Gift cards the key?

according to tv... if i get gift cards for people, then my christmas will be complete. i'm not sure this is true. granted, my christmas giving is meager this year, but i'm pretty sure giftcards aren't the answer. hmmm pretty sure that's JESUS. yup. Jesus.

Leaving Paradise

Well its now about 85 degrees here in Tampa and it will be 22 tonight in Crown Point....... yikes! But PRAISE GOD!!! This trip to Florida has been outstanding! Not only did I have several meetings with people who are excited about the ministry God is calling me to, I was able to reconect with friends, visit students, and speak about Royal Servants at a youth group! and oh sooo much more. Pray now as people are making decisions whether or not to support me and how much.

Thanks friends

many a time

So I've sat down to blog several times about my experience so far here in Florida, and every time I can't really put it into words, so I don't try. But today I've found the motivation. So far I have REALLY enjoyed getting to stay with the Lautzenheiser family and be able to have a place to crash and land between meetings or at the end of a long day. (They even DVR'd Biggest Looser for me) My meetings have been a huge blessing. I have truly loved getting the chance to see people that I literally havn't seen in 10 years. But I also truly love sharing about what God is doing right now, and so anytime I get that chance my heart smiles. As I've been sharing and asking people to join my team, I can now just pray that the right people has heard my passion and caught the vision for what God is doing at Reign and decide to jump on board financially.
Wednesday night I spoke on missions at Crestview Baptist Chruch's youth group. It was awesome! They have a great program there and it was fun to come in and challenge them on missions. (If any of you read this, shoot me an email I'd love to connect!) I really hope that God landed the desire to come with us on a trip in some of their lives.
So things are good here. Average temps are in the mid to upper 70's with high humidity and some rain, but overall has been very nice... compared to the snow and ice and NASTY that home has right now.
Please keep praying as my time here is not yet over and I'm still expecting God to show up! Thanks friends!

Prayer is MUCH needed

Tomorrow I am going back to my roots. Back to where I grew up as a kid. I am excited to get to go drive by my old elementary school, see where Bry played little league, our old house... I'm going down there because there are so many people who are huge supporters of our family and my prayer is that the people and the churches that I will be meeting with, will be called to support me financially. Its intimidating really, but this trip is HUGE for me. I have a large number of "contacts" and I hope to network to make more before the week is over. Please be praying for receptive hearts and that I can passionatly communicate the vision of Reign Ministries in a clear way to the right people.

I have really high goals for this trip. Pray that God shows up and does his thing. Thanks!

Clean

Shane and Shane are ROCKING me this morning with amazing lyrics that are soooo intensly deep. Here's a few lines from a few songs from the album, Clean.

Your grace is sufficient for me

Your strength is made perfect

When I am weak

And all that I cling to

I lay at Your feet

Your grace is sufficient for me

To see the Lord, the promise land

Where in sins pearly gates look bland

And what was once a pearl now sand

That blows away in light of Him

When battle lines become unclear

And the waging war is all I hear

Sustain me with Your voice

And the choice to walk in truth

And by the Spirit

You and I will run

You and I will run forever

All is done

You and I will run

Lord i want to yearn for You

I want to burn with passion

Over You and only You

Lord i want to yearn

Dear Advertizers....

Please find a new way to sell your products. Thanks, Laura

I won't go as far as saying I can't believe I saw a commercial which used some aweful stuff to sell watches, but I was absolutly ticked off. Since when is sex used to sell watches?! oh man, what kind of world is this?!

Oh Chicago, WHY?!

Chicago's sports teams are historic, no doubt about it. Wrigley Field is one of the last great baseball facilities left in the big leagues. Who can forget Bobby Hull leading the Blackhawks to a Stanley Cup win? Michael Jordan's famous dunk, tongue and sweaty bald head. The likes of Mike Singletary, the Fridge, Walter Payton, Jim McMahon playing in Soldier Field inside the iconic columns. And yet, with such a rich history behind us, the Bulls are in a loosing season, Cubs havn't been able to do ANYthing in years, the Bears are killing me right now as Bret Favre and the Vikings (ew) might as well be playing a high school defense and o-line. Thank heavens for hockey, the least famed sport in our city, which is currently holding the lead in the Central division... but we still have months to play in the schedule.
Yet I remain a loyal and devoted fan.

Enraptured

This is a worship song on a worship cd put out by one of Liberty University's campus praise band called Exodus. It's a FANTASTIC song. Jennie and I are in the process of learning it to do on a Sunday morning.
I'm excited. Here's the verses and the chorus.

In Your splendor, I surrender, I’m in awe
All consuming, how you move me, and I fall
Into the arms of grace, as I seek your face,
My world fades away

I’m enraptured, you have captured my heart
Never changing, never failing, and I run
Into the arms of grace, as I seek your face,
My world fades away

Until nothing else matters

Until nothing else matters

Until nothing else matters
 
Until nothing else matters
 
But you.......

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is an awesome holiday. I hope that you were able to stop for a few seconds to recognize what you are thankful for. To me, this is a holiday not just to look at what we have and feel good about ourselves. I really think in order to be thankful, we have to be thankful TO something. I'm thankful to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, of the Old and New Testaments. The one that Jesus Christ is a part of along with the Holy Spirit as The Triune God, the Great I AM. Just incase you needed further clarification.

