It was a good day!

Hey everybody..........

Just thought I would check in really quick, before I head to bed. I went into work today. Had a good day. Feel much better today than yesterday. Had a great praise team practice tonight. Tomorrow is a new day! WOO HOO! Hope you have a super-blessed Friday & weekend (I'm gonna!).

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Kenya Crisis, Day 3

These are slow-coming, but here is KENYA CRISIS, DAY THREE Video. Keep your prayers going up for these folks.

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

G'Day

Hey everybody!

It's a beautiful day today! I feel great! Thanks for your prayers! Clay is feeling great and doin' fine, too. GO GOD! Hope you are all doing well, too. Have a super-blessed, SUPERNATURAL day & rest of the week (I'm gonna!).

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

UPDATE for WEDNESDAY

UPDATE for 2/27/2008

Not feeling as well today. Ran low-grade temp last night with increased cough and congestion after having a really GREAT day during the daytime. Not feeling well again today with continued congestion. Will call doc if not better by morning, as it will only be 48 hours on meds by this evening. Keep praying! GO GOD!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

P.S. ~ But, PRAISE GOD! Clay is still feeling very well. WOO HOO! \o/

Awesome Video!

Awesome Video!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

PRAYER REQUEST

Update: Feb 26th, 2008
We are deeply grieved to report the apparent deaths of Muhammad Hadi and Cyd Mizell, Asian Rural Life Development Foundation workers who were kidnapped by gunmen Jan. 26 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Although we have no confirmation of their deaths, we have received information over the past few days indicating that our two aid workers have been killed. .
Hadi, a resident of Kandahar, had served as an ARLDF driver for two years. Known by colleagues as a “kind, loving man,” he was the father of five children, ages 6 to 15.
Mizell, 50, a native of Eureka, Calif., dedicated her life to serving the people of Afghanistan. Since 2005 she had lived in Kandahar, where she taught English to high school students and helped women learn income-producing skills such as sewing and embroidery. She also assisted in other ARLDF-related efforts in the area, which include food-for-work projects, irrigation, rehabilitation, health care and restoration projects.
We are thankful for the efforts of local government other authorities during this crisis.
Our prayers are with the families of Hadi and Mizell. We regret that we are unable to respond individually to your calls and e-mails of concern. We will continue to post more information on our Web site (http://www.arldf.net/) as it becomes available.

ARLDF is a humanitarian development organization with offices in the Philippines and Thailand that works throughout Asia helping to provide a better quality of life for the poorest of the poor, mainly through community development projects. ARLDF works in about 12 Asian countries, with most of its programs focusing on small-scale efforts. In the Kandahar area, ARLDF personnel work in education and projects that help people learn skills to better their lives and the lives of their families. Aid efforts in the region also include food-for-work projects, irrigation, rehabilitation, health care and restoration projects.

In God We Still Trust

Some of you have heard this song before by Diamond Rio, but here is a video that someone has done to the song that is great. Enjoy!

IN GOD WE STILL TRUST

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Another Update

PRAISE GOD! I am feeling better today. NO fever. WOO HOO! Just resting and drinking lots of fluids as the doctor ordered. Thanks for your prayers!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Prayer Update

I just got in from the doctor. I have been coughing and running fever (102.4 at the doctor's today). He gave me an antibiotic and some Tamiflu. Also gave Clay some Tamiflu, so maybe he won't get this stuff. Please pray for complete and quick healing. Thanks!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Prayer Request

Please keep me in your prayers. I have been coughing and running fever today. Didn't get to stay for church.....we left as soon as Praise & Worship was over, and I went to bed. Thanks for your prayers!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Coffey

Hey, this is COFFEY! He is an amazing worshipper! Enjoy!

