So this will probably be my last blog on here for two months. I leave Monday for Colorado to be a Sojourner Missionary. I started a new blog though so I will be posting on that. The link is HannahColoradoTrip.Blogspot.com So check that out regularly to see if I update. I will try to get an update out once a week, I did that last summer, and it seemed to work pretty well. I'll also give you the link to my facebook group where I will be posting photos, maybe some videos, and a few other things. That link is http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/group.php?gid=106962962682565
So request to be in the group, and I'll most likely accept. I just wanna make sure you're not a creepy stalker ;) hahaha. Anyways, I'm really looking forward to seeing what God teaches me this summer in beautiful Colorado. He's taught me so much these last few months. The latest thing he's taught me is that he does everything in His timing, not mine. I had been praying for 9 months for God to heal my family, and the prayer didnt get answered until now. It's all in His timing, not ours. I hope everyone has a great summer, and keep checking my other blog for updates :)
In Christ,
Hannah
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A lot has been going on lately, and it has shown me how good God really is. Life has been really stressful these last few months for multiple reasons. Parents divorce, selling the house, and trying to figure out if I was going to do anything this summer. God has been so good at answering my prayers that I have been praying for months now.
My parents have decided to try counseling one last time before they completely give up. The stressful part of that was that we had a contract on the house by the time they decided to do that. We needed something to happen for the contract not to go through, but couldnt afford buying out the contract, and had no idea what we were going to do. After the inspection they had asked us to fix some stuff, and my parents declined that, and they had 10 days to reply if they wanted it or not. 10 days was yesterday and they never got back as far as we know. If they can prove that they sent or tried to send in their thing saying they wanted it, then the contract is still valid, BUT if they cant prove it then we can bail out of the contract with no problems.
All of this takes a great deal of stress off of my shoulders for the time being. As long as everything happens to where the contract is no longer legal, I am going to be so relieved!
I leave in 18 days for Colorado as a Sojourner missionary for two months!!! I am so excited to see what God teaches me this summer! Last night while i was laying in bed, I was thinking "maybe I shouldnt go this summer. There's so much happening with moving, james and juliette having their baby, maybe I shouldnt go." God answered that today, saying hey! Here's one thing you wont have to worry about! I can go see my niece after I get home, so that wont be anything to worry about.
These next few weeks I was going to be so stressed out because of everything. Packing up everything in my room, getting ready for Spring Formal in 9 days, then Graduation in 16 days, graduation party in 17 days, and leaving for Colorado in 18 days...was not going to be a fun time. But God gave me peace with it last night at church, and today I understand why.
There's now only one more thing for me to write about right now, and it's to ask you for prayer for a good friend of mine. He has so much going on right now in his life that is just really taking a toll on him. I was talking to him two days ago on the phone, and I could hear the pain in his voice, and on multiple occasions it almost brought me to tears. He is in so much physical pain right now from a surgery, and from another accident that happened a few days ago. He cant get any medicine that he needs until Friday because of some misunderstanding with his doctor. His family and church family have turned completely against him because of his past. They say he's not worthy enough to be in church, but in God's eyes anyone and everyone is welcome in the church, no matter what walk of life they're in. You cant judge someone because of their past. That's not right. it's in the past, leave it there. Please be praying for him. He told me on Tuesday that he feels like he suffered less doing bad, than he does doing good. He told me he's so sick of suffering like this, he's just ready for his prayers to be answered. He's been suffering for two years now with his family and church family. The physical pain has just started here in the last month. Be praying for physical healing for him, and healing in his family and church family. I've been praying constantly for him this last week, and every time I do, it brings me to tears thinking abut everything he's having to deal with. Keep him in his prayers, and continue to keep me in your prayers as I try to comfort him through this, pray that God gives me the words to say to him in these times of suffering.
In Christ,
Hannah
My parents have decided to try counseling one last time before they completely give up. The stressful part of that was that we had a contract on the house by the time they decided to do that. We needed something to happen for the contract not to go through, but couldnt afford buying out the contract, and had no idea what we were going to do. After the inspection they had asked us to fix some stuff, and my parents declined that, and they had 10 days to reply if they wanted it or not. 10 days was yesterday and they never got back as far as we know. If they can prove that they sent or tried to send in their thing saying they wanted it, then the contract is still valid, BUT if they cant prove it then we can bail out of the contract with no problems.