I'm thankful for SO many things right now, and while it is and should be obvious that I am thankful for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for my eternal salvation, for my family who are the most important things to me on this Earth, and my friends, many of whom I could not survive life without. Those things are ALWAYS true, every year. This year, I am specifically thankful for the support, financial and otherwise of friends, family, and strangers, who believe not just in me, but in what God is calling me to do in ministry. I’m thankful that there are those who are willing to sacrifice so that I can do what I’m passionate about.

What are you thankful for?

Psalm 34 and fear.

Interesting thing... fear. It binds us, it grips us, it stops us, and somehow for many of us its always there! I know I've been dealing with it. The fear that God isn't going to do as he promises, the fear that I won't measure up, the fear that people don't care about what I'm called to do. The interesting thing about fear is that its not always (in my case rarely) grounded in reality. (one author I read suggests that my issue isn't really fear as much as anxiety... but that's all semantics) Psalm 34:4 stopped me dead in my tracks the other morning...  "I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears."

The answer to fear is seeking the face of God! Doesn't it SOUND easy? TOO easy. So easy in fact, that I often write it off and try to find a way around it myself. Silly, I know... because those times I find nothing in myself but more fear. But when I DO seek the Lord... the fear does infact subside, and the strength and realization that what Ephesians 3:20-21 says is true comes through. (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.)



This dance is from "So You Think You Can Dance" (a favorite of mine) and it's about a woman dealing with the issue of Fear in her life. Kathryn is the woman struggling and Legacy is the character of Fear. Its absolutly beautiful!  (don't feel like you have to listen to the judges comments, just watch the dance!)

G4

Now don't get me wrong... its not my favorite cable television channel. But there's this show on it called Ninja Warrior. Basically its this crazy Japanese show where these men try their hand at a string of insane physical challenges. They either finish by pushing the big red button at the end of the course, fall in the muddy water, or get the challenges but not within the time. G4 apparently thought that the show was awesome (and it is) and bought rights to show it here in america. So they have english subtitles. its hilarious! some of these guys are amazingly athletic. A bunch of them are olympians and other quasi-legit athletes. Every once in a while G4 will hold tryouts to send americans to go compete in the show.  Rarely do the americans pull it off... sad day.
Nagano is deffinetly my favorite. I'm pretty sure he's a real ninja.

Christmas in Our Home Town!

Tonight is our annual Women's event at our church and I am so excited! Don't get me wrong... Every year is GREAT, but I'm particularly excited about this year. I'm not really sure why. I think it's just because i'm on such the cusp of my own life change at the moment.

Every year about two to three hundred women gather in a banquet hall and enjoy some fellowship and focus before the onslaught of the Christmas season. The goal is to take a breath and dig in with the right attitude as Christmas quickly approaches.

There's Music, Crafts, Give aways, Silent auctions, and of course a Message.

My Mom does a FANTASTIC job every year at putting together what God puts on her heart and really challenges the women of NW Indiana to action. This year she's talking about Giving from the proper perspective. I'm so proud of her! Every year she speaks she absolutly nails it!

If you think about it, be praying for the event tonight :)

New Newsletter!!!

I'm so excited to finally have a publishable newsletter to present! It has been WAY too long. This is going out to a list of people whom I have mailing addresses for. If you'd like things from me via snail mail, please email me your address, I'd love to put you on my list.
Take a minute. Read my newsletter!

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/view.php?id=1543055&da=y





love it?

Just another memory monday!

The last two Royal Servan'ts summers i've been on i've introduced what is called "Memory Mondays" The students don't always LOVE it because it has consequenses if the students don't have their memory work for the week done, BUT i know deep down they do love it. Its not just a mission trip... They work hard doing memorization  all summer! they also have regular teachings and time in the word. It's pretty fantastic. :)

UPDATE

Hello boys and girls. I'm pretty sure my "Goole Analytics" is busted because it's telling me I have ZERO hits this week,when I know for a fact that I have had at LEAST one.... (thanks Bryana). Oh well, I will keep on keepin on with the updates cause I know B likes them, and maybe someone will stumble accross my site and find something interesting. Right now I'm getting ready to send out a newsletter (I know... shocking) it's been way toooo long. So if you want to be on that list and think there's a slight chance you might not be.... please let me know asap.

Logger...

My dad is amazing. What doesn't he do? He got this HUGE trailer full of Oak trees and cut it all up into smaller, fireplace sized logs. He was a little (ok a lot) sore after all was said and done. But he's pretty buff and our family now has wood for the fireplace for the next few YEARS!
Which brings me to fireplaces. They're amazing. you ever just shut off all the lights in the house and sit and read in front of a roaring fire? try it.
Especially when its just you in the house and you've got your Bible open to whatever God's teaching you at the moment.... (if he's not teaching you at the moment, try Colossians 3...or just the whole book)

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

OK. So I got the official word this morning that I will be helping lead the mission trip to Sierra Leone, Africa this summer with Royal Servants! I am so excited about this new challenge and ministry and the chance to team up with Matt Halseth for a second summer!! This trip presents for me new opportunities that I have never experienced before. I know God is going to be all over this team and I am begining to pray now for our ministry there and also the team of students and staff that we will be taking with us. read more about the trip on Reign's website, www.reignministries.org/mission-trips

Rockin' and Rollin'

