Blog hop--"Encouragement: ~ Mess to Message

"Don't let your past define you! Let your "mess" become your "message"!" ~Blake Bergstrom
Our pastor, Blake Bergstrom, shared part of his testimony with the congregation recently, in total transparency, honesty, and humility (you can listen here). He was reminding us that our God is a God of redemption...that NOTHING is too big for Him to forgive and redeem! He is in the business of redemption, praise the Lord! Oh, if only we could be as redemptive in our spirits as He is!

Olivet Pong Shots

Pretty cool!

Sermon malfunction

My poor pastor! Funny but kinda sad!

Iraq A Soldier's Story of Faith posted by Bluefish TV bluefishtv tangle com

Love this Iraqi soldier's testimony

Make Me Over

My favorite singer at CPCC

URGENT CALL TO PRAYER!!!

Today my heart is heavy with burden for this dear lady I have met through blog land. She is very ill, as is her daughter, who has been through the ringer. I honestly do not see how in the world they all keep going, except for the grace and mercy of our Lord. I'm asking you, right now, to pause and please pray for Danielle in this fight with cancer, with Arwen, her daughter who has many physiological and challenging problems, for her husband Rick, who is her rock, and for their sweet son. In spite of all she is going through, she is asking us to pray for baby Stellan, whom I've asked you to pray for before. Please go here to read his story! I BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF PRAYER! God is GOOD...ALL THE TIME! His ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are, as well. It is difficult, at best, in times like these to understand the mind of Christ. And so I ask you to please, please pray, pray..........
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Needing some extra prayers please............................................ It is time for me to get honest with you and myself, I feel terrible. Don't know if I've ever felt like this. Wednesday morning I woke up with the good ole liver glow.......yellowish/green and it has gotten worse as the weekend approched. This morning when I got up sebastian told me that i looked scary and very yellow. I haven't kept anything down since Friday night. I've had a headache on the same side for over 8weeks now. It is constant, waxes and wanes from dull ache to throbbing to stabbing and make me more nauseous than usual. Nothing sounds good. I did get some Wheat/Yogurt bread from the farmer's market and that seems to taste the best. My belly pain has increased and the places where i received radiation are 'burning' more than normal. It is hard to explain the sensation, but needless to say, I wish I never had the radition, I just traded it for a differnt pain. The itching has increased as the coloring gets worse for obvious reasons, blockage. I've been battling with mouth sores for a few weeks now. I'm use to canker sores but these sores are so painful and all over my mouth. I've gotten a mouth wash that is for cancer patients and it has helped and am making sure to keep my mouth clean. I barely have enough energy to take care of the kids. Rick came home from work this morning and said he has never seen anyone so yellow and look so bad. I admit this all has me down and not sure what the end result will be. I've got so much anxiety due to not being able to sleep and the pain and worrying about will come next, and yes I'm grouchy because of it (and I'm being nice when I say grouchy) I would appreciate some extra prayers and thoughts. Also while you are praying, please pray for baby Stellan. He is a sweet little boy who has been struggling with SVT (super ventricular tachycardia) since he was in his mama's belly. He is now 8 or 9 mths old and has been in SVT for over 3 days now. He is currently being airlifted to a specialty hospital in Boston. I believe Stellan and his family live in Minnesota. His temp has dropped down to 94.7, bp is dangerously low, his kidneys are failing, fluid build up, acidosis, and none of the medication cocktails are working, he had an ablation 2 months ago and that is not an option this time. So please keep this little boy in your prayers as well. We all know God has a plan for all of us, He is the great physician and assists the doctors on earth on how to treat their patients. Sometimes when we are going through the rough spurts of pain and suffering we forget this. I'm off to call the hospice nurse and let them know what is going on and see if I can get some fluids. I don't want to go to the hospital. Thank you to all of you for your prayers, thoughts, and support. Love to all~Danielle *************************************************************************************

"Once upon a time....The end"

I'm back...with so much to share, so many thoughts to process, so full of the joy and love of the Lord...here's my thoughts for today!
“Once upon a time…” “In the beginning…”…all stories have a beginning…”The End”…most stories have an ending…the ‘in between portion” encompasses the clues, character roles, descriptive words/phrases and images that draw the reader into the plot and whet the imaginative appetite. Beginnings are mysterious and set the tone for the rest of the story. Endings are at times predictable; other times the reader is left hanging in the abyss of suspense until the final words are read.

Christians know the beginning of God’s story (Genesis) and most know how His story ends (Revelation). We have heard, and can usually repeat with a certain degree of accuracy, the classical Old and New Testament stories: Noah’s ark, the parting of the Red sea, Jonah and the whale, Paul’s conversion, the stoning of Stephen, the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus, etc. Some can recite Scripture committed to memory…this knowledge is admirable and is an important part of our faith…but there’s more!

It’s called “our responsibility”~ to go and tell others His story (“history”), sometimes affectionately referred to as “The Good News”! Don’t we desire to share good news? Sure we do! We want others to celebrate with us! Yet, many of us are not as willing to share His Good News”! We “coulda, shoulda, oughta ”…yet opportunities present themselves frequently, and either by commission or omission we let those moments pass us by, hoping someone else will do it….or assuming there will be other opportunities we can grab…perhaps even being oblivious to certain opportunities placed right in our path.

Jesus came to serve, not to be served. His ministry centered on people who were in need, some physically, others mentally and/or emotionally, still others spiritually! He came to heal, to help, to hear their cries…those poor in spirit, those poor in possessions, the lowly, the unattractive, the outcasts…He did it out of obedience to the Father’s call on His life, and He did it with love, humility, sacrifice, joy…and without condemnation or judgment.

This past week Rodney, Benjamin and I were again honored to serve the poor in the Dominican Republic~ adults, teens, children…Dominican and Haitian (long time enemies)…the easy to love and the unlovable. We were reminded again of the fact that most of the world lives in conditions and at the economic level of the Dominican people; as Americans we are the minority, living a standard of life far and beyond the rest of the world! Serving our brothers and sisters on foreign soil was pure joy! The blessings we received far surpassed any possible blessing we may have given them, as the joy of the Lord IS their strength, and is evidenced on their faces, in the actions and by their words! (More about our mission trip to come!)

Be blessed as you visually experience our Dominican family…if and when you feel so led to pray for them, please do so fervently and without ceasing!

With heartfelt joy and lots of love,