C3 Sunday, Student Fun, & a Con Artist??

Yep…I find a way to talk about all 3 of those in one post :)

It’s been a busy couple of weeks… we finally got to be back at C3 Sunday! I missed it- we were on vacation one week and then we didn’t have church the weekend of the 4th….felt like it had been forever! :)

I loved the message…Pastor Byron talked about being let down relationally… something that happens to every single one of us in life. It was almost like an epiphany for me- why had I never thought of simply praying these things that he mentioned. He talked about how when you’re let down by small things to pray for thicker skin- and one thing he said that stood out so much to me was: “When you choose to be easily offended, you’re choosing to be miserable.”  So true… we make the decision to be easily offended or not and I can say from experience- when I make that decision, I am miserable! I’m very grateful for Sunday- I am praying for thicker skin and for a stronger heart.

Yesterday we headed out to Rock Springs with our students for the day. It was a blast- we had never been there before. The water was freeeezinggg :) But it was still fun! We did some tubing and played some volleyball and just spent the day out there. I love hanging out with our students!

Lastly- if you’re reading this and in the central FL area please check THIS out. You’ll want to know about this woman and the fact that she’s a con artist! One of my best friends bought her wedding dress from here…and now it’s gone and so is her money! Awful! Sadly it happened to many brides who trusted her and now she’s run off with their money… Check out the story by clicking HERE. Praying that every single one of these brides can find another way to get the dress of their dreams!

Oh yeah…It’s a Monday Alright

I think the title sums up how my Monday’s going… and it’s not even noon. That can’t be good!

I guess I am being a little dramatic. It’s really not bad… :) We just got back from vacation last night. Of course, I can’t go to bed with dishes in the sink so I forced myself to do them at midnight! Then I decided it would be a good idea to do a little unpacking…needless to say, my head met the pillow at 2am! Aiden was kicking up a storm last night around one…I kept wondering why my child is kicking me at 1am and then I realized he’s probably begging me to go to sleep! :) I’m grateful for my sweet husband who had to get up early but refused to let me do any of it by myself- so he stayed up and helped me :) So I guess my Monday woes are partially my own fault…staying up too late and being back from vacation does not equal a fun Monday! :)

On a better note- we did have a blast on our little mini vaca :) Matt planned a little surprise trip to West Palm for my birthday! It was so great to get away for a bit and have fun & relax with my hubby. Neither of us had ever been to West Palm beach and it was beautiful! Definitely will visit again… I have lots and lots of pics but I’ll post those in a couple days. I’m so grateful for such a great husband! He always makes things so special for me… Seriously, I don’t know what I did to deserve it but he’s amazing all the time! He’s gonna be such an incredible dad :) He already is…. he already takes care of his son the best he can and he definitely takes amazing care of me :)

While we were gone Aiden started kicking a ton more! It’s so crazy to feel him kicking this much….I can only imagine as he gets bigger! Should be interesting…. ;-)

After we left West Palm we headed to Jacksonville for a day to visit with our families. It was great….it has been forever since we’ve seen them so it was nice to catch up :) My baby sister is going to be 14 in August………… I think that’s all I need to say about that. :)

We did miss C3 on Sunday though! Not used to not being with our C3 family! And next week we don’t have church so two weeks without C3 is gonna stink! Can’t wait to be back there soon :)

Before we went on vacation we had this summers student camp. It was an absolute blast! I love being with our students at camp and seeing the incredible things God does in their lives. Not to mention my own…. I go for them but I always end up learning so much from not only the messages but from them! They have no idea the impact they make on my life. Seriously… it’s such a privilege that I get to watch them grow into the people God wants them to be. There were lots of tears and so much growth…while at the same time laughing hysterically and having a BLAST playing fun and crazy games! I’m very grateful for the few days we got to hang with them all!

I have LOVED the past week- between student camp, a birthday vacation with Matt, and seeing our fam it has been awesome! I guess I should go back to unpacking and the 450 loads of laundry I have to do!! ;-)

Thursday Ramblings…

So I really need to be cleaning a bit or being productive but who says blogging is not productive?!

Anyway…

Last night we had 413 our high school student group. It was amazing! Love those students so much and they have such a great heart for God. Last night was the last formal meeting for the school year and I have been amazed at how much they’ve grown in the past year. God has really done some great things in and through them…it’s awesome! I’m so proud of all of them! This summer should be a blast with them- camp and then a bunch of cool stuff we’ve got planned! I can’t do much of it…(I mean I guess riding rides at a waterpark is frowned upon when your pregnant…who knew?! ;-) but I’ll definitely be along for the ride and love hanging out with them!