All of this takes a great deal of stress off of my shoulders for the time being. As long as everything happens to where the contract is no longer legal, I am going to be so relieved!
I leave in 18 days for Colorado as a Sojourner missionary for two months!!! I am so excited to see what God teaches me this summer! Last night while i was laying in bed, I was thinking "maybe I shouldnt go this summer. There's so much happening with moving, james and juliette having their baby, maybe I shouldnt go." God answered that today, saying hey! Here's one thing you wont have to worry about! I can go see my niece after I get home, so that wont be anything to worry about.
These next few weeks I was going to be so stressed out because of everything. Packing up everything in my room, getting ready for Spring Formal in 9 days, then Graduation in 16 days, graduation party in 17 days, and leaving for Colorado in 18 days...was not going to be a fun time. But God gave me peace with it last night at church, and today I understand why.
There's now only one more thing for me to write about right now, and it's to ask you for prayer for a good friend of mine. He has so much going on right now in his life that is just really taking a toll on him. I was talking to him two days ago on the phone, and I could hear the pain in his voice, and on multiple occasions it almost brought me to tears. He is in so much physical pain right now from a surgery, and from another accident that happened a few days ago. He cant get any medicine that he needs until Friday because of some misunderstanding with his doctor. His family and church family have turned completely against him because of his past. They say he's not worthy enough to be in church, but in God's eyes anyone and everyone is welcome in the church, no matter what walk of life they're in. You cant judge someone because of their past. That's not right. it's in the past, leave it there. Please be praying for him. He told me on Tuesday that he feels like he suffered less doing bad, than he does doing good. He told me he's so sick of suffering like this, he's just ready for his prayers to be answered. He's been suffering for two years now with his family and church family. The physical pain has just started here in the last month. Be praying for physical healing for him, and healing in his family and church family. I've been praying constantly for him this last week, and every time I do, it brings me to tears thinking abut everything he's having to deal with. Keep him in his prayers, and continue to keep me in your prayers as I try to comfort him through this, pray that God gives me the words to say to him in these times of suffering.
In Christ,
Hannah
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Today was the first time since the week my parents told us about the divorce that i cried about it. i hate not knowing why and my dad saying its none of our business when it is. my dad said that yesterday and it really upset me. He said if i asked him and if i asked my mom why it would be two different answers but i'd rather hear both sides than not know anything of why. its been a tough last few days, and i'm ready for this all to be over with. I hope this texting thing works.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
I was talking to a friend last night, and I got reminded of something from when I was around 8 years old, that I really wanted to share with you guys that is totally a God thing.
When I was 8 we had a bunch of missionaries come to my church telling us about their missions, and all of that good stuff. I accepted Christ when I was 7, and I thought it was so cool that I was meeting people that went out and shared the Gospel with people all around the world. That week or weekend or however long it was that they were there, I talked to one couple, I dont have any idea who they are anymore, but I do remember one thing. I remember telling them "I want to be a missionary. I think thats what God wants me to do" and I forgot about that before last night. I was telling my friend about how I felt like what God wants me to do is missions, and that is why I am going on these summer trips. And he told me "but then you dont get to see any of your friends that live out of town" and I was just like "thats very true, but this is what I am going to be doing the rest of my life, and I want to get better at it every chance I get." and then I went on and told him about that story of when i was 8. He was like "wow thats awesome. I'm glad that you're following God's will. I'm just sad I wont get to see you this summer."
It is SO tough leaving for a whole summer, and not being able to visit my out of town friends, that I normally dont get to visit because of us being in school. But I also know that God has a plan for everything, and that I shouldnt go against his will.
One of the places I applied for this summer is Silverthorne Colorado it's about an hour and a half west of Denver, and I just recently found out, that one of my really good friends from last summer who was on my team, applied for the same place. I'm so excited to see if we get put together. If we do, I'm going to be wowed by God, and am going to be so happy! Also, my really good friend/mentor/brother (not really brother, but I consider him family), Jeff, is going to be spending his summer in Colorado. SO I might get to see him when I otherwise wouldnt. I'm so excited to see where God takes me this summer, and where he takes me in life! I'm hoping one day to go back to San Diego, and anywhere else in the US that I feel needs help. I have such a huge love for San Diego and the people there because they do need Christ so badly! It's a beautiful city with beaches, mountians, city, and the desert. I was so blessed to be there for two months last summer, and cannot wait to get back!
