I pulled a double shift today. It was tough, but rewarding, so happy with the way the store is progressing ! We are really doing this crazy thing. WE CERTAINLY CAN DO IT !

                      Let me just take a minute to say a thank you to Freckles, she listens to me moan and groan, and doesn’t seem to be judging me, she makes me laugh and laughs right along with me, she brings me a bag full of candy to cheer me up when there is nothing else that she can do. And little does she know…what I needed most was just someone there to listen. Its nice. It means so much to me. It is what Jesus would do.  So…thanks .

    Sorry, its been a long week, and then an even longer weekend. I have just been working at the store and recovering from strep throat. YUCK.  On Friday night my life changed, maybe forever. Can’t talk about that. On Saturday, we took the kids and went to camp Awanita ! It was for the rising 6th graders and was great fun. I slid down a 150 ft water slide ! So take that all of you nay sayers, who think I won’t get my hair wet ! And then today was church, where the Lord reminded me of a couple of things…1. he see’s me HOLY, and 2. I don’t have to be what this world says is normal. I can be like Joshua and caleb and go against the crowd. Oh yeah, and 3. no matter how many people THINK they know me, the Lord is the ONLY one who knows my heart.

            A new song, its been coming for so long

        can I begin again, for the first time ?

                 these words, are they yours or mine ?

                given freely, no strings attached…hidden inside of my head, in a book by my bed….

               you’ve been calling and I ‘ve been stalling

                    you’re calling my name, singing my song, bringing me back to the place I belong.

                     I’ve been hard headed and hard of hearing, need an open door to see you more.

                 I know what you are looking for….the worship of a child.

                       eyes fixed on your face,no one else in the place

                     hair and arms flying free,a love song from you to me

                           drum pounding, heart racing , one thing is clear…you are here.   You live in my praise.

        I blogged on sunday afternoon about worship. Maybe you read it, I ended the post with the fact that I was going to rest up for that evening. And so I did. I went and got into my bed, surrounded myself with Bibles and books, and my journal. I read for a while, and then I prayed. I asked the Lord to give someone a word of encouragement for me. I hear other people getting these nudges from GOD all the time, seemed to me that I was never getting one. Here is basically what I said, ” Lord, I need you to love on me, I want to hear from you…TONIGHT. I will be there, and I know you will too, so lets get together”. I know, not a very spiritual thing to say, but the thing is….he KNOWS me, there is no point in using frilly, spiritual words when he already knows me from the inside out.

               And so, we went and we worshipped, we brought it. And HE did not dissappoint, he always shows up on our praise, always. I danced, I stomped, I jumped, I yelled, I moaned, and I prayed. It was altogether good. As good as coffee in bed, as good as the beach in the bahamas, as good as a cold glass of wine on the hottest day you can imagine….it also was that intoxicating. I was reeling from his love and kneeling in the face of his mercy. Ok…all that being said, when the music and the ministry stopped, my friend ,LOGAN, came over and said, “I have something for you, its a painting, I am scared to death to give it to you, but the LORD told me to”. WHAT ?!  I don’t know if I even reacted, I was in a little bit of shock.

                In a nutshell, Logan had a vision at church that morning and the Lord told her to paint it, while she was doing this, He very clearly said,” GIVE IT TO ANGIE”. She did not want to. She has never given a painting that she created away, and there was fear there.(the LORD always does more than one thing at a time, he is a multi-tasker in the best way). She obeyed. The Lord said give this picture to Angie, she is a worshipper, and this will resonate with her, I delight in her worship and feel satisfied when she worships “

                      OK people, is this thing on ? Are you listening to what I am saying ? If I never LEAD people in worship on a stage, and if my songs are NEVER heard……I DON’T CARE.  JESUS rests well and is content when I am worshipping him, my worship is a shade tree that he leans against. I may never be the same again. One moment, one touch, one word can turn it all around.

