Whitney Hempsey

Moving!

2010-01-05T22:05:00.002-06:00

As much as I absolutely loathe moving - I mean I hate it, I hate it with the burning passion of a thousand suns... You get the point right? Organizing, packing, cleaning, heavy lifting, arranging and re-arranging, not to mention the unavoidable inconvenience of discovering that you need your extra warm thermal hoodie, only to realize that it is packed away at the bottom of a gigantic garbage bag. Oh joy. - like I said, as much as I hate it, I am actually looking forward to this move we are about to make.

Don't get me wrong, I still plan on grumbling and pouting for a good majority of the transition, but secretly, deep down inside, I am looking forward to it. (Shhhh, don't tell my husband). The thing is, as hard as it is to move your entire life from one venue to another, who doesn't like NEW? I mean really, new carpet, new paint, new floor plan, all new!

When we moved into our current home about a year and a half ago it was the best thing ever. We had previously lived in a 2 bedroom 3rd floor walk up apartment with a grade schooler and a newborn. Yuck. So moving to a 4 bedroom house in a great neighborhood with a back yard and community amenities was quite a step up. Coupled with the fact that my mother and step-father had just donated an entire house full of brand new furniture to us, well let's just say we were a little more than excited. It was wonderful to have our own bathroom, for our kids to have their own rooms and a room designated specifically to toys, oh the joy! Of course, after living here for awhile and the honeymoon stage came to a close we started noting what we would like to change and improve upon in our next home. For instance, the second floor, in theory it is wonderful to have the children and all of their things on their own floor and leave the downstairs for grown-ups. Unfortunately, a toddler cannot play upstairs unsupervised so all of the rattles, blocks and obnoxious singing toys have to live in the living room. We had also decided to take a smaller bedroom on the main floor in order to further separate ourselves from the "kid zone" upstairs. That meant our King sized bed and giant head board had to fit into an average sized bedroom, plus we had to share a tiny bathroom and oh, don't even get me started on the closet. Tiny.

Well, when we got the call that the home owners had to let the house go due to the less that desirable economic state it was quite bittersweet. The main concern was finding a home that met our needs, in our price range and located in the same neighborhood. Well, thanks to my wonderful friends, we were able to find something that was perfect for us within one day of learning we had to move. Incredible, right? I have to admit that there are some things we have compromised on, for one thing the house is only a 3 bedroom, but what we are gaining in comparison completely outweighs that one small negative. The house is beautiful, oh and did I mention it is BRAND NEW!? Yeah, new. It's a little scary considering we have 2 small children, I envision many arguments with my oldest son about taking his shoes off and eating in the kitchen.

No matter how many little things I can come up with that are considered negatives, i cannot shake this excited feeling that I have to be moving into this beautiful 3 bedroom 2 bath 1 story home with vaulted ceilings and a great view. I even have a great spot in my back yard for outdoor photo sessions! How much more can a girl ask for? So, as much as I am NOT looking forward to the next few weeks of moving and settling in, I can't wait until everything is finished and we are in our brand new home.

Don't mind the dead lawn, it is winter, in the spring and summer it is beautiful.

Rear Facing my Son until he's Two. Really, I'm not crazy!

2009-11-22T13:34:00.005-06:00

I have had quite a few people asking me why I am rear facing Daiden now, after he has been forward facing in the car since he turned one. Well, the thing about parenting for me, is educating myself. I haven't always looked into things before I made decisions, but when I get new information I feel like it is my duty as a parent to reevaluate my position if it means a safer life for my children. Rear facing in the car is one of those things.

Up until about a year ago, the American Association of Pediatrics recommended that children rear face until they are 22 pounds AND one year old, and the law reflects that. Those infant "bucket" seats that are so popular only hold a child that is 22 pounds or less, so after the child outgrows that, parents automatically assume it's time to face forward. There isn't really much information that is offered to oppose this change either. For me, as well as many other parents, it was a milestone to turn Daiden around. It made me feel like he was a big boy and less of a baby....until I heard the facts.

"New research indicates that toddlers are more than five timessafer riding rear-facing in a car safety seat upto their second birthday." States the American Association of Pediatrics. "Rear-facing seats provide better support to the back, head, neck, and pelvis. Many parents worry that a child may have a leg injury if a car accident occurs when he is rear-facing. This is more a perception than a reality, based on actual crash evidence. And, leg injuries are much less serious than one to the head, neck, or spinal cord."

The major risk involved in forward facing before a child's spine is properly developed is known as 'Internal Decapitation'. This happens when, in a collision, a child's head is thrown forward causing the spine to stretch and sever the the spinal cord. Only half an inch of stretching is required to cause internal decapitation, however, in a 48MPH collision a child's spine can stretch up to two inches.

One of the fears of extended rear facing is the child's legs being injured from being pressed against the seat, however there are no documented cases of breaks or dislocations resulting from a child rear facing during a collision. There are documented dislocations from the child forward facing and the force from the impact causes the hips to dislocate.

Car seat manufacturers are now producing convertible seats that allow rear facing up to 65 pounds because of this new found information. The minimum that a convertible seat sets their weight limit at is 35 pounds and all car seat manufacturers recommend that the child remain rear facing until the weight limit is reached. All of the convertible seats that have a limit of 22 pounds for rear facing are out of production and most are already expired. Please check your seat for recalls and expiration dates.

Another common argument against rear facing is a child being "large for their age". A 12 month old child that is 30 pounds is no safer forward facing than a 12 month old that weighs 22 pounds. In fact, the larger child has a greater risk of injury because their spine is no more developed than the smaller child, yet will have to support greater weight shift in the instance of a collision.

If you are curious about finding more information on extended rear facing, please visit the American Association of Pediatrics website at http://aap.org, the Car Seat Safety Organization at http://carseat.org and http://carseatdata.org

Here are some crash test videos documenting rear vs forward facing car seats:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DVfqFhseo&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKIeExpDLDA&feature=related

If you are interested in purchasing a convertible car seat, but don't know where to start or are concerned about the price you can find a great selection of convertible car seats at Wal-Mart and Target. I purchased my Cosco Scenera at Wal-Mart for $45.

Mason got some new hair!

2009-11-07T15:07:00.002-06:00

I *finally* colored my hair today. Red again, of course, because I love having the same color hair as my little one, Daiden. So, after Mason got the worst haircut EVER, I decided we would snazz it up a bit with some highlighting. Well, highlighting went out the window and we decided to go with something a little more funky. I LOVE it and so does he. He is so handsome....and look at those eyes, aren't they amazing?

Ta Daaaaa!

2009-10-28T04:36:00.003-05:00

I learned something awesome today! Gow to make a flash header for my blog. It is very exciting for me. Of course I had to give it a shot, so I made a header for StudioFour12. It turned out pretty cool, but I'm sure I'll change it in teh near future. After that, I was really having fun so I decided to create a header for my personal blog. I hope everyone likes the way it looks.

Beauty

2009-08-16T06:39:00.005-05:00

I have heard it said a million times that "beauty is only skin deep" and I know this cliche has good intentions. However, I completely disagree. The truth of the matter is that beauty is soul deep. True, these days the definition of beauty has been distorted from it's intended meaning. In our current culture beauty is defined by your waist size, cup size and complexion, but I refuse to believe that this is what was intended when God made Eve.

I read a book recently, called Beauty Full by Pastor Ed Young Jr and Mac Richard. I am one of those women that has struggled with not feeling beautiful all my life. My weight goes up and down, I have crooked teeth, big feet and my shape isn't exactly the portrait of perfection. Over the years I have been attacked by images of petite little size 00 girls that to me look gorgeous. I have gone to unhealthy, great lengths to try to look like them and my obsession landed me with an eating disorder and the same body. Even after I became a Christian the struggle didn't stop. I constantly strived to be beautiful by societys standards and was always left feeling like a failure.
"One recent study showed that women stress and anguish over their body image or their physical appearance throughout any given day almost as frequently as men think about sex."
Now that I am 24 years old and married with 2 beautiful children, I am just starting to understand who I am in Christ. I know that I am beautiful, maybe not in the way that a magazine editor or movie director would want, but for me it goes so much deepeer than that. I know that God created me in His image, I am just the way he wants me. When the bible says "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1:27) he doesn't necessairly mean that we look exactly like God and he certainly doesn't mean we all look the same. From this passage we see that men and women embody certain characteristics of the nature of God. Take Adam for instance, he embodies the strength of God, he is a man's man, rough and rugged and there to protect and provide for his bride, just like God does for us. Then there is Eve, she is beautiful, really beautiful. Creation was made complete with Eve, she is even referred to as the crown of creation, Eve embodies the beauty and tenderness of God himself.
"The illumination of this gift produces true womens liberation; it releases you and strengthens you to be the woman God created you to be; independant of the world's expectations; independant of the lies that people have spoken into your life; and independant of your own dowbts and insecurities."
Of course Satan has found a way to pervert and distort this wonderful thing that God has blessed us with. It all stems from the fall in the garden. Satan struck up a conversation with Eve and convinced her to disobey the one rule that God had given them. He placed a seed of doubt in her head and the world hasn't been the same since. Of course Adam isn't blame free on this one either. Adam was standing right beside Eve when she ate the fruit, he didn't try to stop her and in doing this he denied who he was as a man made in the image of God. This kind of deception is only a foreshadowing of the future, of the world we live in today. Unspeakable acts of violence towards women tell the story of the special hatred that Satan has for women. Satan hates men, but he carries an especially strong contempt for the crown of creation.
As I said it has taken me many years to finally realize that knowing who I am in Christ and allowing myself to be free in my faiith is when my beauty can come through. It is when we buy into the lies of Satan and hide our true beauty that we cease to be as beautiful as God intended. "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." (1 Peter 3:3-4) When I read this passage I thought it was all over, a gentle and quiet spirit, yeah right. I am outgoing and loud, I thought I could never live up to this. As I read that book, Beauty Full, I learned that the gentle quiet spirit refert to contentment. I am not driving myself crazy to squeeze into the skinny jeans or obsessing over my hair, I am content with wo I am in Christ.
"This passage of Scripture is talking about that quality of a woman's spirit, of her soul, that is gentle and quiet because she is content, because she is a t peace, because she isn't hiding her beauty and she isn't striving for control, She is content and at peace with who God has made her and the rols she plays"

This distorted view of self, especially among women, is an epidemic that is killing them. Their souls are dying because of the fear of not being enough, not being loveable and just not being beautiful and their bodies are dying because of the great lengths they go to so they can be what our culture calls "beautiful". My preyer is that we would be able to see the lies that Satan feeds us as exactly what they are and look to God to find who we are...and to find our true beauty.
"Something beautiful, something good
All my confusion, he understood
All I had to offer him
Was brokenness and strife
But he made somethine geautiful of my life."

Yummy Healthy Treats :)

2009-07-15T09:32:00.005-05:00

So, my husband has started Adventure Boot Camp to get healthy and shed some extra weight. So far he is about 4 days in and feeling it. Well, since exercise is only part of the equation, we have been working together to come up with healthy meals and snacks that the whole family can eat.
Lately he has been having a smoothie at least once a day and all we have around the house is peanut butter. Needless to say, he is getting tired of peanut butter smoothies. So last night I decided to run to the store and get some new ingredients, which is difficult since Nick HATES most kinds of fruit (strawberries, pineapple and grapes to name a few). Well, I came up with an Orange Cremesicle Smoothie and it was DELICIOUS!
3/4 Cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1/4 Cup fat free half and half (land o lakes)
1/2 cup 1% milk
3 or 4 ice cubes
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp orange flavored fish oil
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
Put ice and milk in blender and crush ice (doing this first keeps the texture smooth).
Add remainder of ingredients, one at a time.
Blend until smooth.
Serve immediately.
This was enough to serve as a meal replacment or after work out shake, but it tasted good enough that both of the kids loved it and my picky husband said "Wow".

The Power of Words

2009-06-12T18:50:00.004-05:00

I was in the kitchen cleaning up after my husband cooked a wonderful dinner tonight. After giving the kids a bath, he unexpectedly came up behind me while I was at the kitchen sink and said, "Thank you for keeping the house so clean. I know I don't say it very often but I really appreciate it." It felt so good to hear that my husband appreciates what I do, especially since the house is rarely clean. I have been making a bigger effort lately to keep it picked up lately, but it is very difficult with Mason home for the summer and Daiden crawling around getting into everything. It just made me feel so good that he noticed my efforts. The other thing that his words did, other than make me feel good, was they motivated me. Just knowing that he notices when I have picked up the house or cleaned the kitchen motivates me to want to do it more often!

That got me to thinking about how powerful words are. I have been in relationships and situations where words were used to tear down and destroy, and that is exactly what they did. Negative comments, attitudes and rude remarks can make someone feel about two inches tall. When words are used to hurt they can be a terribly dangerous weapon. I have been guilty of doing this myself, I'm sure everyone has been on the giving and receiving end of a sharp tongue and it hurts. I began reflecting on how my words can impact my family. How I can either choose to build them up or tear them down. From experiencing how something as little as a comment on cleaning the house can make me feel, I am beginning to understand a little more what James was talking about when he said, " ³When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. ⁴Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. ⁵Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark." I believe this goes both ways, but the point is still the same, words seem small but they have the power to either destroy or build up. To make someone feel worthless and terrible or extremely appreciated and loved. I am so thankful that my husband realizes this and chooses to build me up.

