Tis the Season!

Hello darlings! I just wanted to say a quick 'hi' to all you ladies ~ life is so very hectic this time of year... and as I was waiting in line on my second trip to walmart in one day, I started looking around and thinking about each person that was standing in line with me - how crazed they probably are over everything they have to get done before Christmas. And something that really struck me was how much we all need to be in prayer for each other! It is our duty to our Lord to care for each other, be there for each other, lift each other up, and just plain love each other. Let's not let this Christmas Season pass without showing some random strangers Jesus' love - through smiles, through a helping hand, in anway that we can - are you with me?

I love you dearly!
-Susan Elaine

The Adventures of Porky and Porkchop!

Hey All!!!

I hope that you have been having a wonderful Christmas Season! We just got a phone call from my brother yesterday who was telling us that his wife was leaving yesterday for Colorado, then heading to Iraq... and that he would be going back to Iraq today... so as he is flying through the air right now I ask that you fervently pray for traveling mercies and God's hand in every step that they take. Although I know that Ryan was sad for the loss of his father-in-law, I also know that he was giddy over being able to come home and see his wife! What a bitter-sweet reunion for them!

Anyhow, I'm sure that you are all wondering what is up with the title of this blog? Well... last weekend my darling Lisa and I took a girls weekend trip down to Washington D.C. and had a absolute blast! We flew through the museums and dashed through all of the memorials and were in absolute love with the blue skies that God provided us with! It was a very refreshing week - only a little bit of work done in the hotel room - and the rest of the time was spent enjoying how amazing that city is!

Anywho... while in D.C. we were talking about the fun that we were having and how great it would be to make an awesome children's book based on our D.C. Adventure!!!! Well... since our nicknames (from JD of course) are Porky (me) and Porkchop (Lisa)... we figured that we could call our series - "The Adventures of Porky and Porkchop" and then each time we travel and visit a new city, we can write an educaitonal, but hilarious, children's book about these two pigs (Porky and Porkchop) who teach us about the world through their traveling tales!!! Doesn't that sound like a blast!!! I know we had a blast with it! And after all... who wouldn't want to make a living by traveling around the world and having fun? Well... keep it in the back of your minds, and if one day you happen to see our books in stores - please purchase one and learn about our adventures! haha Oh how I love you ladies!

Here are some pics from our Big D.C. Adventure:

(Lisa wearing the Captiol Building as a hat)

(George is one of our favorite all-time men!)

(the White House! How beautiful it was at night!)

(accidentally cut off Abe's head - oops!)

(holding the washington monument in my hand)

(Madam President Suzi? hahahaha)

(the Hope Diamond - gorgeous)

(a capitol hat for me - yay)

I love you girls - please let me know if you have any prayer requests!

All My Love,
Susan Elaine

Flying Home from Iraq

Hey everyone. I got some sad news this morning...

My sister-in-law's father passed away this week from a 6 month battle with lung cancer. He was diagnosed last May (right around the same time my mother was also diagnosed with cancer). When they found the cancer, it was already in Stage 4 so we have known that his time with us was short. Within 6 hours of the time that he passed, they had the news to my brother Ryan in Baghdad... which is incredibly fast since it can often take up to 72 hours to locate and inform the soldiers.

Since he is my brother's father-in-law... Ryan will be flying home to the States within the week for the funeral. I want you to know though, that this is partially a blessing in disguise. You see, Ryan left for Iraq just weeks after he and Tracy got married last April... and haven't seen each other since. That's 7 months of being apart! I can't believe it has been that long.

Anyhow, Tracy is also in the military and is training right now to leave for Iraq. While in Iraq, she would be just miles from Ryan... but would not be allowed to see him at all! In addition, his tour in Iraq would end 2 months before her's would... so he would come home to the States while she was still in Iraq - I can hardly imagine how horrible that would be for them!

So while this funeral is a sad time for the family, it is a blessing that Ryan and Tracy will get to see each other again before she heads to Iraq. Please pray for safe travels for Ryan as he heads from Iraq to Texas... and for Tracy as she heads from training in Colorado to Texas. Also, please lift up the family in this time of grief and pray that the Lord works in His incredible ways!

Here are some pics of Ryan & Tracy's Wedding in April 2008:

I love you dearly and praise God for you every day!

All my love,
Susan Elaine

Open Prayers

Hey ladies!!! I am really excited to introduce something new to you today...

I know it has been forever since I have posted, but life has been just absolutely crazy these past weeks! Just last weekend JD, myself, and a group of our leaders from 180 attended the National Youth Workers Convention in Pitteburgh. It was a wonderful time of being recharged and poured into by amazing speakers and some very anointed bands!

