Counting Blessings

I am so thankful for new seasons... For me, seasons are new beginnings, a change of pace, a chance to be refreshed, a chance to do something different, see something different, try again, be... again, start over, grow. In particular, I HEART the fall season. I anticipate the fall season like I anticipate my favorite holiday (Christmas) or my birthday. I love, love, love, love the fall. I heart pumpkins, pumpkin seeds, candy corn, sweet potato pie (my mom's, of course!) and hot apple cider. I heart fall retreats, going to the mountains, campfires and wearing long sleeves. I love inhaling a good crisp, fall breeze. I think VA is most beautiful in the fall; just take a look at these pictures - all from VA. Can't wait for the leaves to look like this!



This weekend, I had a chance to spend an entire day with Jenny! I am so blessed by her life. Most importantly, I am thankful, grateful to God for allowing our paths to cross and for the opportunity to model Christ, influence & pour into her life. I met Jenny almost two years ago when she joined a small group I was leading with three other beautiful women from our young adult ministry called, AWAKE. Jenny LOVES Jesus, is an English teacher, just recently engaged (yay!) and most of all; Jenny is a blessing. I like to tell her, "she keeps me on my p's and q's" all the time... Besides hanging out in our favorite coffee shops, discovering cool little stores, having amazing Jesus/life conversations at the beach or anywhere, I love walking through and discovering life with her. She's even in the final stages of beginning a Wyldlife middle school ministry in the area where she teaches! She works hard and is amazing -"Do all that's in your heart..."



Every year, VABeach has a Neptune Festival on the beach in celebration of the fall. This weekend, there was a 36 block parade, sand castle building contests, misc. contests, concerts, vendors, etc. So fun! During the festival, there was a national cake show/contest and my friend Beth submitted one of her cakes! So proud of her! She did very well and was graded (no trophies, just national recognition) very high! Beth loves to bake and she'll be the first to tell you that God was the one to develop the dream of a baking business. She's so talented and extremely creative! Oh, and her cakes are not only gorgeous, but they taste GOOD, too! It's been a blessing to watch God walk her through the doors she'd never thought she'd enter. Way to go, B!


*(become a fan of Beth's Sweet Experiments on Facebook)

Need A Good Laugh?

Then, watch these... If you have never heard of "Hoops & Yoyo," you should get familiar with them, fast! They're animated Hallmark greeting cards and they are hilarious! I know today is Friday, but I found these two on YouTube and I could not stop crackin' up! These little guys are so stinkin' funny! If you work in a cubicle, you could probably relate.

Happy Friday & have a great weekend! Hugs!

Desert Song & Testimony

A friend passed along this video to me, and I cried. My tears were a reflection of a deep brokenness I had been feeling for quite some time, yet through it all, I've kept this song in my heart. As of late, I've felt like I've been able to feel the wind of His presence again, and it feels so great and assuring. "All of my life, in EVERY season, YOU are still GOD, and I have a reason to sing..." Check out this testimony and song (Desert Song by Hillsongs). I've loved this song for a long time, and I had no idea of the testimony behind it.

A Note on Solitude

"Retire from the world each day to some private spot, even if it be only the bedroom (for a while I retreated to the furnace room for want of a better place). Stay in the secret place till the surrounding noises begin to fade out of your heart and a sense of God’s presence envelops you… Listen for the inward Voice till you learn to recognize it. Stop trying to compete with others. Give yourself to God and then be what and who you are without regard to what others think… Learn to pray inwardly every moment. After a while you can do this even while you work… Read less, but more of what is important to your inner life. Never let your mind remain scattered for very long. Call home your roving thoughts. Gaze on Christ with the eyes of your soul. Practice spiritual concentration. All the above is contingent upon a right relation to God through Christ and daily meditation on the Scriptures."

~A.W. Tozer

He Touched Me

something i wrote a while ago and came across the other day...

"He Touched Me"

he wants all of me
my bags, my fears, lies, sins, disguise
he wants it all

and after i touched Him
after i crawled and bawled
and screamed and scraped
i got to enter into His gates
because i touched Him

me, the woman with the issues
more issues than a subscription
with struggles that have become an addiction
me, the woman with the issues
the woman who's been abused
the one confused, battered and broken
the one judged by the out-spoken
i was transformed and changed
because i touched Him

i was an outcast because
i had done things
and i was bleeding
needing someone to stop my hemorrhage
someone to see my true image
spirit, soul and body
i've embodied my many issues
and i, touched Him

He saw me all along
He knew i was coming
to draw virtue from His garment
He knew i'd arrive on my knees
in thee most humbled of positions
and, as i transitioned from my knees to His lap
He began to tell me
who I am
He said

daughter of the Most High
I knew you before the ages
rise up and take your place
you don't belong in these cages
you were created in My image
anything less is outrageous
you are beautiful
you are esteemed
I have not forgotten you
you are redeemed
and you walk with My breath in your lungs

then He, touched me
He touched my identity crisis
He took death's license
and revoked every attack on my life
death is over
rejection, over
fear is over
shame is over
guilt, over
low-self esteem is over
abuse, over

Lord, because You have touched me
I am made new
my mind, my body, my spirit
all wrapped up and around and inside and through You

because You touched me.

