Promises to God for Growth

Dear God,

In your Holy book, Psalms 42:1-2 poetically says, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with my God?” (NIV Thinline Bible, 2005). Lord, I hunger and thirst for who you are and nothing fulfills me like being in your almighty presence. I could not stand to lose my connection with you as my Savior and Friend, but as a vulnerable human being sometimes it happens little by little from busyness or my failings to do things on my own. Therefore, Lord, I have devised a plan to guarantee my heart stay guarded against things of this world and that will keep me spiritually refreshed in you. I will follow this plan as I know that you will sustain me and help me to follow through with it.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov.4:23).

In order to keep my eyes on you God, I am going to organize and balance my life. Jim Burns states that “We need to be proactive in placing safeguards in our lives that will help us pursue balance and therefore long-term ministry with students. A good plan will take into account six areas of balance: spiritual, family, relational, emotional, physical, and leadership” (Burns, 2001, p.28). With his advise on these six balances, I believe that my walk with you will be more safeguarded against the evils and temptations of this world. Using the first balance, spiritual, I will make sure to spend time with you daily in prayer, Scripture reading, quiet times, and worship to allow you to work in my life. I do not want what Burns calls “fading away before God can use them to their greatest potential” (p.28). I also will be using the second step, family, to make sure and show my family their importance in my life as well. My husband and I made a date box, as you know because you are God, in which we both write date ideas down and once a week draw an idea out to do that weekend, and we promise you to keep up with that. I promise you that we will remember to go on dates and cherish each other through your love that you pour out unto us and the blessing we have of enjoying each other while on this earth. After all, “the most important ministry is to your spouse and children” (p.30). Third, I will keep my relational balance in check by staying active in my Salute group, the military fellowship/accountability group at my church, and allowing myself to be guided by those stronger in their walk than me. Fourth, I will keep my emotional balance in check by seeking to “recharge my batteries” (p.31). To do this, I will use my photography passion that you have given to me and enhance that so I will have something relaxing to help me recharge. Fifth, my physical balance, I will keep in check by getting enough exercise and resting eight hours a night as much as possible so as to be fresh for your daily work that you call me to. Lastly, my leadership balance will keep me fresh by making sure to have a healthy schedule/work load, training and equipping myself, and growing my administration skills.

Another way that I will keep my promise to you is by constantly checking my motives and heart in what I am doing. If my heart is not focused fully on you God, then my ministry and life will suffer. Not only will I notice it if this happens, but also everyone around me, and my witness for you would fail. Because I do not want to fail you Lord, I will “commit myself to an honest and regular evaluation of my heart, the source of my spiritual growth and leadership” (Fields, 2002, p. 24).

The final way in which I will guard my heart and keep myself fresh, is by promising you God that I will try to stop holding myself up in comparison to others. Fields states that “When you feel tempted to compare yourself to another volunteer, leader, or Bible teacher, stop and focus on God's love for you in that moment. God's love isn't based on how you measure up. He loves you for who you are, not for whom you think you should be more like” (p.30).

You are so amazing God and I thank you for who you are and that you freely let me come into your presence. I pray that you continue working in my heart, mind, body, soul, and ministry through the course of my life. Please use these promises to you in order to enrich my heart and life and make me more effective in ministry and as your servant. Amen.

Love, Holly

REVAMP

I have been reading God's Word more and growing in a deeper relationship with Him in my life lately which is leading me into a fulfillment like I have never known. One of my friends, based off of the Shrek movie, said that "We all are onions with layers that need to be removed." Once she said that, another one of my friends in Christ made the comment that "We all have different layers and different amounts of layers, but all the layers still stink." I am taking this weekend to go on a Women's Encounter with my church, Glad Tidings Church and am excited to grow even further in Christ and to let go of some of these "onion layers" in my life. I hope that Christ works deeply in the lives of all of the women there and nobody walks out of the retreat the same as when they walked in. Our lives are short so it is imperative that we dedicate it to the Lord right now and live fully for Him every single day regardless of how inconvenient it may be sometimes. Our way is not His way but His way is better than Our way. After the Lord strongly prompting me for the last couple of days, I have decided to change and revamp my blog and to use it for reaching others, getting my thoughts and feelings out about Christ, and just to be in love and awe with the the One I serve. Look over the next coming days for more changes and posts! Thanks be to God for pulling me into Him and the grace and mercy He extends to me and His people.

