2012 Christmas photo

Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Trotters

Heavy Heart

Tonight my heart is so heavy.

Loss is so hard especially around the holidays.

My heart breaks for so many that I love and then it breaks for myself. So many moments I wished we would all get.

It hits suddenly and I feel physical pain.

I want to fix it but I can't.

So I'll pray instead. I'll pray for peace that transcends ALL UNDERSTANDING. I'll pray for comfort from the physical ache of my own and for the physical pain of others that I can't even begin to imagine. I'll pray for strength and for joy in the little things. And mostly I will pray for truth to be found and for relationships with You Jesus to be stronger than ever before and to be unbreakable. I pray for relationships to be born and established forever!

Yes I will pray because I know that is the very best thing that I can do and because I trust in my Heavenly Father with all of my heart!

Hear my heart and my prayers Jesus. We need you, we want you. Amen.

Last Kid Connection service of the year

Today we had the last Kid Connection service of 2012! A whole year of ministry all came together as we partied to celebrate Jesus!

The kids were so wild but they had a great time!

We sang karaoke, ate yummy goodies, made marshmallow snowmen and played many games!!

I have to admit that I did not love the lack of structure of a party but I do love that the kids gad a good time!

What a year we have had! I remember being COMPLETELY terrified of the year to come knowing that for the first time we would be pastors and that we would be responsible for the tiny little hearts and what they learned about God each week and each time they saw me.

I still feel that same sense of responsibility but a lot less terrified of how to do the job. I am thankful!

I am thankful for the year we have had a d for all of its learning moments where we learned from our mistakes sprinkled in with all of the God moments where we saw our work pay off in little ways in The lives of our previous kiddos!

I am so looking forward to the year ahead! We have so much to teach that our hearts are Bursting!!

After service we celebrate a friend's birthday with other friends & then home to nap!

And now it is time to get up & get my Christmas break on! I am off for the rest of the day & for the next two days and I plan to take full advantage!

Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday Jesus!

A perfect peaceful day

It was such a perfect peaceful day today!
I had coffee with my best friend this morning which just fills my heart!
I then cleaned my lil house! There is just something do calming and peaceful about a clean house!
Then I sat and soaked up the peace with the Christmas tree on and the afternoon sun streaming through the window! Ah peaceful indeed!
Then it was on to a wonderful afternoon nap! Oh how I love naps so much!
Hubby and I then went and set up for out kids Christmas party in the morning!! It's gonna be so fun!
Then my sweet, wonderful, thoughtful hubby stopped and bought us hot chocolate and we set off to see Christmas lights! It was so peaceful and sweet and fun! I absolutely cherish time together like that!
I am just so in love with my hubby and I love how are life is unfolding!

I am thankful for such a peaceful and wonderful day!

Merry Christmas!

Looking forward to 2013

So in the New Year I would really love to get back to blogging and keeping a record of life and thoughts and such. I hope I can pull this off!

I can't believe that it is already Christmas and that a New Year is upon us again. How time does fly!  I still find it quite unbelievable how amazing life is and how much God has done. Everytime I think about it I am truly blown away.

This past year has been so wonderful, we have been working on finishing up school and we have been loving walking daily in our calling as Children's Pastors.

We have learned so much this year and we have just fallen more in love with God!

We have built some truly amazing friendships and we are so thankful for the wonderful people that God has so graciously placed in our lives.

We just have been so abundantly blessed it is mind blowing!

I am looking forward to seeing what God has in store for 2013! I am ready to love people bigger than ever before and minister in any and every single way I can!

Currently I am gearing up for our second annual Girls Only/Friends retreat in March. Last year was so incredible and I cannot wait to see what God does in these girl' lives this year. We are going to be talking about leadership from the inside out. I am also gearing up for Kids Camp in July. Last year we were able to guage where our kids stood and it is sad to say but we were heart broken with the way our kids responded at camp. We did not expect the lack of response we saw. So we go in 2013 better informed on how to better prepare them for camp. I have a plan in place to begin teaching them about the fundamentals and the basics of loving and responding to God. We are going to continue to teach them and encourage them in worship. We are encouraged in that area as we spent all year working with them and we are taking that learning a step further in the new year as well. We are currently up to about a handful of kids who worship completely and it is such a BEAUTIFUL sight indeed.

