A Day of Excitement!

Today my dear friends is the first day of Bethel School of Supernatural Arts and I am going to be a student there! Words cannot describe the excitement and joy and anticipation I feel at this moment knowing that in just a few hours my life is going to turn and greatness is going to be encountered! Thoughts fill my mind like "I'm happy as a Lark" "I feel like a cherry blossom right before it burst into full bloom!" "Today is the first day of the rest of my life" "Happiness is a well that runs deep and a fountain that flows high" :)
I am going into this school with these expectations, that I will walk in freedom as an artist fully expressing the glory God put in me. I will make and keep covenant relationships with people who will be significant in my life from here on out. Doors will be opened and direction set at my feet of where I am to go and wisdom of how to do so. My skills will be developed as I surround myself with a community of artists whose heart is to grow in their relationship with God, as a person, in relationship with others, and as an artist. Freedom will be abundant in our conversations and work as well dwell in the Holy Spirit, as He dwells in us. Joy will blossom where wounds used to be, and fear will be replaced by love and acceptance. Lives will never be the same, because the glory of the Lord will dwell among His people and we will encounter His goodness and grace! :D This is a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!!!!!!!!!

Testimonies of God's Faithfulness!

I have to share that yesterday God rocked my world. I have for weeks been trying to figure out how I could go to the Bethel Atlanta School of Supernatural Arts which starts next Wednesday. I need $750 for tuition and only have $200 from Christmas which was suppose to be for buying new clothes that don't have holes in them and maybe some new shoes as well... So two nights ago two things happened :) One I sent out support letters to some of my dear friends and family asking for help to pay for this school and telling them that I am also going to Nicaragua next month!!! Then later that night I got a text from an amazing friend asking if I had my money to go to school and I did not so she told me about a job working with the toddlers at church on Sunday mornings and that would pay for the second half of the tuition basically.
I had to have $400 by Wednesday to be able to go to the school after that part was paid for then a payment plan could be worked out. SO yesterday I figured out how much I could make at the church working with the toddlers and added that to how much I still needed and then found out that if I couldn't pay the $400 I couldn't go. All day long I battled with my mind, choosing to stand on the promises of God that He is a faithful provider, That He did indeed tell me to go and that now was the right time to go, over and over I battled and had the opportunity to stand on His word and declare it and praise Him in the midst of waiting for things to happen.
Then a most beautiful woman and dear friend Barbara Johnson called me and asked if I had my money and would be able to go to the school and I told her that I still needed $200 so she told me that she would send me that money to go. She is sowing into me and my dreams. Incredible. So now I am able to go!!! and I'm believing the Lord for more blessings and a life changing encounter there, divine connections with people who will walk with me through life.

Another truly AMAZING woman that I am friends with Deborah Van Haelst is supporting me and paying for my trip to Nicaragua, whatever money doesn't come in the she is going to pay for which blows my mind. She too is sowing into my dreams and my gratitude cannot begin to be expressed. One day Debs will be internationally known for her music, she has a sound that will put her on the top of the charts, and the lyrics of the songs that she writes will move your heart and touch you so deeply inside that you will want to listen over and over and over again to her songs. I am excited for the day when she has her own album out there!!! The world will never be the same! :) you can check her out on you tube under FieryDeb she's incredible!

Renewed Hope

Today Papa Jack Taylor and Papa Leif Hetland spoke at church, and they brought it. Their words edified and encouraged the deep places of my heart that had begun to loose hope, listening to the lies instead of God's voice. I now once again find myself dreaming of the greatness this year has to hold, greatness of dreams coming true, debts being paid off, destiny unfolding, and covenant relationships being established and strengthened, hearts finding freedom and joy bursting forth like the first blossom that breaks through winter's ground. The world will forever be different because of the Greatness 2011 has to offer and bring and change.
Today I decided that I was going to step out in faith and pray for the cashier at Publix who had a headache, she didn't notice any difference but was shocked that I asked if I could pray for her, and curious where I went to church. I left encouraged because I finally stepped out in boldness and prayed for the cashier, this is something I had not done yet. This year I will be filled with boldness to love people, to share the love of my Jesus with them, to bring His heartbeat for them to the surface and they will forever be changed because when His love shows up you are never the same. Today I walked in my victory over darkness, today I knew that what is inside me is greater than fear, and headaches. Love conquers all.
Today I had another victory. I decided that I am going to Bethel Atlanta School of Supernatural Arts. I don't know how I am going to pay for it, but I do know that God has given me a Go and so I am going to Go, and I will watch Him faithfully and miraculously provide and it will be a testimony of His goodness. Today I chose to believe that I am a daughter of the King of Kings and He richly provides for all my needs. Today I chose to believe that His word is true especially when circumstances make it seemingly impossible. Faith is believing in the things unseen and at school we like to spell Faith "RISK" So today I stood on the declarations of the past two years, stood on the promises of a lifetime, and finished filling out my application. This is a GOOD day!
Little by little, sometimes by leaps and bounds, my mindset is becoming victorious as He speaks life and destiny and truth over me and as I declare the words He speaks about me over myself renewing my mind, my identity, my hope, and my faith. For I am a city set on a hill, and I cannot be hidden for He put light inside me that shines and breaks into darkness.
Today was a beautiful day for me. This year is going to be filled with beauty, victory, boldness, joy and Abundant Life, because that is what Jesus died for and anything short of that is just not good enough. May you be blessed and encouraged and may the Lord let His face shine upon you and give you peace! Night my dear ones!

