Church Hopper is Done Hopping!!

I've done it!!  I have found my home church and couldn't be more excited about it.  Drum roll please...my new home church is: Pine Hills Church (PHC)!! :) I think I've known all along that PHC is where I wanted to end up, but with them moving farther away from my house I fought it.  Last weekend I went to their new location, set my mileage and timed the drive to my house.  It was 11.3 miles and only took me 16 minutes.  By the way, the new church building is gorgeous.  I can't wait to have service there.  I'll be attending a class next weekend at PHC to learn more about the church and get connected with others that may be new. I'm hoping to also get set up with a small group at that time. I can't begin to explain to all of you just how excited I am to be on the spiritual path that I am on. When it comes to my faith, I won't be dragging my feet anymore. I'm ready for what God has in store for me.

I'm going to skip telling you about church and Pastor Mikes message this morning because I have something I am dying to share with everyone, and when I say everyone, I mean EVERYONE!!  Have you ever felt a calling, a pull or just a nudge to do something? This past spring I first felt that I was being pulled to look for a new home church. If you remember from my first blog, I was very nervous to do this, but I put on my big girl panties, threw up my hands and said, "Alright God, let's do this." With His help I found the courage I needed to face my fears.  I mentioned several times before, that I was church hopping all by myself.  Silly me...I was never alone.  God was right there with me each and every time.  I've also had another tug.  I remember talking with a friend this past summer about my church hops.  I mentioned to him that with each church I had visited recently I kept hearing talk of mission work.  Jokingly, his reply was, "Are you going to become a missionary now?"  I wasn't sure how to respond to that question, so I didn't, but yeah, I was starting to feel a pull in that direction. A couple of weeks ago I mentioned to another friend that when my daughter was out of school I may look into doing mission work.  He just happened to have information about Pine Hills and a mission trip that they had coming up.  Huh, imagine that!!  God works in mysterious ways.  I looked at the information and saw that the following Sunday they were going to be having a meeting for anyone that would be interested in the trip to attend.  Ahh man, I wanted to go to that meeting, but I didn't know if I would have the courage to go.  I thought about if for a couple of days.  I told him and I told my mom to pray for me to find the courage to stay after church and attend that meeting.  Well that was last Sunday and I did find that courage!  I went to the meeting, filled out the application, turned it back in and today after service I found out my application was accepted.  So folks, I AM going to India!!  I cried the whole way home from church.  I called my mom crying and had to tell her right away that I was crying happy tears so she wouldn't worry before I could get the words out to tell her why I was crying. We, the Mission Team (wow, I'm on a mission team!) already had our first meeting today. The trip is in November, for 2 weeks, to an orphanage for girls called, Home of Love. We will have the pleasure of helping the girls learn English, arts and crafts, Bible lessons, games, etc.  I'm not sure any of you could possibly imagine just how excited I am. So now I have so much to do.  I'm going to start by writing a support letter to mail out to several friends and family asking for either financial and/or prayer support for the trip. So don't be surprised if you get a letter from me. I have a feeling I'll be losing a lot of sleep between now and the time of the trip. So if you start praying for me now,  please pray for sleep.  :)

Oh my, I have to get started on my letter!!  I may be done hopping but you're still going to hear from me.  I have a feeling I'm going to have so much more to talk about.  God is so good!!

Till next time...Be great...Be YOUtiful...Have a superb week !!

Isaiah 6:8 “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”


1 Chronicles 16:24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!

Hop, hop, hop...

I've noticed with this blog I tend to just blurt things out, personal things, that I wouldn't normally talk about, to ANYone. I've always been better at writing down my feelings instead of trying to talk about them. Guess that's why I tend to ramble in these blogs.  Last week I said, "If anyone gets a bright idea to call me out on my comment about being lonely, please don't." Well some of you didn't listen to me very well.  I can't fault any of my friends for trying to reach out to me.  After all, I do have some great friends.  It's not easy for me to talk openly about things I am feeling, but keeping them in does me no good either.  I'm trying. I'm working on it.  I'm praying about it. It's not easy changing something about ourselves that we've done for so long.