I know that God has a great plan for these kids and I am so honored to be a part of their journey toward what He has for them. My heart is to teach them and prepare them to be able to recieve everything from Him that He has for them. It is a long journey but I am excited about what lies ahead. I can't wait for the New Year to start so that we can get started teaching them the things that they so desperately need to know! Ahhh!! I really cannot wait! I love them so much!!

It truly is such an honor to get to love and minister to God's people of all ages! I love ministering to our kiddos every week and I love ministering to the youth and I love ministering to adults as well! Oh how I love loving people! I am so blessed to have a Hubby journeying alongside me who loves to love people too!

How blessed we are indeed!

Merry Christmas!

Stirring

There has begun a stirring,
Deep down in this heart of mine.

There has begun a stirring,
Of the most familiar kind.

Weight Watchers

Yesterday I joined Weight Watchers online because I need to change and get healthy.

I HAVE TO GET HEALTHY AGAIN!

My first full day has gone very well, I even have points left over for today!

I am really ready to make this change and drop all of this excess weight I have been carrying.

Lets face it when you can't breath or bend over to tie your shoes, there is.a real problem.

So here I go. I am excited and ready & praying for God to help me be successful!

Pray with me!

Love

Love

 

The kind of love God gives us does not depend on our feelings or desires, and it is totally unselfish love that is always available – always freely given.

 

Romans 5:5 – “Now hope does not disappoint, because the LOVE of GOD has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

 

Father, Thank you for the way you love us, may we also love others in such a way! Show me Father…show where I do not love like this and show me how to love like you. In Jesus name. Amen

Third Anniversary Trip to BRANSON Missouri

Hubby and I decided to go to Branson this year for our 3rd anniversary. We want to do some of the bigger things now while we are able to. So off we went on the 45 minute drive to Branson! One of the things we love about Branson is that it IS so close so we did not have to spend a lot of time or money on the traveling, we could spend it on the FUN!

We stayed in a simple hotel that had a great bathtub, so I got to take relaxing baths everday! Loved that!!

Here is a day by day of our trip:

Thursday:

• We had lunch at Bair’s on the way out of town. Bair’s is a great hamburger place in Springfield that Marshall loves. They have aprox. 40 different hamburger choices!

• We checked into our hotel and purchased our tickets to all of the shows & activities that we wanted to do while in town.

• Our first – The TITANIC exhibit and Museum. We were both 3rd class passengers who survived. It was a beautiful and historical museum and it was very fun and interesting. We enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the deck simulations and my favorite thing was the grand staircase. So beautiful!

• We went to Ripley’s Believe it or Not and had a blast seeing all the extraordinary things there! We were especially impressed with the tallest man!

• Next we went to dinner at Outback and had an excellent meal and service. My food was delicious!

Friday:

• We slept in :)

• Walked around at the Landing and old town Branson. We found some ALABAMA treasures in a pawnshop, got candy and old drinks at the candy shop, and had fun exploring and holding hands.

• We went to The Hollywood Wax Museum and hung out with our favorites Hollywood characters such as: Nicholas Cage, Shanghi Noon, Jack Dawson, Jeff Gordan, Forrest Gump, The Men in Black, & Indiana Jones.

• We played Hollywood Mini Golf and I came really close to beating Marshall. We love mini golf!

• Dixie Stampede: Oh my was this a wonderful experience. We loved the preshow and we loved the food and the show was great too! It was a Christmas show and I was not quite ready to be seeing a Christmas show as I was wanting to enjoy FALL, but it was still a really good show and WE LOVED DIXIE STAMPEDE a lot!