I Finally made aprons!

So after talking about making aprons for a very long time and only making bridal gifts for a beloved friend and her hubby a year and a half ago, I ventured out and made five aprons in the past two weeks! One full apron and four half aprons! Each has elements of old and new in them, a combining of the past and future, reusing or repurposing old fabric and buttons with new touches that pull them into the now fashion wise! I decided I love aprons! shocking I know! ;) haha! I will have to post some pictures on here soon! but I just had to share that they are AMAZING and SO FUN! I plan on make an Etsy account to sell them on :) as I continue to produce delightfully unique and one of a kind aprons! I'll post the link when I do create that Etsy online shop :) hehe! I love being an artist!

Dreams of My Future Fairytale

Ok so, I just watched Marry Me on Lifetime, and it's about the fairytale coming true and falling in love and it makes me want it to happen in my life, so I'm going to take Eric Johnson's advice and dream about the day that it happens in my life! In school we just started our series on dreaming and joined teams to make one person's dream come true which is awesome! Falling in love, getting married to and Incredible Man of God, and raising a family has been my biggest dream since I was a very small child, yes I was the little girl dreaming about the day when I was like Cinderella dancing with the Prince at the ball, and like Rapunzel being rescued from the tower by the Prince, and Sleeping Beauty falling in love and being awakened by true loves first kiss, and Belle from Beauty and the Beast having an adventure and discovering that love is not always what it first appears to be. I have dreamt about falling in love my whole life, and been content to wait for that one guy who will come along side me and I'll come along side and we'll dance into our destinies together... It will be a fairytale, but one that we write together, one that God writes with us, and it will out do every fairytale, and romantic movie Hollywood has ever produced because the God who created love, who indeed is love has been preparing our hearts to unite since before the foundations of the world, and when our hearts recognize the beat that is in tune with it's own beat, the world will never be the same.

The day when I fall in love will be delightful. It will be the realization of dreams, and the catalyst of more dreams. When I fall in love I am going to smile and my eyes will glisten with joy and I will dance and spin around as if I were in a musical on Broadway. I will jump with joy and my heart will beat quickly at the mention of his name and my stomach will flutter with excitement all the days of our lives as we continue to fall in love as we grow really, really old together. We'll be young at heart forever as we explore the extravagancies of love and life and adventure everywhere that we go. Discovering our destiny together as each day of our lives unfold. We'll dance together when there is no music except what our hearts make or we sing to each other. We'll sit at coffee shops and listen to aspiring artists sing their melodies and walk arm in arm down streets glistening with the joy of Christmas lights... We'll watch children play innocently at the park and dream of our future children playing there. My future husband and I will go on dates in the park, where everything can happen, from street performers, to Frisbee games, to picnics by the lake and swinging while watching the sunset.

We'll make our own fairytale and write it and illustrate it so our children will be able to read it and know their beginning... it will be a delightful tale of adventure, romance, and our pursuit of each others hearts. It will include the gentle but strong encouragement of each other being the best us we could be, calling out the gold in each other especially when it would be easy to overlook. It'll be about love that grows each day and love that can be expressed in new ways all the days of our lives. It will be a love that strengthens and encourages and edifies and grows deeper and expands and exemplifies the love between Christ and the church.

We will bring peace and harmony to the cities, circumstances and environments we are in. We'll passionately love cities into the Kingdom of Heaven, one person at a time until the inner city is a glistening beacon of Hope and Love and Joy and Abundant Life. We'll read books to each other as we cozy up next to one another by the fireplace lit so warmly. We'll drink hot cocoa and build snowmen in the snowfall. We'll write love notes to each other if ever we part for a few days, and keep them all in a box in our closet on the top shelf. We'll build things together and restore things together, creating beauty out of raw materials and bringing back the beauty that was hidden or seemingly lost, both with people and with objects. Our home will be a safe place where people can come when they feel as though their world is shaking and they will encounter the Peace of God that surpasses all understanding when they step foot onto our property. We will both have our own beautiful children and we'll adopt and foster beautiful children, or at least bring them into our home to cherish for a while. Our life will be a celebration where we purposefully remember to be grateful and celebrate the moments in life where we could let them be mundane, or take them for granted. We will celebrate FREEDOM with each other, with people, with God and we will delight in living in it, receiving it from each other and giving it out to people so they can be free to be themselves and know they are cherished and delighted in, regardless of behaviors because love is not conditional and true love brings freedom, because where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom! and God is love, so God is Love and God is freedom, so Love is Freedom and Freedom is Love, and that will be our mission in life to bring love and freedom to everyone we meet.

