The Tweezmeister and T-Money

You gotta check out HPC Refuge pastor Tweezy's blog. That dude is really changing the world, one life at a time. I pray for boldness, courage and passion like his. He epitomizes what this life should be like.

Also check out the Tullos crew here. They are the j-high pastors and brand-new parents. They are SO committed and sold-out to seeing the next generation stand up, stand out and change the world. They are raising up an army of little soldiers doing huge things for Jesus.

Chris and I are so honored to get to work in ministry alongside such amazing 20-somethings.

Displace Me

Ok, so everyone knows my burden for Africa. One organization that is doing a lot to benefit that continent is Invisible Children. (You can check out everything they're doing here.) They are doing this amazing event on April 28th called "Displace Me" to raise awareness of global poverty. Right now, almost 38,000 people have signed up to take part in this awesome opportunity in 15 cities around the country. Only 376 people have signed up for New Orleans, so I want to challenge all of you to check it out and try to commit if you can. I won't be able to make it due to church responsibilities, but if you can be there, I know it will rock your world.

Read this excerpt off the website, or just go read all of it.

"When Hurricane Katrina hit this country, we saw for the first time what a displaced American looks like. Now we’re asking you to voluntarily become displaced, leaving the comforts of your homes, to imagine for 24 hours what it’s like for the millions of people in Northern Uganda who have been displaced for more than ten years.

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has abducted thousands of children, subjected them to torture or sexual violence and forced them to fight in a violent guerilla army for 21 years—making it the longest running war in Africa. In hopes of providing protection from this rebel militia, the Ugandan government forcibly evicted its Northern citizens from their homes—giving them 48 hours to relocate into camps. Today, more than 1.5 million Northern Ugandans remain far from secure, suffering nearly 1,000 deaths per week due to inhumane living conditions in the camps.

Alcoholism, sexual abuse, HIV/AIDS, inadequate sanitation and lack of education have caused immeasurable damage to two generations and the near-total destruction of Acholi culture. Water is scarce and people are reliant on food to be delivered by foreign aid. If the food isn’t delivered, the people starve. This April, the already meager rations delivered by the World Food Program to the camps will be cut in half due to lack of funding—with school feeding programs and support for HIV/aids victims soon to follow. This will indisputably increase the number of deaths among those already suffering from severe malnutrition—mostly among women, children and the elderly. That is why the timing of this event, and your participation are so crucial.

“Displace Me” is the nationwide event giving Americans the chance to respond.

By traveling to one of our 15 camps and gathering together, the strength of our size will make a visible statement to our government and media that the citizens of the U.S. demand action in ending the war in Northern Uganda, in order to send the Acholi people suffering in the camps and the abducted children back home. The point is to travel; the point is to become displaced yourself."Saturday, April 28, 2007 say “Displace Me” and leave your homes to bring them home.

CHALLENGED MUCH?

Day of Rest

I took today off after an insanely crazy last few days. I love my job and I wonder everyday why has God chosen me to do His work. With the extreme honor of working at HPC comes extreme fatigue from time to time. Thank you, Mike Haman, for giving me the day off!! I slept til 10:30am (only woke up thanks to loud neighbors- gotta love apartment living), ate lunch on my couch with my man, went shopping with my mom, and spruced up our place with a little spring decor. Right now I am watching my amazing hubby do some housework so I can relax. It's truly a wonderful life. I am so looking forward to going to "work" tomorrow. Everyone there is like family to me, and I miss them when I can't see them!

I heard that this weekend we set a record attendance (even more than last year at the River Center). Praise God for all the lives brought to Christ and His everlasting grace. Last night's concert with Vicki Beeching, Rebecca St. James, and Delirious was great. I think about 1500 people gathered to rock out and worship our incredible Savior. Jesus has been so good to us and I really don't deserve it, but I sure am grateful for it!

One more thing- Chris and I have gotten the chance to become friends with an awesome guy in our church, Eric Doucet. He and his family are completely sold out to doing whatever it takes to serve God and his people. Check out their blog here.

Easter 2007

We had the amazing privilege of serving at some of the Easter weekend services and it was such a blessing! The worship was absolutely incredible- it moved me to tears several times. The emotion of what Jesus did for me- filthy me- blows my mind. I just can't believe that He went through all that so my stupid, ridiculous, selfish sins could be erased and I could be close to my Father. Getting to serve with my husband is always a highlight for me, too. (Plus he looks really good in a suit!!)