25 Things to Love about ADHD

2009-05-27T09:24:00.005-05:00

Yay, Mason and I finally get the recognition we deserve :)

1. Insomnia makes for more time to stay up and surf the net!

2. The drive of HYPERFOCUS.
3. Resiliency.
4. A sparkling PERSONALITY.
5. Generosity with money, time, and resources.
6. INGENUITY. 7. A strong sense of what is FAIR.
8. Willingness to take a RISK.
9. Making far-reaching analogies that no one else understands.
10. SPONTANEITY.
11. Possessing the mind of a Pentium—with only 2 MBs of RAM.
12. Pleasant and constant surprises due to finding clothing(or money or spouses) you had forgotten about.
13. Being FUNNY.
14. Being the last of the ROMANTICS.
15. Being a good conversationalist.
16. An innately better understanding of intuitive technologies, such as computers or PDAs.
17. Honestly believing that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.
18. Rarely being satisfied with the status quo.
19. Compassion.
20. Persistence.
21. Joining the ranks of artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, and other creative types.
22. Always being there to provide a different PERSPECTIVE.
23. Willingness to fight for what you believe in.
24. Excellence in MOTIVATING OTHERS.
25. Being highly organized, punctual, and generally responsible (OK, so I lied!).

Raising My Boys 101

2009-05-24T10:39:00.003-05:00

As much as I would love it for my boys to have come with a handbook, I do enjoy figuring out how to handle certain situations. For example, my oldest, Mason, was diagnosed with a pretty nasty case of ADHD - with emphasis on the "H". We fought putting him on medication for half of the school year, but when the school started using the word "expulsion" Nick and I decided that maybe the medication would help give him a better quality of life and a chance at having a successful Kindergarten year. At that point we felt totally defeated, but we tried the medication.

After 3 months, the teachers were loving it and Nick and I were ready to take him off of it. Sure, he was doing well in school, but he had become another person. He was depressed and had lost all interest in the things he used to love. I saw my vibrant, creative little boy turn into a withdrawn, timid little zombie.

Again, I felt totally defeated, we were back to square one. I did hours and hours of research on ADHD. I read articles online and books, I knew there had to be another answer. After battling Postpartum Depression with meds and then turning to herbs and suppliments with great success, just knew there must be some kind of natural remedy that would work. After days of research I put together what I felt would be an effective combination of vitamins, minerals and herbs that we were going to try. I knew it was going to take several months before we saw any results, but I was certain that this was going to be much better for my son and my family.

I kept a weekly journal of his progress and it was slow progress. The first month there wasn't much change that we could see. He was still geting positive marks for about 30% of his day, which means the rest of the day was spent out of his seat, disrupting the class and throwing tantrums. Month 2 he was actually having a few good days a week. About 3 out of 5 days he was getting 50%-60%. Now, here we are at the end of month 3 and I am happy to report that Mason is consistently behaving for 70%-80% of his day. The teachers are saying that he is becoming more aware of the rules and making effort to follow them, which means that he is gaining the ability to control his impulses. It is amazing, he is doing such a great job and I am so proud of him for trying so hard to do better.

As I said before, it would be so much easier if there was a user manual for how to handle situations such as these, but since there isn't, I am enjoying every minute of writing my own manual:)

Everybody was kung foo fighting

2009-05-21T11:37:00.006-05:00

So, I decided for Nick's birthday (actually 4 days after his birthday) i would take a crack at making some sushi. After the trial run, which I just finished eating, I am confident things are going to go pretty well. I have had a bunch of people curious about the method and so I figured I'd go ahead and post my recipes.

MOST IMPORTANTLY:

Sticky Rice

2 1/4 C short grain glutinous white rice (aka Sushi Rice)

3 C water

1/4 C white sugar

1/4 C rice vinegar

1 1/4 tsp. salt

1. Prepare Rice: Put rice into a large bowl and cover with water. Rub the rice between your hands until the water turns a milky color. Drain rice and repeat this 4-6 times until you can see the rice through 3" of water.

2. Soak Rice: After draining rice, put it into a sauce pan and add 3 C of cool water. Allow rice to soak for 30 minutes.

3. Mix Ingredients: While rice is soaking, combine sugar, salt and vinegar in a bowl and stir until all the dry ingredients are dissolved. Set aside.

4. Cook Rice: After 30 min, cover rice and turn heat to high. Once the water starts to boil, reduce to low and simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove rice from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

5. Mix Rice: Scrape cooked rice into a large mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Mix until the mixture is evenly distributed.

6. Cool Rice: Allow rice to cool to room temp and then use it as a side dish or in a sushi roll.

**Make sure you wet your hands before handling this rice, they don't call it sticky rice for nothing.

THE SAUCE:

Spicy Mayo

1/2 C Mayo (the real stuff or Kewpie mayo if you can get ahold of it)

2 T Habenero Sauce

VARIOUS ROLLS

Philadelphia Roll (1 roll)

8" lengths of 1/4" square cream cheese

2 ounces Lox (smoked salmon)

8" length of 1/4" square cucumber

Toasted Nori (sushi grade seaweed) sheets

1/2 cup Sushi rice

1. Prepare Nori Sheet: First place one full sheet of sushi nori on your bamboo mat, shiny side down. If you don't have a bamboo mat you can use a piece of waxed paper.

2. Cover Lightly With Sushi Rice: Lightly cover the nori sheet with your prepared sushi rice - leaving the remaining inch and a half of nori bare lengthwise away from you.

3. Place Toppings Lengthwise: Place your toppings lengthwise at center of your rice.

4. Start Rolling: Fold your mat over, centering your ingredients with respect to your rice sheet to the far edge of your rice. With even pressure, tighten your roll by pressing and pulling on your mat. Make sure your roll is tight or it will fall apart.

5. Slice & Serve: Slice your Philadelphia Roll into eight pieces. And that's it — the perfect Philly Roll!

**When you slice the rolls be sure to dip the knife in cold water between each slice to keep rice from sticking to the knife.

Spicy Tuna Roll (4-6 rolls)

4-6 Nori Sheets

Prepared sushi rice

Tuna Mixture

1/2 Lb Sashimi grade tuna

1 T Mayo

1/2 T Habenero sauce

1. Prepare Tuna: Chop tuna until you have an almost paste like, even consistency.

2. Mix Filling: Mix tuna, mayo and habenero until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

3. Roll Sushi: Follow the same instructions as the Philly Roll.

Kani Salad

Shredded imitation crab meat

1 cucumber, peeled and seeds removed julienned into 1/8"x2" strips

1 or 2 tsp mayo (to taste)

1/2 tsp Habenero sauce (to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and serve.

Well, that's what I have for now. Once you get the rice cooked correctly and the rolling technique down the rest is easy. You can put whatever you want in the sushi. We are also going make some California rolls so Mason can have some too. Avocado, crab and cucumber.

You can also roll these inside out (rice on the outside) by flipping the rice covered nori sheet before placing the filling in the roll.

I'm Baaack....

2009-05-21T11:24:00.003-05:00

So it has been FOREVER since I posted last. The Studio and kids have been keeping me very busy. I decided to turn my studio blog into a photo blog and start updating my personal blog again. There are many journeys beggining for Nick and I and I felt it would be nice to document some of it for the world to see :) If anyone cares.

First, my husband has decided that since he is now 26 years old (or "almost dead" as he likes to say) he should probably start thinking about getting healthy..or healthier. Sitting at a desk for 12+ hours a day can really have an effect on your overall health and well being. So the protein shakes and workouts have begun. He is really sticking with it, so far, and I am really proud of him for getting up at 6am to go workout before work today. Being the awesome wife that I am, I got up and made him a peanut butter and banana protein shake...which was much bette than the protein powder and water combo he was trying to choke down before I got up to save the day. Lol.

Then of course there are my kids - which at this point I believe are plotting to take over the world... or at least my home. Daiden is on the move (booooo) and Mason is really shaping up to be a great kid. I am trying to be a better mommy and wife, so basically I am trying to keep the laundry and dishes clean and feed my family at a decent time - not sure how it is working out so far since I am currently sitting next to 2 big piles of unfolded laundry.

Well, here goes another attempt at documenting the tiny things of a grateful stay at home mommy's life that make me wanna say "man, my life rocks!" :)

TheGiftRevolutionDotCom Week 4 Notes

2008-12-14T10:22:00.005-06:00

It's easy to do something for a random stranger, the hardest gift to give it the gift of forgiveness and restoration. It doesn't cost any money, but it is the most challenging gift to give.
Everyone has dysfunctional relationships and families, we all have a family member or someone in our lives that we need to restore a relationship with. Someone that has hurt us or that we have hurt. We hold onto those feelings of bitterness and resentment and our hearts are chained to these emotions. They weigh us down and cause us to pass our animosity onto future generations. When you give the gift of forgiveness and restoration you will be set free from the bondage that bitterness and unforgiveness hold you in.

During the holidays we often fake it, acting like everything is okay, but in our hearts we are bitter. This is not honoring God. God doesn't look at our actions, he looks at our hearts. We have to truely desire, deep in our hearts, restoration - just as God did for us.

Matthew 1:20-21 - But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

this is Gods story of restoration. Christ was sent to restore the relationship between him and mankind. God knew that we could not restore ourselves alone, he truly desired a relationship with us so he sent Christ to bridge the gap.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

If you are serious about restoring a relationship then you need to do a few things:

1. Ask "WHAT CAN I DO?"

God did something, he took a step. God didn’t just accept the broken relationship, he did something about it. If we want to restore relationships we need we need to take a step. If you are serious about restoring a relationship you need to look inward and ask what can I do, not dwell on what the other person could do.

Romans 12:18 - Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.
it is up to us to take that first step and ask what can I do to reconcile this relationship.

when we ask god with sincerity how to fix a relationship often times he will show us something within our own hearts.

Romans 5:8 - But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

every fiber in our being tells us no, i don't want to make the first move...but god can move into your heart and allow you to forgive. It's hard to make that step towards someone that has hurt you or that you have hurt, but God demonstrated this for us when he sent Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

As Christians we have been called to forgive as we have been forgiven. That means we need to apologize for what you have done and forgive what has been done to you.

Realize what God has done for you, what lengths he has gone to in order to forgive you. our flesh wants to do nothing, but god has called us to something much bigger.

2. MAKE A MOVE

it is really hard to be the one to make the first move. it requires a lot of humility to step out and say "I was wrong". There is alway the fear that our advances and efforts will be rejected, what if we look dumb or get hurt again. It is hard to go first.

God Made a Move, using His best effort

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God gave his best effort. And He went first.

Romans 5:8 - But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Colossians 3:13 - Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

3. ALLOW ROOM FOR A RESPONSE

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

you cant dictate the other persons response. just because you have asked what can i do and you have made a move you cannot force a response. You can be responsible for what you do and only influence the other person. You're not god...you can't change them, but he can. Pray for them.

This is the problem with church, they try to force people into religion instead of inviting them into a relationship. God doesn't force us into obeying him, he invites us into a relationship and then gives us room to respond. And we can't force someone into forgiveness and restoration, we simply need to invite them into that relationship and allow them to respond.

While allowing room for that response do not allow yourself to be dragged down by the fact that they may not accept what you have said. When you wear the weight of everyone elses actions you cannot reach your full god given potential.

***Chris & Diego Gastardi talk about their restored relationship - AWESOME!

TheGiftRevolutionDotCom Week 3 Notes

2008-12-07T17:27:00.004-06:00

BLESS - to be divinely or supremely favored or to be very fortunate; to be on the receiving end of god's blessing.

We all want to live the blessed life, but to receive god's blessings we have to have our hands open and have a connection with god. God has blessings in store for all of us, but many of us are unblessable because we aren't open to receiving those blessings.

Proverbs 4:23 - above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

People fill their life with "ing"s and miss God's blessings.
WorryING - instead of trusting that God will provide.
PretendING - putting on a mask and acting, but never letting it go to your heart.
HoardING - pulling the things that God has blessed you with towards you and holding onto them, not being a blessing to others.
WhinING - complaining about what we don't have instead of being thankful for what we do have and what others are blessed with.
The enemy will put things in your life to pull you away from the blessings God has for you, there are many "ing"s that can distract you and leave your heart unguarded - GUARD YOUR HEART from the enemy and his "ing"s

Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist
Blessed late in life with a baby after wanting one her entire life. She kept her focus and guarded her heart and allowed God to bless her.

BELEIVING - Do I Believe That God is For Me?
Luke 1:11-15 - Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.

Luke 1:23-25 - When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people."

She believed that God was for her. God is for you

Romans 8:31-32 - What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

No matter what you have done, no matter what anyone says, God is for you and he wants to bless your life more than you can imagine. God can use anyone, in the bible he used some people that had done terrible things, but he transformed their lives and used them to do great things. Your past should never hold you hostage from your future.

CELEBRATING - What Leaps Inside of Me When Someone Else is Blessed?
Luke 1:39-45 - At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

Elizabeth was excited, she celebrated Mary's blessing. Even though Mary was blessed so much bigger than she was, she was GENUINELY happy.

Some of us act happy for others when they are blessed but if we really examine our heart we are upset that we didn't get that blessing - in doing that we miss what we are blessed with. Jealousy will blind us to the blessings that God wants to give us. We feel sorry for ourselves when God is doing something in someone elses life and miss the blessings that are right in front of us.

Romans 12:15 - Rejoice with those who rejoice.