BLESSED BE THE NAME

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Bill Johnson Interview

WOW! Check out this Bill Johnson Interview! Something he said is this: God intended us to be a RIVER, not a lake. WOW! Think about that. Chew on that! It reminds me of an old hymn, "Make Me a Channel of Blessing". The song is NOT entitled, "Make Me a Reservoir of Blessing". What a transformation in thinking! So many times we go to church, or to a revival, etc, to see....What can this do for me?.........What will they minister to me?........or go places over and over and over again for TEACHING (yes, my pet peeve, again).......and then never do anything with it. When God shows us His glory, it is not just to bless us........it is to reignite the passsion and gifts that He has deposited in each one of us, to change and transform this world. It is (if we allow it to be) dynamite to blow up the dam that WE have built to keep it in for US and get it out to the world, and LET HIS RIVER FLOW!!!!!!
Let's JUST DO IT!

Think about it......but then DO SOMETHING!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

God Has Given Us an Assignment

I just love Bill Johnson. I read his book, "When Heaven Invades Earth", and it really changed me. GO GOD! Here is a video from him, but BEWARE! it might change you!

GOD HAS GIVEN US AN ASSIGNMENT

Letters to God

PRECIOUS!!!!

Letters to God

How Fit in to (Almost) any Church

Here is a great video, that might give you some "pointers" in how to fit in at church. FUNNY!

HOW TO FIT IN AT CHURCH

4 year old anointed drummer

This is another one of my FAVORITE God-Tube videos, that I wanted to share with you!

ANOINTED 4 YEAR OLD DRUMMER


God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

WE ARE FAMILY!

WE ARE FAMILY!

I love that song...........and it is a song that is really special to my sister, Lisa and myself. We "re-wrote" it one CHRISTmas, after a year or two of family maladies.....part of it was....."We are family.....hysterectomy & a replaced knee...." yeah, we're goofy, but FUN!

Anyway, when I ran across this video on God-Tube, I just had to share it with you. It is so awesome that we can have fun and laugh in the Lord. (And we need to do it more often, too!). ENJOY

WE ARE FAMILY VIDEO

Have a super-blessed, SUPERNATURAL Saturday!

God's love & mine
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Kenya Crisis Day Two

These are slow coming in, but as promised, here is the Day Two update to the Kenya Crisis videos. PRAY!

KENYA CRISIS DAY TWO VIDEO

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

BTW

BTW.....

I forgot to add, that Clay is going in this morning, for a regular check-up with the Urologist, and follow-up PSA. We'll keep you posted, but he is doing GREAT and we don't expect anything but PSA=O. GO GOD!

Then, he's been having a toothache the last few days, so after he sees the urologist, he's off to the dentist, too. OUCH! Keep him in your prayers.

Thanks!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

P.S. ~ Ambs was praying for really thick snow and ice this morning, so she wouldn't have to go into work, but it's just raining, so she's off to work anyway. LOL!!! Britt and Merrida are doing GREAT! Britt has started the Assistant Manager job at Guitar Center there in Nashville, and all is well, and Merrida got a job as Assistant Manager at Dillards there, too. WOO HOO!

TGIF, everybody!

Good Mornin' everybody! TGIF!!!!

Well, today is gonna be another BUSY day at work. (Sorry I haven't blogged this week, it's just been a little crazy. LOL!).

Today is the last day for one of our RN Case Managers, Suzy Brooks. She and her hubby are moving to the Austin area to be closer to her kids. Keep them in your prayers, as they pack everything up and move down there. They have already sold their home here and purchased one down there, but they need jobs when they get there. Also, Suzy has had this respiratory crud that is going around, and not had much energy to pack, so pray that can get that stuff done quickly and for safe travel. GO GOD!

We have Praise & Worship practice tonight, and I can hardly wait. I am soooooooooo excited about that. God is really moving in our church AND Dawson County.......really exciting times.

Oh yeah, please keep my in-love family in your prayers over the next few days. My mom-in-love, sis-in-love, and niece are traveling to Flagstaff, AZ tomorrow to enjoy 5 days there, see the Grand Canyon, etc. Pray for their safe travel and an incredible time together! Thanks!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Altars to God or Monument to Self?

Another re-blog from Ambs' pastor......READ ON!

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Altars to God or Monuments to Self?

