Wednesday 6am Prayer!

Psalm 5

1 O Lord, hear me as I pray;
pay attention to my groaning.
² Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
for I pray to no one but you.
³ Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.
Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

Every Wednesday morning at 6am we gather as a church to pray over the needs if our church, our community and our country. This is one of my favorite times of the week! It is so awesome that we have the opportunity to come together and intercede over people and our country. It is a real privilege! I feels like we are doing something to make a real difference for the kingdom of God. I've asked our staff and our small group leaders to join me and they are stepping up to the plate. Thank you! Now I would like to invite the rest of you to follow your leaders in this. I truly believe that this is what is going to impact our city more than another church on another corner. Not that another church on the corner is a bad thing but I just think that it's what is done in the prayer closet that is missing in too many churches on the corner. I'm not saying we are better than the others, I'm just saying that I've realized that for me and the team that God has given me the opportunity to coach, this is the way we are going to go.

Here is why -

1. God alone can change our generation

2. We need to get our orders from head quarters

3. Prayer is were the battles are won, on our knees we are the strongest

4. You need us to be a team that will storm the gates of hell for you and your family

5. We get to hang out with the lover of our souls - God

Hey considered your self invited to join us in changing Charleston, I double dog dare you!

My Trip to Walmart

So, yesterday I went to Wal-Mart right before Genesis to get some coffee and creamers that we needed. But what was supposed to be a quick 10-15 minute trip to the store turned into quite an eventful one. When I got back to the Extension, I realized I only had 2 of the 7 bags of coffee that I had purchased. My first thought was "I am NOT driving back", but then realized that was almost $25 worth of coffee. So, I took a deep breath and made my way back to the store. As I'm walking in, I see a Hispanic man being cornered by three white guys. I could tell the guy couldn't understand what they were asking him and then realized he had stolen something and those three men were from lost prevention. They then proceded to take him into the store. While I'm waiting at the Customer Service line to be helped, I find out that he'd stolen a box of medicine worth $5 and they found $200 cash in his pockets. This really made me think why would he do that? He had the money to pay for it! Was it worth it? Now he has to pay a $1,000 fine for stealing! It just made me really sad.

Living Wide Awake

For the past week or two, I have been reading an absolutely AMAZING book, Wide Awake by Erwin McManus. It has really been rocking my world and radically changing the way I view my life and the world around me. He challenges us to dream bigger than we think possible. To not be afraid to stand up and work for what matters. And to be willing to each work in our own unique ways. I was talking to Mikey last night, after many days of thought and speculation (not that those days have stopped), and it occured to me that over the past few years I have grown up a lot, but not really into the person I dreamed of and thought of becoming. I have grown up like most people do. And that's not what I used to want. I told Mikey that the biggest way I've changed is that I used to think all of my quirks, the things that make me uniquely Anna, were cute and wonderful and everyone loved them. It never occurred to me, even past the years where most pre-teens and teenagers start questioning themselves and trying to fit in, that my differences could ever be a bad thing. I speak differently than a lot of people because my family always emphasized learning and grammar. I love medicine and science. I always loved going to school, learning new things. I didn't ask myself if I was taking on too much with five Bible Studies a week, leadership in a number of clubs, school, and ballet. I just did what I could do...filled up my hours with work, and I loved it! But somewhere over the past few years, I lost that joy, or at least parts of it. I started wondering if people liked me less because of my differences. My enjoyment of school became a thing I thought I needed to downplay so I wouldn't stand out so much. I lost sight of who God created me to be in a huge way. And as Philip McCart, the youth pastor at Northwoods said this morning, quoting the great philosopher Popeye the Sailor Man, "I've had all I can stands. And I can't stands no more!" I refuse to keep taking the path my heart and mind started taking unbeknownst to me. I refuse to keeping questioning who God made me to be. I refuse to stop dreaming dreams too big for this one human being. I refuse to stop learning and growing and reaching. I refuse to not enjoy school, everything I learn, every test of skill and knowledge. I refuse to give in, to stand for what the world has told me matters. I am who God created me to be, and to my dying day, I will dream and reach farther than humanly possible because it is God who works in me to his glory!!

