Friday, May 25, 2007

SKALELUJIAH!!

The Praise Band is pumped for Sunday!! We had an awesome, God-filled practice last night rehearsing for Sunday's worship service. You will not want to miss this!! We are happy to be out of school and we are kicking off the summer praise with a bang. Pastor Chad will be finishing up his two week sermon series called Consumed and if this Sunday's message is near as powerful as last Sunday's we are really going to have our thoughts and hearts provoked into action.
SKALELUJIAH is coming Sunday...don't miss it!!
Pick it up, pick it up...
Crystal

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

I Will Survive!

As most of you know, I was attacked (ok, bitten, but attacked sounds better) by a squad of viscious fire ants at my parents' house on Mother's Day. I suffered an agonizing (all jokes aside)allergic reaction. I felt as if I was going to die (which, was confirmed by the doctor on Wednesday). After the reaction, I had a nasty stomach thing going on and when I visited the doctor Wednesday, he seemed to think it was related to the fire ant bites. Anyway, Barry and I were both sick over the weekend and whatever it was seems to finally be gone and out of our systems.
I have been sick many times before and wished that I was dead or that someone would just put me out of my misery, but as far as I know, I have never experienced the feeling that I literally was about to die.
This realization has caused me to reflect on my life and things that God has convicted me about. One of which is spending time with my family. I prayed on Mother's Day that God would not take me yet, not because I am afraid to die - I know where I'm headed, but because I didn't want to miss out on seeing my children grow up and being there to experience all that they do. I didn't want to miss out on seeing Barry become a pastor - something that I know God has called him to do. I believe that God allowed me to stay here because He is not finished with me. I also believe that God allowed me to experience this as a wake up call. As a result of this, I have had to learn to say no to things that I may have agreed to do in the past out of a sense of duty. I have really begun to seek God's will in my life and if He is not leading me to do something, then I'm just gonna have to say no.
Don't forget to consult God before making decisions - no matter how trivial you think they are, you could find yourself stressed out and burned out and far from God.
Anyhoo, get ready for this Sunday morning. We are kicking off summer in an exciting way...you don't want to miss it! Oh, and three more days till freedom!!
Peace Out!