It's not all about YOU

I used to think that I was such a positive person. To an extent I still am, but I think that I sometimes let small things creep under my skin.

The other day at church and I was trying to leave early so that I could visit my family which is 2 hours away. I was totally in my own world as I made my way down the hallway to find Wade so I could say bye. When I barely heard someone say, "Everyone looks mad today." I looked around to find out that the person was talking about me because apparently my own little world face looks very serious. I know that this was just a misunderstanding because I wasn't mad at all. As I walked outside to my car, I felt horrible about it. I kept making excuses in my mind that I didn't do anything wrong. But I kind of did.

I think I and probably a lot of other people have turned things to being all about ourselves. On Sundays, I need to be joyful that I am able to be around so many other believers and celebrate the fact that I get to sing with hundreds of others about my Savior. I need to be thankful that I get to hear a sermon that our pastor took hours to prepare. I want to be in awe that so many people volunteer every Sunday to teach the children, youth, adults in their Sunday School Classes. I don't need to be in my own little world thinking only about what is going on in my life.

But it goes farther than that. I have mentioned to Wade a lot recently that I feel like I am always going and always busy. But that fact is I have two jobs that are so amazing. I want to celebrate the fact that God has blessed Wade and I with jobs that have supported us and that are a true blessing to work there. And I want to be at my job and be a total blessing to all those around me. I never stopped to think that my reason for being at both of these places is for the people around me and not myself. So, I have started walking with my head high in the halls and try to make a point to smile at the people I pass. I don't want to be in my own little world that someone can mistake as me being mad.

I think it will be a challenge to not focus everything inward. When you are at church don't think about why someone didn't come say hello...why didn't you? Maybe they need your encouragement. Is it a church where they don't sing your style? Well look around you and know that the words and the attitude are what matters. Celebrate Christ through your heart...it is about God not you. When you are at work and someone doesn't use your idea don't sulk around thinking that they messed up instead be excited to help make someone's idea a reality.
I know this is a work in progress for me, but I truly want to embrace the people around me and start making it all about them.

Jellicle Cats

Well I am back from my adventure to see CATS! My mom, sister and I had a great time and I was so glad that I went.

You need to know that back in the day when I was in high school my sister bought the CATS DVD. Of course for the DVD they picked the best performers for each of the roles and we had very high expectations of what the live version would be. And for the live version I was actually very impressed. We had great seats and everyone's voices sounded wonderful.

However, there were a few things that I thought could have been better. The biggest letdown being the character Mistoffelees (one of my favorite characters). He is supposed to be the most agile of the cats because in his number he does a lot of leaps and turns and toetouches. However, his turns were low, the leaps crooked, and NO toetouches. How sad.

But the showing revived my love for CATS the musical and I really want to have my own version of the DVD now. A CD wouldn't hurt either so I can try and belt out "Memories" in the car by myself.

Check Me Out (Prayer)

And now for another installment of Check Me Out.

Mt. Horeb is starting a new series on prayer which means I have a new series poster to share with you. In this poster I took my own photography, some of you may know the model Will Troutman.

My thought process was that prayer is a communication with God that has gone back thousands of years so I wanted the poster to share that same feeling. However, I didn't want it to look like ancient Greece. Instead I remembered the old books that the monks would write in and how some of their typography was very ornate and the books are very worn from age and use. So that's my thought process and here it is so you can tell me if I succeeded.

Having finished this one means that I don't have any more series posters to do before I leave South Carolina. That seems so surreal.

Pepsi Can

I know that I already posted, but I have another thing that you can vote for.

Vote for the new Pepsi Can

It was interesting that most of the designers were from NY, but there is one that is from the state I will soon live in. Yay North Carolina!

Robots in Disguise

Wade and I hung out with our dear friend Will Troutman last night. It was an honor. He happened to bring over the animated Transformer movie and I watched some of it.

My conclusion is that Transformers are really cool toys. I mean who doesn't want to have a toy that can be a robot one minute and then a moving vehicle the next. But when you put this in the movie it seems sort of weird. Like the Autobots would transform into a car only to ride for 0.6 seconds and then turn back into the robot. It was like they were just giving us a token transformation instead of one that was needed in order to save the universe or something.
But if you can get past that then don't you think it is weird that the Autobots (the good guys) get all the stupid transformations (small cars, microscope, etc) and the bad guys have all the cool ones (jet, airplanes, the "Destroyer").

All that being said, I am excited about the new movie coming out. The Autobots look a little cooler and I think Hollywood can turn it into a blockbuster. I still think the Decepticons win the cool factor with the jet fighter planes.

Chapter 5

I am still going through 1 Samuel and since I am reading it chronologically the plan throws in some Psalms every now and then. I really like seeing what David is going through and then reading what he possibly what he wrote is his "journal" during those specific times.

I just finished reading about when Saul is trying to kill David so Jonathan tells him he has to leave. You know that David had to think that everything was over. He knew in the back of his head that Samuel anointed him as king, but I mean he was running for his life. He had to be freaking out.
We all know the end of the story. Saul dies and David becomes a great king. The greatest king Israel ever knew. And eventually from his line came Jesus. There is no greater honor than that.

So it is easy to think that when you are going through a rough time that there is no way out. You are running for you life and you don't see how God will bring it back together. But you do remember that God has anointed you with a purpose. Just know that God is looking at chapter 48 while you are only in chapter 5.

Thoughts from the weekend

Here are a few random things from the weekend:

• Saw Ocean's 13 for date night Friday. I think those movies are really funny and I love having so many interesting characters in one movie. It was also the day before Wade's parent's anniversary so we ate Mexican with them and got some ice cream. Here is a pic of Wade and I before our date.