Saturday:

• We got up and went out in hopes of getting our room cleaned.

• We walked grabbed snacks and coffee and went and walked around a sweet little Christmas village (Grand Village). I loved this of course! Hubby was just trying to kill time until he could relax and watch football!

• We went back to the room to relax! Hubby watched football and napped while I worked on creating a photo book that Hubby bought me on groupon.

• Acrobats of CHINA: We enjoyed this show. The acrobatics were amazing and I have no idea how they do that. I felt the show was a bit awkward with the clapping moments but overall it was great! It was a TWO hour show!

• We grabbed dinner at a Hibachi buffet that was terrible and headed back to the room to watch the Alabama Game! Hubby watched the game while I watched Gilmore Girls and soaked in the bath!

• It was a lovely relaxing day!

Sunday:

• We had a country lunch and yummy homemade dessert at McFarland’s after fleeing the smoky sports bar we tried first.

• The Legend of Kung Fu: We really loved this show. The sets were amazing and the acrobatics and story line were wonderful. We really enjoyed this show.

• We rode go karts and had a blast flying around the tracks and laughing and racing each other.

• We did a little shopping at the Outlet mall. We got shoes and iZod clothing and just enjoyed meandering around holding hands.

• We enjoyed an Indian dinner. I love curry! It was very yummy! (thanks Groupon)

• We grabbed Krispy kreme and headed back to the room to relax and watch more football and Gilmore Girls!

Monday:

• Last days of trips are the saddest!

• We got up and packed up and checked out

• We headed to the Landing to – RIDE THE TRAIN!!

• Hubby stopped and bought me a Starbucks

• Branson Scenic Railway: We enjoyed a 1 hour and 45 minute ride through the Ozark Mountains. We boarded first so we secured a spot on the Dome Car and had a bird’s eye view of the beautiful scenery. We met some fun older people and had some good conversation about politics, the south, & Branson!

• We had lunch at the Landing at Charlie’s Subs our fav and then we headed back home and back to reality!



Our trip was very relaxing and lovely. It gave us time to enjoy each other and reconnect and to reflect on the year past and plan and set goals for the year ahead.

Our main goal for the year ahead…

In our vows there is a line that says: “ I pray that others see Your loved in the way that we love each other”.

This line is speaking of others seeing God’s love by the way Marshall and I love each other. Our goal in this next year of marriage and in the years ahead is to love each other big and well so that others see God’s love reflected in our marriage.


We are blessed to have a Heavenly Father that loves us so much and we want nothing more than to reflect that love in all we do, say, and in the ways that we treat each other.

Here’s to many many beautiful years ahead!

I love you Marshall Seth Trotter and I am still giddy and honored to be your Wife! I pray that I love you better in this next year that all the previous years before! I love doing life with you and I love walking this journey with you. You fill my life with so much joy, love, and happiness and I am thankful EVERYDAY for you and that God shares you with me! He is faithful and good and He is indeed the center of our lives!

Thank you for a wonderful weekend away and for all of the love and fun we have together EVERYDAY! I love you!

Three Years

Hubby and I have almost been married for three years. It feels so weird to say that. In one sense I feel like, “where did the time go?” and in another sense I feel like, “that’s all it has been?”. Crazy right.

I still remember my single years and how wonderful and difficult they were. I spent those years really building my relationship with God and allowing Him to work in me deeply. I spent those years serving Him without reservation. Those years were some of the hardest, most wonderful, fulfilling, times that I have had. Intermittently within those years I found myself lonely for the one that I knew God had for me. I loved those years but did have those difficult moments of loneliness and wondering through every wedding of all my younger friends if I was meant to be married and if so, when would I find him.

And then it happened, I finally fell in love and knew that this man was the man that God had just for me and me just for him. It did not look a thing like I thought it would and I confirmed with God over and over and over again that I could and should finally really give that part of my heart over to a man. It had been so long (8 years) and it just didn’t seem real. And it seemed too good to be true.