This morning I'm doing a session at the Evolve Conference titled The Secure Leader. I'm going to use Saul as a case study in insecurity. Two verses represent two defining moments in his life.I Samuel 14:35: "And Saul built an altar to God; the first one he had ever built." So far so good. Saul is building altars to God. But fast-forward one chapter. I Samuel 15:12 says, "Saul went up to Carmel to build a monument to himself." Somewhere between those two verses, Saul stopped building altars to God and started building monuments to himself. There is a fine line between Thy Kingdom Come and My Kingdom Come. At some point, it was no longer about God. It was about Saul.

Here are seven habits of secure leaders:

1) Don't play the comparison game. No one wins! Comparison either leads to pride or jealousy!

2) Success isn't numbers. Saul got caught up in the numbers game. And David had better stats. Listen, if my children grow up to love God and everything else falls apart I'm successful. But if NCC grows to 50,000 people and I sell 10,000,000 books it means nothing if my family falls apart. Jesus was successful because he poured his life into twelve people!

3) Celebrate your failures. Insecure people are afraid of failing. Secure people laugh at themselves. They celebrate failure because it accentuates what God can do inspite of us!

4) Don't panic. Saul panics when his men start scattering so he makes a sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel. Insecure people get nervous. They give up. Secure leaders hang in there no matter what.

5) Don't get defensive. How you handle criticism will make you or break you. You need tough skin and a soft heart. If you're insecure your defense mechanisms will get the best of you. So instead of leading out of imagination you'll lead out of insecurity.

6) Surround yourself with the right people. Who was Saul's greatest asset? David. But if you are insecure, your greatest asset will become your greatest threat. And it will short-circuit your ability to surround yourself with a great team. And it will limit your influence.

7) Keep building altars to God. God often uses us at our point of insecurity because then He gets all the credit. I pray for the favor of God as much as anything else because I want God to do things for me that I cannot do for myself. And every time we experience God's blessing we need to build an altar. That's why we named our coffeehouse Ebenezers: hitherto the Lord has helped me.

The blessings of God either turn into pride or praise.

Are you building altars to God or monuments to yourself?

posted by Mark Batterson

Sit & Soak

I hope you don't mind the "re-blogs", but these from Ambs' pastor are just too good, not to pass on to you!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

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Sit and Soak

It's been so good to sit and soak today at the Evolve Conference. Sat in on Steven Furtick's breakout session. So anointed. Love his energy. Love his passion for the kingdom. It's hard to describe, but I need to be around people that make me dream bigger dreams. Steven has that effect on people. It's a unique anointing.Here are a few things that challenged me:"Get used to enjoying the journey because the destination is a mirage." That is so true! It's not about reaching a goal. It's about who we become in the process! I really struggle with being future-oriented. I'm always thinking about what's next. So it was a healthy reminder to enjoy the journey.
Steven talked about a principle in II Kings 4. All the widow had was a little oil. And some of us are discouraged by how little we have. I've been there. I remember when NCC's income was $2000/month. It's so easy to get focused on what we don't have. But all she had was all she needed. As long as there were jars to be filled, the oil kept flowing. There is no shortage. The thing that limits us is not God's capability. It's always our capacity. As long as we keep bringing an empty jar the oil will keep flowing!
Ironically, the thing that really encouraged me in my spirit was Steven sharing about one of the defining moments of his life. I'm in the throes of trying to finish writing my next book, Wild Goose Chase. It is hard. And it is lonely. But I write because one sentence can change the life of someone I'll never meet forever! Steven read Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala when he was sixteen years-old. And page 23 changed his life. One sentence: I despaired that my life might pass me by without seeing God move mightily on my behalf.

Timely encouragement!

Hey!

Hey everybody!

Just checkin' in on y'all! We have had a GREAT weekend (and very blessed!). Ambs has been home, and we have just had the best time getting to see her. The only thing that would have made it any better is if Britt and Merr had been able to come home too. We LOVE our kids and getting to spend time with them. They are a lot of fun!!! (So that that Ambs has to fly back home around noon on Monday.....but sadly, that's just part of it).

