Stuart, Florida

Happy Heart City at Stuart Beach!

Stuart Florida has been sunny and warm.

But I'm so excited for that North Carolina fall weather! 

Don't get me wrong it's been great here. I've been to the beach a couple times and it was nice to get my feet wet. But this girl is ready to pull out her new sweaters, long sleeves, boots, long socks, scarves and all the goodness the comes with fall weather. Let's not forget coffee either. Lots and lots of coffee! 

We finished our third Sunday service Sunday night and wow, we are all amazed how its over already. But I'm not gonna lie, considering the first whole week I was here I spent laying in bed... I was ready to go a little sooner than normal. I was also really bummed out that I didn't even get to meet all the kids that came to Happy Heart City this summit. Still I have to rely on God's good and perfect will, knowing He knew I wouldn't meet them all, or teach all of my lessons, and so on. 

Sunday morning on my way into the church my roommie and I stopped at Starubucks for some coffee. I ordered my tall caramel machiatto like normal and when we arrived at the church my leader was still fighting a strong cold. She was supposed to be teaching that morning. However, I insisted she give me one of her lessons to teach that day because she also was supposed to teach that night. When you don't feel good you really don't want to do anything, and the idea of teaching all three lessons that day... well, you get it. 

So she asked me if I would teach that mornings lesson and as soon as we were done planning my co teachers and I ran to Starbucks as soon as we could. As you can guess knowing I had to teach and being as tired as I still was after my first cup... I ordered myself another tall drink and had downed it pretty fast. Believe it or not four shots of expresso in less than one hour did not work as fast as I thought it would. After a lot of prayer for the morning it was my turn to teach the lesson. I just want to give God praise for all of His help that morning. He was so gracious to keep the kids attention and to help me find the right words to say. Praying that all fifteen plus lessons we taught in the past two weeks will have made long lasting impacts on the kids as well as their parents.

Sometimes the hardest part about being in ministry is that you don't always see what God is doing in someones life. Or even sometimes the whole church. We may hear a story or two but God doesn't do the same thing in every place we minister too. There were a lot of people who said that  Life Action being in the church the past three weeks has been a blessing. That's pretty much all I've heard but I still praise God for it all. 

Bright and early on Thursday morning we will be all packed up and ready to go to Charleston, South Carolina for the night. Then the next day we will finally arrive in North Carolina.

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter to hear more about road life and whatever else I decide to post! 

From Missouri, to Florida!

After three long travel days, we arrived in Stuart, Florida! It is very beautiful here, and the church is right next to the ocean. How cool is that? There's also a Starbucks only five minutes from the church. Oh, how I've missed Pumpkin Spice Lattes.The Blue Team has some serious addictions to coffee but we especially love Starbucks. A lot of the team has gold cards and I'm working on getting one as well. So far I only have one star... but I hope to get a gold card by the end of the travel year.

The church here in Stuart, also has a private school that uses the same buildings. So they've asked us to run some of their chapels. During one of the mornings fifteen youth realized they didn't know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. One of the girls said she prayed a prayer when she was little. So our youth minister asked then why are you saying you need Jesus to save you. She replied, "All my life I've known about God, but I don't know God" That along with a couple of other stories there have been some miraculous changes!

If you haven't heard, I've been very sick for the past two weeks. I've seen a doctor and even the emergency room! That was an adventure. However, today I am feeling much better and the prayers of many have meant a lot! I hope to be able to go back to services and teach again soon!

Through two weeks of not feeling good at all and just laying in a bed, I keep asking myself,
"God, what are you trying to teach me?"

Well, today I believe I got my answer.

God has been convicting me of the words that come out of my mouth. Specifically in the area of complaining.

"Do all things without grumbling and faultfinding and complaining..."
Philippians 2:14 (AMP)

As you can guess, I'm very sick of being sick. I would like to be healthy enough to do everything again and eat what I want. That being said a lot of what comes out of my mouth are things to just complain about. Or even if I don't say them I'm thinking them. Every time I start to make a big deal of something God whispers in my ear, "Do all things without grumbling... and complaining..."

It's not easy and nobody's perfect. Yet, I definitely see my problem and I need Jesus to help me to be more grateful.

What are you grateful for today?

"Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus"
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)

The Nets That Hold Me Down...

Last night I was reading in Psalms chapter twenty-five and as I read I realized something about myself. A lot of scripture has promises for certain types of people. For example, "He leads the humble in what is right..." or "Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity and in whose spirit there is no deceit"

Usually whenever I read a verse like that I subconsciously think, "Well, I'm not humble enough yet to apply that to my life" or "One day when I'm finally righteous enough I'll receive that blessing" 

All those thoughts are entirely huge lies. Satan's convinced me that I'm not good enough to receive blessings from God's Word.

As I continued to read I came across verse fifteen. 

"My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net." 

That last part about God plucking me out of the net just stuck in my head so well, a light had come on for me.