But that is not how God works. He really does want us to have good things, great and wonderful things even.

And that is just what these last three years have been: good, great, wonderful and completely unbelievable! I cannot believe all that has transpired in the past three years. We married, moved, went to Bible College, I graduated, he is extremely close to graduating, and we got a job as Children’s Pastors at our church. It has been truly unbelievable! Through it ALL, the good and the bad, God has been so incredibly faithful. He has taken care of our every need and has supplied some wants as well.

I feel that we have found wonderful balance (and that is truly the first time in my life that I can say I have found balance)…WOW! But we have found good balance.

I believe that this past year has been one of the best. I feel like we have reached a wonderful place in our marriage and ministry. We are communicating better with each other, we know each other so much better, we have so much fun together, we know where to stand with each other, we know where to challenge each other, we know better how to support each other.

By no means am I saying that we have arrived but what a great year #3 has been. I have loved it so so much!

I have loved ministering alongside my incredible husband and I see now how God planned it. Marshall brings so much balance to me and I to him. We truly are a great team. I do not want to do ministry without him. I know I could, but I don’t want to. I want him with me and I want his input and his heart. There is absolutely nothing like seeing my man worship and serve the Lord. There is nothing like seeing him get things done for the kingdom. There is nothing like seeing him minister, teach, and love these kids and students. There is nothing like doing ministry alongside my Husband.

I am truly blown away by God’s goodness and faithfulness to us in our marriage, our ministry, and our friendships.

Truly blown away. I know that I shouldn’t be blown away, but I can’t help but be. God is so incredible and He is so good and kind, and He loves us so much and so completely that it is impossible for my human self not to be completely blown away by God and who He is and who He has made me to be and who He gave me to walk this journey with. Incredible. Unbelievable. Wonderful.

And do you know what…I GET TO LIVE THIS LIFE. LOVING GOD AND MY HUSBAND AND MINISTERING IN HIS KINGDOM!

Thank YOU my Heavenly Father. Thank YOU for all of this and so much more. I truly do want others to see YOUR love in the way Marshall and I love each other. Help me to love, honor, and respect him more everyday and every year that passes. In Jesus name. Amen.

Journey. Love's Journey. Our Journey. His Journey.

Journey:


1. a traveling from one place to another, usually taking a rather long time; trip: a six-day journey across the desert.

2. a distance, course, or area traveled or suitable for traveling: a desert journey.

3. a period of travel: a week's journey.

4. passage or progress from one stage to another: the journey to success.



Journey a passage or progression from one stage to another: the journey to success.

Yes, I do believe with all my heart that is the journey we are on. I absolutely do not believe that we would be on this journey had we not decided to follow God no matter what. No matter if we were scared witless. No matter if we didn’t fully understand the why or the how. No matter if it made others happy or not. No matter who agreed or disagreed. No matter if it was easy or hard.


What I have learned so far on this journey is that it is the hard that brings the most return. Brings the most faith. Brings the most growth. Brings the most change. Brings the most learning. Brings the most out of our relationship with God.


The Journey to Success.

And how exactly is Success measured? Success to me is measures in moments of laughter, moments of love, moments of hugs, moments of peace, moments of challenge, moments of tears, moments of strength and moments of weakness. Success is holding hands through the rain and sunshine. Success is saying the hard things because they need to be said. Success is never giving up. Success is doing what you know is right even if no ones else gets it. Success is a gift of God and a choice to work only for His Glory. Success is measured in love and forgiveness. Success is measured in the moments of complete surrender to a God who cares more than any other can about EVERYTHING in our lives. Success is measured in His love and Faithfulness.


Journey: Jeremiah 29:11 –“For I know the plans I have for you say the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”

This is the journey we are on and everyday this journey blows me away.

God’s love and faithfulness are beyond anything I could have ever imagined or hoped for growing up. I have never and will never experience anything like it on earth.

