Nobody

We have a Nobody who lives in our house. Nobody forgets to put his toys away, leaves clothes on the floor, and doesn't put his dishes in the dishwasher. Somebody really should take care of Nobody!!

I've been hearing a lot about Nobody.

I went to a Beth Moore Simulcast and found out the writer of Acts and Luke was pretty much a Nobody. A Nobody who was willing to walk alongside Paul and record the incredible accounts of the early church. This Nobody gives us a glimpse of the Holy Spirit working through another bunch of Nobodies. The apostles didn't necessarily have any formal religious training, but they were passionate about Jesus and wanted others to know Him. Nobody made them go out and reach the world, they wanted to. They saw the need to reach the Gentiles, and so they did. Nobody gave them a list of dos and don'ts, they just followed the Holy Spirit. God used these Nobodies to start a revolution and millions of people are believers because of them.

Our church is going through Max Lucado's book entitled, Outlive Your Life. Tammy, an ordinary school teacher in the U.S, took a mission's trip to Africa. There she saw a need...African school teachers needed new resources to enable them to teach their classes and students more effectively. She wasn't Anybody, she was just a Nobody. She began a website, and now these African teachers can look online and receive the needed tools to give their students a better education. Nobody forced Tammy give of herself or her resources. Nobody could have just gone on the trip and came back more thankful for the resources given to her in the States. But Tammy followed the Holy Spirit, and though she feels like a Nobody, decided to be a Somebody and do something more. Tammy doesn't know why she was called to help African teachers, but she knows God has big plans and so she "just goes with it!"

Nobody can wreck havoc in my house, but does it always have to be that way? What if Nobody could shed his skin and become Some body? Not a high fluent Somebody, but Some body. And what if Some body decided to look beyond himself and just go with it? What if Some body could walk alongside with another Some body and follow the Holy Spirit wherever He led? What would the world look like? What if these "Nobodies" disguised as Some bodies did wreck havoc on this world...only the "havoc" would be a revolution? A revolution to change the world through helping, caring, listening, encouraging, and sharing.

I am inspired...I don't know what it is God is doing with this Nobody...but I long to be a willing Some body. And I don't think I have to wait for some huge marquee or booming voice from Heaven to show me what to do. I just need to follow the Holy Spirit and go with it. It doesn't have to be a big cause or enormous project...it just has to be the next right thing.

Well, Nobody cleaned up the kitchen...so I guess this Some body better get to it!

Love You Through It

It's been a rough few weeks, and I don't say that lightly. I really have been trying to keep my "chins up." But, with so many chins to keep up, its been hard and tiring. I am pretty good at keeping things inside...oh, I may wear my emotions on my sleeve...but rarely do I openly share why I'm showing those emotions.

But, God, in His great wisdom has put some key people in my life who have been instrumental in getting me to open up. They don't judge. They don't cringe. They don't try to fix. They listen. They cry with me. They feel with me. Surprisingly, it really does help to share. It may not take the trouble away, but it sure does help to relieve the feeling of having to handle it by yourself!

I love how God fits the right person for the right circumstance. One friend wondered why she had gone through a particular journey years ago, only to find that I was now going through that same journey. She is now walking it with me, teaching me along the way and guiding me through the do's and dont's.

I have great friends! Each one different. Each one unique. Each one special.
All gifts. Life may be hard, but it becomes a little more bearable with the help of friends!! Friends who "love you through it."

Hello, my name is Amy...

So a friend got me reading her daughter's blog, and I thought..."whatever has happened to my blog?!" So, I checked and it's still here. I'm pretty sure its given up hope of ever being updated. But, alas, here I am! I have so much drama going on in my household that I really don't know where to begin. But, I am here, and for now, I am back with a vengeance...or so I think. I just have to get this first awkward post out of the way, cuz' for some reason, I feel I have to explain my absence to those of you who don't even know I have a blog or aren't even reading this blog anymore. It's okay...really it is!
Anyway, I will be back. And even if it's just me who gets a thrill out of this blog, I will write. I think it will be good therapy for me. I've been through quite a journey and I'm still traveling on its road. If I were writing a play, I would find the character climbing up to the climax of the story...going through the day to day, patiently waiting to see what will become of it all. The character would find herself wondering why she was going through such and such, why that didn't work out, and when it will ever get any better. She knows there is a bigger picture, but finds herself overwhelmed with the big picture because she's barely making it in the smaller picture. Something big is about to happen, but it seems to be taking forever for the climax to reach her.
This is me and where I am at in my life right now. I have good days and then there are bad days. On the good days, I am able to push my fears, insecurities, and worries to the side and just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. On the bad days, I am drowning in those fears, insecurities and worries...struggling for a breath, struggling to keep my head above water. I know God sees the whole where I can only see the part. I know His ways far outreach my own. I know He has big plans for me and soon He will reveal the answers to all my questions. I know all of this in my head, but my heart longs for answers and, to be honest, some quick fixes to all of life's problems.
Anyway, I guess this became a bit of raw emotion...they're the real deal, tho. I guess this blog will reflect where I am at in this journey. And like me, I'm sure there will be good days and not so good days. I'm just gonna put it out there, why not, right??!! It's not like this is gonna be out there for the whole wide world to read...oh, wait

