Christmas Show

When Mom came to visit in November, it just happened to be the Southern Women's Christmas Show. We had a lot of fun. We got our tickets early & on sale (thank you Harris Teeter). We left my apartment and we were in line to park before 10am. We walked in a bit after 10am and it was CROWDED (and Friday). We worked our way backwards and had a great time. We sampled wine and wine-a-ritas, bought ornaments and I now have a subscription for the paper to be delivered Fri, Sat & Sun for less than the Sunday paper itself...SCORE!

Mother and I conquered the Christmas Show and rewarded ourselves with a delightful lunch at Chick fil A!

Non Thanksgiving Thanksgiving

In the beginning of November, my mom came to visit for a few days. Since I was unable to go home for Thanksgiving, we decided to have "It's Not Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Dinner"
It was a lot of fun and we laughed A LOT!
Here is Mom carving the turkey breast (because really, we did NOT need an entire turkey!)

You'll notice the BEAUTIFUL card table I borrowed from A & J in May 2010 that I'm still using as a table. Well, I don't really ever use the table but it's nice to have. Since mother and I were having a "real" dinner which should not be enjoyed on the couch, I used the "chair in a bag" chairs as table chairs. Great idea until ya sit down and the chair is way shorter than the table. :)

Part of our feast! As soon as we sat down we realized we forgot the broccoli (thanks to steamfresh bags it was ready in under 5 minutes!)

We also had this AWESOME cake for dessert! Oh my stars it was AMAZING! It's called William Tell Apple Cake and you MUST make it! The icing on the top is divine! But with ingredients of butter and brown sugar it has to be good, right?!?!?!

Overall, "it's not thanksgiving thanksgiving" was a lot of fun. I'm thankful my mom spent 18 hours in a car to come visit for a few days and create new memories!

*since I'm writing/posting this in December, I'll let ya know that Santa brought me a BEAUTIFUL table & chairs for Christmas so now I have a lovely place to eat meals!*

Code Orange Christmas

Readers-

It's no secret. I LOVE my church! I mean I think about moving and I realize "Megan, if you move, you won't have Elevation" and then I realize how much my life has changed and how truly blessed I am to be surrounded by such awesome people and I come back to my world. :)

Now, anyone that attends Elevation will most likely tell you they love it, they are proud of it and they are involved but it's not for everyone. And that is definitely ok!!!! However, I wanted to share the link below. I wish it was the entire Worship Experience from beginning to end so that you could fully grasp the energy and excitement and message, but it's a few snippets and Pastor Steven's sermon and it really is just powerful. Even sitting at the computer I am PUMPED!

Code Orange Christmas @ Elevation Church

www.elevationexperience.com

I can't watch without crying. I can't think of the service I attended without getting teary eyed. It was powerful. It was awesome. It was just amazing!

I mean the Global Choir! That was AWESOME!

Code Orange Christmas:

6 locations

30 services

2182 people stood to their feet to profess Jesus as their savior!

Merry Christmas!

God is. God was. God will be with you!

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone had a VERY Merry Christmas!

Only in Delaware...

Would you see random trailers on the side of the road selling the following...

and yes...that van decided the random trailer was a cruz thru!

Do you share the road with a tractor and go roughly 5-10mph on a 55mph road because the tractor is either leading the way or taking up both lanes....
*yes, this is a tractor made of haybales and painted to look like a John Deere but it's cool!


No picture yet, but we also have numerous yard sales along stretches of main and country roads because if it's an open space or the edge of a field, why wouldn't you unload your house/attic/garage/closet and sell what you can to passerby's?



Crazy. But it's home!

Beach!

I LOVE the beach!

And I LOVE the beach in October when it's empty. So peaceful. So fun.

I also LOVE going to the beach with my favorite people.....

My Mom

and my Grandparents!

Budding Author?

Our Eeggs and Chiks

Today one of our eggs hatched. When the chick came out, it was wet. But in awhile it was dry and all of the yoke was gone.

The chick ran all over the place.

When we left all the other eggs hatched. The End

Kindergarten Megan was rather observant! Ha! Apparently our teacher typed what we wanted to explain through art.

Kathy or is it Cathy?!

Meet Kathy/Cathy...
She was one of my favorite dolls growing up. She's fairly large and may need to wash her dress and brush her hair, but she's had a rough life recently. Poor Kathy/Cathy lived on my bed. She'd keep watch over my room and really enjoyed her life. However, a few years ago (maybe even a decade) she was moved to a higher elevation.....the attic. Poor girl. Only she wouldn't fit in a box, so mother tied a piece of yarn around her neck and hung her from the rafters so that any critters that ended up in the attic would not eat her. The care was there, in a twisted way. :) Kathy/Cathy has since been moved back to the main house and is doing much better. I enrolled her in therapy and mother has apologized profusely for how she treated her in the attic. Kathy/Cathy is back on speaking terms with mother and is grateful to no longer be hanging around....ha ha.
As for her name. Apparently I used to name my dolls after the people who gave them to me. I asked mother how Kathy/Cathy came about and was told that Chuck who worked at the printing company, his wife gave me the doll. So, there ya have it!

