‘twas the week before Christmas…

     Baking cookies, church Christmas party, time spend with Mary Kay friends, Caroling around the neighborhood, setting up a a Christmas booth for Mary Kay at a local store, shopping trips, reaching out to people in our neighborhood this season and a fabulous Christmas Eve service!  Just a little description about all that’s being going on this week!  And, it’s been so great!!!
    The week was busy, but so full of many blessings.  Spending time with people and even meeting new people and new friends.  I just wish I could have squeezed in time to finish my Christmas Cards….maybe next week and they’ll be New Years cards. 


Last night there was a great movie on TV.  It was called, ‘The Perfect Gift.’ The movie depicted a young girl who had so much go wrong with her life in the past year, that she had pretty much given up on being happy during the Christmas season.  Even when her birthday fell on Christmas (which was all she cared about) she just knew everyone had Christmas plans and she would never be able to have a birthday party ON her birthday.  When she meets a handyman who is doing some work at the local church, he teaches her more than she could ever imagine about what the ‘true’ meaning of Christmas is and why we celebrate Christmas.  As she learns and grows, she shares what she learned from this man with her class.  She really did receive the perfect gift! 

I love these lyrics to the song, “Happy Birthday Jesus.”  I’ve heard it a long time ago as a child and every year it just reminds me even more that Jesus is the Reason for the Season and why we Celebrate CHRISTmas!

Happy Birthday To You
happy Birthday To You
happy Birthday Dear Jesus
happy Birthday To You.

Happy Birthday Jesus
I'm So Glad Its Christmas
all The Tinsel And Lights
and The Presents Are Nice
but The Real Gift Is You.

Happy Birthday Jesus
I'm So Glad Its Christmas
all The Carols And Bells
make The Holiday Swell
and it's All About You
Happy Birthday Jesus
Jesus I Love You!

Listen….

I absolutely love this part of the year!  When Autumn is ending and Winter is approaching.  Listening to Christmas songs while decorating the tree/house, drinking hot chocolate apple cider and making Christmas cookies all while making/creating your Christmas cards to send out. 

One of my all-time favorite Christmas songs to listen to is Breath of Heaven; Mary’s Song (Amy Grant version). I just love the words to this song!  It’s so poetic to imagine what this young girl, Mary, had went through as she was carrying the child of God.  Even getting a little bit more creative, I even wrote a monologue drama to Mary’s Song, and performed it at my church one year.  Where another year I pulled together an interpretive movement that went with the Breath of Heaven song to perform and share.  To be able to put yourself in Mary’s shoes or sandal's and to think about what she may have went through on her amazing journey.   What were her thoughts before and after she found out she was pregnant.  And, how she became a safe, healthy and empowered woman of God!

Maybe this is a little bit what Mary felt like after finding out she would be the one to carry God’s Son…                                                                         

A little alone and scared, but incredibly happy at the same time, all while wondering, why me, why would my great and almighty God choose me of all women!  Probably pacing back and forth trying to figure this whole thing out. :)  I mean here she is, a young girl about to be married to the love of her life when she discovers she is carrying the God’s Son.  Wow! What an amazing yet scary feeling that must have been.  I’m  sure she did a lot of thinking about what people were saying about her, what she was going to tell people, what her family was going to think…and wait, how is Joseph going to react to this news?
     If you could imagine just sitting alone in your room as a teenage girl, just being told that you were going to bear a son.  Can you imagine the thoughts that would be going through your head alone.  You’re so innocent.  You’re a good girl, and here you are about to have a child.  Have you moved yet?  would you break down in tears?  Would you turn up your stereo speakers?  Would you grab your journal and spill it all out on paper to document every detail of this moment and what you are feeling at this very moment?  There’s a plethora of things that any young girl would do if she heard the news that Mary did.  The importance is how do you react to what God is telling you to do.  Sometimes we are just meant to listen!  Listen to the still voice that is calling us.  Calling us to a greater purpose.  Calling us to be THE ONE!  The one to be more, the one to do something, the one to just be quiet and listen to our Heavenly Father call us to be more than we could ever imagine we could be.


   Mary listened!  She sat quietly and just listened!  She was even able to go and visit her cousin Elizabeth.  What better way to have this whole situation explained to you than from an older and wiser women, about what is happening to her.  Another woman who was to bear a child.  A mentor.  To be able to sit and chat with someone who has been through a similar situation.  As Elizabeth was so excited that Mary had come to visit her.  She told her: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!  I’m sure she was incredibly blessed by the time she has with Elizabeth as she made her way home to Joseph. 
   An ordinary girl had been used to bring forth the Messiah.  “I am the Lord’s servant.  May it be to me as you have said.” 

