Spoiled

So today I was thinking…I have a dog that adores me, a family that loves me and great friends who tolerate me…which lead me to the conclusion that I’m spoiled. I have a roof over my head every night, warm blankets to keep me warm, and plenty of food in the frig…which has marked me as blessed. I have a great job with people I love working with in the most amazing city in the world (DC, I know I’m bias)…which is rare in the professional world. I am so spoiled I can hardly stand it. Now, most of the people reading this could probably say they are blessed with all of the same things more or less….so why do we concentrate on all the things we don’t have? For example, I don’t own my place, I’m not debt free yet (college loans ugh..), I haven’t traveled all over the world, and I’m still single. These are the major issues in my life.

This weekend I was watching some of the coverage on Haiti and I couldn’t stop thanking God for His blessings in my life JUST THE WAY IT IS. I’m glad I don’t own my own place yet…I’ll appreciate it more when I do. I can’t say I’m glad I’m not debt free, but I CAN say that I know that responsibility has taught me a few hard lessons which I’ll teach my children some day. The world isn’t going anywhere so I can always save to go on one of my dreamed adventures (Ireland in March :-) ). And lastly…I’m so glad I’m single. I’m unlike most girls who feel incomplete without somebody. I feel 100% whole…I find singleness a blessing from God, but only if you take advantage of it. I have freedom that sadly a lot of women don’t. I love that freedom and someday I’ll turn in a little of that to the right guy, but for now I’m not stressing about it. I’d rather be single and happy…then trapped and alone in a unhappy marriage. So, you see….the things I could complain about aren’t really issues.


The people of Haiti on the other hand are in a horrible unimaginable situation. It looks like deaths are going to hit 200,000. 200,000 THOUSAND!! The people of Haiti already had a horrible roll of the dice to begin with, so after the earthquake it’s a devastated nation. Look what happened to America after 9/11 and that was 10% of what the Haitians lost. So, as I watched this coverage on my television unroll I couldn’t think of one thing in my life to ever complain about. How could I, when I’m watching a people will REAL problems being pulled from building after building? So, this blog is about putting your small issues in perspective…thinking outside yourself…and thinking of ways to reach out to someone with REAL problems. I love how my frontline community and office are having fundraisers for Haiti. I’m hoping to be involved as many as possible whether through financial support, service or prayers. Let us pray diligently that God will restore these people like He restored Job (“You will pray to Him, and He will hear you” Job 22:27) and that His glory will shine through all of their sadness.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, through the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” Psalm 46:1-2




This is the only drinking water most have.



Natalie lost both her parents.





Father, send your strength and comfort to your people during this hard time. Restore their hearts, mind, and bodies while they rebuild their lives. And may we always strive to reach out to others in love through service to You. Thank you Lord, for Your many blessings to one underserving spoiled child.

Frontline..Isn't that the party church?

One thing I can't stand more then anything is a fake person. But not just any fake person...a fake Christian person. The reason?? Because they're not just giving themselves a bad name, but all of us who strive to be a genuine vessels for Christ. Now, nobody is perfect by any means but its so frustrating to see friends partying like it's 1999 on Saturday night then lifting their hands in praise Sunday night. If that sickens me...I can't even imagine how that breaks the heart of God. Didn't He ask us to be different? Aren't we suppose to be a Light in the world? I can't even tell you how many 'Christian' parties I've been to where I see 'booty' dancing...excessive drinking...and 'OMG What is she wearing?'

So...THIS is for my Frontline community!!!

'The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.' I John 2:17

WHERE the HECK is the accountability?! I've seen small group go out partying together. I've been small group leaders dirty dancing on top of bars. I've seen myself running out of 'Christian' parties because the environment was choking me. Now, we're not suppose to judge the world because they don't know God...BUT we ARE suppose to judge one another. So...all of you quiet Christians who feel the same way I do, but don't want to be seen as judging need to start speaking out. We're suppose to hold each other accountable. When someone is 'fake' in our community we should be calling them out. They are discrediting our Savior's name and what He died for. We are in a community that high fives the immature. We're NOT in college anymore..it's time for us to grow up and cling to the responsibilities we've been running from. BUT most importantly it's time for us to be SERVING... Serving our community...not just going on GI trips. Those are wonderful..but what are you doing after the trips? McLean Bible needs willing servants every week and it's shocking how many Frontlines aren't involved. Frontliners who are at every party..every dance..every activity...but run if asked to serve. If as Christians we're suppose to be Christ like...that means we're suppose to serve. Serve others like He did...that means it's serving FIRST and fun activities second.