Kickin it Old School...

OH MY GOSH! Get the girls together....it's time to play
Dream Phone--Guess who likes you in this talking telephone game! ("Hi, I know who it is!")
The Babysitters Club Mystery Game
Let's Go Shopping-Race Through The Mall In Search for the PERFECT Outfit
Mall Madness-Talking Shopping Spree...yes please!
Precious Places....only the best doll house around!

Old School Lite Brite.....

Did I mention Mother cleaned out the attic before I came home? Oh the piles of "treasures"!!!

*no company has asked me to post my Old School entertainment. In fact, this is a post for Antique Roadshow, not companies-that-probably-no-longer-exist endorsements! Ahh, childhood! :)

Happiness is....

One would think that as children age it would be easier to take a picture together......apparently these adorable almost 3, 4.5 and 6 year old didn't get the memo.... :)

Growing Up

My oh my how they grow.......

Being Held Hostage

I'm a horrible blogger.
I'm so bad at blogging that I just informed my Mom (who constantly sends me e-mails or texts or leaves me voicemails counting the days since my last post, putting August 23 in the subject line and/or talking about single cheese) that I was going to delete my blog. Oh the horror! If I had a camera at the exact moment I told her this, the photo would win awards cause wow did she look like a sweet puppy from those ASPCA commercials! :)
Really, the 5 followers that I have have most likely forgotten that Grace Like Rain even exists! However, I'm home for a few days and there are things I want to do, but I'm being forced to sit at this computer desk and update my blog before I am allowed to go out and play. My 26 year old self feels like a 6 year old again being told I can't go play with my friends until I finish my homework or clean my room. Goodness!
Anyway, I don't have a reason for not blogging. I'm pretty into Twitter these days. Falling off the whole Facebook thing. I'm not against change, but I usually just read the updates on my phone but sometimes even that is "confusing" and forget logging into Facebook on a 'real' computer...that's just crazy talk!
Well blog world, hope you enjoyed this hostage post. I'm off to go sort through some boxes of "used to be treasures but have most likely transitioned to trash" that mother has been collecting in the attic/my room so that I can go out and play.
Happy Sunday!

Sweet Single Samples

The other day I stumbled across this display in the grocery store:

I realize it looks like a bunch of cheese but it's not! Maybe if you click the picture it will enlarge and you"ll be able to see that the shredded cheese is about a cup, the slice package is 4 slices I think and the cube packages are mini too. How smart! Great for cooking with smaller quantities and great if you just want to sample something!*

*Kraft does not endorse this post nor did they ask me to write it. I don't even know anyone at Kraft. I'm just excited about their smaller portions!

Day of Fun!

About a month ago, ABC and I had a "Day of Fun".

It was approximately a bajillion degrees outside but that didn't stop us!

We were going to have a pool day but even the pool was a few degrees below a bajillion and there wasn't a breeze so it was pretty miserable. We had a to do list and we conquered it and took pictures along the way. You're welcome! :)

Our first stop was Hob Lob. Oh how I love it so! We found these funny (and overpriced, hello 40% off coupon) items that we posed with....because apparently some people need an artichoke decorating their counters?!

We left Hob Lob and headed to Costco. The samples were pretty good that day. We were pleased. The receipt checker laughed when we asked her to take our pic because we were documenting our day of fun. I like the expression on the lady's face that's standing behind us...
We rewarded ourselves with a delish lunch at Cantina 1511 complete with guac! Loving the brand marketing with the coaster placement :)

We forgot to take a picture of our long, goose poop filled walk through Freedom Park. It was blazing hot and we joked that we sweated (making it a word for the purpose of this post) out a whole lotta chips and salsa!

The ultimate destination of the day......

MENCHIES fro yo! They have RED VELVET fro yo that's outta this world! And the toppings! Oh my the topping selection. If you live anywhere near a Menchies....you must check it out. You'll thank me later!

ABC left a few days after our Day of Fun for an over the pond excursion. She finally returns to the states on Monday and I am so excited!!!

June 22

"BW,

Does June 22 mean anything to you? In case you didn't know, it's the last time you updated your blog. :) Would be nice to read what's been going on.

Love,

Yo Momma"

There ya have it folks. The e-mail from the mother unit that I need to buy a ticket for the blog train! I am making it a goal this week to blog what's been going on in my life as well as a few events in the future. Hope everyone is well!

