what do you believe

Church was interesting today! The message was about when we die and the book of life. Alot of people claim to be christians, go to church and live a life God would want us to live, but do you ever think about when you die and get to that gate? When you accept Jesus as your lord and savior you are SUPPOSED to live a better life, a life that isn't filled with sin. Some people think that when they pray the prayer, its a free ride card. Their names are automatically put in the book, so they can go on with their life (filled with sin) and then when they die they think "oh, well i prayed the prayer so i'm going to heaven". I wish people wouldn't live their lives like that! To me if you prayed the prayer- you are making a commitment to God to live right. To minister to others, and try to get them to accept jesus into their hearts, right? You don't just say, oh i accepted god into my heart, but i am still going to lie, cheat, steal, kill, do drugs, and be a basically crappy person. When a occasion arrives that i have the choice of doing something bad, i always have in the back of my mind "if i do it, when i get to heaven will i be turned away?" Alot of people don't think that way, but i do. Sometimes i have doubts, just as i'm sure you all do about God. I have caught myself looking around at church or thinking to myself, What if we are all believing in something that doesn't exist? What if when we die, we just die and thats it? Will we have spent all our lives in church, believing in something that isn't real? I mean, HOW do we know that God is real, and that there is a heaven, its not like we have SEEN it, so how do we know? Then i snap back to reality! I believe every word in the bible, I BELIEVE that God sent his ONLY son JESUS to die for my sins on a cross, and i BELIEVE he rose from the dead. I can't say WHY i believe that, i just do. I pray every day for my friends and family that don't know the lord, and for complete strangers too. Someone once said to me if god existed there wouldn't be pain and misery, hunger and hurt.. I say to that if there wasn't all that, how would we know what it is to be HAPPY, full, healthy and loved? May your day be blessed, and please BELIEVE!

god can make it grow

I was reading this book called No Perfect People Allowed, its about how to get people into your church and what attitude you should have in your church. There was this passage from the bible, and as i was reading it i became amazed at how it really shouted out at me! I wanted to share it with you:

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are God's co-workers; you are God's field. 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

I began thinking this was exactly what is going on with me and mission compassion right now. I "planted" the seed in my kids minds, they "watered" it, and now God is making it grow! It started with me and the kids, i thought this would be a fantastic way to get people involved in our community, but i also thought it would show them what the Lord could do in peoples lives. I wanted to be able to bring more people into our church to make it grow, not just for our church but for those people out there that don't know what God did for them. Do you know of any other man that would willingly send his son to Die for our sins? God has done amazing things in my life, he has blessed me with a beautiful family, he has given me friends that mean the world to me, he has provided me with a church that i can attend without feeling pressured, a church where you can be whomever, dress however, and be yourself.. I could wear pajamas to church if i wanted- and those people would care less. Church is not about how much money you have, who you know, where you work or what kind of car you drive. Church is about going to praise our God for what he has given us, and to try to bring other people to know the lord so that they may have the same opportunity for those blessings. I think i got off the path there, lol. The lord has made mission compassion grow, i may have started this but without him it would have gone no where. I think he saw it as my way of trying to bless the people in our community, our neighbors and our friends. I am humbled by all the thank you's i have gotten, because there is no need for thanks. Its my honor and privilage to be doing this, and i can only hope its a huge success so that we may be able to do it again in the future

