Helloooo Everyone....

I haven't been on here in a few days. Boo on me, I know. Im sure you all have been checking constantly for my posts. ;) Anyways, I have done pretty well at getting up this week. It has been quite a blessing to get up, get some coffee, and read God's word without interruptions from children or anything else. I have to say though, today, my husband was off and didn't have to get up early from work, and I totally slept in. Til almost 8. Then I got up and made pancakes and turkey bacon. Yummy!

I had a pretty eventful day today. I had a doctors appt. I have no health insurance, so those are few and far between. I have a Chiari 1 Malformation.

http://www.asap.org/index.php/disorders/chiari-malformation/ (Just in case you are interested..)

This causes me alot of pain and headaches, and may end up in surgeries. Having no insurance, though, I haven't been able to see a neurologist or get any treatment. Ive just had to deal with it. About a month ago, I developed some blurry vision (I could see clearly with 1 SIDE of my eye..It was CRAZY) and got hot, then got a MASSIVE migraine like I have never had before. I was scared to death that something was going on. I went home, went to bed, and it went away eventually. The headaches have seemed to worsen in the last month or so, so I decided I had to suck it up, pay the $100, and go see my primary doctor and see if he had any ideas to help me maybe find a grant or something that would help me get treatment. He didn't know of any grants, but the doctor that he is partnered with said he gets his insurance through an agency through the State of North Carolina that is just for high risk people, who have preexisting conditions, and have been denied elsewhere. This may very well be the answer to my prayers! I haven't been able to look into it yet, but I will update when I do. He also thinks it is income based, which would be even more amazing, considering we are a one income family with 4 people, and 2 of us (Rodney and myself) in college. I will be graduating in December of this year, and have an internship lined up for the fall, so Im praying for God to provide a full time position there with benefits. Its sad how I always took health insurance for granted, until I was diagnosed and unable to get coverage anymore.

Thats a super long post, but please keep this situation in your prayers. I would love to be able to be headache free! :) God is my ultimate Healer. I believe He will do it! :)

How He Loves Us - Kim Walker / Jesus Culture

How He Loves.....

Music is about as vital to me as oxygen, it seems. It's amazing to me how God can work through music to speak to hearts and show His love. Even through bands who play unconventional "Christian" music. :) Our praise band has decided to do "How He Loves" as a Christmas song this year. Not the norm, I know, but it speaks of his amazing love and how very undeserving we are. This song is so encouraging to us, as followers of Christ who have to fight in this world to see Jesus. I know for me, I fall short daily....maybe even hourly. How amazing is it that although we are completely flawed, and we dishonor Him constantly, that He still loves us so much? This band singing this song is called Jesus Culture. They are INSANE. I have fallen in love with them, and I go to Youtube daily and just worship with them. It's like you can feel their passion through the screen. I want to have that passion all the time. When Im on stage leading music with my husband and our awesome band, I never want to "go through the motions." I want God to be tangible. I want to feel Him all the time, and just experience His presence. I want to feel His love and know that although I am nothing, He is everything and He loves me all the time, just as I am.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoC1ec-lYps

What a terrible, horrible, no good week....UNTIL TODAY! :)

So, this week sucked. i hope no one is offended by that word, but its the best descriptive word that I could think of. We had drama at church, which no one likes, but I think that if we can all move past it, it will be a great thing. A staff member was let go, due to conflicts with the pastor, amongst other things that our pastor was gracious enough to not smear around. He felt God's leading to go ahead and do what needed to be done, and he did it. The response was insane. Our youth leader was a nice lady. To our youth, she was "cool." Now, needless to say, over half of our youth and their families no longer attend our church. I understand that it was sad that she had to go, but really. Are you following her or Jesus? Do you not trust your leader to follow Jesus to make decisions? This was the situation that led to my deleting my Facebook. I may return to it after this, but after I "clean" my friends list up. The comments that have been made against my pastor and my church are some of the most disrespectful, hateful, vengeful things that i have ever seen. Sadly, I do believe that God will deal with them because of it. I do believe in a God who casts judgment where it is due. I do believe that He uses it for correction, of sorts. Ministry is NOT easy. It is one of the hardest things that a person can do, because the spiritual attacks are horrid. My husband is a worship leader, and the attacks that he experiences are terrible. I can't imagine what all the pastor goes through, aside from all the other things that he has on his plate. I just want to take a minute though, and say that I am proud to have a pastor that follows Jesus, even if it causes him pain and persecution, which is what he has received this week.
I have also had drama with the person that i have felt for the last year was a great friend. Im not even going to go into those details, but we can just say that it turned out to not be much of a friendship at all. It makes me very sad, but, honestly, I want friends around me who love me and encourage me. Ones that can support me in my walk with Christ, and who have the courage to correct me when I fall short (which i do often). Thats the kind of friends that I need. I am praying through this, and just trying to refocus on the one that matters...Jesus. Its all about Him, anyway. Why should I waste me time on things that don't even matter?