Yum!

Liberty Steakhouse & Brewery's Tommy's Texas Cheese Fries.

They were a happy hour half price apps staple senior year of college.

A bit over a month ago, I was in W-S and met my college roomie at Liberty and this was the only thing we ordered. SO GOOD! SO bad for you but SO GOOD! And the Ranch dressing...oh my stars!

I miss you dawg!

My Mom came to visit a bit over a month ago. While she was here, we were doing something and ended up watching the first round of the NFL Draft. We found it humorous that the gentleman drafted 12th to play for the New Orleans Saints, after listening to a letter his father wrote him, began to cry and say "I miss you dawg!" We weren't really sure what that was all about, and really, where's the respect when you refer to your parent as "dawg" (yes, it must be spelled dawg because that's what it sounded like, not dog) but apparently the draft picks father wrote the letter from jail.

Moving on!

It was so nice to have my Mom here! We pretty much just hung out by the pool, did a little shopping, ate dinner outside while listening to a concert, walked to Chick fil a for ice dream cones, went to church and had a cookout with some friends from eGroup. It was great! And, mother proudly told everyone that she has a lot of vacation days so I'm sure she'll be back soon for more fun!!! :)

Thanks for the ceiling fan & lots of laughs!!!

I miss you dawg! :)

Christen & Jimmy's Wedding!

On Sunday, May 29, 2011 at 6:00pm I had the honor of attending Christen & Jimmy's gorgeous, amazingly HOT outdoor wedding! :) Despite the heat, it was a BEAUTIFUL wedding! I am SO HAPPY for these two amazing people to begin their life together as one!

I really liked the lanterns that were hanging in the huge "shade" tree!

The cutest flower girl enjoying some jelly beans after placing the flowers down the aisle!

It was a beautiful, very hot, ceremony that lead to a cocktail party in the backyard and then the reception in the tent....with a candy bar!

I LOVED the decorations! It was so simple yet fun and elegant and just awesome! This was the first outdoor wedding I've attended and it was stunning!

I kind of want a big tree branch in my apartment to hang pictures off of now!

The cakes! The cake was soooo yummy!!!!!!!!

The bridesmaids serenaded Christen with "It's raining men" it was cute! Oh and the father daughter dance was the best father daughter dance I've seen in person!!!!! This was such a fun wedding!

Congratulations you two! I am SO excited to watch you start your life together! You are such a blessing!!!!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm back!

Hello no longer devote readers of "...grace like rain..."! :)

It's been a long time...almost 2 months since we last exchanged stories regarding this thing called life. My Mom must be really bored because she keeps mentioning that I haven't updated the old blog...or if I tell her a story about something I did/something that happened she tends to say it would make a great post. So, where have I been you may or may not ask?! Grab a sweet tea and get comfy because it's quite the story!

My last post was April 17, 2011. You can find it here if you haven't already read it Sunday Snapshot

April 17 was an intense day. I went to church that morning to help with an Orientation event, went to work as I was scheduled, had a little break in between and was headed back to church to greet for the evening service. As I was headed to church, I received an e-mail that I no longer had a job. Yep, via e-mail. It was rather devastating and out of the blue and the first thing I did (as I was walking up the sidewalk to the church doors) was start to sob silently. I was so hurt and blindsided. So, you can only imagine how powerful that Sunday sermon was for me. But if your entire world is going to turn upside down, the best place to be is in church, right?!

However, I woke up Monday morning with a sense of freedom and new life! I knew it was going to be an adjustment but I knew that God had a much better plan and that everything would be ok. Though unemployment is never fun, I got to really focus on areas of my life that I neglected because I worked anywhere from 45-75 hours a week and only had 1 day off a week, that day being Sunday. I used Monday as a day to not wake up to an alarm, a bajillion emails/texts/phone calls or run around for others like a chicken with my head cut off. Though I still woke up at 6:00am, it was nice to lay in bed for 5 minutes, eat breakfast and get back in bed just because for the first time ever, I could. While Monday was the first day that I really had nothing to do, it was the start of something great. It was the first day of the rest of my life!

