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MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!

2009-09-29T08:36:00.000-07:00

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

How about the cool stuff outside? So nice! Holden walked out and said "it is so cold". Now....I wouldn't go that far but after having the heat like we have, I guess to him it was.

I want to share with you a story about my oldest son, middle child, Harrison. He is 13. Just turned 13 and in the 8th grade. Almost a year younger than some of his closest friends. Harrison is my quiet child. Doesn't have a whole lot to say, except when you tell him to get off Xbox, then that is a whole new story. Well...anyway....Harrison in all of his few words had a lot to say to me one day. I remember when he was younger and you know how us moms are, we want to know what has going on in the day and what about this kid in their class, etc. So I was asking him all of this because I had heard something about someone and didn't want to like let him know I was trying to get info, because you know I am a concerned mom, and I asked him about it. Harrison, in all of his seriousness looked at me with his big brown eyes and said "I dont' think we need to be talking about". Well..Alrighty! I was tickled by his response but also the Lord spoke to me. You know, some things are just not any of our business. I don't mean you can't be a concerned mom and believe me, knowledge is power when you are a mom. But....so many times, we get all up in someone elses business and we have no place there. I heard Joyce Meyer say one time that the Lord told her that if she has no responsibility in that situation then she needs to mind her own business. Now ladies.....it just comes natural for most of us but instead of being nosey, busy bodies then we should use that opportunity to pray for those concerned and leave it right where we took it, to the altar.

Ouch! I know and it is only Tuesday. Sorry, I just write them like He gives them to me. I said okay Lord, help me to do the most important and that is to just "be about my Father's business". Because when I am about my Father's business I don't have time for anyone elses.

Hope you have a wonderful, marvelous, fabulous day and I want you to know that you are God's business and He is always about you! So...invite Him to be all up in your business today!

BLESSINGS TO YOU TODAY!
Marty

2009-09-22T13:37:00.000-07:00

MY BEAUTIFUL HANNAH & FRIEND KAYLA

ALL READY FOR

THE

DANCE!

Bare Earlobes

2009-09-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

Good Thursday Morning To You!!!!

Hope you all had a fantastic Labor Day Weekend! Mine was wonderful! Started off Friday with a trip to Hattiesburg to take Hannah my 15 year old to her first Cross Country Meet. Now, for you who know Hannah, this will not surprise you at all. Hannah is all about the jewelry. Especially the earrings! Well...she wore this certain pair up there and I found out later from one of the other girls that she had brought a pair to change into to when she ran. :) Yes....she did. The devastation to Hannah, however, was when they told her she had to take it all off. No not the clothes too, the jewelry. Whew! But to Hannah, you might as well have said that. She came over to me with it all in hand and said, "I can't wear it". (: You see....it represented who she was, what she liked, her personality. And now she's having to take it off, run without it. Would she still be Hannah? Could she still run her race with bare earlobes? To her amazement maybe, yes she did. She ran with no jewelry at all. Just an "ugly uniform" as she said, a ponytail and tennis shoes. Not her usual "look" but she ran anyway and finished. The Lord spoke to me this morning about this. Sometimes, we get it all stripped away and it comes down to just plain old us and what we are made of on the inside. Who are we really without all of the "accessories"? Nothing wrong with "accessories", I believe God made them for girls especially but do we have what it takes when it is all gone to still run the race that is before us? I believe with all my heart we do! I believe that when all of the stuff is gone, even God things, ministry, etc. that we are who He created. You see those are just by-products of who we really are. You see in a hurricane, for all of us who know what that is like, when the wind settles and the tree is left there bare, it is still a tree, leaves or no leaves.

I don't know where you are right now. I dont' know if you have lost it all, had to step down from something, had to give something away, whatever situation you are in I want to encourage you to still run. Yes run that race with all your heart because it is all just "accessories" and those things are not what makes you run your race in such a way to receive the prize or not. It is who lives and dwells within you that gives you that ability. For "in Him we live and move and have our being" and that we can say as Paul one day "I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished the race!" WOO HOO!

