healing----something to think about

last week, i went to a women's meeting at church...there was a time for prayer requests and many people were lifted in prayer...

*a woman said something that made me think of "healing" in a new light.
she said, "Sometimes we pray for healing, and God gives Perfect Healing by taking us home."

it made me think, because when someone is ill then pass away, people may look at that as God not healing that person.....
but if you think of that as 'Perfect Healing', there can be a sense of peace.

Women of Faith "Amazing Freedom 2007" conference

just wanted to share a few notes i took at the women of faith
conference in anaheim sept 8th.....there was music, various speakers, comedian anita renfroe, and sandi patty performed--what an amazing voice!!
...the conference came at a good time for me--i've been a bit stressed and emotional lately with stuff in life and it was nice to get out and meet some women from church for a day of fellowship....i took notes on some things....my notes are a bit random---and some of the little sayings of the speakers are cheesy, but i think true : )

*stop comparing/stop controlling
- we tend to compare ourselves and our lives to others -- this is not good
- we try to be in control of everything and in the end, we are not
the one in control--God is and we need to put our faith in Him
"if you work all the time and focus on having the best of the best of
everything, you may not realize the best is sitting right in front of
you"
--sometimes it is best to sit, be still and quiet, and listen/hear
God---we tend to be so 'busy' in our lives that we don't take time to
just be still.

* if God has a dream for each of us, what happens when it is snatched
from us or if it never shows itself to us?
- there is a HUGE difference between God's dream and the american
dream.....the american dream is critically flawed.....so, what is
God's dream for us?
---God's dream is us being set free to live, love, fall down, and get
back up again. God loves us for who we are (with all our flaws and
short-comings)....he loves us just as we are---broken....his love is
not based on our actions, but on who we are...
it's ok to be broken.....if you tell someone the truth about you and
what you are experiencing and that person chooses to walk away from
you--let them go....we should surround ourselves with people who
accept us as we are...

we have to start by being vulnerable and telling the truth about who we are....
Amazing Freedom: Jesus paid our bill...we don't have to keep paying ---we can let go of
all the past emotional/mental/physical abuse-----we don't have to keep paying for it for the rest of our lives---Christ has paid for it so we can let it go and be freed through Christ's love for us.
---we should pray for each other
--we don't have all the answers.....but we are never alone--God is always with us and will pick us up and take us to others that will be there to love and support us.....remember that everyone is broken insome way....most of us just don't admit it....no one likes for others to think there is something wrong--whether it be something small or a major struggle we are going through.....
that's why when people ask 'so, how are you?', most of us just smile and say, 'i'm fine'.....
***God uses people when they are broken--not when people are full of themselves.
---we don't always get to choose what we go through, but we DO get to choose how we respond----choose life instead of emotional death....choose gratitude: list out things you are grateful for--God will do amazing things in your heart...the speaker talked a bit about philippians 4:6-7, 'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.'

another mentioned 'the joy of the lord is our strength'

they talked about how hiding emotions is toxic---ok, cheesy saying-"what you don't say,
stays"....there is a release that comes when you take inside emotions and get them on the outside....you must express feelings or it will be toxic to your wellbeing..don't let held in emotions turn you to stone....

"to fully experience God, you must fully experience life.....to experience life, you must experience pain" --- to heal it, you have to feel it...so many times, to avoid "feeling", people get busy doing things to stay distracted from what is really going on....it's bad to deny,
bury, or stay distracted from feelings...
---you can't go over, under, or around the pain--you must go through
it. referenced psalm 23

God walks us through---he lifts us, he holds us......

God is always there whether we feel it, or not...he is in charge--we don't know what his plan is......but each thing we go through will teach us something and prepare us for the next thing....
think positive....count your blessings.....be grateful.....
amazing freedom is ours!!
: D

more denver

Rocky Mountains

(if you've already read about this on david's blog, you can stop---i cheated and basically copied/pasted this onto mine...just changing it up a bit)

On the final day of our trip, david wanted to go to Rocky Mountain National Park. He had mis-booked our flights and when he tried to reschedule, the flights on Labor Day were booked so we had an extra day in Denver. I woke up with a horrible headache but David had his heart set on going, so I tried my best to support him and Darian on the outing.

Once in Estes Park, david and darian ate at a KFC/Taco Bell combo place, while i slept in the car trying to get rid of my headache......they brought me a sandwich from subway.....While waiting in the parking lot david took a picture of some lightning from a storm that was passing through. We waited the storm out and then got back on the road to the park.

Our first stop was the Park and Ride to Bear Lake. Still having a horrible headache, I stayed in the car and slept while Darian and David took the bus to the Lake.....they walked around the entire lake and took quite a few pictures. It was an overcast day with drizzling so it wasn't as picturesque as david was hoping. On the way back they walked through Glacier Gorge and then took the bus back to the park and ride.

Our next stop was Sprague lake. Park buses didn't take visitors so there was a lot less traffic and people walking around. In some ways that made this a better lake to visit. The pictures also came out better at this lake then at Bear Lake. Darian kept me company in the car....she had had enough lake/walking for a while.....david was wanting to see as much as he could....we teased him that he was like a madman on a mission....i had no idea my husband was such the 'outdoorsman'.....haha..... As he walked the 1/2 mile around the lake he saw a chipmunk and some ducks. Once he got back to the car I was feeling much better.

Our next stop was Fern Lake. The guide I printed off of the internet mentioned we may even see some Elk. On the way to the lake we noticed a number of cars pulled over to the side of the road. We decided to stop and noticed that there were two giant elk in the meadows. The horns on these elk looked as large as some of the small trees they were standing by. No one ventured close and kept their distance and took photos. They had to have been at least 50-75 yards from the road.

Further down the road we drove through a pack of close to 10 female elk. There was even a smaller baby elk in the herd. They were eating leaves from trees that lined the road. After driving through we walked back and took some more pictures. We were able to get within about 10 feet of these elk. I told david seeing the elk made the trip worthwhile.

As we headed back to US 34 we saw a coyote running on the top of a small hill close to where the two male Elk were that we originally spotted. Darian said the coyote runs and looks like a dog. We got back onto US 34 and drove through Deer Junction. I spotted a deer running on one of the hills. Giant antelers but looked a little on the thin side.

Once up the road we accidentally made a wrong turn and ended outside of the park. After a u-turn and a visit to the information area we got back on track for Old Falls road. Darian and I were not thrilled at all of driving up a one way dirt road in the rain on the side of a mountain, although david said he found it easier to navigate than the roads on Pike's Peak.

At the end of the 10 mile road we made it to the top of one of the peaks. David took some cool pictures and then we were off to our final destination in the park, Millner's Pass at the Continental Divide. The divide is the point where bodies of water drain to. On one side of the divide about 50 yards from the sign the water drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and on the other side with a small lake about a 100 yards away the lake drains into the Pacific Ocean.....(cool i guess, but darian and i thought there would be something more exciting to see besides the sign pictured here)

At this point the sun was going down and entering into dusk. We drove through the backside of the park, saw a few more elk, and believe we saw some moose as we exited the park. After dinner in Winter Park we made it back to Denver. When it was all said and done it was right at a 12 hour day. By 10:30pm we were back in our hotel room packing for our flight the next morning.

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Pictures from our trip to Colorado

Here are pictures from our weekend in Colorado. The first album are pictures from the wedding events of Brett and Sandy McGarity. Including rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner and the wedding.

Brett And Sandy McGarity Wedding

The second album includes pictures from Pike's Peak and Rocky Mountain National Park.

Colorado Mountains