Rather than put you to sleep with all of the details, from April 17-May 17 I did the following:
interview with an awesome company
pray
clean and organize my apartment
pray
be a part of a words will not do it justice 3D Easter Experience @ Elevation (my favorite being the 6:00 Sunday service, but the entire day/weekend was just amazing!)
pray
go out with friends!-this includes lunch, dinner, nightlife, movies...everything I hadn't done!
pray
spend 5 full days with my Mom
pray
volunteer at the church office
pray
listen to podcasts from Pastors Steven Furtick & Andy Stanley
pray
get my life in order
pray
really get to know those in my eGroup and benefit from what a family an eGroup really is
participate in the Race for the Cure again
just enjoy life

It was a long month but it was a great break. I've started a job that I love and I know it's only going to get better! I am blessed to have a fantastic church family, Godly friends and overall blessed to have a supportive family. I concentrated on new and existing relationships with friends and really got to know people because I had the time and my mind wasn't in 1,000 different directions. It was so great to form this friendships and bonds that I know I'll have for quite some time. Most of all, I know how blessed I am to have only been unemployed for an entire month and to have started a new career journey with promise and opportunity!

I thank you for reading this far! Now that I've got somewhat of a hang of things at my new job, I strive to blog more! I did post all of the Sunday Snapshots that I missed during my random blogging hiatus, so be sure to read those!

Happy Monday!

Thanks for reading!

Sunday Snapshot

Week 2 of the SUmmer Concert Series brought guest speaker Bishop Dale Bronner.

He preached on Acts 1:4

Revolution leads to revelations

God creates the PLACE before the PERSON.

WHen you're in the right place, you'll bloom where planted

Power to the people-you can't export what isn't homegrown. YOur JErusalem is the place where you are

ONE word from God can change your life forever.

Judge your day by the seeds you sow not the harvest that you reap.

Faith is seeking as God sees.

Heard-->Saw-->Felt-->Did

The real ear is in the heart because God speaks to your heart

You don't get what you want, you get what you prepare for

Road map to heaven: turn right and keep straight

Sunday Snapshot

It's summertime! And with the blazing hot temperatures and afternoons spent at the pool comes the Summer Concert Series at Elevation! I'm pumped for the month of June!

This weekend Pastor Steven preached from a boat onstage. It was pretty awesome! His sermon was based on Acts 27:9-44.

Gods way is always the wise way even when it seems foolish to some people

Acts 27:23-The ship might go down but God is able to preserve you! Every person matters and we are all His

Jonah 1

boat =family, work,, relationships, church

Is the boat you're on better off because you're on board?

If you're a believer in Jesus every boat you're on is better off because God is in you and you have a purpose!

Bring life to the boat not death.

Make the boat God put you in better! When you make the boat better, look to the Lord

Some people are life savers

Some people are boat sinkers

Sunday Snapshot

This weekend was the final weekend for the Mr. and Mrs. Betterhalf Series.

While it's sad when awesome sermon series come to an end, it really just means the best is yet to come! This weekend we were privileged to hear from Pastor Craig Groeschel. He delivered a sermon titled "Once Upon A Marriage" and was about Hosea and Gomer

Hosea 2:5

What I'm missing is better than what I have.

80 vs 20

don't give up on 80 for 20.

80 is what you have and 20 is what you want. as in, 80 is your family and what you have and 20 is what's out there

Righteous Anger Hosea 2:9-10

Unfailing Love Hosea 2:14-15 Achor=trouble

Forgive and love as you've been forgiven and loved

Sunday Snapshot

Week 4 of Mr. & Mrs. Betterhalf - "Wrong Well"

John 4:1-26

Jesus moves from religious rhetoric towards the needs of hurting people

1. When you're small people ignore you
2. When you're growing people criticize you
3. When you're big people resent you

The people you want to avoid are the people you need to touch. Jesus did and would.

3 Wrong Wells
1. Well, I'm not worthy
2. Well, it's too hard
3. Well, not now

Use pain to platform good

Holiness is not what God wants from us, it's what he wants for us!

Sunday Snapshot

Week 3 of Mr. and Mrs. Betterhalf was about "The Right One".

Finding them and being them.

Based on Genesis 24:1-67 (yes, Pastor Steven read all 67 verses :)) it was awesome!

Preach biblical principles not personal experiences.

-so true! the Bible is the guidebook for life. forget what the media says/what you did/what everyone else is doing, just listen to God.

hard times are not worth mentioning on the great journey. the hard times are a comparison to how good God is.

Pray first, position second.

Come to the well! You can't find the right person in the wrong place.

-you're not going to find the love of your life at a bar if you don't want to drink. essentially, pray and position. don't go out and get crazy looking for the one, seek them in areas where you already excel and feel comfortable.

Walk by faith, not sight (also a great song by Jeremy Camp)

Happiness isn't finding, it's being

God has promised me

Sunday Snapshots

Week 2 of Mr. and Mrs. Betterhalf

happens to not only be Mother's Day Weekend but Holly Furtick, Pastor Steven's wife, delivered a great sermon!

