Genesis 22:1-19

Key Verse: "I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Genesis 22:17-18)

Abraham was tested by God. Though he did not know it, this was God’s intent from the beginning. God spoke to Abraham and told him to go and sacrifice his son upon the mountain. God knew the pain this would cause Abraham; Isaac was Abraham’s only precious son, and he was dearly loved by his father. At this point, Abraham had had several years to enjoy Isaac and keep him to himself; the boy could speak well, think for himself, and was old enough and strong enough to accompany his father on the journey into the mountains.

Abraham readily accepted God’s command from the beginning. When God called him, he answered, “Here I am.” When God told him to take Isaac onto the mountain, he did so after only thinking about it for a night. It must have been a difficult decision for Abraham, but he still trusted God and his promise and followed God’s command. He took Isaac, one of his servants, and the supplies for the sacrifice up the mountain.

Life Update... Again!

So... I have a job! :D I'll be working as a cashier at Target on Monroe Street. Kinda excited-- not for the work, necessarily, but to be earning money and using my time productively instead of having nothing to do. And new experiences are fun. :) Usually.

Easter in the new center was great. :D Everything was done very well-- praise and worship was great (as usual-- way to set the bar high, Johnny!), the message was good, special song, and communion-- which I miss... we used to do it quarterly at DBC, but... well, I can't even REMEMBER the last time we had communion there. It'd been over a year, to say the least! anyway, tangent-- communion was a very solemn, yet joyful time. I enjoyed seeing everyone and being able to celebrate the Risen Christ with my Toledo family. I love you guys, so much! [/end sappiness]

Student Night was also successful. It was a little lengthy, and dinner was a bit crowded and unorganized... but... well, trial-and-error! I was especially impressed that we had so many new faces among the testimony sharers! :D Kati did a great job with the message, and I was very proud of both the message itself and the confidence and spirit with which she delivered it. Keep up the good work, Kati-- I am so blessed to be your friend and be able to watch you grow in Christ! (Okay, so I lied about the sappiness being over with... but I'm done now, I swear!)

Will be doing praise and worship tomorrow and the following two Sundays, so... lots of practice to look forward to (especially being there an hour earlier than I'm used to... yuck! Ha ha... man, I really have become spoiled!). I'm curious to see how this stewardship series of messages turns out, too... Guess we'll see tomorrow!

Also... lunch at the Parks' for M. Peter's birthday celebration... Heck yeah.

Spring Conference Review Testimony

Key Verse: “Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34a)

I. The Work of God I Experienced

This spring conference was a much needed break for me. I have been stressed out about a lot of things. I felt very frustrated for a good two weeks before conference, and worried about where the money was going to come from and what, if anything, I should do. I will admit I was burnt out with praise and worship, with Narrowgate, with dealing with my family (from being home all the time), and constantly searching for a job with no visible fruit. The last thing I wanted to do was stress out about writing a testimony that my heart obviously wasn’t moved to write; it was a selfish motive, really, but that was how I felt. Conference was my chance to “get away from it all” and be able to recharge.

From past experience, I knew that God could work in me at the conference if I let Him, and I knew I needed that. I needed, more than wanted, to hear the message of the Cross, to take time away from the things that were worrying me and just focus on Jesus. Still, the issue of money was one that I couldn’t get around. I have been unemployed since January, and money at my house is tight, so I was wary to shell out the money for the conference from my own pocket, and even more reluctant to ask my parents for help. I finally decided just to pay for it, that it would be worth the cost and that somehow I would just work with what I had left. The week of the conference, my grandmother sent me a check to give me a little spending money, knowing I was unemployed; it was just enough to cover the cost of conference. I turned in the money the next day and completed my registration.

Life Status Update

So... I'm pretty excited. :) I got a call this morning, and the lady from Target (in Toledo-- the one on Monroe St.) wants me to come in for an interview Thursday morning at 10am. Whoo hoo! I've been filling out apps all this week and last, and it's nice to at least get a call back. ♥ You guys know I've been jobless for a while, now, so.... some income would be nice! Really praying that I find a job that lets me maintain my UBF activity-- I don't want to miss a thing! So pray for a job offer (God willing!) and that they'll be flexible enough to let me work when UBF/Narrowgate isn't having a meeting! :D

Secondly, and this is another thing I'm praying about: my parents have never been to UBF. Never. I've asked them to come to Sunday service a few times, but Mom tends to work on Sunday mornings and... well... you all know the situation with my dad. (Sigh.) At any rate, Student Night is coming up and it could be the last one of the (school) year, so... I thought it might be nice if they would come. So... I asked. And get this: Mom works every day this week EXCEPT Friday, and with Dad's new job he's home every weekend. ♥ Dad seems kinda happy about it; told me to get him directions and he would definitely be there. :3 So pray they don't change their minds, ha ha! I really want them to meet all of you, and to know where I disappear to all the time.

And, of course, pray for Student Night itself. Kati's testimony-message, all the testimony sharers (ah, that reminds me... I need to work on my conference review. Augh, I haven't even started!!), praise and worship, and all that fun stuff. First Student Night in the new center! ♥ Oh, I'm so excited!

Busy, busy week! Time with Jesi/Kati on Wednesday, spending the night so I can hit Daily Bread and the NG Cabinet meeting Thursday morning, interview, and then we sisters are meeting for dinner @ BDubs so we can catch up with Meredith (who I miss very much!). Whew... and then Bible Study/Student Night on Friday!

I think that's all for now. Aah, it's good to be busy. ♥ I love Toledo.

A Blessing in Song

On a whim, I sent in my reply to a contest and actually won the new Sanctus Real album Pieces of a Real Heart from Yes FM (my most favorite radio station ever!), and have been quite happy with it. :) As I neared the end of the CD, though, I found myself greatly moved by the last track.

Lately (especially before our spring conference), I had been very burnt out, doubtful, and disbelieving. I frequently fall into cynicism when things get rough, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. We all fall into this pattern of getting frustrated and giving up, especially in our spiritual lives, when things aren't going our way. We need Jesus to open our hearts again, to renew our spirits and make us whole, and to remind us that He should be the source of our joy and not our circumstances.

Just thought I would share that with all of you; perhaps you will be as inspired as I was-- or at least get something out of it. So... enjoy! <3

Post with a Purpose

So... welcome to my blog! :) Happy to have you visit. There's a 99% chance that you're from our Narrowgate fellowship, and if so, HI GUYS! :D If you're not, then welcome anyway.

I'm hoping that you all will check this regularly, so we can keep in touch and get to know each other a little better. Feel free to post your thoughts, suggestions, anecdotes... whatever you feel applies. :) Love you, and God bless!