Heavenly Father I thank you for your great love and faithfulness. I am thankful that you reached down and pulled me from the darkness I was in and revealed the light of your love and hope to me. I am thankful that you never gave up on me and still do not give up on me and I am thankful that you walked with me and gave me the strength to never give up on myself. I am thankful that you supply the strength and wisdom to keep fighting the good fight in my own life and in the lives of others. I am thankful that even though this journey is chock full of difficult and hurtful things, you are quick to step in and remind me who you are and who I am in YOU. I am thankful to You Father for the partner that you gave me to walk this journey with. I know that you had me in mind when you brought him and that you had him in mind when you brought me. I know that you love us both more than we could have ever imagined and that no one could or will ever love us the way that you do.

I ask that you would continue to speak your love and truth into our hearts always. I ask that you would continue to give us your wisdom and your love to share with those around us. I ask that you would always give us the strength to stand in the hard places and never give up. I ask that you would always give us the tools that we need to walk the journey that you have planned for us, whatever comes our way. I ask that you would keep us in your Spirit forever. Let us finish this race and this journey STRONG! Let us never give up or give in.

In Jesus Name. Amen

Life these days...

Life these days:

We are both finall well again after Hubby having pnuemonia and me having shingles. We are glad both are behind us!

We have been trying to cut back our schedules to create more rest and no burn out!

We are READY for Football Season! ROLL TIDE!

We are getting to visit with my brother this weekend as he stays with us on his way to Oregon to live! We will miss him tons but hope to visit him at some point!

We are looking forward to JBQ this fall! Getting started next week!

We are experiencing what I believe has been our absolute BEST year of marriage thus far! And we are looking forward to MANY MANY MANY more to come!

We are both sinking into ministry and loving it so very very much!

We have both been so very blessed to make such incredible friends and we are enjoying the comfort and blessings of those relationships!

Life these days is busy but blessed and we are as always so thankful for God's incredible faithfulness and never ending love!

God is GOOD all of the time!

Questionnaire

1.) Mood: Ready to be healthy & well again! But blessed & thankful for caring & praying friends & family through our sicknesses!
2.) If you had to guess, how many beauty products would you say you use a day? Three
4.) Current nail polish: Actually...none...I'm all natural for a change! Shocker I know!
5.) What is your favorite dinner dish? Anything Italian
6.) Current outfit: PJ's
7.) Do you like to dance? When I'm not in public lol
8.) Can you drive a manual transmission/stick shift car? Yes
9.) What is the last beauty product you purchased? Hair Spray
10.) Weekly goals: Rest, get well, make Christmas gifts, & work @ the end of the week to prepare to see my kiddos again!! Woot Woot!

A lil’ Trotter Update

We are coming to the end of:


Our first summer in ministry

  • it has been unbelievable to say the least

  • we took our first group of kids to camp (33) and it was really awesome in so many ways

     o It was different being at camp as the pastor – much different

     o We were blown away by the amount of kids that came!

     o We learned a lot about where our kids stand and we better understand the road ahead of us now.

     o We connected with our students on a deeper level & that is one of my very favorite things about kids camp

  • We have learned that we have to find ways to connect with the kids as it is not as easy to do so now that we are leading

     o But this is still one of our top priorities – we love our students so very much



Our third year of marriage

  • it has been so wonderful, I feel like we have grown the most this year

  • this year was easier than the second (I believe that was our toughest year)

  • I believe we have learned so much more about each other and learned to love each other so much more

  • I am still so very much in love with my husband and he still takes my breath away everyday


Our third summer of living in Missouri

  • Being this far from family is not easy at all but we have made the effort to visit and keep our relationships  as strong as possible

  • In some ways the distance has been really wonderful for our relationships

     o We take full advantage of all the time we get with family

     o We appreciate each other more

     o Hubby and I have learned to depend on each other and that we can indeed trust each other


Life sure does move fast. It is unbelievable to me that we have been married and in Missouri this long and that I have graduated from Bible College and Hubby is right behind me (he graduates in March) and that we have been in ministry already for seven months.

