As The Years Pass

"He Made The Storm Be Still, And The Waves Of The Sea Were Hushed."

Psalm 107:29 (ESV)

     I love and listen to all kinds of music and those who spend any amount of time with me know that Creed is my all-time, hands-down, favorite band, and they have been for about the past 14 years. It took me over 10 years before I saw them in concert, thankfully it will not take me another 10 years before I see them again.

I will be seeing them tomorrow night. **Happy dance in my seat**

Now this is not like a "normal" concert for me. You see my sister went to high school and is close friends with one of the band members. Since his family still lives here, everytime he is in town, the two of them are hanging out. I have met him and he knows of my love for Creed, more importantly how much I simply adore Scott Stapp. Therefore when the band announced they would be coming to a town close to me, him and my sister were kind enough to hook me up. When I say hook me up, I mean early admittance so I can see the sound check, tickets to the concert, backstage passes, and a face to face meeting with Scott... People, I may just pass out!

A FACE to FACE with Scott Stapp... There. Are. No. Words. I am counting down the hours now :))))))

Now pray that I will be able to actually speak in complete sentences!

I promise to post some pictures this weekend.

I am now officially the first white female minister in my Church. If you recall in my last post, I was on my way out of town to make history. I spent 3 days in Tallahassee, met the Bishop, was prayed over, talked to, and on the 3rd day, I received my certificate. There were many tears, lots of smiles, some trepidation, and tremendous encouragement, from each person I met. God willing, I will become ordained in 2 years.

As I sat a little over 3 years ago watching all that I ever believed in, implode in my face, wondering where to go from there, I never would have guessed that I would be sitting in this place today. It still wraps me in complete awe when I see His Hand move in my life.

There are some things that I would change in an instant, however I have faith that He will take care of those mountains in His time.

After waiting a little over 9 months (classes, facing the Bishop etc...), I was behind the pulpit preaching, once again this past Sunday.

If you have been reading for any length of time, you will know that the thorn in my side is public prayer (on my part). The minute I open my mouth to pray, something happens that seems to cut off my vocal cords. If called on to pray aloud, panic sets in and I begin to stammer, to whisper, my heart feels like it is going to pound out of my chest and I feel like I am choking.

3 years I have been dealing with this, by praying outloud when I am called on and it seems to be getting a smidge better.

As I stood behind the pulpit this past Sunday, I was still unsure how to "open" my sermon. Contrary to my beliefs, I cannot sing (as my family will tell you) HA, therefore, opening with song was out of the question... My next option was open with a prayer.

I called for the congregation to bow their heads, close their eyes, I took a deep breath and I did it... I prayed outloud, behind the microphone... No panic, no stammering, no choking.

I prayed from my heart, to the heart of my Father... OUTLOUD!

My prayer partner and my Pastor were thrilled, knowing this was a huge step for me :)))

And I know in my heart, He was pleased... That is all that matters :)

Many blessings to you all.

MERCYME
If You Think That This
Is The Best That It Can Get
Oh The Wonder Of It Is
You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet