Risk

After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the God’s message with boldness.
—Acts 4: 31

Sometimes we will take a step of faith if there is a backup plan, if there is a safety net. While there is a place for caution, a place for prudence, and even a place for seeking the counsel of those who have lived longer than we have. But having said that, there is also a place for faith. There is also a place for taking chances and taking risks.

As we get older, we are less willing to do that. We want everything laid out for us. We want to know what will happen after this and after that. But sometimes God will say, “I am not going to tell you. I want you to just obey Me.” That is why I would rather try something and fail than never try at all. And if you do try and ultimately fail, then learn something from your failure. I would venture to say that any person who has been successful in ministry, in business, or in any other enterprise has had more than his or her share of failures and has learned something from every one of them. It has been said that the doorway of success is often entered through the hallway of failure. So if at first you don’t succeed, relax. You are just like the rest of us.

So take a chance and do something for God. If you have been thinking about starting a little Bible study at work and are unsure whether anyone would show up, go for it. If you are thinking of sharing the gospel with someone, but you don’t how they would respond, go for it. Try it. Pray about it. Ask the Lord for direction. But take a risk. Take a chance here and there and watch what God will do.

tears, laughter, yawns and frustration

An emotional roller coaster I tell ya! One minute I'm laughing hysterically, the next minute I have tears swelling up in my eyes. I am completely drained but feel that I need to give more in order to accomplish what God wants me to accomplish. My emotions are all over the place between the thoughts of the kids in Oregon to the joys of men who are making a difference in downtown Atlanta to the frustration of the questions I keep getting about giving. It's a crazy in my mind right now!

I do need to vent for one mini second and then I'll move on...

When did giving become so question filled? When did helping become so political? And when did people forget how to show compassion? I am so tired of excuses, so tired of people who complain about having to give or come and partake in things but don't have the audacity to listen to what is going on around them. People who are so consumed with themselves that they forget that there is a whole world out there that is broken and can't be fixed by simple words like "Oh that's awful." I don't quite understand. My thought right now: Wake up people! There is more to this world than nice clothes and a stocked bank account. Money is money and you can always make more. Why not use your money to help someone in need instead of spending it on alcohol and $15 meals for yourself!!!

OK I'm done! Let's move on to something awesome...

Praise for the weekend: With a goal of $500 for postage to get the tents from Texas to Oregon for the kids in Bend, we tripled it! How awesome is our God.

Thank you to everyone who gave, everyone who has been praying and everyone that attended the events this weekend. You guys just showed some seriously LOVE to some kids in serious need!

Eye Opening...

I will have more updates on Bend,OR tomorrow...

...but today I want to tell you about what I experienced this morning right here in my backyard, downtown Atlanta. It was eye opening and in some spots, jaw dropping. Thirteen of us met with Drew Benton down at Safehouse Outreach where we began. What did we begin? Well, we begin a walk...one that lead us on a educational path to learning that homelessness is more than we imagined.

I had all these thoughts going in to this City Walk. I thought about the people I would come across, the money they might ask for, the language they may have used and honestly I thought about my safety. Then all questions came to mind. What is going to be like walking through where they sleep? Will they be offended when I stare or angry when I step close to their belongings? If I have no money to give, will they believe me or keeping begging?

All these things kept popping up in my mind last night and this morning before our journey. And now as I sit here and type this all out, all those questions and thoughts I had were completely dumb and stereotypical because of my ignorance to the life these people live.

You want to know what I saw this morning... A lot of people who need to be loved on. A lot of opportunities to get to know so awesome individuals who for reason have been dealt a bad hand of cards. A lot of people who need someone to invest in them, someone to help them ad someone to believe in them.