Thats what God has been revealing to me lately, I have a lot more to say, but I have to get going. We have a showing at 5:30 and I need to clean my room.
With much love, and in christ,
Hannah
When I was 8 we had a bunch of missionaries come to my church telling us about their missions, and all of that good stuff. I accepted Christ when I was 7, and I thought it was so cool that I was meeting people that went out and shared the Gospel with people all around the world. That week or weekend or however long it was that they were there, I talked to one couple, I dont have any idea who they are anymore, but I do remember one thing. I remember telling them "I want to be a missionary. I think thats what God wants me to do" and I forgot about that before last night. I was telling my friend about how I felt like what God wants me to do is missions, and that is why I am going on these summer trips. And he told me "but then you dont get to see any of your friends that live out of town" and I was just like "thats very true, but this is what I am going to be doing the rest of my life, and I want to get better at it every chance I get." and then I went on and told him about that story of when i was 8. He was like "wow thats awesome. I'm glad that you're following God's will. I'm just sad I wont get to see you this summer."
It is SO tough leaving for a whole summer, and not being able to visit my out of town friends, that I normally dont get to visit because of us being in school. But I also know that God has a plan for everything, and that I shouldnt go against his will.
One of the places I applied for this summer is Silverthorne Colorado it's about an hour and a half west of Denver, and I just recently found out, that one of my really good friends from last summer who was on my team, applied for the same place. I'm so excited to see if we get put together. If we do, I'm going to be wowed by God, and am going to be so happy! Also, my really good friend/mentor/brother (not really brother, but I consider him family), Jeff, is going to be spending his summer in Colorado. SO I might get to see him when I otherwise wouldnt. I'm so excited to see where God takes me this summer, and where he takes me in life! I'm hoping one day to go back to San Diego, and anywhere else in the US that I feel needs help. I have such a huge love for San Diego and the people there because they do need Christ so badly! It's a beautiful city with beaches, mountians, city, and the desert. I was so blessed to be there for two months last summer, and cannot wait to get back!
Thats what God has been revealing to me lately, I have a lot more to say, but I have to get going. We have a showing at 5:30 and I need to clean my room.
With much love, and in christ,
Hannah
Thursday, March 25, 2010
1st Peter chapters 1 and 2
Last night at Matthias Lot we finished 1st Peter chapter 2. I'm not going to go into detail about everything I've learned so far or anything, all I'm going to do is post the first two chapters for you to read. It's really amazing everything Peter writes. If you havent done a study on 1st Peter you should. Or you can go onto iTunes and listen to Marc at Matthias' Lot preach about it. There is so much wisdom in this book that we should all study. Later when I have more time I am going to go back and look at all my notes from this study so far and try to write something on here about it, but for now here's 1st Peter 1, 2
To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
"All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever."
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."
7So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
"The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,"
8and
"A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense."
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
In Christ,
Hannah
1 Peter 1
Greeting
1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Born Again to a Living Hope
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.Called to Be Holy
13Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." 17And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, 18knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 20He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 22Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; 24for"All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord remains forever."
And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
1 Peter 2
A Living Stone and a Holy People
1 So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6For it stands in Scripture:"Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."
7So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,
"The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone,"
8and
"A stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense."
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
11Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
Submission to Authority
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.In Christ,
Hannah
Sunday, March 14, 2010
It's been a while since I last posted to something. Life has been CRAZY!!
We got the house on the market now and have had a lot of people looking which makes for life to be crazy. I've been really busy with school, choir, work, and babysitting, there's not much time to rest other than at night when I'm about to completely crash.
