Hey Picture Peeps! Here are a few pics (click on them if you’d like to view in larger form) from the Illuminate services held December 23rd and 24th at Cornerstone Ministries in Export, Pennsylvania. Thousands of people from the surrounding area attended for the six special services. I’ve gotta extend my deepest thanks for all your amazing love, encouragement and prayers for each service and rehearsal. Being 34 weeks pregnant, it sure was quite the experience (to say the least!) to participate in these services!

Thank you for all your prayers and support, folks; today’s the day …Cornerstone Worship LIVE (A Studio and Live Recording) is now available on iTunes. Click this link to check it out! It was quite an honor and blessing to be a part of, and I pray it’ll be helpful to your personal times of worship too!

I am blown away by the feedback from Cornerstone Worship LIVE’s debut CD which, released this past weekend at Cornerstone Ministries and is set to be available on iTunes November 15th. God has a way of using music to reach a place in our hearts that’s truly unexplainable. I was incredibly honored to be a part of this worship project.

A friend of mine purchased a copy the other day to listen to during her driving time in the car which her job demands. She texted me this message:

I am listening to the CD …OMG! Awesome! Didn’t know what I was expecting, but WOW! I actually cried when I heard your voice …do you know how hard it is to drive while you are crying? Yikes! I am soooooooooooooooo impressed. You will have to tell me more about the people behind those marvelous voices! There are no words to describe how the music made me feel.

Though I hope you’ll most certainly take advantage of this awesome worship tool for your own self, I even more so say all this because you never know how God is working behind the scenes in someone’s life and how He’ll use you to do something wonderful in a part of their story. Be faithful in what He’s created and given you the opportunity to do. You have the opportunity to make a powerful difference by being YOU and shining Jesus in what you do. I challenge that for you today!

My daughter’s uninhibited expressions in this short video helped me along the laughter path the other day. Life can get so ‘heavy’ and hard, that I’m once again reminded to make sure I take the time to breathe deep, rest, and laugh. Here’s something that might be able to help ya with that laughter part too.

Sure, we all have needs -very real ones at that …I am well aware. Gas prices are high. Groceries add up and aren’t always in abundance. And we may wonder how we are gonna pay that bill the mailman just delivered. As hard as it sometimes is in the day to day, can you imagine loosing your home and the contents therein??? I don’t know about you, but that really puts my grocery needs or minimal balance in the bank account in perspective.

My “home away from home” church family at Liberty Christian Fellowship, are seeking hard to meet the needs of so many who were devastated there in their own backyard on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. If you would like to tangibly help, here’s a message from the dear leadership at Liberty:

Anyone who is willing to give can mail their check or money order to Liberty Christian Fellowship, 244 Williams Drive, Kill Devil Hills, NC, 27948, earmarked Hurricane Relief. We have a team of volunteers as well as Christ in Action helping us with hot showers, meals, tree removal, etc. One of the biggest and most widespread needs are for food replacement, cleaning products, and clothing. The funds will help us get some of things we need. Thanks so much. The encouragement and prayer alone are keeping our heads lifted so our hands and feet can keep going.

Rana Dillon
Executive Secretary
Liberty Christian Fellowship
(252) 441-6592

Please consider going above and beyond your means of service and love, friends …here’s a chance to truly be ‘Jesus with skin on’.

This certainly was a weekend I”ll never forget.  Once a year, our church cancels it’s typical weekend services and decides to serve the community in an UNcommon way, above and beyond what we typically should be doing in our day to day as Christians. Click here to see some pics I put up on Facebook from the Children’s Hospital project I had a privileged of having a part in, and this video shared at a special evening service we had last night will give you an idea of some of the ways so many people became ‘Jesus with skin on’ right here in the very place we live; honestly, I don’t know who’s hearts were changed more …those served or ours!

I’ve been reminiscing about the time I had to share at New Derry United Methodist Church’s outdoor community event this past weekend, and the phrase “HUGE blessings in small packaging” is what rings true!

This church’s story in a nutshell: Mere months ago, the attendance was so low it looked as though the church as they knew it would be no more. And you know, church as they knew it was no more, as God had HUGE plans for these faithful folks! Attendance has jumped from it’s 5 attenders to 250 people coming to this community event …and I must tell you, the people I met and mingled with are the real deal! They are seeking God with their whole hearts, serving Him with all they’ve got, and the joy all over their countenance speaks volumes that God’s HUGE blessings abound, no matter how small the packaging might appear to be.

And this gets me thinking …if I honestly look deep enough, I dramatically see God’s HUGE blessings at work in the small packaging of little ol’ me. He is so faithful. How are you doing in noticing HIS blessings in your what may seem to be mundane packaging in the day to day??? He looooooooooooongs to bless you BIG, and already has in so many ways. I challenge ya …be real, seek God with your whole heart, and serve Him with all you’ve got. You won’t regret it. And I have a feeling that these folks at New Derry UMC have my back here too. (big smile)

So …I showed up in my office today to do a BUNCH of work in my Online Ministry Office, only to find that my silly internet decided to to be temperamental and kick me off more times than it let me on it.  After a moment …okay, I’m being honest her …momentS of frustration, I was reminded of how the LORD is in control of each aspect of this life.  I’ve given my entire self over to Him, which includes ‘my plans’ of each moment working on this music ministry.  So with grace, a word I’m allowing myself to receive and live in more these days per the Lord’s instruction(!), I have decided to venture off to Plan B.  And you know what, God is most certainly orchestrating that and much is getting accomplished.  So whether you’re executing your Plan A or venturing off to Plan B today, know that God is God and He’s got your back.  Yeah, it’s sometimes disappointing to head elsewhere than where we ‘though’ He wanted us to be in our gift of the moment, yet He’s working out something beautiful in our day to day crazy moments too!  B days don’t have to stand for ‘Blah!’  I’m allowing the Lord to show me how mine is astonishingly ‘Beautiful.’  Wanna join me???