Jesus be the Center

It's been years since I've written on my blog but I have something on my heart and must share it! 

For the past week or so I've felt this urgency. Holy Spirit has been speaking to me through any means possible to get my attention. Everywhere I go, every message I hear, every song I listen to has bombarded me with the same words regarding my precious Savior. 

I recently went to hear Jentezen Franklin and John Bevere speak in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I enjoyed their messages and learned great teaching from them. While I sat and listened to them preach from the Word I was actually hearing another message from the Spirit. It was loud and clear to me what He was saying to me: Let Jesus take His throne. 

I tried to ignore it. I thought "Jesus IS on the throne," so why am I hearing this? I kept sensing it again and again. Every scripture I read and every song I heard kept reminding me of what the Spirit was saying: Let Jesus take His throne. After days of this being on my mind and heart I gave in and asked the Lord why I couldn't shake this. It was then I knew it wasn't just for me. It was for me, my husband, my church, my friends and their churches...maybe all of Oklahoma...maybe even the country too.

I felt that the Spirit was telling me that in my life I wasn't allowing Jesus to take is rightful place. Ouch.

He so desperately wants our selfish selves to allow Him to reign in our lives. How often do we look to our own abilities to handle our situations in work, school, and church without His help? All the time. He is often our last resort when we need help. I'm guilty of it, and I'm assuming you are too. He wants to remind us that He is in everything and is willing to help...if we allow Him to. John 16:24 reminds us of our need to ask our Heavenly Father for all our needs and desires: "Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full." Ask! He will have first place in your life if you ASK Him to be. If you allow Him to, He will! 

I believe this word is for the church too. Jesus should and always be the main event in church services. Thanks to the Holy Spirit, the essence of Christ on earth, our Lord and Savior is with us! Let's welcome Him to our Sunday morning services, our Wednesday night Bible studies, and small groups. Although the physical body of Christ cannot be present with us, His mighty Spirit can! Jesus was sent to reveal God and His grace to the world, and the Spirit was sent to reveal Jesus (John 16:12-15). If we welcome the Holy Spirit into our services and allow Him to reign, people can be set free! "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." I encourage everyone to welcome the Spirit of truth into their life and their church. He is Christ with us! 

I had the opportunity to lead Israel Houghton's song Jesus at the Center on Sunday in church. The song is a perfect prayer for the body of Christ today. Before the song I was able read a scripture that summarizes what I've been feeling. Colossians 1:17-20 states "He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross..." After I read the scripture I invited Jesus to take his throne in the church and in our hearts. He did. The Spirit of God showed up. He is the first place in everything! Let's allow Him to do that! 

I learned that when we invite Jesus to reign, He honors our requests when we let him rule in power. We ask, we receive! He is so faithful. When we honor Him, He honors our petitions! Hallelujah! 

I know that letting Jesus take His throne in my life will be a daily request. I must invite Him into everything I do, big or small. I believe that if we invite Him to reign in our lives daily, our perspective will change, our situations will change, and our attitudes will change. I don't know about you, but I need all of those things to change! I will invite the Spirit of Christ to reign so that freedom is present!

Sing it with me: From my heart to the heavens, Jesus be the center! It's all about You, it's all about You!

Jesus, take Your throne! 

Words.....

So, it's been awhile, blogger friends. I truly apologize for my truancy. It's been an odd couple of months and it has kept me from doing what I love to do most: blog!

Since I've been struggling with how to sum up all my happenings into an intriguing little blog, I figured I'd just put random facts about what I've been up to. Ready for this? It's going to be great, I just know it. If it's not, I'll surely use that lovely little "bksp" button.

1. I was "laid off" of my job.
2. I saw 6 racoons run up a tree in front of my house.
3. I've swept my floors a total of three times since my last post.
4. My brake pads were changed on my car.
5. Project Runway is my new personal favorite reality show.
6. I was in my friend's outdoor wedding.....while it rained.
7. I firmly believe Bobby Flay is the anti-Christ. (Sorry, Obama....it was a toss up.)
8. I've consumed way too many Tostino's Party Pizzas.
9. My niece Kennedy turned 1!
10. I'm not single, nor am I engaged or married. So, make your own conclusions.
11. Unemployment Benefits rock!
12. I went in a casino for the first time a month ago. No, I didn't gamble....just sat amoungst the smoke and booze. Oh, and heard an amazing band called The Effects. (<---some cools dudes!)
13. Read the Twilight Series in a week. My opinion: Eh....
14. I sat through a 7 hour unemployment seminar. I learned nothing.
15. I used a George Foreman Grill: the lean mean, fat reducing, grilling machine!
16. Killed a plant I bought from Wal-Mart in a matter of 2 days.
17. Planted some seeds I bought from Target and they're sprouting. Suck on that, Wal-Mart!
18. I've been on 3 interviews that seemed hopeful.....
19. I'm jobless.
20. I should of used the "bksp" button. Right?!