BLESSINGS TO YOU TODAY!
Marty

2009-03-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hope you are all doing fantastic! I mean just outrageous! You know what I am talking about. Life to the fullest because that is what He came to give us. If you are like me though, you often times do not walk in what He came to give you and allow circumstances, "stuff" to defeat you or cloud your vision. Dare to live outrageous today, no matter what your circumstances. Outrageous means radical, extremist, excessive, intense, severe, tremendous. Guess what? The opposite of that is insignificant, moderate, irrelevant, moderate and here's one, constrained. Sounds boring to me. However, day after day, I tend to live like this for whatever reason but when I see and read about the life of Jesus, I see none of that. I see such extremism, such intensity with such a radical tremendous love for the Father and for what His mission was about. You know, why He was sent here, for you and me. To restore you and me. Every moment, every hour that he breathed was done with such passion. You may not have always seen such fanfare but the intensity that everyday life was given was amazing. You know, he didn't come with all the hooplah but I know that He was sent with every bit of Outrageous love for you and me that could be imagined and He grew up with one aim and that was to do his Father's will and it was to restore you and I to fellowship with Him and why do we so wonder why Satan so fervently, intensely does everything he can to keep us from having that fellowship with our Saviour. He knows what it will bring about, just as Jesus did. It brings LIFE spirit-filled, God-filled life that brings, joy, peace, contentment in the midst of whatever we face. I mean WHATEVER! We may not see it all then, just as the disciples didn't when Jesus hung there on that cross, but when I can be in the midst of an awful time, I can remember "He came that I might have life and have it abundantly." Just think if they had remembered that when they were staring at Him dead on the cross, dead in the grave. I don't think they would have been all hiding up in some room. You know satan is there to use the circumstances, trials, just every day stuff of life to rob from me. For the word says he is a thief. The important thing is to stop the thief at the door and begin to praise The Life Giver and right there with all of those dry bones surrounding me, I can speak with the word of God and say "Life abundantly" . Jesus came just for that as it says in John 10:10. So....I say to you today that where it is dry, brittle, dead, discouraged whatever it may be that He was, is and will always be Life and no matter what Satan tries to put in your head begin to thank and praise Him that He loves you so much and if you can't see it in the midst of your darkness, He will bring life forth. WOO HOO!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

2008-12-28T21:14:00.001-08:00

I don't know if I am so shocked it is Christmas ALREADY or that 2008 is ending. Can you believe it??? Well....it is, whether you believe it or not. I hope that this new year find's blessings overtaking each of you.

For Dow and I and so many of our friends and family this has been a tough year. As I was thinking about that the other day, I started thinking about the shepherds in the field that night when the angel appeared to them. It says "they were keeping watch over their flock by night". You know, just doing the usual. What they had done day in and day out. Some of them were probably standing out in that field wondering how in the the world they were going to make it through their tough times and it says "then suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared" and it says that the angel was there to bring them "good news" that TODAY, this day a Savior is born, He is Christ the Lord. In other words, right there in their situation, however bleak it may seem salvation had come to them. Now I know some of you may be saying "where is the angel?" I hear you! I don't know what I would do if the angel appeared to me like that though. No wonder he told them "do not be afraid". But you know, better than an angel, God has given us His word. The very life spoken word of our Savior, we have, this day in the city of Mobile, or wherever you are. We have that word saying to us "Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy".

I want you to think about this with me. I thought, what were the shepherds thinking, wondering, etc. from the time they heard the word of salvation to the actual moment they saw salvation. I know an angel appeard and it is pretty hard to doubt that but being human that we are, and who knows how far they had to travel or wait and wait and wait, they must have thought.... What are we doing following a star? And are you really serious that "salvation" is going to come to me out of a stinking stable? But they remembered the word from the angel and kept going until they reached the manger and
there.... He was......salvation......
in a baby, in a manager. Not what they expected but nonetheless the Savior of the world. The Savior for their situation, their trouble, their stress, their life and on and on. The Savior for it all!

