Happy BirthDay Alaina!

Today, well yesterday, was Alaina's birthday. She turned 21 years old (You are gettin' old girly! LOL). Just kidding! You are young yet with many years of youth ahead of you. Trust me, the years only get better.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALAINA!

Testimony

For Wednesday night services, I normally leave my house early to give myself time to practice a little before service. Yesterday, I left at 6:30 as normal and while en route to church, I realized that I forgot my check book. This posed two problems: 1) We were taking a sacrificial offering in service and I would not be able to participate that night if I didn't have my check book and 2) I would not make it to church early and would possibly be late to our 7:00 prayer meeting if I were to turn around to get the check book. After a few minutes of thought, I decided to turn around and get my check book. I figured that I could cut out practice and if I were to hurry I would make it to service on time since I had allowed myself the additional 15 minutes in the first place.

So, I went home, got my check book and headed back to church. As I was on my way I came across an accident. This accident took place in pretty much the exact area that I would have been had I not turned around. Instantly, I knew once I passed that scene that God had saved me from that accident. I thought to myself, not only do I serve an awesome God, but if I had not acted upon my first instinct (which I believe to be the nudging of God), I would have more than likely been the one in that accident. Although, I pray for the women who were involved and pray that everything will turn out all right for the both of them, I am grateful that I listened to God and turned around.

The First Lady

My pastor's wife (a.k.a. The First Lady), had a birthday yesterday as well.

Happy Birthday Sis Pryor!!!

Anthony Had Another B-Day

Today, Anthony hit the big "6". He is officially able to ride in a car without a car seat. I woke him up this morning by singing Happy Birthday and making him his favorite breakfast,... cereal. He went to school and had a wonderful day. His teacher even met me at the playground gate to tell me what a wonderful day he had. Glory to God! My sister came out and a few of us went to CEC (chuck-e-cheese) and had a mini b-day celebration. He got some gifts that were on his birthday list, including a Game Cube, Hot Wheels Track and Soccor Ball. He loved it, I loved it, we all loved it. Today was simple and perfect for someone who just turned 6. I am a proud mother of a wonderful 6-year old little boy.

Happy Birthday Anthony!!!

Psalm 121: 1-3

Such Sweet Sorrow

I thank God for big brothers. I am quite younger than my older brothers, but they have been an important part of my life even though they were pretty much out of the house before I was walking. My oldest brother, Tony, was out here on vacation for a short while and I was reminded of how much I miss him. I credit him and my wonderful sis-in-law, Melinda, with much of how I am today. When I was younger, my brother was like this imaginary hero. I never understood what he did or where he was because he was so much older than me, but I couldn’t wait until he came home. When he finally did come home, I wouldn’t leave his side expect for when I had to go to school. As I grew older and he married, my vacations were spent in his home. His home was my home and he never told me or made me feel otherwise. He took care of me and I can’t express how loved that makes me feel.

So, you may be able to imagine a little bit of the joy I felt in seeing him after a few years. This visit reminded me of all the reasons why I love my brother and how much I have missed him. Having him for the little while has been a blessing, but I hated to see him go. I love my big brother and thank God for him. I already miss him and can’t wait until next time.

A Portrait Before His Was Famous

This is me in the eyes of Jose Rios. This picture is titled

"A Portrait Before He Was Famous".

Feasting in His Sanctuary

Have you ever dined at a restaurant where the food was great but the service was horrible, the restaurant was dirty and the surrounding environment was just unpleasant? Or you may experience wonderful service in a cleanly restaurant with an environment that is quite welcoming, but the food didn’t necessarily meet up to your expectation. Even if the food was excellent, the service and environment would probably deter me from returning. For me a filthy restaurant makes me think of a dirty kitchen which ultimately leads to the thought of dirty food, which I ate. Yuck! But if the food is not up to par, but the service I received was outstanding and the restaurant was pleasant, the chances of my return are very high. The food doesn’t seem to be as bad when the service is excellent. Well, I guess we can’t always have our cake and eat it too. This is definitely true in my case because my cake may explode prior to being edible. Anywho, with whatever scenario I face, my expectation is curved to one side or other, it is normally a deciding factor in whether I will return for another dining experience.

Dining with God works the same way. What you first encounter curves your expectation for the next visit. Everything around you serves as a deciding factor on whether your dinner experience is worth a return. The friendliness of your waitress(es) (the Church Greeter and Church Family), the cleanliness of the facility (the Church), the calming pleasant environment (pre-service prayer), the appetizer (the Worship Service) the main course (the Sermon), and what we all look forward to, the desert (the Alter Call) are all contributing factors in a guest experience. I have been to restaurants where I just loved, loved, loved the food and service. And because of the wonderful first encounter, I have forgiven a bad food selection or mediocre service I may have received at a future visit because I know what they can provide and maybe they are having an off day.

