Inheritance

Last Friday was Sean's birthday! He is now 30!  We went to Ruth's Chris for dinner and enjoyed some amazing food!  They also gave him free dessert for his birthday.

On Saturday, we went to a friend's house and celebrated his birthday with some of our closest friends here in Fort Myers.  These people have truly become our family and it was a beautiful day to celebrate Sean's life with them.  I found this idea for his cake online.  Sean's favorite cake is Red Velvet.  So our friend Robyn, who owns Heavenly Sweetz by Robyn, made his favorite cake and added regular M&M's in the center.  It was delicious!  Make sure to get her for your next party!

One thing Sean truly wanted for his birthday was to have those who pour into him on a regular basis pray over him.  On Sunday, we were able to do that.  It was such a sweet, sweet blessing.  This year is going to be an incredible year for him and I am so honored to stand along side of him as his wife.

The reason why this post is titled "Inheritance" is because in the Jewish culture when Jesus was walking the earth, at the age of 30 is when the first born receives his inheritance from his father.  The time comes for the son to take over the family business/inherit the trade of his father.  We strongly believe that Sean is receiving his inheritance this year.  We can't wait to see what will happen in our lives!

Last but NOT least!!  My little brother and Sean share the same birthday.  This guy turned 12!!  It's crazy to see how much he has grown!  He also loves his long hair!  I'm so proud of this kid.  He is so smart and I know he is going to do some amazing things with the knowledge that God has given him.

Take us further

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever you would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior

                                      Oceans by Hillsong United

This past week was our first Holy Ghost Meetings of 2015 at Light.  It was a great week of meetings.  I was able to just rest in the presence of the Lord during this time.  I mainly work all of our services since Sean is over our Media department and I help out wherever I need to with him.  On Saturday night, Sean and I made a point to actually sit and be a part of the service.  We did not volunteer to help with anything, we just sat and soaked in the presence of the Lord.  

Our church has been singing the bridge to the song called Oceans for over a year now.  I believe we have sung it before it became a huge hit on mainstream Christian radio, who has ran it to the ground (my personal opinion).  Anyways, I have become somewhat numb to this song since it has been over-played everywhere but whenever we sing in our services, it's like God always makes it a love song to our congregation.  I love it.  It's a cry from our heart to take us further in our walk with the Lord.

We sang the bridge this past Saturday night and God just revealed something to me as I was singing this.  He revealed to me that Sean &  I have started this path.  We are walking in this right now.  HE has revealed to me that His trust has no borders; He has called me to a place where I would have never imagined to be; He has taken me to a deeper place; my faith has been tested, therefore, it has been made stronger.

It's so crazy how everything changes when God is in control.  I mean EVERYTHING too.  God has completely changed my mind on so many things since I have lived in Florida.  Yes, I still prefer Alabama seasons, but I cannot imagine Sean and I still living there with what God has called us to do.  God has provided Sean & I a family to be a part of here and when He finally revealed those people to us, life here has been so much better.  The waiting is long & torturous (that's how I felt)  sometimes but it's worth going through. 

So, I encourage you to not despise the wilderness.  The time in the wilderness is good to learn what God wants us to know.  We must try to listen for His voice and understand what His Word says.  I encourage to not despise the waiting period.  Learn to be content where God has you in the season you are in. 

Anticipation

There is an anticipation in the atmosphere.  I can feel a shift coming soon.  I can't say what it is, since I don't know, but something is going to happen this year.  It's going to be good too.  God has been revealing himself more and more to Sean and me.  He is reminding us and guiding us back to how we once worshiped separately, and stirring and instilling it back into us as a married couple.

At the end of last year, God started to shift some things in our life.  He started to place people in our path to form a family.  Sean and I do not really have family that are close to us (closest family is at least 1.5hr away).  It has been amazing to see God orchestrate this and I love every person who is in our family here in Fort Myers.  He is starting to unify us as one body and it is only going to grow from here. 

I can't wait to see what God is going to do this year.. 2015.

Tale of Three Trees

On Palm Sunday, our kids did their first musical, A Tale of Three Trees.  They did an amazing job too!  They learned all the songs, motions, & speaking parts in about 4 weeks!  I have never seen kids so genuinely excited for a musical.  I grew up in doing kids' musicals at my church and I also helped with some too and I have never this much excitement as these kids.  They loved it so much that they wanted to start working on the next one!  There are not many kids at our church at the moment but these kids can sing too!  When I was in the musicals, we always had the back up voices but these kids knew their words and sang.  It was so refreshing and so much fun watching them.  Sean and I helped with the lighting and I got stuck doing the spotlight...  I have no experience with that either.  haha.  But I did enjoy it and it was more fun that I got to do it for the kids at the church.  These kids are absolutely amazing and full of so much joy.  I think I am just as excited for the next one as they are!!  Here are some pictures from the play.

Me practicing with the spotlight.

All the kids performing.