• I got emotional Sunday morning when some parents brought up their young babies to get a special prayer of blessing. There was one dad who apparently ran to the nursery to get his child and who made it just before the invitation was over. That one made my eyes really water. I don't know if that is just sweet or if God is somehow giving me the baby bug. It is so weird to be like this...I used to never be emotional!
• On one of my design sites it had a link to a website where you can vote for your favorite new South Carolina license plate. I know I won't be here when the new ones get issued, but it will be cool to see the license plate I voted for win. You should vote if you are a South Carolinian.
• We had two families come look at our house this weekend. I have no idea if they are interested, but it is nice to know some people are looking.
• This isn't about this weekend, but rather next weekend. I am going to see CATS with my mom and sister and it is going to be amazing! My sister got hooked on this while she was in high school and everything that she liked, I liked. So we are both pretty excited about getting to see it together.

Ugh! Applications.

I am really excited about moving to Charlotte. I can't wait to find our next house and being involved at Elevation is going to be amazing! But, there is one thing that is not fun at all and that is the dreaded job application process! All these insecure thoughts creep up. Here is what runs through my mind:
-How am I ever going to make it in Charlotte with so many other talented designers
-What if I blow an interview
-Will people even like my portfolio
-Oh no, I have to work on my portfolio!!!

See it isn't going so well in my head. But I know that I have to trust that God has a job out there for me. Right now I have a few places that I am excited about sending an application to.
1. Discovery Place: Their website said they needed a print designer and I am sure that would be one of the funnest environments to work in. Just think of all the little happy kids running around and I would get to design for them!
2. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association: Their site said they needed a graphic designer as well and I would be honored to work there. To be able to design things that have real meaning and purpose is something I have longed to do. I told Wade a dream job would be to work at a church and design for them. This would totally be that dream job.
3. Muzak: I have heard that this place is pretty cool. Checking out their website I found a graphic design job and it seems to be such a creative place. It would be cool to work at a music place and design print materials. It seems like it kinda combines everything Wade and I do!

I am still looking for others and I have yet to turn in any applications, but I am scared and excited. We will see what God opens up for me!

The whole world would not have room

I read from 1 Samuel and John today. I think it is kind of interesting because 1 Samuel talked about David, the man after God's own heart, and John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. That is something to strive for.

As I was finishing up John, I read this verse:

John 21:25
25Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Just think we already have the gospels with 4 accounts of what our Savior did while on earth, but John tells us that not even the whole world has enough room to write down all that Jesus did. I think that is pretty amazing. What if one of those things that isn't accounted was praying about you to His Father. Maybe not, but still pretty cool to think about.

The Wade Joye Band

I was looking at Technorati under Wade's name to see what people have up about him and I found this awesome video! Apparently, when he and his band led worship at a conference a girl in the audience (Brittany Pruett) video taped them and put it on YouTube. I love it! She did a good job editing too. And I know all of you are begging to see it so here it is.

Being creative

One of my favorite blogs to check is adgoodness. It shows different witty ads from all around the world. Some I don't really understand, some are just weird, but some of them I absolutely love. I go to this site and I am inspired to think outside of the box and to push the envelope of visual humor.
One thing I think designers do (especially me) is to play it safe. We are asked to come up with an ad for a company and we put the traditional businessman/woman picture with some phrase about being a company that is here to work for our clients or something. Lame-o! That is what everyone is doing and there is no way that that ad will ever stand out among other ads.
However, how can you start to think differently? How can you try to do something no one else is doing when all of your ideas are the same boring ideas?
Well, something I recently purchased was a small sketchbook. I know that this is something that is drilled into you in design classes, but really I never used it. I want to change that. I am hoping to carry this book around to help me write down funny phrases, ideas, paste cool ads, draw interesting things, and collect unusual items. Then when it is time to design my next poster I have a creative book to look through. Right now my sketchbook has only one page filled so I guess I will have to start doing more.
Another problem I have is that I tend to go with my first idea. In school I started this habit of not really pushing through a ton of ideas because I didn't have time. We would have like two days to complete a project and I couldn't "waste" time on brainstorming. But rarely is the first idea the best. Instead it is the idea that everyone else would have for their first idea. So to get away from the crowd try using your 10th or 20th idea. That will been when your brain is pulling out the most random stuff that no one will expect, but stuff that will be noticed.

Even if you aren't a graphic designer, these tips may help you out. In any situation creativity is key. Should you carry around a book to write ideas for new things to implement in your workplace? A place to paste pictures of how you can make the environment around you more creative? A book to write new ideas on how to teach your children? Is there a way you could benefit from more brainstorming so you don't use your first idea? I bet there is and I bet when you start thinking with more creativity the people around you will notice.

The Healer

I was reminded how precious life is the past few days. There is some very serious sickness in our extended family and it is painful to think about. I received an email from someone with the saddest line in it: "I hope that this is not the first of saying goodbye."

I know that the Lord is good and I know that he can bring healing to both of our family members. I am praying that it is in His will to bring these persons out of the storm with a better awareness of what our Mighty God can do. I put my faith, hope, and trust into our Healer.

I'm a girl, finally!

Wade and I are still in the process of making our house look stellar to any potential buyers. Yesterday was deck stain day. Wade's pal Christian came over and from about 5:30 to 7:30 they were busy staining our front deck. It looks absolutely amazing! It now has this rich reddish hue that looks really good with our beige color siding.

While this was going on, I decided to get the grime out of the bathrooms. I had read online yesterday about what gets soap scum and water marks and all that other bathroom nastiness off. And guess what everything said to use...our friend the magic eraser. And it really does work. I cut up one eraser into 4 pieces so that I could get the most use out of it before it is too dirty to keep using. So I worked on our tile grout, the dirt that sits on top of the baseboards, the faucets and the entire bathtub. It took 5 entire magic erasers, but it was well worth it. Now the soap scum is gone and the stains in our tile grout have vanished. And I have realized that if you have an area that you think you could never get a stain to go away then try the magic eraser. In our bathroom we have a floor vent that gets wet from us stepping out of the shower. The vent ended up having rust around the edges and no matter what cleaner I used it never looked clean. However the eraser wiped it up like it was nothing! I love magic erasers. It did remind that things take a lot longer when you have let the dirt accrue over time. Just think how easy it would be if you did that every two weeks. Your bathrooms would sparkle.

