if you have time this weekend, i would recommend you listen to louie giglio's sermon titled "fully alive" from the passion city church. click here 

i actually wanted to post about it and share my thoughts...which i may...but as i tried to convey the words, i couldn't quite find the right ones. so go listen and watch this sermon.

i am thankful for the ways it has challenged and stirred me this week. my hope is that it will do the same for you...

may you be different because of it.

thanksgiving week

dad's health.

i can't believe it's been a year since my dad's emergency trip to the hospital on thanksgiving. all of us don't really remember last year because it was a blurr with being in the hospital most of the time and entertaining the 7 little kiddos. what a crazy time it was, but we are all thankful and are counting our blessings as my dad is still with us for another thanksgiving!

my health.

it was a small group this year, but yet still full of fellowship, food, and football. however, i was the one who was sick this year. i came down with a case of shingles that tuesday before turkey day. i had not idea what it actually was because i was unfamiliar with the disease and the symptoms. i had the most irritating itching on my scalp. a rash that appeared on the right side of my forehead. fever. and severe headaches. it was downright awful. it wasn't until thursday when i finally self-diagnosed myself. because at that point all the symptoms were still present, plus the rash was slowly migrating into my right eye. it felt like needles were pricking me. again, not the best feeling in the world. at this point, i was taking any medicine i could to relieve some pain.

friday morning we called my brother-in-law who is a doctor and he confirmed that i have shingles. later that day i picked up my prescription and started feeling better 24hrs later. i am so thankful for those in the medical field and their wisdom in knowing about diseases such as shingles.

i feel almost 100% back to normal. i am working on getting rest and not being stressed. apparently, that is the cause of shingles. well add that to a vulnerable immune system and you have shingles.

thank you to those who i have had talks with this past week. it is truly encouraging to my spirit. love you all!

the game i love

with club volleyball season around the corner. i can't wait to see all what is to come. it's amazing to me the community of people that surround a court, watching a white ball being volleyed back and forth between two different teams. it's a game of strategy. of desire. of passion. of discipline. of sacrifice. of respect. of determination. it's a game i love to watch and coach. and one of my best friends says it just right...

"i want them to want to compete each time they step between the lines. not for me. not even for their teammates. for themselves. to prove they can do it. to instill confidence in themselves as athletes and young women. that's why i coach. volleyball is just a blip on the radar of life. but the character you develop on the roller coaster ride this sport takes you on, is irreplaceable....so, here's to another great season. and by great, i mean frustrating, yet so rewarding. here's to making a difference in the character development of 15 year old girls through the shared love of a little white ball...Game on."


let the training. practice. and competition begin...

disturbed.

my heart aches. my spirit is stirred. my soul cries out. i wish i could fix the horrific situations around the world. it brings tears to my eyes when i read or hear about people sufferring. whether it's from poverty. from disease. from starvation. from child trafficking. from natural disasters. from wild spreading water-borne sickness. i am moved and disturbed to my core.

wednesday night at church we had a guest speaker. he began the night by saying, "i want you to be disturbed to your very core about the injustice around the world. we should be so messed up about it that it forces us to do something." he was adding on to what he discussed last week. we were studying the scripture in Luke 9:23-24. it's a piece of God's Word that is heavy. it's hard to wrap your mind around what Jesus is truly calling us to do. i spoke with him afterwards and he said "i wanted to bring this scripture close enough to us all that it rubbed us like sandpaper". and it did.

he spoke about the horrible and heartbreaking situation in Haiti right now. i knew about the cholera but i didn't know the chaos the country was in. the people are in such need for medical supplies. food. shelter. clean water. but its become a survival of the fittest. there are riots happening. buildings being burned that are full of supplies. and on top of that, they are suspending international help because of the rioting. my heart broke. and all i could say or feel was "God help them!"

found this verse and thought it was appropriate for the situation in Haiti...

"He brought them out of the darkness and the 

deepest gloom and broke away their chains." 

Ps. 107:14

here is article i found on the top 10 poorest countries in the world. interestingly enough, 9 out 10 countries are in africa. click the link below to read more...

http://www.financialjesus.com/interesting-economics/top-10-poorest-countries-in-the-world-2010/