I have a few thoughts for today.... first, and most pressing (literally) is TEA. i know.. I know "real deep Laura" but I love tea. In order to function on any given day I need at least a good 16-18 fluid ounces of some good English Breakfast tea with plenty of milk and sugar. Now this morning.... I did not have enough time to make my tea and therefore went without. I made it for the most part until around 5:15pm when my head started hurting and I thought to myself... hmm... why is my head hurting? I've drank plenty of water today. And then it struck me. DUH, no tea. So, I did what any normal person would do... I grabbed 2 Excedrin and poured a HUGE mug of tea. It hasn't kicked in though so my head is still kind of pounding, but I'll give the meds a little bit and hopefully by dinner it will have abated. Second. Support is movin forward. I'm feeling pretty good about my meetings and loving getting the opportunity to meet with people and share my passion and vision for ministry. It helps that I truly believe SO much in what I'm doing. Also, my car is STILL running! (thanks again daddio!!) and for the time being I am mobile. this picture proves it... kind of. Thanks for your continued prayers. :)

I'm not sure how he does it....

Several posts ago I had an ode to the dead car. Well I REALLY don't understand how my father is so skilled as to keep on reviving this thing! BUT he is. So I now have a vehicle to get to and from support appointments and work and other general runnings around with somewhat ease. The car is not allowed to go outside of about a 30 mile radius, but it RUNS!!!! HUGE answer to prayer. THANKS DAD FOR WORKING SO HARD TO GET IT RUNNING!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

My Grama is great.

I was filling my Grama in on life yesterday and she is SUCH a huge encouragement in life! She read me a page out of the devotional that she had been studying that morning. Funny how sometimes God gives us things that are meant for other people. So hopefully, while I know this was for me, maybe it's for you also today.
Jeremiah 32:27 "I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" Whew! Amen, you're right God. (I mean, when are you wrong? haha) Verse 17 is Jeremiah's same statement. "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstreached arm. Nothing is too hard for you."
Good stuff to think about.

God knows.....

The car situation is not super fun right now please pray that God will some how provide a car. I know I posted that I was going to be using my dad's but the one they were getting fell through. I know I am being obedient, I just don't know how God will do his thing. Thanks guys!

honesty....

Can i be honest for a second? Not that I normally lie... but anyway, the single hardest part about support raising is making the phone call to ask for the appointment! I want to meet with as many people as will listen to what God is doing right now, but for some reason that phone call is tough! I've got all the lies doing the tango with all the truth in my head and somewhere along the way, its my feet that keep getting crushed! haha. Katelyn had on her facebook status today "Positive thinking is half the work, positive thinking is half the work, posititive thinking is half the work...." I loved it and promptly thanked her. The truth is people DO care, and DO want to know. I just have to take that first step. So here I go. positive... dial...

I'm Excited....

So I'm not sure yet where I'll be going yet for this upcoming summer... But I get really excited as I think about the possibilities! like... REALLY excited. SO excited in fact that I will now list for you the countries in which I have visited. READY?! GO. England, Scotland, Ireland, Republic of Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Vatican City, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Monaco, Austria, Slovakia, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada and the good ol' U.S. of A.
WHEW! Maybe this summer I'll have some more to add to that list!

Good word Sids

Suzanne told me last night that over the years, one of the biggest lesson she's learned is "All of the good that comes from going through the really hard stuff, doesn't make it any easier" and I Totally agree. 100%. I know God has to walk me through some painful and scary things. I also know that incredible good will come of it. But its still hard. Oh the things that make us stronger and draw us to Him.

Ok so He DOES know.

So for the past week I've been praying (and... ok crying a little). I know God's in control, but when things happen that we can't explain at this moment, it doesn't always SEEM that way. LONG story really short. God has provided my parents with a very reasonably priced low mileage car, which means that they have a car that will no longer be used and therefore I WILL GET TO DRIVE MY DAD'S CAR! Wow thanks Jesus. You NEVER fail me.

dear Jesus

Sometimes i don't understand why things happen, would you please explain how you are going to display yourself? thanks Amen.

RIP Squirrel Cage

This morning I was going to take my car into have it looked at. The engine is making some funky noises and the car won't go past about 23 mph. So my dad thinks it might be the timing belt in the engine. I jumped in my brother's car to follow him to drive up into town and my car didn't start. Seeing as how Bry had to leave to get to a conference in Chicago, he didn't have time to do anything about it. Mom and Dad are out of town. So, I jumped the car using another car and got it to start (I'd never jumped a car before, and I got it first try... in the cold rain), then I went to put it in gear and it wouldn't go into gear. I finally forced it into drive and pressed the gas.... nothing. I tried reverse, it felt like the bottom of the car was stuck on a stump or something, I know what you're thinking... emergency break... but no, it was not engaged, I checked.... multiple times. So I flicked on the lights just to see, and it died. So I did the whole routine over again before I got out of the car, kicked the tire and went back inside.
All this to say, I now don't have a car. I don't know what God's going to do with that. I need a car, it's part of my start up costs, but I'm only at about 10% and can't get a car yet. pray. thanks.

Mission One Hundred underway...

I'm working now on getting the funds to support raise full time. It's kind of like I need about 3 months worth of support up front so that I can support raise for 3 months... ya know? So my prayer request right now is that people would be interested in giving to the front load of the ministry so that ministry can take place. I'm sending out letters and making appointments and meeting with people. I want to fund a vision for ministry, not just raise money!

October 1, 2009: Day #1. January 8, 2010: Day #100. Faith Goal: 100% in 100 days.