SHARING - Do I Share the Blessings I Already Have?
Luke 1:56 - Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

Even though Elizabeth was 6 months pregnant she allowed Mary to come stay with her for 3 months, she shared her home during the most uncomfortable time in her pregnancy with Mary. She shared her blessings with someone else and God continued to bless her. Her son, John the Baptist, grew to be a great man, he even baptized Jesus himself.

When we take the blessings that God gives us and hold onto them our hands are closed to receiving even bigger blessings that God has in store for us.

God puts things in our lives so he can do great things through us, when we open our hands and hearts and share our blessings we allow him to bless us further.

Genesis 12:2 - I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.

Illustration: Clay gave church member a dollar, then asked them to pass it on. They blessed someone else with that dollar and Clay gave him $20.

Matthew 25:23 - 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.

Teach the children to give now while they are young, humans are naturally born selfish and sinful. Parents have the responsibility to teach their children how to be generous and share their blessings so as they grow up they don't miss the blessings God has in store for them.

God wants to bless you, he wants to give you more than you can even imagine and he blesses you so that you can be a blessing to others. It is so much more fulfilling to receive Gods blessings and then pass them onto others than to just grab them up and keep them for ourselves. Believ that God is for you, that he loves you no matter what is in your past and that he wants to bless you. Celebrate with those around you that God has blessed. Be genuinely happy for them and recognize how fortunate and blessed you are for what God has given you. Your bggest blessings can be right in front of you, don't miss them. And when God blesses you, remember that you are blessed to be a blessing and share what God has done with others. If you remain open to God's blessings and allow them to flow through you God will continue to bless you in bigger and better ways. Be a river, not a dam.

Sunday night service moving to Saturday night.

25 Days to Inspire the World - Day 1

2008-12-01T16:33:00.003-06:00

So I'm pretty pumped about this Gift Revolution, it has already turned global and reached thousands of people. I decided to do one Random Act of Kindness everyday, so this is day one.

I went to Wal-Mart today to do some grocery shopping, while I was getting baby formula (which is $25 for a can of powder that last 3 or 4 days) I slipped a few dollar bills under the lids of some formula with a TGR card, then I stuck some money in a box of diapers with a card. That was my gift revolution for the day :) But then..... I was standing in line to check out with a cart full of stuff, a hungry baby and 30 minutes away from picking Mason up from the bus stop. A man walked by trying to juggle a dozen roses and a few random items in his arms. I wasn't sure if he was checking out as he walked by, but then he got in line a few rows down behind like 4 other people. I ran over to him quickly and told him he could cut in front of me. So there you have it. Day one...done!

TheGiftRevolutionDotCom Week 2 Notes

2008-11-30T10:11:00.009-06:00

Group walked people at the mall to their cars with umbrellas - Love Bus passed out candy canes at the mall - 9 year old gave his jacket to a boy at school - Hundreds of people are paying for coffee at Starbucks - Couple paid a woman's rent...TGR is reaching people all over the world and we haven't even launched. We have already given out 22,000 cards

25 days to inspire the world starts TOMORROW!

*****

Life doesn't always deliver what we expect or want. Life delivers things sometimes that we can't or don't want to deal with. But within that circumstance lies a blessing that most of us miss because we give up. We need to learn how to deal with the unexpected things that come into our lives so that we can reach our God given potential and receive all the blessings he has for us.

The Christmas Story

Matthew 1:18 - This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.

Mary and Joseph had plans to get married, they had a plan to start a life together - then they found themselves in an unexpected circumstance. They had their own plans, but God had a different plan - one that seemed to be a disaster, but one that God intended for good.

We all have our own plans for our lives and the things that happen in our lives, we have hopes and dreams. Sometimes the unexpected happens and ruines our plans. I can seem hopeless.

There are many ways to handle the unexpected:

DON'T - Become Angry
James 1:19-20 - My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.
When we get angry we miss the blessing.

DON'T - Quit
Matthew 1:19 - Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
Joseph was going to just quit, he was going to break off the engagement.
Some people are so discouraged by unexpected circumstances that they just give up, they decide that life isn't giving them what they want and what they think they need and they just decide to stop trying. When we just quit we will never receive the blessings he has for us, God knows what we are going through, he loves us and he has great plans for our lives. To fulfill his plans sometimes we have to deal with unexpected circumstances.

DO - Stop
Matthew 1:20 - But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Joseph stopped and thought about how to handle, he didn't make a snap decision. Instead of reacting he slept on it and woke up with a different perspective.
Many times we don't see Gods plan because we don't stop and think. God sees the big picture, we can only see what is happening at that moment and we don't realize that momentary inconvenience is a small price to pay for eternal blessing and if we react on our impulses we can miss out on those blessings.

DO - Listen
Matthew 1:20-21 - But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
Joseph stopped and listened to the angel, he almost missed being the earthly father of the savior of the world. Because he listened to the word of God he didn't miss out on the greatest blessing he could receive.
The unexpected circumstances are the launching pad to get you from where you are to where you need to be, but you have to listen to Him. We have to read Gods word, because that is how he speaks to us.

DO - Trust
Matthew 1:24-25 - When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Joseph trusted Gods plan for his life. He had faith and he got to be a part of the biggest blessing the world had ever seen.
Without faith it is impossible to please God. We can stop and listen to what God says, but if we don't trust him and do what he wants us to do we can't move forward in his plan.

DO - Watch
Matthew 1:25b - And he gave him the name Jesus.
Joseph stopped, listened and trusted God and he got to witness the miracle of the birth of Jesus Christ.
If we stop, listen and trust God we get to watch him pour out blessings and miracles into our lives.

Sometimes our lives get to the point where we just can't handle it anymore, we don't understand why these things are happening and what we did to deserve so much pain. We get to the place where we don't want to go on, that is the time when we need to turn to God and pray for him to help us. God has an amazing plan for our lives, but we need to turn to him and just watch him bless our lives.

Here's the video of the testimony of Mychael Lynch. Talk about trusting God through unexpected circumstances.

TheGiftRevolutionDotCom Week 1 Notes

2008-11-23T08:08:00.003-06:00

God wants us to start a revolution that touches the world! We just need to believe that God has the power to use us.

Revolution: A sudden and radical change

We are going to start a Revolution here. Get the card that says The Gift Revolution dot Com
Give a Gift, Give a Card, Share Your Story

6 continents and 20 countries already...before it even launched

Do some Random act of kindness, giving, helping...just give them the card. This is not an invite to church, it's a movement, it's giving something to someone expecting nothing in return in order to start a revolution of love and kindness. Then go to TheGiftRevolution.Com and share your story.

Revolution Rally tomorrow night

********

Momentum is huge when we are starting something.
Commit over the next 6 weeks to be the Church ALL THE TIME!
Sunday is the pep rally for the big game (life) - The Church is the people
2 kinds of people: people that talk about it and people that go out and do it.
Be the church, don't just come to church.
God is revolutionary!

God started a revolution through one man: Abraham

Genesis 12:1-4 - The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.

There are formulas for everything (how to get rich, have a good marriage, raise kids, etc)

H^3 = Revolution

1. A revolution starts in our Head
Genesis 12:2, 4 - The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you......So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him."
God told Abram to go out and do something with only the promise of land..and Abram went in faith. He believed that God would change the world through him.

Ephesians 2:10 - For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Most people don't believe this because they listen to the wrong voice - they listen to the media, peers, etc telling them they can't, but God says we can! Listen to his voice, read his word.

Start your day off with the word of God - if only one verse. Gods voice should be the first voice we hear.

If we start changing the world, the media will change their focus. They will notice and wonder who are these people that are set apart, that are giving, that are starting a movement.

2. A revolution develops in our Heart.
Genesis 12:2 - "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing."
God touched Abrams heart and blessed him, he wants to do the same for us. When we touch peoples hearts with God's hand people start to listen. We don't need to preach to them, we need to reach out and touch them.
God went first, he reached out and touched us with his one and only son, now we need to share that kindness. Since our hearts have been touched we need to touch others. We aren't promoting our church, we are promoting touching peoples hearts through acts of kindness.
We are doing this to INSPIRE the world...not intimidate the world. We are going to be Gods hands and feet.

3. A Revolution Takes Place Through Our Hands
Genesis 12:3 - "I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
God blessed Abram so he could bless others. He understood everything he had came from God, he knew that God gave it to him so that it could flow through him.
God has blessed us, he wants us to let those blessings flow through us and start a revolution.
God gives us what we have to use as TOOLS not keep as TREASURES.
God has called you to DO SOMETHING!

People talk about how bad it is, the economy, the crime, the war...We are going to show everyone how GOOD GOD IS!!!

We are going to start a REVOLUTION!

The Week Before The Series

2008-11-16T08:22:00.001-06:00

Guest speaker: Chris Gastardi (Student Pastor)

God can handle things that we cannot handle. Whatever is weighing you down and stressing you out is easily handled by God. He is bigger than any problems we face in this world.

Ephesians 3:20-21 - Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

**Recognize the person of God - in order to be able to handle obstacles we have to recognize who God is and how powerful he is.

1 Samuel 1:1-8 - There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none. Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD. Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the LORD had closed her womb. And because the LORD had closed her womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the LORD, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. Elkanah her husband would say to her, "Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don't you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don't I mean more to you than ten sons?"

A Couple things to keep in mind when reading this verse:
1. Circumstances said things are not going to get any better for Hannah(1:3).
That is a common trap so many of us fall into, we just convince ourselves that it is the way it is and it's not going to change.
2. People said things aren't getting any better(1:6).

1 Samuel 1:9-11 - Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the LORD's temple. In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD. And she made a vow, saying, "O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head."

The first step in getting past the problem is coming to a point of complete brokenness (1:10)

Hannah came to the point where she recognized who God was, then she started trying to bargain with him (1:11). It was her recognition of how powerful God is that put her on the road to freedom.

So many people focus on the problem they are faced with and not the "big picture". This is not all there is, our life is eternal and this life with all it's troubles is only temporary. The things that are over our head are already under His feet.

**Recognize he is a big God with big plans and we have big potential - if we take our focus off the world and focus on God we can experience all that God wants for our lives.

"God will never put more on you than you can handle"....WRONG! If that were the case we wouldn't need God. We would never need to call on God to help us with our problems because we could handle it alone. God puts things in our path that are too big for us in order to drive us to our knees.

**Recognize the Possibilities - God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Many people have "big dreams" for their lives, but those dreams can't even come close to the plans that God has for us. We need to have an eternal perspective, let God out of the box and allow him to do what he wants to do with our lives and stop worrying about what we want.

Hannah tries to bargain with God, begging him for a son. But God wanted to do so much more than she could ever imagine.

1 Samuel 1:20 - So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."

1 Samuel 2:21 - And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

God didn't just give Hannah a son, he gave her something so much bigger than she asked for.

Stop making recommendations to God and come to the recognition that God is that all powerful all knowing God of the universe and he can do ANYTHING, and he wants to do more for us than we can imagine or ask for.

God calls us to fill our lives with things that glorify him, we aren't supposed to just get by in life, we can do big things with our lives in this world if we just allow God to bless our lives and work through us. Don't sit around saying this is the way it is, recognize that God is not finished working through us. Our current situation is not our eternal situation. We shouldn't allow others to judge us by our own abilities, but on what God is able to do.

We all want to be a part of something bigger than us, so we serve a god that is able to do immeasurably more. We can't have fear of stepping out and doing what God is calling us to do. Fear that is tolerated creates faith that is contaminated.

God is bigger than any of your problems, he's bigger than anything you have done in the past, or anything you will face in the future. God wants to use us throughout the world to bring people to him. He wants to do so much more than we could ever imagine.

**Recognize the Power - "according to the power that is at work within us." There is great power working within us and that power is God, we need to recognize that with God we posess that power and get out and use it to help others come to Him. Talking about God and praying to God and singing at church and everything we do in church it useless if we don't live it out in the world. God is at work within us, we need to get out and do something!

1Samuel 1:19-20 - Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. So in the course of time Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, "Because I asked the LORD for him."

Hannah didn't just sit around expecting God to do everything, she got intimately involved in order to have the son that she asked God for. God wants us to get involved, we wants us to take the initiative and allow him to work through us.

What would you do for God if you knew that you would not fail?

We get consumed with our "buts" - "but, God I can't, I'm not strong enough, old enough, rich enough, etc."

1 Samuel 2:21 - And the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD.

Hannah didn't stop after she had Samuel, she stayed involved with what God was doing in her life and he continued to work.

PRAY - start praying prayers in which we expect God to do something, pray big prayers. Then pray about what you are going to do to help it happen.

Get people to church - be invitational, get people into the place where god can speak to them.

NOVEMBER 24th, 2008--God is going to do something HUGE! There is a REVOLUTION coming.

Greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done!

The Blessed Life

2008-11-15T10:24:00.001-06:00

I just began reading this book - well, technically Clay gave the book to all the staff to read and I took it from Nick - titled The Blessed Life by Robert Morris. I didn't know anything about the book when I picked it up, I wasn't even sure what the author meant by "The Blessed Life", but I knew Nick needed to read it and he doesn't have the time so I figured I'd read it for him. As I began to read it I became very excited - and a little uncomfortable - but definitely inspired.

Now the definition that the author uses for "blessed" is having supernatural power working for you, as opposed to "cursed" which is having supernatural power working against you. Turns out "The Blessed Life" refers to a life overflowing with miraculous blessings from God due to being obedient and putting Him first in your life. In one majorly specific area of your life actually: Finances.