I am so grateful that Pastors Dino and Delynn are so committed to HPC. They bring so much anointing, class, righteousness, humor and purity to every service. As always, they really stepped it up this time. Pastor Dino was raw, uncut, and honest about what Jesus endured for each of us. The altars were packed at every service. After fourteen years of being lead pastors, they are still as grateful today for what God has given them as they were when they first began. Thank God for his many blessings!

(Check out Lance LeBlanc's post on his Easter experience. It is strong!!)

Broken ankles and old friends.

So, last night my fearless leader, Mike Haman, broke his ankle while playing an intense game of kickball with his 8 year old daughter. While sliding into home, he put his right foot underneath him and rolled on it, causing it to pop and break in a bad spot- he will be having surgery on Monday. Needless to say, he won't get to be a part of all of the Easter weekend services as we had planned, and he is majorly bummed out! As much as I hate this for him, I know that this staff is facing opposition, and that means something great is coming! Angie Bellard and Sherri May both have a broken foot, Pastor Dino's back has been hurting, and a very pregnant Gena slipped and fell on a wet floor in Jason's Deli. Add all this in top of sickness going around and Mike's ankle, and I know the devil is MAD! Let's continue to pray for the harvest this Easter- I can feel something amazing coming!!

Also, my old youth pastor from First Methodist lost his daughter, Marianna Wimberly, to lupus and Chrone's disease on Monday. Her brother and sister were friends of mine for a long time & we all grew up in church together and attended youth camps together throughout the years. Though I haven't spoken to them in quite some time, my heart and my prayers are with this family as they endure this difficult season ahead. You can read about all her life here- she was dedicated to making other people's lives better and worked with children in hospitals. I pray her life is a testimony to the grace and love of the Father.

New things

So, Michael Griffis taught me how to add fun stuff to my blog. Look up and down the sidebar, and scroll all the way to the bottom. See all the stuff I added? Tell me what you think... I want comments!! I am still learning, but I am excited about the possibilities!!!

Also, we are showing the Passion of the Christ tonight at the Annex I at 9:30pm. After the movie, we will have a great time of worship. We hope you can make it tonight and to one of our seven weekend services. It is all going to be incredible as we remember the resurrection of our Savior!!!!

**the biggest loser winner!**

Gotta give a shout-out to our boy, JP, who won the HPC Biggest Loser competition! The contestants started on Jan 9, and ended yesterday, April 3. The top 9 people lost a total of 197.7 pounds in just 12 weeks. JP came in first, losing 37.2 pounds and 14.1% total body weight! Terry placed fifth dropping a whopping 30 pounds and losing 9.6% of his weight. And our wonderful Pastor came in 7th, with a total loss of 17.7 pounds and 6.8% of his body weight.

These guys worked really hard and we are really proud of all of them. I wish I had bunches of money so we could treat them to big steak dinners! JP also won his division in the Fat Boy 5k Saturday!! Check out this great pic of his shocked expression after he was given his medal:

So go check out JP's blog right now- he's an awesome guy with some cool things to say. And he keeps it short and sweet, unlike me :)

Italy Trip

In October, Chris and I will have the awesome opportunity to travel to Italy to bring the good news of our Savior to those precious people. We would love it if you would partner with us- we need prayer more than anything, and of course it takes money, too.

Here's why we are making this such a high priority in our lives:
**Did you know that every major religion except Islam is declining in Western Europe? Did you know that more than 250,000 cities, towns and villages in Europe have no Christian church? Did you know that Europe is now labeled as "Christophobic" and "anti-religious"?
**With the help of missionaries, the church in Africa is growing 50 times faster, and the church in Asia is growing 43 times faster than in Europe.
**In measuring church growth over the last century, Europe's rate was the lowest in the world. In fact, a new study shows that fewer than 7% of people go to church each week, and by 2040, the number of churchgoers is projected to drop to just 2%. ?
**TIME magazine called it (Europe) the darkest place in the world, spiritually speaking. (TIME magazine, June 8, 2003 Issue)
**More than 250,000 cities, towns and villages in Europe have no Christian church. (TIME magazine, June 8, 2003 Issue)
**Only .1% of Europe is Evangelical Christian

We are partnering with an awesome project called Italy for Christ. They have been around for over 20 years, dedicated to penetrate the country of Italy with the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are on this earth to populate Heaven and plunder Hell- That is why we are each raising $3500; that is why we would spend hours upon hours doing whatever it takes to raise that money; that is why Chris is taking off 8 days of work; and that is why it will be worth every penny we raise. Someone has to go there and tell people about the love of Jesus, and I am honored that God would choose to use us.

Please join with us in prayer for this amazing opportunity!!!!

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!