Urgent Prayer Needs

I know that there are millions of prayer needs out there right now, but I have a few I would love for you to join in with me for:

1. Bob Engram: God pulled him through his 12 hour surgery yesterday and He gets all the glory. Mr. Engram had a huge tumor in his throat and during surgery they had to remove some vital things, leaving him to speak with a voice box the rest of his life. His family is at his bedside and fighting over who gets to spend the most time with him. He is surrounded by love and knows that God is with him, but let's pray that the Lord's peace would just penetrate his hospital room and the hearts of those who love him!

2. The family of Melanie Moore: She passed away over the weekend from a brain aneurism. She was only in her 40s! She had been married and divorced twice when her daughter was killed in an awful car accident last year. She and her first husband (the child's father) reunited after her death and were remarried in August of last year. She was a teacher who impacted the lives of over 500 students. She was also our neighbor at my mom's home before she got married, and she blessed my mom's life tremendously. Her children and husband are devastated, so I pray that God's supernatural peace and comfort surround them. They have now lost two family members in just one year!

3. DeeDee Wilbert: Her only son, Drew, passed away this weekend at the age of 21. Mrs. Wilbert taught special-ed for many years, and she and my mom have been friends for ages. I had the privilege to teach with her at Broadmoor, and I know Drew had her heart. Please just join with me for her to have embrace the grace given to her by God so she can get through this terrible ordeal.

4. Tom Bell: He is a co-worker of my dad's and he fell down some stairs a couple hours ago and has slipped into a coma. Please pray for healing and restoration of his body and for his family to embrace God during this traumatic time.

Interesting how all of these prayer requests are for God's peace, comfort and grace. Isn't it good to know that He always offers them to us, but it's up to us to reach up and take hold of His promises for our lives?

Lauren Best of Song

Just wanted to give a shout-out to my friend Lauren Best, AKA "LB". She has a great blog that you should totally check out here. She's one of those really amazing Christians that just make you wanna be better, and I love her for that!!! I think she's really one of the greatest people I have ever known, and she's definitely one of my very bestest friends. She doesn't judge me in my most obvious times of imperfection, she'd drop what she's doing if I needed her, and she's 100% completely committed to making Jesus famous worldwide. I love her!!!!!!!!!!!!

Check out her man's blog here. He's pretty great, too.

Elevate of the Month

Please join me in congratulating Ms. Katie Fontenot for achieving the extraordinary award of becoming Elevate of the Month.
Katie is a true example of "the goal is more important than the role." She has a heart for outreach and a gift of making people feel included, valuable, and encouraged. You can always count on her to be happy and positive about any decision made. Katie serves with Michelle and Tiffany helping make Elevate possible and she works so hard at all that she does. Katie has a contagious heart for the Lord and passion for his people to find what she has- and she will do whatever it takes to make His name famous. If you see or talk with Katie make sure you congratulate her on this awesome achievement. Congratulations, Katie! We love you!

Fun Tuesdays

Got a few words about a few things....

Weekend was awesome. I can't believe I get paid to do what I LOVE!!!

Check out JP's new blog. It's pretty cool, and he's a great friend, so check it out here.

Don't forget to watch American Idol tonight at 7 on Fox. Sanjaya will stink it up as always and make the whole competition look stupid, but hopefully he will be gone soon.

Chris and I are beginning to fundraise for our mission trip to Italy. Please pray for favor and finances!! (and contact me if you feel the need to give! :)

Big weekend!!

First of all, if you're a dude, you need to be at HPC tomorrow at 8am. I know it's early, but we are having an awesome Men's Gathering with two great speakers... Plus you get two free meals. You'll be done by 12, but your world will probably never be the same. I mean, seems like a no-brainer to me.

Also, Zhenya Kasevich will be speaking at all the services this weekend. He is the pastor at Hillsong in Kiev, Ukraine and he is great! You may remember his message from the last time he was here:"Oh my gosh!" attitude (pronounced ah-tee-tood). His wife, Vera, is also a dynamic speaker, and their son, Roma, is the youth worship leader at their church (think Ukranian Joel Houston). They are such an incredible family and we are so excited to have them with us.