                     Thank you Logan, your obedience has changed my life. Sound dramatic ? It is.  The idea that I have led you into worship is a prophecy fulfilled, and it feels good.

              There is more to come. Bigger and better things in store and coming soon. For all of us.

           I want to say that church was good, but we all know the truth….GOD IS GOOD. I am positive that the KING OF KINGS inhabited our praises this morning. We invited ,and he never turns down an invitation.

                  It was freeing to hear David say  ” no one else can bring YOUR praise to the LORD.” I knew that already but it is one of those truths that as a worshipper, you forget. And that suits satan, just fine. For years, I have felt my voice inadequate to bring before the KING. The KING or man ??? Well, both, to be honest. The truth is….I have more than a voice to bring. I have a HEART for worship, a soul filled with the song of the LORD, and a spirit abandoned, sold out to my King.

                       I have spent the last few years learning how to worship with my life, its been a good hard lesson to learn. I am ready for the whatever the LORD has for me now.

ps. The band at Crossroads were the gatekeepers today….they opened them wide, they stirred up affections for the Lord and led the children into a place of adoration. I am resting up for tonight.

I have blogged about how much I love coffee before, I love it. I don’t even mind the addiction at all. Anyways, the butcher has started himself a mail order coffee company. Blackasscoffee.com. Its good, the kicker is that the beans are not roasted until you order, so its incredibly fresh. Yesterday, he brought me a special blend home, brewed it up and asked me if I could tell what it was. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and smooth. I could not figure it out for the life of me ! He had taken werthers original hard candies and ground them up with the beans ! DELICIOUS. Just because he loves me. I am a lucky woman….and I know it.

              I got a comment on the blog last night that has really encouraged me. I am a witness. My experiences are real. It is so good to have someone say ,” the Lord spoke to me through you”. YES ! It was like a drink of water to a woman dying of thirst.

                         I started this blog as an outlet for my writing, the Lord will use it as HE sees fit. His opinion is more important than anyone else’s.  Its gonna be a good day !

I apologize for all the typos this morning on my last two posts, I guess I just had so much to say that I could not get it out quick enough. I can spell, I assure you.

           We saw the movie UP today. It was just what I needed. It reminded me that sometimes the adventure IS the everyday things. And that when I think this adventure of mine is just too hard to keep on going…..its not, it will be over soon enough. So, me and mine will keep on trucking. Life is a highway,I wanna ride it allll night looong. night.

                       I wish that I could explain this trip to you. It was supposed to be for Erin’s birthday, but we crammed in so much more. There were hours of conversation. Meaningful, soul searching, and somewhat life changing conversations, about marriage and parenting. The conclusion….it doesn’t matter how long you have been married or how old your kids are, there is always room for improvement, there are always new “aha” moments.

                    We also had unabashed times of fun, giggling, squealing fun. We willed time to stop. We actually prayed thet GOD would multiply the time that we were there. I think he did.

               We love Stevo and Erin so much. We watch their journey on this Earth and it changes ours. We know that God put us together for a purpose. Thanks for being free enough to talk about your mistakes and cry about them whether the waitress is walking up or not. Thanks for being the people that we can trust with our shortcomings with out judgement. Thanks for being the people that continue to spur us onto bigger and better spiritual things. We love you.

This is how you do “glam” while camping…HUGE sunglasses. We had quite an  adventure. Here are the highlights….

• We carried enough stuff for a family of 6 to stay a week, the hike was brutal, hardest I’ve ever done. The kids did great.
• Sabrina(colliers were brave enough to go with us) fell out of a tree and got a huge gash in her thigh. They covered it up before I could snap a pic for the blog.
• All children fell in the river at some point.
• Belle reopened the gash she already had on her shin bone. ouch.
• Chris and the Butcher tried to teach their sons to make fire using flint.
• Chris cut his thumb while teaching.

Isaiah’s shoes got burned up in the fire and belle learned how to pee outside. Sidney pretty much, sat in a chair by the fire, and slept the whole time. A fun time was had by all.