Church was AWESOME today. Please keep the churches of Lamesa & Dawson County in your prayers. At least one was broken into last night (Saturday), their walls were sprayed with graffati, and ALL their equipment (music equipment, $3000 set of drums, sound board, all office machinery, etc.) was stolen. One of our church members, our Youth Director, had a bottle of anointing oil thrown through his kitchen window as well, and it did NOT come from the church that we know had gotten broken into, so we are wondering, if there was at least one other church that was broken into and just hadn't discovered it yet, as of 9 AM when our pastor was telling us about it. Incredible things in the Lord are happening in and around Lamesa (and even greater things are about to come to pass), and Satan is trying to intimidate, discourage and thwart what the Lord is doing......but we're pressing in and pressing on! ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS!

Have a super-blessed, SUPERNATURAL week! (I'm gonna!)

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!

Hope you have an extra-special, SUPERNATURAL day today. I also hope this finds each of you doing well. All is well here.

I have looked for another video update on the Kenya Crisis, but none has been posted yet. Will post them as they are posted to the internet for you.

I watched a Bob Jones video that was very good. I want to share it with you. BOB JONES VIDEO Now is our time.....now is our season, to usher in the new......and if we don't walk (and even run) in it, and see the BREAKTHROUGH that God is bringing, He will pass us by and use someone else. I really challenge each one of you to press into the Lord and listen to Him.....and then quickly obey Him. GO GOD! It is an exciting time in the Lord. \o/

David House called Clay yesterday (Wednesday). (David is a Christian singer/songwriter. Click on his name to go to his webpage). He was one of the ones at that Christian Songwriting Workshop that we went to this past weekend......and he writes INCREDIBLE songs, too! Anyway, Clay had given him his phone number, and David said that God had brought Clay to his mind yesterday, while he was driving, and he wanted to call Clay and tell him what God was saying......that we should do our Praise Team's "Pre-Worship" Prophetic Time in the Church Sanctuary, and have 4 people that are not on the Praise Team, 1 in each corner of the room, to and that had fasted, to pray during our "Pre-Worship" times, and that if we did that, God would show up in a BIG way. So, Clay thanked him and told him that he would share that with our pastor. Clay shared that with our Pastor & Church last night at Church, and they got 4 volunteers to fast for this, and we are going to do it this Sunday! GO GOD! Please be in prayer with us about this and for our church, Lamesa & Dawson County. I'm soooooooooo excited (and Ambs will be with us then, too!).

TOMORROW morning (Friday), Ambs (our 23 year old daughter) will be here for a long weekend. YEAH! Also, the O'Donnell Eagle Varsity Basketball team won their Bi-District Championship game last night, so they play in Post on Friday night. YEAH! GO EAGLES!!! (Our niece, Portia Grant, plays on that team.)

Take care!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Pray for those in Kenya!

Y'all, we MUST be about praying for our brothers and sisters in Kenya. For an update on what is going on there, watch this video.
KENYA CRISIS VIDEO

PRAY! Just do it!!!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Gonna be another Blessed Day!

This is the day that the Lord hath made.....let us REJOICE! and be glad in it! AMEN and AMEN!!!!

I hope this finds you doing well today. All is well here. Praise God! I've been doing a little GOD-TUBin' this morning......thought I would share a video from there. This is a prophetic word from Bob Jones. Enjoy!
GOD TUBE VIDEO from BOB JONES.

Have a super-blessed day and week as you operate in the gifts of Holy Spirit that God has gifted and blessed you with. \o/

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Another Blessed Day!!!

