Dreamsicle: Thawing Out Your Frozen Dreams

"There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, 'Yes, I've got dreams, of course I've got dreams.' " Then they put the box away and bring it out once in a while to look in it, and yep. they're still here.-- Erma Bombeck

Friday Day #7. On the 7th day and am so happy to have spent the evening in the house of the Lord. The church came forward for prayer. You could sense the collective faith of the saints in powerful prayers of agreements.

Remember when Jesus asked "who touched me" when he was in a big crowd and it turned out to be the women with the issue of blood? I think I finally understand now how Jesus could feel the drain of virtue from His body when the women touched Him in faith. Tonight near the end of prayer I could tell that virtue was draining (and I was only standing in agreement and I felt it). We must always keep our pastors and leaders in prayer. They really do lay down their lives for the sheep in many ways.

I thank God for my Pastors who have encouraged me to follow my dreams and fulfill my purpose in God. Even tonight when I got prayer myself at the end I sensed God building and comforting me to go on in my life to fulfill God's purposes in my life. My recent dealings with work are a bit disappointing but it is actually a blessing...forcing me to persevere even stronger to defrost those things God has placed in my heart. I will defrost my dreams.

Monkey Bars: Risking Greatness

"A ship is safe in harbor, but that'snot what ships are for." William Shedd

Day #6 of Fasting/Praying and reading ONE MONTH TO LIVE. The quote above is one of the opening quotes of Chapter 6 Monkey Bars. I loved the opening story of his child who he lifted on the monkey bars and let go play on the bars by himself. When his son was tired the son said "Okay, get me down." The author told the child to let go and that he would be caught by the father. The child became worried and scared. When the child became tired and couldn't hold on anymore the father was right there and caught him. How often do I do the same...holding on...reluctant to take risks and let go and fall in the arms of the Lord. I think of how my family went through such pains to keep me safe (actually passing on their own fears), that I have lived so much of my life "playing it safe." What would my life had been like if I was more willing to take risks? I like the reminder of this chapter that some of the most successful people have gone through incredible failures prior to their success including Henry Ford and Oprah Winfrey. Henry Ford went bankrupt 5 times! So I guess it's time for me to "let go of the monkey bars." I need to handle my disappointments better. I'm sure there are a few things that I need to step out and risk. Time to face my fears. What am I waiting for???

Prayer tonight was sweet and loving. Friday night is the 7th day of prayer that will end with communion and prayer for our individual needs. May God be glorified. Didn't God say that if we believe we will see the glory of God? I am expecting to see His glory!

How Great is Our God

Tonight we gathered again on this Day #5 to worship the Lord. We sang Chris Tomlin's "How Great is Our God." Pastor asked me to prophecy in my movement. I can only rely on the Holy Spirit to move through me. I had my extravagant flags and began to proclaim the greatness of my God with the movement of the flag. I was also able to minister expressively to the Lord in the dance to bring the visual to that song. I trust that there was a shift in the atmosphere as we all engaged in pure worship. I'm careful where I position myself in the congregation. I really don't want to be a distraction to anyone. Once again the Presence of the Lord was so sweet. Pastor highlighted some points in the book many of which I mentioned in my last post. I was reminded by Pastor that God has given us these bodies and that it is our responsibility to take care of them. Many of the things we pray for healing could have been avoided if we took better care in the first place. Really sobering but true.

Oxygen Mask

Day #4 & #5

I am sorry that I missed #4 entry on Tuesday. The 2 new chapters in ONE MONTH TO LIVE are about Staying Connected and Oxygen Mask. The importance of staying connected to the Lord to effect any change in your life. As the church met last night we had a wonderful time in the Presence of God. You may think I am crazy but with my spiritual eyes I saw the glory cloud as we prayed, praised, and worshiped the Lord. Then Pastor prayed for our homes and symbolically blessed each home by anointed every key chain in the house that we had left on the altar. We went home in expectation that at the contact of the key to the door that we would witness a change in our home situation. It's time to walk out in faith.