I'm fairly confident in saying that every Christian is at least aware of the fact that we should give 10% of our income to the Church. I am also confident (and disappointed) in saying that the vast majority of Christians do not even come close to doing this. As a matter of fact, the book sites a study done in 1998 that shows Christians in the U.S. made an estimated $5.2 trillion that year and the total amount given to all ministry related causes (this includes missions, special events, etc.) was $92 billion. Now that sounds like a lot of money, but if you o the math it's only 1.7%. That's a far cry from 10%!

The Bible tells us that those who obey God will have everything they put their hands to blessed. I have read it before and I understand the principle of tithing, but I have to admit that I have not always been faithful in my giving. I have had the same excuse that most Christians give, "I can't afford to tithe." In reality, what I am actually saying is that I don't have faith that God can handle my finances. I've been asked before, "How are you going to trust God with your salvation if you can't trust him with your finances?" That's a pretty good point in my opinion.

In this book it tells us that God MUST be first, and the best way to put him first in your life is to give him the firstfruits of your income. I mean, after all, God did give us everything we have. We don't actually have ownership of our money, He gives it to us and all He asks is that we give him the first 10% in faith. In faith, that's a hard concept to grasp, giving a tenth of your income before the bills are paid, before there's gas in the car, before the groceries are bought. Giving a tenth of your income and trusting that God will cover the rest.

The amazing thing is, that this kind of faith (and lack of faith) was exercised throughout the Bible. God proclaims that the first born among the children in Israel are His in Exodus. Old Testament law states that the firstborn of all the clean livestock was to be sacrificed and if it was an unclean animal it was to be redeemed by sacrificing a clean and spotless lamb. All of this was to be done with only the promise that the animals would continue to reproduce. It was to be done in faith.

Now really thing about this whole sacrificing the clean firstborn and redeeming the unclean firstborn. You see, even God demonstrated this principle of faith to us. John the Baptist sums it up perfectly, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." He was, of course, referring to Jesus, our perfect, clean, spotless savior that was sacrificed to redeem a unclean and sinful world. Jesus was God's firstborn, he was God's tithe. And he was sacrificed before we turned to him. While we were still sinners Christ died for us. He demonstrated faith, that by sacrificing the first the rest would be blessed. This was life changing for me.

There is so much more, but I'm gonna give this some time to sink in. I highly recommend that EVERYONE reads this book. I'm sure I'll be posting more in the future.

Family in Town

2008-11-11T06:44:00.001-06:00

This past weekend my grandparents came to visit. They had never met my husband, Nick or my newest son, Daiden and they hadn't seen Mason in about 2 years. It was a good time :)

Faces Week 4 Notes

2008-11-09T17:07:00.001-06:00

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 - But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

SIN separates us from God, but God sacrificed Jesus to reunite us in a relationship with him. We are to reflect the glory of Jesus Christ to bring others in the world to him as well.

CHURCH - You are the Church

(if you wanna soar like an eagle you can't run with turkeys)

Revelation 4:6-8 - Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

Does reflecting the glory of God affect people?

revelation 4:9-11 - Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”

Acts 4:12-13 - There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.

**The Man - Humanitarian (goodwill to fellow men; active effort to promote human welfare; philanthropy). Unfailing love & faithfulness, and Humility.

God called us to love everyone as He loves everyone. When we reflect the glory of God people see that we have been with Jesus. God loves to use ordinary people to do extraordinary things. We need to be humanitarians as well, in order to attract people to hear the Gospel of Christ.

John 1:14-18 - So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son. John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’” From his abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has revealed God to us.

Philippians 2:5-11 -You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

4 ways to reflect the Glory of God: Be a servant, Live with Courage, Strive for excellence and love people.

President Barack Obama

2008-11-05T07:49:00.003-06:00

I'm not sure how I feel about Obama being our new president. I have heard a lot of the promises he's made for change and they seem like great ideas. I have only one main concern. The Freedom Of Choice Act. Right now there are over 300 different state laws about abortion, such as the ban on Partial Birth Abortion (where they deliver a baby breech up to its head then collapse its head to deliver the rest), and Saline Abortion (they replace some of the amniotic fluid with a strong salt solution via a needle, the baby breathes the solution and is burned inside and out, usually the baby is delivered a few hours after the procedure, but during that time the flailing of the burning fetus can cause the woman severe physical pain and emotional distress. Some babies have even been born alive after this procedure) . There are also bans on Late Term abortions where the child would be able to survive if delivered normally. Basically the FOCA would lift ALL 300+ of these abortion bans, making abortion available to anyone, anywhere at any stage of pregnancy. In a campaign speech to Planned Parenthood Obama said that "The first thing I will do as president to sign the Freedom Of Choice Act".

Well, what's done is done. This is our president and now we must accept that fact and move forward. God tells us to pray for our leaders and that is what I intend to do. I also encourage you to pray for our president. Pray for his guidance and for him to lead this country in a godly manner. God bless America.

2nd Service Update

2008-11-02T11:14:00.001-06:00

Lives were changed today! People came to Christ, decisions were made today at out 11:00 am service and there is a REVOLUTION about to begin!

JOIN THE REVOLUTION
-we need Volunteers, we're asking for 75 people to step forward and help us lead a Revolution.
-we are asking around to see if anyone owns an RV that is willing to let us borrow it for the holiday season.
-we welcome financial contributions to help us start a Revolution in North Myrtle Beach and around the world.

Exposed Couch - Monday, November 3, 2008 7:00PM - 9:00PM EST
BIG PRIZES!!!! Join us online at www.ExposedPastor.com

Faces Week 3 Notes

2008-11-02T07:35:00.001-06:00

Barefoot News

2 Corinthians 3:18 - And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
-we should be looking more and more like Christ everyday.

SIN separates us from God, but God sacrificed Jesus to reunite us in a relationship with him. We are to reflect the glory of Jesus Christ to bring others in the world to him as well.

Revelation 4:6-8 - Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

**The Eagle - leadership and excellence
we should be captivating, soaring through life, leading movements, drawing anyone who we come in contact with to the God of the universe so their life can be touched and changed.

Best place to learn how to be an effective leader is the Bible. Many leadership principles instated in large corporations are biblically based., whether they recognize it or not.

1 Peter 5:1-4 - And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.

EVERYONE is a leader in some way.

1. Great Leaders are Great Stewards of what God has entrusted them with.
"Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you."
In order to so this you have to recognize who gave you the things you have

Luke 19:26 - "He replied, 'I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away."
-If we are good stewards of what God has given us, we will be given more, but if we don't steward what we have even it will be taken from us.

2. Great Leaders are About a Great Vision not their own personal agenda.
"Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God."
If we are going to do great things in the world for the Kingdom of Christ we have to do things for the good of the people and not just what works for us. It's not about us, it's about Jesus and connecting people to him.
-We need to serve willingly, but is is impossible to do that if we don't recognize that God is serving us.

3. Great Leaders Model with Great Passion, not by being forceful and overbearing.
"Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example."
People rebel against arrogant leaders that operate on their own agenda. Don't lead because of your position and power, lead because of your passion for Christ and seeing people reach their full God-given potential.
-Leadership is not about doing and fixing everything, it is about leading and encouraging people to reach their full potential.
-Some see the economy as something to fear and lose their passion, but the state of the economy right now is an OPPORTUNITY to lead people to Christ. We have the opportunity to step out and offer people the hope of Jesus Christ.

When we are good stewards with vision and passion God will reward us.
"And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor."

We only have a small time to make an impact on this world, life is over in the blink of an eye. What mark do you want to make on the world? When you meet the God of the Universe what will he say? If we step outside of ourselves and surrender to Christ we can lead others to God, we can start a movement, a revolution and when we meet our Lord he will look at us and say, "Well done good and faithful servant."

Join us and start a Revolution
November 23, 2008

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Is that NORMAL??

2008-11-02T07:12:00.001-06:00

This is a little random, but my son has been eating an INSANE amount of food lately. This morning before first service he had 4 packages of oatmeal, 1 yogurt, 2 granola bars and a blueberry muffin!! He's 5! I mean, I know kids burn a lot of calories because of their high metabolism and level of activity, but geez. Every time I talk to him he's asking for food. At least he's eating heathy, I just don't want him to get fat! When he went to the doctor a few weeks ago he was in the 90th percentile for his weight and the 75th percentile for his height. Maybe I'm crazy, but it just seems like his stomach isn't big enough for all that food!

Trick-or-Treat

2008-10-31T22:47:00.001-05:00

Our first Halloween in our ne house...it was blast!

Halloween 2008 from Whitney Hempsey on Vimeo.

I Love Barefoot

2008-10-26T21:44:00.001-05:00

Today was just another crazy Sunday at Barefoot Church. Some fun stuff went down that involved glow sticks and some funny videos. Music was great, message was AWESOME - Be the LION. Rawr. - and despite the technical difficulties we still had 18 people viewing online for our 6 pm service. I believe we had 7 at 9am and 13 at 11am. Anyways regardless of the setbacks we totally pulled through. The conversation in the chat was great and relevant to the message. It was just overall a really great Sunday. Days like these, no matter how bad I may be feeling, always seem to lift me up. Seeing everyone doing their part and working together to make this happen is incredible. A lot goes into a simple Sunday service, and we pulled it off great. Clay was on point with a great message (the glowsticks were awesome), the volunteers all did their jobs together to make people feel welcome and comfortable. Childrens ministry did such a great job handling my kids. I just love being a part of the body of Christ and I appreciate these people so much!

Faces Week 2 Notes

2008-10-26T09:01:00.002-05:00

Glowstick
break it (hardest part)
shake it (dangerous part)
it illuminates (most important part)

2 Cor 3:18 - And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

*God has called us to be his glowstick, to illuminate the good news of Christ. That is our responsibility as Christians.

Revelation 4:6-8 - Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

LION
-courage.
God wants us to represent Him in the world with courage. Faithful & Focused courage.

**Courage(definition) Moving forward in the presence, not the absence of fear.

Joshua & Caleb

Moses sent 12 spies into the Promised Land to check it out.
Numbers 13:27-33 - They gave Moses this account: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there.The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan." Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

1. We have to have the courage to Break Away from the crowd.

-This is the most difficult thing to do, because people keep trying to drag you back. You have to make a decision to follow through.

Numbers 14:1-7 - That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt?" And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt." Then Moses and Aaron fell facedown in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there. Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes and said to the entire Israelite assembly, "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good.

2. We need to Shake Things Up.

-This is dangerous, because when you shake things up people are gonna cry and tempers are gonna fly. Shake it up, take a stand, actively follow Gods plan for your life!

In a glowstick the ingredients are there but you have to take the initiative to break it and shake it in order to illuminate it. The same is true for our faith.

Numbers 14:8-10 - If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.

3. We need to Allow God to be Illuminated.

-The most important part happens when we break away and shake things up so that those that are trying to find God will see him illuminated and be drawn to him.

Matthew 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

2008-10-25T13:28:00.001-05:00

Today was kind of a lazy day with my boys. I realized that I haven't really spent much time playing with my 5 year old, Mason. So I decided that while the baby was taking his afternoon nap Mason and I would play, just the two of us. It was great, we finally got to paint and build things with blocks, it was a good time. That's not really the point of this though... I never cease to be amazed at how creative kids are. Turning some plain old everyday item into some crazy invention or toy. Just sitting with Mason and talking to him was so much fun. He has such a wild imagination. I really feel a little guilty for not nurturing his imagination more than I have been. Getting so wrapped up in taking care of Daiden and keeping up with the household chores has taken my focus off off the fact that my 5 year old little boy has such a brilliant mind. I am so happy I took the time today to just stop and play with him, this has really allowed me to refocus my attention and recognize that he needs my attention just as much as the baby does.

By the way, some of the stuff he builds with his blocks is crazy. Maybe a little architect or engineer in the making.. :)

Why doesn't God answer prayer????

2008-10-22T21:54:00.001-05:00

That was the topic of tonights AMPd Student Ministry sermon. I really wish I would have been able to see the whole thing, but due to kids needing sleep, we left early. What I did catch was phenomenal! Chris referred to the passage John 13:14 13 "You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!" This doesn't mean God is like a magic genie and he will grant your every wish. It means that if you have asked for something in His name it will happen in His time and in His way. God has reasons for doing what he does - or doesn't do - it's not our job to understand, it is only our job to trust Him. If something in your life is not happening the way you feel it should be and you have been praying and praying for God to help you or fix it...don't give up. God hears you and loves you. Think about what you are asking for, does it line up with the will of God? Have you truely given that situation to God and allowed Him to work without interferance? Just continue to pray, maybe asking God what he would have you do to resolve the situation. Remember, God promises to give us the desires of our hearts, but he never says it will be when we want them or when we think we're ready. I mean we are mere humans, we don't know anything past what's happening at this very moment, but He is the all knowing God of the universe. It just makes sense to let him work in His time, because he can see the outcome. Imagine what a mess we could make if we disturbed Gods perfect plan. No one ever said it was easy, only that it is simple and effective. Pray, share the desires of your heart with God, ask in His name and just trust that when the time is right God will make it happen. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." James 5:16

Armor Bearers

2008-10-21T18:32:00.001-05:00

Today in a meeting the staff of Barefoot Church discussed how to develop the spirit of an armorbearer. 'In the Old Testament an armorbearer was the one responsible for carrying his master's shield into battle. He had the awesome responsibility of seeing to the safety of his officer.' With all the changes going on in Barefoot Church, it is so very important that we all understand and believe in the vision the God has put in Clays heart. Now more than ever he needs our support, he needs armorbearers.
In translation from the original Hebrew words nacah ("to lift") and keliy ("to end") we see that 'the duty of an armorbearer is to stand beside his leader, to assist him, to lift him up, and to protect him against any enemy that might attack him.' Letting pride and negative attitudes get in the way can be seriously counter-productive. We must always be learning and growing in our relationships with Christ and the people he has placed around us. We must support the vision and the leader, always trusting in what God is doing. The ability to be able to do this can only really be achieved through an intimate relationship with God.
To use an analogy given in the meeting today - "The vision" is like a pregnancy in a way that it is conceived out of intimacy with God. We are aware the some pregnancies are not necessarily conceived out of intimacy but rather some other sort of superficial relationship. The same can occur with vision, and when the vision becomes reality - or is born - and the intimacy isn't there you may not fully understand or even like the product. So in order for us to be true armorbearers for our leader we must have an intimate relationship with God.