Well, today (Sunday) was another BLESSED day in the Lord. Got up and went to church (LCF). Had a great pre-worship time, and then our services were awesome, too. David Fees, was our speaker, and he spoke a word of prophecy over Clay & I. GO GOD!
Got my Sunday afternoon nap in. Clay & I seem to have gotten over the stomach bug that we were plagued with off-and-on this past week. THANK YOU, LORD!!!
This week will be a regularly busy week. But we are sooooooooooo excited, because Ambs (our 23 year old daughter from Washington DC) is coming home on Friday and will be here from Friday noon through Monday noon. YEAH!!! We are soooooooo excited about that. Please keep her in your prayers, not only for traveling mercies, but she has a cold right now, so we pray in Jesus' name for divine healing. WOO HOO!

Have a super-blessed, SUPERNATURAL week this week!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

WOW! Awesome Day!!!

WOW! What an awesome day in the Lord we had today!!! We went to the Song-Writing/Prophetic Song Workshop in Lubbock today. We had an incredible time in the Lord, met and made some new friends, and got to see some old friends too. The Lord is birthing a new thing and new songs into the earth at this time. Make sure that you don't miss out on this exciting time in the Lord!!!

Gotta get to bed. I am exhausted, but it has been a very fulfilling day, and I feel a new gate and doorway are opening up in front of us......GO GOD!!!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Sing to the Lord a New Song!!!

Hey everybody!

Hope this finds each one of you doing well! We are sooooo excited about today! We are going to be meeting with a group of folks up in Lubbock, to have our first ever, Christian Song-writing / Prophetic Song Workshop and then a Praise & Worship time tonight. This will be a time to get together, have some teaching on Song-writing AND Prophetic Song, and then, to break out into small groups with instrumentalists, lyricists, and recorders and have mini-"jam sessions" that are recorded, and see what new songs are birthed from them. Then, we will share them later in the evening in a time of Praise & Worship. So exciting!!!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Portia gets a new car!

Just thought I would share a picture with y'all of one of our nieces, Portia Grant. She is an 18-year old Senior and this is pic of her with her new car. WOO HOO! Congrats, Portia!

Cancer

I recently heard Bill Johnson, Lead Pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, CA say, (when speaking about CANCER)......
"It's a Goliath, that has been taunting the Armies of the Living God, and we need Davids to pick up their stones and run after this thing and stop speaking of it with respect like it's powerful. It's an inferior name to the name of Jesus."
Can I get an AMEN !?! AMEN!!! to that one.
My pastor said recently, that she had heard a pastor talk about that fact, that they are seeing cancer healed up to even 100% in their midst, and it was nothing in their community anymore. Let's all press in as Believers, and walk in the fullness of God's gifts to us.....in healing, the prophetic, etc. GO GOD!

That's a challenge to us all.........JUST DO IT!!!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie

BILL JOHNSON VIDEO (Click to WATCH!!!)
aka Lauren

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

I do not personally know this person, but received this prayer request from a friend, and thought I needed to pass it along. PRAY!

~Nonnie aka Lauren
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News Release from:
Asian Rural Life Development Foundation (ARLDF)

You may be aware that Asian Rural Life Development Foundation worker, Cyd Mizell, and her driver, Muhammad Hadi, were taken at gunpoint January 26th in Afghanistan. We continue to be hopeful that the two will be released unharmed soon. We have received innumerable e-mails and phone calls offering emotional encouragement and prayers. We are grateful for these. For continuing updates, check our website http://www.arldf.net/ . Asian Rural Life Development Foundation is a humanitarian aid organization that works through out Asia helping to provide a better quality of life for the poor, mainly through community development projects. In the area of Afghanistan where Mizzell works, ARLDF personnel serve in education and projects that help people learn skills to better their lives and the lives of their families. Aid efforts in the region also include food-for-work projects, irrigation, rehabilitation, health care and restoration projects. Although our attention and focus is on this difficult situation, our ARLDF workers and their national colleagues throughout Asia are contiuning their work. When this situation is resolved, we expect Mizzell and Hadi will want to continue their work with ARLDF.

Re-Blog from NCC

Another RE-BLOG from Ambs' Pastor (please forgive me for re-blogging, but that is GREAT stuff!!!). READ ON!.........