I pray for you and your family that you be encouraged to press on and stay with the word from the moment you hear it to the moment you see it, your salvation, your Savior. And remember to do as the shepherds did....
"The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

2008-08-05T14:38:00.001-07:00

HELLO ALL OF YOU!!!!

Summer is over - well, at least for all of the school age people it is. The temperature outside is not telling us that but all of the activity going on is. Can you believe it?

I want to share with you today a story, if you haven't already heard me share it, about safety pins. Now, me being the visual person that I am, God for some reason has chosen to show, teach me about Himself through safety pins. One morning years ago, I was getting ready for work and there was this safety pin on the floor. It was closed and I was rushing around, running late and I was about to just walk over it and leave it there but the Lord said, "Marty, pick up that safety pin." I knew it was Him and I said, "well, okay but I am running late". :) So I picked it up, put it on the nightstand and then just as I was about to walk out the door, my button popped off of my blouse. Right then I remembered that safety pin and went back and pinned my blouse and out the door I went. I did not have time to stop and iron another shirt, find the right one to match, etc. I needed to go. The Lord showed me right away, how concerned He was with everything about me and when He showed me that safety pin, He already knew what I was going to need on my way out the door. You see, I didn't have a bunch of safety pins lying around. I didn't even know I had one safety pin in my house. I want to even think He could have even dropped it from heaven that morning, just so I would have what I needed. Funny thing, I have never forgotten that moment. And to this day, I don't keep safety pins, I have one friend who we used to call her the Drug Store because we could go to her for anything and she would have it at work, but not me. I most of the time am digging around trying to find those things like that. Welll...God 20 years later is still showing me safety pins. For the last month it seems, every where I turn, I find a safety pin. You know what He tells me when I pick them up, "I see you today Marty", I am your Provider". He tells me "I am right here with you and don't want you to think that anything that goes on in your life is insignificant to me" So I am going to show up in safety pins all around you to show you that even in the small things I am there. Even in the small things.......

I sit hear just weeping, thinking, why do I ever doubt He is not with me.

I hope this encourages you today and to know that even before you have a need He has provided the "safety pin" and that whereever you are, whatever you are doing there are "safety pins" all around you showing you He loves you! You just have to look and pick them up!

Woo Hoo! Amen!

We Had 6 Puppies!!!

2008-07-08T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well....after a Sunday afternoon, June 29th of restlessness, Holly, our dog, had 6 puppies. Boy was it an event. Harrison's best buddies, Colin & Tyler came down. Hannah called Alli and Mattie screaming and Alli came over, and Billy, Tammy & Camille drove out to West Mobile just to witness the big event. Now, there Holly is lying there, giving birth, looking up at everyone looking at her. Her response, grrrrrrr.... I said, "sweetheart", I know how you feel. What a special time it was for us though. Proud Papa Dow did not leave her sight. We thought she was finished after 5 but then came the last one and it was a buff/white color. The first 3 were black and brown, next two were black and then our little one came in her own color. I just can't imagine how Dow is going to be when we really have grandchildren. He has been so proud of them all. There are 3 girls and 3 boys and we are just tickled with them all. Of course, they are not running around, barking and you know all of there other "stuff" they do. Anyway....we couldn't believe Holly could have that many but she did and has been the best Mama. Holden has all of them already named, don't ask me what they are though. All I know is that they have "H" names. However, we are not keeping them ALL so if you want one, you can name it anything you like.

America, America, God Shed His Grace On Thee...

2008-07-01T10:36:00.000-07:00

SETTLING.....

2008-06-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Good Morning to you all!!!

May this day find you full of joy and peace as you trust in Him and may you overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit! Amen! That is one of my most all time, very favorite verses. It's one of those verses that just is so in my spirit and I so have to remind myself of the scripture when I so don't feel full of hope.