in the zone

Do you ever have days at church that it seems the Pastor is talking strictly to you? I do sometimes, today was one of those days. Its like i was the only one in the room and he was talking to only me. He told us last week to go out and do something to change someones life. So thats what i tried to do. This week i got a little overwhelmed and started to have a nervous breakdown, lol. I want mission compassion to be a huge success, but i also want it to change peoples lives, by bringing them into our church where they can learn about Jesus! Today he started by saying "God is the one to change peoples lives, he starts with US" and thats true. I realize God is going to be the one to change their lives not me, he may use me to be the instrument to achieve that goal, but ultimately he is the one that is going to do the job. He then said a move must be made. And thats what i did, i made this move by organizing this whole project and hope that others will fall in and help and this too will change THEIR lives, they will see what it feels like to have compassion for people whom they may never meet. To try to hide is not right- well i think that is true. The truth is that i had this vision of mission compassion a few weeks before i actually did anything about it. It just consumed my mind day in and day out, i kept saying "i can't do that" or "it isn't possible" but the more i told myself that, the more God put it on my heart. YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM GOD.. and it isn't right to try, if he puts something in your mind or heart that can be a blessing to someone go with it, theres a reason why he put it there. You have to be passionate about it, give it your all. If it doesn't work out right, try again. You know that saying "if you fall off a horse, get back on and try it again"? He then said "we are not responsible for the outcome" I always think that if things turn out wrong or bad, its my fault. Thats my most dreaded fear with mission compassion. That people won't donate because the economy is bad, and then i let people down- i let myself down. But what he was saying was if i do what god wants me to do, then GOD is responsible for the outcome. Maybe if it turns out bad, thats what was meant to happen- but i believe he wanted me to do this so it could have a great outcome. The last thing he said was peoples lives will be changed. You never know what a persons situation is, so i could be changing someones life by what i do today, tomorrow or next week. I may never know the impact i had on someone or how i changed their life until i get to heaven. People should step out on their faith and minister to their neighbors and community even if they don't know them. I may never meet any of the soldiers i send packages too, but to me the reward is just knowing i helped them have a piece of home. I have to believe that God wanted me to minister to our community and our soldiers. One thing keeps going through my mind, Keep on being faithful-and you will be rewarded. I may not be rewarded in this life, but i will in the next- and thats what matters the most to me! As always keep praying for Mission Compassion.

fully rely on god-old blog

Today church was about David and Goliath, and no matter how many times i hear that story i always come away with different thoughts. That david was full of faith in God. I mean who do you know that would go after somebody 9 feet tall, especially when you are just a little dude?!
Danny talked about several points as he told the story and i wanted to touch base on some of those...
1. There are ALWAYS going to be challenges before us- this is true, whether its bills coming in that you don't have the money to pay, issues in your marriage that seem to never get resolved, or teaching your kids to have faith in God in every situation in their lives. God puts challenges in our lives for 2 reasons- one is so that we can learn from those challenges, learn to be stronger and more determined... another is so we can learn to FROG- to FULLY RELY ON GOD.. in every situation in our daily lives we should have faith that God is right beside us and will lead us through whatever challenge we are against.
2. The First step is usually a small one- In any situation that is challenging you have to take that first step and it should be small, set a small goal for yourself and when that is achieved go to a bigger goal. Evil Knieval didn't jump 50 cars the first time he tried. He started with ONE. David was told he couldn't kill Goliath, but he went ahead in the mission God had for him. He went ahead no matter how crazy it seemed that this little person would be able to defeat a giant. He believed that God would protect him and guide him.
3. Talk is cheap- this is true... Something bad goes wrong in your life, somebody you love is dying.. You don't understand why this is happening- all these people are supposedly praying for you and everything is still falling apart, so you get mad at God? The problem with that is that when most people say "i will pray for you" they don't! They go on their merry way and forget all about what they said they would do. If you are going to talk the talk, say you are a christian and tell people you live your life for God, THEN DO IT.. Don't just say it, show it.. Do something that has the potential to change someones life.
4. Small Steps lead to large opportunities- Those few small steps you took could lead to something amazing in the future. People will criticize you and tell you that you can't achieve what you are trying to do, but you have to just push forward at any cost and do what God would have you to do. When i started Mission Compassion it was my desire to help a few soldiers- to give them a blessing and show them how much we appreciate all they do for our country- That small leap of faith has given me the chance to do something incredible for our entire community. I didn't realize how many soldiers from our county were in Iraq, i went to the going away ceremony at the Ford Center and saw over 800 soldiers that day, but didn't realize how many of those soldiers were my neighbors.
5. Focus on Gods Faithfullness- God will always be with you! There may be times you don't believe he is there or that he cares, but he loves you and will always be there to guide you.
6. Strive to be unique- Everyone has their own way of dealing with issues in their life, and whose to say that your way is wrong? As long as you are living your life in a way that gives glory to God then its OKAY.
7. Finish the job- i can honestly say i have trouble with this one, i am a procrastinator i must admit. Especially if its something i really don't want to do, even if i know i have to! Most of you don't know this, but i'm a full time college student and its hard for me to get motivated with my homework sometimes. Its weird because i love to write, but when it comes time to write a paper for school i just put it off til the last minute. If God gives you a job to do, or puts a challenge in front of you- finish the job, just do it!
8. Realize what you do does make a difference- Everything you do in your life has a impact on someone else, whether its your family, friends, coworkers or the guy behind you at the stoplight. Its your choice in whether that impact has a positive or negative impact. I believe Mission Compassion will have a amazing impact on our kids, our church, and our community. These soldiers have become like family to me, and i love each and every one of them. They have great families and most of them are christian. For those that aren't i hope they see what God has done in my life, and that my appreciation and love for them comes from my FATHERS love for me and that he also has the same love for THEM.
Bless you all!

who are you accountable to?

