Refresh

This morning, church prep time was hard for me. I don't know why but everything seemed bothersome, tiresome, tedious and difficult. I knew I had this annoying THING hanging over my head & everyone could see it. (I don't hide my emotions well - anyone who knows me at all will not be surprised by this.) Going into our pre-service prayer time, I was (in all honesty) dreading service. I didn't really want to do this same program all over again.

But once worship started and I was sincerely praising God & thanking Him for everything He's done for me, then suddenly everything was... okay. I felt so much better. I felt refreshed. The rest of my day was so much better because of the time I spent in God's presence. His refreshing spirit is what got me through the day; yes, even through 5 screaming, fighting, falling toddlers. 

Thank You Lord, for Your Spirit that refreshes the most tired and worn out souls. You never fail.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to go ice a cake :)

Chillin and Cheers

It's nice to be somewhere you know you are welcome. Right now, I'm chillin. Leia's mouth is full of pizza (with some sauce on her cheeks). Samson, John, Troy & Vince are watching in awe as Israel Houghton and Hillsong lead worship at a conference on TV (they'll do that one day). Tee is sitting here with me, Sylvie is working on a church project. Zai zai is playing on the internet (when I was 7, I had no idea how to work a computer...) Ant and Tara are so gracious to open their house to a bunch of kids like us.

Isn't it nice to be somewhere you know you're welcome? Where you can totally be yourself and know you're loved no matter what? Man, I wish every church was like this. People can come in and simply be themselves. Not have to put up a front, not have to pretend that they're happy if they're not, and not have to act like someone they're not. How is our church? Like a close-knit family? Or like a gathering of rival teams?

"Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name."