Well.. I have to tell you what is going on in the Carrell household right now. We are going ot have babies. No....not me and Dow, Whew! Our dog Holly. Long story short, there was this stray dog (who was a minature pincher, Holly is schnauzer/poodle mix) in our neighborhood and the rest was well, you know. The kids couldn't believe it. Harrison was really upset about it. He said he was going to "kill him, he hated that dog". Hannah said, Holly, you went beneath yourself, you settled." Holden, being the sweet one that he is, said well you know we are going to love these puppies anyway. Why am I telling you all this I know you are probably wondering...welll...when I heard all of those comments, you know, the lights went off in my head and the Lord began to use this as a teaching/learning time for us all. Ding, Ding....that's right Hannah, when you don't wait for God's best for you, you do settle. You remember that. She's 14, going into 9th grade, the whole world is ahead of her and all of us that have gone before her know what it is like to settle and how really empty it leaves you once you have. The word settle means, to inhibit, stay, go beneath, concede, cut a deal, take what was offered instead of holding out for what you had wanted or the best. My life is full of this, I mean so full of it. Had I only waited for what was right around the corner, and the scriptures are so full of those who did the same and I am sure you have the same situations as welll..HOWEVER, BUT GOD in the midst of our compromises if we are repentant is able to turn them around and cause them to work together for our good. Yes there are consequences but even in the consequences HE'S GOD, HE'S THERE, HE'S BIG, HE'S MIGHTY TO SAVE.
I was reading this morning about when the disciples were in the boat and the storm was there, they were right smack in the middle of it all and Jesus of all things was asleep. Resting. They were up running around, cowering down, fretting, probably angry at Him saying things like, "right, sure, He can do miracles" and instead of using this storm as a means to drive them on, they cowered down, became inhibited, I think settled for what they were seeing instead of sleeping/resting like Jesus did on who they were, children of the Most High, who is above all. HOWEVER, BUT JESUS, rebuked them, then rebuked the wind and there was great calm but don't you know He so wanted to see them allow Him to do that through them. The missed the opportunity to be used by Him.
Last part of that passage is Luke 8:27, "So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" I'll leave you with this...I don't want to marvel and say "Who can this be?" I want to know who He is so that when something comes my way that is not Him, that I might settle for or that I might could have done if I had known who He was and who I am in Him, that I say He Is, He Is El Shaddai, El Elyon, Jehovah Nissi and I could go on and on. I'm not there but I so want to be.

So don't settle like Holly the dog, but wait on God's best for you, hold out, hold on and see what He can do, exceedingly, abundantly, more!! WOO HOO!!!

"LET'S PLAY BALL"

2008-04-03T08:22:00.001-07:00

Yes it is that time again!! Baseball season!! I have grown up at the ball park. My Dad coached my brothers, my mom was scorekeeper and I played softball, cheered and just ran around the park with all my friends! Now.....here I am with my boys, at the park!

You know there are so many sayings that you pick up at the park. Like, "batter up", "let's play ball", "strike 3, you're out!". You know, you can so relate life to baseball. You practice all week, preparing for the big day. Big day comes, your on the bench, other people are in the game and then all of sudden, coach calls your name, Carrell, you're in. The adrenaline starts flowing, you wonder have you prepared enough, are you ready??? You run out on to the field and take your spot, standing there, waiting for the pitch. The pitch is thrown, the bat makes contact and the ball is coming your way. You have a few choices here. Stand your position and play it like you've been taught, like you've rehearsed in your mind over and over. The way that you have layed there and dreamed about how you would make that play if you were given the chance. Stand there and let the ball go by as if you just really don't care and would rather being doing something else at that moment or completely run out of the way and let someone else make the play because you are afraid of the ball that was just hit your way.