Based on Philippians 2:1-13, Proverbs 15:33 and Proverbs 19:11, Holly was on fire! I just love how I attend a church that is so awesome from the top down. It's great to hear about every ones trials and tribulations and walk in and hear an awesome band put together an amazing worship set list and listen to a sermon by the pastor's wife.

Anyway, Holly hit the nail on the head with "anything worth having is work". How true is that! If you want to be successful, you can't just stay on the couch all day watching tv...you have to work to fix things/make them better.

humility is seeing the situation from the other persons perspective

you have to be able to understand both sides in order to achieve the end result.

humility is speaking to the heart, not the actions

marriage (or relationships) isn't 50/50, it's 100/100

this may be my favorite point. a partnership isn't splitting the chores down the middle, it's being equal and helping each other along the way. it's being accountable for the entire being, not just what's on your individual to do list.

You be Jesus and left God be God

Sunday Snapshots

This weekend started a new sermon series titled

"Mr. and Mrs. Betterhalf"

it's all about relationships and I am SO excited to hear what Pastor Steven has to preach these next 5 weeks! I'm also excited because this was the first Elevation Experience for my Mom as she came to visit and didn't leave until early this morning so she was able to attend last nights service!

Just for the purpose of documentation, Prince William & Kate displayed a lovely Royal Wedding on Friday, April 29, 2011 and this new sermon series began Saturday, April 30.

Keeping with the times, the sermon was aptly titled The Royal Marriage.

Based on 1 Samuel 25:1b-42 and a lovely quote of "you are surely and mean in your dealings" as well as a bit of a preview into Proverbs 18:21, I could already tell that this sermon series is going to be epic! Pastor Steven did a great job of informing everyone that we are not going to have a royal wedding, but we can have a royal marriage.

Eat the salmon!

basically, this boils down to the fact that so many people in a relationship think that engagement/marriage is the next step. everyone wants the wedding (the planning & preparation, the dress, the reception, the cake) but not many really think about the marriage itself. it's like a great salmon dish at a restaurant, you love all of the side items and garnish but if you don't like salmon, you're not going to be ordering the dish.

Where life is spoken, humility must be present

The tongue has the power of life of death, speak life.

i think this is true for many occasions. words can be hurtful, so always speak life into your significant other, into your career, into your family.

Don't wait for the prince, crown the king!

this was a great one too! don't wait for the dashing prince charming and his white horse to find you, crown the king that's inside your significant other. speak life into them and they will be king!

What you fail to celebrate will eventually leave your life.

Sunday Snapshot

Our God is so good.

Everything happens for a reason and this weekend was the perfect example of that! Let me give you a little bit of my weekend before I dive into my notes for the final sermon in the

Grapes & Giants series.

Saturday night, I did not attend service, I filled in for a greeter that was out of town and distributed Easter tickets, so I did not get the full sermon experience.

This morning, I assisted with First Experience and had to go to work after that so I missed both the 9:30 & 11:15 services.

Tonight, I was supposed to lead a greeter team, but some things happened and I ended up experiencing one of the worst days of my life, received devastating news and walked through the doors a crying, sobbing, snotty mess. I was quite the site for eyes to see :) After explaining everything to one of the Associate Campus Pastors, I decided I would help where I could and then go into service. BEST DECISION EVER!

Y'all, I LOVE my church but man oh man. Everything happens for a reason! I missed Saturday night and this morning because God knew i needed to her Pastor Steven's sermon at 6:00 Sunday night. He knew i needed to watch those baptisms and cry my eyes out while watching/singing and cry through that sermon. I've said it before that "this sermon is my favorite" or "that sermon hit the nail on the head" but nothing compares to tonight's experience!

So, Grapes & Giants, week 4 of 4!

Deuteronomy 7:12-24 and Ephesians 6:10-20 were the verses the sermon was based off of and they are AWESOME!

The Promise of God's Protection

Get Dressed! Put on the full armor of God!

God made provisions for your protection

You can't defeat your enemy if you don't discern your enemy.

Thieves don't break into empty houses

The enemy wants me because there's something awesome there that he wants. (hello!)

STAND YOUR GROUND. When all else fails, just STAND! (side note, I LOVE the Superchic(k) song about stand your ground)

Guardian angel-can't protect you if you're not entering the fire. Live your life so your guardian angel slaps you and says "Do you have any idea what you put me through?" :)

God can only give you strength for your struggle, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood.

He gives strength for those willing to struggle

I'm not STRUGGLING, I'm getting STRONGER!

The enemy hates me but God will protect me, I'm his investment.

Never underestimate what a father will do to get back to His child.

Soapbox.