Now, to the GREAT FINALE of a terrible, horrible week! Service this morning at New Life was nothing short of amazing. I have never seen people worship like they were this morning, and after the week I described above, it was well needed for many of us. Our pastor brought a very difficult message, but did amazing as always. I will figure out how to post a gadget on here that connects to our website so that anyone who wants to listen to his messages can. He is very real and relevant and easy to understand. He is also extremely funny. :) Well, I guess that is all for now. Ill check back in later.

Ahhh, Im back.

So, once again, I most likely have no followers at this point, since I haven't posted in forever. thats ok. maybe this should be my personal therapy anyway. Kinda like a journal of sorts. So much has happened lately that has put me in a funk. Here, I can vent, share thoughts, all while keeping situations and people anonymous of course. I can share life with others who have common interests with me, and just have fun meeting new people. :) I made the decision to perhaps temporarily, perhaps permanately delete my Facebook page. For one, I spend far too much time on there, just "seeing what other people are doing." Who cares, really? Not to mean that in a negative way, but I have a full life, school, church, yada, yada, yada, and somehow, I can find tons of time to just hangout on FB. It can be a great tool for keeping up with people, but it can also become a dangerous addiction. So, I deleted it. We have some dramas going on right now that need prayed through, so thats my plan. Im reading a new book, "Secondhand Jesus," that discussed the "rumored" version of jesus as opposed to who He really is. Not the watered down, "cool" version of Jesus, but the Holy, Glorious Jesus. Thats the one that I want to know and have a close relationship with. :)
In addition to returning to the blogging world, I have joined a few forums, which is new to me. In the last year, I have become a couponer, at the grocery store anyway. I want to learn to be like those insane ladies that can get tons of free stuff when they go anywhere; Walgreens, CVS, Haris Teeter, etc. :) I like free stuff, and now I have a little extra time to be productive. I'd like to use this blog too, to share info with other Mommas who like bargains. I also like easy, healthy recipes, and at times, may post new ones that I like. :) I will try to update daily, but we shall see how that plays out!

PLEASE WATCH BOYS VIDEO! :)

I am ashamed at how long it has been since Ive been on here! Good grief! Over a year! Anyways, if there are any of you who stuck around regardless of my absence, the boys are in a contest for Elevation Church in Charlotte and could seriously use your support. We were leading the contest until recently. They are getting beat by over 300 views. All you have to do is watch this cue video, and repost wherever you can. FB, your blog, Twitter, Myspace, email, anywhere. They are so excited and it's their first contest! :)

Here is the video...Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIlByOjNeNM

Here he is!

The baby is here! Kaidan Lee was born last night around 11:30. He is 6lb 2 ozs and 18.5 in long. Miraculously, he is alive and seems to be doing pretty well. He hasn’t taken anything from a bottle, so they are looking at possibly giving him a feeding tube. (Update---Robyn just texted and said they are not doing a feeding tube) He is beautiful! His face and head look perfect! That’s an answered prayer right there. A lot of babies with this condition have mis-shapen heads and abnormalities to the face. He doesn’t though! I have prayed for God’s will in this and for Karee to be safe and healthy, and she is! Who knows what God’s plan is for this? He is very capable of performing miracles, what’s one more? If it is in His plan, he could heal this baby and reveal himself to so many. Everyone please keep them in your thoughts and prayers. Robyn says that they (Karee and baby) may come home on Friday. That was unexpected. No one had really planned for that. I will post more as I know more. Keep praying like crazy!! God is able to do miraculous things!! 