God's been doing a lot in my life lately. He's been teaching me to love everyone, to trust him, to dig into his word everyday, to submit to authority and government even if I dont agree with it, as long as it lines up with the bible that is, and to witness/be a witness to everyone I meet. This week has been especially crazy, I feel like I make excuses about not being able to spend time with God because of being busy. When in reality, there is no excuse. I can take 15 minutes out of my day to talk to God and to dig into his word. Everyone has 15 minutes. Whether you'd like to admit it or not. If you dont, then make 15 minutes. Whether it's waking up early, or staying up late, do it! It'll make your days so much better. Which is what I've learned.
This week I've been going nonstop it seems like. I'm either doing school work, dealing with a problem, straightening up my room, doing stuff for choir, hanging out with friends, going to church, or out of the house to kill time while someone comes to look at the house; I've been doing a lot. But to say I wouldnt have time for 15 minutes with God is just ridiculous (ridiculous is a word I've been saying a lot lately...start counting how many times I use it in this one blog).
God's really been laying on my heart lately to start to really dig into His word, and to really get serious about Him. It's time I start to get ready for what he wants me to do in life, which is be a missionary. Something God revealed to me a few weeks ago is that He wants me to go to churches, and help better equip them to reach out to their communities. Which this church I've been visiting, they are doing SO much of it! We Love St Charles (http://www.welovestcharles.com/) is an organization this church has started. WOW! They just love on this community and do everything they can to reach out to people in the community. That's what we as Christians need to be doing! We need to go out into the community and help anyone we come across with anything, whether it's prayer, buying a family coats, or bringing someone a meal. We need to do that, we need to build relationships with out communities.
Another thing we need to do is we need to have events OUTSIDE of the church building, you cant bribe people to come into the building, yes you might get them to come into the building for whatever event you are having, whether it's a Halloween type event, or a car show, or anything else. Yes you might get them to come to the event, but the probability of them coming back is very slim. Especially if no one takes the initiative to talk to them which will most likely happen to a lot of the people. What we need to do instead is we need to go out into the community like WLSC is doing. We need to build relationships with people, we need to show them that us christians arent all that bad after all, we need to show them that we love them and care for them and WANT that relationship with them. We need that before they will come into the building and stay in the building.
I'm so excited to see where God takes me with all of this!! I want to see what he'll be having me doing once I'm graduated from college! Man, God is SO good! He closes some doors, and opens others. Thank you Lord!!
My best friend in the entire world Erin was hoping to come visit me for part of her spring break. It would cost her one plane ticket here, and her sister was going to pay for her ticket from here, to Oklahoma, back to South Carolina. But it didnt work out. I was so bummed out because I love this girl to death! Sidenote: check out her blog she's amazing! http://erinmcgreevey.blogspot.com/
Anyways, so that didnt work out, and I was talking to my other best friend Kelsey about how she should come in on her spring break, because she lives only 4 hours away. So that worked out, and she's coming in on the 1st and staying until the 4th. Even tho one door closed, another is open. I wish both of them were able to come, but at least I get one of them. Thank you God for that!
Wednesday night at Matthias Lot (the church I've been visiting) God really met me in worship. I had never had the experience before when it was just you and God. I had heard so many other people describe their experiences with that, but I had never had that before. Well I did on Wednesday. When you have that experience wow, it's really life changing. It's so humbling, and mind bloggling how amazing God is. It's so hard to explain. If I were talking to you face to face right now, I'd be stumbling over my words like crazy trying to describe to you this experience.
During one of their last songs I think it was Grace Like Rain but I'm not sure. I had the most amazing time of worship I had ever had. I have this way of worship where I close my eyes and i have my arms close to my body and my hands up infront of my chest either clapping, or my hands open in worship towards God. It helps me feel closer to God. I'll sway a bit during worship, and tap my foot or something as well, Wednesday night was not the case lol. My arms were extended towards God eyes closed, and I was almost dancing where I was standing, but I didnt care what people throught around me. I wasnt even thinking about the people around me. I was just thinking about me and God together in that moment. Me worshiping Him. Him being so happy that I am worshiping him and him wrapping his arms around me telling me it will all be alright, he is here, and he always will be. Absolutely amazing experience!