Like David! We met David at one of the local shelters. He is a resident volunteer which means he works at shelter so that he will have a place to live. The shelter provides him a bed, food and a chance, while he provides the shelter with volunteer hours and dedication to his work. David was really the only person we had a chance to truly hang out with and engage in conversation with. He took us on a tour of the shelter and then told us a little bit about his story...how he came to live here instead of the streets...how he was helping others...how he was putting his life back together one day at a time. It was amazing! He shared with us some things that he battled and the things that he's still struggling with today. The good thing about meeting David was for me to feel sorry for him, but for me to feel glad he is getting his life back on track.

There were several stops on this journey through the city. We stop and saw where people slept in cool grass areas. We went to 'Chicken Run' which is a dumpster area where homeless people can find food and a faucet for clean water. We saw an abandoned building where 30+ Homeless people live. But I think the place that hit me the most wasn't a shelter or a park where people laid all covered up with cardboard and rags. It was a church! A big church that sits on a corner of Peachtree Street. The name... Sacred Heart Catholic Church.

Now I know you're thinking to yourself 'What does a church have to do with learning about the homeless people in ATL. Well, the true is this church holds a story that broke my heart and fired me up. There is man named Johnny that sleeps on the stoup of this church every evening. In a sense, this is his home. He doesn't bother anyone and he is very respectful of the church. One Sunday morning Johnny woke up and decided to attend the service. He grew in a Catholic background and felt comfortable with what this service provided. He sat near the back and listened while the preacher man gave his sermon. Like in most Catholic churches, the preacher man stands at the back at the end of the service and shakes people's hands as they leave. Johnny stood in that line and as the preacher went from hand to hand, he skipped Johnny.

Breaks my heart! It angers me to think that a man can stand in a pulpit and preach about Jesus, his sacrifice and how we should love our neighbors as He loved us, but when it actually comes down to loving, he skips over a man just because he's different from all his other attendees! Ughhhh that disgusts me!

What an eye opening experience! What I learned today was never judge, always look someone in the eyes when you are talking to them, homeless people are people just like you and I, always give a hand up not a hand out and lastly...Learn to Live Love! ALWAYS!

Help needed in Bend

Listen guys and gals, I need your help in BIG BIG way! I received an email from my friend Walker this morning telling me about a need. He is currently in Bend, Oregon with a few friends ministering to the people there. What they have found is that there are hundreds of teenagers who are homeless, living on the streets with no money for food, shelter, education etc. Theses kids are 14 & 15 years old living on the cold streets. I can't even imagine what that's like and I bet most of you can't either. Check out this video from the kids... LOVE ...be warned that there is some strong language in this video!!

Anyway, Walker and Tim are in the process of purchasing tents and sleeping bags for these kids...over 100 of them. The problem they have run in to is the tents and sleeping bags are in Texas and need to be shipped to Oregon. The cost $500! While Walker and Tim would love to be able to pay that, they have both giving everything and now have no money left. Read Walker's email...

Ms. Shannon. I hope you're having amazing day. Miss you. I'm shooting you an email because I need your help. This trip has turned into a pretty crazy journey. Its amazing how many terrible situations we're surrounded by. This world is so screwed up. I'm completely broken at this point. I have nothing to offer these people. Just love. Anyway. There's a situation here that I need your help with. Tomorrow night I'm gonna spend the night homeless with some teenagers, prostitutes and drug addicts. These are good kids. But they're hurt. And on top of that they're cold. They need tents and sleeping bags. Tim has over 100 military tents to give to these kids. PRAISE GOD!! But the tents are in Texas. It's gonna cost $500 to get them shipped here. Tim is broke. I've given away all my money. But we really need those tents for these kids. The winters here are so harsh. Some of them won't make it without those tents. $500 is nothing. I'm hoping that you'll leverage Concrete Love and shoot everyone an email asking for support. Its completely screwed up for us to have so much more than we need while these kids freeze to death turning tricks. I can't live with that. Do you think people will give? Thanks. I'm sorry for the sporadic email. My mind is soup at this point. Something is changing in me. I need to be leveraging my life for the gospel and instead I live a completely self serving ignorant life. I can't anymore. These kids' pain is too real. Their eyes are too dead. And my life is too short. It's all or nothing for me at this point. Anyway. Thanks. Ill give you a shout tomorrow and see whatcha think. I just wanted to put a bug in your ear. The sooner we can get these kids shelter the better.

