Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Some photos from the Rebelution Conference in Dallas


The Rebelution Conference was amazing! I had the opportunity to be the Registration Captain for the Dallas Conference! God's presence, favor and constant supply of His supernatural strength made each of us smile and so grateful! We serve an awesome God! Mr. Harris, Brett and Alex did an outstanding job in all of their sessions! Their passion, love, dedication and genuine faithfulness to the Lord truly radiates! Joel's heart of worship shines as he lift's his eyes and his voice to his Maker. They are men who are real about their faith! If you haven't gone to any of the Rebelution Conferences then I highly recommend each of you to get on board next year! It's time for our generation to start falling desperately in love with our Lord and living lives of faith, obedience and risk...especially when it comes to doing hard things for God.

Monday, July 23, 2007

The Heart of The Warrior's Bride

The Lord is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise him—my father’s God, and I will exalt him! The Lord is my warrior; Yahweh is his name! Exodus 15:2-3 (Personalized)


I was curled up in a small corner of the couch snacking on chicken strips and ranch. I was watching one of my all-time favorite movies, The Last Samurai. I sat alone in a quiet room; everything seemed to be holding it's breath as the ending scenes flashed before my eyes. The thick harsh drum beats resounded off the walls and bounced in every direction. I began to cry, tears were streaming down my face...my heart was aching. I wanted Katsumoto to live! He was Samurai! He was a brave warrior! A man known for his honor! His life had left a major impact on the heart of Nathan Algren, an American soldier sent to Japan to train an infantry of Japanese soldiers to fight against the Samurai. Nathan had no idea that he would soon become one of them. At the very end, the Emperor asks Nathan to tell him how Katsumoto died and Nathan in turn replies, "No, your Majesty, I will tell you how he lived." I began to weep...I broke. My mom walked into our living room and sat down beside me and asked me why I was crying. The tears started flowing again as I tried to explain... I guess you could say the movie impacted me in a way that it hadn't before. What was it about a warrior's brave death? What made a life of loyalty and honor so touching?

Well, as I ponder, I am reminded of the Lord's gruesome death. He was an innocent lamb led to the slaughter. He was mocked. Abused. Tortured. Rejected. Friends, he did it for us. We were in His thoughts. Tom Malone states, "When Christ died on the cross of Calvary, He died with you and me in mind." We were on His heart. We were the reason. Our one true Warrior laid down His life for His Bride. It was all for us. He was the greatest example of a life of honor. We all are going to leave some type of legacy or impact on our world whether we like it or not… every word, every look, every motive…our lives are songs, their melodies. What is your life singing loudly to those around you?

The Lord left a legacy of love. Katsumoto left a legacy of honor. What about us? What will we do with what we have received from the Lord? Leo Buscaglia states, “Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” Let’s follow our Warrior’s footprints…let’s choose to live and leave a legacy of love. Let’s live purposeful lives. Lives that bring honor and glory to our Maker!

~Stephanie



Friday, July 20, 2007

God's dreamers are always unpractical, but in the end...their dreams come true. -Amy Carmichael

Recently, I started reading this amazing book by Eric and Leslie Ludy titled, When God Writes Your Life Story. It is soooooo good! I highly recommend reading it! Here are a few quotes taken from the book that left me in awe!

What happened to our little-kid passion for achieving the impossible? When did we stop shooting for impossible goals and start aiming for realistic targets instead? As little kids, we dream of a bigger-than-life existence. But eventually we grow up. We lose our "oomph" to keep aiming high. We settle for everyday mediocrity. We stop trying to be heroic and finally accept being average.

When our little kid passion for the impossible dies, everything worth living for slowly suffocates as well. We give up our hopes of finding a sense of victorious fulfillment and purpose in each day; of making a dynamic difference in this world; of discovering a love that lasts a lifetime; or of enjoying enduring friendships. And most of us give up hope of ever being on intimate terms with God. We scoff at the idea of experiencing a passionate love affair with the King of the Universe that transforms our existence.

But what is a movie without a conflict? Where's the drama without a mountain of impossibility to climb? The very thing that makes for an exciting story is the same thing that makes for a wonderful and amazing life: overcoming the impossible. For life to be fully lived, it must wrestle the impossible and win. For life to be fully lived, the God of the Impossible must be fully trusted with the writing of the script.

Wow! Isn't that wonderful?!!! I definitely want the Lord writing my life story! He is truly the expert! Let's let Him be the author of our lives! Let's submit our lives to Him!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Breathe On Me Breath Of God

This morning, I was listening to this song that Sandy Patti sings called, Breathe On Me. I was so moved by the words. I long and desire for the Lord's breath just to blow over me like violent winds during a thunderstorm. I want God just to overwhelm me with His presence and breath. I want to hear from Him! I want be so close to Him that my heart beats in rhythm with His.