Are you following me here? We all have a place on God's team and it is what we do before we get into the game that determines how we will play the game. And, though we may have to sit the bench for a while, there will be a day that we are called to the field to be a part of something that God has called us to, made us for, that no one else was made to do. Are we going to be complacent, apathetic, even rather bored at what God has called us to? Are we going to shrink back in fear allowing someone to play the position that God actually created for us to play? Or, are we going to jump in there and be ready, eager, saying "hit it my way"? Remembering always that we are a part of a team and without the whole team, we win nothing, but it takes the whole team, each doing his part to make us true winners!

"LET'S PLAY BALL"!!!

BLESSINGS TO YOU TODAY!

2008-03-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!!!

How are you all!!! Magnificient I just know it! Did you think I had fallen off the face of the earth? Well...honestly I have felt that way at times but God as so good as He is, want let me stay off the earth. :) He keeps putting me back in my place. :)

Anyway.....I was thinking about balloons the other day. Like before they are blown up. Think about how they look just sitting there. Flat, empty, really good for nothing; however, when you blow them up they take on a whole new shape. Their color isn't even what it really appeared like at all just lying there flat, shriveled. When they are filled with air they become exactly what they were made for. To fly! However, it isn't just any type of air that will make them fly. No, just blowing hot air into them want do much of anything but make them fatter but when you put that special kind of air like Helium in them, you can't keep them down! You know, you have to tie them to a chair, put a weight on them, etc. They just want to take off! You know, that's just like us. We are really just flat, lifeless, shriveled up without the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Sometimes we try to do things on our on (with our on hot air) but it really doesn't get us anywhere. Sure, we might look good for a little while but we will never fly with just hot air, we need Him. The Holy Spirit to cause us to go upon new heights, to fly in a way that we are so meant to but can't without Him. You know the disciples had to wait on Him, the Holy Spirit, who was promised to them but oh what happened when they did! A whole city was changed. They were no longer just full of themselves, their ideas, looking pretty in the synagogue. No they were full of the very one who would cause them to soar for Him. To soar in a way that would change lives. The scripture is so full instruction to us about being "filled with the Holy Spirit."

So what kind of balloon are you, flat/lifeless, filled with hot air or filled with HE lium? I want to encourage you to cry out to Him to fill you to the fullest so that you can begin to do the very thing you were made and created to do. FLY/SOAR to places you would have never gone. Who wants to be just a balloon taped on a table to be pretty? Not me, I want FLY!
BLESSINGS TO YOU TODAY!
Marty

QUOTE FOR THE DAY.............

2007-10-02T07:37:00.000-07:00

Hide not your talents,

they for use were made.

What's a sun-dial in the shade?

Benjamin Franklin

IT'S FALL OUTSIDE!

2007-10-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!!!

Hope you are enjoy this awesome weather!!!! What a blessing!!!

Just want to ask you all to please remember my bestfriend Tammy & her family this week in your prayers. As you will recall, she had Claire this time last year on October 3. Claire was diagnosed with Trisomy 18 and most babies do don't even make it til birth but our strong Claire did and we were so blessed with her for 8 weeks. As you will understand, this week will be emotional for them, as the past year has as well. I ask that you please pray that the Lord continue to be glorified in it all. That He "cause all things to work together for their good." And that this week they see His face shining down on them.

Now....let's sit back and get your cup of coffee and enjoy Tena's "Blessing to you Today"!

BLESSINGS TO YOU TODAY!

2007-10-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

“Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”

Good Day to You Ladies:

About three weeks ago, some of us traveled to Nashville for the Deeper Still Event. What an awesome work of God’s hand! Sometimes I think I could write a book using that experience. But my story today isn’t about that event; it centers around something that has been on my mind for the past few weeks and was brought back to my attention when I arrived at the hotel in Nashville.

