Leightony Snickets Series of Unfortunated Events...

to start on a postive note, tim and i coach the high school girls volleyball team and it has been a blast... i am not really much of a volleyball player or a coach of the sport yet somehow tim roped me into helping him a while back... what a fun thing to do... the girls that we have been able to get to know through this are amazing and i have had so much fun coaching them... so this season was kind of a lengthy one with one whole regular season game and then on thursday we had our opening playoff tournament to determine the seedings in our conference... to make a long story a little less long, we won our bracket and played harvey in the finals of this tourney... we won the first game, lost a close one the second and lost an even closer one in the third game... we came in second place in our conference... how awesome was that!!! the girls have worked so hard and we have kept the game very simple while we have worked on the basics and they have improved so much... so now we move on to the next round of the playoffs... more news at 11 or so...

on to the next point which could be taken seriously, but i kind of want to laugh so don't take it seriously... last week (saturday) i was on my way to the church to lead worship in our churches contemporary service and while i was driving my grandma's car half of what was holding her gas tank up came undone... now i would never claim to be a mechanic, but i know that is not good at all...

now on to this week... being that i don't have a ride as of yet (my own broken down vehicle) and my grandma's broke under me i had to walk to the church today... as i was walking down the island there were a couple of people who stopped and helped me along the way... i did manage to walk quite a distance, but the rides were appreciated... as i was dropped off at the one of the local restaurants i got out and began to reach for my wallet so i could have lunch... uh oh... not in my pockets or in my bag... so a this point it is so far not at the store i last used it at or in one of the two vehicles that i travelled in... one more to check out...

sometimes i have these things happen to me and i just laugh as if to say what's next, but then other days i just want to swear... it seems that this has been the pattern in my life ever since emily requested that i pack up my stuff and move out of our marriage (2years, 4 mos)... one thing that i have been learning a lot lately is about the authority that God gives His children and that we do not have to live intimidated, defeated lives... today serves as a good reminder though that satan "still" does not care about all that and will do whatever he can to distract from what God would have us do in our daily walk in that authority...

this could be another distraction from the enemy as i prepare to lead worship tonight or it could just be my clumsiness, but i guess the choice is mine to decide how i am going to let this affect me... will i allow it to consume my mind and keep me from experiencing intimacy with my Savior tonight as we worship together or will i worship God despite this annoying little event that seems so big as it is added to the pile of events that i have faced... fortunately, my personality has some stubborness in it... the wallet will be found... the jeep will run again someday... the job will happen... the housing will come into fruition and my boys WILL know and spend time with their father...

although somedays i laugh and wonder where is God in all of this i know that His word says that He will never leave or forsake me... i am not forgotten...

neither are you... does this hit close to home?
tell me your story...

waiting...

so here it is... simply put, God sent me an e-mail... there was a lady who has visited the island at some point last year and a couple of weeks ago she sent an email to a lady on the island specifically telling her about my situation and that the Lord wanted me to stop and wait... (also known as don't move) let the Holy Spirit guide me here and listen for Him...

i asked God for bright red letters in the sky (kind of humourously) and He sent me an email...

so here i am waiting... an email has been sent to a president of a large ministry which works with youth and setting up youth centers and i am now waiting to hear back, trying to live a day at a time as the spirit leads... i love the freedom in this role so i can minister to the teens on the island, but finances always seems to be in the back of my mind... i want my sons to be a part of my life here as well and that does not seem to be a reality without the dough...

i must say though that i have a lot less noise in my brain knowing where the Lord wants me to be... i can now try to settle and establish myself in this community better... here we go...

subtle and silly...

mental note... next post is about psalm 127:1... in that post i will share about how God spoke to me about direction...

on to tonights thoughts... if you don't like serious posts i don't apologize... this is what God is bringing me through so this is what i share...

lately i have been experiencing and believing in the authority that God has equipped me with for a while now... so now that i choose to accept this gift and walk in it the opportunities to share with people have been plentiful... i feel so useful for the first time in a while... it is cool... yet the battle rages on... but this week it is different... usually i get pretty bombarded with a lot of heavy stuff and it is intense... in the past 24 hours i have had two insignificant things happen that really opened up some emotions of being upset and offended... for those who have been under the teaching of john bevere's "bait of satan" you know how nasty offence can be and how big the wedges it can cause... the things that set me off were so silly though... first, i was with some friends and another friend called and they spoke with 2 others and not me and that go me so upset... the thing is that i spoke with this person over msn so i should not have been upset in the first place and if i didn't it is still nothing to get upset over... so subtle... the second instance was while i was picking songs to lead worship another person whom i was speaking with suggested picking songs that were familiar... that got under my skin so badly it is ridiculous... i know what they meant, but i took it as "you have done a bad job picking songs in the past, so please do better"... so subtle...

even today i am just feeling overwhelmed a bit which is odd... instead of being totally crushed with another nasty blow, i just feel held down a bit... it is almost like the enemy knows the ground that i am taking back in my life and is subtly annoying me to hold me down a bit... so annoying... frig...

but the joy is this... the saints are surrounding me and God has not stopped being there... sounds so cliche, but is so true... when i am weak, He is strong and that is all i have to rely on...

not a real earth shaking post, but it is honest and that is what i wanted to be tonight... the enemy is sneaky and will do the little things that will eventually try to destroy us... great news is that he has no authority for those who are in Christ so i will not be destroyed... heck, i may even pull through... Praise God...

not what i planned on typing at all...

once again i have been told that i have been lazy with my posting here and once again the masses are right...

extreme discipleship was here last weekend and i have to say that it was an amazing weekend... many of our youth and youth leaders have really been under attack since the return of the alabama trip and this weekend was really needed... the last 2 weeks at youth group we have had to call the ambulance and have teens carted out on a stretcher... to put it mildly our kids are moving and satan is not happy...

i guess i would like to ask for those out there who know me and are not from GM to lift up our island teens in prayer... i have seen what the enemy is trying to do to thwart God's movement on this island and he is pulling no punches... physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually our kids are getting the brunt of some intense spiritual warfare like i have never seen before...

pray that our teens and leaders would accept and live in the victory that God has given us and know that God has not given them a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power and a sound mind... (peace) pray that they would know and live out boldly because that same spirit that was in Jesus is in them and they do not have to be defeated in this battle... yet it is a battle and it is getting intense...

i am so proud of these kids for their stand that they are taking, but they need so much more than what they have to offer... we all do... we did do some battle this weekend and i believe that a lot of people did take back some ground that the enemy has stolen, but there is so much more...

i love the kids here and i have learned that this is where the Lord wants me to be so i may continue to equip these teens to fight this battle for their minds, bodies, hearts and souls... i will tell the amazing story of what happened to get me to this realization later on when some of the details play themselves out a bit, but i am asking you who reads this right now... intercede and fast (if you are lead) for the young people of grand manan... they are fighting a battle and need the strength to come out of this victorious... God will and is providing, but we seriously love and appreciate your prayers for our kids...