feeling full of faith

So yesterday I received the best news, the organization that I work for, that I love, believe in: The Good Foot Performing Arts Organization...woop woop, has just become a 501c(3) Non Profit Organization under Allied Arts! Maymay, my friend and one of the founders of The Good Foot told me Tuesday morning and I started to cry, I was so happy and thankful. This is something we have all been praying for and believing for and here we are. whew. It feels amazing. That's all.

being...

Being myself, no matter how strange, silly, creative, complex, or composed...is even sweeter when I can be who I am with amazing friends who accept me and love me as I am.

They don't make me feel out of place, they keep me grounded.

They don't stress me out, they make me laugh.

They dont think I'm crazy if I start dancing in public, they dance with me.

They don't get annoyed if I say something stupid, they make me feel secure and appreciated.

Thanks for being there and I love you...(those people who do that thing in my life!).

Awake and Alert.

"Grasp truth, not just a good feeling while you're at church, because truth will change your life." - Pastor Bruce Fidler.

You know how when you're feeling discouraged, confused, or just bland...and then you go to church and you hear something that just shakes you out of the sleepwalk that you've been in.
I know that God has awesome plans for me this year, but the past few weeks, I've felt as if I've been sleepwalking through my life. I am busy, and there's a lot I have to do, yet I feel more like I am a watching it all happen instead of really living it.
Tonight, Pastor Bruce spoke about aligning yourself with what God wants to do in your life. How we need to be awake and alert or you'll miss that season where God has something in store for you. He also spoke a lot about the idea of "sending" or "being sent".
John 20:21 - Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you"
Many dimensions of your spiritual growth never happens unless you reach out. Not as you sit, think, or stay, but as you "go".
Pastor Bruce shared a lot more, but in the end, he finished with asking all of us:
Just as Jesus was sent to a particular people...to whom have you been sent? Figure it out, Give yourself to it, and look at what God will do.
After tonight, I am left so encouraged, ready to align and reach out. Sleepwalking...pshaw! (as Abby would say).

Easter in March...Say Whaaat?!?

The resurrection was such an amazing event and my faith is continually strengthened every time I think about it...but this year Easter didn't feel the same. And here comes the whine:

This year Easter Sunday was March 23rd...yeah, me no likey.

I know sometimes Easter falls on March, but this year it really threw me off.
Way too early...is this date historically accurate? Can we stay on schedule, just a bit?
Living in Seattle again doesn't really help either. It's still so cold here! Had I participated in an Easter egg hunt, those eggs would have tasted a little sketchy. Getting used to Seattle weather is going to take longer than I thought.
I really had to push myself to focus on the "reason for the season". My froomie (friend + roommate) and I read all the versions of the resurrection in the Bible, then we watched the closest movie I owned that mentions Easter.
That movie was 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding'...it was the best I could do on such short notice.
My Sunday was pretty normal: prayer, laundry, lunch, cleaned up my room, got ready for church, attended church, left church, went to grocery store, came back home.

Now that Easter is over, I find myself still wanting to celebrate in April...why? Because it didn't feel like Easter!!
Maybe during the 2nd week of April I'll put on a bright colored dress, hide an egg, and watch 'Passion of the Christ'.

Vote! Easter in April 2009!!

Thanks for enduring my 1st superficial complaint of the year :) !

Amazing & Historic...'A More Perfect Union' by Barack Obama

Howard O. Jones and Liberia?

I had the amazing pleasure of listening to Howard Jones speak at a prayer meeting at the end of February. Along with being a great pastor and jazz musician, this man was the first African American to work on Billy Graham's team, starting in 1958. Among all the historical achievements, he is just adorable! It was cool watching him speak, he reminded me of my grandfather, so simple and honest with a great sense of humor.
I wrote down some things he said during our prayer meeting...

Memorable quotes by Howard O. Jones

"We need more of our people who know how to get into the fire without exploding."
"Martin [Luther King Jr.] never gave you an anwser right away, he always thought about it for a long time first"
"To speak well, you have to think well"
"The Holy Spirit reveals things"

Something he said directly to me after he signed my book:
"Go to Liberia, your life will be changed forever"

It was so cool to met this guy...

The Penelope Factor

Back in December, I read this book called, Penelope. It was on my flight back to Seattle after Christmas.

*This book was made into a movie, so if you are gonna go see it, don't read the rest of this entry*


In the story, this girl is cursed with the nose of a pig.
To break the curse she must find someone who loves her just as she is. So the whole time her family tries to hook her up with different guys. They are hoping these guys will fall in love with who Penelope is on the inside, before they see her face. Most of the guys freak out when they see this girl with the nose of a pig. Some even goes as far as calling her a "monster."

To skip way ahead, in the end, she learned to love herself just as she was. And because of that, SHE was the one who ultimately broke the curse.
Not some dude...she did it herself.
Oh snap!
Anyway...I love that book.
I am in that place myself right now...Not the nose part, but the self-love part.
God is slowly helping me to see myself as He sees me. I am learning to love who I am: my qualities, my heart, my appearance...every aspect and inch of how I was created. Even to admit that, has been a long, long process, but there is so much freedom in it.