I told Wade that I finally feel like a girl. I like cleaning so my house will smell fresh and not have random dust bunnies and dirt everywhere. I am getting the decorating bug and want my house to look like it could be in a magazine. And I want to be really organized so everything has a place and there isn't some massive clutter catch all. Right now we have a few of those, but after the move I want to remedy that. The only thing I don't really have the burning desire to do is cook, but I think it will creep in soon. Something that has been helping me a lot lately is the Real Simple site. Their organizing section is giving me some really good ideas and the cleaning part has already helped me out a ton.

My name is Ferris and I have bad communication habits.

From Church Marketing Sucks I saw this link. Now the article is focused on church workers (which I am part-time), but I think it can be applied to people in general. If you didn't go to the link then here is basically what it is about.

The Seven Worst Communication Habits for Church Staff
1. Contacting others only when you need something.
2. Not following up, or closing the loop.
3. Not returning telephone calls or email messages.
4. Foregoing basic courtesy.
5. Not listening.
6. Telling lies.
7. Spewing chronic negativity.

So I decided to evaluate myself and here are my thoughts.

1. Contacting others only when you need something.:
I know I do this. I call people about doing Mediashout and don't really call them for anything else. And I know there are other areas where this happens as well. I think even calling or emailing someone who does something for you just to say they did a good job would be a great step in the right direction.

2. Not following up, or closing the loop.
The article mentioned thank you notes under this. I am ashamed to say that I have not been a very good thank you note person. I really want to do better in this area. One thing that gets me a little more excited about it is picking out Thank You cards that I think are really cute. My sister bought me a pack of pink cards with a J on it that are adorable.

3. Not returning telephone calls or email messages.
This would be my "you sank my battleship" one. I am horrible with phone calls. My cell phone is one thing I don't care if I don't have it by my side. Therefore, I miss voicemails and texts and may not see them until the next day. Now if you send me an email you will more than likely get a very prompt answer.

4. Foregoing basic courtesy.
I think that I do pretty well in this area. I try to be more than cheery when I am face to face with someone because I want to represent my husband well. However, I am sure there are times when I am definitely in my own little world and don't notice who just passed me.

5. Not listening.
I notice that I zone out in Ferris world every now and then. I start out really listening to someone at the beginning and before I know it I missed their last sentence entirely.

6. Telling lies.
This one I feel like I do okay in. And probably because I have seen in the past that lying hurts others and it is just hard to keep up with. I would much rather tell the truth and have someone upset rather than get caught in a lie and have them be upset with what happened as well as me for lying to them.

7. Spewing chronic negativity.
I used to be full of sarcasm. Some people think sarcasm is funny, but after having people not know if I was joking or just being mean I beg to differ. Sarcasm is going to hurt someone. It usually makes someone feel stupid and we should always strive to bring people up.

Well how did you do? I think I didn't do so well, but it helps me to realize what things I need to work on and how I can in turn have people put their confidence in me. I don't ever want to let anyone down, but if I continue with bad communication then it is inevitable.

The Happy Plant

Memorial Day usually means a good time to relax and rejuvenate since spring is crazy. However Wade and I were busy working on our house. We are trying to make our house look like a nice home so that when people walk in they lean into their spouse and say, "This is too cute, I can see us being here." So in order to make this happen we have our work cut out for us. So with the help of Wade's parents, our aunt Vicky and our real estate agent, we are trying to make it look good for our potential home buyers.

Wade's parents helped with a bunch of paint stuff while we were on vacation at Disney. Now Wade and I are trying to add homey things like better pillows, rugs, a few vases (all compliments of Vicky) to have a unified look. But right now I want to say that our best move was when we added this plant next to our TV area.

It is the Dracaena Fragrans Massangeana. And it is also known as the "Happy Plant." Before Wade and I knew the name we would look at the plant and just smile. We think the plant instantly made the living room have a cozier feel. So if we have a quick offer on the house (which I am praying we do) I think a little part is due to the "Happy Plant."

Awe, the story of Ruth

I think that Ruth may be one of my favorite books in the Bible. It could seriously be a Lifetime movie or something. Anyway, I just finished reading it as I am journeying through the Old Testament and the Gospels simultaneously. So I thought I would share with you some little goodies I took from it. These points mainly target single ladies because that is what the book is about and I am adding some of my wisdom of two years of marriage!

1. Ruth has such an amazing respect of her mother-in-law.
Ruth's husband dies and it is only her, her sister-in-law, and her mother-in-law left. Even when her SIL Orpah ditches Naomi, Ruth clings to her. Also, she listens to every little piece of advice that Naomi gives her. This just reminded me to respect any woman who can say I've been there and done that. If you aren't listening to your mom or whatever older woman in your life then try seeing situations from her angle...she has tons more wisdom.

2. God looks after us.
This book comes immediately after this ordeal happened. So when Ruth journeyed into the fields to gather grain anything could have happened to her. But she went into Boaz's field who was a God fearing good man! This isn't a coincidence. God put her in the field of Boaz who is almost her kinsman redeemer. And God already knew that from this line he would bring David and Jesus. God definitely knew what he was up to.

3. We see a great example of a man that a single women should seek after.
This is the first thing we read about Boaz:
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, "The LORD be with you!"
"The LORD bless you!" they called back.
Now ladies...I can't begin to tell you how important it is to seek after a man of God. I am so blessed to have Wade. A man of God is going to pray for you, protect you, pursue you, cherish you, and encourage you (and much more). Wade does all these things. I used to have a self-esteem issue, but since Wade consistently built me up I rarely have those episodes of self-pity anymore. You will see over and over again where Boaz builds up Ruth's character as well.