Cuter

This morning, Mark asked Zach what he was going to be when he grew up? Zach replied, "I'm gonna be cuter than I am right now!" I tell ya, I just don't know what I'm gonna do with this one?!

New Shoes

It's fun getting new shoes, right?! It is the breaking in of the shoes that isn't so much fun. I got a new pair of shoes for the school year-brown leather. They were so cute, but they hurt my feet so much! I wore bandaids on my heels because the shoes cut into them, and I had red marks from the buckle at the top of the shoe. It took everything I had to keep my shoes on until I got home! Infact, I usually drove home barefoot because I couldn't take the pain. But, I loved the shoes, and I needed them. So, I endured the pain because I knew in time the pain would stop.

Mark and I (and the boys) left everything familiar in our lives about a year and a half ago-we changed jobs, churches, and the boys went to a new school. We knew we had to make the change, but it hurt. We have been trying to fit into our new life, just like I was trying to fit into those new shoes. There was a period of hurt. The boys trying to make new friends, missing the old ones. Mark trying to learn the new job, doing things that didn't come naturally to him. And myself, putting on bandaids for the hurt I felt, and trying to help everyone (including me) fit in. I knew it would take time. But the waiting was difficult.

And then it happened. I started noticing the pain was going away. We were healing from all the "red marks" and "heel cuts". We were able to look at the past and accept it for what it was, and look toward the future. We were starting to feel more comfortable with the "new shoes." Our life was starting to fit.

Today marks a special day for us. We are becoming members of MCC (our new church). It is more than just becoming members...it is the sign that the "shoes" are broken in. It has been quite a journey that has led us to this day, but all along God has brought specific people in our lives this past year that has inspired us, believed in us, encouraged us, and were simply there for us. God has taught us so much about Himself, and has revealed so much about Himself that I sit here amazed!!

The brown shoes? They're broken in now. Without the pain, there would be no enjoyment of these shoes. And just like our life, sometimes we have to be uncomfortable in order to better appreciate the comfortable.

Knee Deep

After a little over a year of not directing any major play, I am back and in full swing! YIKES!! Directing "A Baby Changes Everything" at our church in Minier and running into all sorts of snags. I had difficulty finding actors and keeping them, (which I still need one more!), trying to free up acting areas by removing cumbersome trees/pianos off the stage, and scheduling practices where people are able to show up! "Welcome Back, Amy."

I am, however, so grateful for the mountain of support that I have felt from our new church family. People who connect me to other people, volunteer to help out, support and pray for me-I can feel the love!

Suprisingly, I am not as stressed out as I have tended to be in years past. I know that God is in this production-He will work out the details. I just need to let Him be in charge and watch the great things He will do!!

Matthew 19:26 (The Message)

Jesus looked hard at them and said, "There's no chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."

Oh How He Loves Us

I am completely obsessed with the song "Oh How He Loves Us" by Jared Anderson. Here are the lyrics:

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these
Afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are to me and
How great Your love and affections are for me.

He is our portion and
He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So if Heaven meets Earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way

That He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
How he loves us so!


My finite mind cannot fully comprehend the love God has for me! It's hard for me to accept this kind of love because I know the kind of person I am. There is absolutely no good in me...yet God chose me, loves me, and pursues me completely and wholly!

"What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it-we're
called the children of God!" -I John 3:1
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His
Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." -I John 4:10

I am so thankful that God looks past the mess that I make of myself daily, and loves me despite of who I am. Without this love, I am nothing.