Been gone a while

This is the longest I have gone without posting anything. Don't be too disappointed. The good news is that about 21 people per day view this blog. That's pretty good for a baby blog. Mike has been out of town so I have been a little un-busy. I realized how much of a busybody I am and that I need to be doing something all the time. I cannot just stand to sit here!!
Late Nite was good last night. Steve did a great job talking about God using the unthinkable. That dude is straight hilarious. We were all laughing our buns off. Oh, and props to Steve for giving me and my man a shout-out for our birthdays. That was super cool.
A brief side note, my teeth hurt really bad! I have been using professional whitening stuff and they have constant pain in them! Stop using them, you say? I can't! I am addicted to having whiter teeth! My bridal portraits are in less than two months and I need gleaming pearly whites!
Oh, and if you didn't get the chance to tell my baby happy birthday, you should do that soon. His birthday was yesterday. He's a real man now :)

So, on the spiritual side of things, I want to share a testimony from Pathfinders summer camp. There's a girl (who I LOVE) who has been struggling with an eating disorder since she can even remember. At camp, God gave her a vision and spoke so clearly to her. The outcome is that she has been healed of that bondage and God reigns supreme Lord of her life!! This is a huge thing for a girl who struggles with eating to overcome. She said the morning after that service she was able to sit down and have a real meal and not feel guilty about it and want to throw up. I am so very proud of her and SO fired up about all the awesome testimonies coming home from camp. People may not believe in God or in His power, but you cannot argue with a personal story like this one and so many others!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to me!!!

I first want to thank everyone who called, texted, myspaced, or facebooked me to tell me "happy birthday." My favorite was when Becca got an entire busload of j-high kids and leaders to sing to me. That was incredible!!!
Also, I gotta give props to LB and Dave who helped Chris suprise me with homeade sushi!!
And of course, my baby totally came through- sushi and my favorite dessert at a candlelit dinner, then the theater. It was beautiful!
My mom and step-dad cooked me an amazing birthday lunch and gave me an iPod!! Wooo!! Plus I got other cool stuff, of course.
The night of my birthday I got to go hang out with a bunch of amazing couples at our life group and had a total blast. I am one blessed sister.
And today.... I got.... my wedding dress! Jesus is good!!!!!!!!!

Nothing insightful again

So, I don't have anything exciting today... However, I want to give a shout-out to my Navigate kids who came to my rescue yesterday when the devil was attacking me hardcore. It's one thing to sit in a class and take notes, or even pickup trash, but the true test comes when someone is hurting and you stop everything you are doing to make them feel better. Yay for my summer session loves!
Also, yay for HPC who blessed me with a birthday bonus... and boy, did I need it?! It'll all go to Chris' birthday, but there's no one else I would rather spend my money on!! :)
Anyway, everyday I am reminded of how incredible God is for allowing me to serve here at HPC. This place and it's people blow my every single day. Thank you, Father.

Another incredible weekend

First, I would like to thank everyone who was able to make it out to our engagement party last Saturday, especially those who drove a long distance to be with us. Also, a special thanks to Todd who painted the beautiful artwork that I gave to Chris for our engagement, and who came to our party on his birthday. My mom did lead a fantastic rendition of "Happy Birthday" for him though... Anyway, it was amazing having everyone from all sides of our family and from our past, present, and future able to join us.
(Also, thanks to David Song for the pictures from the party that are posting with this blog! You can see some of my family, Chris' family, me with my artwork, and Kristin and Lauren saying sweet things about me!!!)

Father's Day was also an incredible day for us as a couple. We were able to enjoy HPC with Chris' family and friends from Houston and then tore it up at Chili's!! Later that night we were able to cook up a great meal for my daddy at his girlfriend's house. We had a blast hanging out, laughing, talking, and best of all- eating!!! It was such a blessing to get to spend time with both of our dads on such a special day.

God is just really serving it up lately... Well He always has, I think I am just noticing more and more as I grow and learn. Jesus rocks!

The much anticipated first post...

