a sad mermaid, ernie, and some paint...just a normal thursday night

oh thursday nights...they are no longer boring. haha we met up with the team last night and got to say a quick hi to our friend erika - who is in costa rica right now - on skype.
then we ventured down to the dungeon.
and after a very accurate, if not entirely flattering :), description of sarah and i's leadership qualities for the new attendees...(the problem with working with actors, is that they do a REALLY good job of imitating you.......) haha
we broke out the art supplies and paper and had them get comfortable.
we played some music and read some verses and had them do a little reflective arting in a couple different steps...

1) draw a picture of yourself...of how you see yourself
2) write words describing how you see God or who He is to you
3) take some time to think/pray about what God wants from you, where He wants you to go from where you are...then draw it/write about it
4) think/pray about what is holding you back from being where God wants you to be. what do you need to change or give up?
5) write a prayer, asking God to help you get from where you are - to where He wants you.

i didnt take pictures - i will...but they did a really great job with it! we were really impressed, and it was really cool to see what God was showing them and laying on their hearts and then to see how it came out on paper.
so cool, and just loving God's creativity so much :) it was a cool thing – I encourage you to take a half hour sometime this weekend and put your favorite worship music on, get some paint or markers and just go through these steps and see what comes out. :)

then we played one of our favorite improv games...with words on the smallest pieces of paper ever...;)
and we laughed...a lot. its a great game we learned from comedy sportz - where you write random words down and give each person some of them, and give 2 or 3 ppl a scene. Anything – for example… "you are two strangers sitting in a waiting room, both applying for the same job” so then they have to act that out, and as they go, they have to pick up the words and somehow make them work – no matter how random it is.
And usually – it ends up being pretty amazing. Haha
And we ended it with a group scene…acting out our version of American Idol. It was so great.
We heard songs about a sad mermaid…about a boy who changed his name to his dead cats name in memory of him…about cheese…and so much more. Loved it.

So much fun.
We have some more projects coming up that we will be working on and lots of ideas that are wanting some attention. :)

but for now - below is a video of one of the times we played this improv game. :)

i'll set up the scene for you -

3 guys apply to be on a reality tv show to find the love of their lives, but are dropped off in the middle of the jungle with no one around and no idea what to do next...
So we’ll keep you updated as we go!

The Bride part 2

So this past Wednesday night and Sunday morning – The Bride drama was performed.
And after weeks of getting ppl in the roles, getting scripts down (even to the last second), figuring out what will go where, etc…….they did it! and it was SO great. God had me praying over it A LOT. But He was so in charge of it all and it was a really powerful message – both times.
Different groups did each one – for the most part – but they all did amazing. God totally spoke through it. it was an interesting one – just because it’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t get talked about so much in church. And taking the ppl that make you feel MOST uncomfortable and placing them right in front of you, in your comfort zone, pleading with you to pay attention to them – asking you why you don’t see them.
Its tough stuff. But SUCH an important one!
If we as the church is sleeping, if we just focus on ourselves and stay in our buildings and just talk to each other – who is being the hands and feet of Jesus in the world? Its great that we are so comfortable – but just because we are saved and going to heaven, doesn’t mean that we are finished. There are a lot of ppl that haven’t heard, that don’t know, that don’t have ppl to love on them and tell them that every thing they do MATTERS – and the world will not be the one to tell them, It wont. because the world doesn’t care. Its our job. Because we are free, because we have been forgiven, because we are loved unconditionally and we have the promise of eternity – it is our job, our call to be His instrument and let Him use us. to let the Holy Spirit that He sent us do His thing through us and reach out to the ppl around us.
And we did the drama, quick adding a verse to the end – from Matthew 25, and quick added it again on Sunday morning…only to sit in the sermon on Sunday and at the end find out that PI ALSO had the same verse for his message. Crazy, huh? This was totally Gods thing and it was really really great to see Him work in it. love it.
So thank you so much to the TEAM for getting up so early and giving up your time and for letting God use you!!! hugely appreciated.
One more quick thing – this was my friends status on facebook this morning and I love it…its from Romans.

‎"we're all instruments of a valiant song, it's our decision to remain silent or awake the dormant."

