universal studios...

we had an awesome day at universal (except for some rude people, but i won't harp on that one)...

we started out the day at universal studios, ate lunch at the hard rock cafe, and finished up the day in islands of adventure. afterward we hung out in citywalk for a little while for some fireworks and people watching



elisabeth got to be first in line to have her picture taken with the simpsons, she thought this was pretty cool



seusville inspired the whole family to agree that the nursery should be decorated in a "dr. seuss" theme...oh the ideas!!!



one of our favorite places to hang out...i think jerry and i eat here pretty much every time we go! (the funniest time was when i got free tickets to "bruce almighty" at the theaters there and we had to go from hard rock to the theater in pouring ran...jerry didn't think it was so funny at the time, but we laugh now)



citywalk looks so cool at night time!



for a one day vacation for our family, it was a great day! i'm so glad we live close enough to enjoy days like this at some of our local amusement parks and then come home away from the crowds! florida rocks!

i love universal! i'm so bummed that i won't get to go for rock the universe this year! but i don't want to miss the yp summit in the spring...

paul's prayer...

we read this during worship practice last night and i thought it was pretty cool...

"I ask the Father...to give you his Spirit. The Spirit will make you wise and let you understand what it means to know God. My prayer is that light will flood your hearts and that you will understand the hope that was given to you when God called you. Then you will discover the glorious blessings that will be yours together with all God's people. I want you to know about the great and mighty power that God has for his followers...."

~Ephesians 1:17-19

it helped remind me that we are called to do something for God, his calling doesn't changed even if the avenue does. we just need to let the light flood our hearts and remember the hope we have in him, and his blessings will be discovered...

we have truly been blessed. we have some great friends and a wonderful pastor, our family is (mostly) healthy and happy, and all of our needs are provided for. we are truly blessed and need to remember the hope we have in Christ, it's far above anything any person or thing on earth can give us. i think we overlook our blessings much of the time, and definitely take them for granted.

blessings abound, just look around you and you can see them everywhere if you try...may the light flood your heart and help you remember your hope and discover his blessings too...

quote of the day...

"basic instincts are actually reliable but get ignored by arrogant sophistication." ~c.s. lewis

i was reading over the feedback from my humanities professor and he quoted lewis in two different areas in regards to my "art and aesthetics" report. the above quote was in regard to the review i did on an article talking about how art now often has a political meaning behind it and isn't just done for art's sake (meaning quality, technique, etc.)

but as i mulled over the quote a little more, i have decided that i like that quote in application of much of "real life" stuff too. i have a tendency to get a gut instinct about something or someone and am usually right in the long run (and in hindsight). but sometimes i find i overlook my first impression of something because of charisma or common interest or aura or appearance of it...when all along my gut instinct was correct and i didn't want it to be...or out of trying to be politically correct or kind-hearted or non-judgmental or in trying to do the right thing (in others' eyes) i didn't allow myself to follow what i felt was the correct thing from the beginning. it's a lesson i've had to learn several times, just go with your gut...(i hope that doesn't imply that i'm arrogant...but i'm sure most people don't think i'm very sophisticated, and i really hope i'm not perceived as being arrogant either!)

interesting...

the body of believers...

i wish the following verses were viewed from a biblical perspective by the church community as a whole. i know pastors agree, and very active church members agree, but i don't think church "attenders" get it. everyone is needed to keep the body of Christ working properly and everyone has a place of importance in order to accomplish the work for the Kingdom that we are placed here to do. but what strikes me most is toward the end about when members suffer... you know, everyone suffers, it seems, in one way or another, but pretty much everyone is unwilling to be open and honest about it. if people would just talk to each other and share their hurts or struggles or frustrations...and be listened to out of love and not out of judgment, the church would be such a better place. if it were only that easy, right? just something to think about and try, it might be new for you, but since we're all suffering anyway, what would it hurt?