I asked myself, "What are the nets in my life, that I need God to pluck me out of?"

So I wrote them down. 

1. The net of: Image

This is a huge battle for me as it is for a lot of people. Satan easily tempts me with the thoughts of, "you don't look bad but you definitely have some fat that you could get rid of. I mean look at her she looks good, you should probably try harder." thoughts like that, where I don't fully believe I look bad but thoughts that certainly don't make me feel great about myself.

Then i wrote down

2. The net of: minimum

I'm captured by the net of minimization. 

Minimizing what God is capable of as well as minimizing how much time I spend daily with God. 

and lastly I came to the third net in my life that often holds me down.

3. The net of: I'm not good enough. 

I can't accomplish any far fetched dream because I'm not good enough. Someone is always going to be better than me so I might as well give up. 

or

I'm not good enough for God's promises and will never be good enough of a person to receive those blessings. 

After I wrote down all those nets that have held me back for so long I went through Psalms twenty-five again. I read it out loud, and spoke all the truths, blessings, and promises over my life. What a huge difference it has made in my life. Knowing that I can apply ALL scripture to myself and believe what it says. 

So I challenge you, give it a try. Look up a passage, read it out loud, and put your name in the verses. You might be surprised by what comes out of your mouth and think, "Wow, that's true of me?" Then write down the nets that Satan has thrown at you. What are the nets he deceives you with and have been holding you down? Let me know how it goes! 

Staff Training, Changes, and Celebrations!

First and foremost I would like to acknowledge the one year anniversary of

The Not-So-Secret-Life

Its officially been a year of sharing stories of my travels, where God has taken me personally in my walk with Him as well as seeing others lives changed! The date the not-so-secret-life blog launched was on July 27th, 2012. I was preparing for my first year in Life Action and wanted a way I could connect with my supporters, friends, and family while I was gone. Thank you all so much for your support through prayers, donations, and encouragement! Anytime I'm back home and someone tells me they read my blog it means so much to hear. Knowing people are taking the time to read it as well as informing me that they enjoy it, has been incredible. So thank you readers, here comes another year!

While we were at camp several team members realized they were baptized before they were even actual children of God or some not at all. So it was a very cool experience to see so many people proclaim their love for Jesus in a great way together. 

This is my friend Kendra. She is my fearless leader in Happy Heart City! 

Had a great time catching up with my good friend Donna!

Blue Team girls movie night!

Blue Team newbie, Christy. 

My friend Ryan (on the White Team) and I pretending to be bad helpers as an example of what NOT to do in kids clubs. So much fun!

My B E A UTIFUL new closet on our new truck! I have one less suitcase this year thanks to my closet! 

A view of Life Action's Camp property.

As you can see training camp was a blast and "short" five weeks in Buchanan, Michigan. When I arrived at the camp I literally felt like I was home! The relationships God has given me in this ministry are incredible. Choosing to obey God by joining this ministry has never been so rewarding. During the first week of training we had our annual, “Revival Week” now known as, “Seek Week”. As we train to bring revival into the churches, Seek Week is a great time for us to experience personal revival. This year God brought to my attention how my personal quiet time had been gradually declining in intimacy. Slowly it had grown into just a few minutes before I went to bed. I would read a verse or two, sometimes without even knowing what they meant. Sometimes I would not even crack open my bible, because I knew I wouldn't take the time to understand it.

At the end of Seek Week, where everyone from Life Action headquarters is present, all three road teams etc. a lot of other important people and a full room with a live stream on the internet for other people to watch the service... They set aside a time at the end for testimonies of what God has done in your life during the past week. After watching several people go up to the stage and share what God had done in them...God was continually poking my heart, and making it beat so fast I couldn't ignore Him. He wanted me to get up in front of everyone and tell them all how I had been investing little to no time in the God at all. To the point of not even caring enough to want to change my current circumstance. BUT He is good and won't let me live like that forever. So, after getting continually poked... literally my friend was physically poking me to get out of my seat and get up to the stage. Well it worked and I confessed that I was where I was and didn't care until a few days prior.

That being said, I'm very grateful for God pulling me out of my lazy stage of life, that's so easy to get stuck in. I'm happy to say, my personal time with Jesus has grown since then. And if you are where I was, God wants to spend time with you. He's more sad that you aren't spending time with Him than He is mad. God is a jealous God, that made you fearfully and wonderfully. I will admit that after I got in front of everyone I still struggled for awhile and still am trying to get back into a healthy habit. If you think of it, I would appreciate your prayers as I ask God to give me a heavy thirst for His Word, and that when I read it He will speak to me. 

