St John 1 is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. Let me set the story up....



Christ is spending time with the apostles. He spends the day with Philip.

What an exciting experience!

So, of course, Philip does would any of us would do and he goes to tell his friends.

He goes to Nathanael and he says..
vs 45 "We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

Nathanael responds with
vs 46 "What good thing comes out of Nazareth?"

Philip says
vs 46"Come and see."

Philip takes Nathanael to Christ. Before Nathanael introduces himself, Christ calls him by name. Nathanael is so confused so he asks Christ
vs 48 "Whence knowest thou me?"

Christ says
vs 48 "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under he fig tree, I saw thee."

Nathanael.... a new man, with a changed heart says
vs 49 "Thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel."

Now we don't know what Nathanael was doing under that fig tree, except that he was praying.

I think we all have fig tree moments don't we? When we think that nobody knows what is deep down in our hearts. They don't know our struggles and challenges. But one day we will meet our maker and we will know that he was with us. Even when we thought we were alone.

I had a fig tree moment. I was struggling, so I went for a walk. I found myself under a tree, praying. I was praying for peace and this story came to my mind. I found that peace. I know Christ is with us all. I know he hears our prayers. He knows what is in our hearts.





And Iinvite you all to come and see.

Last summer, I worked as a counselor at EFY.

I loved my job. One Sunday afternoon during the counselor orientation, the cutest boy ever walked it. He was such a stud. Later on in the evening, I met him. His name was Brett.

Throughout the week, some of our youth participants decided that they wanted to "hook us up." They were very persistent. They would borrow a pen of mine and give it to Brett to return the pen to it's rightful owner. They would scheme ways to get Brett and I together.

That week I was particularly close to a group of boy participants. One evening we were talking about Brett and I casually said

"Whatever... I'm just not cute enough."

One of the boys responded...

"I don't know what mirror you're looking in. Do you want to borrow mine?"

When he made that statement, he didn't mean it profoundly. But I have reflected back to that time and time again.

Sometimes, I think that we have a tendency to look in the wrong mirror. Maybe we should take time to look at ourselves and others in a different mirror.

May I add, that today, that cute boy is my husband.

So, What mirror are you (and I) looking in?

a blog is born.

Well, here it is ladies and gentlemen.

Today...

.... is the turning of a page. A new blog is born. Let me tell you a little bit about what inspired me to create this...

Lately, I've been thinking about the influence media has on me. Now it is estimated that we see a whopping 3,000 advertisements each day. 3,000. Wow....

go with my on this little analogy.

My dad loves his yard. Everytime someone new comes over he wants to give them his famous "yard tour." (It is beautiful by the way). I have been on this yard tour many, many times. One time in particular we stopped at some rose bushes...

He kept talking, but I became numb to the sound. I was particularly focused on the way he was fertilizing the plant. In order to properly fertilize a rose bush you place the fertilizer in the soil just near the rose bush, not directly on the bush.

This is the way media is for us on our lives. It is all around us and it greatly effects our development. That is why it is important that we are always surrounding ourselves with uplifting, positive things.

I would like to quote Victor B. Cline "The media has a great potential to teach, inspire, inform, and entertain, but they may also corrupt, degrade, and pervert. They have the power to influence profoundly for good or evil all aspects of our values and feelings, as well as our behavior. We are affected by what we choose to expose ourselves to. "

to read that whole article click here.

I just wanted to create a source of encouragement, inspiration and some hope especially for us women. Because I think that's what we all could use a little more of.

To start. I would like to introduce you to an amazing couple, Ashley and Patrick Sullenger. They lost their baby girl on July 16th of this year. They are going through such a tough time, but their testimonies have been a great source of comfort for them. My prayers go out to them.

What a great example they are!

I hope that this blog will be a small source of entertainment, encouragement and strength for us all.