After the play, Pastor Tommie spoke a little bit.  At the end he started to encourage everyone (including the kids) to worship together.  The best part is seeing the kids participate in worship.  They may not understand everything we talk about yet but they do know how to be respectful to their elders and engage in worship.  The Holy Spirit is known to our children.  I absolutely love them.

Wednesday Wisdom

God has been doing some amazing things these last couple of weeks.  Sean and I are officially working with the youth now.  We are co-leading the Sunday school class and drama with another couple, who are amazing!  We have been spending more time with them lately and I am loving every second of it.  The youth here are great.  I'm still trying to get their names right and figure out who they belong to! We are already seeing God move in some of their lives and it's truly incredible to watch God transform someone into His image.  I know He's definitely molding me!

Now that we are involved with the kids, Ginger (wife of the other couple) and I want to have a day for the young girls about image.  We want to teach them the basics of hygiene, self-esteem, etc.. basically a girls' day.  So, I have a couple of books we can also teach or do a devotion together with them.  I came across an old book that I read in high school from a Bible study I attended.  I have started to read it again & within the first few pages God has already pointed this excerpt out:


"You are looking for rules to restrict their behavior.  Rules will not keep them.  The empowerment they need must be born out of relationship.  Change you focus from what they can't do to what they can do.  Tell them that they can go as far with their boyfriends as they are comfortable doing in front of their fathers.  For fathers are the protector and guardian of the virtue for daughters."
Kissed the Girls and Made them Cry by Lisa Bevere

This excerpt is regarding sex & relationships. How 'far' is it okay for kids to go, physically, in a relationship? The Holy Spirit revealed this revelation to Lisa Bevere when she was asked to speak on sex with teenage girls.  This answer is probably the best answer I have ever seen.  I know I will keep this answer in mind. 

I just wanted to share this because as a youth leader, I have been asked types of questions regarding relationships.  And sometimes I am not sure how to respond besides saying, "don't date at all."  So as a youth leader, I do feel like this is a great answer to tell students.  I do not want to say something without parents, either being there or saying something that the parents have not discussed with them.  Parents want & should be the ones discussing these topics with their children but we all know that this isn't always the case.  So, I encourage those who have to discuss these types of questions with students that this response is a great response to use.

You are worth more.

I read a twitter status yesterday by Jenn Johnson:

You are not what you wrestle with.

Since then, I have not stopped thinking about this statement.  I am guilty of judging people by their actions & behaviors at the present time.  I know to look at the heart rather than the outside but we all know that is easier said than done.  I feel like it's even harder to not hold some judgement to those that are in the church.  Especially, if the people in the church were not raised in the church.  It's also a great reminder for myself that even though I have hard times, I know that I am worth more and my God sees much more in me.

Sean and I have recently servicing our youth at Light.  Our Equip classes (aka Sunday School but only lasts for 10 weeks) started February 9th and the youth drama team started on Valentine's day.  We have loved it too!  We have partnered up with another couple whose heart is for teens & I have enjoyed every second getting to know them more & working along side them.  Our kids are dealing with some heavy stuff & it's important to encourage them that God truly loves them.  These kids are smart & I can't wait to challenge them more on what they think on topics we discuss.

This past Sunday we introduced to them that is okay and important to learn to pray for each other.  God moved & I truly believe this is the start of some thing great.  I also believe that they will start to learn what it means to have a family of friends who they can count on.

The staff at Light did a three week fast of your choice.  Our pastors and majority of us did the Daniel Fast.  It was mine & Sean's first time to do it.  We really enjoyed the fast because we are trying to start living healthy and eliminating the foods we do not need.  My main struggle that I had with the food part was not eating chicken.  If you know me, you know how much I love chicken and how much I eat chicken on a regularly basis.  Sean also struggled not having meat towards the end.  Even though the fast is over, we plan on to continue to keep the foods we have been eating in our meal plan.  We have completely eliminated sodas from our choice of drinks.  I am still working on less coffee intake.  It's a work in progress :)

This fast has been helping us realize what we need to do spiritually.  For one, we both have forsaken our First Love and we starting to make Him the true center of our relationship.  This has been a little hard for us because we have had little time to devote to us and our devotion time.  We were so busy during our fast with things in our lives and it hasn't really slowed down.  So we are learning to balance this.  It is an adjustment that we must make but I am so excited to make this adjustment for us and our relationship with our Father.

One thing that has really stuck out to me towards the end of our fast is how I have become completely drunk and consumed in this world.  I have been consumed with others (which isn't bad) and I have been selfish.  It amazes me how I see things and let it consume me.  It may be because I am still trying to adjust to the life here.  I am not sure but I do know that it has taken me a while to get used to life down here.  I love it down here but it is hard when it is your first time to ever 'move' away from home.  Sean has been so great to me.. listening to me when I get home sick and when I reminisce.  He truly is an amazing husband.
 So with all that being said, I have started to really reading the Word daily again.  Right now it's been my daily devo's on my phone and I am thankful for them.  One thing God has really laid on my heart was becoming sober again,  here is a passage:

But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine:  that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience;  the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—  that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,  to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.
          Titus 2:1-5


I love this passage because it reminds me of part of my purpose here on earth.  We are here to stand out of the crowd by the way we live.  I have let myself forget my purpose but now that it is a new season for Sean & I, we are not letting this season go to waste.  We are so excited for God is doing in our lives right now.  We are excited to see the things come to pass that have been promised to us.  We are excited to be serving together as one for our King. 