You know what REALLY bothers me? Customers that come into a retail establishment and are chatting away on their cellular device and attempt to place an order and ask questions while still talking. It really bugs me when said person continues to talk while paying for their order. I also don't like it when I'm talking to someone about their order or they are at the register and we're discussing the next steps and their phone rings and they answer it. I think it is rude and disrespectful. If your conversation is that important, finish it in the car. If someone is calling you, wait the 30 seconds it's going to take for me to finish and call them back. I'm certain all phones have voicemail and they'll leave one or if someone is calling you, in 30 seconds they are still going to be near the phone to answer when you call them back. I had a customer this morning come in, we were discussing her order and her phone rang. She rudely answered it and proceeded to have a long conversation. So, I helped the next customer who happened to be waiting in line properly and was not carrying on a conversation for the whole world to hear. I was in the middle of helping the nice, no phone customer when cell phone lady shouts "excuse me, I'm ready" I politely looked at her and told her I was with a customer and she'd have to wait. REALLY?!?!?! You're going to say that to me after in the middle of a sentence you answered your phone! People these days! No manners. Emily Post would be sad! What are your thoughts regarding cell phone etiquette?

in the midst of the darkness...

Last night. Oh last night we had a crazy storm....rain, thunder, lightening and hail. I was at work until 10pm. I live close to where I work and everything was fine. My apartment complex however, did not survive the storm and was pitch black and powerless. I didn't really want to pretend to be Amish and I left my window open and I'm petrified of the pitch black darkness and my flashlight was in my room and ......you get the point. It wasn't a good combo. So, I went to Target to buy a flashlight. Well, buying a flashlight when half of the town is out of power is like buying milk or bread when they're forecasting snow. I had the option of a heavy duty (literally) flashlight or Toy Story. I went with the heavy duty can last forever and hit someone over the head if they try to attack you in the darkness flashlight. I know, you probably think I'm crazy by now but I really did watch too much Rescue 911 when I was little and followed that with CSI until high school when it just got too freaky and I had to stop watching. Yes, I do love NCIS and that doesn't bother me. Anyway, I hung out in Target testing the lawn furniture until 10:45ish since they closed at 11. I went home with my flashlight and could not figure it out. I know that sound crazy but the flashlight didn't come with instructions and I tried every battery combo and nothing worked. So, I called my AWESOME friends Adrienne and Jeff. They had power so we decided I should just spent the night at their house (because they are awesome like that) and Jeff fixed my flashlight. Apparently it does matter what way you put the spring in. Who knew! They came over with their flashlights and walked through my apartment so I could grab some pjs and off we went. This whole thing made me realize how blessed we really are to rely on something so simple as a light switch. These poor people in our own cities that are homeless or in other countries make it work and I freaked. I hate the darkness. But I do love the song that we sing in church...

"in the midst of the darkness You're the light that guides me through..."

Sunday Snapshot

Today was the 3rd week of 4 for the Grapes and Giants Sermon Series. We had Pastor James Macdonald as the guest speaker. The cool thing is, he delivered 3 different sermons for each service. That's awesome! Though I do feel sad that I missed out on 2 sermons but they are available online so I'll take it! Instead of preaching from Ephesians, the sermon I attended was based on James 1:1-8 and "Why Trials?" Consider your trials joy-joy is a supernatural power What happened to me? Why am I here on Earth? How can this advance that purpose? Do you believe that God is in control? Do you believe that God is good? Will you wait by faith until you see it? hupo-mene=under remain when the pressures on, remain under complain-bail-criticise-fold the longer you remain under the harder it gets

even the donkey knows the palm and blankets he's carrying aren't for him

Sunday Snapshot

Have I mentioned how much I am LOVING the Grapes and Giants Sermon Series????

Purpose: The Prequel to Power

Ephesians 1:3-14

God has made the promise and given the blessing but I must take possession. 1. Before God made the world He made a plan for me. Ephesians 1:4 It's not fake, it's fixed. The outcome is decided and we won! 2. Before God called me to do something special He chose me to be something special. Ephesians 1:4 Ephesians 1:5 We obsess over direction but neglect character. When you know who you are, you will know what to do. 3. Before I can find my purpose I must lose myself in Gods passion. Ephesians 1:6 Ephesians 1:12 4. Before it all fell apart God has a plan to put ot back together Ephesians 1:7-10 5. Before I chose to live for God He chose to live in me. Ephesians 1:11 6. Before God can give you the land as your possession you've got to give Him your LIFE as His possession. Ephesians 1:14

You have every spiritual blessing if you believe!

Show Us Your Church/Churches

I think in order for one to fully understand how much I LOVE my current church, you have to know where I've been.

I grew up Catholic.