4. Your real "Boaz" may not look like your Boaz in your head.
The only reason I say this is because I had a strange realization as I was reading today.
Before today this is what was in my head of Ruth and Boaz...
Ruth: average height, petite girl, dark hair, probably about 21, and beautiful
Boaz: muscular guy (from gathering lots of grains), blond hair, maybe 28, very handsome
Then I read this!
"The LORD bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor."
AND...we found out he is the brother of Naomi's deceased husband.
So Boaz is at least a generation older than Ruth. So I got this picture in my head now where Boaz is still very handsome, but he kinda has that George Clooney look, some salt and pepper hair but keeps himself in shape kind of guy. So all that to say that God may bring someone different than who you have had your eye out for.

Hope this makes you want to pick up the Bible and read one of my fave books! It is only 4 chapters so it should take you about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

My Top Ten Disney Attractions

Here is my list of the top ten things you need to ride/do at the Disney Parks:

10. Epcot's World Showcase: Although it isn't a ride I had to put this on the list. This was one of my favorite things at Disney and we almost didn't do it. Make sure to go in each country and look at their stores. Wade and I got some funny pictures and you could buy some awesome souvenirs in each country.

9. Epcot's Soarin: I thought this might be lame before I got on it, but once it started it was an amazing experience. In some parts of the ride you really feel like your feet may hit the trees or water.

8. Blizzard Beach's Summit Plummet: This giant straight down slide is ridiculous. They have a thing to check your speed at the bottom. Wade went about 55 mph and I went 50. The second time we went on it I went so fast that my bathing suit top unbuckled in the back. That's fast.

7. Magic Kingdom's Thunder Mountain: A classic roller coaster that lasts a long time. What made this so fun was when we held out our camera and took really funny pictures of one another on the ride.

6. Animal Kingdom's Dinosaur: This ride was really cool because it was in the dark and random dinosaurs would look like they wanted to eat you. Wade and I had a sweet picture of him pointing at a dinosaur and me looking like I wanted to hug it. We didn't buy it though. Sorry.

5. MGM's Rocking Roller Coaster: I mean it plays Aerosmith music and it is a crazy in the dark roller coaster. Two things that go together like eggs and bacon.

4. Magic Kingdom's Space Mountain: Probably the most famous attraction, but classics become classics because of how amazing they are. So it makes my list. Also, once again an in the dark roller coaster. It just makes the thrills much more intense.

3. MGM's The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror: I loved this ride. Reasons why it is on the list at number 3: 1.It has a little bit of a story to it. 2.The people who run the rides all stay in character. 3.It has random drops. 4.The scenery while you are waiting in lines is incredible (cobwebs, scary books, dim candelabras, etc).

2. Animal Kingdom's Kilimanjaro Safari: This ride was unreal. You rode up to wild animals, some without fences, and got to take great photos. We had one giraffe so close to us that it got scared of our truck and we had to slowly pass it so it wouldn't freak out. You need to have a good camera or a video camera for this ride. You are going to want to capture this unique experience!

And now for my top ride of all Disney attractions...
1. Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest: This is one good roller coaster. You ride forwards then backwards, see a Yeti, change tracks, go through a mountain, almost run off the mountain, zoom into caves, and afterwards you will want to immediately grab the next fast-pass for it! This by far has the coolest scenery that a roller coaster can go through.

Well if you are heading to Disney anytime soon then you will want to print this top ten list and make sure you hit all of my attractions. If not...when you get to your hotel turn to the Disney Information Channel and you can watch Stacy tell you her top ten rides over and over and over again.

The blog slump

I fear I have fallen into the ever dreaded blog slump. I assure you that somehow I will dig and kick and crawl my way out of it.

Disney was amazing. Wade and I went to all of the parks + downtown disney + blizzard beach water park. It was the best vacation ever. I have a few posts coming that will show you some of the awesomeness of our trip.

Also, Wade turned 31 this past Saturday (May 19th)! We had a great time with his family and got to see Shrek the Third. It was pretty funny. It is weird to think that he has had 31 birthdays as a South Carolinian but next year we will be North Carolinians. Weird. Happy Birthday from my blog!

On Vacay

I don't know if you have noticed yet, but Wade has returned to the blogging world. I am so glad he is back and you will be too once you start reading his amazing posts! Anyway, you can read his blog to find out what all we did this Saturday. We had a lot of fun. But tomorrow we go on vacation. We are heading off to Disney World to enjoy a week of fun and festivities. Hopefully we will take a bunch of pics so I can upload them on my Flickr account for you. I do have some pictures that I am about to upload from Chi Alpha weekend. Apparently people with my camera (Andrew Stewart and random others) took like 200+ pics so I am having to decide which ones to upload.

So since we are going to Disney I have no idea if I will blog next week. So to keep you busy until I return try this (it's a cool question I saw recently):

Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18 and find line 4. What does it say? Share.

Mine was the Bible, from Genesis 9:2
"birds of the air, upon every creature"

Rio

Well it was a sad day yesterday. My mom let me know that my childhood dog Rio passed away. I was really sad. I hadn't been around Rio much since I moved to Columbia, but it still hit me.

I received Rio as my 13th birthday present. So although my mom definitely took care of him he was still my little dog. But then I started thinking about my dog Scooter. Wade and I have to do everything for him. We have to take him outside to use the bathroom. We have to put his food out for him to be able to eat. We have to take him on walks so he gets exercise. I mean it is a little taste of taking care of a child. I have only had Scooter for two years, but if anything happened to him it would be devastating because I have had to rearrange my schedule for him for two years and take care of him.

So I started thinking about how my mom did all that for Rio. And although I love Rio, I never had to take of him like he was my little child. My mom had Rio for 11 years so him passing away was really hard on her. Rio was an awesome dog and I know he had a good dog life. And I am so glad I got to grow up with him being my dog.

It's Official

I was trying to wait for Wade to have the honor of posting this first, but I couldn't wait any longer! Wade and I are moving to Charlotte, NC. We are so excited about what God is going to do with this new adventure.

