BVG Women's Retreat: Rest Session 1

Hello all you out there in Blog Land. I hope that you have had a wonderful day! The weekend is here and I am so excited that I am getting a new haircut today! I will make sure and post pics so that you can see the new do!


So...last weekend I went to Koinonia Conference Grounds for my 2nd annual Women's Retreat with BVG. The theme for the retreat was "Rest"...and ladies, may I just add that I needed rest more than anything else! It was so AMAZING! Such a great time of relaxation, rest, rejuvination, worship and fellowship with some of the sweetest sisters in the body! God spoke to me in so many wonderful ways (lots of laughter and lots of tears)....I am awed again and again how He speaks to me and helps me to understand Him and His ways.

I'd like to recap the weekend's sessions. I hope that it blesses you as much as it did me!

Theme Verse: Matthew 11:28

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your weary souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Session 1- "Come to me"

Invitations: God is extending us an invitation to come to him.

What invitations have I received in my lifetime?

• marriage proposal
• wedding invitations
• baby shower invitations
• birthday invitations
• invitation to enter into relationship with my Heavenly Father

The first question to ask is "Who is inviting me?"

Colossians 1:15: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."

Hebrews 1:3: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."

Jesus is everything we can see and everything we cannot see. We should not take his invitation lightly, because it is kingly!

Luke 19:1-9: This is the story of Zaccheus (read it...it's great!)

• The invitation Zacch received was totally unexpected. He came to see Jesus thinking that he was only going to be an observer.
• The invitation Zacch received was personal. When Jesus reached the spot where Zacch had climbed up to see him, he looked up and called our brother by name. John 10:14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-". This verse states that Jesus knows us personally...by name. He enters our most personal places. He wants to transform us. Jesus tells Zacch that he wants to "stay" in his house today. The meaning of the word "stay" in this passage means "to lodge, take up residence." Jesus was not just coming for a quick visit. He had serious business to work through with Zacchaeus.
• The invitation that Zacch received demands a response. Zacch comes down at once and comes gladly. In verse 8 we find that Zacch was repentant. This was a heart response to Jesus extending an invitation to him. His repentant heart followed by action to remedy what he had done wrong was extreme. By law he was only supposed to return 20% more of the goods lost. If he had been guilty of theft of an animal he would have been required to return 4 or 5 times the amount of the value of the animal. We can see from the text that Zaccheaus considered his sin theft as he returned 4 times the amount that he had taken from the people.

So....the question is: How am I responding to Jesus' invitation to me?

• With joy?
• With repentance?
• With action?

Side note on Zaccheaus: His name means "Righteous One". Before his encounter with Jesus he had been marginalized. After his encounter with the Savior, he has been restored spiritually.

Final thought: Respond to the invitation that Christ is extending to me!

John 7:37 "Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds 'Anyone who is thirsty may come to me!'.

So, girlfriends....what invitation is Jesus extending to you???? Are you thirsty? Do you need restoration?....If so, run to Jesus, he is extending an invitation to you that you cannot miss out on! He says to come to him and he will give you rest....so get your running shoes on and get going!

I'm Back!!

Hello bloggers!

It's been a while since I last said hello so here is my "hello"!
I have been so busy with school and getting ready for the wind down of the school year. IEP's, preparing for preschool graduation, planning for the summer session (that I am not teaching praise the Lord!), administering assessments, etc....Have I told you lately that I LOVE what I do?! I do, I really do but I don't always love all the details together!
So, this weekend I am going on the annual women's retreat with BVG up near Watsonville, Ca. The theme for the weekend is "Rest". How does that sound for a tired (physically and emotionally) girl? WONDERFUL! Can't wait to relax with friends and spend some undisturbed, focused, time with the Lord. It is going to be great I am positively sure!

Well, I just wanted to jump on here and say hello!
Hope that you have a blessed Thursday!

I'll post some pics of the kids soon...Staci you've got to see how BIG Kensley is getting!

I've Neglected my Blog!!!

Hello all,

I hope that you are all doing well. I've been so bad about updating my blog lately. Life has been so very busy and I've just not had the energy to get on here and post anything new. Lot's of life has been happening so it is not that there is nothing to post...just me being lazy I guess.

