what do you see?

On the way to work this morning I watched people in their cars. Some were on their cell phones, some were just gazing ahead, and others were putting make up on at every stop light (umm that would be me). Some of them looked rushed, while others had blank looks on their faces. We all had one thing in common we were going somewhere.  Behind every wheel of every car, there was a story to be told. I thought about my own story this morning. For years I locked it away in the vault of my heart and refused to share who I use to be. I finally realized that the person I am now was because Jesus had unlocked the vault with His love for me.  But it wasn’t until I began to see God as something more in my life that I truly embraced FREEDOM.  He was my healer, my completion, my validation, my forgiveness and He wanted to take all the junk in my life and use it?? USE IT??  2 Corinthians 12:9 says that His power is made perfect in MY WEAKNESS.  To use me  would mean I would have to expose my scars….It seems that every time satan tries to remind me of those ugly scars God gently reminds me that what He sees are my beauty marks. I remember years ago I was complaining about stretch marks and my sweet husband said Holly those should remind you of the births of each of our girls. WOW…When I see other people in bondage I should look past the chains and see their full blown potential and the beauty of their lives. So many of us lose hope and we hurt and need someone to pour into our lives encouragement and maybe give us an extra push. 1 Peter 1:22 says “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth…love one another DEEPLY, from the heart” We have so much to offer people just by remembering the chains we were once in and sharing the story of the hope we received through Jesus.  I was reading in 2^nd Timothy this morning and in chapter one it is encouraging us to be faithful and I came across verse 16…”May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesophorus, because he often REFRESHED ME AND WAS NOT ASHAMED OF MY CHAINS.”  This morning I want you to look at your own heart and ask yourself this question..Do I refresh others?   Look past the chains and see the heart of a person who needs to be set free!  INVEST…

Let your words give someone a sugar rush today!!

Psalm 119:103  how sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.

What does a Princess look like?

                                                               

I took Rachel to have her nails done yesterday and to pick out some cute PJ’s for our upcoming weekend plans.  She chose NEON pink and a cute flower design for each finger! She def felt like a princess…..

This weekend UNBOUND will hold our first little girl event… PB&J.  Our first event was SOLD OUT! We partnered with a local hotel here in Gastonia. We have so much planned for these girls and their moms/leaders.

When they enter their rooms the girls will find crowns on their pillows and a cute t-shirt and goody bags for both mom and daughter. Also we will have devotion for them to do together. We are all wearing our PJ’s tonight and having food, dramas and makeovers.  Tomorrow we will have worship/dramas/skits and pour into them JESUS! We want them to grasp how beautiful they are in the eyes of Christ. We are making them feel like true Princesses=) I will be sharing with the moms/leaders and I am so excited about this!  Please be in prayer about this event this weekend for the UNBOUND team and also the girls and their moms/leaders! We need to be encouraged just like you need to be encouraged! We are new, we are scared BUT we are ready to change the world=)

www.unboundministry.com PASS IT ON!!! NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON!

WHO AM I Conference coming to Ridgecrest NC (May 21/22)

8th Annual Searching for the Beauty Within (Fall)

  Psalm 45:¹¹ The King is enthralled by your beauty;
       honor Him, for He is your lord.  

 Romans 1: ¹¹I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— ¹²that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.

you can forget me walking up that mountain…

I don’t know if you have ever been to Ridgecrest NC. There is the most GINORMOUS hill to hike up! The top is breath taking and you can feel the presence of God. It’s quiet and peaceful and you see miles of His creation but… I HATE walking up it! I have tried and given up, I have tried and almost made it and then I would give up lay down and pray for someone to drive by.  I came across a quote this morning by Rebecca Barlow Jordan that simply says this “God sometimes moves mountains one pebble at a time”. I thought about how long so many people in my life have dealt with their own “mountains” including myself.  Struggles seem to fuel our weaknesses and keep us on our face more than on our feet. I was up last night preparing for our PB&J event that is this weekend. I will be speaking to the moms/leaders and I was looking over what I was going to be sharing and in the midst of that He took me to 2 Corinthians and also Galatians and I read over and over about God’s freedom and His power in the midst of our weakness.  Pretty much my entire life I was trying to paint this perception of perfection. I never wanted to appear broken in any way.  I had to finally grasp that when God looked at me He saw the blood of Jesus covering me and that is perfection. In Him I find grace, forgiveness, redemption and NO CONDEMENATION! (Romans 8:1) Don’t let your past or your current circumstances choke the very life out of you.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 says “He has made EVERYthing BEAUTIFUL in its time.”

