I'm looking forward to going again to a mission trip this summer. My first choice is Hongkong, second is Thailand, third is Panama. I'm already excited to what God has in store for me, to what God is gonna do through me :D.

Hey, maybe you want to go? here's a link for more information...

Our visiting pastor will be leaving to go back to the Philippines tomorrow. He will be missed, he's taught us a lot of things, he has challenged us to live for God and to reach out to the people who needs hope in their lives. Yes we've been having visiting pastors for 4 months now, our senior pastor is still in the Philippines to take care of the congregation there, and he will be ordained as a bushop this weekend. He will be back March 11. We miss him, we can't wait to see him, and I bet he can't wait to see us too :)

I'm reading John C. Maxwell's Developing the Leader Within You It's pretty cool! He defines Leadership as influence. He says at some point, everyone influences someone. All of us are leading in some areas, while in other areas we are being led, and I agree!

He made some points too in the introduction of the book...

- Knowing how to do a job is the accomplishment of labor.
- Showing others is the accomplishment of a teacher.
- Making sure the work is done by others is the accomplishment of a manager.
- Inspiring others to do better is the accomplishment of a leader.

See the difference between a leader and a manager? I never thought of it before! Am I slow? :p

That's it for now, will share some more.

God Bless!

The room grew still
As she made her way to Jesus
She stumbled through the tears
That made her blind
She felt such pain
Some spoke in anger
Heard folks whisper
There's no place here for her kind

Still on she came
Through the shame that flushed her face
Until at last she knelt before his feet
And though she spoke no word
Everything she said was heard
As she poured her love for the master
From her box of Alabaster

Chorus
And I've come to pour
My praise on Him like oil
From Mary's Alabaster Box
Don't be angry if I wash His feet with my tears
And I dry them with my hair
You weren't there the night He found me
You did not feel what I felt
When He wrapped His loving arms around me
And you don't know the cost
Of the oil in my Alabaster box

I can't forget the way life used to be
I was a prisoner to the sin that had me bound
And I spent my days
Poured my life without measure
Into a little treasure box
I thought I found
Until the day when Jesus came to me
And healed my soul with the wonder of His touch

So now I'm giving back to Him
All the praise He's worthy of
I've been forgiven and that's why
I love Him so much


"Alabaster Box" by Cece Winans, I sang this song yesterday at the Worship Service, I love this song and they loved it too. Giving our very best to our Master, Savior, Friend, Comforter.

Yay!!!!!!! My blog is up and running! How are you all doing? I had a good day, got my car oil changed, went to Wal-Mart to get a flapper for the toilet :p, went to Family Christian Stores and I got me a really small bible New American Standard Bible version so I can take it anywhere without hurting my back :p, I got me a John C. Maxwell book, Developing the Leader Within You, I got a bible for my brother, with a tin-can cover, which is really neat. What else did I do? I went to church for a special prayer meeting for our Pastor, and afterwards my sister and I hang out at our churchmate's house. We were supposed to go to Tampa for the Acquire the Fire Live the Difference Conference but one of my sisters didn't want to go anymore, it's too far to go with just the two of us, my youngest sister, she would just be sleeping on the road. Well, I pray that Acquire the Fire Conference will be back here in Jacksonville so all the young people in our church will be able to go. Yes, they had a conference here last year, it was February too. It was really a renewing experience for the young people. I was really blessed! We all were!

I took a quiz...

I'm 45% freak!! :p

God Bless Y'all!

I know, this is late... but really, I was so pleased with what I heard from the State of the Union Address that Mr. President delivered, January 28, 2003 at 9:01PM ET and ended at 10:08PM ET.

Here are the highlights...


RE: Value of Human Life.

"By caring for children who need mentors, and for addicted men and women who need treatment, we are building a more welcoming society -- a culture that values every life. And in this work we must not overlook the weakest among us. I ask you to protect infants at the very hour of their birth and end the practice of partial-birth abortion. And because no human life should be started or ended as the object of an experiment, I ask you to set a high standard for humanity, and pass a law against all human cloning."


RE: North Korea.

"On the Korean Peninsula, an oppressive regime rules a people living in fear and starvation. Throughout the 1990s, the United States relied on a negotiated framework to keep North Korea from gaining nuclear weapons. We now know that that regime was deceiving the world, and developing those weapons all along. And today the North Korean regime is using its nuclear program to incite fear and seek concessions. America and the world will not be blackmailed."


RE: Iraq.

"And tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding your country -- your enemy is ruling your country. And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation."


Faith!

"Americans are a free people, who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation. The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity.

"We Americans have faith in ourselves, but not in ourselves alone. We do not claim to know all the ways of Providence, yet we can trust in them, placing our confidence in the loving God behind all of life, and all of history.

"May He guide us now. And may God continue to bless the United States of America."



Here is the full text of the State of the Union Address


I'm so blessed to be here in America, I'm so blessed that we have a President like George W. Bush. I have never seen a President who is so passionate about freedom and faith!

Let us continue to lift him up in our prayers.

Everyone! Just want to share this with you all....this was e-mailed to me... by Family Christian Stores

Dear Dona,

I saw today on the news that President Bush has openly asked for prayer. How amazing and wonderful that he would do that. It moved me such that I wanted to share that request with everyone we could and in that light, I hope you don't mind "yet another email."

Mindful of the current situation with Iraq, our President has requested the prayers of those he has been called to lead. On behalf of Family Christian Stores and FamilyChristian.com, I would like to encourage you to take time this evening, or in the days ahead, to gather with your
household in prayer for the leadership of our nation.

President Bush specifically requests prayer for:

- Wisdom for he and his advisors as he considers leading the effort to disarm Saddam in light of the safety of our people and the peace of the world.

- The soldiers who are being deployed to be acutely aware of the value of their training, their honor and the appreciation of the American people. May God's strength, help and protection literally dwell with our troops.

- The leaders of the FBI, the CIA, Homeland Security and the Department of Defense as they follow the President's orders to develop a Terrorist Threat Integration Center that will gather and analyze information about all kinds of threats to America in one place. Pray that God will
guide them in the process of making our nation safe from terrorist threats.

- For our nation, pray that America will realize that it is mightiest when on its knees. May this be the year that America turns back to God.

Thank you for your time and concern. We are grateful that God has placed a man of faith in the White House and we celebrate the freedom we enjoy in America to pray openly. May God continue to bless America.

An American and Brother in Christ,

Dave Browne
President & CEO
Family Christian Stores

I just want to say...

Happy 19th Birthday, My Brother! We love You!


Psalm 139

1 O LORD , you have searched me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD .

5 You hem me in-behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.

19If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD ,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

"The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home."

-President Bush
Address to the Nation, FOXNEWS

Colonel Rick Husband; Lt. Colonel Michael Anderson; Commander Laurel Clark; Captain David Brown; Commander William McCool; Dr. Kalpana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon, a Colonel in the Israeli Air Force.

These are the names of the courageous men and women who lost their lives this 9:00 ET, Feb 1, 2003.

It is so sad, I wonder what's going on in the minds of their families as they wait for their return, then hearing that a tragedy happened :( I feel for them, my heart goes out for them.

With the preparation of the US government for a possible war with Iraq, this tragedy must have been so hard and so painful to deal with for the US. Let us pray for our nations' leaders. Let us pray for President Bush, he needs God's guidance now, more than ever.

For the families who are left by the NASA crew, the heroes, here's a verse for you...

Psalm 56:8

You keep track of all my sorrows.You have collected all my tears in your bottle.You have recorded each one in your book.