In everything the one thing that remains is God’s incredible love and faithfulness.

We serve one incredible God, one who loves and cares more deeply and completely than anyone on this earth could and for that I am truly truly thankful. I depend on my Heavenly Father more now than ever before and that is exactly where I always want to be.

Thank you Father for your love and faithfulness and for so much more than I could ever put words to.

Simple reflections on a Thursday

• I am completely blown away by God's great faithfulness.


• I know that He is ALL of the reason why I am where I am doing what I am doing.

• I know that we are exactly where we are supposed to be, doing exactly what we are supposed to be doing, and that is truly incredible to me.

• God truly takes my breath away with His great love for me.

• I am in love with the man that God picked just for me.

• I am in love with my calling and job and the kids and families of this church.

• I am so far from perfect but I am learning more and more about myself and asking God everyday to help me be better and to give me His great wisdom.

• It still breaks my heart to make mistakes and to hurt people.

• I still beat myself up a good bit over my mistakes and how they affect other people, but I am working on self-forgiveness.

• I am truly surrounded by incredible people who inspire me and teach me and challenge me and I am so thankful for that.

• My family blesses me so much.

• I still miss my Mother-in-Law so much that it hurts and it hurts to know that her children miss her 1000 times more than me. Our lives are so different without her and it still breaks my heart into pieces.

• I want to learn to function in my weaknesses better and learn to appreciate my own strengths more.

• I am thankful for the person that God has transformed me into. I am thankful that I barely look or act anything like the person I used to be (BC). I am thankful that the people in my life now would absolutely NOT recognize me as the person that I used to be. It is truly one of the great miracles of God in my life.

• I am thankful that God is showing me how to be humble and showing me all the ways that because of that humbleness that He and HE ALONE has given me can allow Him to POUR out HIS GRACE and FAVOR in my life.

• I am thankful for my incredible husband. Words cannot express all of the ways that he surprises me with his love, thoughtfulness, and servants heart. He takes my breath away. I am so thankful that I waited and did not settle. He was worth every second of the waiting.

• I am thankful for friends who love me even though I am so far from perfect and even thought I get crazy and disconnected. I am thankful for their grace, support, and understanding, and love for me. I would not be the same person without them in my life.

• I am thankful for so many things but I must go STUDY for my last exam until the fall! I need a miracle today!



Father, my Father, my Lord, my King...all my heart can say is...Thank You & I love you. Help me to love you more and more each day. I am blown away by You. Thank You! I need you and want you everyday! You did that in my heart, thank you! I desire Your will and Your wisdom. Help me to be a better me. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Here and Now...

The here and now…

I have been reminded quite recently to…”Accept the limitations of living one day at a time.” To live fully in the here and now.

I admit that I struggle with this as I am a planner and I feel the need to plan ahead…WAY ahead! Yet this reminder is perfect and just what I needed to hear and just what I need to do.

I have 4 weeks of college left and with that realization come many assignments; some that literally materialize overnight and with that also comes the desire to plan what comes next and what to do next! This desire is fed by a beautiful summer laid out before me, a beautiful summer of nothing but ministry for the very first time in my life, my focus will be ALL MINISTRY.

No secular job to juggle, not schoolwork to juggle, just a solid focus on how to minister to these precious kiddos that have been placed under my shepherd staff. God is good! God is faithful! God is BIG!

Yet I realize that I need to live in today, not live in graduation day – it’s not here yet, not live in the summer – it’s not here yet, but live fully in today.

Today I am at school, I get to learn more about God’s word and what it means and how to interpret it, I get to study for an exam that I don’t have to stress about. I get to think about a term paper that is due soon. And I get to just be present in the lives of the people around me. I get to worship my King in chapel and I get to enjoy His beautiful creation on THIS fine spring day.

This day, today, THE HERE AND THE NOW!