As I believe you know, I've been trying to go to this churches Sunday Lot Families. How this church does things is they have their worship service on Wednesday nights, and they have what they call Lot Families on Sunday mornings. Lot families are where you go to someone's house and have a small group bible study and fellowship. Awesome time pretty much! Well I went to Marc's (the pastor) Lot Family this evening. They had their Lot Families in the evenings tonight because Matthias Lot was having a church plant launch this morning out in Wentzville and wanted as many people to go as possible so they moved Lot Families to the evening. So for the first time I was able to go. Got the car, put gas in it, and left. I was so excited to see if this is really where God wanted me to be. And sure enough, this is where God wants me to be. They are such a fun/loving/Christ-like group of christians, you cant help but enjoy their company and want to come back. We had an awesome time of food, and getting to know each other, playing catch phrase, and an awesome Bible study and discussion led by Marc. I am praying that God will allow me to go back very soon. I've felt like this is where God wants me to be for a long time, but I hadnt found the right time yet. God is slowly taking me away from the church I am a member at now, and bringing me closer to this new church family that is amazing!
I am so blessed! Yes my parents are getting a divorce, yes we are selling the house I've lived in since I was three years old, yes my life is stressful, BUT God is good. He has given me friends that love me, family that loves me, a church family I can go to about anything. He's taking me in a direction I never saw myself going, but I am so excited about going in that direction!
Remember, God is good, he knows what he's doing. Follow his will, it's so much better than what we want! I'm praying for you all.
In Christ,
Hannah
We got the house on the market now and have had a lot of people looking which makes for life to be crazy. I've been really busy with school, choir, work, and babysitting, there's not much time to rest other than at night when I'm about to completely crash.
God's been doing a lot in my life lately. He's been teaching me to love everyone, to trust him, to dig into his word everyday, to submit to authority and government even if I dont agree with it, as long as it lines up with the bible that is, and to witness/be a witness to everyone I meet. This week has been especially crazy, I feel like I make excuses about not being able to spend time with God because of being busy. When in reality, there is no excuse. I can take 15 minutes out of my day to talk to God and to dig into his word. Everyone has 15 minutes. Whether you'd like to admit it or not. If you dont, then make 15 minutes. Whether it's waking up early, or staying up late, do it! It'll make your days so much better. Which is what I've learned.
This week I've been going nonstop it seems like. I'm either doing school work, dealing with a problem, straightening up my room, doing stuff for choir, hanging out with friends, going to church, or out of the house to kill time while someone comes to look at the house; I've been doing a lot. But to say I wouldnt have time for 15 minutes with God is just ridiculous (ridiculous is a word I've been saying a lot lately...start counting how many times I use it in this one blog).
God's really been laying on my heart lately to start to really dig into His word, and to really get serious about Him. It's time I start to get ready for what he wants me to do in life, which is be a missionary. Something God revealed to me a few weeks ago is that He wants me to go to churches, and help better equip them to reach out to their communities. Which this church I've been visiting, they are doing SO much of it! We Love St Charles (http://www.welovestcharles.com/) is an organization this church has started. WOW! They just love on this community and do everything they can to reach out to people in the community. That's what we as Christians need to be doing! We need to go out into the community and help anyone we come across with anything, whether it's prayer, buying a family coats, or bringing someone a meal. We need to do that, we need to build relationships with out communities.
Another thing we need to do is we need to have events OUTSIDE of the church building, you cant bribe people to come into the building, yes you might get them to come into the building for whatever event you are having, whether it's a Halloween type event, or a car show, or anything else. Yes you might get them to come to the event, but the probability of them coming back is very slim. Especially if no one takes the initiative to talk to them which will most likely happen to a lot of the people. What we need to do instead is we need to go out into the community like WLSC is doing. We need to build relationships with people, we need to show them that us christians arent all that bad after all, we need to show them that we love them and care for them and WANT that relationship with them. We need that before they will come into the building and stay in the building.
I'm so excited to see where God takes me with all of this!! I want to see what he'll be having me doing once I'm graduated from college! Man, God is SO good! He closes some doors, and opens others. Thank you Lord!!
