Ignite

         Last night was one of those moments where I’ll be able to look back years from now and pinpoint where everything shifted. If you were at Cornerstone then you know exactly what I’m talking about and if you weren’t then this is definitely something that you want to hear.

         Our Pastor was speaking and looking back now I’m not even 100% sure as to what he was speaking about because I was just somewhere else. But maybe 45 minutes into the message this man in the back stands up (interrupting service) and says that he needs to get saved. He runs down to the alter and the whole building erupted! We’re cheering louder then if you saw us at an App State football game, and that’s how it should be! And just like that the Holy Spirit just hijacked our service. People were getting healed from all sorts of things, back pains, headaches, troubled joints, heart problems, breathing issues, you name it. The room was so full of His presence unlike any other time that I remember. I still don’t really know how to express the things that were prayed over me yet but man oh man are things turning upside down up here! We’ve declared this town for the Lord and he’s giving it to us.

         Desire isn’t just something that you simple wish for, it’s a deep deep craving, an intense longing, for attainment. Last night one of the women that was praying for me kept praying that I let go of things in my past but mostly she just kept saying “Ignite” over and over. That’s exactly what happened something in me was ignited last night and I have such an even stronger desire for the Lord.

         I’m sorry if is blog post seems all over the place but I’m slightly sleep deprived and I’m ok with that. I hope that I helped you catch a glimpse of what god is doing up here in Boone, and I hope that because of this you see that the Lord can heal and deliver people that you come into contact with daily, it doesn’t have to just be on a mission trip to a third world country. So reach out to that guy alone at lunch, the lady ringing up your groceries and the person that on the outside may seem like they have it all together. You never know what people are going through so don’t underestimate the power of prayer and God’s healing love.

         As always if you’d like to support me financially on my trip to India you can do so easily here, if you would like for your donation to be tax deductible then you can also mail a check to our church office:

Cornerstone Summit Church

869 Highway 105 Ext Suite 3

Boone NC 28607

India connections here in Boone

         Can I talk about how much I love my job? I think that it’s so great that I get to come here everyday and build on relationships with people that simply just come in looking for a good cup of coffee. I’m thinking about this a lot more then usual today because this morning one of my regular customers came in and we struck up our usual banter and then she saw my India jar and she started asking me questions about the trip. I told her all about what we would be doing over there this summer and she started to let her emotions get the best of her and I’ve been on a little emotional train ride the past couple of weeks so before you know it we are both standing here fighting back tears.  You see her daughter and son in law are in the middle of the adoption process to welcome a beautiful 7 year-old girl from India. Awesome, right? It’s funny to me how many India connections I’ve encountered lately but that is just God’s way of preparing me for this trip.

         Kept it short and sweet for you today, but who knows, maybe if something exciting comes along you’ll hear from me again J

         As always if you’d like to support me financially on my trip to India you can do so easily here, if you would like for your donation to be tax deductible then you can also mail a check to our church office:

Cornerstone Summit Church

869 Highway 105 Ext Suite 3

Boone NC 28607

         

25 Million

I can’t even explain how on fire I am to go to India this summer. My excitement is growing more and more each day and I can hardly sit still so I can only imagine how I’ll be in a little less then three months. As excited as I am and as much as I’d like to just fast-forward until June 13^th, I can’t. There is too much prep work for me to do. The Lord is doing serious work in my heart for this trip and I just want more and more which is taking me to a whole new level of love with Him. I just can’t seem to spend enough time with Him (cheesy I know) and I’m learning more about Him, myself and the people of Bihar India, daily.

Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless

James 1:27

         There are 25 million orphans in India. I don’t know about you but that sentence alone just makes my heart ache. 25 million kids that have never slept in a bed, don’t know the meaning of love and haven’t heard someone tell them that they are special and beautiful. Gosh that just makes me want to love on them even more! I was reading an article this morning about Angel House Ministries (I’m going to post a link to it so just bear with me) and it was talking about the kids reaction when they get to run into the house for the first time. They compare it to seeing a child run into Disney World for the first time, which is just crazy to me. Disney World is great and I loved going there with my family but I’m having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that the kids going to Disney World aren’t anywhere near as thankful for the opportunity to spend a week in an amusement park as these orphans in India will be when we cut the ribbon on their brand new house and they run in and jump on their own bed for the first time. I know that I’ll never forget those images of sweet joy. I should probably just post the link now and stop rambling because I’m getting all emotional and that’s not the best idea when you work in a coffee shop and it’s Monday morning haha. But if you’d like to read this article and I suggest that you do here it is  http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2012/03/25/news/local_news/doc4f6f95785eac2721671158.txt?viewmode=fullstory

Also, if you’d like to support me financially on my trip to India you can do so easily here, if you would like for your donation to be tax deductible then you can also mail a check to our church office:

Cornerstone Summit Church

869 Highway 105 Ext Suite 3

Boone NC 28607

Vulnerability

There is a lot that I could say about this subject but it would definitely just be quoting Dr. Brene Brown. A friend of mine in Texas went to hear her speak recently and told me to look her up. This is a 20 minute video but you should really watch the whole thing, because it’s very thought provoking.

         As always if you would like to support me financially in going to India then please feel free to do so. I appreciate your prayers and support already!

Holding Hands

         Holding hands. It’s something that we do all the time but rarely stop to think ab0ut what it really means. What are you saying when you join hands with someone? I love you, I’m protecting you, I believe in you, I’m with you and you’re not alone are some of the first things that come to mind for me. There is something so comforting about holding someone’s hand. Set aside the romantic feelings that it stands for because as great as that is that isn’t the direction that I’m going with this.

         From as far back as I can remember my family has always held hands as we pray before meals. Kind of insignificant if you’re trying to fit it into the mold that I set earlier, but it’s actually not at all. Whether we were thanking the Lord for a great meal prepared with lots of work at home or something as simple as a burger at Bill and Leah’s (greatest restaurant in Kville, but sadly gone now) we always joined hands to do so. It was our way of being one. Holding hands has always first and foremost been a sign of unity. Together at that moment we were whole and nothing could break in without our permission. The same thing happens when we join hands to pray at church. It’s our way of standing together as one inseparable body to tell the world not just what we are believing in and for but that we are united in this and that together and with the help of the Lord we cannot be stopped.

         I realize that I could talk your ear off about my heart for missions and that it’s without a doubt my calling in life but sooner or later I need to ask for your help in achieving that. Well your time has come! If you’re interested in supporting me financially in addition to prayerfully then you can now do so easily right here. Thank you so much for joining your hands with mine to do the work of the Lord.

Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor

Proverbs 22:9

        

Strength: you can never have too much

         I realized yesterday how close I am to going to India. 90 days from today! I’ve already gotten some great support from amazing family and friends and I’m expecting for even more. My excitement is growing daily and knowing that our church currently has a team serving in Honduras only makes me want to fast forward to June! I’ve been praying for the Honduras team all week because I know how exciting but physically draining a mission trip can be. But in my prayers for them I’m reminded that it’s never too early to start preparing my own heart for India. I’m going to be going to one of the more poverty stricken areas in the world and it’s definitely going to open my eyes to how good we have it in the United States. It’s going to be a huge adjustment going over there, not only is it a 12 hour time difference but it’s a culture that I know nothing about. It’s going to be an amazing trip but also one that I need to be physically, emotionally and spiritually prepared for. Having such a heart for not only kids but orphans will make it very hard to come back and just go about my life as it is now. I’m going to be forever tied to these kids yet the chances of me ever seeing them again are very slim, so I have to just make the most of the time that I do have with them. I’ve just been praying a simple prayer for strength, for our Honduras team and for myself and the team I’ll be going with.