'For it is not those that hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, BUT it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.' Romans 2:13

Now...I know this blog seems harsh, but honestly it's coming from a place of love. As I'm speaking it to you, I'm speaking it too myself as well. It's so easy to get caught up in the fun frontline activities that we forget the REAL reason we're even there. Frontline isn't there for us to always have party buddies. It's a community that should be challenging each other to grow up...not encourage the opposite. Men start leading like you were called to do. Women stop falling victim to what the world says you should be...and start becoming power houses of the faith like Deborah. BUT...the most important thing we need to start doing is stop being FAKE. Your actions show where your heart is...and lets be honest most of our communities hearts are on Saturday Night and faking it for Sunday. So...where does change start? It can only start with us....

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them."
Isaiah 42:16

Time...

Perfect Song to start the New Year.

"I've looked in the mirror & the worlds getting clearer...."




"Now..this is my time. I'm gonna make this moment mine..."

Let it Snow..Let it Snow..Let it Snow

So, I'm trapped. I'm stuck in my small cozy apartment watching every Hallmark movie known to man. This morning I made the journey to my car and couldn't believe how much snow we really got. The snow around my car is up to mid-thigh. You can only take so many walks and watch so many Hallmark movies before you lose your MIND. On the bright side I was able to do my laundry, clean my kitchen, and wrap all my Christmas presents. I am seriously considering rearranging my whole room, but we'll see if that happens. At this very moment I'm watching 'Deadliest Catch'...those men are insane. I would love to go to Alaska though, even if I have NO desire to go sea fishing. Those waters are very violent. They make a lot of money in those waters, but is it really that worth it? I guess they believe so. I know one thing...it sure makes for a interesting TV show. On another topic..I miss my dog. Just 4 more days and my beloved dog Chewy will be home with me. I can't wait. I miss his company. My family is coming into DC for the holidays and I couldn't be happier. I'm planning on taking them to the National Christmas Tree and the National Cathedral. It's beautiful during Christmas time and I'm just hoping the snow stays around long enough for it to be a white Christmas. Because even if the roads suck..it's absolutely beautiful outside. Besides....Chewy loves to play in the snow. I'm off for another walk...lattas.

Bon Jovi..New Jersey...

Last night I was looking for the music video Bon Jovi did with Cindy Crawford in the early 90s on youtube and of course a THOUSAND Bon Jovi videos came up, to which I took a trip down memory lane. You know, that’s why I love music so much. It takes you back to times and moments you almost forgot. Whether good or bad those moments have some amazing sound tracks. Bon Jovi is one of those bands that do that to me. I was 15 years old and it was my sister’s 17th birthday. I wanted to get her something she would really like, so I decided to buy her a CD. I remember searching through different bands she liked and all of a sudden I saw Bon Jovi’s New Jersey. Was it a new release? No, but it had so many AWESOME songs. I mean ‘I’ll be there for you’, ‘bad medicine’, ‘born to be my baby’…the list goes on. I’m a thoughtful gift giver..so this CD meant a lot to me because I remember being in a car with my sister blaring ‘bad medicine’. Since we use to fight all the time that was a good moment for us. Growing up my sis & I weren’t allowed to listen to anything but ‘Christian’ music, so we would rebel from time to time by listening to Bon Jovi & others. lol Anywho, I bought my first CD (Christian or otherwise) and it was Bon Jovi. I gave it to my sister for her birthday thinking I would copy it on cassette (remember when we could do that). Lol Sadly, before I got a chance to do that my sister had a ‘spiritual’ awaking or whatever and got rid of ALL of her ‘hidden’ non-Christian music. She destroyed Bon Jovi. I remember I was SO MAD when I found out. ONE – why didn’t she just give it to me. I love them. TWO – it was a gift I gave her that she destroyed. I was really hurt by that. Luckily, my sister no longer destroys non-Christian music, in fact she’s probably shaking her head right now remembering how silly she was. It’s funny…I forgot about that story until I met a friend who’s completely OBSESSED with Bon Jovi. I understand why he is. Their songs were the sound track to our childhood. A constant staple in our lives, and to that I say Thank you Bon Jovi AND NESS you STILL owe me the CD ‘New Jersey’. ;-)

Attached is a song I would repeat OVER & OVER while dancing around my room before my sister destroyed it….lol….memories.


