Famous Dave's

I went to Famous Dave's tonight with my friend John Wiens. I have not eaten so much food in a long time! I am a sucker for good ribs...and let's just say these were some of the best restaurant ribs I have ever had. We split a rack of ribs, with beans, french fries, corn on the cob, and corn bread. There was nothing left on the plate when we were done.

And I am pretty sure that I ate almost as much as he did....ok, he did eat a little more than me, but I held my own.

John is one of those friends that I have great discussions with, especially about church, the Bible, God, etc. I had a great time talking to him about these issues.

I had no problem, and neither did he, stuffing his face and making a mess.

It is always nice when you have a friend that you can stuff your face with, make a big mess, and have a great discussion all at the same time. :)

Oh, and then he insisted that we get ice cream. And we all know that I am a sucker for ice cream!

All My Junk

As a human being, and more importantly as a follower of Christ, I am on this journey where I am continually growing. Growing in all areas of life, but most importantly in my relationship with Christ and desiring to become more like him every day.

I am fully aware that there is a spiritual battle that goes on daily in my life. There are "lies" that I have bought into that the enemy has told me, and at some point or another in my life I have accepted it as truth. The Bible tells us that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Christ came so that we would have life to the fullest (John 10:10) and Christ came to destroy the devils work (1 John 3:8)

Every person has issues to deal with. Now, some people choose not to work through these issues. I believe that as you work through your issues, you come into a deeper relationship with God. Don't get me wrong, it isn't easy. I very much dislike doing this. But when I do, the blessings that come from it are amazing. In these issues, I am held in bondage, and am not experiencing freedom in Christ to the fullest. I know that as I begin dealing with my junk, I will become more free in this particular area in my life.

I am in a place right now where the Lord is revealing some stuff to me. I am in this battle right now. A part of me wants to deal with this, and the other part doesn't want to. There is a fear of digging deep into myself, reflecting, and asking God to show me the deepest parts of my being...but not only to show me, but to help me heal and work through it.

I know that I need to do this. I know that to continue in my relationship with Christ, this is one of the next big steps. But to be completeley honest, I am scared of being honest with myself.

snow day pictures

For those of you who have not made it up to the snow, I am going to suggest you do. Ashley, Amada and I went last Monday and had a blast! I thought I would share some pictures with you so you can see how much fun you can have if you go to play in the snow....

Two Words....

Pooper Pasher

haha :)

just "be"

I do not know how to just "be". It is so hard for me. If I choose to sit and be silent, my mind races and I can't silence it. I feel like if I am not doing something, I am wasting time. It is my desire to learn to sit, be still, and just be. To just be, and for it to be ok. I don't have to have these high expectations of myself...I don't have to have it all figured out right now.

All morning, Psalm 46:10 has been in my head. I blogged about it over a year ago. As I have meditated on this verse this morning, I have come to a new revelation (which is what I absolutley love about the Bible and God, I can read the same verse a thousand times and get something different from it).

"Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted among the earth"

God is reminding me of his supremacy. Sometimes, often, I forget what a BIG God I serve. He is bigger than any situation or circumstance. In this verse, every fear is stilled, every anxiety quieted. God is telling me that I can relax. He is God. He is victorious. He is supreme among all the nations and supreme over all the earth.

There may be a problem or struggle in my life that is too big for a human to handle, but it is never too big for God.

My Saturday

Since I didn't go to the snow, I had to fill my day with something, right?

Run down of my saturday...
-Laundry
-Costco
-Target
-Subway
-Out to Mike and Sue's to play cards with the girls...took a look at the spa, I'll be out sittin in that this week...
-Target, a second time
-Dinner with the parentals and Ashley
-Fresno Falcon's hockey game with friends
-Chevy's (for about 10 minutes)
-Red Robin
-Bed

All in all, I had a really nice Saturday. My weekend in general was full of a lot of fun (besides missions month madness today) I slept for 3 1/2 hours this afternoon and had a nice time hanging out with friends tonight. Looking forward to one more day of not thinking...then back to the craziness that is my life!

snow...take 2!

I didn't end up going to the snow on Saturday. When I plan to do something, if I start to feel anxious, that is when I know that I shouldn't do it. I felt this way about the snow, so I didn't go. This was a great decision on my part. There were 3 things that I HAD to get done for work today, and I am pretty sure if I had gone to the snow, they wouldn't have gotten done.

With that said, Ashley, Amada and I are going to play in the snow tomorrow! The funny thing is, none of us have/had snow boots. Amada bought some today, Ashley is bringing me her roommates tomorrow, and Ashley is going to wear a pair of my dad's snow boots.

I went to 2 places today, and no snow boots...what's the deal with that? I am pretty sure it is still winter...

I am so excited to slide down some hills tomorrow!

Harry Potter....

For the past several years, I have ranked on people who have read the Harry Potter books. Two of my closest friends read all of them, and I couldn't understand why they would want to.