Love This Song

Sometimes a song can say it much better than I can write it. I forgot how much I loved this song. It's refreshing.

by Matt Gilman


Happy Thursday!

SWAG

I learned about a site called urban dictionary.com from a friend awhile ago, and found it quite hilarious when I stumbled upon this site again while looking up a definition for the word, swag. I normally don't frequent this site, but I thought this definition was interesting.

swag: The level of confidence that defines an individual. One with swagger engages life so effectively that others not only acknowledge their presence but "feel" it. The way in which you carry yourself. Swag is made up of your overall confidence, style, and demeanor. Reputation.

The other day, I was in Wal-Mart and I heard a 5 year-old boy singing a song by a rapper named Souljah Boy called, "Turn My Swag On." Here are some of the lyrics:

Hopped up out the bed turn my swag on
Took a look in the mirror said what's up?
Yeah, I'm getting money, oh

Turn my swag on
It's my time to turn it up, yeah, yeah
I put my team on, did my theme song
Now it's time to turn it up, yeah, yeah

I got a question why they hatin' on me
I got a question why they hatin' on me
I ain't did nothing to 'em but count this money
And put my team on and now my hold click stunny

Boy wat's up, yeah? Boy wat's up, yeah?
When I was nine years old
I put it in my head, I'ma die for this gold
Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, boy what's up?

Hopped up out the bed turn my swag on
Took a look in the mirror said what's up?
Yea, I'm getting money, oh...

I thought this was so interesting. In the song, he's talking about waking up in the morning and putting on a particular mindset, confidence... swag. His swag was/is his reputation and it defined him. His goal is success, money and in this song, every morning, he puts on his swag and moves toward those goals. Remember, the definition above defines swag as "a level of confidence. overall style, demeanor and reputation." See where I'm going with this? Real talk.

What do you put on in the morning? I was at work today, and I could not figure out why EVERYTHING was going wrong. My attitude wasn't the best, I was overwhelmed with work, overwhelmed with the thought of 'running out of time,' and frustrated at just about everything. I felt like, if someone were to push me over, I would easily fall. When I awakened this morning, I didn't put or turn my swag on. And, in this case, my swag is the armor of God. I didn't 'put on' who I wanted to represent. My mindset wasn't renewed. I totally ran out of the house (because I was late) without cracking open my Bible or stopping to put my armor on:

Eph. 6:13-18
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Never get too busy for God. I believe that my day at work would've turned out much differently if I had of prioritized my swag. Trust me, lesson learned. I seem to be learning a lot of simple truths again, lately. Thank you Jesus for another day to get it right!

When you wake up in the morning, do you put your swag on?

Worth It All

It's 75 degrees, the leaves are starting to change color, I'm driving my Red Volkswagen Beetle with the sunroof open and the windows down. As I'm breathing in the afternoon air, this is what I'm listening to:



Happy Friday, all. Have a great Labor Day weekend.

Reminder in The Dark

As a television producer, I spend a lot of time in the edit suite. Each suite is virtually soundproof, and there's minimal light (with the exception of the computer monitors and plasma screens) - just the way I like it... and for good reason.

Today, I had a very good conversation with a friend about honesty, obedience, relationship. It was a conversation that I knew the Lord wanted me to bring up weeks ago, but in my disobedience, my friend brought a few things to my attention, first. We talked for over an hour, and after the conversation, I felt like I wanted to cry. So many thoughts raced through my mind: "Did my friend lose a bit of trust in me? Terri, how could you..." In turn, I felt like I let my friend down and it crushed me. (Real talk). The conversation ended well, but I felt like I failed somehow, I had knots in my stomach, I couldn't think straight, and all I wanted to do was pray. And since I was at work, I went to one of the most quiet and secluded places I knew of - the edit suite.

I closed the door to the suite, dimmed the lights, reached across my laptop and turned on some worship music. I sat in the corner and I wept. I started thinking about what it must feel like when we can often reject Jesus with our actions, our time, conversation, habits, lies, mistrust, disobedience... The tears kept coming as my heart turned and turned because like my friend whom I love, I want Jesus to know that He can count on me.

The more I thought about loving Jesus, the more I cried. "Lord, I don't ever want to take You for granted," I whispered. "I don't ever want to miss you speaking because my life is meaningless without you. I don't ever want my life to reflect itself, I want it to reflect you." My tears turned to sobs, deep sobs. I started repenting for all the times I let "things" take the place of Him. I started repenting for living a life that can so easily be perceived one way, instead of living a life that should be fully perceived His way.

As I cried, I just felt weak. My eyes were closed and I could envision an egg being cracked all the way around. When that shell fell off, there was another layer and then another, each layer thicker than the last. After what seemed like a 'lifetime' of cracking, I saw the middle of the egg. In the middle was a gorgeous multi-colored stone, shining brightly. And through that, I was reminded that He is my hiding place and safe refuge. And as my life is being cracked, broken, shaped and re-shaped, I'm being transformed into a valuable and useful vessel. His hand is on my life, and He is pleased with me. And because he's with me, I will not fear.

What a great reminder. That probably had to have been the best cry I've had in a long time...