   You know, it’s so wonderfully amazing how we can feel completely safe God’s arms and with his arms are wrapped around me….I AM a SAFE, Healthy and EMPOWERED Woman of God…..and with God….all things are possible!
(Scripture used from Luke 1:26-56)
 

The harvest is great….

“He gave them this charge:  ‘What a huge harvest!’ And how few the harvest hands.  So on your knees; ask the God of the Harvest to send harvest hands.  (Luke 10:2)

Serving….
     This topic always makes me think about a quote I read about by Helen Keller.  “Alone we can do so little, but together we can do so much,”  Isn’t that so true?  When we all come together for one purpose we can accomplish so much more.  We can cover so much more ground as we spread the good news of Christ. 

Acts 20:24 says, ‘But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. ‘

     This past week my church was talking about becoming more outward focused.  We were talking about different ways we could reach out to the community and showing people that they are loved.  With the ongoing holiday season and people running around constantly through out the day, it’s good to take just a couple minutes and tell someone that, “you are loved".   You are loved by someone, you are loved by our Father in Heaven, you are loved more than you could ever know.  No matter where you have been in life no matter how much you think you have messed up.  Even when you feel you are in the biggest crisis of your life and feel totally and completely unloved….YOU ARE LOVED! 
     If I could just tell someone just three words.  If I had the chance to tell someone I knew a long time ago that I lost contact with, someone that was led astray and has completely lost all hope and belief.  I would want to tell them that they are loved!  That they are 100% completely loved by an amazingly God, who loves us just the way we are when we come to Him.
     So, this past Sunday, we split into groups and we went out into our community.  We grabbed some cheeseburgers from McDonalds and some cases of water as we went where God led us to go.  As we drove around Modesto we found many people on the streets who were just merely hungry.  They were so grateful to receive a single cheeseburger.  And, on that cheeseburger were the words ‘You Are Loved!’  No attachment to who we were, just three short words that proclaim a powerful message!  A message of hope, an assurance of faith that someone out there does care about them.  They really don’t have to know who we are or where we come from, all that matters is that they have realized that someone cares and loves them.

      When people who are really hungry realized that there is someone passing out food they will come to you.  As we were out we discovered two people huddled among some steps to a building downtown to say warm.  As we pulled up we had asked them if were hungry and would like a cheeseburger. Thrilled as they were, another homeless person came over from across the street after seeing we had food for him as well, all were extremely grateful while offering their sincere gratitude for what we had offered them.  Even those we asked that were just sitting on a street corner or by the side of the highway if they were hungry, some said they had just eaten and as we gave cheeseburgers to the people around the corner from them, even those previous people we asked were grateful by what they saw.  Who knows, maybe we planted a seed somewhere and they can pay it forward sometime.  Speaking of paying it forward, one of our groups had given cheeseburgers to a couple sitting on the road, but these people actually already had food in their bags, and as the group was getting ready to pull away those people called another couple over and gave them their cheeseburgers, probably knowing that they were just as hungry and needed food as well. At one point we discovered a group of 8 people huddled over a small fire pit in the park to on the cold night ahead of them, 8 people who had no other place to go but to be in a dark park, who were so grateful for warm food being offered to them.  So what are we waiting for? There are so many people out there searching for something, anything.  What are we going to do about it?

     While in a worship service one Sunday the message was about serving and going out into our community and ‘being the church.’ Well at the end of the message we sang the song “Dirty” from Audio Adrenaline.  Just simply listening to these lyrics bring up such a good point about serving and ‘being the church’.  It’s about putting ourselves aside and focusing on what’s out in our community backyard and what can be done.  Sure there’s third world countries all over the world, but so much of that is right in our own communities.  People hurting, hungry and abused.  Even human trafficking has even been a huge issue in our surrounding communities.  What are we waiting for?  Are you willing to step out and get your hands dirty?  There is so much “need” out there….what are WE going to do about it????

"Dirty"
Tired of being clean, sick of being proper
I wanna live among the beggars
And dig out in the dirt
Step outside the walls we built to protect us
Don't be afraid to get some mud on your face
Come on, come on everybody
Come on, come on and serve someone

Let's get dirty, let's get used
No matter where you come from
If you're beaten up or bruised
Let's get foolish - let's get free
Free to be the one thing you were meant to be
Let's get dirty

You might get a bruise or some blisters on your fingers
You might start a question and wonder what it's worth
You may slip and fall from the burdens that you carry
But you can't have this treasure
'til you dig it from the dirt
Come on, come on everybody
Come on, come on and serve someone

Come on, come on, everybody
Come on, come on, serve somebody
Come on, come on, everybody
Come on, come on, serve somebody

Jewelry Making!

