The Sound of Glass...

Mom, dad and myself just recently went on vacation to Puerto Rico. It was so amazing! I had decided that I wasn't going to talk about work...think about work...or even do anything for work. (Because of this I forgot to turn in my "On Target Form" for the board meeting and got yelled at)...just kidding I didn't get yelled at. Okay sorry I just got off track but I had to add that sidenote:) So anyway...we stayed in the San Juan area and our first Bungalow that we stayed at was great but we were right by a main road. Now normally that would be fine but the first night was not so normal. For the day before elections in Puerto Rico people party like its 1999...he he. Anyway...horns were blowing and people were screaming and yelling until 3am. They were promoting their candidate. Now in Puerto Rico they cannot vote for a prez. but they do vote for a gov. The lady at the front desk told my mom that it is worse on election day so we decided to move to a different Bungalow...that was actually better then the first because it was right off the ocean, quiet and nicer. We didn't really do much while we were there...we pretty much relaxed, ate, shopped, walked and went sightseeing. It was simply amazing. It made me realize how old I am getting when I say that relaxing is fun.

Thursday morning mom comes back to the room almost in tears saying that she just feel down the stairs. It was aweful! She ended up developing a HUGE bruise on her hip, bruised up her arm and we thought that she may have broken a toe or two. It was really sad.

Being in Puerto Rico made me realize so many things, one being how much I take life for granted. I was talking to my dad one night while in the spa about how fortunate I have been to have them as parents. God has blessed me greatly with the best parents and the best family in general. There are so many people in this world who could not afford to hop on a plane and fly out to Puerto Rico and enjoy fine dining, and a sweet Bungalow. Not only do I take life for granted at times but I also take friendships for granted. I have been burnt in life and I know that I have burnt others too...it hurts no matter the situation. There are situations that sometimes are uncontrollable but then there are those that are controllable. I can choose to play the what if game or I can forgive and forget. I am happy that the last choice is there.

Another thing that I realized is that...this years political debate stuff got WAY out of hand...I can say that I was sucked into the stupidity of it all. Being there in Puerto Rico where people actually got off of work to vote and they partied the way that they did...made me realize that we need to campaign that way for Jesus. I feel so bad for the man upstairs...this whole time we were bickering and fighting over two guys...why don't we fight like that for Jesus? Christians already know the end to this mess that we call the world. I have read the back of the book and we win!

The last thing that I learned kind of goes hand and hand with the first thing. Life is so valuable, fragile and that I need to make some life changes. Here is how I learned this very important lesson. On Friday we were on our way to the airport from the hotel. We rode in a taxi that was a mini van, I sat in the front and mom and dad sat in the middle seat behind me. Well we were just riding along on the interstate when all of a sudden I heard a huge BANG...it sounded kind of like a wreck. All of a sudden I looked down and I was COVERED in glass! The passanger side window had busted all over me. I immediatly looked around on my body to make sure I wasn't shot...or that I was okay. I was so shocked I couldn't talk or move. Well we pulled over onto the shoulder so that I could get all cleaned off...I was shaking so bad and I started to cry. Call me crazy but I SERIOUSLY saw my life flash before my eyes...it wasn't exactly like the movies but it was pretty close. We got to the airport and I went into the restroom to make sure there was no glass in my clothes. I walked away with minor, minor scratches. I was finding glass in random areas throughout the day, in my hair and in my pockets. God was a true protector my very present help in time of need. My life could have been gone in a flash...I am still to this day very chocked up. Trust me I want to go to Heaven but there are so many things that I still feel like I need to do here while on Earth.

I am so sorry that this post is so long!...Just the way I feel...

Everything BUT the kitchen sink...

Ok so I have ALOT of updateing to do! That is why I have titled this post as "everything but the kitchen sink"....

One simple hot dog and a hand full of candy...
This year for Halloween I decided to introduce Trunk-or-Treat...it actually ended up being more of a Hot Dog or Treat deal. We had decided in advance to pass out hotdogs to people as they came by the trunks. Needless to say we only had 2 trunks. Now this wasn't because of my lack of advertising or even lack of planning on my part. This is truley how I believe God wanted it to be. We didn't have many sign up...only about 10 people. That is a small amount of people considering the fact that we have over 120 people who attend the church faithfuly. I was pretty discouraged throughout the week and kind of down on myself but then God whipped me back into shape REAL fast. About 45 min before Trunk-or-Treat began I looked to the Heavens and said with a big sigh, "okay Lord, let your will be done." Well as you can imagine it was done. We outreached to OVER 250 people with one simple hot dog and a hand full of candy. It was amazing and it thrilled my soul...THANK YOU to those who came out to help...we actually had over 10 people:)

Flipt...
We just recently moved to a full service for the children on Sunday mornings. It used to be that the kids would leave service right after the singing and prayer. This only gave us about 45 min to do anything with the children. Needless to say the kids were so hyper when they came in after being in the "big" service. We moved the kids to a full service on the first week of November and WOW...it has been awesome!!! We are doing "FLIPT" through Willowcreek...and the kids LOVE it! I would highly recommend it if you are ready for something different and want a high energy program. The kids are really getting it and nothing thrills my soul like a child "getting it."

Ministry is so rewarding...and the best reward is yet to come...meeting Jesus face to face...