One band in particular really struck my fancy - they are called Worth Dying For. Part of what I loved so much about them was that their lead singer was a woman, a youth pastor's wife (yay for us!), and her voice is incredible!!! Anywho, they did something during their performance that I thought was a total God Stop ~ before their last song, they told the audience that every show they play, they want their listeners to know how much they care about them... and so they invited everyone to come to their booth after the show and give them your prayer requests so that they can be praying for us! I was almost literally floored when I heard them say that... it was such a different approach to music ministry and I absolutely loved it!

Though I didn't ask for any prayer requests, I did get a CD... and it is amazing! I highly encourage all you ladies to check out their myspace and listen to their music - they are so very anointed!

*Worth Dying For*

Now... I want to send out the very same invitation to you ladies!!! If there is ANYTHING that you need prayer for (I don't care how small) I beg you... please respond to this post or shoot me an email... because I truly do want to be praying for you! I love you dearly and really believe that we need to be fighting for one another in prayer!

I love you ladies!

All my love,
Susan Elaine

*If my lungs can't sing... I'll sing with my heart, with my soul, with my mind.... I'll sing it for you!
~lyrics from "At Your Cross" by Worth Dying For

Be Happy In Your Faith!

Hey darlings! I am so glad you have logged on to check out this totally awesome lesson - As most of you know, I often post my daily devotional readings on here... I treasure them so much and I hope you will get something out of them as well.

Today's lesson is straight from my favorite lady - Beth Moore herself! She is an incredible writer and I love the insight that she gives in the lesson that I am about to post. I want to encourage you girls to be happy, excited, refreshed, and ecstatic in your faith! Our God is so amazing and he wants us to boast in Him ~ how sweet is that?! Well... I won't hold you any longer, here is our daily devotion for today:

Be Happy in Your Faith
Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-25

Today's Treasure: "Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually - always" (1 Thessalonians 5:16, Amplified Bible).

I want to shout hallelujah with you before I even have a chance to explain what we have to shout about! Dear one, when was the last time someone fairly balanced in Scripture told you that this faith thing isn't only about sacrifices and continually delayed gratification? The apostle Paul seemed to be saying in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, "For heaven's sake, be happy in your faith! That's one reason you have it!" Too many of us have somehow come to believe that we lack maturity if we wish that the Christian life wasn't just good for us like a bowl of bran but that it could also occasionally make us happy like chocolate malt!

That voice in your ear has been lying all the time. Guess what? You have complete biblical permission to be happy in your faith and also do the unthinkable - be bold enough to ask why if you're not!

Some of our dear brothers and sisters around the world are so terribly persecuted for their Christian beliefs that they may have a greater challenge being happy in their faith. Many of them live and die as martyrs and then enter their "master's happiness." If you live in a country with religious freedom, however, then being happy in your faith can be a reality more often than not. In fact, a primary reason we are vulnerable to the enemy's seduction after we have received the Spirit of Christ is that we misunderstand what we've been given. We continue to look for happiness outside of Christ.

You see, the greatest source of God-given power you and I have to abstain from evil is to be happy in our faith. Certainly many other things can add happiness to our lives, but they are detoxified and made safe to the believer when her primary source of happiness is faith in Jesus. Without happiness in Christ, any other source of joy can become a tool for seduction away from a sincere devotion to the Lord.

(Amanda writes) Furthermore, when the lost see Believers unhappy in their faith it does little to win souls to Christ. Recently I sat with three very godly women who were sharing reasons why they spent so much of their young lives resisting Christ. Each one said she did not want to be like the dull, boring Christians she saw around her. Yes, it is possible that the lost could see a fulfilling Christian walk in us and still consider by worldly standards that our lives are dull and boring. It is also very possible that hordes of Christians are really living quiet lives that scream out, "I'm unhappy in my faith!"

Beloved, Christ said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). Let Him fulfill your life make you happy in your faith. Any other source of joy is unsafe when our main happiness is not in our faith.

Sweet Father, I praise you for who you are. I rejoice in the freedom to find happiness in my faith. I pray that you will be my first love and my most fulfilling joy. Thank you for your unfailing love. Amen.

Spoken Blessings

Good Morning Lovelies! I can't even imagine how beautiful you look on the other side of that screen! I pray that you are getting into His Word and feeling God's spirit as alive and active in your every day life.