Well, if the movies are any indication of the books, I am down for reading them. A couple of weeks ago I went over to Luke and Sarah's. Sarah and I were going to go hang out somewhere, but they had just started watching the second Harry Potter (I don't remember the name of the movie), I got sucked in, so the three of us watched it.

Tonight, since I am now officially old or something, and wanted to do nothing more than sit on a couch and watch a movie, I went over the their house again, this time the intent was to watch the fifth Harry Potter movie.

Both times I watched the movies, it was a little confusing, since I have only watched the second and fifth movies. Thank goodness Sarah was their to explain everything (and sometimes in a little too much detail) :) The things that she knows is so funny. She says it so matter of factly, like it is real life.

The cinematography in these movies is fantastic. They are done so well. I would definitely recommend watching these movies to anyone.

I can't wait to watch all of the movies (this time in order) and especially for the last two to come out. According to Luke, I have to wait until November for the sixth movie to come out...what a bummer! Looks like I'll have some time to catch up....

SNOW!!!!

I might be going to the snow tomorrow, and that makes me happy. I haven't gone to the snow to play in 4 years, which was the last time I went snowboarding...wow, that was a long time ago.

I had to dig through my drawers to find my snow pants...for those of you that may have been worried that I couldn't find them, don't worry, I did. :) I have them laid out and ready to go!

Lost (the tv show, not me)

Since a couple of people I know were going to watch Lost last week, I decided that I should check it out, since they were raving about how good it is. I literally thought to myself "I wonder what all the fuss is about". So I watched it last week.

It was kind of confusing, a little slow, but overall good. I was told that I need to watch the show from the beginning on DVD, and to watch all the seasons that are out in a row. Ok, well, although that is a good thought, what good is that to me now?

All that to say, I am watching Lost right now....and I am kind of Lost! (sorry, couldn't help myself) :)

Elections and Propositions

For those of you living under a rock, today was an election day...Super Tuesday to be exact. In 22 states, voting took place for the presidential primaries.

If you have been lucky enough to not see those stupid political commercials or received 4 phone calls in 3 hours from people who have a stake in the election (ok, not really a call from the governor, but whoever it was did a great job sounding like him on the recording), you are extremely lucky...take my word for it.

One of the most annoying commercials on tv were the commercials for Prop 94-97. My good friend Brian Davis and I were discussing how much the church should put their political opinion out there (as in a pastor telling the congregation how to vote) while we watched the superbowl. A statement was made by our lead pastor. He said that we should vote on Tuesday (ok, good), that we should vote with the Bible as our guide (or something like that), then he proceeded to say that he is not telling us how to vote (which of course, you can guess what came next, that's right), he gave his opinion on props 94-97. Now, if you are the leader of a church, and you tell how you are going to vote, you pretty much just told the congregation how to vote. I think our lead pastor is a godly man (I am on staff at the church, and I believe 100% in his leadership and where the Lord is leading us), but I was disappointed that he did this. It isn't that I don't agree with him, but I have also researched the propositions, and already had my mind made up on how I was going to vote (actually, I had already voted) before he made the statement that he made. I have no doubt that there were people who heard what he said, and just becuase he is the lead pastor of the church decided that they were going to vote the same way....that just makes me sad.

I know that Jesus spoke on political issues, but he was allowed to...becuase He is God. There was a reason for him speaking out against the Roman government. But, we are not living under the Roman empire and Jesus definitely isn't walking around on earth right now (physically, I mean, as he did 2000 years ago).

Anyways, for more information on Props 94-97, click here, or you can get the summary on Brian's blog here.

Hope you voted today...your vote does count. Yes, even as a republican in a democratic state, it counts (at least in the primary it does :) )

Missions Month Madness...

should be the official name of what takes place in February at The Bridge Evangelical Free Church in Fresno.

My life is pretty much consumed with Missions Month Madness until the end of February...and in all reality has been since the beginning of January...

Although this month is going to be great, and God is going to do amazing things...I am going to throw this out there...I can't wait for February to be over!

(You may be asking, "What is missions month madness?"....you'll just have to wait for that explanation...)

My second best day off of work in 2008....

happened today.

I was pampered pretty much all day, and it was great. Although i did go into work for an hour and a half (I had to get a few things done...I know), it was ok. I did get a few things done today, but mostly, just relaxed.

I went to lunch with my good friend Amada. After lunch I headed to Muses Day Spa, where I had a spa package that I was given by my good friend Blake for my birthday. I had a facial, parafin hand treatment, and a deep tissue massage. It was 2 and a half hours of pure relaxation.

Then I went and got a pedicure with a good friend of mine...it was his first pedicure so I won't out him on here. Anyways, I loved it, and now my toes look cute (too bad it is winter time and nobody is going to see them).

Then I had dinner with Blake at Pita Pit. Pita Pit is one of my new favorite places. It is so good and it is good for you. After some good conversation, I am now home.

Thinking back to today, I realized that I need to have days like today more often. Not necessarily the whole spa thing (since it is kinda expensive), but a day for myself, to do whatever I want. I am hoping these types of days are not far and few between....can't wait for February to be over!