FIELD OF DREAMS....

so in a few weeks i will be speaking at church. we are having different speakers for several weeks on Sunday nights and the theme is "baseball". im excited because i will get to totally brag on my favorite baseball team!! GO NY YANKEES! one of my goals is to try and convert every person at Celebration to become Yankee fans! perhaps if i were to give an altar call it could go something like this...

(lights dim and soft music plays take me out to the ball game) ...with all heads bowed and eyes closed, no one looking around, i know that there are so many of you who in your hearts would love to surrender and finally become the man (or woman) you've always wanted to become. for all of you who have been so bound by following the Boston Red Sox or even the Anahiem Angels and yes, i will go there, even the LA Dodgers this is your time to be free. please raise your hand if you would like to break free from these teams and become a follower of NY! Jesus will love you more if you do (ok maybe that's a little far fetched but this is my blog sooooo) ...i can just imagine every hand being raised!

ok so i can dream can't i? besides, the whole theme of this series is "Field of Dreams"!

so lately i've been waking up in the stinkin middle of the night thinking about what i'm going to speak about! i have so many different thoughts going on in my brain but i just gotta some how piece it all together and make into a sermon! man, all these preachers make it look so easy! i tried explaining to Bart how hard this is and he had no sympothy for me! i didnt understand why until he finally said "BABE I DO THIS EVERY WEEK, IT'S NOT ALWAYS EASY! ... in a loving sweet voice of course! so anyways, i'm really nervous but excited! i'm also glad i get to be one of the 1st to speak so i can get it over with! lol. i mean that in a positive way!

until next time...

No Words to Describe...

wow last night at Generation amazing things happened. it's so crazy cause every week has just been mind blowing and just when you think it can't get any better, it does!

war...

we started our sound check about a half hour late and for the 1st time it seemed like there was some kinda bad feeling in the air. it seemed like we couldnt get the music right and everyone had attitudes. we finally made it through a tough sound check and we all knew that we needed to pray! we put down the mic's and instruments and gathered together in one mind and prayed. i knew something great was gonna happen just from the struggle that was happening before Generation even started.

amazing...

God showed up again. the worship was phenominal and then Bart's word on "going Deeper" was just that, deep! the students got it! they just got it! there's nothing more awesome than seeing high school students on there faces before the Lord seeking Him and wanting more and more of Him. there's no one forcing these students to want God. it's so great to be a part of a Generation that is being changed to be more like Jesus. until next time...

Softball Season is Here!!!

i LOVE LOVE LOVE this time of year! i'm so glad the time changed and we now have longer days. Softball starts in just a couple more weeks and i can't wait! i've practiced pitching 3 days in a row. i'm feeling pretty confident about our team this year. i'm so excited! last year was fun but a little stressful for me. i loved our team but we had to make a few changes in positions because we didn't have all of our regular team members. i remember the day i found out from "coach" Terry that i was gonna be the pitcher! i was sitting in church listening to Pastor preach and saw a folded up paper slide over my shoulder into my lap. it was a note that Terry passed to me from the row behind me. i sit on the front row in church so it's not so easy to pass notes back and forth without getting caught by Pastor. besides, i havent really done that since jr high... but this is Terry Ramming we're talking about! so the note said that i was pitching and had an outline of the field with all the players names in the positions he wanted them in. i actually wrote back (without getting caught except by Bart who got on to me) and said NO I WILL NOT PITCH! ya so, guess who pitched all season! me! it was a little hard cause i had no idea what i was doing. this year i already feel so much more confident. i cant wait to pitch and hang out with my team!!! i can just taste the dirt in my teeth already! until next time...

GENERATION

GENERATION
as of November 08 Bart and I started a new group in our youth called Generation. this group is made up of high school students or ages 13-21. Bart and I had just come off a year long sabatical when we launched Generation. We had been Youth Pastors for 5 years at Celebration for Ignition Youth. we had great times and loved seeing God change so many lives. God had been talking to Bart and I about going in a new direction with our youth and that's when He gave us the name Generation. it was about 2 years ago that we started thinking about this change and praying about it. we were excited. at the time we just weren't sure how we were gonna go about the change. that's just about the time our time off began. this year long subaticle was unexpected and we went through some tough times. although we weren't in ministry at all for an entire year, we never lost sight of the things God had planted in our hearts. We were standing on the word and knowing that Everything that Satan meant for evil, God would turn it around and make it good. We knew that Gods glory would be revealed even through the worst of times. Through our time off we learned so much about God, ourselves and other people.