My Journey to the Center of the UNIVERSE!

Yes, I have been to the Center of the Universe! It's right here....in Oklahoma! Can't believe it?! Well....I'm telling you, you should believe it!

I had heard a few years ago that there was this place in Downtown Tulsa where strange happenings occur. I was sceptical, of course, thinking that my friend who told me about the location was inebriated at the time they had visited. Still yet, it intrigued me.

This past weekend, I finally went out on a limb and ventured to find this "mystical" place. One evening after a sufficient dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse (why is it a warehouse?!), my boyfriend and I drove a few blocks over and found the footbridge over the railroad tracks. As we approached the bridge, we could see a few people sitting around, playing guitars, singing, and another couple admiring a large art-deco statue on the other side of the "universe."

We came to the top of the bridge, and went right past the main focal point of this location to see what the large statue was. There was a man standing directly under the object banging on it. Immediately I thought "He's a pshyco. Get my boyfriend away from him. Let's run!" Of course, boys don't have the same thoughts that girls get in those situations so he started to talk to the creeper. Eventually, we find out that the stoned guy thinks there is a "god" or "spirit" inside the tall statue and that anyone can summon it or feel it by ringing the large "door knocker" type handle on the base of the piece. The man proceeds to bang on the metal statue and say things like "Did you feel that?" and "I already hit it once....with my head." No joke. You can't make this stuff up.

So, after pulling away from all the excitement at the statue, we finally took a chance and stood in the "Center of the Universe" to see if it was what everyone said it would be. I stood in the center (which is just a manhole cover, basically) first and was told to say something...and just wait. So, I started talking, but didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Then, my boyfriend gave it a try and his face lit up. He said "Weird!" and I honestly thought he was pulling my leg because when I was standing in the supposed Center, I felt no different than outside the circle of bricks. He told me to try it again. So, I stood there, on a bridge in downtown Tulsa, on a manhole cover, talking to myself. Now who was the pshyco?

Then, I heard it....I heard what everyone was raving about....the echo of my own voice in my ears. What's so spectacular about this echo is that it's only audible to the person standing in this one spot on the bridge. And, no one outside the center can hear your echo. They can hear you talk, but cannot hear the supernatural echo. People say that the echo that is created is a mystery......no building is close enough to create the echo, and there isn't some dome to create it either. It's a mystery.....but, a very cool mystery.

After years of wondering about this unexplainable phenomena in Tulsa, I've finally discovered it. It's just odd enough to be interesting....and a fun date night adventure. It's free, open 24/7, and something you can't experience anywhere else.....well, unless you're the stoned man by the statue. I'm sure he experiences things like this all the time.

Father's Day Fuss

Father's Day. A day to honor the man who brought you into this world.....and, the same man that always said "I can take you out of this world too!" when you disobeyed. This year for Father's Day, I was the one that could have very well taken my father out of this world.

Yup, it's another wild story, so sit back, relax and read....

Father's Day rolled around and I never could quite find the right gift to give to my Dad. So, when we all started to gather, I felt terrible for coming empty-handed. Plus, that day was the day I had to say my goodbyes to my family before I left town for 7 weeks. Another double whammy, if you ask me.

I arrived to the party (mind you, it was just my father, my sister, her newborn, and me at this point) a little bit early. We were talking and sitting around enjoying the lazy Sunday afternoon (Don't you just love it when the evening service at church is cancelled for a holiday??! I sure do!). My father, laid down on the floor in the living room to stretch out and catch a cat nap before he had to grill the burgers. Aren't we great kids? We make our father cook the food on his own holiday! Wait, it gets better.....