We are so lucky that our house has these huge, glass, floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room - which looks out to our tree-filled back yard. It is simply my favorite place to be... looking out these windows at how amazing our God is and how he paints each tree with individual perfection. Do me a favor and take a moment today just looking around at God's creation before all the leaves fall!

In my Bible study we are talking this week about the spoken word and how powerful it is. Today's particular lesson is about blessing others, and I couldn't help but think of how much you girls would love to hear Today's Treasure... It comes from Ephesians 1:3 and says "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ."

How amazing is that? I feel truly blessed by a God who WANTS TO BLESS US!!! As my teacher suggests, and as I will now suggest to you, let's use this day to speak words of blessing to the people closest to us. Have you ever noticed that the people we love most are often to ones we take everything out on? Well let's take on a new habit together of lifting up, supporting, and speaking blessings to those that are closest to us. My hope is that if we can do it with those we are most real with, we will be able to speak blessings upon anyone and everyone!

I love you Ladies!

Bible Study Tonight!

Hey girls! I am so excited for Bible study tonight! God has been working left and right in our little town and it is so refreshing to hear it straight for the horses mouth (and i do mean you!) haha-just kidding!

Before I head off to get ready for tonight and finish my last minute readings... I wanted to leave you with my daily devotion from Miss Beth herself - this one really spoke to me!

Wholehearted Devotion
Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 28:9-10

Today’s Treasure: “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts” (1 Chronicles 28:9).

David’s words to Solomon apply to us in every area of potential success. David gave his son three vital directives we would be wise to obey:

Acknowledge God. Acknowledging God first thing every morning transforms my day. I often begin my day by reconfirming His authority over me and submitting to Him as Lord in advance of my daily circumstances. I try to accept the words of Joshua 24:15 as a personal daily challenge: “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” When I fail to begin my day by settling the matter of authority, I am often a mess by noon! Remember, any day not surrendered to the Spirit of God will likely be lived in the flesh (Gal. 5:16-17). Spiritual living does not come naturally—sin does. The first step to victory is acknowledging the authority of God in our lives.

Serve Him with wholehearted devotion. The Hebrew word for “wholehearted” is shalem and means “unhewn, untouched stones.” In the Old Testament shalem often referred to rocks that were uncut.* Notice something quite interesting about the temple God commanded Solomon to build. First Kings 6:7 tells us, “In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.” Do you see the significance? No stone could be cut in the temple. The uncut stones represented the kind of devotion God was demanding from His nation—Shalem, wholehearted devotion, uncut hearts. David was used of God to describe shalem perfectly in Psalm 86:11: “Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me and undivided heart, that I may fear your name.”

Do you have a divided heart? Or does God have a piece of your heart, but the rest belongs to you? Or someone else? If you’ve given your heart wholly to God, perhaps you remember a time when your heart was divided. A divided heart places our entire lives in jeopardy. Only God can be totally trusted with our hearts. He doesn’t demand our complete devotion to feed His ego, but to provide for our safety. God uses an undivided heart to keep us out of trouble. David learned the price of a divided heart the hard way. He lived with the repercussions for the rest of his life. Let’s just take his word for it and surrender now! Never forget, God’s commands are for our good.

Serve Him with a willing spirit. The Hebrew word for “willing” in this reference is chaphets, which means “to find pleasure in, take delight in, be pleased with, have an affection for; to desire; to choose; to bend, bow. The main meaning is to feel a strong, positive attraction for something, to like someone or something very much.”* Do you see what God is saying? He wants us to serve Him and honor Him because we want to! Because it pleases us! Because we choose to! You see, the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts! Hear the beat of His tender heart as He says, “Choose me because you delight in me!”

Many motives exist for serving God other than pleasure and delight. God wants us to serve Him with a willing spirit, one that would choose no other way. Right now you may be frustrated because serving and knowing God is not your greatest pleasure. You may be able to instantly acknowledge a divided heart. Your question may be, How can I change the way I feel? You can’t. But God can. Give Him your heart—your whole heart. Give Him permission to change it. The words of Deuteronomy 30:6 have changed my life and my heart. “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live” (Deut. 30:6).

I pray daily that God will circumcise my heart to love Him. I know we will never be men and women after God’s own heart with halfhearted devotion. A heart wholly devoted to God is a heart like His.

My God, I praise You because You are the same God today as You were when David was king. You still desire wholehearted devotion from Your people. I pray to acknowledge You and submit to You daily. I pray to serve You with wholehearted devotion. Please show me where my heart is divided and make it whole again. Finally, I pray to serve You with a willing spirit. Please purify every motive I have for serving You. I pray these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.

.