What a Way to Start the Week

Man, if Rick Warren came to DC and gave us a pep talk every Monday ministry would be so much easier! That was one of the most meaningful conversations about ministry I've ever been part of it. So much great stuff.

One of the big take aways for me was this: we grow by making commitments. Rick said you don't grow to commitment. You grow through commitment. Every weekend at Saddleback they ask for some kind of commitment. Everybody is asking us for commitments. If the church doesn't ask, people will commit to other things! One of the most important tools for spiritual growth at Saddleback is a simple commitment card.

I think we experienced that this weekend with our message on fasting. We asked people to commit to two things: 1) a 40 day fast 2) a twenty-four hour food fast and give $24 toward the Convoy of Hope we will be hosting this year in DC.

It is so easy to walk out of church and do nothing with what we've heard. We audit the Bible. But spiritual maturity is not head knowledge. If it was the Pharisees would have been the most spiritually mature people in Jesus' day. It's about transformation not information.

Integrity, Humility, Generosity

RE-BLOG from Ambs' pastor, Mark Batterson, (Lead Pastor of National Community Church). (NOTE: They recently had Rick Warren--- he is a Pastor, and Author of the THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE --- at their Church, and he attended their weekly, Monday Morning Staff Meeting this past week) ENJOY!

Integrity. Humility. Generosity.

"I'd rather die than embarrass Jesus Christ."

Of all the things Rick Warren said, I feel like that statement was the most powerful. Really appreciate Rick's humility and transparency. He talked about the three temptations leaders face. They are the same temptations Jesus faced in the desert.

The first temptation is lust of the flesh. Satan says to Jesus, "Turn these stones into bread." He was tempting Jesus to use his gifts for self-gratification. And the antidote is integrity.

The second temptation is lust of the eyes. Satan shows him the kingdoms of the earth and says all this can be yours. Rick said the temptation is taking shortcuts to accumulate things. And the antidote is generosity. By the way, Rick reverse tithes. In other words, he gives 90% and lives off 10%. Awfully inspiring!

The third temptation is the pride of life. At some point you can stop building altars to God and start building monuments to self. The antidote is humility. And I love Rick's definition. Humility is not denying our strengths. It is admitting our weaknesses.

Good stuff. I think he'd dead on. Integrity, humility and generosity are the greatest safeguards against the temptations leaders face.

GOOD MORNING, EVERYBODY!

GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY!!!

Hope all is well with each one of you. We are doing GREAT here! A lot of you keep asking (and thanks for that) how Clay is doing.........HE IS DOING WONDERFUL. The last PSA (prostate blood test) he had done a few weeks ago came back ZERO!!! They are doing those about once every 6 weeks, so they can keep a close eye on everything. Clay feels good. Last night he had his FIRST practice with the Music Team for a Lubbock Emmaus Men's Walk #69 (it will be in April 2008). He has played with the bass player before, and he said the other guy was AWESOME! They really had a great time together, and Clay says it's gonna be a great music team.

This Saturday, we are going to a Christian Song-Writers and Prophetic Song Workshop in Lubbock (& time of Praise & Worship that night together). We are really excited about that too. It will be a LOT of fun, I'm sure.

Please keep SHERBERT EDWARDS in your prayers. He is the brother of a couple of my co-workers, and he went into cardiac arrest on Monday night. He is in SICU at Covenant Hospital and is currently on a ventilator. Keep him and his family in your prayers. THANKS!

Have a super-blessed, SUPERNATURAL day & week!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

Happy FAT TUESDAY!

Happy FAT TUESDAY (& Super TUESDAY for some of you!):

Now before you go and get all "religious" on me......hear me out.

Today is a day a HUGE celebration in New Orleans, called "Fat Tuesday". People "expose" themselves and "earn beads" (or so I'm told, I've never been there during Fat Tuesday and don't know about this first-hand). Anyway, my prayer today is, "God, YOU expose Yourself today....even in the midst of FAT TUESDAY and SUPER TUESDAY." ..... "God, You expose lies of the enemy wherever they may be and let Your Truth & Light shine forth." .... "Expose the darkness and bring Your Love!".
Let that be your prayer today, too!