So, as we're sitting there, I randomly pick up a ballpoint pen on the end table next to the recliner. I get this urge to just toss it at my Dad to wake him from his slumber. I didn't chunk the pen across the room, I just tossed it towards him. As he's facing away from me, I see the pen land in his general direction. All of a sudden, he jerks awake and says "I think I'm bleeding! What was that??!!!" From there, my heart sank. The next thing I know, he's holding his hand over his eye and running towards the bathroom. He shuts the door so me and my sister couldn't disturb him as he assessed the damage. My sister gave me the "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!!!!" stare and guilt trip for the next few seconds as we waited patiently.

When he returned to the kitchen, he was still holding his hand over his eye and making a weird moaning noise. He sounded like it was really painful, folks. My heart, of course, skipped a beat or two. He went over to the kitchen sink to grab a glass of water and then immediately wanted to sit on the kitchen floor next to an air conditioning vent. My sister and I looked on in wonderment what was wrong. We asked to see his eye and he refused, saying it was bleeding. From there, I apologized, he forgave and said to just let him sit for a little while. He removed his hand and there is was.....in ALL its glory....a blooding eye. There wasn't a single piece of white on his eye anymore. It was all RED! I gasped and wanted to cry. I had injured my father on FATHER'S DAY for Pete's Sake!!!! And, I didn't bring a gift!

After our reactions, I guess our reactions made my father worry. At one point he was talking and telling us it was okay, the next- he's passing out into my arms. My sister grabs the phone and calls our neighbor in hysterics. As she's crying and pleading with someone to come help, I'm praying and holding Dad off the floor. I keep talking to him, trying to muster some type of reaction from him. I position myself to where I can look him in the eyes and even though I don't want to see the damage to his left eye, I have to make sure he's okay. I keep shaking him and calling out, hoping to hear him speak. I remember putting my hand over his chest to feel his heart and to feel the air in his lungs....I almost lost it, thinking about if he would stop breathing or have a heart attack. It was scary. Melissa was still freaking out in the living room as I yell at Dad to wake up. She's a wimp, she wouldn't have been able to support an almost 200 lb. man who was dead weight. So, I did it....plus, it was my fault. (And, I didn't bring him a Father's Day gift.)

After a few minutes of pleading and praying, I hear him make a noise like he was going to vomit. As I'm leaning on him to keep him up, I reach for the trash can so he can use it if he needs it. Mind you, he's still not really conscious, so I'm not sure why I thought he could aim if he wanted to throw-up in the first place. I was in the moment, folks. I wasn't thinking straight! So, as I pull the trash can towards him, it spills, dumping coffee grounds all over the floor and him. Because of my predicament, I couldn't deal with the mess and just kept holding on to Dad.

After several LONG minutes, he came to, asking us what had happened. We told him what had happened and that we were taking him to the hospital immediately. He wanted a few minutes to collect himself and to figure out what had happened. He sat there, on the kitchen floor, just waiting until he felt better. Then, he looked down and then looked at me and goes "Where did the coffee grounds come from?" and I just busted up laughing. It was such a long story to tell.

Long story short, my father was okay. I tossed a pen at him, it got him right in the eye, and he blacked out from shock. The doctor's told him he would be fine after a specialist looked at the damage. After he emerged from the ER- with a pirate patch and all- he sat down next to me and goes "Are you okay?" and I just felt like crying. In all this, he was concerned about me the most.

It's funny how things like this bring people closer together. We have this special bond now....and it's sad that it took a pen to the eye to get it. For his birthday I bought a package of pens and wrote, "You better keep an eye out....I'm dangerous!" on the front. He thought it was the greatest gift he'd ever received.

So, the moral to this story? Ummm, hello??!!!! Don't spill coffee grounds on the unconscious.

When Cook-Outs Go Bad!

I had a cookout. It was planned to be a nice, lovely, relaxing, outdoor cookout on a beautiful Saturday evening. It started great....

The guests started to arrive as we finished prepping the burgers and sides. We conned our friend into grilling the hamburgers because we didn't want to risk burning or ruining them. So, once we stepped outside to light up the grill, we realized it was way to windy to grill on the deck. The boys decided it was best to move the grill to a less-windy location- by a large dumpster. Yum.

