365 Days of Service

Day 308 - April 21

I logged in to “Church Online” today at LifeChurch.tv. They recently changed the name from the Internet Campus (which is where I started this LifeChurch.tv journey, as the campus administrator) to Church Online. I don’t really care what they want to call it, I’m still so amazed at the stories and the miraculous things happening all over the world when people discover it. I’ve been serving as a part of the online prayer team and I didn’t have any live requests today. I have been praying over the requests we get throughout the week, and I took a few minutes to lift those people up to God today. I’d also recently been told the story of a former mob member in Ireland who recently discovered church online and was radically changing his life - even returning to face attempted murder charges against him. Amazing what God can do. I can’t wait to hear the end of this guy’s story - or the beginning, whatever God has planned.

As always, we attended LifeGroup tonight, and before we arrived, I was already getting text messages about bringing our leftover birthday cake! It was hilarious. But we wanted to share the rest because we knew we’d eat it if we didn’t. You can’t beat a mint-chocolate chip ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins. So good.

Day 307 - April 20

This morning arrived like a giant three-headed monster. I was so tired and felt like I had a birthday “hangover”. We didn’t drink any adult beverages, however, so it was a good sign we’d just had a ton of fun. I had some things to deliver to Mercy Ministry tonight, so I headed that way. There is a group of people that come on the third Monday - and the group is HUGE - so I just helped with clothing, straightening the racks and getting things hung up. I was so tired after working all day that as soon as I got home and we ate dinner, I was ready for bed. What a great start to a week after my birthday party. It’s nice to be “30″. Weird to say it, but nice.

Day 306 - April 19

I turned 30 today and we threw a big party for all of our closest friends. It was so much fun. I’d prepared all week buying toys, candy and pinatas - can you tell I’m just a big kid? I didn’t have many really fantastic birthdays as a kid. And anyone who is paying attention would notice that April 19th isn’t exactly a great day to have a celebration, even less so when you’re living in Oklahoma City. However, despite the day and the memories, I wanted to actually celebrate a great day and the ginormous miracle that I made it to 30! Trust me, it’s a miracle. I either should have died of pneumonia or a staph infection by now. I’ve tried several times. God must have something HUGE planned for the next year, at the very least.

Anyway, I served my friends today and it was totally worth it. When I have a chance I will post some pictures of the party, but I’ve hardly had time to get them off the camera. My mom is awesome and sent me some beautiful charms for my charm bracelet. One of them was my birthstone, one a cross and the other a “365″ charm. Perfect for honoring the occasion and this past incredible year. I’d love to have a year like this worthy of a charm every year, but I know God has big plans, so I will wait and see what He does. I think it will probably all be charm-worthy! Thanks to everyone who came to the party, and brought their kiddos to play with us, and wished me the best birthday I’ve ever had!

Day 305 - April 18

I ran a ton of errands today for the party we’re throwing on Sunday, so I made sure to say hi and smile and said “Have a great day” to all of the people I interacted with at the checkout stands. Hopefully it brightened their day to talk to someone in a good mood!

Day 304 - April 17

We went out for dinner for a friend’s birthday tonight and bought his family dinner. It was a really fun night getting to know others a little better and just enjoy some great food. We went to a Japanese steak house and watched the chef do all kinds of fancy tricks with hot oil. It’s amazing that can be so entertaining!

Day 303 - April 16

I shopped for a book for Azriel tonight, the young lady that has befriended me at Switch. I love that she’s asking searching questions and isn’t afraid to admit that she doesn’t really get it. I’m blessed by the challenge and the opportunity to try to help find answers.

Day 302 - April 15

Served at Switch tonight with Ryan. I had another great chat with my new friend, Azriel. We talked through some pretty tough questions for an adult - I’m doing my best to help explain things for her. I am going to look for a book that will help us both.

Day 301 - April 14

I served at the Internet Campus during lunch today - and I didn’t have a single request for prayer. It was odd because I usually have 2 or 3. That’s okay, I know God was using other volunteers today. I prayed for the experience and the people who might get to know Christ for the first time.

Day 300 -  April 13 (YAY! 300 DAYS!)

Drove down to Mercy Ministry to deliver a printer toner for the office and to drop off a special surprise for Rosa. I was hoping it would make her day and her week a little easier.

Day 299 -  April 12

Happy Easter! Ryan and I spent the day serving in LifeKIDS today. I had 3 consecutive experiences: one in the toddler room, one with the two-year-olds and the last one with the babies. It was a lot of fun. I was exhausted, though, and reminded once again how hard it must be to be a parent. Especially without a bunch of volunteers there to help!

Day 298 -  April 11

Called my brother to wish him a happy 36th birthday. Wow, I can’t believe how much our family has changed in the last 30 years! It’s awesome to see God’s goodness among the tragedy and the hardships. I’m so blessed by an amazing and loving family! I also celebrated Easter with Ryan today serving in LifeKIDS at the Edmond Campus of LifeChurch.tv. What an amazing Easter weekend!

