Check it out

Check it out… I made my first post to “The Creative Blog” ….I’ve hit the big time now.

C3

The crew and I headed out to Texas this week to watch Pastor Steven in action as he preached at the Creative Church Conference put on by Fellowship Church. And as usual the team stood by proudly as our man of God knocked the socks off of everyone at the Conference.
There’s no way this little blog post can describe the electricity in the air as he took the stage and called our generation out to a more honorable way of living. It was no surprise that he left the stage to a standing ovation.
It is so good to serve such an anointed leader …. I can’t believe this is my job!

One busy week

An eventful 2 weeks to say the least and here’s why…

1.  We were suppose to close on our house 3 different times and none of them happened…. still waiting.

2. Smashed my car into another car. Final outcome = Totaled car. Bye bye mazda tribute.

3. Lost my voice and all my energy – don’t worry … its back.

4. Bought a new car … and I LOVE it! – Its like driving a high top tennis shoe.

Thank goodness Mack is back for a few days – he’s been away in Atlanta recording another Album – I hate living without him.

The ugly side of being human

I faced the ugly side of being human over the holidays… this is what came out.

Just about everyone who reads this blog will know someone or is someone who has battled an addiction. Whether its alcohol, drugs, porn or maybe even an unhealthy addiction to a person, addiction is an ugly part of the human condition.
Over the holidays I looked addiction in the face once again… this time it wasn’t me but one of my closest family members. Simply put, it broke my heart.
Ironically, I’m formally educated in the subject and even still found myself lost in the pain of it all. The battle isn’t over yet, but in hopes that it might help someone else, and honestly help me process it all, I thought I would share some of my methods of coping with it …

- Tell people who love you, even if you don’t want to because you are embarrassed or don’t want to bother them. They can help carry the load, encourage you when you think you can’t do it and pray when you don’t have the strength.
When you aren’t alone its a lot harder for Satan to kick your teeth out with his lies,  so tell someone!

- Read your bible. God speaks through His Word and when you are lost in a sea of pain and confusion his Word cuts the crap and puts it all in perspective.

- Go to a counselor if the struggle doesn’t stop. If the thoughts and feelings related to the addiction won’t go away …. go to someone who has been trained to sift through it all. Don’t be embarrassed about it … this is your life we are talking about. Would you be embarrassed to go to a dentist if you tooth wouldn’t stop hurting?

Hope this helps somebody out there.

I’m back…

I’ve finally come out of hiding and back into the blog world. (Though I do question whether I’ve ever really been “in” it but that’s beside the point.)

Here’s what you’ve missed …
1. Super Christmas … here’s what I got .

A tan that lasted a total of 1 day (compliments of our Christmas Cruise)- that’s what happens when you are as white as me.

White Cowboy boots- I never knew I could love white leather so much!

And after 2.5 years and a lie that all of our wedding footage was lost my husband delivered the grande finale’…. Our wedding on DVD – it was awesome and I LOVE IT!

2. You also missed a fast and painful trip to Idaho where my faith and character were significantly tested. But God is good and SO faithful to me and my family…But more on that later – I’m still trying to make sense of it all.

Its good to be back.

A week in review….

What a week….not sure if anything else could have happened in the last week… its kind of ridiculous.
Here’s what you’ve missed

1. Mack and I put an offer on a house, they countered, then we countered and they accepted. We were so excited…then we got the inspection report….it was bad news…. but things are looking up – we haven’t given up yet.
2. We reorganized the structure of the Creative Department – it was painfully honest  and seemingly impossible but we arrived at a great solution and I’m really excited to see what shakes up in the year to come.
3. We had our staff evaluations which proved to be one of the most insightful and stretching moments of the year – I praise God for a leader who doesn’t give up on his people and calls out the potential in them.
4. We had our staff Christmas Party – it was incredible! Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more blessed to work where I do, again God opened my eyes to the immensity of what he is doing in and through our lives. AMAZING!

This week is only going to be more exciting…. here’s a sneak peak of what’s to come.

Elevations Christmas Eve Service…probably a lot like this -  leather, crowd surfing and sweat.

No really – its going to be awesome. You don’t want to miss it!

Then off on a Brock Christmas Cruise… gonna be great! We can hardly wait!!!

The best state in the union

Not that long ago I lived with these great people (for 6 great years!) in a place where there were 24 hours of usable daylight in the month of June and a dismal 3 hours of usable daylight in the month of December.

(I love these people and to clarify this picture was not taken in Alaska... people don't wear shorts very often in Alaska)

Where is this great place you ask???

Well  of course I’m talking about the greatest and strangest state in the union… ALASKA!!!

Check out this quiz I found today to test your knowledge of the last frontier.

Its Good

This last week has been a tough one. The Lord has really been testing my faith and ability to persevere and trust him in the midst of confusion.
I hate and love these times.
So I went to Columbia on Sunday after our Uptown Worship Experience to see a pregnant friend and on the drive back I was listening to some old school worship music, looking for some encouragement.  I began thinking back on other times like this in my life and was reminded of something I use to tell the girls in the youth group …

“If God ever breaks a promise to you at any time, He can no longer be God” – if he did he would be a liar and not God.
Thats good – good like nothing else in the world – good enough to wrap your life around and base every decision and reaction on.
God is good and he won’t break his promises.
This encouraged me… I hope it encourages you.

Did That Just Happen??

Well, as expected our Thanksgiving trip turned out to be quite the adventure. Upon arrival we found a majority of my family throwing up and upon departure Mack was too!
It looked a little something like this….

Thanksgiving day:

• To our dismay ….the toilet breaks in the morning and is unusable – we continue with the Thanksgiving festivities as planned.

• My Mom gets terribly sick and lays in bed all day using the trash can as a vomit receptacle.

• The Plumber arrives only to tell us that the pipe is broken under ground and that the city will have to fix it on Friday.

• We eat dinner, visiting the gas station occasionally for a bathroom break.

• We finally give in to our digestive urges and go to my sisters house for a little Scrabble and dessert session.

• We go back to my Moms house to pack our stuff, get some rest…we have to be at the airport at 8am the next day.

4am Friday Morning:

• Mack wakes up and vomits green beans in my Mom’s sink and we make a swift trip to the gas station to take care of “other business”.

• I call an audible and insist that we spend the rest of the night/morning at my sisters house so Mack can vomit and do”other things” in         a clean bathroom.

• Mack continues to vomit every 5 mins for the next 4 hours as I try to change our plane tickets in order to find an Urgent Care who can         stop the “flow”

• We find an Urgent Care – they shoot him in the butt and stuff him full of pills to get us home.

• Mack is knocked out and its up to me to escort him from plane to plane as we traverse the continent via United Airlines.

7pm Friday Night:

• We finally arrive home and couldn’t be happier to see our own toilet!

As usual my trip home never disappoints. It always gives me new perspective and always challenges me to be more flexible. Thank goodness I married a man with a sense of humor.

And we are off…

Mack and I are heading to Idaho today to visit my family. I have a really amazing family – we are a living testament of how gracious God is. If you ever want to be amazed at Gods grace and ability to bring beauty from ashes just ask me to tell you a few stories about them. 

 

Here we are on the first leg of our journey in the Charlotte Airport. Notice the smiles and seemingly peaceful expressions…. we’ll see if they are still there by the end of the trip.