Basically, Wade was offered a Worship Pastor position at Elevation Church and we decided to go for it. It was an interesting process trying to figure out where God really wanted us to be and what Wade needed to do with the gifts he has been given. I am truly thankful for this opportunity and I am really excited for what Charlotte will bring for me as a graphic designer. So if you have some kind of connection to Charlotte and know of some design jobs then let me know! I'm sure more details will follow and I will chronicle our move.

Would You Rather Wednesday

I have decided that I enjoy hearing your responses to random questions. Ya'll need to get better at the how many game. But I now establish Wednesdays (as long as I can remember to do it) as Would You Rather Day! So here is your question.

Would you rather:
lose your keys three days in a row
or
have your dog eat your birthday cake?

I actually left my keys at church while Wade was gone. So thankfully I got to use his keys. So I would rather lose my keys three days in a row. Birthday cake is just so good.

How Many?

I got this from Question of the Day.

This is the How Many ??? game, and this is how we play:
The person before you has asked How Many??? You’ll answer their question in the comments as well as ask the next person a How Many??? question. The next person answers your question, and asks another, etc…..
Easy enough, right?

For the first one to comment:

How many bones have you broken?

Pour me some coffee and some love

It has been a long time since I have been this tired. Chi Alpha knocked me out. Wade and I slept all day on Sunday and I guess I haven't gotten back on my regular schedule. So at work yesterday and today I have been doing the head nod and have to wake myself up. It is pretty funny.

But there is one thing that I want to share about Chi Alpha. Our speaker Darren talked about loving others on the last night. Basically my thought from the talk is...I want to be known as a Christian that pours out love on people rather than someone that is judgmental. I want people who have done things that they think no one can get past to know that Christians are there to support them.

I can't believe how so many Christians have this judgmental attitude. We had Christ as our ultimate example on how to comfort those that the Pharisees thought were not good enough to be around them, but we tend to look more like Pharisees instead of Christ.

Jesus comforted the prostitute that was about to be stoned. He didn't condemn her. We have women and girls out there that do the same thing, but you hear more about how she messed up her life from Christians rather than how burdened they are by it. There are people who become addicted to drugs that I hear Christians say they probably deserved it rather than how they can pray for their healing. The list goes on and on.

I challenge us as Christians to truly love on people. No matter who they are, what they have done, what they look like, what they say, or how they act...we need to love on them. We need to be reminded that we are representing Jesus and people are watching. I know this is a hard concept to actually live out because I fail miserably at it. But I want to challenge myself to really change my heart and my actions to be full of love.

CHI ALPHA

Wednesday was a whirlwind. I left work early and arrived in Charlotte at 4:30. Wade's plane hadn't arrived yet so I looped around the pick-up area about 7 times. Then I got to see my gorgeous husband! I was so ready for him to be back. We headed off to a Charlotte resturant to meet up with some people for dinner and had a great time. We spent the night in Charlotte and had to come back to Columbia yesterday.


Then last night Chi Alpha began. This is like Discipleship Now. We have the kids come to the church and hear a guest speaker and band and then on Friday night and Saturday night they spend the night in host homes. It is going to be a lot of fun. I have my camera this weekend so I should get some good shots for the week. It will be fun! I am getting to be a co-leader with my new friend Kristin and I am so excited! We have hung out a little together but this is going to be a great time to really connect. Her boyfriend Christian and my Wade are very close and do a lot of music stuff together. So we always like hanging out with them.

On another note, this has been the month of birthdays in my family. My sister's birthday was April 22nd, my dad's birthday was April 26th, and my brother-in-laws birthday is April 28th! So I wanted to wish them all HAPPY BIRTHDAY and tell them that I love them all! They are the best family anyone could ask for. Here is a celebratory birthday hat for each.

You crazy Judges

I had this preconceived notion that the book of Judges was boring. I guess I associated it with law and court cases or something and figured it would be torture to get through. Boy was I wrong. I mean already all these people are being murdered. Some dude had his thumbs and big toes chopped off. However, this is probably the craziest one so far.

It's amazing what is happening in Judges. I mean you finish the book of Joshua where the Israelites have been given all this land and they have been given victory over every single enemy. All they have to do to keep living the high and mighty life is to follow the Lord. But you know what happens? The people who saw all these amazing things die and their children don't give one hoot about it. I mean they rebel like crazy. They start following Baal and worship other gods and get engrossed in the other cultures and leave God at the door. So God puts the smack-down over and over and send their enemies to destroy them. And eventually the Israelites cry out to God, "Save us!" And he brings them a judge to conquer the enemy and to rule the land with peace until they die.

I started thinking about that cycle the Israelites are in. I mean how many times have we been shown God's might, strength, power, glory, etc and we turn our heads. We look at this other kind of cool thing over here. And then we begin to doubt God or we rebel or maybe we even say He doesn't exist. I used to get annoyed with the Israelites saying that they were lame because they couldn't trust God. They would cry to Moses that he should have left them in Egypt because they would surely die traveling to the promise land. But I'm just like them. I will see God do something amazing or feel the Holy Spirit totally engulf me at a moment. And then it's back to same ole Ferris who doesn't realize the power she has with a huge God on her side. Something to remember next time I think about turning my head.

Come back Wade

I have been missing some Wade today. He went out of town and I couldn't go because of work. Usually a Monday consists of coming home from work and immediately getting a hug from Wade and then talking about our days to one another. Instead, I came home yesterday and there was no Wade. Just Scooter. It was sad. Then usually during the day Wade and I will have about 3 or so times that we will talk during the day. They are usually less than a minute, but they just let each other know we are thinking about them. But today because of his conference I haven't gotten to talk to him much.

Also, I think that if any of you miss his blogging then you should leave a comment and tell him to blog again! I know I miss it.

Now I don't know if any of you know this but Wade is the king of the "Would You Rather" game. He is known for his quick wit with coming up with a question and his reasoning behind his answers. It is actually amazing how awesome he is at it. So in honor of Wade and since it makes me smile thinking of him playing would you rather I pose a question to all of you?