So, let me update you on what is going on here in sunny and somewhat warm California.

The almond trees are blossoming all over the place! Absolutely beautiful but doing a number on my allergies. School is winding down...I am anxiously awaiting my summer vacation! This will be the first one in 7 years so I need to sit down and plan some things for me to do....don't want to be sitting around the house being bored. As my mom would say when I was a kid "If you're bored, I will find something that you can clean up so that you are not bored anymore!". I think that there will be a few trips to the beach because it is my most favorite place to be! And am also thinking of taking my nephews Evan and Cole on AMTRAK to see the trains at the train museum in Sacramento. I absolutely LOVE that idea and am going to recruit a few friends in Modesto to join me so that we can have a fun girlfriend/little boys day!

My winter bible study has concluded. It was such an amazing study that I enjoyed working on so much. I learned so much about getting into the Word and having conversations with my Lord and Savior in a way that I've never done before. You can read about the study here.
I am excited to begin a new study. We are going to do another book/study by Priscilla Shrier called Discerning the Voice of God. I have loved my bible study group at BVG! I am developing new friendships that are so warming to my heart! The body of Christ is a beautiful place to be especially when it is functioning as He intended it to!

I have a few more IEP'S to complete for my students and am going to be observed one more time....pray for me to finish this school year strong.

I am also involved with a family/friend bible study and we are working on a Women of Faith bible study called Discovering God's Will for your Life. It has been such a sweet experience to dig into the Word with my family members, old friends, and new ones too!

God is so good to me! I am blessed in SO MANY WAYS!!!

Amgen Tour of California

Well hello there bloggy friends!

Today in my small hometown of Merced we welcomed the 7 time Tour De France winner and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong to ride along our streets.
The Amgen Tour of California is happening right now and today was stage 4 of the race. What an expereince to see this awesome group of cyclists ride through our little town! It was quite an amazing experience to see that many people on bikes going quite fast and their cars following rapidly behind them! It was pretty funny that Melissa (my cousin) and I had to find out from Robert (my other cousin and her brother) what Lance was wearing so that we could identify him. I am grateful that he checked it out for us and am really excited that I got to pick him out of the large group of cyclists (although he was going pretty fast so my pictures are not all that great!).
There was a nice turnout for the event and I suspect that there will be an even greater turn out in Clovis where they will run the 5th stage of the race!


Here are a few pics from the morning. Enjoy!!!


My aunt Olivia, Melissa, and Me.

There was lots of chalk grafitti....pretty cool stuff!

Here are the guys....Lance Armstrong is in the front.

They were going so fast that they kicked up dust everywhere!

Here we are on our corner...that's Allison, Tyler, Chris, Tia, and Melissa

The sign promoting the event and a nice picture of 18th street!

Two cyclists (I need to find out who they are) warming up for the race.

Sign welcoming us to the Amgen Tour...

Who would have thought that Merced would be called Bike City USA?!

Thank you Mr. President!

I am so happy that I live in the great US of A....because I get this whole week off! Aren't I lucky?!!
This is the week known as President's Week here in Ca. and instead of getting Lincoln's Bday and President's Day off (2 consecutive 3 day weekends) we instead get a whole week off of work!
I can't believe that the end of the school year is quickly approaching. After this week I only have to work 7 more weeks and then get the week off for Easter. Then after that I only have to work 6 weeks and then get the whole summer off. I usually work summer school but not this year! I decided at the beginning of the year to have a little extra taken out of my salary each month so that I could have the whole 10 weeks off! I am so excited especially since I just found out that summer school this year is starting 1 week later and goes 1 week longer...that gives those working only 2-3 weeks off before the beginning of the new school year. I just realized that I needed more of an extended break for my emotional health! It was a good call.
This has been one of the most demanding and stressful school years since I started teaching 4 years ago. I have learned so many lessons through it though about waiting on the Lord and about being patient in the struggles. Many lessons about my character too. Who am I when life is moving along smoothly and who am I when the flames of life tend to get a bit hot? God is good and He is always into my growth.
I am thankful for many things and one this week is getting to rest!

Thank you Staci!