Risk

2008-10-21T18:27:00.001-05:00

"To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.
To weep is to risk being called sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas, your dreams before the crowd is to risk being called naive.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To live is to risk dying.
To hope is to risk despair, and to try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken because the greastest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, and becomes nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live.
Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave, he's forfeited his freedom.
Only the person who risks is truly free."
-Leo F Buscaglia

This quote was brought to my attention today by Chris Gastardi, our student Pastor at Barefoot Church. I thought it was awesome and had to share :)

All I want for my boys

2008-10-19T21:01:00.001-05:00

As most of you are aware, I am a mother of two beautiful little boys. I have made many mistakes in raising them, and I am daily questioning what I'm molding them into. Did I teach them the right things, did I give them the best opportunities, what paths have I led them down? I have a few basic desires for my kids lives and I just pray that I am being the parent that will help them get to where they need to be.

1. I want my boys to have completely sold out personal relationships with Christ. I want them to be the kind of Christians that know who they are in Christ, and that they use that confidence to reflect Christ, because to me they are a representation of the glory of god...They're so beautiful.

2. I want them to grow up to be strong christian men. Lets face it, the church these days tends to be filled with "really nice guys" and not strong devoted men. Men and women were both made in God's image. Woman is the beauty of God. But man....MAN is the strength of God.

I know I am so blessed to have these two little boys in my life. Seeing them grow up in HIS image is so amazing and I pray daily that I will be able to nourish the life of Christ that is within them.

Faces Week 1 Notes

2008-10-19T20:27:00.001-05:00

Paul in revelations sees the throne room of god.

Revelation 4:7-8 In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."

4 creatures combined represents the fullness of God.

THE OX
represents the strong servant.

To be this strong servant "the ox" we need to
1. realize god sees our face and he serves us.

Hebrews 7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
- the god of the universe is serving us so we can serve others.
- he takes care of us so we can focus on other people and not ourselves.

Psalm 139 = encouragement when we are weary
- where ever you are in your life, God sees you.

- You won't be able to finish the race if you lose focus of the fact that God sees you and serves you.

2. look at one another's face and serve each other

Acts 2:47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

if we served in the way that the bible says it would change everything.
people would flock to the church.

Acts 2:42 - 46 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,

The early church served, worked and had fellowship together....
if we really want to "be the ox" we need to encourage each other and do life together.

The enemy wants to discourage us from growing the kingdom of God.

- God will use those that reflect his face and his glory in the world.
- The church should reflect the glory of God -- the servant -- the Ox

The day Nick and I met!!

2008-10-18T13:41:00.001-05:00

Baptism from Whitney Hempsey on Vimeo.

My Wedding <3

2008-10-18T13:06:00.001-05:00

My Wedding from Whitney Hempsey on Vimeo.

New Family Pictures

2008-10-15T16:57:00.002-05:00

Born from my time of quiet reflection today...

2008-10-14T20:05:00.001-05:00

Christians are required to do a lot of very hard things through out life, and sometimes we drop the ball. This doesn't mean we aren't Christians, it only means we are human.

I have done a lot of stuff in my life that I am not proud of, even since I accepted Christ. I make mistakes all the time and I fall short daily. Some of these flaws are directly pointed out to me, and others seem to reveal themselves in time. Whatever the case may be, I know who I am in Christ and I know my savior loves me. Praise God for his forgiveness and restoration, and the many blessings he has poured out on my family and I.

Video from this past Sunday

2008-10-13T22:16:00.001-05:00

Beach Balls In Church. Awesome!!!

Beach Balls in Church!!! from Whitney Hempsey on Vimeo.

More Pro-Life Thoughts

2008-10-12T14:52:00.001-05:00

Ever since I heard about the Pro-Life day of Silent Solidarity I have been thinking about the issue a bit more deeply. I ran across something that puzzled me. I was on Facebook looking at items that my friends had posted and I read about some group that one of my old friends from high school was supporting. It was some kind of animal rights group that showed a video of a rabbit screaming while it was being killed. Don't get me wrong, I love animals, however I do eat some of them (not bunnies) and I am all for being humane to animals. What perplexed me was the other things that this person had posted in the months prior. It was clear that this person was definitely pro-choice. There were things posted about the government trying to control what we do with our own bodies, like campaigns to make abortion at any stage illegal. I guess what i don't understand is how someone can place the "rights" of an animal above the rights of a human. Protesting and going nuts over animals being killed for fur or food when there are children being brutally murdered every day in the name of choice. At least when that animal dies it continues to serve a purpose, but these children are being tossed in the garbage like a piece of trash. I just can't seem to wrap my mind around how Mr. Fluffy's life has more value than a human being. It breaks my heart to think about this stuff, but I can't stand to sweep it under a rug either. It's just so confusing.

PRO LIFE

2008-10-12T10:36:00.001-05:00

I was roaming around online the other day, looking up articles and websites on controversial issues and I ran across this awesome website. It is a Pro-Life organization that instated the Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity.

Over 4,000 children have their lives taken each day in the name of choice.

Over 4,000 women are emotionally damaged every day.

On October 21st, people from all over this nation will give up their voices for a day in solidarity for these children. Red arm bands and duct tape will identify them as taking part in the Pro-life Day of Silent Solidarity.

www.silentday.org

UN Week 4 Notes

2008-10-12T08:23:00.001-05:00

Proverbs 29:18 where there is no vision the people perish (cast off all restraint)
we need a vision, we need something to run after

Matthew 28 18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

John 3:16

Ephesians 3:10-11 "Gods purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom...this was his eternal plan that he carried out through Jesus"

Jesus cast a vision in Matt 28 - the great commission and will carry this out through the church.

Colossians 1:28-29 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

1. we proclaim with grace, hospitality - be invitational. Invite them to the table.

the local church should model Christ when proclaiming Christ. He went out and invited him into a relationship with him.

we need to bring him our best, don't just show up, be extravagant to give people the good news.

use every angle - be relevant.

2. "admonishing" You have to have a relationship with others

you can't admonish/correct people that you don't have a relationship with.

you have to be in a relationship so that you can give and receive openly

get involved in a group

3. "teaching" hands on and doing life together, get people involved and going on a journey with them. we learn by doing, getting in the game, not just sitting in a class getting filled with knowledge. You have to participate in the vision, not just sit around and talk about it.

come to the table, build relationships and get involved

4. "so we may present everyone perfect in christ"
perfect - fully mature

OUR CURRENT VISION

from Nick Hempsey on Vimeo.

exposedpastor.com reached all 50 states and 41 countries around the world!
our vision is to reach more people around the world through our internet campus

We need $250,000 to launch our internet campus so that we can change the lives of people all around the world.

Baptisms!!!

2008-10-05T17:20:00.001-05:00

Today was the final beach baptism for 2008. At the beginning of the year Clay and our other leaders set a goal of 300 for the entire year of 2008. After baptizing 32 people today we passed the goal by 2 people and the year isn't even over! It was Awesome!!!!!!!!! I'll get some pics on here soon.

In Memory of Cody

2008-10-05T10:59:00.001-05:00

It is so hard to understand why tragedies happen, especially to someone that has their whole life ahead of them. I recently joined an online virtual community on Facebook called Yoville. My husband and I, along with a few other leaders at our church saw an opportunity to reach out to a whole other group people for ministry purposes. We ran into many other christians in this community, seriously hardcore, sold out christians. Most of which were teenagers. Nick and I started talking with 2 teenagers in particular, a boy and a girl from Georgia. They are both highschool age kids that love the Lord. Kymi (aka Ariana) and Cody are great friends and fellow warriors for christ. After the first couple days Ariana and Cody began attending our church via ExposedPastor.com. We continued developing relationships with them and their friends, then last thursday tragedy struck. Cody was in a car that was hit by a drunk driver. The car that Cody was in flipped three times and left Cody in a coma. We had many prayer meetings on Yoville and really drew together as a family in Christ. Unfortunately, yesterday afternoon Cody passed away. It was devastating for everyone that knew him, no matter how briefly. I just ask that anyone who reads this please say a prayer for Codys friends and family that will miss him so much. As hard as it is, as followers of Christ we know that God will use this for good. And praise the lord that Cody was a devoted christian, because we know that he is in heaven dancing with Jesus!

Un week 3 notes

2008-10-05T10:09:00.001-05:00

what God is going to do in the world he is going to do through the local church.

God can work in these "un" times.

God wants us to play on His team. Gods team will change the world.
He invited us to play on his team, but he requires us to take a step towards him. He wants us on his team so badly that he gave his only son.

God chooses his team differently than the world does.

Judges 6 (Gideon)
israel was in uncertain times...god sent someone to change the world

6:11-12 (Gideon hiding grain..angel appears and says God is with him)

1. God is looking at our potential, not problems, power or position.
God saw potential in Gideon that he didn't see in himself.

6:13 (Gideon questions how God could let this happen)
he was looking at the present situation and not the power of God.

Everyone has Problems
people that appear to have no problems have a bigger vision than their problems.
they focus on the hope they have and not the situation they are in.

Focus on the VISION and not the problem

6:14 (Lord sends Gideon to rescue Israel)
use what you have in order to help people to get to Jesus

6:15 (Gideon says he is too weak to help)
god can use the least to do the most - he's looking for potential.

6:16 (God says "I will be with you")
God will equip us where we are lacking in order to change the world.

2. God is looking at the attitude of the heart not the attributes of our lips.
He isn't concerned about what we say we do, only what we actually do.

we need to be:
AVAILABLE
6:18 (don't go away until I bring my offering to you... - Gideon)
what you are offering to the lord shows how available you are.
TEACHABLE
6:25-27 (God told gideon to sacrifice an animal with specific instructions)
letting god speak to you and following his instructions will allow him to work through you.
the reason some of us don't reach their potential is because we don't have a teachable spirit...we don't listen to God's instructions.
FAITHFUL
6:27 (Gideon did as the lord commanded, but did it at night bc he was afraid)
even if you are afraid, take a step towards what god is challenging you to do.

UN week 2 notes

2008-09-28T10:51:00.001-05:00

ever hit a wall before?
how do you push through the wall/barrier to continue to do what god has called you to do?

Leadership
we are all leaders of something, job, family, friends, etc.

we need encouragement b/c we have 2 choices: quit or push through the wall.

We are all in pursuit of the great life, but on the way we hit the wall (the "un" in life) ie. fear, anger, worry, bitterness

the enemy doesn't want us to overcome the wall so he puts the "un" in our lives (sin)

2 corinthians 3:17 - where the spirit of the lord is there is freedom
god has left us in the world to do great things and the spirit of the lord lives in us.

2 corinthians 3:18 - we can see and reflect the glory of the lord
we (christ followers) live in the same world as everyone else, but we have the spirit of the lord (and his glory) inside of us. We can reflect the glory of the lord and allow others to see.
we should be a solution to the problem not a part of the problem.

HOW???
1. Trust Christ
2 cor 3:14-16 - veil can only be removed by believing in christ.
we cannot do ANYTHING for ourselves, it is by grace through faith we are saved.
we have to have a connection before we can be a reflection

2. Seek God
dont stop at just trusting christ...continue to seek god and grow in him.

3. Engage w/the Un People
we need to use all that we have learned so that we can help those that don't know jesus to find him.

The ONLY way to get to heaven is to trust christ, if you don't recieve christ you will got to hell (great white throne judgment)

You will be judged by what you do in this life as a christian. you will recieve treasures in heaven for what you have done with your faith in the world. (judgment seat of christ)

god has given us incentive to use our faith to make a difference - treasures in heaven!

New Pictures of the Family

2008-09-25T20:04:00.001-05:00

Creation

2008-09-25T17:21:00.001-05:00

I heard something really cool the other day.

Most of us know and believe that God created everything. I have known that creation was God's handy work for most of my life. I just figured that God made everything perfect and complete..and we have spent our lives messing it up. I'd be willing to bet that most people feel the same way. Well, i got a different perspective the other day:

Just maybe God created everything perfect...but incomplete. Then he invited us to join with him and share the job of creating. I mean he created trees and gave them the ability to create other trees, he created animals and gave them the ability to create other animals...and he created humans and gave us the ability to create other humans. God invited us to participate in creation!

As I was listening to this I couldn't help but look down at my newborn son and think of my amazing 5 year old and be so thankful that God gave my husband and I the opportunity to create.

Source: Rob Bell

UN week 1 notes

2008-09-21T10:23:00.001-05:00

What is your UN??
un sure about raising children?
un committed to marriage?
un stable finances.

your un is an opportunity for god to do something UNBELIEVABLE!

