Live Like You're Dying

First, let me say how much I love the Olympics!  I love hearing the stories about the athletes and I love seeing all of their hard work pay off.  It gives me such pride, not only for our American athletes but for all the athletes- that despite all of our differences we can come together for sports.  When the athletes have fallen, or you hear this great story about an athlete and things just don't go their way, my heart breaks for them..  When Nodar Kumaritashvili crashed my heart literally stopped as I said a prayer, knowing that it wasn't going to be good... And when athletes excel and you see all of their hard work come to fruition, my heart rejoices with them ESPECIALLY for the Americans. In my last post, I talked about my excitement for the games.  I related my favorite Bible verse to the training that goes into competition, and my grandfather's last written words to me.  And there are two performances from this last week that really stand out to me that I wanted to wr

    What a sight to wake up to in Dallas, Texas- SNOW !!!  It was BEAUTIFUL!! And the thing is, it didn't stop!  Now on the way into work the snow was constant, consistent but not super heavy and just starting to stick.  And as I watched out my window at work, I couldn't believe the snow kept coming and it started to come down harder.  When I went to leave work, my car and the ground was covered with snow!  I'm talking up to 4 inches at least!  And I was pleasantly surprised with the way Dallas drivers were handling the snow- impressed even.  Luckily, I only live 3.1 miles from work so I was able to take the back road and stay off the freeway so that probably helped.  And even though, I have never been in snow, both of my parents have lived in snow and told me a few tricks of the trade so to speak on driving in less than sunny weather... The key being to SLOW DOWN.  And since I was 16, I have to admit, "slow down" and "driving" have not been

"When the past is still guiding your present, it also shapes your future.  That is way too much power."  There is something bigger ahead and something greater in store for you.  However, the past has a pulling power that can distract, delay, and even destroy your destiny.  Instead of giving the past power, give it perspective.   You must press onward and refuse to look back by destroying the bridges that connect you to your P.A.S.T.  What P eople, A ssociations, S ituations and T hings are hurting you instead of helping you?  What do you nee d to leave behind in order to move forward? Who do you need to forgive in order to push forward? Last night at the Porch, my friend Dave Sterrett, spoke to us with a message on forgiveness and letting go of the past.  Now before I continue, let me clarify it is okay to reminisce and talk about the past and experiences. But when your attitude changes to resentment, "if this would have happened then..." or "if he wouldn'

So last night some of my bible study girls and girls from Watermark Church met up and went to the Fort Worth Rodeo.  Let me tell you it was a night to remember!! First, the rain made the traffic horrible!  I got off work in uptown Dallas and met over at Ally's house to change and go.  I was running late but the girls were all nice enough to wait for me. Then, we hit traffic getting to FTW.. We finally got to FTW, found the rodeo and decided to go grab a bite to eat somewhere else BESIDES the rodeo...  And we found Dos Gringos!  This is where the fun began. All ten of us sat right in the front and this sweet old man came up to ask us if we would sing karaoke.  If you know me, you know I'm no stranger to karaoke and I'm not afraid to get on stage.  So we dug through the book to find the perfect song..  Or not so much.. you see none of the other girls knew the easy country song I picked out.  Everyone started backing out and it was only going to be Lauren, Rachel, and me. 

At The Porch last night we had a guest speaker, Captain Chris Plekenpol.  Chris was a Commanding Officer in Iraq. He shared stories of the horror that he saw during the war, other soldiers who died with out knowing the love of Jesus Christ, and the triumphant stories of those who came to know Christ in the battlefield.. During his time on stage he asked the question, "What would you do if you were Confident God was with you?"  But he also continually added to it: "...in your greatest demise?",  "... in your greatest temptation?"  His illustrations went right back to Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob.  Jealous, his brothers and sisters sold him as a slave (and that was just the beginning of his troubles).  But in Genesis 37:21 it says, "But the Lord was with Joseph".   And you see the illustrations that even though Joseph was betrayed, thrown in prison for a crime he didn't commit, and taken away from his loving father, the Lord is with him