An afternoon lesson in wire-wrapping to make a cute little silver and turquoise stone necklace.

In about an hour or so this necklace finally starts coming into place. Add your favorite silver necklace or even go a step further and create your own necklace to attach the stone to.

When we take the right steps anything can happen and we can accomplish anything we set our hearts and mind to.

Sometimes you just need to be rescued…

Isn’t it true though?  I know many of us have felt that way at sometime or another. ‘I just want to be rescued!’ ‘I need someone to save me!’ "’I can’t do it by myself!’ But yet we still work and work.  We try so hard to do it on our own, then we simply just can’t take it, and we can’t do it anymore by ourselves no matter how hard we try. 
I love this verse from the book of Romans (10:9-10) in Message Bible:
      “That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!"
That’s it?  Is that really all it takes? Yes!  When we call out for help we can be rescued, we can have our knight and shining armor come into save us, when we just surrender our hearts to Christ, he’s there to save us.

I love being able to share Christian Drama to anyone I come in contact with!  Anytime I have the chance to share…I am totally on board!  I feel so blessed to have been involved in OCU's Good News Players, as we were able spread the words of Christ through drama through out several cities and states. Traveling to different churches all over sharing our ministry and being able to pray with the people we had met.
It’s simply amazing that there’s pretty much a skit out there that most everyone can relate to--in good times and in bad ones. Sometimes we just need to laugh and sometimes we just need to cry. I love being able to portray different people through drama--whether it be a teen girl with struggles, an overworked mom, a southern coffee shop waitress, a housewife or a business woman who doesn't know the princess she really is. Each character I portray has a story to tell of their life and the trials and tribulations that they face. It's an awesome feeling when somebody can relate to something that I have performed, by myself or with friends.
Sometimes we just need to know we are loved and know that we can be rescued.  Each one of the characters that I interpret has been rescued from loneliness, heartache, fear, sadness, and anger.  Sometimes we just let things build up so much that we don’t even realize we’ve completely isolated ourselves from everyone around us.  It’s when we realize we can’t do it all on our own and that we need help, it’s then that our rescuer comes to save us.  He’s been there all the time, we just have been so preoccupied doing it on our own, we don’t always see that God is always with us.  He will never leave us!

After performing and sharing a drama called “Lifeboat,” there are many lessons we can actually learn from this skit.  We learn that though we may seem small, God can have bigger plans for us if we just accept Him.  Just when we may want to give up, there is always something else we can do or someone else we can help.  Just like the lifeboat was there to save the two girls when they needed it.  When they reached out  for help, there was a lifeboat to rescue them.  Jesus is our “lifeboat.”  He’s there to rescue us from out sin.  All we have to do is admit we’re sinners, believe in that Jesus came to rescue us and confess and tell people how Christ changed out lives.  Answering to our calling and living our lives for Christ full of love and ministering to those who haven’t heard is better than sitting all alone in a lifeboat by ourselves waiting to be rescued, when all we have to do is reach out just like we were reached out to and we can do so much more!

Challenge:
Who can you reach out to this week?  Who can you help see God’s everlasting love and promise?  What can you do to share with this person?

Tami and Shelli performing “Lifeboat” at The Beacon! A dramatization about needing to step out and reach out to others no matter how small we are or may seem! Even if we are a small group of people we can do a WHOLE LOT! And, show a lot of LOVE along the way!

Romans 10:9-10 -- If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. (New  Living Translation)

Autumn….Pumpkins…..and Dreams!

Homemade Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Bread from a fresh homegrown pumpkin!  Just some of the wonderful things that come from this Autumn season!         
Yes!  Starting the season off with some baking!  What a great way to kick-off the Fall season than with baking some fabulous and delicious pumpkin flavored treats!   

     Leaves changing colors and falling to the ground.  The weather is changing and we are bringing out our Fall clothes, our winter coats and sweaters, boots, scarves, hats and gloves as we prepare for the winter season to come.  
     While it may be snowing or preparing to snow in certain parts of the country…here in Cali we may get down to just about freezing…and for here…that is cold for us Cali people! Then there are those of us who have had the chance to experience living in a state where it actually snows in the winter! We may have had a slight weather shock when we saw our first snowfall and actually seeing snow stick to the ground for more than 2 seconds. Having lived in Indiana for a couple years we may have not got the most snow of the 50 states but compared to California’s Central Valley…it seemed like a lot! Especially the year of the ice storm when we had a layer of ice….snow…and more ICE! YES! it may be horrible to drive in but it makes for some awesome sledding times with friends using the lids to our storage tubs!    There’s always a lot of fun to be had in the snow.  Whether it’s sledding or building a snowman, as long as we were around good friends! 