They decided to light up the grill and let it heat up a bit while they played a little game of catch with a football. Of course, us girls went inside while they played around like toddlers. When we decided to emerge from the house and join the boys outside, here is what we saw:

John darting to his truck and flinging the passenger door open and Lucas hobbling around the truck to get in the passenger's side. Then Josh comes around the corner with the football and a pair of white flip-flops in his hands. He proceeds to tell us "They're going to the hospital."

At that sentence, I look across the yard to see why Lucas is jumping around instead of walking normally....and there it was in all its glory, his left big toe hanging off of his foot!

My first reaction was to grab a towel and make sure he was okay. The boys' first reaction was to just jump in the truck and speed off. (If that doesn't prove that men and women are vastly different, I don't know what will.)

After they were down the highway, Josh decided to fill us in on what happened. He said that he was throwing a pass to John and Lucas and somehow, Lucas' toe got jammed or trapped under or near John's foot. Keep in mind that John is wearing tennis shoes and Lucas is wearing nothing since he kicked off his flip-flops. After the incident, Lucas calmly states "Johnny, I think I broke my toe." I'm a little sketchy on the details but I think it was played off like Lucas was joking and to prove to John and Josh that he was serious, he stuck his toe up in the air to show them what had happened. From there, they bolted to the truck to make a quick trip to the ER.

So, there we were, watching the tail lights of John's truck as 2 of our 5 guests left. I told Josh he could go home but he wanted to stay, saying "They'll be back....it won't take that long." I'm so glad he had that confidence in their return.

More of our guests began to arrive and as they did, we told them the gruesome details. Some were grossed out, others were aggravated that they missed out on all the action. And, for those suckers that didn't come to my cookout, I rubbed it in their faces that they missed a free dinner AND a show.

After a few hours of waiting, the news comes in that Lucas' toe wasn't broken, but it was just a compound dislocation. It was the sickest dislocation I've ever seen. The doctor's popped it all back into place and stitched it all up. From there, he hobbled on home.

Take a peek at the pictures if you dare! It's pretty wicked looking. Lucas' dad snapped these photos in the ER.

Like with every blog, I have to add a moral to this story- Don't play outdoors without shoes on. Next time I recommend steel-toed boots. (That means you, Lucas).

ROAD TRIP!!

No, this isn't about that Disney movie "College Road Trip". It's about something I did last weekend that I thought I’d never do. No, it wasn’t being abducted by aliens…I booked a room at a resort, picked up a very good friend of mine and drove into the sunset…..of Branson, Missouri.

I love road trips. I love the feeling of having the entire road in front of me and to have all the options to choose from. There is some feeling of accomplishment I get when I take a trip to a place I’ve never ventured into without parental control. So, last weekend in Branson liberated me into the world of adult living.

What did we do in Branson, you ask? Here’s what we did:

First off, we explored our lovely room at the Falls Village Resort. The accommodations were great and the staff extremely friendly. We arrived at the resort a little after midnight and when we walked in, the desk clerk sarcastically asked us if we were out having cocktails. We laughed, knowing that the Coke Icee’s we got from The BK Lounge (That’s Burger King for all of you that haven’t been awakened by Dane Cook) was the closest thing to a cocktail we’d had all night.

We visited the Branson Landing and shopped our hearts out. We also discovered that the lamp posts at the Landing are magical. They not only supply brilliant light in the extreme darkness, but they play music. As we were walking past a lamp post, I heard a familiar tune (The Fray’s “How To Save A Life”) and stopped to find where the melodies were coming from. We found it all right….coming out of a speaker at the bottom of the street lamps. From that point on, we declared that Branson is a town of magic….magic lamp posts, that is.

We went to see “Made of Honor” at the IMAX theater. There were very few other patrons watching the film considering the newness of the flick. We enjoyed the “matinee” discount since we went to see it at 4:30 in the afternoon….on a Sunday. We even ate at a 50’s diner. We channeled our senior citizen side for those adventures.

We also had a blast finding our inner child. The resort had an array of activities for us to take part in. Our first stop was to the swing set. We were easily amused and had a fun time swinging. When I decided to jump out of the swing into the sand, I realized that I wasn’t as young as I used to be. I landed on my foot weird and the next day when I got home, my shin was hurting and my ankle swollen. 15 years ago I would have been able to walk away from that uninjured…..and, I would have been five 15 years ago too.