2 Corinthians 12:9  (The Message) My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
   My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

healing ointment….

Our first snow finally happened and we had a blast all weekend!  We drank lots of hot chocolate, watched TONS of movies, played board games and we sled so much I am beyond being sore.  Last night while I was on twitter I saw that Crosspoint (In Nashville) was going live. I went to their sight and sat and listened to Pete preach on the most poisonous things in our lives, and in our world….OUR MOUTHS! Afterwards I began to think about how deep the wounds I have had in my past because of words spoken to me. I have suffered many years because of a lot of mean things people have said to me or about me. I think my favorite quote of the evening was this. “Everyone needs some type of healing and my words may be the ointment that provides the healing” WOW! God has gifted me with encouragement and I thrive on it! I love to watch people smile and to embrace their purpose in life! I want others to believe in their abilities and to know God has AMAZING things ahead of them no matter how bad current circumstances may be. Choose your words and know that they ALWAYS impact another person’s soul. I am blown away and convicted all at the same time! Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me…BULL!

Matthew 12:34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

Maybe its a heart problem??

Psalm 45:1 Beautiful words stir my heart.
      I will recite a lovely poem about the king,
      for my tongue is like the pen of a skillful poet.

what a girl wants…

Rachel is OBSESSED with high heels! I have never seen a child love shoes as much as she does!! She is 7 and when we go into a store she doesn’t want to go to her section. The other day we walked into Payless because I SAW THE BOGO SIGN haha (wonder where she gets it from). We walk in and Rebekah heads to her section and Rachel turns left on the women’s isle.  I am standing on the opposite end of the isle and I look up and here she comes walking down the isle with her pants pushed up to her knees and she has BRIGHT RED 4 inch heels on! I laughed and she looked at me and said ”mom these fit can I buy these?” She was so serious and actually got the box down. I finally talked her out of them ($24.00) when  I told her we would go to a really cool store called Goodwill and let her get several pair.  She started dancing and she pumped her fist and said YESSSSS! She knew what she wanted…..

Last night I was reading in 2 Chronicles and I thought about this simple question?

2 Chronicles 1: 7  That night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 

What do I want from God? I couldn’t answer because everything seemed to go back to me, myself and I.  I decided to pray for other people and for a while that was ok, but I realized God had brought me to this scripture and wanted me to answer. I sat in His presence and asked Him to search my heart and to please purge ME out of there.  I was humbled and in that moment I realized that all I really want and need is Him….His love, His grace, His mercy, His forgiveness, His patience, His guidance, His strength, His endurance, His faithfulness, His words to flow out of me, and His heart! God created me with a purpose and I am embracing it but at times I seem to get in the way.  Being purged doesn’t feel good, and it puts you on your face but the outcome is far greater than the pain!!  Ask yourself, what is it that you are truly wanting from God???

Jesus I am continually amazed by Your love for me! I can’t explain it or even comprehend it but I LOVE IT!

*side note* I have lost almost 7 pounds:)

simply me…

stir it up….

When was the last time you laughed? I mean bent over knee slapping about to choke laughter? I love those moments when you are not supposed to laugh (like in church ha). I remember once when I was a kid my sister and her friend created water balloon people. They drew hair on them and put faces on them and named them. I grew up in an Assembly of God church so standing and singing for over an hour was nothing new to me.  We stood up and while in the balcony the water “balloon friends” slipped from their hands and landed on top of two women!  I laughed because for once IT WASNT ME and two because they had NO idea where it had came from.  

 We are full of emotions.  Anything and everything triggers our emotions to come pouring out of us.  A few years ago our students attended a conference in Charlotte NC and we were singing a worship song and something happened and as I looked around everyone was crying and some were smiling, some were standing just in awe. Being in the presence of God should stir something in us.  There are several people that I know that hardly show any emotions. Fears, pain, anger, brokeness, feeling worthless are hard places to be in. I have experienced every single one of these seasons in my life. I had to realize that my enemy….satan himself brought each one of these emotions on me through sin, disobedience or just trying to distract me. When I am in the presence of God and I am thirsty for Him I feel Joy even in the midst of pain and when I am so focused on my circumstances I find myself begging to be back in the presence of God.   I am praying that as you read this something begins to stir within you. Some of you need healing! You need to release your past once and for all including the pain that you carry and the thoughts that continue to plague your mind. Let today be the start of something new in your life….let it go=)

Philippians 4 (the message) I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

can you fetch me a cane….