I know that I am a romantic and a dreamer and an idealist, but I do believe all these things can come true, and especially if I make it a priority in my life to do so, all things are possible and this is one I will gladly pursue, and dream of and expand that dream as time goes on... So now you know just a bit more about my heart and one of the dreams I have inside it :) Dream on, dream big, then dream bigger readers, for life is a grand, and no one can take away the power of hope and dreams and that is one of the beautiful things about life, only we are responsible for happiness :) so let's dream big, and find the simple things to delight in, and find happiness in... the look of joy in a child's eyes at their first snow fall, or Christmas lights glistening in the night sky, shooting stars just as you look up at the sky, springs blossom unfolding in front of your eyes, the color of bark on a tree becoming more brilliant right before it rains, the shape and color of fall leaves on the ground begging you to admire them and then step on them for that delightful crunch under your toes... those simple beautiful things about being alive that bring smiles to our faces, and finding someone to celebrate those simple things with :) that is a pursuit worthy of the moment that lasts forever!

Inspiration

This week I've been challenging myself to find something in the world to inspire me, something that makes my heart stop and be amazed. One such inspiration was this beautiful tree extravagantly displaying it's beauty in transition.

Transition is something that often seems daunting and yet each year we are faced with the extreme beauty of the transition of seasons. It seems as if we must embrace the beauty of what we have now and let go of what we might have once had in order to fully enjoy the season we are in, and prepare for the season coming. This little tree was beside my car in a parking lot, to me it boldly displays how transition can look in our lives, in my life. It fills me with hope of the great adventures in my future and reminds me that this season in my life is stunning, and worthy of being captivated by. One day I too will have to let go of the leaves of this season to embrace the winter and prepare for spring and summer and fall and so on and so forth as the seasons of our lives continually change and present opportunities for growth. Today is a beautiful day full of hope and beauty it is our choice whether or not we will focus on it. Today I think I'll focus on beauty and hope and enjoy each breath I have and each moment, for life is full of little things that are easily overlooked, but precious when we remember to look at them and be filled with gratitude for the simple, amazing things about life.

Greenville, SC 11/5-6/10

This past weekend I was blessed by traveling to Greenville, SC to meet up with some AMAZING people and serve on a ministry team under Scott Thompson. We met some truly incredible people who are bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to their city. They blessed us by putting us up in this beautiful loft which looked like we stepped into a magazine and there was even a basket with delicious food and snacks for our enjoyment!
We arrived around 4pm and went to the places we were staying and got set up and then we met on Main Street and ate some delicious Mexican food where they had chips that were an entire tortilla! they were huge! I'll have to post some pictures! It was so much fun, I got to hang out with people that I had yet to get to know how amazing they were and now I love them even more.
The service was so fun, the church is called Kingdom Culture and it is full of people college age or slightly older, so it felt like I was worshipping with all people my age which is really fun for me :) I love seeing my generation hungering for God, there is something that fills me with excitement because we really have the opportunity to change the world and when I see a room full of people seeking out the heart of God then I know that the world will be forever changed and drawn closer to Father God! More than anything I think that is what makes me giddy with joy! We had a team of twelve people and we did some prophetic words for individuals and then Scott spoke and brought love of Father and challenged us to be who we are as God's children and what we can do here on earth to bring Heaven down. Scott has this amazing ability to present things that seem crazy radical in a manner that makes you realize you can do it, and it is easy and it is who you were meant to be and what you are meant to do and when you step out and do it then all of Heaven is backing you because you are doing the mandate that Heaven has sent you do and the entire world will be forever changed because you stepped into your identity as a child of God. Every time I hear him speak I feel like the entire world can be won over by the love of God in an instant, and we get to bring that instant by walking out filled with the love of God that just poured out on us.
After Scott spoke then our team went around a prayed for people in the church and after the band played like two or so songs I think that our team had prayed over all but two people in the church which I thought was pretty awesome, we prayed for the two ladies who had been missed as soon as we realized they hadn't been prayed for. :)
Lately I have had this revelation that it is not so much our words that move heaven but our hearts and how Christ is intercession for us, like He doesn't have to speak out intercession He embodies it. Same thing as God is love verses God loves. One denotes an action He takes and one denotes His nature. God is love, that is His nature, He can't act outside of that nature. Christ is intercession, it is not simply an action He takes but His nature is intercession, He connects us to the Father. It has been interesting because I have gone up to people to pray for them and sometimes I have no words and instead of trying to think of what would be "good" to say I simply feel the Fathers heart for them and stay in that mode, trusting that by me aligning my heart to the Fathers and by my laying my hands on them, the Fathers heart is be transferred to them, and I only say what I hear Him saying. It has so revolutionized ministry time for me, it is not about saying the right things or giving them wisdom disguised as prayer or what I think but simply lining my heart up to Father God's. There is no performance, or failure, just love which is incredible and overwhelming and melts the walls of self protection because being wrapped in His love is safe and peaceful and wonderful. He is comfort and when life is chaotic He is the only remedy worth pursuing. So by me having this revelation and by focusing on His love, then I can release it over people simply by walking into their presence or by touching them, or by speaking to them, but once they truly encounter Him, I don't think they could ever turn away from His beauty, once you taste how good He is, nothing else will satisfy, and that is true love.