eHarmony

WOW - What a series! I love talking about relationships! I also love being loved! Don't we all! During this series, I think that it became increasingly clear just how important God is in the equation. He completes us, restores us, leads us and He perfectly loves us. When He becomes our everything and when we experience His arms and have Him look deep into our lives with His "I'm crazy about you" eyes, we find love in its purest form! It is more addictive then "Hot-n-Now Krispy Kream donuts!" If we could ever grasp just how much He loves us and would open ourselves to Him, we would become more satisfied then we could ever have hoped for! A satisfied person is more satisfying! This was the main theme in this series! This is great news for us where ever we are in our relationship journey. If your single, engaged or married! He is the key! Start with Him and stay with Him!

We invite you join us as we enter into a new series called goBIG! Here is the question that we are going to try and answer - "What is going to take to leave a God Sized impact during our generation?" Come and join us, I dare you!

Genesis got engaged!

Hey if you haven't noticed alot of our team got engaged this weekend! Congratulations guys. All of them are glowing! My daughter is actually one of the lucky girls (Go SARAH!). What a wild ride it has been! I'm very excited to see God working in the relationships of our young adults here at Genesis. I know the stories of how God has worked behind the scenes making all of this happen and I also know the choices these guys have made to put Christ first in their relationships. What a powerful combination!! I also know that there are others in Genesis that are wondering if they will ever get engaged and married. Here is my response to yall. First, fall in love with God, He alone can complete you! He is the only one who will never leave you or forsake you. Also, He has a plan for you, a great plan, a plan that will fulfill you and your wildest dreams! Maybe marriage is a part of that plan but the plan is the bigger picture! Secondly, Work on you! Hey make yourself the best you that you can be! Be the best you! What do you want in a person? You are your best bait! Work on it! How is your health? How is your fiances? What kind of a Christ follower are you? How do you respond to people? And third, you might want to check our relationship series this Tuesday night at Genesis, it seems to be working!

I love you guy!!!

He empowers us...

This year has been so hectic so far, but so many awesome things are happening. There is something about a new year that gets me excited, maybe it's because It always seems like a new beginning. Small group starts today so I have been busy preparing and putting stuff together for the past couple of weeks. I am so excited though! Tonight I will meet all of the girls and talk about the group's theme and expectations. It will be fun. In general though, life has been good. It's kind of odd but God has been giving me a lot of confirmations about things and just opening so much scripture lately. I love it though because I feel like I am growing closer and closer to him every day. In fact, I was reading in Phillipians and it said this: For it is in God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. And in the book I am doing for my small group, (No Other Gods) kelly said this, "If God has asked something of you, he will enable you to do it-no matter how daunting the task-if you stay humble and close to him." After reading this I was filled with encouragement, not only for small group but for any situation I am faced with. At times there are seasons in my life and maybe yours where we are faced with something that we wouldn't expect. Or there are those times where God has asked us to do something that seems impossible. This verse tells us that we are not alone in those situations and he will empower us to do whatever he asks. We must remember the "there-ness" of God and lean on him for strength. I'm so excited about this year. And also for Genesis and another semester of small group. I want to see BIG stuff happen.....

What will 2009 hold?

WOW what a thought?  Over the years, God has placed certain purposes for that year.   One year, I felt that God wanted Tracy and I not to lead anything but just serve others.  It was the year that I learned the joy of serving.  One year it was about change, that year God gave us patience to trust in His timing and His consistency.  God loves to lead and He loves for us to lean into Him with all of our might!  This year I'm feeling God calling us to learn.  Ok, what does this mean?  Well for one, it means asking some great questions from some amazing people and then listen.  Also, we are being called to ask some hard questions about why we are doing everything that we are doing?  Who is doing it and how are they doing it?  I have no idea what we are going to learn but I'm so looking forward to it!  

What theme is God leading you in this year? I would love to hear.