Ok here it is, for those of you who have wondered why it says meghan and chris and it seems to be just meghan... wonder no longer. this is Chris and I'm finally posting something. Over the past 3-4 days I've been challenged to live a life of excellence. It especially hit me this morning after leaving Mike's bible study on leadership and living a life of holiness, I walked into work and a few minutes later had to sit in on one of our frequent district-wide conference calls where the entire district was reamed for not selling enough, it hit me. Why do we settle for the status quo? Why do we settle for second best? God has an amazing plan for us and when we settle for status quo we miss the amazing life He has for us. We are all his children and He wants all of us to live a life so much greater than this world has to offer. We have to be intentional about things. In order to live a life of excellence, we must seek after God with 1000% of our strength. We must never be satisfied. We must always be growing and moving forward. So from this day on I will no longer live the comfortable life. I will be stretched! I will go higher than I ever have before! I will not settle for the status quo anymore in my life! It's time to live a life of purpose and walk in the destiny God has for me! Who will live a life of purpose w/ me? Who will leave the status quo behind?

blah

...nothing insightful to say. i dont even feel like capitalizing or punctuating today, so im just gonna post some pictures that i like. how bout that! pretty random, but that's just how i roll. sweat me.
p.s. chris still aint posted, and now im using bad grammar so you know im strugglin.

Thanks to Ashley Sullivan

These are some quotes that I LOVE- I stole them from Ashley Sullivan, who stole them from John Eldridge, who stole them from their original creator. Maybe stole isn't the word I am looking for, but either way, they are inCREDible!!!!!

"I will find you. No matter how long it takes, no matter how far - I will find you."
-Nathaniel to Cora in Last of the Mohicans

"A man's strength should allow a woman's femininity to fluorish." -J Eldridge

"Suddenly i turned around and she was standing there with silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair. She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns. Come in, she said. I'll give you shelter from the storm." -Bob Dylan

And the saga continues...

Oh, the joy of the drama! Isn't it refreshing? It's funny how Satan saw me fired up after my blog entry yesterday, so he decided to tear it all to pieces an hour later. Crazy how smart that kid is... but no matter how smart he is, He ain't as big and as good as my God and he loses EVERY single time. Sucks to be him.
Moving on, after typing up Mike's sermon notes for Late Nite tonight, I am fired up about what the Holy Ghost is going to do!!! He has got some powerful points that are going to change some lives and I can't wait to see the transforming power of God at work! Woo! Yay God!
It's been kind of a crazy day, but God keeps pulling me out and up and I just feel like I can't worship Him enough right now!
Oh yeh, and Chris keeps saying that he is going to post something but he never does... just FYI. But it's ok because he is the most amazing man in the universe and I get to be his wife! Oh, the beautiful days are coming soon!

What a wonderful weekend!

Life since the last staff meeting has been incredible. I have been challenged to be kinder, gentler, and more loving to the man I love and adore. My family has finally bonded together again. I got to train to be a 5 star girl. I got to go to bars and reach people that I used to know. I met with my wedding florist and found that God has such high favor on me in the finance department right now. Chris and I were able to hang out with other couples our age and fellowship and laugh. I have truly experienced the pure, sincere, unfailing love of the Father. I say it all the time, but God is SO good and I just do NOT deserve it- but I LOVE it!!!!!!!!!
P.S. I LOVE CHRIS MATT!!!

Great new tricks

Dan O. totally just taught me how to add pictures to our page and I am sooo happy!!! He also taught me how to link (like I did with him name in the last sentence. I am so blog smart now. :)

God is good

This darn website has been down so I haven't been able to tell you all about the great things that have been happening!
Yesterday at staff meeting Pastor Dino brought such a strong Word. He spoke about his experience in Italy in Paul's prison cell by St. Peter's Square. He had journaled some killer thoughts and shared them with us in the form of a 2 Timothy checklist. They were things that Paul required of Timothy then and Jesus requires of us now and they were incredible!!! He ended with a challenge that will stay with me for a very long time. He said that if you don't serve, live, and die with passion, then do the martyrs before you a favor and quit ministry. So many people before us have shed blood for the cause of Christ- including Jesus himself- and it is a travesty that we would neglect the call on our lives!! Chuck Swindall says that 1.5 million Christians were martyred in the 300 years before Constantine! That number alone should inspire us to work harder to populate Heaven and plunder Hell!!! It was an incredible message and I am so thankful to serve under a pastor who motivates me every minute of every day.
But wait, it gets better!!! After the message we entered into worship again. Delynn felt after a couple songs that some people were going through some things and needed prayer, and I immediately felt the pull to go down to the altar. While there, I finally gave all my family issues to the Lord that I have been dealing with for 10 years. In ten minutes, He restored my heart. He is so good!!! I left that altar determined to be the solution to my blended family issues instead of the problem. I sent my step-father and step-sister seperate emails detailing how I felt. I told them I wanted to not only accept that we are a family, but begin to embrace it. My step-dad returned with a phone call and now we are on the fast-track to truly being a happy family and it feels AMAZING!!!
Then, last night I got to go eat with Darnelle, Katie, and LB and had SUCH a blast! I love those girls. I could have sat there all night and talked and laughed with them. I can't wait to do it again soon!!!!
Ok, that was all yesterday, so it's time to go and experience today! Chris comes home tonight and I am PUMPED!!!