This is why it is so important that the saints of the church seek the face of God in every service and serve a feast at dinner time. What we dish out, is what our guest will reel in. As excellently put by Tommy Tenney, “When people get just a little touch of God mixed with a lot of something that is not God, it inoculates them against the real thing. Once they’ve been ‘inoculated’ by a crumb of God’s presence, then when we say ‘God really is here’; they say ‘No. I’ve been there, done that, I bought the T-shirt, and I didn’t find Him; it really didn’t work for me’” I don’t want my guest eating tuna when they can have escargot. I don’t want them to have day-old bread when they can heave a loaf fresh from the oven. I want them to have Jesus and what I do contributes to how much of Jesus they will have. What I do will answer the question, are they feasting or snacking on Him?

Last week I was blessed to be able to attend our Western District Ladies conference. This is my favorite conference every year. I look forward to my soul being fed by the services as well as the fellowship. And each year, I wonder how they are going to outdo the last and each year they have not failed me. They outdo the last. Although the theme of this conference was “Into His Sanctuary”, it could have been easily called “Feasting in His Sanctuary”. We feasted on the presence of God. We experienced Him and served our guest with caviar and escargot. We served the thousand dollar plates on a twenty dollar budget. It was awesome! Friday night was one of those services where we really couldn’t get any teaching because God was teaching us how to feast on Him. We created an atmosphere that welcomed God and we didn’t reject Him when He showed up. Although we don’t bask in the glory of God for anyone but God, it was our basking that helped the lost be saved, the bound to be delivered, the sick to be healed, and the weak to be made strong. It was our feasting in the Sanctuary that helped others walk into the Sanctuary. Hallelujah!!!

I don’t really know how to end this blog because I got myself all pumped up. I will say this, as best said by Tommy Tenney, “If God’s glory can’t flow through the aisles of the church because of seducing spirits and manipulating men, then God will have to turn somewhere else…” I don’t want God to pass me up. I don’t want Him to pass up my family, friends, coworkers, etc. I want all to come and Feast in the Presence of God. It does start with me. As long as I do what I can, God will do the rest. I create the atmosphere; God will enter it and do His marvelous work.

EXCELLENT quote

"Listen, my friend. God doesn't care about your music, your midget steeples, and your flesh-impressive buildings. Your church carpet doesn't impress Him-He carpets the fields. God doesn't really care about anything you can "do" for Him; He only cares about your answer to one question: "Do you want Me?" - Tommy Tenney

Good Quote

"The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible." - Arthur C. Clarke

We Hugged U OC!

This Valentine's Day was the best Valentines I have had in a long while. As a single parent there is one thing that can make you lonely, Valentine's Day. Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, 4th of July are normally spent with family, but this is one occasion where a third person (or maybe 2) is literally a fifth wheel.

But this Valentine's Day instead of dwelling on what I didn't have or what I wasn't involved in, I was truly blessed to be involved in God's wonderful work, OUTREACH. A few of us single moms, went out and Hugged OC.


Although this outreach is a year round effort (and quite fun at that), we took this Valentine's Day Serving Those Who Serve Us. We went out and gave some HugOC Cards with chocolates attached and reached out to employees at Starbucks, Taco Bell, QueenBee Chinese, Popeye's Chicken and even Subway. You can find the photos on My AWESOME Church's flick'r web site. I even found a 6'7" man with hair that probably made him 7'0". WOW! I love it.

Unfortunately, we barely touched OC in the couple of hours we were out. Fortunately, this is only the beginning. There is so much more to do. So many more lives to touch and what a way to do it! Thank you Sis Rebecca and Sis Patty (Brianna and Monce too!) for your wonderful help. I look forward to what we will accomplish this year.

And if you don't live in OC, here is a HUG for you.

Potato Heaven

Dear Bloggerians,

Well,...I am not sure how to start this blog off. I wanted to provide an update of my past week, but there is nothing quite as interesting as what I am about to write. There is no easy way to say this, but...I blew up a potato on Sunday night. Yes! I did it again!

When you didn't think it was possible, I can always show you that it is. See my pic.

The inside of the potato came out of the skin, blew up into tiny little pieces with one remaining ball of potato left. This is what you get when you don't know how to cook. Yes, I should start a blog all on my kitchen adventures because every time that I enter the kitchen you never know what you're gonna get.

Since I have become somewhat of an expert on explosive kitchen cooking, I must tell all of you this. TEACH YOUR KIDS while you can! DON'T LET THEM BE LIKE ME! I have blown up a donut, a potato, and what you don't know, I have blown up some eggs as well (the eggs happened when I was younger. I guess bad habits are hard to break). LOL!!! I have burned potpourri, baby bottles, cookies, fried chicken and I have even burned someone else's fried chicken. I've even made fireworks in Sis Terry's kitchen...Have you ever heard of hot oil and water?!? LOL =)

Believe it or not, I am getting better. I am still loving this whole kitchen thing and I am still going strong. The only thing is that I have to find a more efficient was of cleaning up. At least this time, I found a more efficient way of blowing things up. This time I kept it to a confined space, the oven.

Signed,

Kitchen Terrorist

P.S. Sis Reina thinks I should take some first aid classes.

How Many People Does it Take to Make Banana Pudding?