God is going to do unbelievable through the local church.

luke 15 prodigal son

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Un always precedes the greatness of God

my un: rising kids, balancing chores and family, financial

Heb 11 holy hall of fame

Joshua and Caleb

we have the same "unstoppable giants" that they had. God is big enough and strong enough to overcome.

1. Have unconditional love
we have to show this kind of love to those that are unsure and uncommitted in order to show others the greatness of God.
in these unstable times the church will be flooded with unsure people and we need to be prepared with unconditional love to lead them to Christ and show them the greatness of God.

a. see the opportunity - luke 15:20 - "...his father saw him..."
God sees you - we need to see those in need as well.

BC's opportunity: Internet campus & Satellite campuses
we believe that God will provide the finances and volunteers to do that.
at least $250,000

b. learn to have compassion and run towards unstable people -
when the church is flooded with people in need we have to be compassionate and run towards them.

helping hands - canned food (NO green beans)
our generosity only temporarily fix a problem..but it can lead people to Christ who will change everything.

c. be quick to celebrate peoples return home
we really need to celebrate when someone returns to the lord, immediately. Our job is not to question their sincerity, that is gods job to figure it out. We need to just show unconditional love.
We share the truth and let God change the heart.
The church should not stand with a pointed finger.

God is not "fair". It wasn't fair for Jesus to die for us, he did it b/c of his unconditional love for us.

Turn your heart towards God and he will embrace you and welcome you home.
No matter what we have done in the past, we can always move forward towards God.
Don't be paralyzed by your past, be motivated to your future.

The Baby is Coming

2008-08-13T09:53:00.001-05:00

So yesterday I went to the doctor for my 36 week exam. I was thrilled to hear that I am in the beginning stages of labor. 2+ cm dilated and full term as of Friday! I can't wait to meet our little miracle, Daiden Christopher. He could come anytime now...eeek.

One Week In and Things Are Looking Up

2008-08-13T09:34:00.001-05:00

So, ExposedPastor.com has been running for just over a week now. We have reached all 50 states and 27 countries. It is really exciting to see what is happening in the lives of the people watching and the people involved. A lot of transformation has occur ed so far.

I have witnessed growth in myself in a big way. I was very apprehensive about this whole thing to begin with. I tried not to let it get to me, but the week before and the first few days I was a depressed ball of emotions. I came to realize that the enemy is not happy about this project and is going to try to attack in as many ways as possible. He worked on me pretty hard, but God has a way of always pulling through. After a few days of being online and in the chat room I started really seeing what God can and is doing through all this. People are deepening their faith and their understanding of biblical principles, non-believers or seekers are seeking answers to questions that have hindered them from stepping over the line of faith. It is amazing. I have talked to so many people whose lives have been touched and even changed by what we have done in just a week. I feel so privileged to be a part of this.

I have also seen my husband really grow in all this. He, like Clay, is a very private person. He has a very outgoing personality, but it usually takes a minute to come out. He has really stepped up and stepped out into the public eye. He has been so authentic and real about who he is, despite the pressure he is under with this project. I am so proud of him for exposing himself.

And then there's Clay. He has really surprised me through all this. Clay has made it very known that he is a "socially awkward" person. He is definitely and introvert, although you'd never know it from his presence on stage. Clay has been a trooper, being in front of thousands of people for a month is not something I ever pictured him handling very well. I am impressed with how he has handled the pressure of technical difficulties and whatever other opposition has come his way. Not to mention his wife and son being under surveillance. Kim and Cole have been handling this beautifully.

There are many other people involved on the production side of this that have grown exponentially and I feel so fortunate to be a part of this. We really are reaching people and helping them grow and we should all feel blessed for being used by God in such a huge way. Yay Exposed Pastor!

EXPOSED!!!

2008-08-03T15:56:00.002-05:00

I can't believe the time has already come. ExposedPastor.com is launching tonight! I am sitting here at the Barefoot Offices while Nick and Parker do the final testing before the launch. I have been really emotional up to this point about Nick being gone so much, but I'm holding it together pretty well. The true test will be going home without my husband tonight. I am really excited though, we are having this huge party with all the staff and their families, it will begin at 8:00pm. the party will be broadcast live on the internet so everyone can join us from the comfort of their homes. There will be prizes and all sorts of stuff. Lives will be changed over the next 30 days. There will be ups and downs, lots of emotions, this will be huge. But tonight we will party!!

it's time to get exposed :)

Prayers are desparately needed

2008-07-29T10:42:00.003-05:00

It's definitely not easy when life throws you a curve ball. It's even harder to handle when emotions are already running high. I know God has a plan in all this and I know that amazing things are going to happen, but right now I feel scared and alone, which are two feelings I never thought I'd have a month before I am scheduled to deliver my son. Most of my feelings stem from this crazy, awesome idea that our pastor, Clay had. We are beginning a series called ExposedPastor.com. This basically consists of Clay exposing his life, for a full month, to anyone who wants to watch via the internet. He will be filmed live, mostly by my husband, for the entire month of August. At any point people can log onto ExposedPastor.com and watch him live out his day to day life. It's going to be huge, and very stressful for all parties involved.

I am very excited to see how this project affects the lives of the people involved and the people watching. The weight of this series is a sure indication that Satan is going to be working overtime to mess it up. So far, technology failures mixed with a lack of man power to carry everything out have proven to make this series the most difficult thing our church has done to date.

As excited as I am for this, I am still struggling a bit. This is where the scared and alone comes in. I was under the impression that I would get a couple days to spend with my husband before he goes away for a month, however, he is the main guy in this production and all the set backs have made it impossible. The part that is really bothering me is that I really didn't expect to spend the last month of this pregnancy alone. I had visions of Nick, Mason and I anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new baby together, feeling all the kicks, bumps and rolls that our little miracle is producing. I know that God has a purpose in his timing, and it is not up to me or anyone else to understand. I just really hoped that this would be a time of bonding and not of separation.

I am really praying for the strength to make it through this with my sanity and dignity intact. As afraid as I am, I am seeing some major opportunity through all my fear. Opportunity to connect myself in a deeper, more intimate way with God. Time for prayer and study. Opportunity to rely on the friendships that God has given me. I know God will carry me through this, just as he has carried me through my previous obstacles, and on the other side of this I have the rest of my life with the man I love and my two precious children.

In the mean time, I pray. Prayers for strength for my family and Clays. This is sure to be one of the most important and impactful journeys that our church has ever gone on, so I pray for protection. And I pray for the lives that will be touched through this.

Qwitter

2008-07-06T18:26:00.001-05:00

So tonight was the beginning of the Qwitter series at Barefoot Church. Interestingly enough, Clays mic kept quitting. However the sermon was amazing. It hit home in a few areas, you know, made me a little uncomfortable from time to time. The basic jist of the message was , obviously, not quitting. Being able to achieve your God given dreams and Goals through perseverance. It really made me evaluate how I have kind of quit on God from time to time. Given up my quiet time, given up my study time, and ultimately, given up my ablilty to discern what God wants for my life. I haven't done anything terrible to speak of, just drifted. This is really what I needed to get refocused and centered. I have decided to start journaling (privately) and am going to make it a point to have quiet time with God EVERYDAY! I really have no reason for not devoting time for God each day, but I have plenty of excuses. It is something that I really need to get a hold on, so I'm gong to do it.

By the way, you can check out the sermon at the Barefoot Church website and the Sunday Night Wrap-Up is on Clays blog every week.

And the craziness begins...

2008-06-26T12:21:00.001-05:00

So today Nick and I had lunch together and discussed this ExposedPastor.com series that we will be starting in just a few weeks. Nick and the media crew from Barefoot Church returned from their trip to Flamingo Road Church worn out, excited and FULL of information. So much information, in fact, that my poor husband is having a hard time sorting through everything in his head. After finishing a full days work at Sign Station, he headed home to watch Mason so I could go to school. He spent the entire evening designing the graphic for the series, then getting it approved. (It looks awesome!!! He actually found a picture of Clay that I took and it worked. He's such a genius!) Then he had to set up a blogger -- www.ExposedPastor.blogspot.com -- which we will be running the live feed through.

I have to say, THANK GOD for the folks at Flamingo! I would name names but I cant remember them, I'm bad with names to begin with and these guys all have hard names. I seem to remember Arturo and Miguel...but beyond that, I'm at a loss. Sorry guys. Anyways, these guys are phenomenal! Nick sent the graphic off to them so they can build this site...flippin' nuts. It's really great when people are so helpful and open to sharing their mistakes and victories in order to help others prosper. What they did with MyNakedPastor.com was amazing, and we intend to try and improve upon this with their help. Really, these guys are the definition of Christ followers. Especially considering they have their own high-tech church with multiple campuses to run in Florida.

Anyways, the ExposedPastor series will begin in August, directly following our series titled Quitter. (Spin off of Twitter. Clever, huh?) In a nutshell, cameras will be following Clay around 24/7 recording his every move, completely exposing him and his family to the general public worldwide via the internet. This will go on for 31 days - the whole month of August. We were discussing the fact that this had never been done, with the exception of Troy Gramling at Flamingo, when my husband brought something very profound to my attention. There is one person that did this, even before Flamingo. Completely exposed, hiding nothing, just completely raw...Jesus. Go ahead, think about it. Oh yeah, that's good stuff. Jesus led the complete transparent life, totally exposed, completely naked, pretty amazing stuff.

So y'all please pray for our church and the wonderful people at Flamingo. And say and extra prayer for my pregnancy, this series goes through August and I am due to give birth the 1st week in September. Let's hope that Daiden doesn't decide to make an early appearance.

I miss my husband :|

2008-06-24T09:44:00.001-05:00

He's only been gone since 6am yesterday, but it seems like forever. Nick (my husband), Clay (our lead pastor) and Mark (our worship experience pastor) took a trip to Flamingo Road Church to dissect their media department. We are getting ready to start up a few new things in the church that are pretty cutting edge. Flamingo agreed to let our media department check out their media department for a couple days and help us get started.

I talked to Nick last night and he seemed really pumped. He said the guys at Flamingo are awesome, offering to really step in and help us get this stuff off the ground. They are learning how to set up a satellite campus for Barefoot and how to do live stream video 24/7 for an up coming series. It's going to be awesome!

I am personally thankful for the help from the guys at Flamingo, because without them, my husband would probably be spending countless more hours working on this stuff in the upcoming weeks. Thanks to them he may be home at a decent hour some nights.

Well, thankfully he will be home tonight!

Seeing things in a whole new light..

2008-06-16T10:02:00.001-05:00

So, last night I had something terrifying happen to me. Well, technically it happened to my son, but it really freaked me out. Have you ever had one of those moments that stirred you to the core of your soul? I had one of those. I was sitting at church listening to my husband and the rest of the praise band practice for the igNITE (6pm) service, Mason was doing his usual running up and down the aisles while I sat and watched. I normally let him run up and down the aisles when there aren't many people there because it keeps him occupied and gets rid of some of that excess energy he has. Well, one of the other band members and him were playing some form of tag. I saw Mason run and then he disappeared, since he falls all the time I thought nothing of it - the soundboard was obstructing my view of exactly what happened. The next thing I know my almost 5 year old little boy comes stumbling up to me making this strange grunting noise. It took me a moment to realize he was really hurt, but as soon as he got to me his eyes rolled back in his head and his legs turned to jello. His whole little body went limp and he kept making these weird noises. I promise you I have never been more scared than I was in that moment. It really looked as though he was having a seizure. Apparently what happened was he took a corner too fast and hit his belly on the arm of one of the chairs. He got the breath knocked out of him and once he caught his breath he was fine, but I wasn't. As the mom of a small boy, I see tons of falls, bumps and bruises, he even broke his arm at the age of three, but something like that, when I didn't know what was wrong, made me feel so helpless.

It's strange how these things can make you look at your life and the lives of those around you so differently. On a personal level, I think of all the selfish things I have done since I've been a mother. I didn't accept Christ until Mason was two, and even then I didn't fully get it. It has taken me a long time to base my decisions on the well being of my family and not what I want, honestly, I still mess it up sometimes. I have taken for granted that I have a healthy little boy and a family that loves me unconditionally. But seeing my little boy suffering and now knowing why or how to fix it just reminds me of how blessed I am and how quickly I could lose all the amazing things God has given me. Just by being careless for a brief moment it could all be gone. So last night I hugged my son a little tighter, read him an extra bedtime story, told him I love him about a thousand times and watched his little chest rise and fall as he slept. I prayed for him and I prayed for me, I prayed for God to help me be the mommy that he needs and deserves. And needless to say, the rules have changed considering running in church.

I just want to say to anyone reading this, if you have healthy children, don't take them for granted. I have seen in newspapers, magazines and on television the thousands of children in the US that spend the majority of their childhood in hospitals, and the hundreds that don't make it out of the hospitals. Just be thankful that God blessed you with this perfect creation (no matter how annoying or unruly they can get) and spend as much time loving them as possible. And for those of you that have spent weeks and months in the hospitals beside your children, praying that they will pull through or asking God why it had to be them, I commend you for your courage and love. I don't know what it's like to be in your shoes, and honestly I don't want to, but I promise I will pray for you and your children.

On that note, I am going to go spend some time with my son.

Sensless Saturday

2008-05-31T13:04:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I'm just sitting here waiting for my wonderful husband to finish up his work at the church so we can go to the beach. I have nothing profound or intelligent to say..just waiting. I figured it's the weekend and I would take a day off from thinking and just write random nonsense! So far, mission acconplished.