My best friend in the entire world Erin was hoping to come visit me for part of her spring break. It would cost her one plane ticket here, and her sister was going to pay for her ticket from here, to Oklahoma, back to South Carolina. But it didnt work out. I was so bummed out because I love this girl to death! Sidenote: check out her blog she's amazing! http://erinmcgreevey.blogspot.com/
Anyways, so that didnt work out, and I was talking to my other best friend Kelsey about how she should come in on her spring break, because she lives only 4 hours away. So that worked out, and she's coming in on the 1st and staying until the 4th. Even tho one door closed, another is open. I wish both of them were able to come, but at least I get one of them. Thank you God for that!
Wednesday night at Matthias Lot (the church I've been visiting) God really met me in worship. I had never had the experience before when it was just you and God. I had heard so many other people describe their experiences with that, but I had never had that before. Well I did on Wednesday. When you have that experience wow, it's really life changing. It's so humbling, and mind bloggling how amazing God is. It's so hard to explain. If I were talking to you face to face right now, I'd be stumbling over my words like crazy trying to describe to you this experience.
During one of their last songs I think it was Grace Like Rain but I'm not sure. I had the most amazing time of worship I had ever had. I have this way of worship where I close my eyes and i have my arms close to my body and my hands up infront of my chest either clapping, or my hands open in worship towards God. It helps me feel closer to God. I'll sway a bit during worship, and tap my foot or something as well, Wednesday night was not the case lol. My arms were extended towards God eyes closed, and I was almost dancing where I was standing, but I didnt care what people throught around me. I wasnt even thinking about the people around me. I was just thinking about me and God together in that moment. Me worshiping Him. Him being so happy that I am worshiping him and him wrapping his arms around me telling me it will all be alright, he is here, and he always will be. Absolutely amazing experience!
As I believe you know, I've been trying to go to this churches Sunday Lot Families. How this church does things is they have their worship service on Wednesday nights, and they have what they call Lot Families on Sunday mornings. Lot families are where you go to someone's house and have a small group bible study and fellowship. Awesome time pretty much! Well I went to Marc's (the pastor) Lot Family this evening. They had their Lot Families in the evenings tonight because Matthias Lot was having a church plant launch this morning out in Wentzville and wanted as many people to go as possible so they moved Lot Families to the evening. So for the first time I was able to go. Got the car, put gas in it, and left. I was so excited to see if this is really where God wanted me to be. And sure enough, this is where God wants me to be. They are such a fun/loving/Christ-like group of christians, you cant help but enjoy their company and want to come back. We had an awesome time of food, and getting to know each other, playing catch phrase, and an awesome Bible study and discussion led by Marc. I am praying that God will allow me to go back very soon. I've felt like this is where God wants me to be for a long time, but I hadnt found the right time yet. God is slowly taking me away from the church I am a member at now, and bringing me closer to this new church family that is amazing!
I am so blessed! Yes my parents are getting a divorce, yes we are selling the house I've lived in since I was three years old, yes my life is stressful, BUT God is good. He has given me friends that love me, family that loves me, a church family I can go to about anything. He's taking me in a direction I never saw myself going, but I am so excited about going in that direction!
Remember, God is good, he knows what he's doing. Follow his will, it's so much better than what we want! I'm praying for you all.
In Christ,
Hannah
Saturday, February 20, 2010
It has been a long time since I have blogged, and a lot has happened since then. Things have been kinda crazy here the last month. Still trying to get our house on the market, which has been pretty stressful. I have to have my room clean and organized by tomorrow, which here are some pictures of it right now....it's not to clean lol.
Sad thing is...this is after I did all my laundry lol. I have a bunch of sheets I need to wash, and I need to get rid of a bunch of stuff, and organize my crap. So that will be an all day thing, I should be working on it as I type this, but I figure 30 minutes wont hurt anything.
We redid the kitchen last weekend, looks really nice! Just need to put in the microwave above the stove and it's done.
School, work, babysitting, and trying to stay out of the house as much as possible has kept me really busy this last month. It's pretty crazy how much stuff I have been doing. God's been teaching me to rely on him a lot these last few weeks. Our new pastor that I love so much resigned a few weeks ago for reasons I cant really talk about, but I was very sad to see him go, and miss him and his family dearly! They were some of my favorite people I have ever met, and I hope to get together with Rana soon.