We sat in the front pew every Saturday night for an hour. It was up, down, up, down as Catholic churches go with all of the kneeling and singing. I went through the sacraments of communion, confession, confirmation and whatever else the Catholic church had you do. I attended Sunday School classes each year (on Sunday nights) and was even an Altar Server. But, I never really got it. It could be because the church had 1 person play the guitar and sing and she happened to be my elementary school PE teacher so I envisioned a lot of "head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes and eyes and ears and mouth and nose, head, shoulders, knees and toes" songs while she stood up there. Or maybe I didn't get it because it was so complicated and so much to remember and even though I sat through the entire hour long mass each week, it just didn't click. It was way over my head and very Biblical. It wasn't a warm church. As soon as you walked in the cat got your tongue and you didn't talk unless spoken to by a higher up. So, you walked in, blessed yourself and knelt, walked to your pew, listened, interacted when it was communion time and walked out. You had to reach the sidewalk to the car before you talked again. That's rough! But, I do miss the flower displays at each holiday. That church knew how to decorate with flowers!

Then I was Presbyterian.

We made a little transition and attended the Presbyterian Church. We never joined as a family but I attended the BEST Sunday School class ever and oversaw the nursery. I think for the time I was in charge of the nursery, I watched maybe 2 babies...it was an "older" church so the only way I'd have something to do would be if people had family in town! I did end up one weekend watching my Sunday School teachers 1st grandson....who, 9 years later, I babysat for when I moved to NC! I adored my Sunday School teachers and it was just a joy to be in their class and learn from them. The Presbyterian Church was much more welcoming. I remember one Christmas Eve after the service everyone just hung out outside on the church stairs singing Christmas Carols....that would NEVER happen at the Catholic church. Our Sunday School class was heavily involved in Operation Christmas Child and we collected items and filled shoe boxes and then travelled as a class to the distribution center that was about 2 hours away and helped all day Sunday. Our teachers were in their 60s and were awesome. They invited us to their home and made us a great breakfast and we all watched Left Behind. We didn't stay at that church very long as during my senior year of high school our teachers left to return to NC and the church was kind of "old" so the members were declining.

So, we became Methodist.

The church had just gotten a new Youth Pastor and it was all the buzz in town. We checked it out and eventually we joined the Methodist church as a family. I don't really remember when we first started attending the church but it was a great fit for us. It was very contemporary and met in the Fellowship Hall of the church building. We eventually outgrew Fellowship Hall and overtook "big church" and worshipped there....drums, guitars and all. The lyrics were displayed on a screen and it was pretty awesome. Everyone was happy and welcoming and it was like one big family. After I graduated from college and moved home for a bit, I became a Youth Leader for the High School Youth Group. We had a lot of fun with the kids and the other leaders were my YoungLife leaders so we had a great time bringing back the old lessons and games and craziness! That church has undergone some staff changes and it's in a bit of a "dark" place as I call it at the moment. The Youth Pastor left, the Associate Pastor (who was the counseling Pastor) has left so the main Pastor is alone with some new people, and well, the new people aren't adapting well. However, when I go home, this is the church my mom still attends.

College Church

I attended the campus Chapel Services each Wednesday night and it was nice. The sermons were different and rotated between the Dean of the Chapel and the Bishop in Residence. Occasionally there would be a guest speaker from an area church. It was a short and sweet service. The chapel choirs sang and they always had a nice fellowship spread afterwards. Some of my favorite Chapel Services ended with a group of us going to Tex and Shirley's for $2.00 all you could eat pancake dinners! I attended a "big" church on the weekends that my college apartment neighbors Dad oversaw. It was fun to go there because it was a (what I thought) huge church and they had an awesome contemporary service.

Now Church!

And now I attend what I think is the best church I've ever walked into! I am proud to say that I attend one of the four campuses of Elevation Church. Not only do I attend, but I joined an awesome small group that has since ended but I met some amazing people and I became a greeter! It truly is a phenomenal church where for once, I GET IT! It all makes sense! I actually understand the sermons and know how to apply them. Going to church is seriously the highlight of my week! I know Elevation isn't for everyone, but it's right for me. You can check it out at www.elevationchurch.org

I hope you attend a church that's right for you! It's hard to find one sometimes, but once you do, it's the greatest thing ever!!!

Sunday Snapshot

Today's sermon was the first in the "Grapes & Giants" series.

Today was by far, one of my absolute favorite worship experiences. Between the music and the sermon it was just awesome! Grapes and Giants is A Walk through of Ephesians and I just love it! Numbers 13:17-33 was compared Ephesians 1:17-

Thoughts to Ponder:

It is possible for God to have all the power but for his people to live in total weakness.

Don't fear the giants more than you fear the grapes.

Most of us visit the land and look around, but we never occupy the land and take possession.

Your strength in life isn't determined by your ability, it's determined by Gods authority.