-Walker

This email breaks my heart and in an awesome way fires me up because I know that I help these kids. I know that I show them love...That we can show them LOVE! $500 is nothing to raise especially considering we all spend on average a good 50-100 bucks each weekend!

Now, I obviously don't have $500 as a whole laying around that I can give...that's where you guys come in. For the next week, I was wondering would if you guys could help me raise some support to get those tents and sleeping bags to Oregon. Would you please spread this post to everyone and anyone who would help in this journey...a journey to HELP, MEND, LOVE and SHARE what God has taught us! Spread this through your small groups. Share it with your family. Forward it to your closest friends. Whatever you could to help, I (and Walker) would greatly appreciate it!

If you want to give please email me at sdenise519@gmail.com!

Show me the right path, O Lord;
point out the road for me to follow.

Psalm 25:4 (New Living Translation)

Cause Breaking up is hard to do

Dear Sleep,

I feel that, our relationship has changed somewhat over the past week and that we need to talk about it. I realize that we have not been spending much time together lately and for that I'm truly sorry. We used to spend every Sunday afternoon together. Now, we barely see each other and, when we do, it's only for a short period of time. I know it may not be the same for you, but being away from you only makes me appreciate our time together more. Work has been consuming much of my time. And, when I'm not at work, I like to hang out with my friends - no offense.

Now, I'm not saying you're boring, but we've been dating for years. And well, things just get old sometimes. We always hook up in the same places - my bed, the couch, the floor, sometimes other peoples' cars. I need something more (though there was that one time at work...). You never go with me to the mall or the local hot spot. I can't take you to dinner with my friends. Sometimes you go to church with me or to the movies. But, let's face it, our relationship isn't as intimate as it used to be. I think we just need to be friends.

And let's be honest, I know you've been seeing other people. I hear people talking about you all the time. "Oh I need Sleep" and "I had the best sleep last night." I'm no fool. I think it's best if we just dated other people. No hard feelings. I hope we can still be friends.

Love,
me

PS: Tell your cousin, Dreams, to leave me alone. He confuses the crap out of me.

Compliments of J. Brisson

Spirit tests and languages

So tonight we had a meeting of the ladies in a group of small size...also known as ladies small group! Tonight we learned about spiritual gifts and love languages.

After we all took test intense 120 question test, we found out a little more about our gifts.

My Spirit Gift (as the test revealed) is Administration followed by Exhortation with a close second place title. >this is where I sigh and say "DUH! Administration is my life, haha."<

"To steer the body toward the accomplishment of God-given goals and directives by planning, organizing, and supervising others" combined with "to come along side of someone with words of encouragement, comfort, consolation, and counsel to help them be all God wants them to be"

That's me apparently :)

Pretty cool huh? I thought so!

I also found out that my love language is...yep you should've all guessed it... Words of Affirmation! With my self-esteem, that's a given! This answer was nothing new in my book :)

You should all take a spirit gift and love language test! It's cool to see the results.

Glitter

It amazes me how selfish I can be!

I have so many things to be thankful for and yet I still long for more. I long for the moon when God sits there and sprinkles my life with amazing stars. I overlook the glitter that surrounds my every moment because I am focused on that one particular gem that is just out of reach...and it's out of reach for good reason!

Why is that? When do you get to the point where you stop longing and you become content with the many blessings that you receive every day?

Squished

I rode the Marta tonight for the first time and it's safe to say it will be my last time! I mean don't get me wrong, I think it's great that we have public transportation and all but it's just not for me. My reasoning for not wanting to step foot in that confined space ever again is because of the people I came across tonight.