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot would say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear would say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those members of the body that we think less honorable we clothe with greater honor, and our less respectable members are treated with greater respect; whereas our more respectable members do not need this. But God has so arranged the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior member, that there may be no dissension within the body, but the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.

-1 Corinthians 12:12-27

that was brutal...

i'm so confused about ed psych! i studied but obviously don't get it from just reading. hopefully the test doesn't hold a ton of weight compared to the projects because i think i just bombed it! i hate that! oh well, i think there are only 2 tests.

it's excruciating...

the preggo pain that is...

i have less than 3 months left until the little man is due, but the pain i've been having is getting increasingly worse by the week. if it continues worsening and doesn't let up, i can't honestly see how i'm going to function for the next several weeks. as it is i'm not really doing much, i'm staying home with my kids, doing school work and accomplishing minimal chore-age around the abode...and by the end of the day (and actually from the time i get up now) i can barely move. i find i'm shuffling when i walk, taking forever to get from one position to another (even if it's just rolling over in bed), and having almost no relief even when taking the lovely tylenol with codeine. everyone is sympathetic with the fact that i'm pregnant during the "heat of the summer" but that's not an issue that bothers me...it's called "air conditioning" and it's pretty much everywhere in florida...it's just the constant pain, of not being able to move my legs, pick up my feet or bend... i know this little guy is going to be such a sweetie, but i am really over the whole "being preggers" thing.

coursework...

wow, i feel overloaded with my classes for the summer semester, and i've not done a thing for one of them because the prof hasn't responded to an email yet.

today i took a test in humanities and pretty much aced it. even the stuff i didn't know for sure and just guessed on...i still got correct! i love it when that happens! then i did a couple of chapter reviews and another paper too. i'm pretty much braindead for the rest of the day i think! i have a test in educational psych tomorrow that i need to study for, but that will be later this evening before i crack that book open again!

that's pretty much been my day. jerry took the kids out for the afternoon so the house could be quiet while i did some work. it's been a rainy day, so it was good not to be distracted by the restless natives! ha

i think i'm going to go and veg out on the sofa for awhile and do something mindless like watch tv and look at some magazines i've not had a chance to peruse yet...

tomorrow is going to be busy with a bunch of church stuff and fitting my ed pscyh test in the middle of everything...time to veg...

crazy week...

it started monday with my car breaking down on my way to run errands...thank goodness for a friend who rescued me, took me on my errands run and was there for me! one of the belt pulleys apparently fell off on the way to church sunday morning, so God's hand was on our car while we drove to the game and back. the belt broke on me on monday, and we were able to get it fixed quickly that evening.

tuesday and wednesday i wasn't feeling well, worked on school assignments and had business meetings both nights.

thursday, still not feeling great, more school assignments, and worship practice.

so here we are at the end of the week, i have an errand to run this afternoon and am debating about heading to a pool to "float" like the doctor told me...but i'm so tired, and still have more school work that needs to be completed. i couldn't sleep last night because every time i was lying down my back and baby belly would kill me. i think i got 2 hours of sleep and then went and laid back down around 6 this morning for a few more hours, but definitely not enough time! so i just answered my own question, not going to mess with a pool today, but i'm thinking definitely tomorrow! (too much school work to do and 2 tests to take this weekend)

i want to crawl back in bed, but i have to get this errand done... bleh.

father's day...

actually, more like father's weekend...

friday evening, we went on a date night to see "the happening" and it was sold out near home, so we drove to another theater and saw the midnight showing of it after hanging out for appetizers at the green iguana... it was nice to have a date night, those don't happen as often as we'd like!

saturday, jerry took nick to meet up with his friends to see "the incredible hulk"...then jerry got a ticket and saw it too, even though he was by himself. (elisabeth and i went to bruster's and had ice cream while they were out...yum!) then jerry and nick grabbed supper together and spent some time hanging out.

today...we got up early to go to church, jerry did the sound board/power point for both services, and we left after the worship set for the second service just as the sermon began. we grabbed lunch, jerry got a ray's baseball shirt, and we headed to the trop to see the ray's play the marlin's...unfortunately they didn't sweep the marlins in the series and we enjoyed the thrill of watching the rays stink it up today. it was still a fun time, and he's been wanting to see a game for weeks.

nothing fancy, but it was a good weekend, just spending time together as a family and doing some fun stuff. tomorrow i get the joy of focusing on school work, since i didn't do much over the weekend....

a time for every matter under heaven...