Have you ever tried to keep a 4 and a half year old little boy contained while he's waiting to go to the beach? It's not easy. He has been in time-out 2 times and is sitting there now. He has his swim trunks on, all lotioned up and ready to go..and Daddy is still working. Ugh! So hopefully within the next 20 minutes we'll be outta hear to chill out in the sun the rest of the day.

So this concludes my rambling trying to fill up time until we leave. I'm off to find my husband and drag him out of here. Peace!

Married Couples Only!

2008-05-29T11:15:00.001-05:00

So I was going through some old sermons from different churches online and I ran across a series from back in April at Newspring called Sex, Money, Power: The Man Series - What She Really Wants You To Know About Sex. Being a married woman, I was curious to see what Perry Noble (a man) had to say about what women really want..especially sexually. First I have to say, if you are a man WATCH THIS! (and be like a Gazelle. lol.) If you're married, you will be a much happier man and if you're single, someday you will have a great marriage. Lets just say Perry knows what's up!

The sermon was based on the book Song of Solomon. In my opinion this is one of the most important books in the bible for married couples...and the least read out of the whole bible. It is no more than a conversation between a married couple about sex! Once you learn to decifer the metaphors that they use, this book gets pretty graphic, but it gives you such a great look into how to really please a woman. I'm not going to detail the whole thing, you can watch it online for yourself, I just want to highlight some things that really stood out to me. The principles that were given came from chapter one, they lay the ground work for the rest of the book. Before I list the principles Perry outlined I want to mention that through out this book the woman says this, "My lover is mine and I am his..." Song of Solomon 2:16. As a woman I can tell you right now that everything a woman desires is based around the same things - LOVE and SECURITY. If a woman feels loved and secure she will feel free to "expose" herself to her husband - and trust me guys, it's a beautiful thing. All 4 of the principles that Perry gave revolved around the woman feeling loved and secure.

1) "I want you to pursue me romantically." Song of Solomon 1:2 Discover your wifes definition of romance, ASK HER! Women want to know that they are worth being pursued, we want to feel special, we want to know you want us. It makes us feel beautiful, it makes us feel secure, it makes us feel loved - it makes us want to have sex with you! "There is nothing more beautiful and more powerful than a woman who feels loved and pursued by her husband." - Perry

2) "I want to be able to trust you." Song of Solomon 1:3 We want to know you will do what you say you will do, and we want to know that you are who you say you are. It gives us the freedom to be honest with you and again, we feel secure. When we can talk to you and really feel like you're listening we feel special, one of the most important things you can do as a husband is listen to your wife. When we talk, we don't want you to fix the problem, just listen and sympathize. I feel the most connected with my husband when we have a real conversation, about anything, and it usually ends up good for him :) Trust should be the foundation af all marriages, if there is no trust, there is no security.

3) "I want to know that you think I'm beautiful" Song of Solomon 1:5-7 ALL WOMEN struggle with feeling beautiful. Society tells us we aren't beautiful enough, or skinny enough, or tone enough, we rely on you to make us feel beautiful. I am 6 months pregnant and the baby belly makes me feel less than sexy, thank God I have an incredible husband. The way he looks at me and the things he says make me feel so beautiful. Husbands, tell your wife she's sexy, tell her she's beautiful, tell her she turns you on. Don't assume that because you try to have sex with her she knows you think she's gorgeous, open your mouth and tell her - sing her 'Your Body is a Wonderland' or something. When we feel beautiful we tend to drop some of our inhibitions, again this relates back to security. If we know that you think we are the most beautiful woman on earth then we know that "I am his and he is mine" is true and we will have more confidence and less restraint :)

4) "I want you to use your words with care." Song of Solomon 1:9-11 It's not only what you say, but how you say it. You can do so much damage to a woman with your words, or you can build her up to incredible heights. This rings especially true for me, I need to hear that my husband loves me, that I'm beautiful, that the house looks nice. Not that I only need lip service, I know when it's genuine. More importantly, when I go to my husband with a problem, something really upsetting to me, I need to hear that my feelings are valid. I've been in relationships in the past where my feelings were called stupid or petty, I was told I shouldn't feel that way. You know, sometimes women do make a mountain out of a mole hill, but we come to you, our husbands, to vent and get it off our chest, the last thing we need is to be told that our feelings are ridiculous. I am blessed with a husband that listens to me and comforts me, I pray that all women experience this in their marriages. "With our mouths we have the power to build up or destroy our wives." -Perry

Love your wifes with an undying, sacrificial, passionate love - the way Christ loved the church! Ephesians 5:25-27 If you can accomplish this you will have a radiant, beautiful, successful, healthy marriage (and sex life).

Song of Solomon 1:16 - the woman was the first one to bring the bed up in the conversation, because she felt pursued, she trusted him, she felt beautiful and he spoke lovingly to her.

I began listening to this sermon out of curiosity and now I have a whole new appreciation for my husband. I am so blessed to have a husband that really gets it. I know that some women don't have that and my heart and prayers really go out to them. I guess I didn't realize how free I feel to love my husband because of how secure and loved I feel. He has sacrificed for me, prayed for me, loved me unconditionally..Lord knows I can be unlovable sometimes. I praise God for giving me the man I've always needed and I pray that God will help me be the wife he needs.

The word of the day is "UNITY"

2008-05-28T10:27:00.001-05:00

So I have been doing some thinking... my husband and I had a conversation recently about friendships and unity and what not. We have both come to the conclusion that we have no real friends. Not that the people around us aren't genuine or friendly, but we don't really have anyone that we "do life" with.

I have had friends come and go in and out of my life, but strong friendships never seem to stick around. I believe most of that is due to my lack of maturity when it comes so maintaining relationships. I am still growing in this area. But for some reason my husband has the same problem with friendships, there really isn't anyone around that we, as a family, or each of us individually, can connect with on a personal level on a regular basis. Me being a woman, this is particularly difficult to swallow since I am driven from my soul to have bonds and relationships with other women. Recently this lack of unity in our "circle" has caused some turbulence. When people don't spend time together and connect on a deeper level then they don't really know each other and things tend to get taken the wrong way and feelings get hurt. People put up walls and organize defenses when all they really needed to do was speak up and clarify.

It's hard though, I have that problem as well. Anyone who knows me will tell you I have the worst timing of anyone when it comes to speaking up. It's a flaw of mine that results in me putting my foot in my mouth on a regular basis. I am seeing God working now though. It's difficult for me, but I believe that God is stripping away things from my life that are keeping me from working on the real problem, myself. I hate to admit it, but I have drifted, I've seen it for a while now and I've been making my sad mortal attempts at concocting a solution, but I've only been working on the outward problems and not changing the heart. I've been trying to turn sour fruit sweet instead of trimming back the branches and starting over. So although my attempts to rectify some wrongs have been somewhat in vain, it has painfully revealed the true problem and given the motivation to really make things right. I owe most of this insight to my best (and only) friend, my husband. I praise God for him and his ability to help me decipher the often obvious things in my life that are holding me and us back. He has vowed to love me forever, better or worse and help me reach my full God-given potential, he gives me the will to make a change and I am so thankful to him for that.

So I have devised a plan, a list of changes that will hopefully result in more UNITY - at home, at work, at church, in our lives in general.

1. PRAY more often. (I need to talk to God more)
2. READ Gods word daily. (I need to listen to God more)
3. Adopt a POSITIVE attitude for everything. (Finding joy in anything)
4. Complain LESS. (I'm pregnant, and uncomfortable, no need to remind everyone all the time)
5. APPRECIATE my husband. (He is awesome! Tell him & show him)
6. CONTRIBUTE more to my family. (I don't have a job-my family is my job)
7. SCHEDULE my time. (Get stuff done during the day so evenings are free)
8. Be FLEXIBLE with family time. (When Nick's off work, family time begins)
9. LISTEN better. (Two ears and one mouth..talk less)
10. Remember our family's VISION. (Always moving forward, always serving the Lord)

Most of those seem like no-brainers, but I have to refocus sometimes just to stay, or get back, on track. So here goes - I'm off to give my family more of what it deserves and pray that these changes, in time, will flow through out my entire life.

The Amazing Growing Belly...

2008-05-22T15:26:00.001-05:00

4 MONTHS
5 MONTHS 6 MONTHS
So I put together this compilation of belly pictures to show how I'm growing. This is pretty exciting for Nick, Mason and I and a huge part of my life so I thought it blogworthy.

The many uses of a toothbrush.

2008-05-22T11:53:00.002-05:00

So as I am writing this, Mason is in his room scrubbing his bathroom with a toothbrush. Why? You might be asking. Well the reason is that my 4 year old has been suspended from school for his unruly and disruptive behavior. The theory is that through hard work you will break a childs will without damaging their spirit. Mason has lost all his priveleges and is now working to earn his keep. As a child his "job" is school...if he gets kicked out of school he becomes unemployed, so now he works for his dad and I. I thought it was pretty clever-and something we can carry out through out his school career until he graduates. He wants to act like an adult, now he has the responsibility of an adult-kind of. The idea came from a combination of my husbands experience at boot camp and a book I read called 'Changing You Childs Heart'. The idea is that instead of using punishments to discipline a child, we use what the book refers to as "betterments". Activities that require hard work that will improve the child somehow. In this case, he is learning how to clean properly and I get a day off. It also includes things such as refolding all the childs clothes if they don't keep their drawers neat or writing a phrase over and over again which would improve the childs handwriting in addition to reminding him or her of their bad behavior, they also sugguested jumping jacks and push-ups for hyperactive behavior. So far so good, he has cleaned his room spotless and now is moving on to the bathroom. With any luck he'll finish before snack time and spend the rest of the day in the kitchen :) Don't feel bad though, it's not like child labor or anything, he gets paid (meals, snacks, etc.) and at the end of the day we will be attending to our parenting class and going swimming. He doesn't know about that yet, but after 5:00 I am no longer his boss and will resume my role as Mommy. Trust me, he's rather be at school right now.

Ugh, he's at it again....

2008-05-09T10:06:00.001-05:00

My precious little boy has been acting...not so precious.For some odd reason he is under the impression that he is the boss, in charge and in his late twenties. Sometimes it's kind of cute, like when he tells me that he thinks it's about time he gets a job, or when he talks about getting married and getting his own house. As much as I don't want to think about those days that are coming all too soon, our job as parents is to prepare our children to leave. Then there are the not so cute - pretty ugly if you ask me - things that he does. For instance, he has no problem voicing, in many words, his displeasure with anyone's decisions. He argues about anything and everything, has to have the last word and rarely gives up until he's in time out for the 2nd or 3rd time. It's scary really, especially for me. Mainly because I remember being the EXACT same way when I was his age. Actually it only really started to change a year or so ago (if you ask some they'll tell you it never changed). It's a huge reality check when you feel as though you are arguing with yourself in the body of a 4 year old boy. Makes me wish I would have set a better example. Well, we have our work cut out for us, to say the least.

The thing is, he can be the sweetest thing too. He loves to give big hugs and kisses, he loves to cuddle with his mommy and talk to his baby brother in my belly (he sings to him sometimes). He says he wants to be like his daddy and he talks about Jesus. Those are the things that make me melt. Those are the times that I look at him and can't imagine ever being angry with him. I know he is a normal, active (very active) little boy. I just can't stand the fact that he has been labled a problem child at school because he hits and spits and disrespects his teachers. All of these behaviors are completely unacceptable, but that isn't who he is.

So on my way to changing his bad behavior, I am realizing more and more that I have to change my behavior. I have raised him myself up until 4 months ago when I got married. He doesn't understand the chain of command: God-Daddy-Mommy-Mason. It hurts that I have almost set him up for failure, but he's only 4 and it's not too late. Better now than when he's a teenager..or worse yet, when he's married. So my husband and I are on a mission now, to model a godly respect and love for each other, in hopes that over time he will loosen his grip on the control he thinks he has and just be a little boy.

Wow, it really is harder than I thought.

2008-05-08T15:05:00.002-05:00

Okay, so I was sure that this whole marriage thing would be a challenge, all relationships are. However I wasn't expecting it to be this difficult. Before I continue I want to make it clear that my husband is in no way the source or cause of these difficulties I am speaking of. He is amazing. He is a great husband and a wonderful father, he is leading this family in a humble and Godly way and providing everything we need. To put it plain and simple, I am the problem. No, this isn't some pity party that I am throwing for myself, I have just been doing a lot of soul searching and taking a good long hard look at myself (with the encouragment of others to do so).

Maybe it's because of the fact I lived with marriage counselors (good ones), that I thought I'd have this marriage thing down. I mean, I know all the basics, I even know all the big problems that couples face, the ones that end in counseling and even divorce. I know what the bible says about having a Godly marriage and I've seen it all work for truth in others lives. So then why am I having such a difficult time applying all my knowledge to my own marriage?

I've been seeing a lot of things lately, very upsetting things. For instance, my son has had absolutely no respect for authority. He is under the impression that his 4-year-old wisdom far surpasses anyone with a diploma or college degree. As funny as it sounds, it's scary. I have been killing myself trying to discipline him and change his behavior with little to no results. Very frustrating. Then I asked a different question, "What's wrong with me?" instead of "What's wrong with him?" That is a huge question with some really ugly answers if you think about it. You see, my biggest problem is submission. It always has been. Knowing this I thought I would be able to keep it under control, unfortunately, that wasn't the case. I have argued with my husbands authority...GOD ORDAINED AUTHORITY and demonstrated to my son that this is acceptable. OMG what have I done?!

