatever any of you, my friends, are going thru, dealing with, or believing for...He loves us...oh how He loves us. Show that love to someone, everyone you meet - it very well could not only make their day, but change their life forever.

So check out this worship video. It is long, but listen to the heartfelt words and let them work in your own heart.

Sinatra's Coffee Gallery

To all my Springfield friends, You must stop in and see the newest hotspot in town: Sinatra's Coffee Gallery. It is located at the corner of National and Chestnut Expressway. Sinatra's is unique in many ways. First it is owned and operated by the only female coffee shop owner in town, Kim Batson. It then brings a new genre to town in it's Sinatra-Era decor and theme. Black and White with the touch of Scarlet Red. This was Oaxacafe's first real consultation project as well. A really cool thing is that from Kim's awesome ideas and inspiration, I was able to design the logo and menu. I'm not particularly a logo-person, but this one turned out awesome and I'm so pleased with it! It's like Sinatra's is our "baby", following it from its conception to labor pains to birth. It's been awesome to see the progress, and tonight was the Pre-Opening. From the sparkling glasses used for every drink to the black leather lounge chairs, everything has fallen into place. This is going to be the coolest place to hangout in Springfield in the coming weeks, and that has nothing to do with my involvement in the project.
This fine establishment will be serving only the finest products. Tell your friends, and stop in for a latte!