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.

-Ecclesiastes 3:1-14 (NRSV)

again, a passage i've heard/read many times throughout my life, but usually stopping at the end of the "a time for" section. reading "the rest of the story" is kind of cool. i love the part that says "I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil."

it just shows me (again) how important it is to love what you do and to enjoy life. for the most part, i have always loved whatever i have been involved in, from my "job" of working with children in an educational setting, to being involved in youth ministry, being involved in worship teams/choirs, and being married to a minister. life always has its ups and downs, but you should definitely enjoy what you're doing, and enjoy life in general...it's what God wants for us! it's always nice to be reminded of things that we tend to "forget" sometimes...and i've been reminded of so many things lately, i'm just in awe of how much i have "forgotten" and how much i have taken for granted.

i guess there's also a time to learn too...

two-thirds there...

so i guess i'm officially in the third trimester now, i've gotten a ton of email stating that anyway. (i signed up for a bunch of information email early on and now they're getting annoying. lol)

so for the next 13 weeks or so it's probably going to drag out, especially since it's summer break and i'm in a lot of pain. we went to busch gardens on saturday and it was excruciating afterward to walk or move. but i've been having that for weeks now. i can't just sit on the couch all summer and make my family sit at home with me. we're planning to go to orlando and hit universal studios and wanted to do sea world too, but i told jerry tonight that there's no way i can do both parks in one weekend if this is going to be the norm! (maybe we could look into renting one of those electric scooters and then i could do it, we'll see.)

today, all i did was work on some of my humanities assignments, watched tv and did laundry with help of the kids. this evening, i couldn't even lift my own leg/foot up onto to the sofa to lie down. i actually asked nick to help me...how pathetic is that?

so, 13 more weeks? i'm praying he'll be big and "need" to come early (or want to come 2 weeks early like his big sister did)...that, or request an epidural for the next couple of months at least!

on the positive side...he's an active little booger! he kicks and bumps and pushes and hits pretty much all day long! i hope that doesn't mean he's not going to sleep much or be hyper though! haha

...and we still have to agree on a name...that needs to be remedied soon, so i don't continue having dreams of having a toddler walking around and us calling him "little man" or "big guy"...gotta work on that one!

threatening?

i read my devo today, and i "knew" this but it always helps to be reminded. being in ministry, and even more specifically youth ministry, yeah i'd think that's a threat to the enemy... if we weren't doing something right, life would be peachy and we wouldn't keep coming upon difficulties...or at least much more peachy than it is and many less difficulties than we've faced. reading this helps to put things into perspective and in retrospect, God is doing great things, even if i can't see them all of the time. being involved in ministry...it's a dangerous thing to the stronghold of the enemy, and he'll try to stop us if he can...so who do we let win? i'm not going anywhere, a calling is a calling, and the specific area of a calling may change, but being called by God to be in ministry, or be a minister's wife, or whatever it is...it's still there, God doesn't walk away from us or what he's called us to do...to build his kingdom... if you're dealing with uncertainty in where you belong in ministry...just stay involved and the doors will open. but don't walk away, because if you do, the enemy will win...for now anyway...

Are You a Threat?
by Os Hillman


"One day the evil spirit answered them, 'Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?'" - Acts 19:15
Are you a threat to the kingdom of darkness? If satan and his demons had a board meeting and your name came before the board, what would they say? Would they say that you are one of their most feared enemies and they needed to keep many demons harassing and opposing you? Or would they say, "Gentlemen, this person poses no threat to our activities. Leave him alone. He needs no help from us." There are millions of church-going believers sitting in pews Sunday after Sunday who pose little threat to the kingdom of darkness.