Some people know we’ve been trying to find a new car for a while…we leased our last car and that was up so it was time for something else. We FINALLY found something we like and that’s affordable. We got a ’07 Camry. I love it so far! Great car and even better gas mileage than our VW. That makes us happy :) I’m just honestly glad to be done car shopping…I’m really not a fan! Especially when you are trying to look at cars outside all day when it’s 450 degrees! ;) We had to go to Jacksonville to pick our new car and to drop off our old one…since we leased it there.

Princess was thrilled to be traveling all day… :)

I love  my husband! He’s the best….just though I’d throw that out there since I’m rambling :)

Looking forward to this weekend- We have community group with the college/young adult group! Love that…it’s always a blast. Then next weekend we’re having a fun pool party with them! Should be awesome!

I love being pregnant but what is up with the food I’m having to give up! I mean who has aversions to yummy things like bacon?! Yep, me. The smell of it makes me sick…and barbecue! That doesn’t work that well in our household….if anyone knows my husband at all, they know he loves his barbecue! :) He’s been great about it though!

Well I’m going to go be productive…or maybe I’ll avoid my cleaning some more and just go work out! That’s productive, too! :)

It’s Worth it

Check out this post by Pete Wilson- Engage or Withdraw. I really enjoyed this post- it challenged me and made me think about my own trust issues. I definitely have a few :)

Here’s a little bit of what he wrote:

I’ll admit that at times I have a hard time trusting certain people. I generally develop my feelings of distrust after someone has done something intentionally or unintentionally that makes me question their character. And let’s be honest, if you’re in any kind of relationship with someone long enough from time to time they’re going to act in a way that will bring the issue of “trust” to the forefront.

We all have a trust-meter. Every time you interact with another person your trust-meter goes up or down based on a set of factors that would include such things as the person’s truth-telling record, their commitment keeping pattern, their confidentiality, their consistency in character, etc. This is true of all of your relationships…

Pete Wilson also wrote something else a few days ago that bothered me…He wrote this about college students..

I was shocked last week to hear that the second leading cause of death among college students is suicide. Furthermore, I read that as many as 50% of college students have thought about suicide with 15% of them seriously considering it.

You can read the rest of it HERE.

This is upsetting- Matt and I recently started leading the C3 College/Young Adults group with Bryan and Gina Zugelder… To think about the fact that possibly half of them may be considering suicide- honestly to think about the fact that this happens with ANY college students in general is sad. I remember that time in my life- it wasn’t too long ago- and if you’re not careful it is easy to slip into your own world and slowly those thoughts can creep in. I’m very grateful I had people in my life then to make sure that wasn’t the case. My hope and prayer is that all college students will find that… All the more reason to be intentional and invest in people. Because lets be honest… It’s not just college students who have thoughts like that and need help.

I’ve still got Sunday morning on my mind… Remembering what those videos said- “Will you risk it?” “Am I worth it?” I can’t think of anyone who is NOT worth it! I pray I never forget about that and am always intentional in building relationships and inviting people to church…even well after Easter. I also pray that I don’t slip back into that comfortable lifestyle where I just coast and don’t really pay much attention to those around me… because they are truly worth it. And because I’m reminded that God placed Matt and I where we are for a reason- There may be certain people that God has placed in our lives that are waiting on us to invite them… All I know is- it is definitely worth the risk.

More than a while…

I would say it’s been a while but I guess 4 months is a little more than a while… It’s been crazy and once I sat back down to write on here I realized how much I miss it! Angie just wrote recently about how everyone has kind of stopped blogging- it stinks. I miss reading what everyone has to say…all the encouraging words were so nice to see all the time.

So, to the few who’ll read this, you might be wondering where the heck I’ve been since November! I wish I knew…Kidding :) Life has been life… it’s been crazy and had it’s ups and downs. As 2009 ended I was so looking forward to 2010- a new year of new things and so far it has proved to be great! Well..2010 was great until the Colts made it all the way to the superbowl and decided to lose…that part I’m forgetting about :) Yep- still lovin’ my Colts, that won’t change!