Also, Sunday morning we will have Reuben Morgan leading worship at all three services. That is definitely something you do NOT want to miss. He is absolutely amazing! His music has had a huge impact on my life and the lives of so many of my loved ones. Some of the songs we sing most here at HPC were written and/or recorded by him originally (like "Mighty to Save").

Sunday night I get to be a part of a women's leadership roundtable. I will get to hear from Vera Kasevich and Delynn, plus get to hang out with girls who love ministry as much as me. This is going to be such a cool weekend and I am pumped!!!

Great blog

It's really hard to pick a favorite blog in the huge blogisphere we live in... but I have to highlight one of my favorites. Dan Ohlerking has an amazing blog full of great info. Dan also helps about 150 other people with their blogs, and is a big part of our blog's meek success. Besides being a computer genius, he is also an all around great guy and wonderful dad to all 587 of his children (just kidding- he has 5)! He has some great content as well as links to other great bloggers. It's definitely worth checking out.

Of course, I always recommend reading the websites of Mike Haman, Pastor Dino, and Late Nite. I am honored to get to be a part of so many great things happening around here!

GET RID OF SANJAYA!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you watch American Idol, know anyone who watches American Idol, or live on planet Earth, you have probably heard about the worst singer/performer to grace the stage since William Hung... his name is Sanjaya Malakar.

Yes, he seemed halfway decent at auditions, and it was sweet that he cried more than his sister when she got cut and he made it, but he has been terrible ever since. Week after week, his performances literally make me cringe. I usually have to change the channel after mere seconds because I cannot stand to watch or listen anymore. What makes me sick is that so many great people have been sent home, and this Michael Jackson wannabe stays week after week. Last week he honestly looked like a little girl- curly hair, two earrings, tight clothes... if he could sing or perform like Mr. Jackson I could forgive him, but he's worse than the most horrendous karaoke.

What's worse is that there are websites out there promoting him so that he will win and American Idol producers will look like idiots. The voters are the ones who will look like idiots- we are the ones who got rid of Jennifer Hudson and Chris Daughtry so soon. Moral of the story: tune in tonight to see who goes home (because it won't be him, even though he is far worst). Watch next Tuesday so you can see my point. Feel free to disagree, but I will always have my humble, yet correct opinion! :)

Now everyone say, "God bless, Sanjaya." Jesus does love him and did die for him, but the top ten of American Idol is not his home!

great weekend, new attacks

Chris and I had an awesome weekend! We got to hang out with his family in from out of town, got in a Holy Ghost throw-down for a few hours at Late Nite Saturday night, had the opportunity to eat dinner with an awesome couple, Gered and Brandi Lambert, and celebrated my best friend's birthday. Plus last night I got to stage direct at HP Women and got a great Word from Pastor Mike Haman (yes, he did preach at HP Women and it was incredible!)

For the past month or so, Chris and I have really been blissfully happy without a care in the world, and I knew that would make the devil mad. Boy, was I right! Within the past 24 hours I have dealt with three separate attacks. Poor ole' Satan... he tries so hard. Too bad for him that we are victorious in Christ and no weapon formed against us shall prosper. Even his best effort is useless against us when we have Jesus by our side. I know saying this will make him even more mad and he will just keep attacking- which isn't really so much fun- but I count it an honor to be persecuted because of Christ.

P.S. Gotta give a shout-out to my TERRIFIC friend, Stacey. She reads my blog and is just an amazing person in general.

the Matts are in town!!!

We are SO excited that Chris' family is in town!!! We get to go hang out with them tonight in Slaughter, LA and then Lauren and Chase are coming over to spend the night with us! Tomorrow the parentals are coming to meet us and we are going shooting and hanging out most of the day. The trip will be MUCH too short, but I miss them A LOT and can't wait to spend as much time together as possible in the next 24 hours.


I had the opportunity yesterday afternoon to be part of the after-school program at the BR Dream Center and it was awesome. I had the pleasure of hanging out with an amazing 8 (going on 30) year old girl. She was sweet, well spoken, articulate, and has seen way too much violence at a young age. Her dad is in jail for killing two people, her brother is dead- victim of a shooting in the back as he tried to help a friend. Despite all this, she has big dreams for her life. I pray that God blesses me with the opportunity to positively affect her life and the lives of many other girls whose futures hang in the balance. Keep the BRDC in your prayers- God is doing huge things there and I am so honored to play even a tiny role.