Concert/Camp-in Date Night

So, David and I drew a Date Box paper this weekend and got Camp-in! We also had a country concert with Dean Brody and Lonestar that night so we were very excited! This was a pic of us at the concert that night.
Soon after, the Bellanca's showed up at the concert too!
Me and Shannon at the concert!
The four of us together enjoying the concert...
And the four of us goofballs playing around...
Lonestar performing at the beach
Another pic of Lonestar performing...
And again...Lonestar performing. They were awesome and David and I had a blast jamming out together and also when we got to slow dance to their slow songs together. So romantic!
When we got back home, we made these AMAZING s'mores! YUMM-O!
We started getting impatient taking pics waiting to eat our yummy s'mores!
AND THEN...The eating of the plates....
OUR AWESOME FORT! We took slipcover off the big chair then pushed furniture together and used blankets and pillows to make it. We spent the night in our fort talking, playing games, eating dinner and s'mores, and also sleeping overnight!
So, I went to get drinks in the kitchen, came around the corner, and found this guy....sneaking into a bag of marshmellows in the fort...caught him!
Fighting over the mushy mellow!
I have no idea...this is the portion of the night where the mellows and chocolate kicked in I guess....
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Silly smooches!
Picking noses? hmm...maybe we should start laying off the sugar...
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The night was a whole lot of fun and romance! The concert was awesome and fun...the night was yummy and fun..with a little romance through the whole day and night! Had a blast with my husband and also the Bellancas! Cannot wait to see what the box says for next weekend! Until then...

Kid's Camp '09 GTC

I just got back from an AMAZING week at Pine Creek Kid's Camp. The Lord performed some awesome things while we were there. I had five girls in my cabin with me, who were so fantastic and had little hearts of gold. I enjoyed the activities (creek activities such as relays/bebe guns/paintball guns/archery/duck races/paddle boats/and tube & rope race, pool time, snow cones, clubs such as cooking/girls club/photography/legos/human video/woodworking/etc, inflatables, etc), but the thing that impacted me most was chapel. We had Pastor Gruber, Nate, and Sharon as our speakers and they were hilarious and powerful speakers. They spoke into the hearts of these children and the kids then received God on a while different level. Wednesday night after chapel, the kids went up to the altar and prayed for various needs as well as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or just to worship God. It was phenomenal seeing all of these kids laid out before the Lord with hearts wide open to him. The picture above was one I took of the kids all praying for Gabby, one of our girls. At such a young age, it was awesome to see them all praying for and with each other with godly love. When chapel was over that night, the girls wanted to keep going so we all (me, Brittany-another leader, and our 10 girls) went back to our cabin, dimmed the lights, and started praying with and for the girls as they prayed among themselves as well. Another cabin and two more chaperones, Jeanne and Carolyn, also joined us soon after. We had 15 girls and four chaperones in one room together, all praising and praying the Father. One of our girls got used by God in a big way and received her prayer language/was slain in the Spirit, and went around laying hands on the other girls who in turn were slain in the Spirit and fell out on the floor. It was astounding and I had never seen anything like that in my entire life! We also had a couple girls and guys receive visions from the Lord that night. I was so blessed to have not missed out on an opportunity so powerful and lifechanging. Jesus said in Luke 18:15-17: “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." I had wanted to be a Children's Pastor and involved in Missions for about two years now when I got that calling on my life, and this week just highlighted that purpose and passion in my life. These kids do not understand that when they reach out to God with all their hearts, they in turn affect our walks with God. My prayer to the Lord is that He helps me become more and more like Him and to help me walk through the gates of heaven as like a child-unashamed and loud for Him! I will DEFINITELY be going back next year! Thank you parents for letting your kids come this year, thank you children for coming and blessing me richly, thank you staff for working so we could come, thank for PT for inviting me to be a chaperone this past week, and thank you God for your astounding presence all week and the lives you constantly touch and shape!

Sunday Night Date at the Beach

When we drew a date box paper this past weekend, we got night on the beach...little did we know they had a whole festival with rides, food, etc out there! It was so fun and romantic! We walked along the boardwalk and then ended our night with a romantic ride on the Ferris wheel. This was me giving my man a little peck on the cheek when we first got on.
He decided to give me a kiss back and I was laughing at how cute he was being
This was a view from the top that David took..notice the boots in the pic..haha. It was so high up! I had forgotten how scary it is to be that high up looking down until we got to the top and stopped to let other people on..haha. I was def. a lot nervous. Usually heights do not scare me much but being on a rickety moving ferris wheel kind of made me nervous. However, it was still romantic and beautiful to see the beach and boardwalk from that high up!
A picture of us at the top of the Ferris Wheel :] What a great night with a great husband! I love him so much!