If there is one type of person I have a hard time dealing with, it's someone who can't look past their snooty rich life to see people. Someone who thinks that life is all about them and how they feel about the situation. Someone who pouts when they don't get their way or speaks out without thinking about their judgment, words or how hey look when cruelty is expressed through their actions.

We came across a lady like that tonight. She was on her way back from The Jonas Brothers concert with her little girls(she already loses points for being at that concert). I was with my dad, my two uncles and two friends trying to make it up to the Dunwoody Marta stop. We're all tired. We've all been waiting to get on this train and this lady feels like she has the right to tell us to get off the train because she and her child are too squished. "We're all squished. Its hot. Some people smell. And we all want one thing...to be home!" These are thoughts running through my head as I am staring at her yelling at my dad and uncles to get off the train.

I'm not sure what that lady saw when she looked at us but what I saw when I looked at her was someone whose perception and motives weren't in order! I saw someone judging...someone who didn't think before she spoke and for that I had no compassion for her having to be 'squished' just like everyone else!

Some people just don't it! Life is about love. It's about sharing, investing, teaching, growing, helping. There should be no room for judging, yelling, anger, negative thoughts, evil glares, etc... and especially no room for snooty remarks!

Deep breath. Long prayer

My tummy is hurting and my head has all these thoughts running through it. It happened the exact same way last week around this time and I'd love to say it ended...but it didn't. I feel a sense of stress and fear. Sleepless nights are now occurring and my time is dwindling down to that moment. >insert huge sigh here< Spotlight on, all eyes fixated and hands trembling as I open my mouth and the words hopefully come out... in the right order!

I am talking about singing this Sunday... and I'm a little scared.

I was told last night that I completely underestimate myself a lot and that my fear gets in the way of my gifts. What I've realized is not matter much I run or fight it, God will always find ways to grow me even when I don't think I can do it. He has this way of pushing me when all I want to do is quit. A way of placing me in the middle of opportunity enough with the doubt filling my mind.

Deep breath. Long Prayer. Medicine to ease my tummy. Sleep.

God, I know you know what you're doing but why am I so scared and why is tummy turning thinking that I'm gonna screw this all up? Ugh.

Off to finish conversation...

Oh no...

My Baloney Has a First Name - It's C-R-A-S-H

Posted Jul 18th 2009 8:00AM by TMZ Staff

If you ever wondered how difficult it was to make a 3-point turn in a Weinermobile ... it's clearly very hard.



An Oscar Mayer Weinermobile crashed into a home in Racine, Wisconsin after the driver
turned onto a dead-end street. She tried turning around and accidentally hit the gas instead of the brake.

It's a double-blow for the baloney company -- this month it's founder died and now the crash. And to add insult to injury, the weinermobile wasn't even invited to Oscar Mayer's funeral.

Fear

Fear is something that holds me back from lots of things that I long to do or should do.

Examples: I fear jumping out of a plane thousands of feet in air, therefore I have never conquered that goal. I fear criticism so I tend to hide from things that people could judge. I fear rejection so I run ... and keep running until I'm back in a safe haven.

It's weird. I see myself as a strong individual who tries really hard not to take crap from anyone and still maintain a sweet encouraging demeanor. Problem ... well that sweet encouraging strong girl that you all think you know, you don't.

You know a little but I bet you can't figure out why sometimes I clam up when certain subjects arise. I bet you don't know why I remain quiet when everyone else voices an opinion. I bet you wonder why some nights when everyone is hanging out, I'm not there!

It's fear and I'm working on it! I won't go into detail but know that sometimes you're just not going to understand!

Recognize

We never really know enough until we recognize that God
alone knows it all.

~ 2 Corinthians 5:7 (New Living Translation)

The Time Traveler's Wife

I laughed. I cried. I was nervous. I was anxious. All I can say is 'Where's my Henry?"

It's a must see!

God answered my wish ... now just move those clouds!

