Priceless Adventures

     As I grow older, I appreciate coupons, clearance racks, and cheap dates even more. I had heard about the free Museum Adventure Pass program available at many metro public libraries. Last week was my spring break, so Daniel and I took advantage of some of my extra free time. We picked up two free Museum Adventure passes from the Savage Public Library and checked out the Foshay Tower in downtown Minneapolis. It was absolutely beautiful... and free! Well, except for parking, but i'll take it. There a lot of other Minnesota museums a part of the free pass program as well. Although, I was told that the program will sadly be ending in September 2012, so grab a friend and take advantage of as many free adventures while you still can!

Beautiful view of Minneapolis from the Observation Desk

:)

There's me!

Another terrific view!

Just adore this guy.

Then Dan had a really cheesy picture idea... but, I went along
with it and may or may not actually secretly like his cheesiness. ;)

Winter Camp 2012 - Unleashed

     This past weekend I had the incredible privilege of attending my youth group's weekend winter retreat as a junior high leader. We traveled to a Holiday Inn in Elk River and spent a couple nights there. The theme of the weekend was "unleashed," with Micah MacDonald as the speaker. Unleashed, defined as, "to set free from as if from a leash; let loose." Set free from the things that hold us back from growing in Christ and equipped with the tools to become truly set apart from them. Let loose to freely worship the King of Kings. Unleashed into our schools, families, work places, and communities empowered to be Jesus to the people around us. Here's some snippets I thought'd I'd share from the weekend:

I love these kids so much. Being a youth leader
is one of the greatest privileges in the world!

• God is a passionate, jealous for YOU God.
• Jesus cannot unleash himself if you're sharing his master position in your life with other things. When you serve both masters, you are defeated.
• Your life is either completely sold out for the cause of Christ, or sold out for something else.
• Take your net (could be your past, sin, bitterness, anger, alcohol, sex, drugs, low self-worth, etc.) that is entangling you, throw it out, and surrender to God.
• The ministry of Christ is always an honor and privilege to be a part of. When it no longer is, it becomes the ministry of you.
• If Peter hadn't thrown out his net, he never would have experienced the revelation of Christ in his life. Will you not miss it?
• God is a God of order and perfect timing.
• The disciples left and gave up everything to serve the Lord. Be willing to give up everything, so that others may know Jesus.
• How would your heart change if you began to pray for your enemies? Pray for those you are angry and upset with or who you may feel have wronged you.
• Who you're friends with determines who you become.
• Ask yourself, "is this person going to help me become more like Christ?"
• One of my students received the gift of tongues! Something she had been praying for for months and months!
• One of my students also received extremely powerful, vivid visions.

     There were so many more experiences, conversations, situations and prayer times with students that so challenged me and caused me to grow as a leader; such a blast. I thank God for this weekend.

I made one of these for each of my fourteen
lovely junior high students. :)

Every Single Woman in the World Should Watch This

"A Man's Promise"

This video broke me.

"You are worth so much more than what the world offers."
My heart honestly breaks for each and every one of you. You are so beautiful and so, oh my goodness, LOVED, and worth so much more than what the world has told you. The way God has made you... with all of the gifts, the abilities, the talents, the things that stir within your heart, God has placed them there and for such divine purpose at that. YOU. ARE. INCREDIBLE. Truly take that to heart - do not just skim over this, as if its some other girly encouragement, my heart is broken for you and the wrongs the world, men, and even other women may have caused you in your life. No longer base your beauty on your appearance or the approval of others. No longer, I tell you. Do not give the enemy a foothold in your life. You are worth so much more. I love you all so much, and infinitely more does your heavenly Father.

My Mother's Story

My parents being baptized on February 19th, 2012,
at Cedar Valley Church in Bloomington, MN.   

     My mother shared her incredibly encouraging, powerful story at her Alpha class last night. I know this is rather long, but if you have some free time, please trust me, you will not regret reading this. You will laugh. You will smile. You may cry. You will be empowered. I could not be more proud of my amazing mom.