Don’t be silent…lets stay awake church. Because we never know if we will run out of time.

Victory!

I am loving victory right now. In the past – self discipline just seemed overwhelming. I let myself say no to time with God so many times in favor of a tv show or a movie that I kind of wanted to watch…I let myself spend money on so many things that I bought – so many times – for the sole reason that the idea was in my head and I just let it sit there and grow there until I just had to have it and I didn’t even remember why, or if that reason even still existed. I let myself convince me SO many times to work so hard to avoid a situation because possibly, maybe, potentially it might be kind of or a lot awkward or uncomfortable. All these things – even when I KNEW it wasn’t what God wanted me to do.
But after all these years of giving in and giving in and losing and failing…God has somehow empowered me to finally silence the voice that says “just do it…you’ll change eventually, you don’t have to right now”(satan) so that I can FINALLY hear the voice saying “you don’t have to. WHY are you doing it? where is this fear-this weakness-coming from? And why are you listening to it???”(God)
And now that I can hear that voice…its like huh…why am i?
And all this time I thought – if I could just have self-discipline…I wouldn’t feel guilty anymore.
But here’s the revelation I didn’t see coming…
After about 3 months of being in process of intensely learning self-discipline, not only do I not feel GUILTY anymore…but I feel FREE. Victorious. Strong. At peace… Do you get the idea? :)
But really, guys – turns out that once you stop giving into satan – you are free! This seems so obvious, and I have heard this so many times, but I guess I always just focused on the “not feeling guilty” part. I had no idea what the “freedom” would be like! Literally like a thousand pounds is lifted off your back, every time you claim victory over satan. Like the weight of the guilt we have been carrying around is finally being removed.
Amazing stuff! And I have no idea how it took me so long to really start fighting.
But it’s a battle…
Satan will never stop trying to whisper, sometimes scream, the lies into your life…and they are SO tempting to listen to…because it seems so much easier.
But he is just trying his best to cover up the truth and love and LIFE that God is constantly speaking into you. so silence the lies! Remind satan that he already lost and while he can make it hard for you to hear your Father’s voice – he can never silence it. Be free.

Galatians 5:1 – For FREEDOM Christ has set us free, so stand FIRM, therefore, and do NOT submit again to a yoke of slavery!

Matthew 16:23 - Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

Lets be free, friends! And decide to listen to God’s voice and follow it…no matter where it leads. :)

maintaining or growing?

ok, so i just want to share something that God taught me today with you all quick....

so the last few weeks of my life have been kind of crazy and so when i have been to the gym - its been a run in, do my run, quick do a few machines and then leave and off to whereever i need to be...and it still was good, it still felt good to run and just know that i'm doing it - but i feel like its just been quick and surface level...like its keeping me feeling good, but not actually growing me or challenging me. and today i had free time - so i got a chance to spend like 2 hrs there...now as of 2 months ago - i hadnt stepped foot into a gym for like 3 yrs. not joking. but 2 months ago, God called me to learn discipline...and going to the gym was a part of that. so today i took my time there. and it felt so good.

it was like every muscle had a chance to be pulled and stretched and challenged and i just had the opportunity to really beat my muscles up.

why am i sharing this, you're prb asking? haha

because in the middle of this - i started thinking about how we can do the bare minimum...we can do "just enough" in life, in our walk with God and we will survive, we'll maintain a relationship. we can do good things for God - we can be good ppl. we can.

but we can also allow God to go deep. we can let Him pull us and stretch us and really challenge us - allow Him to be thorough in His refining of us - and we can go from maintaining to growing.

because unless we tear some stuff up and go deep and really take the time to get to every single part - its just gonna stay maintained. and we will never be anything more than good.

so what i realized today is that i NEED to let God go deep. i have a new desperation for it. why? because i desperately need to live a life filled with God - and he is SO much more than good.

right now at Edinbrook we are going through some material PI wrote - called Morph. and its is walking us through our faith, looking at our hearts part by part, piece by piece to see if we are in line with God's heart. God is calling us to crazy faith - living for Him and loving His children. being completely submitted to Him and His calling on our lives.