OK. so. BIG NEWS.

I know many of you are wondering what I'm talking about. Well, this is it. I'm still in Minnesota just finishing up my time here with my Reign Ministries family before heading back to Indiana. God's been whoppin my tail recently about my future, more specifically about raising support to be a missionary. So through a series of God sized moments and convictions, I have decided to support raise full time for the next 100 days. There are many things that go into this new step for me, including making large financial appeals to front load my ministry so i don't have to be working outside of support raising. it also includes meeting face to face with as many people as i possibly can, who i think would be interested in being a part of what God is doing through me at Reign Ministries. I'm going to be giving presentations and making asks and as scary as that is, i'm aslo excited about having more people on board with this ministry.

I believe in what God is calling me to, I have never been more sure in my life about something God's calling me into. So here it is. October 1st is a HUGE day for me. I covet your prayers and i know i have them. I'm going to be going through lists of names of people, praying about who God may be leading to join with me in some way. I have LOTS to do and will require teams of people to help accomplish my goals. If you want to help? let me know. i probably have something for you to take part in.

Here It Goes!!!

yea minnesota!

I'm leaving in the morning for Minnesota! woohooo!!! I get to go to Reign staff conference this year and I can't tell you how excited I am. I've always wanted to go, now that I'm staff, I get to. Should be an amazing time of fellowship and good hard work taking a look back to last summer and ahead to next. Plus a few extra days in MN just for fun ;) oh and on the plus side, its not supposed to be CRAZY cold. Low in the mid to upper 40's at night and highs in the lower seventies some days and mid sixties others.
19-29th. MN.watch out northern neighbors, I'm on my way.

Learning....Trusting... Praying....

i watched the message on lifechurch.tv today about practical athiesm: "I believe in God but i trust in money"
whew. heavy hitting. God's shakin things up for me people. shakin it up hard. while i think i now have a pretty good understanding of what it is that he wants from me, i still feel like this week i need to just pray, read and seek what it is specifically that God is asking of ME. one of the quotes in the sermon was "we don't have to ask God for our daily bread because we have enough in the pantry to last two weeks". i had to shrug and admit that it was true. in fact i made toast this morning. (yes. butter and cinnamon and sugar) but this morning as i examined my bank account compared to the bills that are due next week i almost had a minor heart attack. why? because i trust in money. my initial reaction was fear and not prayer. (please don't read this blog and think that what i just wrote was some sick attempt for pitty and money, it wasn't, i'm just trying to get a point accross about trust/money/God)
perhaps my favorite quote in the sermon was "How can you NOT get to know Him and let him mess you up in the best sort of way?!" haha i had to laugh because its SO hard, but SO true.
in a different and yet similar veign of thought.....
I learned a lot at the support raising boot camp this weekend. I'm excited about all the tools i now have to step forward with my ministry and my vision. i want to get face to face with people and share my vision before asking anyone to join my team. i want people to be excited about why i'm raising support. because, well, to be honest, its completely worth being excited about. I have the opportunity to pour my life into the lives of students who will have the opportunity to be used by God to radically change not only the countries we minister in, but their worlds back home! To have a hand in raising up the next generation of followers of Jesus Christ in a powerful way! its deffinetly something I'm excited about. and i want to share that with everyone, face to face, one on one. it may take some time, but its worth it.

ode to Boise.

I get at least 3 hits a day from Boise. Holler back Boise. i know it's probably just Bryana feverishly checking to see if I've shared any more morsels of wisdom.... but i appreciate the representation from your city.

The support raising conference is going REALLY well so far. overwhelmingly convicting. Matt Halseth and I both don't like conviction. Luckily Steve McHargue is there to make sure i follow through with said convictions ;) thanks Steve!!
i have to do a mock face to face financial appeal appointment, not gonna lie... its scary.
....continue to pray as i learn and am challenged!

I said I'd blog about struggles.....

I going to a support raising conference this weekend and I must say I'm rather excited about it. As I've been finishing up the 30+ hours worth of homework for it, I was reading the book they assigned. There's a whole chapter in there about single female missionaries, and it meant a lot. through all my preparations for this conference, everything says "consult your wife after finishing this" and I'm continually goin, "NOPE, that part doesn't apply". Not that I want to be married right now or that I'm unhappy with where I'm at. I just don't like that Evangelical America as a culture is bias toward married couples in missions and kind of against single females. But I know that, so I feel better equipt and armed to get my support raising off the ground even more. This conference, I hope, will give me the tools and confidence I need to support raise successfully!

...you can be praying for me :)

cute and cuddly

This is Tyson and Bear.
They are so stinkin cute. Tyson is my Nephew.... well... he's April's puppy and he loves me. He literally freaks out when he sees me. Don't you just want to play with him!?

its the legacy that lasts...

My great grandmother was a woman who loved the Lord. From the time I was little I remember every year getting books about missionaries! She was a woman of prayer and a deep commitment to her family. She went to Moody Bible Institute long before I was even born and she created a legacy that would greatly impact me. She was blazing the trail for women at Moody long before I did. Her health as been on the decline for quite a while and as Alzheimer’s set in she would forget things but never forgot who she was in Christ. Even a few months ago, when we saw her last, she remembered her time at Moody, although she didn't remember that she was well into her 90's. When I told her that I had also gone to MBI she said that it must be from her time at Moody that she remembered me :). She died this morning, and I know that she is with Jesus and loving it! She can now remember everything and her body works perfectly. Death is a hard thing to deal with for those of us who are still here, but knowing that she was someone who lived for the Lord in everything she did gives me hope and I'm glad she gets to spend this time and into eternity with her heavenly father.

