Worship.

August 18
	And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord: Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
	Ephesians 5:18-20
When I feel things aren’t going very well, I’m tempted to lose heart. And when this happens, I know there’s only one thing to do: speak to myself in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.  No wonder David was discouraged. He and his men returned from fighting the Amalekites only to discover that their town had been burned by their enemies, their wives and kids taken hostage.  ‘This is your fault, David,’ said his men. ‘You took us away from here.’ And so angry were they that they wanted to kill him.  So what did David do? He encouraged himself in the Lord (I Samuel 30:6). He sang songs. He wrote psalms. He began to praise and worship. As a result, he rallied his men once again and they recovered all that was lost.  Had David remained in his depressed state, not only would he have been rendered ineffective, but the women and children would have remained captive. And so will you until you begin to worship. God’s will is that you be free — and nothing will free you from the tyranny of your own situation like worship. You will be profoundly blessed and amazingly productive whenever you give thanks to God for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This Daily Devotional is an excerpt from the book "A Days Journey" by Pastor Jon. "A Days Journey" is a collection of 365 short devotions from the New Testatment.

Knowing the hope of His calling

August 8
	… That ye may know what is the hope of his calling …
	Ephesians 1:18
Throughout Scripture, the word 'hope' always refers to that which is coming, to that which is ahead. I'm convinced the single greatest problem carnal Christians have is that they don't know the hope of His calling. They don't know the reality of heaven. Consequently, they are constantly striving for material things and are continually chasing carnal pursuits. They remain in bondage, depressed, and discouraged because they don't see the big picture of eternity. If you're not happy at this moment, neither will you be with a change of location, salary, or ministry. You'll not be happy until you know the hope of His calling. That's why Jesus said, 'Let not your hearts be troubled ... I go to prepare a place for you,' (John 14:1-2). The key to overcoming a troubled, perplexed, stressed heart is to focus on the hope of his calling, on what's ahead, on heaven.  'But heaven seems so far away,' you say. 'For years, I've been hearing Jesus could come at any time. But where is He?' 'Beloved,' Peter said, 'be not ignorant of this one thing: One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day,' (II Peter 3:8).  A day is as a thousand years. Maybe you're saying, 'Is that ever true! Will this day ever end?' If you are in a strained marriage, a single person aware of your loneliness, or if you're physically afflicted, a day can indeed seem like a thousand years.  'Lord, where are You?' you cry. 'I've been talking to You. I have total trust in You. But where are You?' This day is as a thousand years because in your day of difficulty and dilemma, pressure and pain, sadness and sorrow, you have the unique opportunity to share the fellowship of the Lord's suffering, and to pray for others in a way you never would have been able to otherwise. We want to get out of the trial, solve the problem, move on. The Lord, however, says, 'Not so fast. I want this day to be as a thousand years for you. The discoveries you'll make, the understanding you will glean, the gifts of praise, the expression of even frustrated prayer will affect you for the next zillion years. Because My coming is near, and your heavenly account is pretty small, I'm giving you an opportunity to make some huge investments in the few days that remain before you go to heaven.' You for whom this day has seemed as a thousand years — rejoice. Savor each moment. Extract each minute. Take every opportunity in this long, long day you're in to thank the Father for the opportunity to store up treasure which will make you rich for eternity.   This Daily Devotional is an excerpt from the book "A Days Journey" by Pastor Jon. "A Days Journey" is a collection of 365 short devotions from the New Testament.

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Birthday Extravaganzas!

I had such a great birthday :)

On Wednesday I worked for 4 hours and then.... off to Disneyland with Nick :)

At work when I clocked in and out it put a nice greeting on the Screen wishing me a Happy Birthday :)

At Disneyland I got a free gift card because Disneyland gives you a free ticket for your birthday this year, but since I have a pass I got a giftcard for the price of one ticket. I got some cool oven gloves that look like mickey hands for when I am baking :) I also got some cookie cutters, some suckers for my niece and nephews and a Wii game called "think fast" its a Disney one, it actually turned out to be a pretty fun game...

Then we were off to BJ's....it was a long ride, we were going to go to one on the beach but apparently google maps didnt know that one closed...soooo...off to corona... lol

After that I went back to Nicks house where a nice surprise gift was given to me from his mom. Then....church, when I walked into my office I was greeted by some balloons and a few gifts along with many cards and more balloons throughout the night.

This day ended with In N Out. A few friends and myself went and enjoyed some tasty burgers after church.

Thursday I was taken to BJ's by Michelle and Bethany, it was a fun dinner and so nice to be able to get together with them :) (Yes, I got 2 birthday pazookies, is that allowed? oh well it happened... :) and they were soooo tasty!)

Friday morning at 4 am we were ready to go...so.... we packed up the car and left for Vegas. My mom, dad, Nick and myself went to pick up my sister ( Courtney) and her husband (Sean). We stopped for some donuts ( I was so hungry, weird I know for being so early) and we were headed East. After a few hours of driving (well more like sleeping, except for my dad he was driving) we were finally there! I had a great time while we were there, Kendall and Justin met us out there and we all had a lot of fun. We went through the hotels and saw the lions in the MGM and in the Bellagio we went to the pretty garden and in the Venetian we saw the Grand Canal, each one kind of has their own main thing. On the fourth of July they didnt have a huge show as I thought they would, Caesars did shoot some fireworks but the great part of the night was when they shut down the strip for a helicopter landing on the street. It was one of the shows they were going to have, the guy needed to have a grand entrance apparently... Meanwhile a guy tried to run across the street and got tackled by some cops.... His beer went one way and he went the other... anyway...It was crazy but overall it was a lot of fun. We went to PF changs one night for dinner and Serendipity for dessert. Its a famous place known for its frozen hot chocolate, the desserts were HUGE!! and sooooo yummy :)

It was pretty hot while we were there but it was a lot of fun and nice to spend time with my family....