So this is my new mission. Rather than be a better mother to my son or fix my sons behavior issues, I have decided to be a better wife to my husband and fix my own behavior issues. Ouch! Seriously, how can I expect my son to have any respect for authority when I don't. He has no idea what that even looks like.

The second thing that fed into my revelation was a book my mother in law demanded Nick and I read together. Since I have more free time on my hands than he does I went ahead and started, thank God that I did. You see I had this AHA! moment about a week ago. I was recovering from a night of resisting my husbands authority and him finally breaking and spilling his heart to me-by the way, this was the mots beautiful, painful conversation I have ever had with him-anyways, the next day I was thinking. I am married to a man that is extremely committed to his job and driven to provide for his family. That is a very admirable quality in a man, however after a while, for many women, it becomes a source of irritation. If he's at work all the time when does he have time for his family? Well, my husband comes home after work every night and spends time with us, he takes days off for us, when we need him he's always there. I want him to continue to do that and I know that if he feels like he can't be successful with his family like he is at his job, he will spend less time with the family and more time at work. This leads into what I learned in that book I was talking about. It's called Love and Respect and the basic jist of it is that men and women have basic NEEDS--women need love and men need respect. If a man doesnt feel respected he will react in an unloving way and if a woman feels unloved she will be disrespectful. It's a cycle. It makes logical sense, but there's more than that, it's biblical. By biblical, I mean that those words are specifically in the bible. In Ephesians, it says (paraphrased) Husbands love your wives like Christ loved the church and wives submit to your husbands like the church submits to Christ. Well a little further down the page it restates these instructions in slightly different words. 5:33 (NIV)"Each one of you also must love his wife as he loves his own body and the wife must respect her husband." LOVE and RESPECT. AHA!

So, relating this back to Mason, as a married couple we are to demonstrate the connection between Christ and the church in our marriage. Submission and unconditional love. And for our marriage, unconditional love and unconditional respect. It's very basic, but oh so hard to accomplish. But here I go, I'm going to give it my best and I will be the wife that God commands me to be and the wife my husband deserves!

Pray for me:)

Praying for Sunny Days...

2008-03-07T15:45:00.001-06:00

It's funny how the weather can affect your mood. It has been raining non-stop all day and my state of mind is about as gloomy as the day is. I guess I have every right to be a little down, concerning the current situation, but until today I've been fine. I mean, yeah, it really sucks that Nick and I are both unemployed and uninsured. But come on, we all know God is going to work it out. I guess I'm just a little upset that I'm pregnant with no health insurance. Not to mention the fact my husband has ANOTHER hernia. We have an empty fridge and....okay, I need to stop. Yes, welcome to my pity party!

In all reality, I am about as blessed as anyone I know. I have a beautiful, healthy (misbehaved...y'all pray about that) son, a God that has proven over and over that I just need to let him do his job and trust it will all be okay, a healthy little baby growing inside me, a roof over my head, clothes, a ridiculously generous, loving church family that would do anything for my husband and I, friends that are here for me no matter what...and I saved this for last: I have the most amazing, incredible, awesome, loving, patient, kind, gentle, perfect-gift-from-God Husband on the planet. He has been so amazing through all my crazy mood swings and attitudes, through my medical issues, with Mason and the pregnancy. How much more blessed could I possibly be?!

So on that note, I would really like to request that everyone says a little prayer for us. Although we all know God has this covered, a little prayer power couldn't hurt. In the mean time, I'm going to say a prayer and put on a happy face, because God is bigger than all of this and I will find joy in this situation!

What is wrong with people?

2008-03-01T14:58:00.001-06:00

I have to say, I am feeling pretty bad right now. Not for myself, although things like these do make you question your safety and feel personally violated in some way. But for my family. My awesome, new family that I love so much. After an awesome reception last night, bonding and hanging out with great people that have welcomed me and my son into their family with open arms, then staying up until 3:30am hanging out with my new brother and sister, disaster struck this morning. We lounged around the condo all morning until about 2pm when we decided to head to the Hard Rock Theme Park to take the tour before going to House Of Blues to see Third Day. When Karen went to get into her practically new 2007 Toyota Solara that they drove from New Jersey in, there was a loud crunching sound that echoed through the garage, then the confusion quickly turned to anxiety when she discovered the driver side window had been broken. Of course, I'm sure you can figure where this is going... her iPod was missing, along with some cash and who knows what else. I hate it, I feel terrible that my family comes to see my husband and I, they spend a bunch of money that they have saved for the last several months, and probably could have used for something else, and now this huge expense. Not to mention the violation factor. I mean, it has happened to me before a couple times and it doesn't feel very good, but it's different when something like that happens to people that you love. It's that helpless feeling, like you want to help, but you can't. It is awful. I saw my mother-in-law cry, my father-in-law is a basket case. I want to do something to help, but there's nothing. The crappy part...well one of them...is that they are scheduled to leave for Jersey tomorrow morning and it is snowing and 20 degrees there. The glass people can't fix the window until Monday morning and there are 5 people that need somewhere to stay. I'm starting to see some ways Nick and I may be able to come through for our family in their time of need. Let me explore my options and return with an update.

**UPDATE**
Okay, well there is better news now. The hotel is going to let everyone stay free of charge for the extra night (if they didn't Nick and I were going to have some company) and the glass guy is scheduled to come out and fix the window at 8am Monday morning. Unfortunately, when it comes to insurance...worthless. They're gonna have to pay upwards of $250.00 to fix the window. So, a big thank you to all of our family, church and Nicks, for the great wedding presents (mostly cash), because of you Nick and I have an opportunity to step in and help. It's a little selfish I suppose, it feels really great to help your family, especially in these disastrous situations. This is what a family is, or at least it's the picture of family I have fantasized about since i was a child. So that is that.

You know, I wasn't all that excited about the concert tonight either, until now. I know the energy that pours out of that kind of atmosphere and it will be a welcome change for the current situation. And in my opinion, a beautiful display of pulling together as a family to make the most of a situation and praising God regardless of the circumstances. Despite the fact this seems unfair and cruel, God allowed this to happen to our family. And no matter how bad it seems, he has promised in his Word that he can and will use all things for good, if we let him. I know enough about this family to realize no matter what goes wrong, good will come from it. They are some of the most dedicated and faithful people I have had the pleasure of knowing and I know that they will allow God to work in this situation, as He does in all situations. Satan tried to destroy something beautiful, it's not the first time and it certainly won't be the last, but who is Satan? Some angry, bitter outcast that can't follow the rules. Who is so unhappy with his own situation-that he is at fault for-that he can't stand to see it enemy's people happy. He is trying to use us to hurt God, welcome to the spiritual battle between good and evil. Satan hates God. Satan can't hurt God. God loves us. Satan hurts those whom God loves in order to indirectly hurt God. It's a vicious cycle that will touch every person on the face of the earth on a painfully regular basis. The great thing is, when you know and understand it, it's not so bad. I mean, who always wins? God, right? So a little temporary pain and a setback or two is nothing compared to how the enemy feels when he is inevidably defeated. The only way he can win is if we allow him to get to us, if we fail to trust God and become defeated ourselves. Not a chance in my family. We will stand on our solid rock while our enemy sinks in the shifting sand.

I thank God for this, with the risk of sounding like a terrible person, because every obsticle we have to overcome presents a plethera of opportunities. For my family to demonstrate their faith by trust in God, for us to demonstrate grace and love by helping and being there for our family and most importantly, for everyone involved to demonstrate mercy. That's probably the toughest one, that mercy, how do you not freak out on the hotel managment for not keeping the property secure, or the owners for not having security cameras, or the police for not going on a crazy man hunt for the criminal that stole out things? How do you just accept this and move on? You have mercy.

So now it's time for our family to pull together, pray together and then waste no more time dwelling and play together. Praise God for the blessings and trust God with the pain. It's all in His hands.

Party!!!

2008-02-29T13:53:00.001-06:00

So today is the non-wedding reception. This seems to be a trend with Nick and I. We had a non-engagement (strange situation), with a non-engagement ring (my pretty star ring, i love it), we were getting married on a non-day(February 29th), then we had a non-wedding (on January 10th in LaDonna's living room), and a non-honeymoon (in North Myrtle Beach for one night and then we worked the next day)..non we are having a non-reception at church with all Nicks family and our church family. Hehe, we are the most non-traditional couple ever!

Anyways, I am running around like a crazy person trying to get everything ready, pick Lani up from school, burn 100 DVDs, lable them and package them, pick Nick up from work, pick Mason up from daycare and still find time to get myself ready. Ugh! I'm excited though, I love my new family.

On that point, I was sitting on the couch in my in-laws' condo watching everyone interact and I got the best feeling. This is what a family is like. Sure, they're just as crazy as everyone else, but they are my family...and more importantly, my son's family. I never thought I'd be able to provide Mason with a real family...and I was right. But through God's grace, we got our family. First with the church and now with Nick and his family. I don't want them to go back to Jersey. Most are leaving tomorrow, the rest (his parents and brother and sister) are leaving on Sunday after church. Not looking forward to that. Well, time to get Lani and head to the chuch. God Bless.

FREEDOM

2008-02-25T12:00:00.001-06:00

Today I got up, took my husband to work, my son to school and WENT HOME! I played with my photography on Photoshop and posted a bunch on Flickr. (If you wanna see the name is MrsHempsey) Anyways, then I came over to my in-laws condo and hung out, now we're off to Broadway At The Beach. It's crazy to not have to get up and drag myself to a dead end job where no one likes me. I am so excited to be able to actually spend some time working on my photography and Photoshop skills. After the party on Friday and the family leaves I intend to spend much time on the computer and out and about taking pictures. Yay! Freedom!

Blah Blah Blah

2008-02-23T16:24:00.001-06:00

Unfortunately, I have had absolutely no time to write anything lately, but that will be changing. According to my mother in law, I have fallen off the wagon...the blogwagon, that is. I am officially unemployed, just a student now. That is very exciting for me, maybe not so much for my husband, but hopefully it will pay off in the end. Speaking of my mother in law, I finally met her! After talking on the phone for months and marrying her oldest son, she drove 10 hours with her mother and daughter from New Jersey to spend time with us. It's great! Her mom is interesting...in a crazy old lady kinda way...but she's fun. And according to Nick, his sister isn't quite herself due to the fact she's got some sort of virus. Apparently when she is in good health she talks non-stop...now she's just sleeping all the time. Poor girl. Hopefully she recovers soon, I'd love to get a chance to see the real Samantha... And then there's Karen, I don't even know what to say about that one. After she stopped freaking out about being called "Grandma", because she's not that old, she just fell right into the role. Mason loves her so much, how could he not. I mean, I already knew we'd get along great because we are like the same person, just 20 years apart. It's such a great feeling having a real family around. They came in a night early because of an ice storm in Jersey so they had to stay the night with Nick and I, and I am so glad they did. Our families meshed togeather beautifully. I can't even explain how it makes me feel seeing my son spending time with his Grandmom, Great Grandmom and Aunt. He was so happy, he was cuddling with Karen and her mom, he is in love with his new family. I guess I just never thought I'd be able to give him all of this. It's awesome, I can't wait to meet everyone else.

Okay, updates on the baby: My cysts are almost completely gone and I am released back to normal activity. I am in my 12th week now, this is the last week in my 1st trimester and I am starting to feel a little better. I got another sonogram picture and it looks like I am having an alien. Really, I'll put the picture on here, I'm not joking....and ALIEN! But everything is healthy and looking good. Looks like this time I'm really having a baby! It's finally starting to sink in, Nick and I are having a baby!

ALIEN:

Alright, everything is up to date, hopefully I'll be able to keep up with this now that I have some extra time. I'm going to go spend some time with my family now. P-P-P-P-PEACE!

Baby Pictures

2008-02-23T13:43:00.001-06:00

Okay, so far this is what we have for baby pictures. It's crazy to see how much the baby grows in just 2 weeks.

Jumpin' on the Blogwagon

2008-02-08T07:03:00.001-06:00

So here I am, my husband started his blog last night and, of course, I followed suit. That's what I do, I guess. Now I get to bestowe all of my wonderful, profound bits of information that pass through my head on a day-to-day basis. Lucky you! As of now my head's pretty empty. Just trying to get to work. I just told my boss yesterday that I will be going back to school in March and have to cut my schedule down...we'll see how that goes.
Oh yeah, school! I am so excited to go back. Well, really I'm just excited for what I'll be studying. Photography has been a hobby and a passion of mine for a long time. Nick has convinced me that I can make a career out of it and is supporting my decision to go back and learn more about it. Can't wait.
So, while I was in the shower this morning, having my little prayer time before my day begins, God brought somethings to my head that I don't think I've thought about fully. Like how blessed I am to be where I am. About 3 years ago I was not doing so good. I had my son and some really bad habits. No good. But to look around now and see all the amazing relationships I have developed....wow. God has brought so many people around me it speak into my life and to help me grow and mature into...i donno...who I am today. And it has only just begun. I've pieced together a tight knit family that I never thought I'd have. Now I'm married to a man that I know God sent to me. He is like the missing piece to my puzzle. It's strange when you have known someone for so long but never really spent time together, then when you do it's like, 'why did I waste so much time?'. I feel like God wrote our names on each others hearts and then brought us together through Barefoot Church. It's awesome. And now we are expecting a child this fall. Despite the complications I've had, we're so excited. In September there will be a little Daiden or Cadence in our family. I love my life. Thank you God!