Matt has a new job- one that he finally loves and is passionate about! That thrills me… It’s so wonderful to see your husband enjoy his work and not dread every Monday like he used to. It’s a wonderful job that allows me to help him still and him to work some from home and some at the office. It’s a great balance.

I ran my half marathon in August and LOVED it- I definitely think I’ll be sticking with half marathons for the most part but I would love to run a full soon! All I know is, at the end of my half I don’t know that I could have run another half!! Of course it’ll be easier once I train for it but still… 26.2 miles is a ton! I admire anyone that can run that much. I can’t believe that I actually love running- I remember hating it with a passion. Now if I can’t run it kills me and I get kind of grumpy…just as Matt ;)

Anyway-

I’ve learned a lot recently and God has done some amazing things in my life. I’ve learned a whole new meaning to trusting Him and that I wasn’t quite as good at it as I thought :) I also learned what joy really looks like- can’t depend on your circumstances in life, only God and that He’ll give you peace in situations where you had no idea it could be! Funny because I really thought I knew this stuff but I realized I was off a bit on my thinking. :) I was reminded how much I love my friends and how true friends are rare and when you find them, hang on!

C3 has been amazing as usual! This past Sunday they actually did Powerhouse in the main theater…. It ROCKED! I thought it was so awesome that everyone got to see how much emphasis C3 puts on kids! I’m excited about what God is doing thru C3… Our student community has been amazing, too! Matt and I just do high school and since we multiplied the groups the high school meets in our house… these students are truly getting it and really living out for God. We recently asked them to gather up some clothes and shoes to donate to Pineloch elementary- this school  needs things for the students and families of students that attend there- our students completely ran with it and brought SO much stuff to donate! It was amazing to see them give back and how thrilled they were to do it :)

Phew….That’s kind of a lot for one post… I guess that’s what I get for not writing since November :) Now that I remember how much I miss this it won’t be so long before the next one!

Yesterday…

Yesterday at C3 was awesome! We’re still in the series: ‘The Sickness Within” and yesterday Pride was discussed. It definitely hit home to me… I just wrote about how at times I feel like I’ve got a handle on all my problems and I don’t want to bother God with it…. Sometimes I have the thinking of: ‘He’s got enough on His plate, I’ll just deal with this myself.’ And that isn’t trusting God fully… I’m so grateful for being a part of a church that is so real and authentic! I’m also so grateful for ALL the amazing people that make this movement happen every week! Seriously… it takes a lot of dedication and people who truly love Jesus and others… It’s humbling to look around at all the people who sacrifice each week to give of themselves and be a part of what God’s doing here. C3 truly is a family and I love all of these wonderful people!

Yesterday C3 also gave away a ton of backpacks full of school supplies to students in need! Amazing… This is truly what church is all about- reaching out and helping the community around you!

I got to meet tons of new students yesterday! I am pumped for our fall schedule of 413 (Our high school student community!) It’s gonna be a blast :) I hope all our students had a great first day back at school… Speaking of this… my sister started middle school today! She went from being in a small private school for all of elementary to a big public middle school… I’m hoping she has a really good day. I don’t think she’s too nervous but I sure am :)

Ok I think that’s all for now… I have like 682 loads of laundry to do that have been piling up… maybe a little bit of an exaggeration but still- it’s a lot :)

So… It’s been a while…

I know, It’s been forever. This is has been the craziest start to a summer I’ve had in a while!

We were just busy with regular life stuff until last week- then we headed to Panama City Beach with the student group for summer camp!

It was seriously a blast.

C3 has some awesome students. They teach me more than they will ever know. It was a great week where we got to see them grow and learn more about what God wants for their lives. I saw my high school girls come out of their shells (even more) and really worship God. It was incredible! I don’t even have enough words for all that God did last week. I got to spend so much time with my girls and have some awesome late night conversations. :)

Of course on the way there and back, Matt and I rode with the high school guys…we had some interesting conversations there, too! :)

If you have a student in your family, get them involved in C3’s student community…seriously it rocks!!

God has done some amazing stuff and helped me learn a lot in the last couple weeks. I’m so incredibly grateful for Him and His love for us. I’m so grateful for my husband… he is so selfless and works harder than anyone knows for his family. I’m grateful for my friends & C3 family. C3 is such a refreshing way to start off my week… being with people who are real and love God and love people is incredible!

So hopefully I’ll get back to posting more regularly. I now need to go for a run… last week was awesome but no workout= me being a week behind with my training!