Cause you're my best friend....

Why is it that i have to be having a significant life event like a wedding in order to have all of my best friends near me at one time? lame. Just because my closest friends span about 5 states and 3 countries doesn't mean i should never get to see them. I was talking to Bethany about what i would do with $260 million. I'd travel... a lot. I miss my friends a lot today.

My Ideals....

ok, not really my ideals, but my dad was making fun of the fact that i was going to blog while watching tv and he said very tongue in cheek "are you going to blog about your ideals?" i replied "yes, i'm going to blog about my distaste for the socialization of heathcare in the obamacare" haha. he said "REALLY?!" to which i responded "NO" haha
My blog will not be that deep today. why? mostly because America's Got Tallent is on and... well.... its a little bit lame, and not just because nick cannon is wearing a black smokers jacket with white stripes.....
what was i saying? oh. yea. my blog tonight. "things on television i'm excited about" in no particular order, i'm excited about Dancing with the Stars, Chicago football, Biggest Looser, and Heroes. I'm sure there's other things i'm excited about, but those are the few that come to mind.
ah, headache. bed.

Ode to Best Buy

Please let me come back to work. I promise I'll be a good Geek. I even got new glasses, maybe I'll add tape.

The Communication Age...

I know what you're thinking, that's the name of one of the Urbanies songs from their first EP! which is found free on their site www.urbanitesmusic.com. And i would say to you, YOU ARE CORRECT!
However, not the reason for my post. No no, rather it has to do with my reflections of communication that youth have today. I was telling someone recently that after my first Royal Servants trip i had to wait about a week to get my 12 rolls of film developed and my parents changed our long distance plan so i could call my friend in canada once a week. Also, we wrote letters to eachother to stay in touch. i know foreign right? NOT really that long ago, it was in 2001! but when i was telling a student that they looked at me like i'd just gotten finished riding in my wagon on the Oregon trail!
Now we have facebook, texting, cell phones, digital cameras and status updates! its crazy really. when we're wrestling to apply what God did in our lives over the course of the summer and need a listening ear from someone who understands, we don't write a 12 page letter and send it off, we call a friend and instantly have someone there! its really strange... in a good way i think most of the time. It helps hold us accountable, it helps give support, but do we really continue to know one another by writing "i love you" on their facebook wall once a day for 6 months after the trip? i'm going to go out on a limb and say yes. HERE'S why. Erin Bidwell, Kristy Swanson, Suzanne Bailey, i could go on. These people i could not talk to at all for 6 months or a year even and if i saw them or talked to them, things bounce right back. WHY? you ask? well because something is accomplished on a Royal Servants trip that isn't many other places, TRUE COMMUNITY. and because of that, even if it's just a quick, hey i love you on a semi-regular basis.... it just reminds us that there's someone else out there who gets it, someone else out there who cares.

i wasn't dead... just missing. but i'm back.

So I’ve been watching the TV show “Heroes” recently. It’s really not a bad show; I didn’t want to drink the Kool-Aid of “Lost” like the rest of my family, unlike them, I’m saying NO to Ben. But anyway, in Hero’s there’s a guy who’s Japanese who’s name is Hiro who can bend the time space continuum and travel or manipulate time. I know I know, “real convincing LB” but I feel like I just stepped out of a time warp! May happened, then June, then July and now it’s mid August! Woah. I know part of the reason I have this blog is so that people can keep up with my life, especially when it’s interesting, like when I’m in the United Kingdom. I FAILED. I apologize to those of you who do follow this. I realize that I should have kept this up better, but all I can do is start over now right? Here goes.
The last two months were devoted to Royal Servants. If you know anything about me, this is the very thing that makes my heart leap and embodies pretty much everything that is my passion for ministry. I’m not going to write a whole book (because I could) but I’m going to give you a few key glimpses of it. I got to training camp completely empty. I was SO tired after a physically whirlwind May and a dry year spiritually. But God once again made himself known on that hot sticky hay field in Illinois. Day after day I asked the Lord for the strength physically, spiritually, emotionally to finish that day strong in him. And when I woke up, after not enough sleep, feeling like I’d just walked through an atomic bomb, I’d walk towards where our team was and found that a few steps outside of my tent God provided. He met me there on my walk and filled me up. I have literally never physically experienced God in this way. Was I still tired sometimes? OF COURSE! But God gave me just what I needed to do His work and not my own.
Overseas part of my responsibilities included semi-regular teachings. I was intimately aware before each time I stood up to talk that if God did not empower my words and allow them to land, then they were just words as meaningless and powerless as a 90’s pop song. So I prayed, and I asked them to pray. I had a pastor in MN who would ask for a few people to be praying for his sermon every time he stood up to preach, I liked that idea and each talk I did, I asked two students or staff to be in prayer through my talk. God doesn’t have to show us how he’s using us, but I sure love it when he does. I had the students give me a few sentence “what I’m learning” update for our team blog, and one of the girls had that loving and forgiving in faith was some of the biggest things God was teaching her. Both How to Love by Faith, and Forgiveness were teachings I had just finished the week before. On a bus ride to our culture and heritage day, I overheard some girls in a deep conversation and so I joined. They were wrestling with a talk I had given the day before and all of them told me that God had rocked them to the core of who they were with my words. I can’t tell you how this feels, I only know that it was God himself. I am humbled and honored that God would choose to use me in the lives of these students.
My favorite part of the summer was my nightly rounds. I would walk around the room that the girls slept in and hugged and tucked each girl in before they went to sleep. I often ended up laying on the floor hearing or telling stories and laughing before moving on to the next person. I then gave them a “thought to think about” as they were falling asleep. I don’t know how God used me completely, but I hope that the Lord used me in the lives of our students and staff in profound ways. And for those of you who held me up in prayer, He used YOU just as powerfully, if not more than he used me. Like Greg Speck always says, “Prayer is not preparation for the greater work, it IS the greater work.”
Thanks.