Father,

Thank You for the reminders that came through two of the most wonderful people you could have ever shared with me. Thank you that they speak their heart and that they love me enough to remind me or share with me. Thank you for your great love and kindness. Thank you for drawing me ever closer to you. Thank you for the work you have done, are doing, and will do in my life! I am truly in awe of You my Faithful Heavenly Daddy! Thank you so so much for loving me so!

Where we are.

Well it’s all coming to an end.


My unbelievable college career is nearing its end and I am truly blown away.

God was absolutely faithful every step of the way.

Faithful above and beyond.

Need and wants were met and things that we never even thought of where given.

I am amazed.

So much has changed and yet what remains is HIS GREAT LOVE!



Two years ago we set out to follow God as He called us to go back to school.

Two years ago we were just a newly wed couple following our God into the dreams He placed in our hearts.

And in one month I will walk across the platform with a degree in Children’s Ministry.

Me. Lil ole Me. The little girl who beat all odds…who was saved from alcoholism, abuse, a life of complete and total brokenness and darkness will have completed yet another bigger than life dream. While in the meantime God is bringing to realization yet other bigger than life dreams as well.



I write today from my office at Praise Assembly where I am the Children’s Pastor to approximately 70 little hearts. What!?! Yes, you read that right…I read that right…God opened a door and we dared to follow yet again. A dream bigger than life. An opportunity that scared us to death. We chose to go beyond the fear and trust God and yet again He has been faithful ABOVE AND BEYOND anything that we could have imagined.



He alone is bringing about success and He alone is the reason I am graduating and living my dream. Living exactly in the calling that He gave. Doing the very thing that I was CREATED and BORN to do.



Unbelievable, yet oh so amazing! We are loving it and we are growing and we are being blessed beyond anything we could have ever imagined. God has provided us with blessings and wisdom and amazing people who help and support us and just so so so much more.



So here we are. Who knew that this is where we would be. Who knew that though this journey has not been an easy one that we would be so blown away and so….well there just are NO words! Simply here we are with Him and loving it.



I am excited to be finishing school in a month and to finally have the opportunity to focus fully on ministry for the very first time in my life. I am excited that Marshall will graduate from CBC with a degree in Church Leadership in a year from now. I am excited about the place God has brought us and all that He has done in us and all of the people He has blessed us with. Leaders, supporters, great friends and peers. I am just truly blown away.



Truly blown away. He always blows me away.



He loves us, Oh how He loves us.

Planning meeting...on staff...what! Wow!

Had a great planning meeting with the church staff today.
I cannot believe that I am on staff at a church!
I am truly living my dream! Wow!
Another Promise from my Heavenly Father come true! Boy what a feeling that is! I'm blown away yet again!
My God is good & Faithful all of the time!

I Desire Wisdom.

James 1:5 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

*Wisdom = the ability to make wise decisions in difficult circumstances.

*1) Practical: The wisdom from God relates to life even during the most trying times.

*2) Divine: God’s wisdom goes beyond common sense. It begins with respect for God, leads to living by God’s direction, and results in the ability to tell right from wrong.

*3) Christlike: Asking for wisdom is ultimately asking to be like Christ.


Solomon’s Wisdom:

1 Kings 1:5-10 – “At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and up right in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. “Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.”

*When given a chance to have anything in the world, Solomon asked for wisdom – “a discerning heart” – in order to lead well and make right decisions.

*We can ask God for this same wisdom

*We should not ask God to do for us what he wants to do through us.

*Instead we should ask God to give us the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to follow through on it.

New Year!

We spent the first day of this new year pouring our hearts out in our very first children's church service as the new children's pastors at Praise Assembly.

Our first pastor job.

It was a great first day of the new year!

We are excited to see what God has in store for this new year.

We seek to honor Him and bring Him glory in all we do!

We welcome 2012 as 2011 was a very difficult year for us!

Welcome 2012!!
Happy New Year!