Although I am ONLY 34 and I feel like a kid on the inside my body told me that I was clearly out of shape this week. I have increased my workout routine to be a little harder when I am doing my 30 minutes of movement.  But let me tell you…OUCH! I have been doing this cardio workout (by Gold’s Gym) on the Wii and it has my body aching and I am soooo sore I could fall over. I told my co-worker earlier this morning that I felt like I needed a cane to walk.  God has given me such endurance and I push through each workout and I am excited when I am finally finished!  I wanted to say thanks to many of you who contacted me and said you were praying for me.  I truly have felt them this week.  I did not realize how deep the addiction ran and my love for food has left me feeling defeated and unable to see past my fork. Addiction – “compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance” …Change is on the horizon! I am praying for not big things…not amazing things…but THINGS TO BLOW MY MIND in 2010! I am ready to be used!

Ephesians 3:20

Holly:)

simply me….

Have you ever had so much to say that you really couldn’t put it into words…I am in that place. I have seen Jesus do amazing things in other people’s lives. I have seen Him move in my own life and have been overwhelmed by His healing power, His grace and His unconditional love for me. Two weeks ago I was sitting in my car listening to a Focus on the family broadcast and a lady was on there talking about her weight and how she had overcame it.  I sat in my car and I began to cry because I realized for the first time in my life I was addicted to food. It consumes my thoughts and I want it even when I am not hungry.  Just like some people are addicted to porn, some to alcohol and some to greed and many other things…my addiction is food. I have used it to comfort me, fill me up emotionally and yet when it’s over I feel even emptier. I begin to tell God how sorry I was for taking Him off the throne over and over and replacing Him with food.  My weight was only a symptom of a bigger issue.  My whole life I was in pageants, and I cheered, and I clogged and never was overweight ( I can’t remember once). When I went off to college I gained some weight and then lost it before my wedding day. I also remember feeling self conscience about my weight and hating who I was at times because of who I thought I and others saw.  Now at 34 years old I am considered obese by my doctor and enough is enough. I have been inspired by Rob Dempsey from Greenville SC who continues to live a healthy lifestyle.  I started looking at food as a stumbling block in my life and realized that I was sinning.  I am sick of avoiding pictures from the head down, and I am sick of always worrying about my weight. This year my one word is OVERCOME and I am on my way. I have repented and spoken with several people about holding me accountable. Since I have made this decision to walk away from my sin I have begun to exercise daily (30 minutes of movement) and I have already lost almost 5 pounds just in a week and a half. So again I find myself at a loss of words but my heart is bursting because Jesus is doing something in my life and yet again I am amazed…

pray for me:)

simply me….

boring church…

I am around so many people who tell me stories about how boring their churches are.  I read Perry Noble’s blog this morning and I laughed at first, and then I realized this simple truth. Satan will continue to strive and  make church boring so that no one will want to come!

http://www.perrynoble.com/2010/01/13/how-to-make-sure-your-church-is-boring/

Re-evaluate what you bring to your own church. You can’t complain if you are apart of the problem (just saying). Jesus is exciting and when you truly encounter Him you can’t be the same..and neither should your church!

imagination….

As a child your imagination can freely run wild.  My sister and I would pretend like we were teenagers that had McDonald jobs, and we both were popular cheerleaders. We had fake names and fake boyfriends and we would get lost in that world. (and it was all in the back yard)  I also remember playing with my childhood best friend Kim. We would pretend we worked for a phone company. We were serious and we had our own offices and paperwork and really got into our roles. We also LOVED I mean LOVED Pee Wee’s playhouse. We talked like him, and acted like him and I even had posters of him on my wall.  I also loved my cabbage patch!!  I took that baby everywhere and I was convinced she could hear me.  My husband and I were talking just last night about our childhoods. He would get lost in super heroes and Star Wars!! (although still to this day he loves both) I thought about all the stages we go through as children and even as teens and adults. The different toys we play with and the clothes we choose to wear at times the many hairstyles we play with trying to find who we are.  We always look back at pictures and say “what was I wearing” but at the time it was the coolest thing EVER!  What did you play (or with)  when you were growing up? What was your childhood obsession?

God created us with a purpose and I think when we finally embrace that God can do AMAZING things through us we can freely believe that amazing things WILL HAPPEN!  Habakkuk 1:5!

Imagination gives way to new ideas….

Ephesians 3:20 Dream Big!