Travel update

Disney World with the fam? amazing. my leg muscles are bulging now from a good solid week's workout. it rained almost every day, but that's not something that our family allows to ruin anything, we had a BLAST.
Boise with B? fantastic! I didn't know Idaho rocked! it does by the way. hiking makes my body hurt, but i'll adjust. (no Bryana i'm not promising to move to boise.... yet...)

gettin old...

well today is day 2 of being 25! TWENTY FIVE crazy. ya know when you're a kid and you're like, "i can't wait to grow up"? i was never really like that and never really saw myself as an adult, (i know i know, most of you don't see me as an adult either haha) but I AM!
And no, no major ailments yet :)

I'M GOING TO IRELAND!

I'd love to go into great detail, but I have found people's attention spans are short, so here it is. I'm not going on Royal Servant's Costa Rica team this summer, I'm going on the Ireland team instead.
I'm excited, I'll be sad to not get to travel with the rockin awesome Costa team, but I know the switch is something God will bless and I stinkin LOVE the UK. ALSO, Ireland will be country number 26 for me. :)
Lucky Charms all summer long.
love to talk about it more if you wanna hear :)

BLAH!

I hate being sick.

Costa Costa Costa RICA!

Anyone availible to help me pack? I leave for the summer pretty quick (which also means i turn 25 pretty soon. yikes). i have to pack for Disney vaca with the fam. (may 14-23), Boise wedding party with Bryana (23-27), Seattle wedding with Chantelle (27-31), Training camp (June1-July1) and last but certainly not least Costa Rica (July1-25). But i have to pack for all of that.... before i leave for florida. oi. my organizational skills are going to get a workout... think i could get a spread sheet made up for this?? no.. i'm serious. haha. sad... but serious!

I'm proud of you Miss Cali...

Carrie, you go girl. that's all i can say.

Here's the shake down, in America, religious freedom is becoming replaced by political correctness. It's no longer ok to stand up for what you believe, what you live by as a follower of Christ, Truth. I refuse to accept this cultural norm in my life and know that soon and very soon, to be a believer in Jesus Christ as the only way only the truth and the only life will not only be taboo, it will be all out rejected.

Carrie took the biggest, most public hit of our generation for our generation of believers. I'm proud of her for sticking to it and not buckling under the pressure of culture.

the following is a clip of a foxnews story today:

"Hollywood isn’t just liberal, it is fearfully liberal. It is easier in Hollywood to say you’re a drug addict or to pretty much anything than to admit to being a committed Christian," media expert and longtime Hollywood publicist, Michael Levine of Levine Communications, told FOXnews.com.
Prejean, a student at San Diego Christian College, is studying to become a special education teacher and spends her spare time volunteering for the Best Buddies non profit organization, a program that helps people with disabilities. Prejean is also a volunteer for the Special Olympics.
But according to Equality California, a statewide advocacy group dedicated to winning equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, Prejean’s views on gay marriage don't fit with those of her generation.
"It is unfortunate that Miss California, who we note did not win, is so out of touch with the overwhelming majority of people her age that she wants to deny loving, committed couples the rights and dignity that come only with marriage," said Geoff Kors, Executive Director of Equality California.
Prejean has garnered a lot of support nonetheless.
"The majority of California’s voters -- more than 7 million people -- voted to protect traditional marriage, and we congratulate Miss California for her conviction to speak her beliefs," Ron Prentice, chairman of ProtectMarriage.com Coalition, said.
Moakler’s colleague Keith Lewis released a statement to FOXnews.com Monday morning condemning Prejean and saying that "religious beliefs have no politics in the Miss California family." But later in the day he softened his rhetoric.

For the rest of the story: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,517277,00.html

Columbine, Friend of Mine.

Jonathan and Stephen Cohen were students at Columbine High School in Littleton CO on April 20, 1999. 10 years ago two of their classmates sprayed the building with bullets killing 13 people, physically wounding 23 more, and rocked the lives of countless. Jonathan and Stephen were only two of the many who had emotional scars, but had something to lean on durring the healing process, Jesus Christ. They wrote and preformed a song along with their pastor about that day. One line from their song was this

"Can you still hear raging guns ending dreams of precious ones?In God’s son, hope will come, his red stain will take our pain."

These guys found their hope and peace in Jesus Christ. As I think about the attacks that happened 10 years ago, I remember vividly sitting at my own high school desk glued to the tv's that almost every teacher had on in their rooms. My heart and prayers are still with the people of that school. Keep leaning on Jesus Christ guys, its the only way you'll find peace.