Breathe On Me
By Sandy Patti

Breathe on me breath of God
Bring my life close to your spirit
Beat in me heart of God
My soul's in prayer to be near it
Focus my eyes
To only see what's you
And breathe on me
Breathe on me breath of God

Breathe on my breathe of God
I am a vessel to be filled
Comfort me peace of God
Lord, I am restless for your will
Silence my fears
So that I may hear from you
And breathe on me
Breathe on me breath of God

Surround me in your glory
Make your presence known
Set the path of grace before me
Let your breath become my own

Breathe on breath of God
Cover my sin with your mercy
Speak to me word of God
Give me a light for my journey
Show me your way
And draw me close to you
And breathe on me
Breathe on me
Breathe on me breath of God

Saturday, July 14, 2007

"And so I am joyful all the day...."

"It is very pleasant to live here in our beautiful world. My eyes cannot see the beautiful things, but my mind can see them all, and so I am joyful all the day."
~So said blind and deaf Helen Keller

Fix your eyes on Jesus.

Wow! When my mom read that quote during one of our morning devotions together, I was left speechless. How could this women be so joyful?! What was there to be so joyful about when one couldn't see or hear? I can't imagine not ever being able to see the majestic snow covered mountain tops, or see all the sunrises and sunsets that our Creator paints for each of us to enjoy, or see a cool and refreshing waterfall or see the crisp fall leaves of red, orange and yellow. I can't imagine not ever being able to hear someone say, "I love you," or hear the birds when the sun breaks forth from the sleeping expanse, or hear the crunching of snow beneath my feet, I can't imagine not hearing the beautiful melodies of music. I was amazed! And I was upset to see how easily I could become selfish with the cares and distractions of my everyday life. We are all so blessed! And Helen Keller said she was so blessed...because her hope and joy was not found in her present circumstances or in her condition. She made it a point to find things that she was thankful for. Wow! Let's continue to strive to place our hope in the Lord! For it's only in Him that we will ever truly experience a joy that will transform the very corners of our lives forever!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Hear From Heaven

I just started reading this wonderful book! It is so good! Here is what the back of the book states,

"If you desire to be used by the Lord, you need to grow sensitive to His voice.
God looks for those who surrender to Him, who will not be ashamed of Him, who will speak what they have heard. God's presence follows His believers. Sitting at the office, typing at the computer, resting on a mattress, or driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic-He is there.

But in the pace of hectic lives, how can we hear his voice? In an increasingly divergent global culture, thousands of distractions surround us every day. To be in tune with God, we need to remove the hindrances, put on "spiritual hearing aids" and get intimate with Him.

Dale Carver believes people can hear from God today. He insists that the "thumb-twiddling" Christian life must stop-so a life of obedience, fulfillment, and reward can begin.

Hear From Heaven and Change Your World is a handbook on how to hear God in the midst of daily life. It will open new doors of opportunity in your relationship with Christ."

It is definitely a must read!!! :)

Blessings,
Steph

Monday, July 9, 2007

Update From Stephanie


Hello All! :) Sorry it's been so long since I last posted! A lot has happened!

First of all, I was in a film recently, it is actually for the San Antonio Christian Film Festival. The movie I was in is called, Call of Courage. Here is the description:
"The Call of Courage is a gripping story of two young men fighting in the Civil War. Eddie Lee is a twelve-year old drummer boy who is befriended by James McClay – an officer in the Union army. As the days pass, they become as close as brothers. As the army begins its march to Wilson’s Creek, both Eddie and James are faced with decisions that will require all the courage they can muster. As things get tougher, the Battle of Wilson’s Creek erupts – throwing the two into the most intense moments of their lives."
I was actually the mother of the little drummer boy! It was so neat being around so many cameras, seeing all the sound equipment stuff and hanging out with such wonderful godly friends! It was such a blessing to be apart of this amazing project!

2. I'm in a play, Little Women! Our last performance is tonight and this will be our fifth performance! It was a long haul...we met three times a week and each practice was two hours long! I think we started somewhere around May 8...overall I had so much fun! I played the older Jo narrating my whole entire life story! I got to share about the March family and what each member of my family meant to me, my adventures with Laurie, how Beth's death affected me and my friendship and then marriage of Friedrich. It has been such a wonderful experience!

3. Lately, I've been walking through a desert you could say. I've been living in a rut. Spiritually dehydrated. I confess to you that I have been worrying about other things and have not been giving the Lord my desires, dreams and passions. Last night, I was at a worship/prayer gathering and the Lord truly met me where I was. A friend of mine gave a word to the group of people that were there and he shared with us that God has been really working on his heart and he told us that while he was reading the Psalms, yesterday morning, God spoke to heart and told him that he needed to stop trying to attain his dreams and desires in his own strength...but to truly stop and start running after the one who can truly give him the desires of his heart. To seek the Lord FIRST above anything or anyone! Those words went straight to my heart and I began to cry and just worship the Lord! It felt amazing! It has been so long since I have truly worshiped the Lord in that way. Utter abandonment! I'm so hungry for God! I want so much to be a tree rooted and grounded in Christ that when storms and times of testing come...I will use those situations to allow my roots to grow deep. Jesus is so amazing! God is pulling me out of my rut! I am so grateful!

Blessings,
Stephanie

I will be better about my posting!!! :)