I got to go to the switchfoot concert here in St Louis this last Monday, I wish I had my pictures on my computer to show you how close we were to the stage, but I cant seem to find my camera cord (no surprise there if you look at those pictures of my room). The tickets were my brithday present, which was awesome! I got to go with my brother's fiance, and we had a blast. If we were about 4 feet closer to the stage we could have touched Jon Foreman from Switchfoot which would have been awesome! lol. We waited around the bands bus for a while after the show to try to meet them, but it got late and we had to head out because Ellen (my brother's fiance) had class the next morning, and I had choir. I was hoping to get to meet them and be able to tell Drew Shirley (their lead guitarist) that I met his parents and brother this summer in San Diego when I worked at his dad's church. And that I got to see them play at their Bro-Am this summer at Moonlight Beach (awesome beach!!). Here is a picture of them playing at the Switchfoot Bro-Am
Switchfoot Bro-Am was the best concert I have ever seen, until I saw them Monday, and they totally outdid themselves. The security at The Pageant made me mad, but it's okay, Switchfoot made up for it :)
I was planning on going to Texas this weekend for Planet Wisdom with my youth group, but it sold out before my youth pastor was able to get tickets, so I wasnt able to go. Which really bummed me out because my friend Amy was planning on meeting us there (she lived about an hour from Dallas) and go to the conference that weekend with us.
So....before I started writing this I had a lot of intelligent thoughts I was going to write about what God had been teaching me, the struggles I've been dealing with lately, and as I started writing...I completely forgot everything I was going to write lol. I need to go clean my room...but hopefully there will be another blog soon and will actually have thoughts about what God is teaching me. Cause it is a lot! I'll update on monday or tuesday or maybe wednesday or thursday. Sometime next week I will update again. Remember, I pray for everyone who reads this. If you're going through a rough time, comment, tell me whats going on, and how I can pray for you, and I will.
In Christ,
Hannah
Sad thing is...this is after I did all my laundry lol. I have a bunch of sheets I need to wash, and I need to get rid of a bunch of stuff, and organize my crap. So that will be an all day thing, I should be working on it as I type this, but I figure 30 minutes wont hurt anything.
We redid the kitchen last weekend, looks really nice! Just need to put in the microwave above the stove and it's done.
School, work, babysitting, and trying to stay out of the house as much as possible has kept me really busy this last month. It's pretty crazy how much stuff I have been doing. God's been teaching me to rely on him a lot these last few weeks. Our new pastor that I love so much resigned a few weeks ago for reasons I cant really talk about, but I was very sad to see him go, and miss him and his family dearly! They were some of my favorite people I have ever met, and I hope to get together with Rana soon.
I got to go to the switchfoot concert here in St Louis this last Monday, I wish I had my pictures on my computer to show you how close we were to the stage, but I cant seem to find my camera cord (no surprise there if you look at those pictures of my room). The tickets were my brithday present, which was awesome! I got to go with my brother's fiance, and we had a blast. If we were about 4 feet closer to the stage we could have touched Jon Foreman from Switchfoot which would have been awesome! lol. We waited around the bands bus for a while after the show to try to meet them, but it got late and we had to head out because Ellen (my brother's fiance) had class the next morning, and I had choir. I was hoping to get to meet them and be able to tell Drew Shirley (their lead guitarist) that I met his parents and brother this summer in San Diego when I worked at his dad's church. And that I got to see them play at their Bro-Am this summer at Moonlight Beach (awesome beach!!). Here is a picture of them playing at the Switchfoot Bro-Am
I was planning on going to Texas this weekend for Planet Wisdom with my youth group, but it sold out before my youth pastor was able to get tickets, so I wasnt able to go. Which really bummed me out because my friend Amy was planning on meeting us there (she lived about an hour from Dallas) and go to the conference that weekend with us.
So....before I started writing this I had a lot of intelligent thoughts I was going to write about what God had been teaching me, the struggles I've been dealing with lately, and as I started writing...I completely forgot everything I was going to write lol. I need to go clean my room...but hopefully there will be another blog soon and will actually have thoughts about what God is teaching me. Cause it is a lot! I'll update on monday or tuesday or maybe wednesday or thursday. Sometime next week I will update again. Remember, I pray for everyone who reads this. If you're going through a rough time, comment, tell me whats going on, and how I can pray for you, and I will.
In Christ,
Hannah
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