Primetime in No time....

i like to think of myself as a well rounded person. So if you were to ask me "hey LB what happened on tv last night?" i could probably tell you. not because i've spend hours watching all of the shows, but because i catch prime time in no time on yahoo and it gives me just enough to SOUND inteligent about tv. (unless we're talking about dancing with the stars because i could go on all day about how i think chuck and juliann should win but probably won't). i understand that sounding inteligent about tv may sound like an oxymoron, BUT people live and die by the thing so i figure i can keep up with our modern culture for conversation's sake.
in other news, it's been a full few weeks and it was great to get to celebrate my baby sister's 23rd birthday (and she's married.. what?!) yea not so baby anymore. but alas we had a good time re-living our childhood at the field museum in chicago. we finally had a day when all six of us could be together which was great, and my friend Rhi now understands me better after spending the day with us.

Easter was good. the power of the day somehow makes me lost. you know that moment when it REALLY hits you? i sang Keith and Kristen Getty's song "the power of the cross" the concept of Christ becoming sin for us really drops me where i stand. and of course the family tradition of cracking easter eggs on eachother's head is always a plus. i tagged mom, dad, bry and even bear without getting even one on my noggin. i win (although if erin were here i know there would have been a much different outcome)

i've now started gearing up for what i like to call "LB gets to live out of a bag for 3 months" the downside is i have to pack for a disney vacation, a trip to idaho, a wedding in seattle, life outside on a hayfield and a final month in costa rica with only one chance to have stuff changed out. between now and may 9th i'm having regular brain storming sessions with myself to figure out how this is all going to work.

I'd now like to take this moment to publically thank my chief of staff Bryana, for her continued support of my administration and for signing up to follow my blog. you're dedication is heart warming.

Festivities...

I'm not normally one to be consider myself overly festive... BUT today is the Saturday before St. Patricks day and while I'm not, apparently, I'm Chi-rish. So I donned my green shirt and headed downtown. It was a beautiful day outside and the parade was fun. Good times... good times, best friends. :)

i'm trying something different...

since it is 65 degrees outside and i said i'd start running when it warmed up... i'm going for a run. i also got up at 5:15 and worked till 1 and also ate a healthy breakfast. who am i?! ha

now

Have you ever had an opportunity present itself that seems to be made for you? All of your passions and gifts seem to line up and you know God is working, but you have to step out to get it? And the whole stepping out thing, while exciting, is also mildly terrifying? I find myself there now.

it is very stupid...

ok. so what consitutes as news? i was reading this morning about a woman with 6,005 piercings... is that really news? i mean, creepy yes, but news? and then there's this "Idol feud heats up" title where in the story both of the women are pretty cordial and not really "feuding" at all. our media will make something out of nothing. and maybe i'm the sucker that spent even a few moments looking at it.
now news, i'll tell you what was news today, i watched a pannel of analysts from both political parties discuss the current political/economical situation. THAT was news. i argued right along with my laptop while i was folding laundry.

Cause its a great day to be alive...

A friend reminded me today about how much I love Disney cartoons. I have a serious desire to pull out some old vhs tapes and waste about 3 days in sheer bliss of childhood memories, alas I will not.

An Important Observation

If you sleep in really late on a given day, you very possibly will not be able to get to sleep that night at a decdent time. When this happens multiple days in a row, you basically give yourself jet lag, without of course the joys of acctually traveling ANYWHERE.
Note to self: better structured bed time and wake up time.

fun facts

i got this from facebook but decided to put it out on here, its pretty great.
25 Random facts:
1) My Favorite TV shows include Alias and Veronica Mars (I’m watching both seasons from start to finish)
2) Netflix might be one of the best things of my life
3) Electronic Guestures is HASTERICAL!!
4) I would like a Pontiac Vibe or Nissan Versa
5) I am addicted to Albanese candy in both the gummy and chocolate forms (www.albaneseconfecgtionery.com)
6) I have recently been frequenting some really great clubs in Chicago to see my favorite band the URBANITES (www.myspace.com/urbanites)
7) I can’t seem to get ‘Single Ladies’ by Beyonce out of my head for the life of me and I’d like to learn the choreography from the music video
8) I have a SICK large TV in my room (total God story)
9) I would say “yes absolutely” today if Tim Tebow asked me to marry him
10) Traveling is my heroine, 25 countries and counting
11) I would like to road trip the US of A in a restored VW van with my Best Friend
12) I didn’t start enjoying reading until AFTER I graduated college and didn’t have to anymore
13) I LOVE politics, less the people and more the process
14) My Gmail inbox has ninja’s in the background
15) I like to think I can dance… this may or may not be true
16) I’ve seen a lot of movies, please don’t ask for my favorite, there are too many
17) I occasionally have cravings for grilled cheese sandwiches
18) Birthday cake ice cream is my favorite by far (even in the winter ice cream is an important part of my life)
19) I’ll be moving to Minneapolis as soon as I have my support raised
20) I wish I would have paid attention in Spanish class cause I now would like to know it
21) I recently got a new Geek Squad jacket, yes, I’m THAT cool
22) My high school musical sweatshirt is one of my prized possessions
23) I have close friends in at least 9 states and 3 countries
24) There is sometimes ice on the inside of my walls at night
25) I am on foxnews, yahoo, gmail, my blog and facebook every day.

Blogo Crud, Get OFF MY TV!