We enjoyed a game of putt-putt golf. By the 6th hole we were already bored and decided to make it a race. So, we ran thru the rest of the course, bumping into one another, kicking the opponent’s golf ball out of the way and cheating our way to the next hole. It was fun and was the fastest game of putt-putt I’ve ever been involved in. Then we found the basketball court and tried to shoot some hoops. I think we managed a few baskets then tired of the losing streak and gave up.

The next stop was to the Jacuzzi tub. That was fun. We poured in the body wash and the bubbles came in abundance. After being up to our eyes in bubbles (no lie) we decided to get out before we literally became prunes. From then on, we watched a lot of HGTV and Food Network. Ace of Cakes in an amazing show, by the way. All I have to say about the Food Network is that there is some kind of conspiracy going on. Bobby Flay is everywhere these days! On every show and every commercial there is a random image of Bobby Flay….he’s everywhere! We realized that this past weekend in Branson.

All in all, my get-away was wonderful. There were a few minor issues such as the hot water running out after the Jacuzzi tub was filled and our pesky neighbors above us….(I’m not going to elaborate…I’m sure you can guess what I’m talking about.)

Moral to the story- there’s not one. Wait, I got one: Bobby Flay is the devil and is on the Food Network to gain control of every show on earth. Just you wait and see…

Wade in the Water!

Raise your hand if you ever had a story to tell and weren't sure how to go about telling it? Raise it again if you've ever been too embarrassed to tattle about something stupid you've done? First off, if you're raising your hand, you're stupid. Secondly, if you've ever driven into a large ditch full of water, that constitutes as clinical stupidity.

You're probably wondering what happened, right? To be honest, so am I. Here's what went down on one cold and very wet Wednesday night in April.

The rain came down, the creeks overfloweth.

That's how it all started. Massive thunderstorms swept through the neighborhood, causing every ditch and low-land to fill with standing (and sometimes moving) water. It was like any other normal day of torrential downpour. It sucked.

My housemate and I were just following the road like we normally do. We were abiding every traffic law out there. Then there was this piece of debris in the road, which we went around to avoid hitting. The petulant piece of wood was sitting in a few inches of water that was covering the dark road. After we passed it, we kept on our merry way until we ended up in a lake of a ditch.

How did that happen, you ask? I'll tell you, my friend. The water camouflaged itself into a dark shiny road. It was beautiful...until we drove into it and found out it wasn't a road at all. There we were, driving into a large puddle of water that looked like the shiny blacktop. As my housemate realized that she just drove her car into a ditch, we started to panic. We tried to drive out but we ultimately lodged ourselves in deeper. So, we called the people we knew we could count on to get us out: A lawn-care specialist, a youth pastor, and a Capitol One call representative; the modern day heroes of our time.

They bustled out of the dry home to help us. And, do you want to know the first thing they did when they saw us in the water-logged ditch? That's right, they laughed. They stood there, laughing....at us...while we sat in the car...as it sat in a puddle the size of a small pond. As they arrived and surveyed the damage, we started to notice that the floorboards were getting soggy. That's not what you want to see when you're stuck, folks. I repeat, you do not want to see the floor mat's rising as the water does.

After a few minutes of them pushing on the car...with us watching from inside the deathtrap...we decided to bail out. Libby goes through the window, I open my door and step into the frigid waters. Seriously, this is freezing, muddy, and cloudy water. I kept thinking, "What's living in these waters?" As soon as I made my way around the car, one song...and only one song...was going through my mind.

WADE IN THE WATER! WADE IN THE WATER CHILDREN....WADE IN THE WATER! GOD'S GONNA TROUBLE THE WATERS!

And, He sure did.

Finally, we pushed and pushed on the car enough to dislodge it from the swamp-like graveyard. As soon as it was on dry ground, the car drained all the water that had made it's way inside. Of course, there wasn't any way to drive it home under those conditions, so we piled into someones truck for the journey home, leaving Libby's poor car on the side of the road, wet and all alone.

What's the moral of this story? Honestly, I can't tell you or even make up a good one. All I know is that water is deceptive and scary. It purposely made it's self look like a road so we'd drive into it. That's my point to this whole blog. Water isn't your friend....especially if it's flowing over a road or standing in a ditch.

I just thought I'd let you all know....Beware of the water. It's out to get you.