Would You Rather...
hit every red light for the rest of your life
or
always be wrong?

My answer is hit every red light. I hate being wrong. And you would probably see more of the world around you if you stopped at every red light.

What's your answer?

A Wonderful Weekend

I had an amazing weekend in Belton. I got to visit my sister and see my baby niece Pressley and the rest of the fam. Pressley was so awesome and I had a blast laughing with my sister and hanging out on Saturday. On Saturday we (me, sharlie, dad, mom, Pressley) went to eat lunch at Grits and Groceries and I knocked over a glass of ice and watered down Coke into my lap so that it looked like I went to the bathroom in my pants and it all happened because I jumped when a fly landed on my finger. Then that night we ate at Olive Garden (the dinner guests were my dad, mom, Sharlie, Pressley, me and Benjamin) and we had a fabulous time and laughed the whole time. My dad knocked over a chair and almost hit a prom couple.

I was really sad to leave. I missed Wade incredibly and had to get back to see him, but I wish I was just an hour closer to my family. I tried to talk Sharlie into moving to Columbia but for some reason she won't.

I read her most recent blog and almost started crying. Then later I tried to tell Wade how much the blog meant to me and I actually did cry. This line she wrote kept getting me: "I wish that I could wake up tomorrow and relive today. I had a blast." Me too!!

I don't know if I am getting soft or what. I used to never show emotions and now I am all girly and crying. I guess I just really started realizing what is important. And family is very high on the list. My sister gave a little background on our history so check out her blog to read some of our past, but I will tell you that although we didn't really have crazy siblings fights we weren't that close growing up. So I never knew how we would be when we got older. But as soon as we are together it is just like how you would act with your best friend. So open, so much fun, lots of deep and good conversations, and now a baby we can oooh and aaahh over. It was an amazing weekend.

Pressley not liking the new hat I bought her.
Pressley getting some nourishment and doing some cool hand motion.
Beautiful mom and baby.
The Griers as a family.
My precious niece.

Also, I put more weekend pics on my Flickr account.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferrisjoye/

Cool Links

Under my cool links category I just added my new Flickr page. Hopefully I will start adding some pics on that site so I can get more use out of my amazing new camera!

Here is the link as well:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ferrisjoye/

CHECK ME OUT (bigstuf)

These are the images that I sent to BigStuf (a giganto summer camp for youth groups). They weren't picked so I thought it would be okay to show you. They told me their summer camp was focused on the word rhythm and that I could interpret that how I wanted. I sent them these descriptions as well:

Concept 1 (first two images): "Rhythm all Around You" I tried to think of being engulfed in rhythm. In these images I use a very simple face and then show rhythm through colors, patterns, motion, and some music notes. The feeling that rhythm can be wherever we go and these two people are taking notice.

Concept 2 (second two images): "Musical Rhythm" I went with literal rhythm here. Here the rhythm has taken over the very instrument that brought it to life. I used detail in the way the lines made each instrument and how the rhythm has now affected its atmosphere. We could use any instrument. I picked two of the most common.

Concept 3 (solar): "Solar Rhythm" This idea comes from the fact that rhythm is bigger than we are. Our planets and solar system are on a rhythm that God designed before any creature roamed the earth. It also shows how if anything went off its rhythm then our world would cease to exist. There are so many things held in a delicate balance and rhythm in our universe.

Concept 4 (waves)" "Ocean Rhythm" The ocean is a constant symbol of rhythm. In this image I focused on a rhythm that can be peaceful and soothing. It has the feel of watching the ocean waves crash during a sunrise. It is the rhythm of the water mixed with the power of the waves that brings us to a "wow" moment.

CONCEPT 1

CONCEPT 2
CONCEPT 3

CONCEPT 4

My Meagan!

There's a fire in my bones

So this weekend I got completely drained, but in an amazing way. I attended the Beth Moore conference Friday night and Saturday morning. I am sure that I am going to post some of my thoughts from the weekend, but for right now I think the biggest thing I learned from her is how important the Holy Spirit is. I mean as a Christian I always "knew" this, but somehow now I really embrace it. One of my favorite things she said was this (totally paraphrased):

You should pray before you read the scriptures. Because when you combine the oil of the Holy Spirit that is within you with the fire that is the Word of God you are bound to have a combustion.

I am totally loving some Beth Moore right now. I would like to go to another conference and possibly pick up one or two of her books to read.

Also, as I was reading Joshua today I found a little gold nugget tucked away. It was after the many verses that talked about where the boundary lines lie for each of the tribes of Jacob.

Joshua 21:45 Not one of all the Lord's good promises to the house of Israel failed, every one was fulfilled.
Doesn't that just sound beautiful? We have a God that fulfilled every single promise to His people even when they were so annoying, whiny, and unfaithful. God is so good. Meaning He will keep every promise that He makes to us as well. God does not fail at anything and never will.

Well at the moment I am reading through Joshua and John in the Bible. It has been a little hard for me to get through the gospels and be dedicated to it. One reason is the fact that even though they are different I feel like I am reading the same thing over and over. But rather than skim through the parts that are in all 4 books I am trying to really understand what key parts each of the gospel writers took from the same experience.
Today as I was reading John I came across the ole water to wine passage (only in the book of John). I really have nothing to say about the wine part...there was something completely different that caught my eye.

John 2
Jesus Changes Water to Wine
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."
5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."

When I read this I took a different angle than I had ever thought before. Mary was positive that her son could fix this problem. She knew that he could either make their cups never go empty, make wine fall from the sky, turn the water to wine, etc. This has to mean he had to have done some miracles in the comfort of his own house before this ever took place. I imagine Jesus falling down on the ground as a little boy and getting a scrape on his knee. Then he places his small hand on it and it heals. Or maybe a bird fell from its nest and died and Mary and Jesus witnessed the whole thing. Then Jesus takes the bird in his hands and it is immediately healed. Now all this is purely imagination in my head, but it seems from John's writings that Mary knew he could perform a miracle.