We got home super late on Sunday night because of all of the traffic, and on Monday after work, Nick and I went to lunch and he also got me a new pair of rainbows :) (they were much needed, my old ones were really thrashed) then for dinner I made Tasty tostadas and sweet corn cake....MMMmmMmmMMMm :)

A couple of things to note:

-I am so thankful I have Jesus, people are so lost and waste their lives away

-I knew it would be bad there, I have been there before, but I think now that I am older my eyes are more open to how crazy the world is or something....

-being around so many smokers (not my family, the crazy people that were also in Vegas) made my lungs hurt, and I attribute this to my being sick

-people focus so much on things that will burn, they are searching for pleasure instead of satisfaction

-its not going to get better the world is going to keep getting worse

The Lord really spoke to me about a lot of things this weekend and really reminded me of how important it is to share His truth.

I am very thankful for my friends and family, thanks for contributing to make my birthday a great one :)

P.S. The pictures are backward so...the first one is really the last, its the ride home from Vegas... :)

21.

Today I turn 21. WOW! It doesn't really feel like it yet, it is only 29 min into my birthday but....yea. I was curious to see what time I was born so I checked out my birth certificate... I will officially be 21 years old at 7:20 PM. Anyway it looks to be like a fun day, actually fun 5 days so far.... :) I am very excited for the next 5 days. Yay! :D Thank you Lord for another year 

Just Beachy.

Its been more than a month since I posted a blog so I figured hey, why not...

So.......Summer has been Beachy indeed! :)

For those of you who have read my previous blogs, I decided to make it a goal to go to the beach once a week this summer.....Not happening, but I have gone more than I have the past 2 years combined which makes me very happy because I LOVE the beach and rarely go, well usually.....So....since my last blog I have gone to the beach 3 times... Trip number 1 Nick and I decided to take my nephew Colin to the Beach before my niece and nephew got out of school for the summer(the bottom 8 pictures are from that trip) This trip consisted of burying Colin sand fights between Nick and Colin, sand castle creations, water extravaganza...and of course a nice sleeping 5 year old on the way home :)

Trip number 2 Nick suggested we take all 3 of them to the beach, brave, I know. (the top 3 pictures are from this trip)

This trip was a little more hectic I woke all of them up and had a little more to do because you are adding 2 more people to the planning...anyway...We got down there and yet again, more burying, sand castle creating and water fun. Nick helped Dylan learn how to boogie board a little better. Colin is a little more afraid of the water at this point in time so in the picture you will see him sitting on the board right where the waves nicely brush across your feet :)

This trip ended similar to the last but this time it ended with a 5, 8 and 11 year old asleep in the back seat :)

Anyway...the most recent trip was yesterday, I went with Nicks mom and sister to the beach (no pictures for this one...)

It was a lot of fun and this time I was able to go in the water more because I wasn't looking out for kids running around.. but the only draw back is every time we have gone to the beach this summer which is 4 or 5 times now I think... there has been so much sea weed, it REALLY grosses me out...but nevertheless I have been having a blast soaking in the sun :)

P.S. I am excited for this weekend.

Red Bull Air Races, San Diego, Mothers Day, Beach Day....best 4 day weekend in a long time. :)

So this weekend was quite the adventure....

Friday after I got off work at 10am Nick and I headed down to San Diego to go sailing with his parents and stay on the boat for the weekend. The plan was we would go to the beach and then when they got to the boat we would meet them there.... So we did walk around the beach a little then...decided to drive down the coast so instead of taking the freeway straight to the boat we drove along the coast, it was so nice, super pretty!!! We stopped at Seal Beach in La Jolla where the seals lay all over this protected beach its so cool, and its pup season so there were cute little baby seals all over :)

Anyway.... we went out to dinner with his parents at a yummmy restaurant and then hung out and Saturday went out for the Red Bull Air Races. So we took the boat and anchored at a spot to watch these planes race around above the water. It was sooooo cool, so much fun and we were right by the huge Navy ships and there were helicopters and jets flying overhead. Anyway so that was cool then we went back to dock and bbq'd on the boat. Later we played cards with his mom too. Sunday we had breakfast with his mom for Mothers day and then headed back to good 'ol Riverside for a BBQ with my family. Monday came along and we went to Corona Del Mar. It was fun....perfect Beach day...we both did get a little burnt, well he didnt get a little burnt, he is burnt lol. Anyway...so then.... we decided to go to Laguna Beach for dinner at BJs where you can see the ocean out the window. We are still celebrating his birthday so we got his birthday Pazookie  and then we walked around the shops....

WAIT....PAUSE....this all sounds kinda boring...but it wasn't guess its one of those you had to be there things.... but..... overall it was very relaxing, nice to get out of the every day norm and enjoy God's creation. It was also nice to hang out with his parents more. :)

Anyway..... 

above are a few pictures from this weekend but you can view more on my facebook or myspace for those of my facebook/myspace friends out there...lol

Anyway....it was a GREAT 4 days....now back to work...lol 

P.S. I have decided I will make it a goal to go to the beach 1 day a week during my summer break. The past couple of years I have not gone much, Nick said its been the same for him so...Nick told me he is up for the challenge  :) yay for summer beach days