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!

Single or Married... Something to Think About

I don’t know about you, but lately I have had a large number of friends or family members, either in the process of preparing their summer wedding, engaged, or beginning a new fruitful and promising relationship. While I’m trying not to become bitter or jealous. Struggling with the fact that I don’t even have someone to talk to that might eventually lead to some of those things.

My sister married at eighteen, and has been married for almost five years now. My best friend married at eighteen when I was home for Christmas break. After Christmas break at least seven couples I know, if not more, are now currently engaged. It would be really easy for me to be jealous, or sad, about feeling lonely every now and then. However, when I start to think a little more about all the couples, God softens my heart. I’m glad God has given them someone to love, and that they are getting ready for this big step in their lives.

I would then proceed to pray about my future spouse. “God please send me someone who loves You more than me, a man after Your own heart, and someone who desires to do Your will." There is nothing wrong with praying for your future spouse. I think it’s a great thing to do and I encourage it. However, at one point not only was I praying about my husband’s characteristics, but I was more concerned with his other “qualitites.” Things like, how tall he is, or the color of his hair. I back myself up with the Word, God says he knows the desires of my heart (Psalm 37:4), and that He cares about the little things in my life (Matthew 7:9-11).

That being said, I was watching a movie with one of my favorite actors in it…

Ryan Gosling

I think he’s a very attractive man and I love the movies I’ve seen him in.

As I was watching, Crazy Stupid Love, Ryan Gosling was playing the romantic yet masculine role. Then I started to really wish I had a man like that in my life. A masculine, romantic, good-looking, funny guy. Then I said to myself, “God, would You send me someone like that?” Again, I know God knows the desires of my heart, and that He cares. So why not pray about it while I can? As far as I know I haven’t met “Mr. Right” yet.

So I pray for a good looking guy. Why not?

Then I was watching, Captain America, and Chris Evans had just gone from short and scrawny, to extremely handsome and muscular.

“God, you know, you could just send me Captain America. That would be okay too.”

At this point I’ve prayed for a God to send me someone who’s good looking, romantic, masculine, funny, or just your regular super hero. You’d think the list might stop there, but it doesn't. Because that would be amazing enough. Right?

But God made me special. And by special, I mean idealistic. A big word for, "I wish my life was like the movies, and that nothing would ever go wrong." Also I’m a girl so there’s not much more to explain.

Nevertheless, I love watching movies. It’s a big hobby in my family.

Not long after that, I was watching, Safe Haven, with Josh Duhamel.

He plays a really sweet guy, that’s just completely taken back by Julianne Hough's character. As soon as he see’s her, she immediately intrigues him. He wants to know more about her. Then he wants to be around her all the time.

 You get the idea.

I went from praying about my husband’s  important qualities of loving God and being a man after God’s own heart, to only praying that God would send me a fictional character that I watch in movies. But not just once… All the time. Every movie I saw I began to wish so badly it was my life, that my heart ached with pain. This continued for a while and my idealistic mindset grew more idealistic. (If that’s even possible)

Then a few weeks ago I was sitting in team meeting. We had a guest, Mark Bearden, who was telling us about prayer. In the middle of Mark’s message, I remembered a conversation I had with a friend of mine back home. I was struggling with something entirely different about friends and school and she said to me,

“Marina, life isn’t a movie!”

Life, isn’t a movie, and I can’t keep waiting for mine to turn out like one.

I can watch all the movies in the world, with the most romantic men in it. But in reality they’re just acting. Only God is perfect, and only God can possess all I need. My time with my husband is going to be so short compared to how much time I’ll spend with Jesus in heaven.

So essentially, I can have what I’ve prayed for. Someone to love me, and be perfect at all those things all the time. And that person is God.

 I wish and pray for perfection in a human, but God is the only one with constant never ending perfection.