A good Word and a prayer need!

Yesterday Apryl Brignac challenged me with an awesome Word. We were discussing my improvement in the area of friendliness and overall good attitude, and she reminded me of a great scripture in Proverbs. The Bible says in Proverbs 11:25b (NIV) "...he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." This really encouraged me. It's not that we should be nice to people just so that others will be nice to us- that's not our motivation. It is just great that God rewards us with kind words when we freely give them to others. Want to be refreshed? Encourage other people... if His Word is true- which it MOST DEFINITELY IS!- then He will bring people to you to lift you up as well!

Speaking of encouragement, please keep my dad in your prayers. He began a new job last week and the devil has been discouraging him. I am believing that this is a total God thing and that when my daddy displays patience and trust in the Lord, He will flood him with the blessings he has deserved for a long time.

Have an awesome day! I get to go hang out at the BR Dreamcenter later and I am PUMPED!

Love song

I read something today that I had heard before, but really struck a chord in me this time. "Let my life be a love song to You." I am pretty sure it's a Casting Crowns song or something, and it's probably in the bible somewhere, but I saw it on a blog.

I mean, think about it. Do we really live every day showing love to our Father? I know that in my thoughts, my words and my actions, I am not always showing love. What if I recorded everything I thought, said and did on a daily basis- would that truly be a love song to God?

I want my life to be a love song to Him. I want him to look down and smile at me, knowing that I am exploding with love for Him. I know that I show Chris everyday how much I love him, but do I tell and show Jesus love as much as I tell my husband? Am I treating a man better than my Lord? After all, Jesus is my Savior, my lover, my friend, my father, my everything... let my life be a love song to Him!!!

Congrats, Alisha and Shaun Gyger!

This weekend we traveled to Ovideo, Florida to see Chris' cousin, Alisha, marry the man of her dreams! It was a beautiful wedding, and love was definitely in the air. Not only did Alisha and Shaun look obviously blissfully happy and in love, but the family and friends there made love even more present. Alisha has two great sets of parents and they all united together to make this day extra special for her.

We got to spend some quality time with Chris' mom, aunts, uncles, cousins- the whole fam! Aunt Donna and Randy gave us a great place to stay and lots of food :) We got to hang out with Kayla and Jacob, who we love. It was a great time.....

Until we went to leave on Sunday- our flight got delayed three hours (due to maintanance), we get on the plane, fly around a while, then they decide it's to dangerous to fly any higher because of cabin pressure issues. Why they put us on the plane in the first place is beyond me. Anyway, then they realize we were too heavy to land, so we circled Florida a few times, then landed back in Orlando. Once at the airport, we discovered they had no alternative route for us unless we got back on a broken plane, so we forked out more money, stayed in the airport hotel, and woke up the next day at 4:45am to get on another flight home. It was joyous. (I later found out some people got back on the plane, only for it to be broken AGAIN!)

We had a great time anyway. Late Nite was awesome and so was the missions seminar. So, pretty much it was a beautiful weekend overall!

Goooooooin' to the chapel...

and we're gonnnnnna get marrrrrried!!! Chris and I are traveling to the huge (haha) city of Ovieda, Florida this weekend for his cousin Alisha's wedding. She is marrying an awesome guy and we are excited to get away for a couple days. We won't be at Late Nite this weekend (SAD), but Mike is going to BRING IT with an awesome message about missions. I am so upset about missing this time, since missions is SO my heart... I will definitely be ordering this one.

Also, don't forget (another thing I have to miss)- the missions seminar is tomorrow from 8am-1pm here at the Highland Campus. If you are remotely interested on going on any mission trip this year, you must attend this workshop. It will be fun and really informative, and it's the first mandatory step in the application process for mission trips.

Check out http://www.joycemeyer.org/Cambodia/ to see an awesome work we are partnering with this year. Thank God for churches and people who are so KINGDOM minded- who aren't just worried about their church or their zip code, but take seriously what Jesus said in Matthew 28:19- "Go and make disciples of all nations..."

Have an awesome weekend!

Happy Birthday to Mike!