And although he tries to tell her not to involve him she turns to the servants and tells them to listen to what Jesus says. She wants him to perform the miracle. I am guessing Jesus wanted to obey his mother, but didn't want many to know what had happened. So he only included the servants and let all the others wonder how this new wine came.

I am glad I looked a little more into this story that I had already heard so many times before. Even if I am totally off with my imagination it still made me smile thinking of Jesus during his childhood.

Thank God You're Here

After viewing 24, (which was amazing!) I saw a tiny piece of the Thank God You're Here 10:00pm show. I thought it was pretty funny, but since I only saw bits and pieces I kinda didn't know what was going on. Today, I saw a web clip of the one that came on at 9:00. It had Joel McHale (The Soup), Newman from Seinfield, The mom from American Pie, and this dude from Malcom in the Middle. Anyway, I saw a little piece of each and I really think this is one of the most clever shows that they have going right now. It is a lot like Whose Line is it anyway (the improv part) but they include sets and wardrobe. I am going to have to keep an eye on this show. And you should too.

NBC Monday April 16th @ 9pm
and Wed April 18th @ 8pm

Finishing Out a Friday

I got an email from my mom sharing with me her answers to a survey. And since I am a watching the clock tick right now I figured it might be fun to answer these questions for you all.

1. What is your occupation? graphic designer
2. What color are your socks right now? have on heels with no socks
3. What are you listening to right now? the pitter-patter of typing , faint talking in the background, and the humming of my computer
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Nature Valley peanut butter bar
5. Can you drive a stick shift? no
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? white...I would last longer than the others. Can you actually imagine being a crayon. That would suck. I mean kids put them in their mouths, they get stepped on and break all the time...painful deaths for the crayons.
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My dearest husband Wade
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? yes...I love my mom!
9. How old are you today? 22
10. Favorite drink: Diet Coke
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? haha...I don't watch sports
12 Have you ever dyed your hair? yes
13. Pets? Scooter, the notorious trouble maker
14. Favorite food? steak and a loaded baked potato
15. What was the last movie you watched? Shooter starring Mark Wahlberg
16. Favorite holiday? Christmas
17. What do you do to vent anger? hmmm, I am very laid back so it takes a lot to make me mad enough that I would need to vent, but I guess I would talk to Wade and let him calm me down.
18. What were your favorite toys as a kid? probably my bike
19. What is your favorite Fall or Spring? Spring!!!
20. Hugs or kisses? Kisses from Wade, hugs from others
21. Cherry or Blueberry? I really don't like either, I'll go with blueberry over the cherry
22. Do you want your friends to send this back? I'm not sending through email, but if you want you can blog your answers
23. Living arrangements? in my hizzy
24. When was the last time you cried? I think when Starbuck fake died on Battlestar Galactica (I didn't know it was fake at the time)
25. What is on the floor of your closet? shoes, sweaters that need to be washed
26. What did you do last night? Stayed at church forever trying to print posters on a plotter that never worked. Very frustrating. (I should vent to Wade about that.)

CHECK ME OUT (defining moments series)

I have decided CHECK ME OUT will be my new title for any of my design posts. So just in case you were begging for it to be shown in the last post...here is the bulletin insert I designed for the new series: Defining Moments in the Journey. It will run from April 8-May 27. Each of the pointing arrows will be a sermon title.
Wade helped me a ton on this one. I was going a completely different (bad) direction and he showed me the light. I think it looks good. But I am not blown away by it. I wish I had a little more time I could have put into it. But the deadline didn't allow for much creativity. Our pastor did tell me it would be a great book cover. Let me know what you think.

Help a sister out!

This week has been the craziest design week ever! At Palmetto GBA we have two different ad campaign things that we are doing and trying to have a website finished by May 1st. So me and our web designer were going non-stop. Then at Mt. Horeb, we finished up a poster/bulletin insert that needed to be ready for Easter. And then realized we had to also fix the bulletin cover. So needless to say I have kinda gone crazy. If you see me with frazzled hair and a crazy twitch in my eye then you will know the reason.

In other news, Meagan my beloved friend from B-town came to visit me Monday night. We ate at Harper's, watched 24, and then took tons of pictures of us making funny faces. I also tried taking portraits of Meagan, but I really have no idea if they are good. Anyway, I will post them as soon as I have time to look through them. I also got a Flickr page (place to store images) so that I can start having more photography things up. So whenever I post some stuff up there you will be the first to know.

NOW THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION FOR YOU LADIES OUT THERE?
CAN YOU PLEASE HELP ME DECIDE WHAT MAKEUP LINE TO GO WITH?
Right now I mostly use Loreal from CVS. And I think it is about time I get a decent collection of makeup. However, I have no idea which way to go. My problems now are: my makeup doesn't make it through the day, my chin is a little oily, and I want something that makes my skin glow...not wash me out because I have pale skin. So if you know the perfect solution I would jump up and down ecstatically! Please help.

CHECK ME OUT (easter)

I have been super busy at work last week and today. I feel like my brain hasn't had room to breathe. I realize in order for me to be creative I need to have moments of nothingness. I need to surf the web. I need to look at new things people are designing: print, furniture, buildings, etc. I need to take in things. I also think that whenever I am outside it is like one of those moments where I am just taking in creativity from nature. I see the colors of flowers, the ways trees bend, interesting looking lizards. It is an escape from the normal mundane tasks.

I know some of you out there are like what does this girl even do...well, probably not but I will show you. I think the things I enjoy doing the most are creative poster/promo pieces for our church series. I am about to start having to work on one and have it finished by WED!