GO GOD! GO GOD in YOU!!!!

God's love & mine,
Nonnie
aka Lauren

THE SHACK

Hi everybody!

Again it just have to say what an amazing book THE SHACK is! (You can click on the photo above to go the book's website.) I have to share with you a small passage from this book. I don't know if it will have the same effect on you as it did me, but it just blows my mind:

GOD IS A VERB.~~~Buckminster Fuller

(This is Holy Spirit, Jesus & God speaking): "I am a verb. I am that I am. I will be who I will be. I am a verb! I am alive, dynamic, ever active, and moving. I am a being verb. And my very essense is a verb. I am more attuned to verbs than nouns. Verbs such as confessing, repenting, living, loving, responding, growing, reaping, changing, sowing, running, dancing, singing, and on and on. Humans, on the other hand, have a knack for taking a verb that is alive and full of grace and turning it into a dead noun or principle that reeks of rules: something growing and alive dies. Nouns exist because there is a created universe and physical reality, but if the universe is only a mass of nouns, it is dead. Unless 'I am' , there are no verbs. And verbs are what make the universe alive.

WOW! I want to be a VERB instead of just a noun. That is a challenge to us all. This book also exposes the religion that is in each one of us, and even those of us that run from "religion" need to do a little review every now and then to see where it might be creeping back in.

Just one more quote from the book:

Rights are where survivors go, so they don't have to work out relationships. ~~~ William P. Young

Gives you something to chew on for a while. Have a super-blessed day today. I'm gonna!

God's love & mine,

Nonnie

aka Lauren

An Extraordinary Day!!!

WOW! Where do I begin???

Today has been an EXTRA-ordinary day.......from start to finish (and "it ain't over yet!!!".....).

FIRST, it started with some nice morning time with my hubby.......I LOVE MORNINGS (it is the BEST part of the day......well, actually I am just in love with life altogether....anyway....). Clay & I have such awesome times praying and spending time together, especially in the mornings. (I love that guy! Thanks God, for putting us together.......uh huh!!!). Anyway, we got ready and went to church, and our pre-Worship time together with the Praise Team was nice. It is always awesome to come together in that intimate setting, declaring, decreeing and coming into Abba Daddy's presence together, and crying to Him from the depths of our souls. Songs and powerful words (all His) are birthed in that place..... much like from a womb......where things come from a warm nothingnessand are birthed out into creation. THANK YOU, LORD. We then went into our Worship service, and it was unlike most. At the end of it, we did a prophetic act and went through a "Fire Tunnel", "Holy Spirit Tunnel" were given a "key" to unlock the gates in our lives, AND anointed by our pastor and then went through the "I AM" gate into the River of Life together as a Body of Believers. INCREDIBLE!!! If you weren't there you really missed out!

Clay & I then came home, and had a nice lunch together, and I took one of the most peaceful and restful Sunday afternoon naps I've had (at least since last Sunday afternoon----LOL!). We then got up, and had a little Super Bowl party here. We just LOVE spending time together.

Oh, and BTW (by the way), did I mention that I got a new book Friday evening in Lubbock. It is a Christian Suspense book. It is supposedly fiction (but it leaves you wondering if it really is fiction.....there is soooooooooo much TRUTH in it). I HIGHLY recommend this book. I have a copy ordered for my pastor right now. Well, anyway, I finished this book this evening, too! It is called THE SHACK. (You can click on the picture below to go the website for the book. CHECK IT OUT!!!----and get it and READ IT!!! It may be "fiction" but it is life-changing!!!

Anyway, EXTRAORDINARY day! (Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!!).

God's love & mine,

Nonnie

aka Lauren

P.S. ~ Yeah, and the GIANTS just won SB 42! WOO HOO! Way to go Eli & team. How exciting!!! (And big brother seemed to be really excited too, even though his team wasn't there to play for a repeat, you could tell he was sooooooo proud of his baby brother. That is awesome to watch, too!)