and in order for Him to be able to really use us and for His Holy Spirit to be able to really move through us - we need to give Him free reign in every single part of our lives. every single part. and how will He be able to really be able to heal us and work in every single part - if we are just doing enough to "keep Him happy". what would happen if we take time to listen, and study and pray and let Him move in every part and one by one stretch it and pull at it and break it down so that it can GROW into so much more than we could ever do on our own.

i just wanted to share that with you today, if you are not an Edinbrook attender or are and just havent been there recently - i would HIGHLY recommend you listen to the sermon from 10/10. its called Crazy Faith, and its on the website...i missed it and am listening to it right now and it is amazing. and i am just filled with a whole new desire to allow Him to transform me into who He wants me to be so that i can live a life like jesus did. so i can do greater things than Jesus did - just like the Bible promises. i cant miss it because i havent taken the time to really let God go deep in my life and be as thorough in refining me and growing me as He wants to be.

wow...

crazy stuff. i have no idea where God is leading me or what He is doing but i am just seeing a lot of pieces fall into place. and i dont know what the end picture looks like...but its coming together in an interesting way.

lets ask Him for crazy faith, friends. lets stop living for good enough and find out what God wants to do!!!

The Bride

Hi friends! so i just realized that its been like 2 weeks since i have written anything on here...life is just way too crazy right now...haha
so a lot has been going on - in normal life and ALIVE life - so quick update on ALIVE life to get you up to speed........
two thursdays ago sarah and i got part of the team together to work on a new drama. its not one that we came up with, but one that i learned while with YWAM. we are tweaking it a little bit - but that's where the general idea came from. its kind of intense so we have been kind of pushing it back for awhile, waiting for God to bring it back up for the exact right time.
and well - here we are.
and God could not make it ANY clearer that the time is right. well He could - and He is more than welcome to just keep confirming...;)
but its a drama that paints a picture of "the world" outside the walls of the church - Christ's bride. and causes us, as Christians, (hopefully) to look at what we are doing as the bride and to look at the people we normally wouldnt take the time to love.

so - we got the group together and gave them their characters and gave them time to sit down with some paper and start to get in the head of their characters. we are having them all write their own part and then we'll come together and go through them, edit as needed.
they did an incredible job after just a half hour or so of working on it - so i am just really excited to see what God does with it from here. we havent talked about it with them since then - last thursday we took a break to attend a dinner that the senior group at our church threw for the sr. high youth group (so cute and so great...such a blessing)
so tomorrow we meet back up.

but i will recommend that you take a second and go to Pastor Ivan's blog...if you go to Edinbrook Church's website - theres a link. but there is a day that he blogged - AFTER we decided to work on this, for the youth group, i think the post is called Crazy Faith...not totally sure...but sarah sent me the link on it and i read it and literally - it was like we had sat down with him the day before and shared this drama with him and the message behind it and where our hearts are- but we didnt! i just LOVE God's timing...God is just laying this all out perfectly! and its such an encouragement. so after talking with him and the Creative Team this week - we are also performing this drama for sunday morning church...with a revised team and characters - but i am SO excited to see what God is going to do!!!!!!
we will ask for huge prayer - because it is intense, and it could be controversial, and it will speak to ppl...
its tough to be asked to really look at yourself and be prepared to see things that you dont want to acknowledge...
but its so so so necessary. God wants us to live...truly live - ALL His children, and if that means that we, as the church, need to take the time to get our hearts in line with His - and then follow Him out into the world to reach out to His lost sheep - then who are we to say no? who are we to give God boundaries as to what we will and will not do for Him?

People need love. they NEED it - whether they are sold out for Christ, completely lost, or stuck in the middle...we all need it. and God's love is the ONLY one that will satisfy...so people need to know. they just do. and how are they going to know about it if we dont tell them? the world is CERTAINLY not going to go out of its way to point you to God...satan wouldnt let that happen...

so pray for us as we prepare this drama - for both times and pray that hearts will be open to receive the message that is given. pray that people will be moved and will really be willing to listen to what God is trying to tell them.

thanks friends! hope you are having a beautiful week and i'll write more on all this soon!!!

more exciting stuff coming! :)