These are old blogs, someone asked me to repost so they could read them... Enjoy!

i was thinking about the sermon at church this morning some of the things danny said. You know that whole wives must submit to their husband stuff in the bible? Well, I know alot of people would hear that and say "yeah right, i'm a independent woman and i'm not going to submit to any man". And i hear ya when you say that, i had that attitude at one time but it all changed and i will tell you how... Submitting to your husband isn't about sex or power, oh that has a little to do with it but I don't think thats what jesus was saying in the bible. I think he was saying you should submit to your husband in other ways- you should give and not just take.. You should share every aspect of your life with your spouse, the good things and bad, whether physically, emotionally, mentally or financially- there should be no line drawn as to what you can and can't share. I watched two movies in the last few weeks that really have had me thinking about this. One was He Who Finds a Wife, it was about a couple that is on the path to marriage and go to counseling with her pastor. Alot goes on in the movie and during one session she asks him, Who are you accountable too? He just looks at her and says ME.. She gets up and leaves. This is why- She wanted him to say God. If you are accountable to God first in your relationship your always going to do whats right, your going to have a marriage that is strong and you will have a equal partner that loves and respects you and gives as much as he takes. That makes me think of the other movie i watched, Not Easily Broken. This couple were married, and during the ceremony they had a rope placed around them and the pastor said their marriage was a partnership and that rope symbolized God. As long as they had god in their marriage they were tied together, but if you don't put god first then your just going to fall apart.. The only people in your marriage should be you, your spouse and God- not your other family members, or friends. Now, how everything changed for me- I go to church obviously, and i'm there most every sunday unless i'm sick or the kids are. A little over a year ago me and russ were having a really hard time in our marriage and we came real close to getting a divorce. I kept asking myself why is this happening? I go to church every sunday and i pray and believe so why is God allowing this to happen in my marriage? Is he punishing me for something? I then realized, yeah i had been going to church and reading the bible but had i REALLY been listening or comprehending what i was reading? The answer was no... Not really! When i started really listening to what God had to say to me, things started to change. Russ doesn't always go to church with me, but sometimes he does and thats ok. It took me really listening to God and putting him first before anything to really see a change in my marriage. Alot of the problem in our marriage had to do with me putting my family or friends first, not god and certainly not russ. When i started putting god first and really listening to what Russ had to say and how he felt alot changed in our relationship. The last six months russ had been laid off work, we had ALOT of time together since i go to school and my classes are online i'm always home. When i started running in the mornings russ would go with me. Those mornings were amazing. We had the most amazing talks in 13 years, we learned alot about each other- even though we have been together so long there were things we hadn't known or told each other because we just never took the time to sit and talk! We get so busy and wrapped up in our lives that we don't take time to just sit together, with no interuptions and talk. The tv's always on, or the computer, or the phones ringing, or somebodys knocking on the door or theirs a houseful of kids running in and out. I would encourage all of you to take the time to just talk, take a long walk in the evening with your spouse and ask him how his day has been. He will know that you actually want to know what is going on in his life. Russ and i had got to a point in our marriage where we didn't feel like we knew each other at all, he was gone alot for work and when he was home he felt obligated to help his friends with things going on at their house instead of staying home and spending that precious time with his wife and kids. I think i resented that alot, and may have even started to hate him for it. After he quit that job and was home everyday it changed a bit, but not until he was actually home all day did we really start to talk and LISTEN to each other. Now he is on the road again and i cried when he first took the job. I know he didn't really want to take it, but at the same time we both knew he had too. The thing that kept running through my head was "are we going to go back to where we feel like we don't know each other again, or is this going to cause the end of my marriage because we can't trust each other while we are apart?" The thing is, now i know better. We have a strong marriage full of love, respect and mutual love for God. When i call him at night i always ask how his day was and he asks me the same. I now know that our marriage can and will stand through anything- all it takes is a little love, alot of prayer and putting the man up there first!