Double Date-Date Night

When drawing a date box paper out, we got dinner and double date night. We were craving Mexican food badly so we went to Mi Casita, our favorite Mexican place in Va. It was SO yumm-O! I took a pic with my oh so handsome mexican husband above....


J/K! This is my oh so handsome Mexican husband! :] And oh how I love him! Mi amore!
Once we got to the bowling alley and met up with the Bellancas, we decided it was picture time with our newest couple friends!
The Bellancas! They are such a sweet couple! We had a blast with them that night!
Me and Shannon at the Alley. I LOVE this pic of us! So cute! We were the super stars of the night ;]
Shannon said that when I bowled, I look like a Ballerina..so...I did my ballerina pose :]
Shannon makes a FANTASTIC Marilyn! :] We might have had too much fun with the air that comes out by the bowling balls...haha
This was a great moment for Shannon Bellanca! Vistory was finally hers! :] Last frame of the last game...she totally rocked it with her first strike of the night! Go Shannon Go!

Super Fun with the Coates' Boys

Cute Baby Eli! :] He had so much fun with the paint..glue...stickers...well, everything actually. He made a birdhouse and all kinds of crafts that day with me.
Caleb Coates. What a cute little ham! He had a blast..can ya tell?! He was COVERED in paint. After he was done and washed his hands..I went in the bathroom to wash mine and discovered he had covered the sink in it from top to bottom as well so I then scrubbed the sink all over..haha. The red that wouldn't leave. Reminded of the Doctor Seuss book where they clean and the spots keep getting on other stuff! haha
Caleb and Eli playing in their amazing pirate pool in the backyard! They LOVE that thing! Heck..I LOVE that thing!

LOVED this pic of Caleb! He is such a cutie and this shows a little of his personality to me-the cute aspect and the ham aspect :]. Love those guys!

haha. They boys were spraying me with their canons and I was trying to take a quick picture before running away so as not to get soaked! I think this pool and these cannons are AMAZING! Wish I had this kind of pool when I was growing up! Fun!

4TH OF July MiShAp

We headed to the beach to enjoy our FOURTH OF JULY with fireworks and music..but got stuck in dead-stop traffic so...we pulled over on the highway and watched the fireworks from the car. Not what we planned, but it ended up being romantic and beautiful nonetheless. This was a shot of the fireworks we grabbed quickly before they ended.
After the cop pulled up and made all the cars on the side of the road leave..haha..we decided to catch a movie that night at the cinema cafe. We went and saw UP, which was a super cute and awesome movie! :] This was a pic he took of me looking crazy..but in my blue supporting my country and military.
YEAH..I HAVE NO IDEA...haha. I think he took the pic while I was fixing my hair and it just came out super funny.
We tried for about 15 minutes to take a cute pic and could not get ONE without at least one if not both of us unable to keep out eyes open. Stupid flash! :/ We did however get some hilarious ones out of this night! This was me forcing my eyes to stay open in a picture..haha
We started cracking up at our inability to take a good picture together that night so we just took a picture of the terror of the situation :]
I was CRACKING up so hard at our goofy pictures! What a blast we had that night! Great movie...great pictures...and great fun!

BuScH gArDeNs TrIp

After walking into the park, we saw this sign and had to take the pic. Under David-it says "the cost of an untidy chamber" and mine says, "for want of a quiet tongue"! So us, huh?! :]
This was a shot of the guys on their first ride at BG that day...I think it was Big Bad Wolf.
Can't really tell but there were fake grapes in these buckets so we decided to imitate a little "I Love Lucy" grape smashing scene fun ;]
This was me, David, and Ring about to get on the Haunted 3-D ride at BG. We are such attractive people...haha. Was so much fun and such a beautiful day!
The guys on THE GRIFFIN! There was NO way that I was getting on this ride..haha. Actually..I couldn't hardly ride anything because I get motion sick VERY easily nowdays but it was still a lot of fun and the guys rode EVERYTHING.

David and me after riding the Roaring Rapids ride at BG. We were soaking wet! However, not as bad as Ring was! He went directly under the waterfalls the whole time and was SOAKED! It was hilarious and took us forever to stop laughing hard!
David as the "man in the yellow hat." Stay away ladies! That is my sexy hubby! haha.