     I recently read a quote from someone that said, “why is it that the Fall season makes me want soup and something pumpkin flavored every singe day? I’m worried it’s becoming an  addiction.” Isn’t that so true? I think it is for me at least.  From Pumpkin Spice Latte’s, Pumpkin Pie and Pumpkin Bread to anything pumpkin flavored that we grab while we like to curl up in a big, soft and warm comfy blanket while watching an amazing holiday classic movie, and just maybe with a large cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows and maybe even a hint of pumpkin spice sprinkled on top. :) Another great way to spend the season with loved ones. 

    While we are watching the leaves change colors and the seasons change we sometimes stop and just stand in awe in amazement as we ponder God’s wonderful and amazing creations and masterpieces.  Could this be how God views his children? As wonderful masterpieces of his own creation. After creating and molding each and everyone of us into just the way he wants us to be, and he looks at each of us knowing that he created each one of us as different as the next.  As he holds each one of our life stories in palm of his hands.  He knows every detail in our lives, every step we are going to take and every move we make.  God has a plan!   Jeremiah 29:11 says that -- I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. (MSG)  I LOVE this verse! I love the way the Message Bible writes it out! God has a Plan! I was listening to an inspirational message the other day and the woman that was speaking based her message around Jeremiah 29:11, and how God has a plan for each and everyone of us in everything we do and will do in our lives.  He knows what’s best for us, he knows our life story and every move we make and every thought we think, and through it all…He Loves us!  Because…God has a PLAN!  He has a plan for our lives, for our future!   He knows are story, He is writing our story.  When we surrender our life to Christ we are giving him complete control because we know we can’t do it on our own, no matter how hard we try or may want to live our lives by ourselves, it’s just too much for us to handle…it’s overwhelming! We are being prepared for greater things…Because…..GOD HAS A PLAN! 
It’s like the song “Surrender” by Barlow Girl says to surrender our life and dreams to Christ to hand them over, to ask for help…
        Say you have a plan for me, And that you want the best for my life. 
        Told me the world has yet to see What you can do with one
        That’s committed to your call.  I know of course what I should do
        That I can’t hold these dreams forever.  But if I give them now to you
        Will you take them  Away forever?  Or can I dream again?

        Surrender, surrender
        You whisper gently
        You say I will be free
        I know but can’t you see
        My dreams own me, My dreams own me.

YES! We can dream! We can still have our dreams, but we often feel like we have to fulfill our own dreams, but when we surrender our dreams to Christ, he helps us fulfill our dreams and goals, and he does it better than we ever could on our own.  He gives us ambition and strength to make it through tough times that we can’t get through by ourselves. It’s because of Christ’s love for us that we CAN DREAM!  When we are committed to what Christ has called us to do, we can do anything, because he gives us the strength to do it!

Remember the Blessings….

Even in times of sorrow can come happiness and good things.  Love the song by Laura Story, called ‘Blessings’…..
”what if these blessings come through raindrops what if your healing comes through tears what if a thousand sleepless nights are enough to know you’re near….”