Apparently, it takes 3. =) Tonight, I was determined to make banana pudding and I told myself that I would not stop until I got it right. The custard was perfect, the bananas were cut just right and the nilla wafers were yum!yum! and waiting to go. When I got to the fluffy topping, that was another story. Sis Beka and Don took the first swing at it. An hour later, no fluffy white topping, but they got a good work out. I took the second swing, and another hour later, it was mostly fluffy white topping. And I got a work out. (See my hand muscles in the pic below)

After a lot of work and many good laughs, it was a wonderful sight to see the beautiful banana pudding coming out of the oven.

Sis Beka and Don thanks for your help. Since preparation time took about 3 hours (about 2 1/2 hours longer than I expected) and you had to go before you could get a taste, I will bring you some to church tonight. =)

P.S. I'm loving this whole cooking thing. Its great!

OC Traffic

I have one hour to go before I become a "car potato" on the 91 freeway. It is hard to imagine or even understand how I commuted a 1 1/2 hour (one-way) drive for so many years. But now I am more clearly understanding why road rage is a commonly used word in our OC vocabulary. =) Here is a glimpse of what I will enter once I leave work today. YIKES!

Where I Came From?...

I'm no sure what's up with me this month. I can say that I am tired, but I think I have crossed over from the side of fatigue to the side of "you've got to be kidding me". How can I say this easily...I turned the whites pink! This was a first for me, so I am still in shock. I was able to rewash and get the pink out of most of the items, but one shirt is quite stubborn and will not go back to white. I share this on my blog because I want to be able to refer back to this day when I am reminiscing with my kids. I want to be able to say that I worked hard to get where I am, just go on my blog and see where I came from.

God has been gracious enough to allow me to make these mistakes early on in life. Sometimes you have to make a mistake before you can understand the lesson. Then...you pick yourself up and try again. Ingenuity comes from trial and error. There is no point in trying to advance if you are not allowed to make a mistake. =)

Anthony at Ice Skating

I love this picture.

"Okay"

God is good. There has been a situation at work in which it's disasterous path has followed me for months. This project I inherited was in the burning building phase from day one and has needed more correcting than building. Well, I must say that although failure was the intent, the devil has failed because God has won yet another victory. I have prayed, I have fasted for God's guidance for this day because a situation arose (yet again) that could have had a huge impact on our business, new business at that. Although I had a plan, I knew it wouldn't be right until God said it was time to move.

So, when He said go, I went. I hate to cut a long story short, but in reality, God did just that. He cut the problem down. I presented my solution to my regulator and the response was "okay". There has been nothing but opposition and gaps throughout this entire project. So, to receive a simple "okay" would have been quite shocking, if I hadn't known the Miracle Worker.

Family Night - January '07

Just now calming down from our first family night. I had an incredible time with everyone who attended. Thanks to Bro. Allard's tip on tightening the shoelaces at the tip of the skate, I didn't fall once and I actually skated with ease. (I only had one scare this time, but I prevailed!) Anthony loved it and by the time our session was ending, I couldn't get him off the ice.

This was "da bomb" way of starting out the new year and I am looking forward to our next family night with My AWESOME Church, the Pentecostals of OC.

Indulge in Reminiscence

SJ (Sean Jamal, my 3-day old nephew) marked the 6th grandchild for my parents. Although my mother passed before she had the opportunity to see any of them, I get excited over how proud she would be. SJ’s arrival has brought about opportunities for old family friends to get together and reminisce about the good ol’ times growing up. As we were sitting around at his baby shower, I heard stories of my mother that I had never heard before. And without fail, it tied in with church.

Since I was only 5 when my mother passed away, I do not have many memories of my mother. The ones I do have, I cherish dearly. Over half of my memories involve church. I remember moving from our "little" church to our "new" church. I remember the side of the church our family sat on and how my Mom or Dad would give us pepermint candy during the service. I remember taking my crayons and coloring which would eventually end up in me falling asleep on the pew. I remember seeing my mother on the piano playing as the church would worship. I remember never wanting to go to Sunday school because I would have to participate in the teaching, but my parents would always make me. I remember that every birthday party was filled with the kids from the church.

It is a blessing to be able to help create such memories for our children. To be able to indulge in our past instead of having fear of it is a gift we can give to our children. There are circumstances that are out of our hands, but there are circumstances that are not. Implanting the love of God and His church in us was a choice my mother decided to control. Although we did not attend church after her death, the love she implanted for God was embedded in me and could not be forgotten. And what can I say, here I am today. I have become the young lady she was raising me up to be.

So, with the arrival of my nephew, I am not only overjoyed because of him, but because my sister was blessed again to be able to implant the same love as our mother implanted in us. And now I can Indulge in Reminiscence.

Baby Madison

Baby Madison was born this afternoon. He weighed 6lbs 8 1/2 oz and was 18 1/2 inches long. The delivery went well and my sister's doctor was wonderful. Although my sister and her husband had originally decided on Mason, he currently goes without a name. Daddy is torn between making him a Jr. or keeping the name as they had decided. Either way, he definitely has found a place in all of our hearts. Thank you all who prayed for my sister and her family. It went well.