Edge Conference - Oak Island, NC

 Thank you who prayed for our high school kids this past weekend! We had a great time on Oak Island! It was definitely a refreshing time not only for our teenagers, but also for Drew and I!

We were on a gorgeous island!

 A huge thing that Drew and I were challenged by was keeping our hands open for God. So many time we as Christians get caught up in what we are supposed to do. Read the bible, tithe 10 percent, witness, etc... What if God wants us to give 80 percent one week? What if God wants us to spend a day soaking up His word, not just 20 minutes. What if we are called to drop everything, right away, and follow blindly. No matter what the cost. What if God causes hard things to come in our lives. Are we so in love with God that we count those trials as blessings, KNOWING that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away? He has given us everything that we have... to us on this earth but it's not ours. So why do we hold on so tightly?!? Drew and I are trying to open our hands and release all the good and bad things that come our way, KNOWING that everything is from above.

 'Jesus you are the well that WON'T run dry!

 Our teens also took a challenge from Brandon, the speaker. He was talking about marinating in the scripture, soaking in the word of God, not just reading and leaving it. He challenged us to do the 'James Challenge'. The first week we read chapter 1 every day for 7 days. The second week we read chapter 2 every day for 7 days, and so forth. Our kids were so excited about it! I will keep you posted on how it goes!

 Perfect weather, catching up with good friends, walks on the beach, goofing off with teenagers, great messages, challenging worship, talented Christians, tons of memories!

 What a great weekend! I thoroughly enjoyed these friends!

Fear

Whenever someone talks about being afraid, I have a hard time relating to them. If they were to say they were worried, I would know exactly what they meant but I never really thought about being scared. I guess one could confuse the two. Yes, movies can scare me, but I'm not afraid to be home alone, not afraid of the dark or of robbers.

As I have been thinking about fear more lately I've decided that is exactly what I am in some areas of my life, AFRAID. I'm afraid of losing someone close to me through death, especially Drew. He is my best friend and I can honestly say I DO NOT know what I would do without him. We minister together, play games together, share memories, cry, laugh, struggle, and grow, together. God has abundantly blessed me to have him, and it would be terrifying to lose him. I have some other fears, things I struggle with that I never really took that to mean I was afraid of them. I might share those with you one day, but today is not that day.

This weekend was about having peace and a hope. Again, something I thought I was full of, until I related my struggles to fear. The key verse was:

Romans 15:13
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

If you don't think that is comforting, I don't know what could. I can have hope, no matter how bad circumstances could be, as long as my focus is the POWER God has and not the WEAKNESS I possess.

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you, O Israel: I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned. Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God.... Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, and I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, and people for your life."

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

With promises like these, how can we live any way but peaceful, no matter how great or horrible our circumstances are??? That is my prayer, not just for today but for my life. Even though nothing horrible (by the world's standards) is going on close to me, those times will come. I pray that I will always come out stronger because I allow Christ to use me, instead of falling back in fear.

Isaiah 43:1-4; Jeremiah 29:11-13; 1 Peter 2:9; 5:6&7

Catching up, praising God, no dates. :(

Where to begin. This past week has been so CRAZY busy so I'm just going to try to recap a little of it.

Last week my friend Lo (Lauren) and I went on a drive down to Winston-Salem to see my sister and Audrey. It was a gorgeous day, a great day for a drive, chat, singing, and outlet shopping! :) Katie, Lo, Audge and I headed down to do a little shopping. It was exhausting and relaxing at the same time. I quite enjoyed some time with my niece, including riding the carousel with her (her first time)!

I am distraught to inform you all that we FAILED for our date last week. I had one night set aside, we did eat dinner, but the rest of the night included Drew watching TV/video games and me working on schoolwork. NOT fun. but necessary. :(

Friday, Katie and Audrey came in town for Audrey's birthday party with the Farmer's. Unfortunately I already had a ticket for the Extraordinary Women's conference. So, I brought the kids over to mom's Friday afternoon so I could spend some time with them. It was relaxing and fun watching the kids play! What could be more fun than watching a 3, 2, and 1 year old play on a gorgeous afternoon! :)

Friday evening I headed to the Roanoke Civic Center with Starr and Lo for some laughter, encouragement, worship, and a concert by Mercy Me. Starr and I spent the night at Lo's, where we watched boy meets world, got a hair cut, and stayed up way to late, or I guess early... The next morning we headed back to the conference WAY too early, for amazing women, and men to talk to us, challenge us with our relationships with God! We also tried to meet my new favorite author, Karen Kingsbury, but that didn't happen. Oh Well! Oh, we walked downtown to eat yummy food. Alejandro's was good, but the service stunk. We were very disappointed...

Oh, but Saturday didn't end there. We headed to a 7 o'clock Liberty football game. Drew was down-right giddy to see the expansion finished. Evidently the blog pictures and details he has been seeing all summer is not enough! :) Steven, Lo, Drew, Starr and I headed to Lynchburg where LU kicked butt! It was so much fun! I am starting to enjoy the games with the cheering, talking, seeing friends I don't see much, and everything else! So although I went through the weekend with little sleep, it sure was worth it!

Now for what I'm grateful for... I think this post shows a huge amount of reasons I am beyond blessed, but here are a few more.

1. being encouraged by so many wonderful women, who have struggled but relied on God and grew stronger as a result.
2. sleep!
   
3. having a husband that loves me and helps me out around the house
4. God. the fact he is so powerful and yet still has time for Kari Hunsley in little ol' Roanoke, Virginia
5. fall weather, and clothes that keep me warm!
   

Date #14 - Alabama!

REFUGE

Drew and I were very blessed to go to a youth pastor conference in Birmingham Alabama. The conference is called Refuge and it was just that, a wonderful getaway to worship and find refuge in Christ without all of the responsibilities that come with most conferences! It was a long drive but we enjoyed it by singing, talking about what God was teaching us, studying for my tests, and sleep. :) Kristian Stanfill lead in music on Monday night and Tuesday morning and it was wonderful! He is really talented! We all know Chris Tomlin is talented and we were blessed to have him on Tuesday night! :)

Louie Giglio was supposed to preach but his mom died so we had David Platt two times and Tony Mirida once. They were both definitely used by God to teach us!! We had Tuesday during the day free. We ate lunch at Johnny Rockets where I had a scrumptious Chocolate Peanut Butter (maybe the best EVER!)!! We thought about hiking, shopping, going to a movie, etc but we ended up going to the hotel and relaxing! Hours of reading for me and computer games for Drew, took place and it was MARVELOUS! :)

I am definitely thankful for an amazing time of worship, conviction, rest, and time with my amazing husband!!