Excitement

I have not felt as excited as I am right now since I arrived in Pittsburgh. I can hardly contain it. Cornerstone TV was amazing tonight – I spent an hour on the phones praying with callers, crying with them, standing with them while we prayed for everything under the sun. (Seriously. Catch me in person and I will tell you a crazy story!)

After CTV, we (P. Chris and P. Kate, Laura, Drew, Brendan, Bridget, and Holly) went out to eat. It was so much fun! I was really talkative (less than normal, but WAY more than normal in Pittsburgh!). I don’t know if I made a lot of sense, but I was so eager to talk about the amazingness of God after my time on the phone lines. I talked about the time Jolene got attacked at the Yellow Building and everyone came back to the sanctuary. I talked about that crazy Celtic band that played prophetically and the walls of our chapel literally shook. I talked about when that student got delivered at Praise Gathering! I talked about our beloved Sanctuary at NCU and how we spent hours into the night there. God has done so many amazing things at NCU! I don’t think I made any sense; I was too excited!

I forgot to talk about the glitter that appeared all over the altar and on people’s hands. (If you ever see me inspecting my hands at the altar, now you know why!)

I talked about God sized dreams ~ a few weeks ago, I was praying for Japan and I found myself praying that one person would get saved. I felt like God was telling me to pray bigger. So I prayed, “Fill the church.” Bigger. “Osaka?” Bigger. “Osaka and Tokyo?” Bigger. “Japan?!” Even bigger. “All of Asia???” I asked God. This seemed big enough, so I began to pray for all of Asia to be saved. After praying in faith for an entire continent, I realized how little my faith had been just minutes earlier. I couldn’t believe my dream was only for one person (this is not about the APC one person vision). God’s plans are so much bigger than ours! The only way they won’t get accomplished is if we don’t get on board! I don’t know about you but that makes me want to jump up and down with excitement! Imagine – not just the North Hills, not just Pittsburgh, not just Pennsylvania, but the entire US saved! ~ That’s a God sized dream that He can use us to accomplish if we’re willing and ready to dream God sized dreams and walk in God’s power to do His will!

Something else that makes me excited: Jesus Life House. This is what a friend wrote in her blog today:

梅雨やね~
it’in rainy season…
ジトジト暑いよ～
its so humid and hot recently…
でもチャーチは良い意味で熱いで！！
but！ church is hot in a good way！

(if the characters don’t display right, it’s in Japanese.)

That makes me excited!

I often joke that “excited” is the word I use most. It’s true at school. I get so excited I run up and down the halls screaming and dancing! I get excited for EVERYTHING. But that excitement has been lost at Allison Park. I don’t know what happened. But the past is the past. I’m going to try my best to keep the excitement I have right now going strong!

I’ll post a link of the CTV program here soon!

Kidz Kaboom! and other thoughts…

I woke up in a panic today. Kidz Kaboom is starting in exactly a week! It’s my “day off” today, but I’m not feeling very relaxed. Everyone else went to work today. I didn’t think there was a need for me to go in… but I might as well have since I am now stuck at home with a million “to do’s” running through my head. I can already tell that this will not be a restful day so I might as well make it a productive one!

To do:
1. Laundry
2. Clean
3. KIDZ KABOOM TASKS
4. Go for a walk (edit: 4 pm – It’s raining…) (edit: 6 pm – now it’s not. crazy weather.)
5. Write letters
6. Call my grandparents
7. Take a shower
8. Figure out whats wrong with my iTunes (half my music has disappeared!)

NOT to do:
1. Go on facebook
2. Watch TV
3. Take a nap
4. Read (if I pick up a book today, I’ll be reading it until midnight)

I am going to feel SO GOOD if I can get this done!

Yesterday was “heaps” of fun (I just got done reading all the JLH Osaka blogs lol). After church, Tiff H, Tiff W, Drew, and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings. The Leakes were there. They challenged us to the Buzztime Trivia game and I actually won! I think I’ve won maybe twice out of all the times I’ve been to B Dubs. Maybe thats because I always listen to Hannah . Anyways, I barely beat out Pastor Jeff and Alyssa, but it’s only because on the last question I heard Pastor Jeff from across the room shout to Alyssa, “It’s 2! Press 2!!” I had no idea what the answer was so I went with 2. Because I heard him I won by maybe 10 points? LOL. It was so much fun!

On the way home, the four of us had a very very interesting and entertaining conversation. I’ll never forget it. Then we went to Sarah’s house (Studeny’s house) for an amazingly fun pool party! It was a great time.

Now that I’ve spent 15 minutes on the computer avoiding my to do list, it’s time to get started!

Allergies or Aneurysms?

Tiffany W. and I are both feeling sick today. We’re both toying with the idea of going to the doctor. We spent most of the morning watching baby shows on TLC and evaluating the color of our mucus on google. Now it’s noon, we’re still in our pajamas, we’re still watching baby shows on TLC, and we’re checking our symptoms on webmd.com. Anyone who watches The Office knows about this very reliable tool, lol. The Symptom Checker told us some very disturbing things, so after discussing this, we both feel that this is the best course of action:

1. Call the church.

“Great things are happening at Allison Park Church. How can I help you?”

“Hi, this is Grace and Tiffany. Can you please tell Chris that we’re at the hospital? We both have headaches and webmd.com’s symptom checker said we’re having brain aneurysms. Thanks!”

2. Go to Giant Eagle to buy medicine and junk food.

3. Do nothing. All day long. Especially not listen to Tiffany’s mom plan her wedding for her. Come to think of it, maybe that’s why we have headaches.

Protected: Me without my shell. (too much truth for the public eye. comment the previous entry for the password.)

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homecoming.

I titled this post, my first post, “homecoming” for a few reasons. One, because blogging used to be an essential part of my life. I used it to gather and process my thoughts and let out my emotions. I want and need to come back to it. Two, because my blog of the ages began in high school and I’d like my homecoming to be to a fresh start with a new blog, like moving into an apartment in my hometown instead of my parents house kind of feel. Finally, today I did something I haven’t done in a long time: I opened up my Bible to my fourth favorite Old Testament Prophet* and wrote a song. I haven’t had the time to do this since March and it was good to come home to something familiar, something incredibly personal, and something that roots me in the Lord in the midst of a temporarily unrooted existence.

Is. 43
Chorus:
You are mine, though you walk through the flames
You will not be burned, no you will not be burned
You are mine, though you pass through the water
You will not be swept away
You are mine, to the ends of the earth
I will say to those I’ve formed and made
You are mine, created for glory
Loved though unworthy, you’re called by my name
You are mine.

** Habakkuk, Hosea, Malachi – for anyone who cared to know. Yes, Habakkuk really is my favorite book of the Bible.