what a weekend

This weekend was crazy. We "graduated" at 6 weekend services. That was pretty interesting. My friend Wendy came, which made me SO happy! She is awesome. After church, me, Mom, Chris and Wendy all went to eat at Jason's Deli. We had a blast cuttin' up.
After lunch I had to bring Chris to the airport to fly to Atlanta. He doesn't come back to Friday and I am SAD! I miss him a LOT. Only 122 days (exactly 4 months) til the wedding! yay!!!
Sunday night was the Pathfinders leaders meeting. I love those guys. Tyler taught and it was slammin'! I was totally fired up to take initiative and change the world!!
That night I went to Gena's to sleep over since both of our mens are out of town. Yesterday she and I took her kids and one of Chase's friends to Blue Bayou. I am a WIMP! I was exhausted after like two hours....
Anyway, back to work. I miss Chris!!!

Craziness

To move the date or not to move the date? That is the question.
After finding out yesterday that Mike (pastor) might be in Italy the same day we have scheduled the wedding and after all the aggravation of my step-brother putting his wedding the day after mine, we have considered changing the date.
"What's the problem," you ask? Well, it's gonna cost me a grand in fees and such to change the date. Loverly. Just be praying. I know it will work out how God wants it to, and I am doing my best to trust that. He is renewing my strength and faith each day. Andy Stanley says "Faith is confidence that God is who he says he is and that he will do what he has promised to do." "Nothing is more honoring to your heavenly Father than making life decisions based upon what he has claimed about himself."
I must ground my faith in the character of God and not the circumstances of life. So, once again, I stand here helpless, reliant only upon Him and His great mercy and love.
I know He'll come through. He always does.

Thoughts from the day

I sometimes compile a somewhat random list of thoughts from the day. Here are some from this crazy day.
1. I must keep remembering and reminding myself that God does work EVERYTHING out for the good of those who are called according to His purpose. I must trust Him.
2. The devil WILL attack whenever life is going well. He hates happiness and prosperity. I must rebuke him.
3. God loves it when we have FAITH in Him against all odds, even when things look the most hopeless. What is impossible with man is possible with God. I must believe Him.
4. God is ALWAYS there, through all the turmoil and tears. I must seek Him.
5. God does reward our loyalty and perserverance in His VISION for us, even when it's not the vision we had for ourselves. I must work for Him.
6. The devil will try to trick us and lie to us and tell us that things will never turn out the way we wanted them to, but we have to know that God has something even BETTER planned than we ever dreamed. I must ask Him.
That's all.... Hope it makes sense. God is just so good.

New things of life...

Things have been so crazy, so I'm sorry I haven't written in so long. I am now working as Mike Haman's assistant and serving on Late Nite staff. I am SO pumped! Life has just been so good. God is so good to me, and I don't know why. All the months of sacrifice and sweat and tears has all been worth it. I guess I proved my dedication and diligence.
Things with Chris are amazing as always. He blows my mind. I never thought I could love someone so much. We went to his parents' house in Texas this weekend and had such a blast. I really enjoy his entire family and I cannot wait to get to know them all better. They each have so much to offer. I am so excited that both his brother and sister will be in our wedding. They are incredible.
Chris' job has been going great. God is really hooking him up with opportunities and we are thrilled. It has taken a while, but he stuck with it and it's beginning to pay off.
I am reading this PHENOMENAL book by Andy Stanley called "Visioneering." I highly recommend it. It has completely changed my outlook and continues to feed vision and hope into my life.
Late Nite last night was amazing. I am so excited about the future of this ministry and honored that God has chosen me to be a part of it. HPC rocks!!!!!!!
Check out some cool other blogs :
David Song, Mike Haman, Dino Rizzo