If we truly believe that we war against rulers and principalities that cannot be seen, then we must realize that their mandate is to hinder any believer who is seeking to walk in the fullness of God. However, "greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1 Jn. 4:4b KJV).

If you are seeking to fully follow the Lord, you can expect harassment from the enemy. God permits temptation because it drives us deeper into the soil of God. These times reveal God's power to keep us and walk us through the temptations. Our message becomes fruitful when it is born out of obedience and suffering for His name. Do not consider it strange if you find yourself fighting major battles the more obedient you become to the Master. God desires each of us to become a feared enemy of hell in order to affect satan's domain. When you begin to feel harassed, chances are you are beginning to affect the kingdom of darkness, and satan doesn't like this. So, how many demons do you think are assigned to you?

hard to get...

so if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that i think in song, or at least strongly relate to songs on a regular basis.

sometimes when we don't have a clue as to what God is doing, and can't understand what his purposes are, we want to give up, be neutral or become numb. living the christian life isn't easy, and if you think it is...just wait! today's sermon was about rest, and how we need rest, and sometimes when we can't get the rest we need, at least we have hope that we will find rest when this life is over... but it's still hard to understand God's ways many times.

so this song keeps coming to mind because life is such a roller coaster of ups and downs, valleys and mountaintop experiences, and it's hard to understand sometimes...

"hard to get" by rich mullins...i've blogged it before, but found this "video" that's really an audio of him singing it... because God is sometimes "just plain hard to get"...

busy week...

and exhausting too.

we've had some interesting things come up this week, but by and large it's all working out rather well. hopefully one incident will work itself out in our favor, so far it looks good at least. :)

school's over, finally, so now i can concentrate on my college courses (summer semester started this week) and hopefully my business too. my main goal this summer is to get uber organized. all of my school stuff is here, so i plan to go through it, organize it, and purge stuff too. same with my sewing stuff, and everything stored in the garage. we're almost drowning in baby stuff now too, so i need to go through and organize all of it too until we decide what we're doing for his room, and if we're going to move to a bigger place or not...the procrastinating perfectionist in me is going to go insane this year, but it all needs done. next week my goal is to get the whole house in order, including all laundry and closets...it's been so neglected lately!

but first, i'm going to relax tomorrow (after i go to a committee meeting early), do whatever i need to for my classes this week, and just enjoy my first (almost) full day of summer break. this weekend, we're going to have some fun family time, and put off the worrying about anything else until next week.

tonight at worship practice was great. even though i was exhausted and hurting from being on my feet and moving stuff all day, it was refreshing to be there, singing about God and thinking only about the songs we were practicing and singing for him. i've allowed myself to be too busy this week to focus on prayer and study like i should, but my daily devo reading has been kept up at least, to keep me a little sane through it all. God is good, and blessing us and taking care of us, so i'm just trying to put everything in his hands and not fret about anything...that's a toughie for me, but it gets easier with practice.

going to crash now...so...tired...

trusting God...

that's really hard to do sometimes. i know he will provide all of my needs according to all his riches...i know that he will direct my paths... but to trust that he will, to really trust him, that's harder to do than it sounds like it should be...

today's sermon...

don't worry about supplies... he will provide our needs for food, clothing, bills... money... transportation...

don't worry about shelter... he will provide a place for us to live, sleep, rest...

don't worry about speaking... he will give us the words we need to speak, when we need them... and he gives us people, who need to hear those words, to minister to...

don't worry about suffering... he knows when a sparrow falls, and numbers the hairs on our heads... so he knows when we are in need or hurting...

it is definitely much easier said than done, especially in times of need, but he is there... we just have to trust him to be true to his promises...