A GENERATION FOR A GENERATION...
We've just begun our 5th month at Generation. wow time flies when you're having fun! i remember the 1st night of Generation i was so nervous. we had been away for so long and i just didn't know how the students would respond. Bart and I knew our vision and purpose but there was still the fear of "what will they think". when it comes to teenagers, you just never know what your gonna get! We had 16 students the 1st night. it was amazing! Bart spoke the word and shared vision and the future for Generation and we've been growing ever since!

WORSHIP
at Generation we are so blessed with amazing gifts and talents of music. i have to admit, the Generation band is one the best bands i've played with in a long time. i love how the band works so well together and how they push themselves to learn the most difficult songs. the band is always up for a challenge! Generation Band is definately a band without limits and all the glory goes to God.

GOD FOCUSED
these past couple months we've seen God do miracles. at Generation we've seen students be healed. we've seen students be saved and delivered from the sin that had them completely bound. we've seen students grow at a rapid pace in there spiritual walk with God and be filled with the Holy Spirit. it's awesome to know that students are simply showing up to be a part of a God moment and know that they will be impacted and challenged to face the world and be more than conquerors.

PERSONAL NOTE:
after experiencing the most difficult life changing days of my life within 3 years, God really taught me a lot about myself. i went through days of being at my "lowest" and actually thinking i would not make it. there were lots of days of questioning and not understanding and not getting any answers. SURRENDER. finally i gave up. i gave myself up. i finally surrendered to God and through prayer, fasting and the word, i began to breathe again. i began to regain focus. my God focus had been lost... really it wasn't lost, i just chose to drop it for a while. God's grace and mercy is so overwhelming. i've moved on and have no sinful past and God is my strength and He loves me.

GENERATION WITHOUT LIMITS:

i cant wait to see what else God has for Generation. God is teaching us all new things everyday. Generation is ready to go to a place where we've never been before. We are going DEEPER than we've ever gone. im so thankful to be part of this movement. im ready...

a night with Terry and Kylie...

so Terry and Kylie Skiles came to bakersfield last night to speak at Generation for us. Terry did a great job as usual and the students at Generation loved them. they spent the night with us and brought there "kids" Mandy and Lucy with them. I think Mandy and Lucy like it here. Mandy still remembers her old boyfriend Jeter. Jeter was our dog and Mandy used to come see Jeter before he went to doggie heaven. I'm sure she must miss Jeter dearly. i can see it in her eyes. Jeter and Mandy would be married in doggie matramony by now if Jeter had never been smashed by that car. anyways... we all went out to lunch today and now we're just lounging around until the Jr High Awakening service tonight. it's always fun hanging out with Terry and Kylie. the only problem i have with Terry is that he's an Anaheim Angels fan. out of respect, i have the stinkin Angels on my tv right now. it's killin me!!!! ahhh.. oh well. we know the Yankees are the best! well i better go and hang out with my friends. until next time...

how old???

well it's finally Friday! what a long productive fun week i've had! now time for a busy weekend! so i just had this customer leave our shop. this lady came in to get a smog on her 1983 Cadillac Eldorado with only 37,077 miles on it. i watched this lady as she drove into our parking lot and knew right away this was going to be an adventure! she parked in the handicap space and took up about 2 and half other parking spaces as well. i noticed as she was driving in that the front of her car looked like it had its fair share of "old lady driving over things that were not meant to be driven over" days! there was a big peice of plastic hanging and dragging from the front end of the car too. i was too scared to look and see what it was... you just never know! so the lady walks into the office and immidately starts going on and on about how she had been driving over and hour in circles to find our shop! i was somehow not surprised at all! as she sat in the waiting area while her car was being smogged she pretty much talked without skipping a beat or taking a breath. she rambled on and on about all the accidents she's had in her car and all the curbs and bumps she's hit (of course none of which was her fault!). finally when it was time for her to leave she asked me how old i thought she was! oh man, not a question i wanted to answer!!! i was like, ummm ummm ummm... finally she got impatient with me and said she was 80! she went on to tell me that she really shouldnt be driving and she doesnt know why they still allow her to have her license but as long as they let her she'll drive! she said her license don't expire until 2013. God help us all... until next time...