Saying:

Powerful device being used far beneath it's potential.

Don't be a powerful force that doesn't perform to it's potential. Claim it, bring it, change it! Make a difference and use the good that you have to help others.

Dreams can come true...

If you're a fan of my blog, you've probably heard (read) me mention how much I LOVE Dancing with the Stars and how I want to be a contestant. I've always said that I'm not a professional dancer and I'm not a star so it's not going to happen.

WELL...

Dove has teamed with Dancing with the Stars and offered a contest where you had to submit a video that was under 60 seconds mentioning Dove Visible Care Body Wash and DWTS. The winner receives a trip to CA to train and perform in a commercial that will air during the Season Finale of this season of Dancing with the Stars, which I wasn't too excited about the cast selection this time around but gosh darn it, after Monday night I am PUMPED!!!

So..........I submitted a video clip. CRAZY, right?!?!?!

I know. It's kind of out of my "quiet" element. I've never entered a national contest let alone submit a video for anything! I was fully clothed and made it look like I was only wearing a fun towel and basically just mentioned why I should be chosen. I probably won't be picked because they probably received a bunch of video clips but I didn't want to have regrets and I really want to be on DWTS! AND, I use Dove soaps and body wash anyway so I'm feeling good. I'll keep everyone posted if I hear anything!

NO REGRETS!

*This post is not endorsed by Dove and/or Dancing With The Stars. I am not being compensated. I was not asked to mention them in this post. I'm just a girl with a dream to be on DWTS!

Good People

This is a random post, but I want to remember the good in the world. :)

I LOVE my mechanic.
My car needed a routine oil change but the check engine light came on at the beginning of the week so yesterday morning I dropped off my car and explained what was up. Mr. Mechanic said he'd change the oil and figure out why the engine light was on and would keep me posted. Now, had I gone to the place I went to before I found Mr. Mechanic, they would've found everything under the sun that I'd need to fix. That's why I am no longer a customer of theirs. Anyway, I spent a good 10 minutes on the phone with Mr. Mechanic yesterday enforcing that I trusted him/his opinion and valued his honesty and approach and that for as long as I live where I live, he'll continue to be my mechanic. That's how much I love this place. So when we collectively decided that a new or new-to-me car is in my very near future, I knew it was the real deal and not him just saying I should pour a ridiculous amount of money into a car that most likely won't make it to March 2012. Mr. Mechanic also said he'd check any car I think about purchasing to make sure it'll be a great experience. How awesome is that! It was just such a great feeling.

Today at work, a sweet older gentleman, after a few minutes of general conversation, asked me if I would come speak to his Rotary Club at their next lunch meeting. ME. The "guest speaker". I'm thinking the members would be rather disappointed because I'm not certain that I fit any of the requirements to be a guest speaker but Mr. Rotary Club member was just adorable and so sincere. He was in a beach music band while in college, had 2 jobs and is now happily retired so he, as he put it, "just runs around all day doing his honey do list and giving back to the community since he wasn't able to when he was working". Mr. Rotary Club member and his wife are some of the sweetest people and he just made my day.

I think it's important to remember the good people in life because sometimes the day to day craziness can get one down. Too often someone has a bad encounter early in the morning and it just passes on to each person they come in contact with and pretty soon everyone is miserable. (much like the HIMYM episode with Marshall screaming at everyone because he had a horrible day at work)

Let's all just be happy! :)

Hair!

One of the things I despise about wearing my hair in any form of a pony tail is the fact that when I feel like letting it down, I end up with that line from it being up. I'm supposed to wear my hair back at work but sometimes I don't because I know I'll leave for a meeting and I don't want to have my hair back. It's hard to set rules when I sometimes don't follow them. BUT, a store next to where I work now sells these.....

http://www.emi-jay.com/

They are AWESOME! I've had my hair pulled back since 8:30 this morning. I took out the tie and had a faint line but it "falls" out within 15 minutes. I think the secret is the hair tie doesn't offer a strong/tight hold like a regular hair tie does. It's certainly worth trying!

I must say, I have no clue who these emi-jay people are, I've never met them, probably never will and I am no being compensated by them for this post nor am I endorsing them...I'm just passing on my excitement of having luscious locks with no hair tie line! :)

1st to 12th

I woke up this morning and I was a resident of the First State.
I'll go to bed this evening being an official resident of North Carolina!

It was quite the experience! The DE DMV is rather different (and much easier/less time consuming) than the NC DMV.
I'll leave you with the following pictures from my hour standing in line...

Really, this was a full service parking lot....just check out the sign!

Where the magic happens.....

and when you're done....you can celebrate at El Reventon.....

I took this picture for Nonny. It may not be a propane tank but it's a decorate satellite dish!