That first night as I unpacked, I found, tucked away in my suitcase, a note from my husband (my Barnabas). It was so sweet. In it he thanked me for all I do for him and the boys and wrote so lovingly of how he felt I deserved to get way for a time of refreshment. Isn’t that wonderful? You see he knew how apprehensive I had been about going on the trip. He knew that this “mama” has a difficult time leaving her boys. Yet, he also knew that this trip was something I really needed. I think he knew it more than I did. He told me later that in Bible study the previous Wednesday, Kerry had ask them to think of someone they felt needed some encouragement, and to send them a note. Mark chose me.

Encouragement, that’s what Barnabas was best at. Otherwise, he would have never earned the name. Acts 4: 36-37 is our introduction to Barnabas, Son of Encouragement. Later, two great examples of his valuable gift can be found in Acts 9 and in Acts 15. In Acts 9, we learn that when the other disciples wanted to reject Paul, Barnabas took him, brought him to the disciples and explained to them all that God had done in Paul’s life. The first sentence of Paul’s profile, as found in the NIV Life Application Bible, says this: “No person, apart from Jesus himself, shaped the history of Christianity like the apostle Paul.”

In Acts 15, we find Paul and Barnabas in a disagreement about taking John, also called Mark, on their journey. While Paul flatly refused to allow him another chance, Barnabas took him along, encouraging him. And later, we watch as John Mark becomes a valuable companion, not only to Barnabas, but to Paul and Peter as well. He also went on to write the Gospel of Mark.

What lesson can we learn from this Levite from Cyprus? This: Encouragement can change lives.
Do you know someone today who needs a Barnabas in their life? Pray. Ask God to show you how to encourage that person. It may be something that requires a lot of time and attention, or it could be the simplest act – like sending someone a note. Either way, God can bring vital changes through this one act, but he’s looking for a willing servant, a Barnabas, to help make the difference.

I pray that today you will be encouraged to be an encourager! And may God from whom all blessings flow, bring blessings overflowing in your life today.

Love,
Tena

No Sissy's Allowed!

2007-09-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

How do you like that for title? Funny thing, that is what my family calls me. I will have to say though it is not because I feel like I was a Sissy. It's just that my older brother had a problem calling me by my real name and my mom always tried to teach him I was his sister, so... that's how I got stuck with the name "Sissy". Bet some of you didn't know that did you?

As some of us had the privilege to go hear & see Beth Moore, Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer this past weekend, we came away with SO MUCH! I have to keep pulling my notes out daily and read them so I can just grasp it all. One of the things we heard was "NO SISSY'S ALLOWED"! Now, I am sure that when we all thought of a "sissy" growing up or if we were playing a game and we wanted to win and we needed some tough people on our side, we wouldn't pick someone who was a sissy would we? No! We would pick someone who we knew would face whatever was before them, no matter how scarey it looked and press right past it. You know, like Red Rover. I knew that when my name was called and I wanted to break through, then I was going to have to pick a spot in the line that looked weak. You know "the weaker link". :) Anyway....on the flip slide of that, if we wanted to keep someone from breaking through our line we would call the weaker ones/sissys over and hold on tight. I always hated it when there wasn't really anything but strong people left because you knew you were going to have to hold on for dear life so they wouldn't break through and steal one of your players back.

You know something though? When I get called out to run in life and look at what is before me and all I see is a barrier before me that is no way I can break through and all of Satan and his cohorts are calling out to me "sissy", you can't make it, you aren't going to break through, I have to call upon the name of the Lord. Who is mighty to save. Who when I am weak (a sissy), He is strong and "remember whose I am" and run with all of my heart, with all my strength and with all of my soul" and know that though everything is saying there is no way I am going to break through, there are a whole host of angels behind me pushing me and and whole crowd of witnesses that have gone before me cheering me on saying "you can do all things through Christ who strengths you Marty". You can "run upon a troop, leap over a wall", "You overwhelming conquer", "Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world". So I keep running, I run with all of my heart, and bust through that line and grab the prize to take back to the winning side.