Stars are my absolute favorite thing if you couldn't tell by all my blog posts about them and my fun little tattoo. I love laying in grass and looking up at night in hopes of seeing a beautiful burst of light shooting across the sky. I wish for it and then when I see one I wish on it :)

Well God answered my wish! Read below...

Did you notice hundreds of necks craned to the sky Tuesday night?

They were gawking at the annual Perseid meteor shower, which every year brings up to 100 meteors per hour blazing fiery streaks across the sky as the Earth passes through the dust trail of Comet Swift-Tuttle, said Mark Hammergren, an astronomer at Adler Planetarium.

The bright spectacle isn't over yet. The meteor shower is expected to peak between 12:30 and 3 p.m. Wednesday but sky watchers only can see the meteors in the dark, Hammergren said. So sit tight until the sun sets, then look up. You could see up to one meteor a minute, Hammergren said. The show should continue for at least a week, he said.

Discovered in 1862, the comet is a giant iceberg made up of ice, rock and dust particles that likely has been in orbit for thousands of years, Hammergren said. Particles -- about the size of a sesame seed when clustered together -- slowly have been eroding from the comet every time it has approached the sun, leaving a trail of debris that the Earth's orbit intersects once a year, Hammergren said.

The particles, known as meteoroids, create a meteor shower when they collide with the Earth's atmosphere and burn up, forming fiery streaks across the sky.

A bright meteor glows as much as the brightest stars in the sky, Hammergren said. And pay close attention: They zip across the sky at about 132,000 m.p.h., leaving a gazer's sight in a second or two, he said.

The best viewing place? Get away from the city lights and look northeast.

~By Kristen Schorsch, Tribune reporter
August 12, 2009

Rejoice

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.

~ Psalm 118:24,

Missing Baby Luke

One of the reasons I miss living in North Carolina....

Getting to see his little face everyday!

Snuggies for you pet

This article was sent to me yesterday at work and I laughed out loud. Please read it and watch the video that goes with it then take a look at the graph below...

Snuggies for your dog

Now here is a graph that will give you some insight on if you need to purchase a snuggie or not...for yourself or your dog! I am hoping the answer is 'NOT' but you never can tell these days :)

Criticism ... in a good way!

I have been struggling lately with criticism. Not meaning that I feel like everyone is coming down on me, but in the way that I'm not really great with people telling me I did something wrong or that it could have been done better. I guess in my mind, when someone tells me that I shouldn't focus on that detail or I should think about doing it in a different way, I get all sensitive. In that moment, what is happening in my mind is this... I screwed up because they were not happy with my thought/idea/comment. Isn't that the dumbest thing you've ever heard?!

Advice or criticism or reviews or whatever you want to call it, is not always meant to tear you down... sometimes, a lot of the time, it's meant to help you look at things in a different perspective and offers a chance to make what you have ten times better. It can actually be quite helpful once you get past the whole "I can't believe they just told me my idea isn't up to par" thing. Haha...putting down the pride stinks sometimes!!

I'm going to work very hard on this and I will needs every one's help. Now, this is not an open invitation to tell me all the things that need to be changed in my life but this is an invitation to politely tell me that sometimes things can be better if we look at them from other perspectives and we take constructive ideas to heart :)


If you love learning, you love the discipline that goes
with it--how shortsighted to refuse correction!

Proverbs 12:1 (The Message)

Idea

I have an idea...and I think it's a good one :) Not that my other ideas aren't good but this one, well it's good. Just wait and see!!


For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?...

~ Isaiah 43:19

Rocking out...

Preparing....

Laptop in hand, Itunes open, lyrics in front of me, music blaring!

What's playing? Glad you asked!

It's Bon Jovi, "Living on a Prayer" and I am singing at the top of my lungs :)

Why? You have to wait and find out!

August 16, Watermarke Church. Be there!

Drawn

It's the weirdest feeling ever....

Drawn in like the tide to the shore but pulled away like the sun setting at dusk. Something has my heart strings but something else is holding me from it.

Hmmmm, What a beautiful disaster!