Don’t hate on the hair bands…..the 80s wouldn’t be the same without them. :-)

I wanna dance....

So, yesterday was my first Sunday as the new Small Group Kids Coordinator for Kids Quest at McLean Bible Church. It was a great day full of new things. I’m so excited to be serving with some amazing people. Some of the volunteers I’ll be working with have been at Kids Quest for years and years. What an amazing testimony of service and sacrifice! These volunteers see the big picture for these kids and how you have to start young. To instill into our children a love and hunger for God’s presence in their lives. I remember when I was interviewing for this position I went in on a Sunday morning just to check out the process. I went into a room with a class full of 4 year olds. I’m not going to lie…I was scared out of my mind. But it didn’t take long for my heart to melt for these little ones. In the corner of the room was a little boy sitting with his Bible on his lap alone. I walked over and told him how lucky he was to have a Bible with pictures. Those are for sure the coolest Bibles. ;-) He told me his daddy got him the Bible and where his father put his name. This little boy, Billy..went on to show me his favorite Bible story (with pictures) and wouldn’t leave his Bible unattended to go play with the other kids. After talking to him for a little bit I asked him if he would like me to watch his Bible so he could play with the others. He thought about it…then agreed to let me hold it for him. To which for the remainder of the class that Bible never left my hands. I found it so endearing that at the age of 4 this little boy cherished his Bible so much. He was sitting by himself in the corner not playing because he didn’t want to leave it alone. He cherished it because his dad gave it to him. This book was important to his father therefore it was important to him. I thought to myself how vital it is to teach our children the importance of God’s Word at a young age. At 4yrs, Billy’s dad is instilling the foundation of what kind of man Billy will become. Being a part of helping these families do that is a honor…a blessing. I’m so excited about the different things the Lord is going to teach me with this new position.

I’ll leave you with a funny story from yesterday…

Well, we had a few children yesterday who were having a hard time settling down. So much so that they were given to the Kids Quest staff to calm down in our office. This one little girl was just screaming and throwing a fit to say the least. She wanted her mom and she was obviously use to getting what she wants. At Kids Quest we teach good behavior so of course we have to be consistent and never cave to the child. So, she was screaming and screaming…kicking her legs against the door of the room she was locked in. At some point she was crying so hard she was making herself tired OR maybe my ears were ringing so much I became delusional but I SWEAR she was scream humming and door kicking to the tune of ‘I wanna dance with somebody’ by Whitney Houston. For the life of me I couldn’t get it out of my head, so I started humming/singing it while she proceeded to act a mess. She finally calmed down and was a very sweet cute little girl, but that tune is still in my head with the imagine of a child throwing a fit. I think I found my future cooping mechanism. lol

So because I love you all so much you can join me in my mental flashback. I do love this song…lol
“I wanna dance with somebody” by Whitney Houston.

Bahamas 2009

Heaven Help Us All....more to come!!

This video catches the essence of our first few days in the Grand Bahamas.


Jon is the Sandman!!
You can't go to the beach without burying somebody. Jon wanted to be a sand woman so because we loved him so much we MADE it happen. I have to admit though...that was the ugliest sand woman I ever saw.


Captn' Ben trying to save our lives AND Jon's AMAZING war stories.

We had the BEST MOST PERFECT vacation. I went snorkeling for the first time...saw a stingray!! But what made it so perfect was the company that went. I laughed more in that week then probably my whole life. Between Ben's fire dancing...Jon's sandman...Michelle's limbo...and Carley's dancing queen...I was in stitches all week. We made memories for a lifetime...like walking 2 miles to the scary store in the dark, just to get there and realize we really didn't need to go OR Jon killing so many ants in the pool that we voted it justified his 98th kill. :-) I could go on & on but don't worry I won't. :-) I do have one regret though....I wish I had my camera with me when Jon & Ben had their Playboy waterfall model contest in the resort pool. I still can't believe they didn't kick us out, but they DID keep Jon's camera. lol


Ben fire dancing and LOVING IT!!
Background story, Ben refused to dance with me, Carley & Michelle, so we went to the DJ and asked him to embarrass our Benny. When the fire dancer came around we pretty much pushed Ben into her flaming arms. :-) You should of danced with us Ben!! lol


The Jon Roll
There was a guy & his family sitting beside us who kept rolling in the sand..completely embarrassing his family. So of course, our guys decided they wanted to do it as well. Sadly, I didn't get the sand angels on video. :-)


We had the most amazing time in the Grand Bahamas...even if we never used the free scooters.