Maybe there's someone that the "other team" has taken to their side and God has called you out to run and break through, through prayer, fasting, quoting scripture, etc. in order to win them back. I want to encourage whatever you have been called out to do, to not see yourself as a "SISSY". To not see yourself in your strength, but to see yourself as who you are IN HIM and that IN HIM you can do all things! Woo Hoo so Red Rover Red Rover RUN WITH ALL YOUR HEART RIGHT ON OVER and claim that ground!

BLESSINGS TO YOU TODAY!

2007-09-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone!!!

I know, that you seem to probably always here this from me but I feel a need to say it today. "RETREAT IS NOT AN OPTION"! Now, here's what retreat means...it means to withdraw, move back, run away, back down, flee, but now get this one, it means to give ground.

Here's the picture, circumstances, people, finances, jobs, etc. are staring you in the face and they look big. Impossible, no way you are going to be able to outlast, endure, etc. Well..that's how it looks but I want to tell you that those may be the facts but that is not the truth. My friend Lori always tells me, "rehearse the truth".

The truth is that although I may be facing a situation that appears as if there is no way I have what it takes, that the scriptures (the truth) say "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength". That though the fact is this sickness continues to linger, the truth says "He is our great Physician". Our Jehovah Rophe. That even though the fact is there is no way I am going to pay my bills this month, get out of debt, etc. Truth is "He shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory." That "my father owns the cattle on a thousand hills." That He says to test him in this bring your tithe into the storehouse and see if He will not open up the windows of heaven and pour out blessings upon you that you cannot contain.. WOO HOO!!! HOW ABOUT THAT FOR TRUTH???? How about that for telling your "giant" "you may come at me with a javelin, a sword and a spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord." The truth says "the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and are safe". The truth tells me I can go into that fiery furnace and say "My God is able, My God will, but even if He doesn't I am not bowing... I am not retreating....I am not giving up ground!!!

The Lord has told us to go forth and conquer, not retreat!

Sooo...Do you get my point? Retreat, NO WAY!

DA DA DA DA DA, CHARGE!

Blessings to you today!

Marty

2007-08-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

In light of everything that was shared lastnight at EXpresso, I had to let you who were there know that while we were "talking" about our students

17 of them gave their heart to the Lord last night!

HOW AWESOME IS THAT!!!!

CHARGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EXpresso @ "WOW"

2007-08-30T06:45:00.000-07:00

Hey!
If you were able to join us lastnight at EXpresso - how awesome was that! Thanks so much Aimee & Alison for being our special guest and for all that you do for our Girl's Ministry!

Also....thanks Candice for the fashion tips and how you so looked the part with your cute dress going on there.

And...last but not least Toy - you are hilarious! I loved every way you gave us to burn 100 calories. By the way....Toy left without taking her candy bar with her lastnight so.....if you want it, it's up for bids. About 3/4 of it left so I say that is about 400 calories, which roughly comes out to about cleaning your house 3/4 of the day instead of all day long of it to burn it off. :)

Hope you have a Wonderful Marvelous Fabulous Day!

Marty

HOW TO BLOG?????????

2007-08-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, no expert here so we have that clear right off the top. Some of you are having problems comment, etc. You don't have to sign in under a google account or any account. You can just click comment, click that middle button, I think it says other and it will come to me to post. So...please comment away!!!!

BLESSINGS TO YOU TODAY FROM TENA!

2007-08-27T13:47:00.000-07:00

Greetings Ladies,

This morning, as I was asking God to show me what He wanted me to write, I began to think back to when my dad used to take us out on the boat. My dad was a fireman and his schedule was “24 on and 24 off”. Many of those “24 off” were spent on the water! Some of my favorite childhood memories are there. This morning I started thinking about the many times we would jump overboard and go swimming or jump over and dive up oysters. Back then, there was not a thought in my mind that said, “don’t do that, there could be something lurking underneath.” Now, every thought in my mind would say that. There’s no way I’d jump over into the gulf unless my boat was sinking! Anyway, as I was thinking back on all this, God in His amazing way, brought another memory, and thus, a message. It’s actually two-fold so listen well; He has someone in mind.