Day 297 -  April 10

Kicked off the Easter weekend serving with Ryan at the Edmond Campus of LifeChurch.tv. I spent the evening holding little babies. Not a bad way to serve!

Day 296 -  April 9

I can’t remember anything else, but I do know that I spotted a Twitter update from a friend about a friend, and visited this site to vote for her non-profit: http://www.matchstic.com/onthehouse/ “Myles Apart”. There is a contest running for one lucky non-profit to have their expenses paid! How sweet is that?

Day 295 -  April 8

Ryan and I served together at Switch tonight, our Youth experience at LifeChurch.tv. I’ve been unable to go because of bad allergies and headaches, so it was nice to be able to get back there tonight. I met with a young girl, Azriel, who was asking all kinds of great questions. I was able to help her feel at least a little better about what she is going through, and that felt really good. I hope I’m able to continue to help other kids with the wisdom God has given me - what I’ve learned so far, anyway.

Day 294 -  April 7

Celebrated Passover with friends of ours’ in our LifeGroup tonight. What an amazing experience. If you haven’t attended a Seder meal, I highly recommend it to everyone. It is very symbolic and educational about the history of the Bible, the life of Jesus, and the Christian faith. It was Ryan’s first experience and I think it really changed his perspective.

I served at the Internet Campus earlier during lunchtime and was able to pray with and speak with a young woman going through some relationship issues. I hope I was able to offer her some places to look for answers in our messages online: http://www.lifechurch.tv/message-archive. I’m not nearly as good a speaker as Craig Groeschel (haha) and I let them to straight to the source to hear some truth. I hope she gets some direction for her life.

Day 293 -  April 6

I spent some time at Mercy Ministry tonight hanging up clothing and sorting through bags of donations. It’s amazing to see what people will bring - and often hilarious. I’ve been trying to straighten the things on the hanging racks and cleaning off empty hangers. I know other people must keep up with it too, but it’s good to make sure the place looks nice before the week begins on Tuesday.

Day 292 -  April 5

I’d baked a cake earlier and we can never eat all of it - and we shouldn’t! So I delivered a few pieces to the neighbors and got to see them get excited again. It’s so much fun taking sweets next door. Hopefully I’m not messing up their blood sugar levels or anything!

Day 291 -  Apr 4

Discovered this very cool foundation through Air 1: http://annashousefoundation.org/default.aspx. They were having a fundraiser to gather Easter baskets for foster kids on Oklahoma City today. I ran to Hobby Lobby to pick out goodies for an Easter basket and delivered it to them. I hope the message of Easter, as well as the goodies in the basket, bless that kiddo.

Day 290 -  Apr 3

I’m writing a quick post about something, obviously, I am very passionate about: Serving! Today kicks off the worldwide initiative called “Servolution” that is being sponsored by Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Read more about Servolution here and get involved!!

I invited a friend over to watch movies and sit on the couch with me. She had to work, so she couldn’t make it, but Ryan decided to come home for the evening. I made us dinner and baked a cake and I am pretty sure I’ll be delivering some to the neighbors to share!

Day 289 -  Apr 2

I’ve been sick all week this week, and Ryan has been a trooper. He’s been to the store to buy soup, bananas and gatorade and he’s been helping around the house. Under normal circumstances, he might have also been able to take me to my doctor’s appointment today, but we are sharing one car these days, and he had to be at work. Our friend offered to help me get to and from the doctor’s appointment and I took her up on the offer. I was having a procedure done on my nose to help with incessant nosebleeds, and it is not a fun procedure. I was in tears and a lot of pain when I walked out of the office, and she smiled and said she was sorry I was in so much pain and offered to get me a cold drink. Amazing! God has put such wonderful people in our lives in Oklahoma and I wanted to express my gratitude for them. I said a lot of thank you’s and sat down and wrote her a thank you note today.

Day 288 -  Apr 1

It happened again for the second time this week. I was completely laid up today due to a massive sinus infection. I hardly even knew the day came and went, and it gets worse because tomorrow I have an appointment to have a procedure performed on my nose. It will be horrible and painful, and I’m already convinced the day will be another wipe on the service front. God will grant me the strength to make these days up this weekend!

Day 287 -  Mar 31

Today was Brian’s last day on our team at LifeChurch.tv. It was a bittersweet ending to a 1 1/2 year working relationship that was very productive and rewarding. Brian decided that God was calling him to start a church in Perry Oklahoma and he’s started that journey this week. I can’t wait to see all God does through him, his family and this new ministry in Perry. Ryan and I took Brian out to lunch to commemorate the great success we’ve had as a team and to wish him the best on his new adventure. Brian, you will be missed!

Day 288 - Mar 30

Today might have been a complete failure to serve. Unfortunately I woke up sick and had to pass up TWO opportunities to serve, one at Mercy Ministry and the other at our beloved Internet Campus. I needed a nap. I’m fairly certain that after my nap, however, I still managed to cook Ryan a dinner of french toast, as he requested. I’ll say that’s a pretty good attepmt at serving my husband.