I don't think I ever mentioned this in any of my past blogs, but back in May of this year I recommitted myself and my life to God. Since then I've wondered, is it mandatory that when our faith grows stronger we are faced with more challenges in our life? I feel I've been faced with my fair share, but I've also noticed how I was able to face them differently now, then I would have before.  Better now of course. Recently I was faced with something that I really hadn't thought much about until I had no choice, but to face it. Have you ever heard the saying, "Why try so hard to fit in when you were born to stand out!!?" In certain situations I have often felt that I didn't fit in, nor do I feel I was ever the type to try to fit in. I'm not saying it doesn't bother me when I realize that I don't fit in, but I'd rather be liked or even not liked for who I AM then to be liked for someone that I'm NOT.  I mentioned in a previous blog that I contacted both churches about their Life Groups.  One of the reasons that I am so anxious to get involved in a Life Group is because I need/want that interaction with other Christians and I realized that even more this past week.  I won't go into great detail but I had a situation this past week when I realized where I once fit in, I no longer fit in. As sad as I was to realize this, I realized it was for the best. I've grown as a Christian and as a person.  I won't ever turn my back on any of my friends and family whose beliefs are different then mine, but hanging out with them like I have before will have to change. The situation I'm referring too involves alcohol. We always have to be prepared for His return and how would it look if I was drinking and had a buzz when that happened?? "I'm sorry God, but I'm a little tipsy right now.  Do you think you could come back later?" Oh yeah, that would go over well.  Instead of rejoicing in His return or running to be with Him, I would want to crawl under a rock and hide from Him. As I'm hiding I'd be thinking...Ahh man!!  He's going to notice my eyes are bloodshot!!  I just know he's going to smell it on my breath!!  I didn't recommit myself to God for Sunday's only or for "show."  What if the topic of religion and/or Christianity came up during this time?  How could I say I'm a woman of God, proclaim my love for Him, all while slurring my speech?  During the many years of me sliding down my giant slide and ignoring anything God wanted me to do, do you know what the biggest turn off for me has been? Christians that, "talk the talk", but don't "walk the walk." I'm not saying any of this will be easy for me, but I know it'll be easier with God and the right people in my life. Goodness, that sounds kind of bad. I love ALL my friends and family!!  What I mean by that is, if I feel my faith is being tested it will be other Christians that I reach out too. I hope that sounds better.

Now that I'm completely off topic of what my blog is about (as usual), today was a Pine Hills Church day. With daughter in tow we headed to the 10:45am service, which by the way will be moved to 11am when they move to their new location  (with slushies) on October 7th. Once upon a time, not so long ago, I would be totally "over" singing more then 2 songs at the beginning of service.  Now...I absolutely love singing!!  I'm not even sure if we sang 3 or 4 this morning before Pastor Mike's message. Anywho, it doesn't matter to me anymore, I don't dread standing and singing the whole time anymore.  I didn't even have to lean over and tell my daughter to stand back up while singing.  She stood the whole time with no complaining or heavy sighing. :) When we first got there my daughter says, "Mom, look at all these old people. Where are all the cute guys?" I told her I was sure there would be some. While the Praise Band was playing I noticed one of the guitar players looked like he was about 16, 17 years old.  I nudged my daughter and said, "Hey, that guitar player is cute." She smiled and nodded. Apparently, she had already noticed him. :)

Today Pastor Mike talked about finding your life verse.  A "life verse" is a verse or short passage from the Bible you claim as a rallying cry to guide and focus the current season in your life. It's a truth or challenge straight from God's Word that rings true for you at this time. He went on to share that his life verse is,
1 Corinthians 15:58 (KJV).  He told the story of why it was his life verse of over 13 years and then he broke down the verse for us, helping us make sense of almost every word in the verse.  I don't think I'll ever read that verse again without hearing his explanation of what it means. Here is the verse in King James Version: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." Okay, normally you hear pastors refer to the New International Version (NIV), it's much easier to understand, that could be one reason why my spell check is telling me several of those words are misspelled, lol.  But anyway, Pastor Mike learned that verse years ago in KJV so that's how he referred to it today. He spent the whole service breaking it down for us.  I will spend about 30 seconds.
Stedfast: Stand firm on the word of God. Don't let YOUrself be moved.
Unmoveable: Don't let someone or something move you.
Abounding: Excel, be superior !!
Vain: Empty
Now reread that verse with those definitions. Makes much more sense doesn't it? He read from 1 Corinthians quite a bit.  At one point I read ahead and look what I found, 1 Corinthians 15:33-Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." Well what do ya know...wasn't I just talking about that?  Just thought I'd share that. Anyway, I don't have my "life verse" yet, but you better believe I'll be looking for one now and memorizing it.  It's fun to get excited about things like this.

Well folks, I'll be attending Pine Hills again next week.  I'll be praying a little more heavy this week, please say a prayer for me as well.  As far as quitting my hopping and making a commitment to one church or the other, I'm finally feeling that pull that I've been hoping I would feel.  Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until at least next week for me to tell you or even give you a hint as to which one it may be.  :)

Thanks again for reading. I know this one was a long one.  Until next week...
Be great...Be YOUtiful...Have a fantastic week !!

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you. Romans 12: 2

In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success. Proverbs 3: 5-6