Christmas in photos.

 We finally got to make Gingerbread houses with some new friends!  Ashley is a RE/MAX Affinity real estate agent who is from Alabama.  So we became friends fast.  We had a great time hanging out with her & her husband that night.

 My gingerbread houses.

The gingerbread village.

Sean did a house but his broke.  We had some difficulty this year on the houses but we had fun!

 Our Candlelight Service on Dec 22nd.  Sean and I had to serve that night so we were both in the sound booth.  It was a great service.

Sean's parents enjoying Titan's love.

Our Christmas photo.

Titan loves my mom.  I love this picture.

This is from one of my girls back in Birmingham.  She did a fabulous job!  She doesn't even know that our last name means a tree planted by a river bed.  Psalm 1:3.

Spending last few minutes together on the way to the airport.

Appreciation Dinner

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, Light at Fort Myers had an Appreciation Dinner/Thanksgiving dinner.  There was a committee of ladies who put this together and I was honored to be a part of this committee.  The idea of an "Appreciation Dinner" is to buy someone's meal that you appreciate.  It's that simple.  With the short time of planning this event, we did not do it the way we had originally planned but we still had a great turn out for our first one.  The meal for adults was 3 bucks!  And for kids, it was one dollar.  You can't beat this price for a Thanksgiving meal.  This will be annual event at Light. 

The committee consisted of about 10 or so ladies.  We all cooked a turkey (if not more than one) & dressing, some of us cooked a ham, some did desserts, some did the mashed potatoes & green beans.  We asked the congregation to bring dessert as well.  Some of the ladies decorated the fellowship hall.

This is us meeting a week before the event to make sure we all know what we are doing.  We had a great time planning this event for the church.

The four pictures below are what I made for the dinner: brownies, cupcakes, ham & turkey.

     

 This is my TURKEY recipe that I used.  It turned out great!!  Well, I actually did not try it but Sean did and said it was great, so I will be doing this again.  I did it in a crockpot because I have never cooked a turkey and you can never go wrong with a slow cook meal.  Plus, this was easy & recommended by one of the ladies for me to do.

Below are some random photos of the event.  Please disregard the alignment of them, I am having some issues with the photos aligning properly.  I hope you enjoy them!

   

The ladies above are amazing.  Deanna (left) made the fellowship hall look wonderful!  & Gaila (right) was our wonderful director of this whole event!

                                                

        

    

      

This is my plate of food.  It was delicious!  Sorry but I prefer ham instead of turkey on Thanksgiving.

       

We had over 200 hundred people come to eat & fellowship with us!  We were so thankful to have guests and family to come to this event.  We cannot wait for next year's dinner!  We also had entertainment throughout the meal.  Thanks to all who performed!  You all did a great job!!

Typography

Busy, busy, busy

I know it's been a couple of weeks since I have really posted anything but we have been busy.  Seriously.

I started working earlier this month and we have been going ever since.  My first week of work was great but exhausting.  We had our monthly Holy Ghost Meetings so I had to get used to go from doing nothing for a month to being out for over 12 hours. It's been awesome though!  The first week of work included a black and white event.  Unfortunately, Sean and I didn't get a picture together but we had a great time with coworkers who are also church friends.

 Me, Aprile, & Ashley at the 2nd Annual End of Summer Affair at Clive Daniel.

 Holy Ghost meetings not only allow the adults to grow closer to God but KIDS are coming to know their Heavenly Father.  

Our church has been experiencing great things!  The building we have been occupying is now officially in our name!  This is huge deal for us!  We can now move forward with updating our facility, structurally, as well as spiritually.  This facility has had so much bondage.  God is starting to rebuild to this building and His people that attend our church. 

As Sean and I have gotten more involved with the church I have gotten more familiar with the people in the church.  It's starting to feel like a family to me.  I really enjoy that because that is what I had back in Birmingham.  I am so thankful that God brought us here to be with a church.  This move would have been much harder if we were not already connected and involved with a church.  If you are not used to having a family at church, I encourage you to get involved in a place that you like.  That also means you have to work at it and not just wait for the people to come to you.  My heart is growing for the people of Fort Myers.  My heart is growing for the city.  I firmly believe that you have to have the heart and passion for a city to change it. 

Another update will hopefully come sooner rather than later.  While writing this post, my mind has been all over the place so I hope I will be more focused for the next post!  Be blessed!!!