Written by Beth Novak:

Hi, I am Beth Novak, and I would like to share with you how God has, and continues to, heal me. My story is two-fold, in that God has been helping me with spiritual healing and healing over an addiction for the past several months.

I grew up in a family where we attended church, but we never really talked about God. In a family where we had Bibles, but we rarely opened them. I think we went to church because my parents thought it was the “right thing to do.” I went to Sunday school and was later confirmed at a Lutheran Church, but I honestly think that I was in it more for the youth ski trips, retreats and just hanging out with friends than for getting to know God or to build a relationship with him.

I didn’t really have much to do with church again until my husband, Victor, and I were planning to get married. We went through our pre-marital classes at our local Lutheran Church, and remained in the Lutheran Church as regular and active members for 23 years. As we began our family, attending church was very important to me. I wanted my children to go to Sunday school to learn about God and to be confirmed, just like I did. Because it was the “right thing to do.”

I became a Sunday school teacher and later, a confirmation leader. You might say that we attended church “religiously.” I felt like I was “doing the right thing,” but that was it. It was a routine, an action, a sort of “going through the motions.” A practice of customs and traditions. A religion, but no relationship with God.

I definitely felt like something was missing in my life, but I didn’t know what it was. I had a good job and a great family. I had considered myself to be a Christian (according to the definition I had for being a Christian…which was someone who believed in God and attended church). But still, I felt insecure and alone.

Four years ago, our teenage daughter, Amanda, was invited to Cedar Valley Church with a friend’s family. She began to attend the Wednesday night Paradigm Group for High School students. It was here where she invited Jesus Christ into her life and she has not been the same since – Praise God!! She is “on fire” for the Lord!! I could see and feel this new joy and power within her and I was eager to feel it too. She would invite us to services and special events and I could see that this joy and peace within people was actually quite common here, at CVC. What was going on here that I wasn’t finding elsewhere?

We began to regularly attend Cedar Valley Sunday Services last year and that is where we learned about the Alpha program.

But, before I tell you how discovering Alpha has changed my life, I must back up a bit and tell you about the stronghold that the devil had on me. You see, for much of my adult life, I used alcohol…excuse me…I overused alcohol to numb my feelings of emptiness and low self-worth.

My mother was an alcoholic, so this should not have been a surprise to me. However, I thought I was different. I thought that I could have a few drinks or glasses of wine to feel good, and that I could quit at any time and in my own power. I was wrong. You see, I began to drink more as life became more difficult. As my job became more stressful, I drank more. As my children became teenagers, with teenage “issues”, I drank more. As my drinking caused problems in my marriage, I drank more. And, as I became worried about how much I was drinking, unfortunately, I drank more.

I actually realized a few years ago that I NEEDED to quit drinking. No problem. I am a smart person. I want to quit – then I will quit. Right? Wrong.

Although I tried dozens of times to quit drinking on my own, each time I tried, I failed quickly and miserably. If I was actually able to make it for a whole week, then that was it. I would ALWAYS fall by the second week. I did a pretty good job of covering up my addiction except to those closest to me. I was smart about never driving after drinking, so as not to get a DUI which would not only put many people in danger, but it would also put my name in the local paper (causing embarrassment), send me to jail (which would make me feel a failure) and cost us lots of money in legal and insurance fees. There were plenty of times when my kids had to find a ride with a friend or not go to an event at all, because I had been drinking. I never called in sick due to drinking from the night before, but I am sure that I did very little actual work on the days when my head was pounding and my stomach was queasy from the prior night’s binge. Oh how I pretended I was OK, keeping my problem secret. The truth is…I was a mess and I wanted to be rescued.

The devil was VERY PLEASED at where he had me…Unhappy with who I was, Overwhelmed and stressed at my job, Unable to keep my marriage from growing apart, and addicted to alcohol. Yes, the evil one was winning and his greatest pleasure came from the fact that I really had no personal relationship with the only One who could rescue me from all of this...The Lord, Our God.