Several years ago, I was lying in bed one night praying. I don’t remember what I was specifically praying about, but all of a sudden, it was as though I was no longer in that bed; I was in a body of water. I began to go under, and little by little, I went further and further down. All the while, I was thinking it felt pretty nice. Suddenly, I came to the realization that I was drowning, and panic swept over me! Immediately, I cried out, “God save me!” and a large arm reached into the water, grabbed my arm, and pulled me out.
It was then over. I was back in my bed just as I had been before it all began, and I heard the words, “God’s arm is not too short to save”. You know that nervous feeling you get when you know you have to do something that you really don’t want to do? That’s how I felt. Not only had I immediately heard God’s word, I also immediately knew that He wanted me to share what had happened, and I knew He wanted me to do it the following Sunday.

In the church we attended at that time, every year we would present our high school graduates with a Bible. For the past few years, I had been the one to actually make the presentations, and I would share a few words with them about true future success. The following Sunday was “graduation Sunday” and I knew this is what God wanted me to share. I spoke to my pastor the next day and told him what had happened. As it turned out, he was going to be out of town the following Sunday and he asked me to not only share the vision, but to deliver an entire message. I just thought I had felt panic before! I struggled all week. I did not want to do this. I remember standing in my kitchen one day and asking God to please confirm to me that He really wanted me to share this on that particular day. Right after that I went to the mailbox. There was a pamphlet in the box that we get periodically called “Money Matters”. (Many of you are probably familiar with it.) As I was walking back inside, I turned to an article on the back page and my eyes fell upon the scripture that Larry Burkett had referenced in his article. It read:
"What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs." (Matthew 10:27)

I said, “okay God, I hear you”.

As I planned the message for that week, it was as if the words just rolled off the pen. I began to think of the graduates who would be there, and I really felt the message was just for them – particularly one of them. The following week I received a card in the mail from a relative who had been in the service that day (not a graduate). In the card she told me that she knew the message was for her and her daughter. Her daughter’s husband had recently drowned, and before he went into the water that day, he was not saved.

As God was bringing all this to my memory this morning, this is the message I feel He was giving me for you. (Remember I said it was two-fold) :

First, know that “Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” (Isaiah 59:1) No matter what type of “pit”, “fiery furnace” or deep water you may be in, God can pull you out. His word says so. Second, when God so boldly instructs you to do something, you go boldly and do the work he has given you. He will be right there helping you.

I now know the message I delivered fourteen years ago was for more than one purpose. It was for the graduates - one in particular whom I still pray for almost every day; it was most certainly for my hurting relatives. It was also for me - an awesome experience and a powerful message that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. But now, right now, it is for someone who is reading this. Blessings to you today.
Love,
Tena

Nashville Here We Come!

2007-08-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

Hey!
I am so excited that in exactly 11 days I am going with a bunch of my friends, not all of them but a bunch of them, to Nashville to hear Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer & Kay Arthur. Now... I am not a big bus rider. Get rather sick on them, so I will have to sit up front but when you get to hear all 3 of them in one week - I think I can do the bus! My roomies for the trip will be Candice & Lori - the only problem with that is that they are non-coffee drinkers!!! Can you believe it? How did I get mixed up with them? Oh well...guess I will just have to run off down to Terra & Bonnie & Patty's room to have some like-minded people around me. Now honestly... can you believe there are actually people at our age who do not like coffee? Candice is our age now..she turned 40 this year!! :) Anyway....they like, of all things to drink a cold "diet" coke in the mornings, well.. at least they they get there caffeine in some how or another!

For all of you who are going with us- can't wait to see you on the 7th. For all of you who are not, please keep us in your prayers and we'll get together when we get back and share with you all we have heard and learned.

EXpresso to You today!