Today is my amazing boss' birthday! He is turning 33, which he so wonderfully pointed out this morning is the age Jesus died at. Last night he found out he and Rachel are having a baby boy! I was going to try and get him a present, but nothing could beat that.

Mike is really such a man of high integrity and strong character who lives up to his word. He is dependable, responsible, loving, patient, and gracious. Everyone wish him a happy birthday when you see him next. He has made a HUGE impact on a lot of lives over his ten years in ministry, including my own.

P.S. My husband is still the greatest man to walk the earth since Jesus... in my humble, but correct opinion.

Strep throat is of the devil

So, this weekend my hubby gave me an amazing present. It was huge and pink and worth lots of dollars- STREP THROAT!!! He had it last week, and gave it to me. It was the worst case I have ever had- I get it like once a year. I couldn't even swallow a tiny little Advil! And then the doctor gave me these horse pill antibiotics that were impossible to get down. Chris just got a shot and was better in 24 hours, but I am a wuss so I opted for the pill. Big mistake. I was in bed Sunday through Tuesday. I attempted to do a few things on Monday, but that didn't turn out too well for me. I left Chick Nite before it even started bawling crying because I was in so much pain. I made Chris come home from his life group and take care of me. Then I cried so hard I choked and couldn't breathe. That was fun. I hadn't slept in a week- first because Chric was sick, tossing and turning- and then because I was sick- in pain, unable to swallow my own spit, coughing, and nauseas. Yesterday I was really starting to feel better until I took my medicine. It had me laid out, fatigued, feeling like I was going to throw up for 4 hours, so I decided no more pills. Last night I gave it to God and His healing, and this morning I woke up feeling great. My throat is still sore and I am trying not to talk too much (haha), but God has healed me and I am soooo grateful!

Please pray protection over our team. Terry has been sick today, Kristin's head has been getting bad again, I was sick, Chris was sick, Stacey O. and her kids have been really sick, a virus has been going around the nursery, Angie/Marc/Romaine were all sick last week- the devil's mad at what we're up to, but we will not give him what he wants! We will be victorious!

WOW Jam!!

Tomorrow is WOW Jam at Gus Young Park. This is going to be a slammin' time of blessing the inner city community. We will be doing makeovers, stuff with kids, and all kinds of other great activities... followed by a time of worship and teaching. Chris and I will be serving in the "Kids Corner". (Where else would I be? Duh! Little inner city kids are my most favorite people... besides Africans.) Anyway, I know God is going to do something amazing- lots of seeds will be sown and lots of souls will be brought into the Kingdom. Then on Sunday, everyone who dedicates their life to Christ will get baptized in that same park! How awesome is that?!

Everyone pray for this event. This is the first huge, key thing the Baton Rouge Dream Center is doing to reach out to the community around them. And if you can't make it- see you tomorrow night at Late Nite!!!!!!!!

the challenge... you up for it?

THIRTY-NINE... "Thirty-nine days til Easter, thirty-nine stripes our Lord took for us." That's one of the many great things Pastor Dino said this morning at staff meeting, but this one stuck. I pray that in the next thirty-nine days I put aside my role, my ego, my logo, my selfishness and go after THEM for HIM. His grace was ushered into my life, and it's my turn to help usher it into others' lives. For every stripe He took for me, I want to give something back to Him.

This is the time to step it up and lay it down. Step up our passion, our worship, our devotion, our love, our compassion, our sacrifice... and lay down our agenda, our selfishness, our pride, our egos, what we want... all to see the lost come to know their Savior. Jason said something really cool last night at One Way- there are about 22 prominent world religions. Almost all of them pray, they all have values and beliefs, most have been around for a long time... So what's different about ours? Christianity is the only one with a SAVIOR! And it's our turn to spread the Word!

What are you going to do in the next 39 days to make sure everyone knows about Him? As we worshiped last night, I looked around and felt overwhelmed with joy. In front of me stood pastors and worship leaders ushering in His presence. To my left was my mom, who just started coming to church with me a year or two ago, and is now such a testimony to the work of the Lord. Next to her was Krystle, my best friend of 10 years who has just rediscovered the love of Jesus in her life. On my right was my amazing husband- God's greatest gift to me. And next to Him stood two of our great friends, Robbie and Jason, who have helped shape him into the man of God that he is.

Someone came after all of us... who are you going after?