Ok...just have to give a great "Thank You" to my girl Staci over at Staci's Heart for awarding me this, my first ever blog award!
Staci girl, I've loved reading your blog and getting to know you through this crazy computer addiction!
I am going to pass on this award to my faithful reader and commenter Katie over at katiegfromtennessee, because she has been a faithful reader and encouraging sister in the Lord. I am a little short on the friend list so for now Miss Katie is going to be my only recipient.

Ps...Happy Valentines Day Bloggy Friends!!!!

Having trouble pasting the image....working on it Katie!

Happy Sunday and My God's Delight Book

Hi all....

How was your Lord's Day? I had a fantastic day. I got up a little later than normal so was very thankful that I was able to sleep in. Then had a bit of a time deciding where to go to church. For those of you who don't know, I've been attending a church about 45miles away for the last year. I love the church but dislike the commute. There has been lots of thought and prayer surrounding my decision to attend and be a member of a church so far away but I trust the Lord and am waiting on Him to direct me in this adventure. So, this morning I was really tired and just was not in the mood to drive all that way....even considered having "church" at home with some worship music and bible reading but decided that I needed the corporate worship experience! I went to BVG and was so very blessed to be there! Rick is preaching a series on grace and this mornings topic was sustaining grace. He covered how God sustains us by His grace and offers us the same power that raised Jesus from the dead! How awesome is that!

It was a beautiful time spent in the Word, in worship, and in fellowship. THANK YOU LORD FOR HOW YOU CONTINUALLY BLESS ME!!!

Now on to the second topic of my post. I have recently been encouraged to put together a God's Delight book by my friend and bible study table leader, Robin. I've been struggling a bit with my attitude and outlook on my life. It has been rather depressing and I've not been all that fun to be around. I've been entertaining the "glass is half empty" viewpoint about my life. Over the last few months I've talked with many a girlfriend about the unfair things in my life (a bit of a pity party!) and they've all been so sweet in listening...but one in particular has helped me look at a way to change the landscape of my thoughts (thanks Robin!). She has been talking to me about putting together this little book called a God's Delight book in which I chronicle the ways that God brings me delight in picture and in word...it will help my disposition she says....I'd agreed all along that it sounded like a great thing to do but had not commited. Well, 2 Monday's ago I was staying with Robin after bible study and we talked about it again...it was too late for me to see an example of what a God's Delight book looks like so we agreed that the next time I was over I would take a look at one of her books. The following week I remembered and asked Robin if I could see one and when I saw it I KNEW that I needed to do this! I went ahead and bought the photo album from her right then and there and commited to beginning it the very next day.

I must say girls (and Matt...thanks for reading!) that doing this little task has began to change my life! I am looking at the world around me through different eyes....eyes of wonder at the world that God has created and with a heart of thankfulness that He has chosen to bless me in such a sweet and wonderful way! I still struggle with my attitude and disposition but it is changing....Praise God, I am changing! I don't need to be burdened by a spirit of opression and an attitude that says, "God you are not big enough to change me, you are not ENOUGH for me!"....this position is so wrong girls! So wrong! God wants us to live a life of freedom and we too regularly settle for slavery and don't embrace the power He gives us!

Ok...enough of my preaching! Just had to fill you in on that!

Here are a few pics that will be going into my God's Delight book......

So for this one...I took it at sunset and love the contrast of the dark colors of the trees with the warm tones of the sky....Isn't God amazing to create somethings so beautiful....As a matter of fact, I have a cute little story with this pic....I was at Michaels with Cole and he noticed the sky getting dark. He said "lights, lights" and pointed to the sky. I said "yes, it is getting dark". After we came out of the store it was pitch black and Cole said "no lights". I told him that God had turned off the lights for today and he was so cute and said "lights on!". I told him that they would come back on tomorrow morning! Isn't that cute?!

I took this one tonight outside my local starbucks (where I am updating this blog....) because the 3 trees made me think of the trinity.

The rest of these pics are of the kids this weekend....Cole had climbed up onto the counter to getto a bag of marshmallows. The underwear pic was me trying to get him interested in underwear and when I gave him a pair this is where he thought he put them...he was serious! I had to show him what to do with them! So cute!

Kensley with her feet...she really likes her feet right now! She is a precious baby that I just adore!