UNDERGROUND 08'

Well tomorrow afternoon I will head to the church for a leaders meeting and then head to my new home for the weekend to meet the host parents and ten 8th grade girls. For those of you who don't know what underground is it is a weekend High/Middle School retreat our youth department puts on each year. The students are split up by grade and gender and then are assigned to a host home, which is a high/middle school volunteer's home. Each group is  also assigned a college aged leader. We have a guest speaker coming in as well as a band to lead worship. We will all come together at the church for sessions and games and then will return to our host homes for small group discussion and to build relationships with the students. I am so excited. Last year was my first year helping with Underground and it was such a neat experience. Like I said before this year I have ten 8th grade girls a handful of which I know very well. I'm looking forward to spending time with them and getting to know all the girls.Please pray for our student ministry this weekend as we seek to invest in the students lives and lead them a little closer to Jesus or possibly lead them to him for the first time.

Fasting

I've been thinking about fasting a lot lately, not really sure what I thought or felt but it kept coming up. So after a week of thinking and praying and it coming up in the book I was reading I decided it was time that I got serious and became intentional about somethings. I decided to start my fast today and it will last through friday. During the five days I'm skipping breakfast and lunch for some focused quiet time and I am also keeping the tv off untill after 5. I know this might sound odd but I realize since being home my days are what get away from me and not my nights. Randomly during the day I will be bored and sit down for a minute and get wrapped up in a two hour show. I also realized that I found myself in the kitchen a lot. It all just became so obvious to me that my time during the day was what I wasted most. 

I want my time to be used well and I want to remove distractions. I want to be more intentional with my praying without ceasing. I want more wisdom and strength. I want more self control. I want God to be my first thought when something goes on. I want to love and not be selfish. I want to do something with the days he gives me. I want to have discipline. I want to look at someone and see the creation God has made and nothing else. I want to give. I want to keep my heart pure. I want to put my heart and hands in the area of greatest needs, and I'm learning that that isn't always where I feel like being. I want to be broken and honest. I want to allow God to be all I need and rely on. I want to be like the moon and reflect the SON. I want to love regardless.

Now I know that's a lot and I don't expect for this fast to be a switch that gets flipped and all those things become true. But I also know that God has called me to a closer walk with him and I know this is a step in that direction.  I know that there will always be good days and bad days (and I'm so THANKFUL for my friends who love me on those bad days) And there are battles I will win and ones I will lose (and I'm so THANKFUL that I know I'm already fighting from victory in the war). But I also know that tomorrow has enough worry of it own and I can do nothing to change it. I can only seize the divine appointments God has placed for me in this day. So tonight I am asking that you would pray that I would stand strong and make it through this fast, that I would die to self, and that I might just get a better grasp on living this life like my King did!

Easter Weekend

Last weekend I went to Ocala to spend Easter with my mom's side of our family. It was a little odd because every other year we have spent Easter at the Lake House. However moving it to Ocala really didn't change anything except making it a shorter drive for some, and my Aunt Lisa, Uncle Walt and their girls didn't make it. The weekend was entertaining as always. My brother, my sister-in-law and nephew came down from Georgia so it was nice to spend some time with them. On Saturday we went to a softball field and had a 5 on 5 softball game. My three brothers, my brother's fiance, three of my cousins, my dad and my uncle, we make up quite the group. I absolutely love my family and I was so thankful for that time out there just having fun and being together. Also on Saturday I made flower cupcakes with my nephew and then we iced them with tons of colors. I am so sad that they live in Atlanta. On Sunday we went to my Aunt Shannon's to open our Easter baskets, have lunch and do the egg hunt. It's crazy how quickly time has seem to fly by. My brother has a three year old and my cousin Jerrad has two little girls. I hope and pray that as time keeps flying by that we all stay connected and close. I don't know what I would do without them all. I mean they make me crazy at times and man are their a few too many chiefs at times, but still they are amazing people and I love them all. 

Cruise Week

Monday, March 3rd, 15 of us met at the church to head to Miami to get on the Majesty of the Sea. We got on the boat had lunch and then spent the week just relaxing, swimming, going to shows, eating, playing cards, swimming with stingrays (another story, another day) and just having fun.

Steph and I during the emergency drill!! Sweet Vests huh!?!?!

Shannon, myself, Stephanie and Carissa outside the boat in the Bahamas!

The sunset in Key West on our last night.

The coolest table ever. We had so much fun every night trying all the different dishes and just laughing. Plus we had the coolest waiter ever!

Coffee In Sarasota

So I just got back from a short road trip to Sarasota. I was blessed with the ability to go meet Melissa (friend from Charlotte) for coffee. It was a great time of just catching up and encouraging one another. Now I'm back in Ft. Myers and about to start small group. The group is going through the book Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. I have already read it once and it totally changed my perspective on a lot and challenged me to try live what I believe. I would encourage everyone to pick up a copy and read it. 

Rusty is this one a better length for you??

Prayer Journal

I've been keeping a prayer journal since October of 06' that I try and write in every night. Granted there are days or weeks missing but it has been a real accomplishment for me. Normally I would start one and then find it a month later with only one entry. For some reason I have been able to stick with it this go around and it has been a blessing. Some of the entries are just grateful words, lessons learned through the day or prayers for friends. Then some are not so happy with anger and frustration behind them. It has been such a healthy release for me, nothing is off limits in it. Well last night I started reading through my one from Jan 07' to May 07' and it was such a reminder of God's faithfulness. I stood in awe on the opposite side of so many struggles and battles and request. It's crazy to me that I didn't even start thinking of camp until this time last year. Now I look back on it and it has been one of my greatest blessings. Also I read through prayers for the Burchards, the Ponders and Lauren (and "the pastor of Ridge") as they looked into and then took a step of faith to go to Ridge. It's crazy how God lays things out to unfold and we are completely oblivious. I am so thankful for my journal it's kind of like my little glimpse of the masterpiece God is working on. 

Southwest Florida Fair

Well the fair has been in town this past week and even though I missed five days of it due to the cruise I was still able to make it to the pig show and auction. The Pig show was last Sunday and the kids did fairly well placing. Kelly Drye won 1st for her class and then came back in for Grand Champion and Reserve Champion and the judge seemed to take great interest in her pig but then ended up choosing another one. Sadly this year they did showmanship on Monday night and not during the actual show, so I missed that. As crazy as it seems to sit in bleachers for 5 hours to watch kids walk their pigs around, I greatly enjoy it. We are fanatics. Our bleacher consists of the Russells, the Gears, the Dryes, the Schaffers, the Willis, and then us. Anytime any of our kids would be out there we would scream like crazy, you know like the family at the little league games with the coin shakers. It was a ton of fun and I'm glad I was able to be there to support them.