Today is about the importance of taking care of yourself before you can help anyone else. The first time I heard the script on the plane to put the oxygen mask on first and then help your child I thought was odd. However, as I have aged, I see the wisdom of grabbing the oxygen first and then help others.

So I need to get God's breath of life and renewing in the area of my mental, physical and spiritual fitness. I have any number of excuses of why I am not more fit but I want to live longer and more productively so I have got to get more physically fit. The book poses a great question: "How would you rate your health in each of these four areas--spiritual, physical, emotional, relational--from one (terrible) to ten (fantastic)? What's the greatest challenge to improving your health in these areas? What can you do to work through this challenge?" There will be some changes made!

Time Squared

Day #3. We are into the third day of fast/prayer/ and reading ONE MONTH TO LIVE. It is wonderful to seek the face of God. Unfortunately, my body feels like it has been hit by a Mack truck that decided to run over me again on the way back. I don't think its the fast...but spending the day with a group of highly kinetic 2nd graders that have a reputation around the school as being a handful...well. So that would have been tiring on a good day, but on this day...really a workout. I was on my feet for hours today.

On day #3 the book focuses on how do we spend our time? If I want to squeeze the most out of this life, my marriage, my ministry...I desperately need to recalibrate how I am using my time. And the Shooks bring up in the book an area my husband has been after me for years "the Productivity Paradox." In other words, if I take the time to sabbath, to rest, to recharge...STOP WHAT I AM DOING for a period of time...I actually will be more productive. My pastors practice it all the time...I don't know why I've been so hard headed? What activities am I doing that are actually wasted time? And what keeps me from using time more effectively. The book suggest that I monitor this for the rest of the month. Well you don't have to tell me twice.

Looking for this to be a productive and effective year for SEASONS OF PURPOSE. So Amen to working efficiently and resting effectively.

Living Passionately

Day #2 of Living My Life as if I only have one month to live. As I follow my home church in this time of prayer and fasting Pastor Marc reminded us today to live our lives passionately. How can I approach this..by 1) accepting the grace as a gift from God 2) Managing my time 3)Remaining connected to the source 4)Defrost My Dreams 5) To Not be Afraid of the Mountain 6) L-I-V-E. It would take a while to explain this but the area I really need to attack is the time management issue. The other is to "defrost my dreams." He encouraged us to take that dream off the back burner and put it on the front burner. So I am asking my self WHY HAVEN'T I STARTED MY SCHOOL YET...ugh.

So on the day #2 I want to live this life passionately and not wait until the "someday" when I get off my bum and do something. It's time to act now!!!!! As we pray and fast together I sense an open heaven and a closer communion with the Lord. I can't report any specifics of what God has said to me but it was like the static from the fall is gone...the line is clear...my heart, mind and will is ready to receive. So...I look forward to what God will tell me about Primitive's Worshipping Arts ministry, look forward to how God will lead Martin & I in developing Seasons of Purpose, how I can impart what God has given me to bless others in worshipping arts ministry, and what God has for me to do to finance our home and ministry.

Dear God I open my ears this day to hear from you...I am thankful for the Bible that speaks Words of life to me today, and I thank you for all my friends, family, and especially my husband who have inspired me to live passionately and fulfill my dreams.

One Month To Live - Starting the New Year Intentionally

DAY 1 Happy 2011, and living by intention. This year, my home church Primitive Christian Church in Lower Manhattan is reading through the book One Month to Live. I hope to blog everyday for the next 31 days how my life is altered through this process.

http://www.onemonthtolive.com/

As a church we always start out the new year to stop, fast, pray, seek, and reflect. How does God want me to serve Him this year? What is He saying to me. Looking forward to a year of greater productivity, miracles, faith, obedience, and organization. Looking to love my Lord and my spouse as never before.

If I only had one month to live, I would want to leave a legacy on this earth and pass on what God has given me. The only way I can do that is I have to be in prayer to get my direction, organize my environment, put the vision on paper, and identify those who can carry on the vision.