Moving!

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!

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 times safer riding rear-facing in a car safety seat up to 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!

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!

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

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 :)

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

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

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

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

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....

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.