     Wow…September isn’t even over yet and it’s already been an eventful one.  Full of ups and downs. September marks the beginning of Autumn, the start of new school years and a month of remembrance for the past decade.  Many beginnings and endings to the many chapters of our lives.  Though the end of every chapter brings a new beginning to another chapter and a new beginning brings new experiences and many many new adventures!
     The beginning of September brought a great Labor Day with many family and friends.  My cousin had been down for the past couple of months and we had several friends over for dinner.  It was so wonderful to be able to spend time with family that I never get to see or don’t get to see that often.  That Monday brought many smiles.  My cousin had fixed my guitar in the past month so I could start practicing on it more and  he was willing to help me learn some more about the guitar to become better at it.  I was so excited to be able to learn more.    
     Well, as September pressed on and 9/11 was approaching and this being the 10 year anniversary of that unforgettable tragedy that struck NYC and the east coast.  I will never forget that day!  I still remember waking up to the news that morning (before 6am west coast time) and watching the two planes hit the twin towers and seeing them collapse.  I remember crying my eyes out that whole day.  Even watching the news in my Geography class (so grateful for only one class that day), in the whole room there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.  We will remember!  It’s amazing the things that we will never forget!
     Well, remembering that morning as well, this year is when we discovered that my cousin, had recently passed away early that morning.  A day where it was a great comfort to have most of the family get in their cars and make the trip to be with each other that day and comfort one another.  While many other family members were making plane reservations that day to fly in just to be around family, even the ones that couldn’t make the trip were all with us all in spirit and prayers.  It’s so great to feel blessed to have a great family that God has provided! 
    It was so great to be able to have my cousin around for these past few months and being able to talk to him, more than we have before.  We will all miss him so much and have treasured the time that we had with him this summer!  
     But, even though we have times of tears and sorrow, there is a greater joy that comes from MY Heavenly Father.  Being able to be apart of a new church plant…is simply amazing!  I am so blessed to be apart of an amazing Family of God!  Granted it’s not the easiest road to take and the path seems rough at times and we feel we just can’t take it anymore.  But, when we can reach those people who have been turned off church or  other religious paraphernalia, it’s totally worth it to be able to show them the true and everlasting LOVE of Christ!  If we can show the kindness and love of that Christ has to offer in our smiles and in our actions and in OUR FAITH…we can give a whole new meaning to the name “Christian.”  We can show people what it really means to be a Christian and me totally and completely in love with Christ…with “no strings attached.”  He can lift our burdens and be with us during our pain and wipe away our tears, when we go through a life-changing time in our lives.   God is with us!  Just ask….it’s    LIFE-CHANGING!
     Our church has recently relocated into a commercial building in North Modesto.  We’ve been working to fix up and prepare the building for our services to be held.  We will soon be able to be a “mobile church”  being able to have our worship services anywhere we feel led to worship and share this amazing love inside of us to those who haven’t heard!   This new adventure is exciting to see what God has in store for us here with The Beacon.
     I’ve been totally blessed this past month to be able to call on the friends that God has provided me as well here.  Being able to call friends up and go to a random movie in the middle of the week, just because I need to be with friends, makes me incredibly grateful for the people that God has provided to comfort me.  Whether it’s going to a movie or circling Modesto for a place open after 10pm and ending up at Denny’s.  To be able to hang out and just talk is something that is so wonderful to be able to have friends that share similar interest with each other! 

Grace and Peace to YOU and Blessings!!!!

"I'm With You"

This is Your Life

“…This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose…”
This is your life is played in the movie Soul Surfer, as Bethany Hamilton is gearing up for the big surfing competition in Hawaii.  She had faced several challenges including loosing her arm in a shark attack while in the water.  Through these challenges she has learned how to live with only one arm.  After watching the movie, and seeing how they portrayed the trials and tribulations she had to go through, you would never even think she would have thought twice about only having one arm, it never really seemed to affect her, because she kept right on doing what she was being called to do.  She had an amazing support system with her family, friends and church family that was constantly by her side and there for her. Although, when it came down to it, her relationship and faith in Christ had given her all the strength in the world to make it through the difficult time she was having.
Given her opportunity to minister with World Vision in Thailand, she was able to reach out to a young child who was afraid to get back in the water after the tidal wave hit their country.  Even when she was afraid that she wasn’t going to be able to surf, she eventually got back up again and again after falling and after several attempts was able to stand back up on her board and ride the waves in the ocean.  Bethany followed her dreams and she wasn’t going to let anything get in her way. 
As it says in Jeremiah 29:11, “for I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
God is writing our story and our plans are in his hands, he knows what we are and who we are to be. 

Come Just As You Are!

“Miss Daisy” performed by Tami Gregor and Mallory Hines at The Beacon.

  “Miss Daisy” as we shared it that night, tells how it doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done, God still accepts you….even when it doesn’t seem like anyone else will.  It’s about letting go of  the ‘old nature’  and letting Christ make the person clean and pure.  As Christian’s we have to live our lives according to Christ, otherwise you could be like Miss Daisy and live a "fake” life.  God wants us to be REAL and live for Him!  All the time!  That way those who have not fully committed their lives to Christ will be able to see the joy and the excitement that we have in our lives…no matter what we have gone through.  Because no matter what trials we have to face we know we can get through them when we pray and ask for help. 
Because when we enter into a relationship with Christ, we become a new creation and our eternity is forever changed.  Our outcome has become far better.  And even though we may still face trials in this life we know that somewhere down the road things will be better….because Better Days are yet to come! 
Love the song ‘Blessings’ by Laura Story. 
‘…what if your blessings come from raindrops
what if your healing comes from tears
what if a thousand sleepless nights are enough to know you are near
what if trials of this life, are you mercies in disguise…..’
Even when we think that we can’t do it and that there is a big mountain in our way….there is always hope when we call out and arms to hold us when we need them.   Don’t tell God how big your mountains are….tell your mountains how big your God is….and watch your God move your mountains!