This guy is rediculous! Don't say "I'm just like the people of America that are loosing their jobs". YOU are not a hard working American that lost his job due to the economy, YOU screwed up because you're a greedy jerk. Why are we throwing cameras in this guy's face? Who cares what he says! He didn't care to put his thoughts in on the process and went to NY for a media blitz instead of getting his word in and then he says that he didn't get his say?! what? this dude is crazy. He can't say that the senate discarded the constitution in this.
I HATE that I love politics so much. Why do I have to care? bummer.
In better news I got Alias season 5 disc one in the mail, I love Netflix, good bye Blogo, hello Bristow! (have I mentioned that Sydney Bristow is my inspiration?)

ducks

that heading was intentionally random.
please feel free to take my poll :)

well hello...

Random thought for the day: People's lives are so complex. I think we'd all say that our lives are complex, but we always seem to minimize the complexities of the lives of others around us. Or maybe we all seem to make complex things that are simple. I wish I knew.
I hope you've enjoyed my random thought for the day.

Deep thought for the day: I was thinking about it last week, about how if my friend called from the side of the road with a flat tire or needed a lift from work I wouldn't even think about it. Not a second thought would go through my head, I'd jump in my car and head out, after all, we're friends, they'd do the same for me. My service to my friend is a direct result of my relationship with that person. Same goes with our relationship with Jesus Christ. We choose to serve him based on our relationship with him. There are needs in the Kingdom of God (big and small) that need to be met, and our willingness to fulfill those needs are based on our relationship with Christ. We're more willing to dive in with both feet if we know without a doubt Christ's love for us. Well guess what, KNOW IT! He'd pick you up if you have a flat any day.

Further thoughts: My prayer cards are printed now! If you want one, let me know I'd love to get it in the mail for you. As always, I appriciate your prayers.

Change of Power

I can't tell you how much I appriciate our political process. Did you realize what happened? yea we got a new President of the United States (you know, where we live?) but even more than that. There wasn't just a new President, but a whole new political party took power! I'm not sure if we're really grasping the importance of this statement yet, if we were in almost any other country there would be a civil war right now. WE ARE SO BLESSED TO LIVE IN A COUNTRY WHERE POLITICAL CHANGE DOES NOT MEAN WAR, BUT PEACE! I'll be the first to tell ya that I didn't vote for President Obama, but I pray that he serves our country well and that he would honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I was in tears all morning long as I watched the beauty of the process and the historicity of what happened. We now have an African American President, I am so glad that in the last 50 years our country has been able to put aside the issues of color and gender and embrace a person for what they can achieve, not just what they look like. So, while i will typically side with the Pro-life candidate, I am thrilled to see What our new President can achieve for our nation and My prayers are with him. It made me sad how apathetic toward this whole thing many people are. I got to work and people were asking me what the big deal was when i told them I didn't want to miss the moment when Mr. Obama became President Obama. They didn't get it, truth is, this IS huge and in 50 years, people will wonder what today was like, and a bunch of people will be like, oh yeah, i think i saw the news about that, but not me. i watched it... on tv of course, but i watched it.

prayer request.

It's 2am right now here in the frozen tundra of NW Indiana and I'm blogging. REALLY?! yea. i wish i were sleeping. which brings me to my prayer request. i've had a tough time getting to bed at night (i'm litterally not tired until.... like now) and that just makes my dis-love for waking up in the mornings that much more intense. I don't have to work in the morning tommorow which is why i've let myself stay awake tonight, but most nights i try to cap it off at 11 or so.
Pray for some steady sleep patterns. random? maybe. power of prayer? yes.

i spend a lot of time thinking.... i guess this is what happens when you don't get a ton of hours at work and have a ton of things going on in your world. But alas, thought. sometimes i think about my future, sometimes i think about things in the past. sometimes i spend time thinking of things that will never be. i think its crazy that a good chunk of the time is thinking about things that never will be, i don't want to call it worry or anxiety, because that's not really what it is. but i wish i just trusted more. trusting that whatever it is that's around the corner (even if it's not marrying my national championship qb trophy husband) is what God has for me...even if its tough.

This last season of life was tough. but what did i learn? what do i still need to learn from it?

well i'm thinkin i should sleep.

speaking of sleep, my room is above the garage so when the forcast is a high of -2 degrees, my room is the cold one... like, ice on the inside of the walls cold. bummer. this is why i'm glad for little heaters :)

ps. i love this pic of my fam.

New Year, New Adventures

I'm super excited about this new year, no offense to 2008, but it was a tough year. Anyone else feel me on that? I'm optimistic that 2009 will bring with it it's own blessings and trials, but I also know some GREAT things are coming around the corner. I'm getting ready to launch a support campaign to raise up a group of supporters who will be able to commit to a set, monthly giving. You can definitely be praying for this!
I ALSO have now found out which team I'll be traveling with this summer on Royal Servants and so I will also be putting some feelers out there to see who wants to come with me. COSTA RICA ANYONE!?! I'm so excited to get the opportunity to travel back down there with Mark Hoober, who is a GREAT team leader. I'm also going to set a goal to work on my spanish before we go. I mean, lets be honest, I'm no Bryana Madison-Gardunia or anything, but I'll try to at least understand people this summer. (no Mel our skype convos will not be in spanish)
Your prayers and notes of encouragement are and have been Wildly accepted and appreciated.

Watch out 2009, LB's on a mission.