But, THIS IS WHERE THE STORY TURNS!!!  My decision to join Alpha last September was a life changing one. On the very first night, when Pastor Tom asked us to bow our heads, close our eyes, and raise our hands if we wanted to accept Jesus into our hearts and into our lives, my hand went up, high in the air (I am a little short and I didn’t want God to miss me)! I hungered to really KNOW God and to feel his love for me. I wanted what I knew I was missing - The joy and peace that I could sense in the Christians I was meeting at Cedar Valley, and in my daughter who was becoming a beautiful woman of God right before my very eyes. I too, wanted to follow Jesus and experience what they all have.

OK, well that was easy. Just raise your hand in a room full of closed eyes and bowed heads. Pray the prayer of asking for forgiveness and inviting God into your life through Jesus Christ, his Son…All done very quietly and personally. No one needs to know how messed up I am.

Pastor Tom asked everyone who made the decision to follow Christ that night to come up and pray with him before leaving.  This is where I felt bold enough to share with him, very quietly, that I too, struggle with alcohol. After all, he had just given his testimony which included his drinking problem, so I did not feel shame in admitting that I have the same problem. He asked me to call him very soon so we could meet. He said that he could give me the hope and tools I could use to climb out of this hole. I believe that he meant for me to call him in a day or two. Hmmm…it took me 6 weeks to contact Pastor Tom about this…The delay would be the devil again trying to hold me in his grasp. The devil is very persistent with his attacks when he sees you move towards God.

It was October 17^th. I had drunk a bottle of wine plus a portion of a second bottle the night before. In the morning, I poured the leftover wine down the sink and stated out loud to God that this was it. I am done, but I need His help. It was a very short prayer…GOD PLEASE HELP ME. It seems to me that when we are at our lowest lows, in our deepest despair, we are able to pray only a few words. God knows our needs even without the words, but we cry out for him and hope that he responds. Make no mistake, he hears our cries.

That day, everything began to change. I contacted Pastor Tom, who stated that he had been praying for and waiting for my call since I told him of my problem 6 weeks prior. We met two days later and he gave me so much hope and prayer that I knew I could do this, with God’s help this time. I will never forget the bible verse he sent me away with. It was Galatians 5:1…It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand Firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. I kept this scripture in my pocket and referred to it many times over the next few several weeks as a reminder to stand firm in this fight.

 A few days following my meeting with Pastor Tom, I attended Holy Spirit Saturday. I was 6 days sober and I wanted that trend to continue. I learned that the Holy Spirit becomes a part of us when we give our lives to Jesus. The Holy Spirit guides you as you walk with God. He gives you power that you never had before you knew God. Through His power, you can accomplish great things for God.

I stand here today to tell you that, because of the power of the Holy Spirit in me, I have stood firm against the slavery of alcohol. Today is my 136^th day of freedom. That is a miracle and the glory is ALL His!!!!

But that is not all! Ten days ago, I was water baptized here at Cedar Valley. This was an outward expression of my inner commitment to follow Christ. Although I asked Jesus into my life in early September, I couldn’t really feel a relationship with him until I got rid of the barrier…the sin. You see, it is sin which blocks us from getting closer to God. My alcohol abuse prevented a real relationship from forming between me and God. Once that sin was removed…the bridge was wide open and I started to feel his healing power and his love right away. I am a new Christian and I am growing in little ways each day.

However, my life is not without problems. In fact, I believe that the devil has recently stepped up his attacks to try and take me back under his influence. The devil would like nothing more than to see me fall. But he is powerless against our ALL POWERFUL God. The Holy Spirit helps me to recognize the devil’s messages for the LIES that they really are. I am a new creation in Christ, growing in my walk with him every day, and I am excited to see how he will use me to help others and to bring him glory. Thank you and God bless.