Tonight I'm praising God for a great service. We are in our first church of the year in Dexter, Missouri and tonight I taught the kids what sin is. Sin is anything I think, I say, or I do, that displeases God. I give God the praise for making the words come out of my mouth with clarity in a way that I could not have done on my own. I'm very grateful anytime He gives me grace for a lesson... which is most of the time. I also praise Him for giving me the feeling of inadequacy to teach. It keeps my eyes on Jesus and reminds me that not only can I not teach on my own and that I need Him for everything.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Philippians 4:13

FCC Staff 2013

Hello Readers,

I hope you all had a blessed Father's Day!
I am still in the Atlanta area and will be here till Saturday! Then it's off to California, Mexico for family vacation, California again, and home to pack for another year in Life Action. Weph!
The campers have been so much fun to coach I just wish I had more time with them. I do love seeing them improve in cheerleading but I mainly wish I could have more time to talk with them about Jesus. However, I know that speaking truth, makes a difference. Especially compared to saying nothing at all.
"So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it"
Isaiah 55:11

These are just some pictures from the past three weeks

Saying goodbye to my family...

And hello to my missed tiger family!

FCC East Coast Staff 2013

Staff picture after church one Sunday morning!

As you can see my new Duck Dynasty shirt is my favorite.

After Work Week we our boss bought us all tickets to the Braves game! So much fun!

I helped finish this painting of a sheet sign that we are using for camps this summer

My first FBI group of the Summer!

We stopped in Athens one night while we where passing through and grabbed a picture with this guy, as well as some Raising Caines, yumm!

My friend Aimee and I hung out in Atlantic Station over the weekend...

We also went on an adventure through the woods to a river. 

And on Sundays for church, we've been able to attend Passion City Church a few times!
They've been going through a series called, "That We May" from the passage in 1 Peter 2:9-10

Every time I go it's so incredibly refreshing! A couple Sundays ago when we were there Matt Redman was leading worship. He had just recorded his new album the night before, so we had the privilege of hearing some of his new songs. Then yesterday morning for Father's Day, Kristian Stanfill led worship, very cool experience!

Sometimes people think that since I travel all the time I don't get homesick... But I actually get homesick a lot. I'm very close with my family and knowing that my little brother is getting older without me there makes me really sad sometimes. Especially on holidays like yesterday...
 The only way I can overcome it is by relying on God. I pray constantly when I'm missing my family or even just my own room. Traveling can take a toll on you. If God wasn't watching over me, I probably would have been sick so many more times and just quit long ago. What keeps me going is knowing I'm doing the will of my Father and I'm right where He wants me. As well as all of your support! I'm very grateful for all of you who read my blog, and pray for me. Your support has also made a huge difference and for that I'm very grateful.

This week my camp is at FCC's office, and we're having some very unique themed days, so follow me on Instagram and Twitter to see all the fun!

And lastly I applied for a scholarship of $500 for Life Action
So I will find out later if I get that and if I do then I need to raise $3,000 for the training fee.
If you would like to help me finish raising what I need for that you can go here and click on my name!
Thank you all so much!

Round Two...

As many of you know, I'm currently on my way to Atlanta. Which means I have officially finished my first year in Life Action, and FCC. Now I'm getting ready to do both ministries all over again! 

Atlanta is where I started after graduation last year. I can't wait to get back to see all my FCC Tigers! This is going to be a great summer filled with awesome things God has in store for all our camps!

If you're not sure of what I'm talking about I'm heavily involved in two ministries. 

The first ministry I just finished with is called Life Action. I serve as a teacher for four year olds through first grade teaching them biblical principals and truth from God's Word during a period of up to two weeks per church. We travel for nine months around the United States (and sometimes Canada) to different churches seeking revival. 

Thank you so much everyone who has supported me with your prayers and generous donations that have literally kept me going this past year. As a missionary in the US I am required to raise support so that I can continue doing what I know God has called me to. This year, headquarters for Life Action has announced that we need to raise, $3,500 for training camp (three weeks in Michigan) and then anything else we will need to pay for on the road during the nine months that we stay in the homes and in churches we minister to (I.E. shampoo, toothpaste, makeup, etc.).

If you would like to support me you can go to, Life Action's website here and click on my name in the staff member section. 

My parent's asked me how would I sum up my first year in Life Action. I told them it was humbling. God broke down the pride that was in my life. Not only in my daily life but the pride I had in very important relationships and God sewed them back together through forgiveness like I've never seen before. I'm humbled and grateful for all my experiences. There is no place I would have rather been this past year, and nowhere else I want to be next year, than doing what God has called me to do. To serve, and to teach children. 

In the other ministry Fellowship of Christian Cheerleaders I work the summers as a staff instructor. We hold Christian cheerleading camps for teams to come learn clean and professional material for the sport they love. As well as being able to freely express they're love for Jesus, and worship together every night after a long day of camp. Often times as an instructor you will counsel many teams, and it's amazing to see what God does through these campers in just a matter of days. I can't wait to see all the campers, some old and some new. Please join me in prayer as I prepare for the summer, that God will be with me, my co-workers, the campers and coaches as well! 

Round two here I come!