Brook's Wedding

My little girls had the honor to be the flower girls for our dear friends, Joe & Rachel.  The girls just love their Uncle "Puff Head" Joe. It was so sweet for Joe to ask my Beloved for permission to have our girls in their wedding.  Joe and Rachel are such a sweet couple. 

We've known Joe for a few years now and serve along side him in the Youth Ministry.  We've known Rachel since she was a young child. In fact my Beloved and I used to watch her and her sisters once a month so their parents could go out on a date.  That was so many years ago!

My beloved and I had the priviledge to watch both Joe & Rachel grow up in our Youth Ministry. It's really amazing to see God do His work in their lives.  I'm thankful that we were able to be a part of it.

Congratulations to the Mr. & Mrs.!  We love you guys!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

(BTW, thanks to Jean, I was introduced to Smilebox. It's really cool!)

Trash to Treasure - UPDATE

Hi everyone. I just wanted to give you an update from the yard sale we had 3 weeks ago. LOL, I'm so late in posting.

My Beloved and I prayed that God would allow the yard sale to be successful and He did. God allowed us to raise some extra cash. I won't go into detail about how much but let's just say it's....more than what we expected.

We had so much help from my Nana, Cheston, Star and Cindy. Thanks so much guys for helping us out!

God's Googly Part 2

In the game of cricket a "googly" is a pitch which is thrown with baseball's "curveball" grip.

I first heard this term while visiting our sister church, The Cornerstone Bible Church in Natomas. It was such a sweet time of worship and fellowship there. Even though it was our first time visiting, it felt like home.

God allowed us to sit under Nick's preaching that morning. The title of his sermon, "Trusting Christ when Life gets Confusing - Part 1", his text John 13:18-30. I won't go into full detail but the meat of the sermon was to stay trusting in God, when you're given "curveballs" or "googlies" in your life. You may have a plan for your life to go one way, then God allows something else to happen that directs your path somewhere else. Often, we're not content with just knowing God has a plan for us. We want to know what that plan is and we want to know it now. God does not give us anything we cannot bear (1 Cor. 10:13), so is it possible that He doesn't reveal His plans for our lives because we can't handle it? Sure! God protects us from what we can't handle. I praise Him for that.

I can go on but it's probably best to visit their website and hear Nick for yourself. I'm sure you'll be encouraged too.

I'm so glad we were able to visit them. We were so blessed to be there. I hope God would allow us to visit again. Let's not forget to lift these brothers and sisters up to the Lord. If you're reading this, let's take some time right now to ask God to bless their ministry. I'll be praying with with you.

Battle of the Bands

Every summer our youth ministry hosts a Summer Camp for Junior High and High School students. For at least 8 years now (probably more), other churches from different cities join us. We've met some great brothers and sisters in the Lord this way.

I'd have to say, this is the highlight for our youth ministry. We get to spend a whole week hearing from the Bible, fellowshiping with other believers, enjoy some super fun games, build relationships with new people and draw closer to the Lord without the everyday distractions of life. What REALLY makes this week worth all the months of preparation and labor is to witness a young adult give their life over to our loving Savior!

God granted me the priveledge to witness a young lady who started off the week as one who's life is on the path to eternal seperation from God, to one who will inherit the Kingdom of God. Her original intention was to go to summer camp for the fun experience. Little did she, or anyone else, know that God had other plans for her soul. As she sat there in the chapel, listening to another student give her testimony, she couldn't help but to think of the sin that separated her from God and the freedom she has in Christ. After our discussion group time, we sat outside and talked more about the Gospel. With tears of joy streaming down her face, she prayed her first prayer as a child of God. I'll never forget her words, "Lord, please don't ever leave me! Please!"

PRAISE GOD! This is what our ministry is all about. I'm not just talking about the youth ministry, I'm talking about the ministry that God has given all His people. He's given us a command to go out and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). May we never lose sight of our purpose here on earth.

Mark Munoz's WEC Debut

Mark Munoz is a familiar name in our city. He's a wrestling champ, a coach, a husband, a father and now he's an MMA fighter but to me, he'll always be like a little brother. We weren't able to go to his WEC debut this past Sunday but here's the video clip of his fight (parental discretion advised). We're proud of you Mark! Praise God for your victory!

I love the way he says "Hi" to his mom during the interview. That's so Mark!