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 40:31

       In other news I met an amazing woman yesterday who is a missionary in Zimbabwe. She totally took my bad mood and threw it out the window telling me about everything going on over there and how there is such a craving for the Lord right now. It was just amazing to hear about God works outside of my tiny bubble (that’s slowly expanding!). Anyways she is coming back to the shop today with some more detailed information about the organization that she works with over there, and I’m so excited to hear more about it! Continue to be praying for me as I prepare myself for this trip J

         Also, sorry about 3 posts in one day, I just had to do it but don’t go getting used to it! J

5 Types of People

I stumbled across this video yesterday of Bishop T.D. Jakes speaking about the different kinds of people that we surround ourselves with. It opened my eyes a lot to how blessed I am and at the same time how careful I need to be about who I give access to. I hope that you get something out of it to!

Where Is Your Mission Field?

There are a lot of critics when it comes to serving in international missions. People ask me all the time why I’m going to serve in another country when there are so many people in need here in my own backyard, and my answer used to just be that I was called to do that and other people were called to do the same here. But lately I’ve changed my view. Why can’t we do both? I’m not leaving for India tomorrow or going to some village in Africa next week, so in the mean time what can I be doing to help those people here? Well the obvious thing is through my job. Yeah I know I work in a coffee shop, it’s not the most glamorous job (though a friend of mine thinks it could easily be made into a movie) but I still have been given a great opportunity to reach people. Whether it’s by the music that I’m playing, starting up a conversation with some tourists looking for things to do, friendly banter with my regulars or maybe even something as simple as a smile and telling them to have a great day. Because of where I work I’m normally one of the first people that my customers see in the morning so I know that I’ve been given an opportunity to shift their day with a little bit of optimism. When I started this job I knew as little as a person could know about coffee but I did know that I’m a pretty good listener, plus my Pastor offered me the job so I couldn’t really turn him down. Recently a friend told me that my job title goes beyond a barista and is more like a holy bartender. We both laughed about it but she said she was actually being very serious. It’s funny but I do have a lot of regular customers that completely open up to me and occasionally I even get the opportunity to pray for them right here in the shop. I’m so blessed by this job. Just because you’re not working at some extravagant place or helping people in a third world country doesn’t mean that you can’t make a difference wherever you are right now. Make the most of every opportunity that the Lord gives you, because He will bless you with more once you show Him that you can control what He has already blessed you with.

“They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.

Psalm 77:12

Speak it, believe it.

         This morning while I was drying my hair I was thinking about how powerful our words are. Anyone that knows me, knows that I’ve never been a huge fan of my handwriting. I think that that may actually be part of the reason that I hated writing so much growing up. You’ve probably heard me say things like “my handwriting is the worst…I write like a boy….i wish my handwriting was more like my sisters or my mom…sorry if you can’t read it but I just hate my handwriting”. Now I’ve had so many people tell me that my handwriting really isn’t all that bad but the more that I write the better it will get, but being stubborn like I am, I never actually got around to it. I was too busy speaking about how bad it was and I had made myself believe that that was something that I’d always have to live with. Another thing I was thinking while drying my hair was how I always complain about having a bad memory and how I always forget little things. It’s frustrating to others if I forget something and it’s even more frustrating to me because on top of forgetting whatever it was I now know that I’ve frustrated you and you have to remind me again. It’s a never-ending circle of confusion.

         I told you all of that not so that you would think that I’m some crazy person that has these deep thoughts while drying my hair at 5:30 every morning, but instead to encourage you to guard your words very carefully. They lead to your actions and then you’re believing stupid little lies that the devil is using to get to you. Yes, he can use something as small as my handwriting to mess with me, he’s cunning and he’ll do whatever it takes to mess you up. So simply change the way that you think and talk and just watch your actions start to change too.

         I DON’T have bad handwriting. I really do believe that too. I’ve noticed a really obvious improvement in it over the last few weeks and I can actually say that I like it now. It’s not the perfect kind that I’ve always dreamed of having, but it’s mine and it fits me perfectly. And my memory is actually a lot better then I used to think. My friend was telling me just a couple weeks ago how it always means so much to her that I remember the little things, and to be honest there were so many other things going on right then that I missed the complement completely until this morning. I’ve been too hard on myself and from here on out I’m taking my own advice and guarding my thoughts and words.

This song has been my anthem lately and I’m completely addicted to it. If you haven’t heard it yet just give it a shot and if you have then hopefully you love it as much as I do.