I figured it would be cool to start a trend where I upload some of those images. For my first posting I wanted to show you what I did for our Easter musical bulletin this past week. It was just a one time bulletin, but I was very pleased with it. I am also going to show you the image I started with (istockphoto) and then what I brought it to. Here it is:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So, I changed the coloring. Made tons of lens flare like the glory of the Lord is shining behind the cross. I added a crinkled paper look to the background. I made a grunge border and filled in some more grunge with the help of some photoshop brushes.

The musical was more about the feeling of Easter and remembering what Jesus did for us. So I went with the feeling of an old photograph. One that you might look at over and over again so the coloring is a little different and the paper a little crinkled. I would have liked to take it farther, but I had time constraints. It would have been cool to do an actual photograph with torn edges or dog-eared corners. But I am happy with it.

Mika

Wade and I absolutely love this song. This guy has a fun, funky flair. I've been meaning to post this video forever, but I finally just got a second to do it. Enjoy! Hope it becomes your new fave as well.

The warm weather makes me dreamy

So South Carolina has had a couple of days of amazing weather. The kind that immediately makes you start thinking about summer vacations, swimming pools, barbecues, and days on the beach. Here are some things that keep popping up in my mind now that the weather is warm.

Sitting on a back porch in rocking chairs.

Inviting friends over to grill steak and playing a board game.

Being in a canoe on a serene lake.

Making a picnic of sandwiches with the edges cut off and taking them to a grassy hill.

Picking random wild flowers and putting them in my hair.

Wearing a flowing white dress and laughing.

Sitting in the middle of nowhere at night looking up at the stars.

Trying to catch a lightning bug in my hands.

Hopefully, Wade and I can do some of these things soon.

Hope the summer weather has you dreaming of playing outside.

The sun stands still

I am still journeying through the Bible. Right now I am reading Joshua and starting John (following the Rabbi).
I just got to the part in Joshua where he asks God to let the sun stand still. I remember hearing about this when I was younger and thinking it was cool, but now looking at it I am totally amazed. In fact I am more than just amazed. If I wasn't a Christian and you told me this I would laugh in your face. Can you believe that Joshua was so close to God that he could ask for the sun to stand still for basically a whole day? There is even a verse that comes after it that says, "There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!"
I tend to ask God for small things. Things that I CAN comprehend. But what little faith that takes. Joshua needed the sun to stand still so he could continue the battle against his enemies. So when I am truly in need of something I need to remember that I am talking to an impossible God. He can take anything you think can never happen and then poof it just happened. However, it will take a lot of faith on your part. No doubting that our God can do it!

Ruby Tuesday on Devine

I had a lot of fun this weekend. One of my best friends from Belton (Alyson) came to visit me here in Columbia. We figured out it had been since my wedding since we last saw each other. I couldn't believe it had been that long. Then I felt like a horrible friend for not seeing her sooner. But anyway, she brought one of her friends along (Mandy) and we decided to go out to eat lunch. So me being the amazing host I am thought that they should eat at a truly Columbian restaurant. I make my drive to downtown talking about how we can go to Harpers or Yesterdays since they are the finest of Columbia, South Carolina dining. We eventually decide on Harpers. I start down Harden street and think how beautiful downtown is looking. They have all these gorgeous lamp posts with newly made sidewalks. It was really pretty. Maybe me and Wade will go eat somewhere there soon.
Then I look forward and there it is. The mob of the St. Patty's Day celebration in Five Points. How could I forget something like that? So I immediately had to change my course of action and eventually found our way to Ruby Tuesday...the restaurant chain that can be found in any city in the nation practically. What makes it worse is there is a Ruby Tuesday literally 3 minutes from my house while this one is probably 20. However, we did have a good time. I loved getting to see Alyson. And I have told myself I won't let it be 2 years before I see her or any of my friends again. So now I have to see Meagan and Amber sometime soon!
If there is someone you haven't seen in awhile and just need to pick up the phone and call or go see them this weekend then DO IT! I am so bad at keeping in touch with people and there really is no excuse. I have 365 days a year just like anyone else and I can rearrange my schedule to see my friends at least once a year and so can you!

Scooter ruins our house

It has been awhile since Scooter has done something incredibly weird, but he made up for lost time yesterday. Here is the story.

So I come home from working all day and will only be able to stay at the house for a few minutes before I need to get going for my small group. Wade is at the church because Wednesday are his longest days and he stays there from 8:45am-11:00pm. So Scooter has one of three options of where he stays at each day: his crate, outside, or our used-to-be guest room which has nothing in it (aka Scooter's room). Scooter has not been able to be outside lately because he just got neutered and being outside could make his wound dirty or infected. So yesterday, Scooter had the pleasure of being in his room. So I walk in around 5:00. And walk to Scooter's room to let him out. I open the door and see that Scooter has mutilated his bed and has taken a lot of the stuffing out. The stuffing is scattered all over the room in massive clumps. However, this isn't the first time he has done this and isn't incredibly weird. So as I am picking up all the stuffing and look up at the wall. I notice there are these weird markings along the wall. They are the height of Scooter and go around the entire room. There are hundreds of these little reddish brown marks. I think, "Could him throwing his toy around the room could do this." But that doesn't seem likely. Then I look at our stark white door. And I see it is blood. Then I freak out. What could have done this? Did Scooter kill some mouse or something? There isn't much blood on the floor though, just a little sprinkle. Could his mouth have bled on his toy and him flinging it around the room cause hundreds of blood splatters? Still doesn't seem likely. However, I couldn't figure it out. I put Scooter in his crate and go to church and tell Wade the story. When we get home we both inspect the room again. After thinking about it I realize it must be his tail. We check Scooter and sure enough the end of his tail has dried blood on it. Apparently Scooter has been chomping on his tail. He walked around in circles in his room wagging his tail like crazy and hit the wall hundreds of times. It took about an hour and 4 Mr. Clean erasers to get it off the wall. I checked it this morning and there is this weird dirty looking band around the room. So I am going to have to go back over with some more magic eraser. If that doesn't work it looks like we will have to paint that room so someone looking to buy our house won't think we are freaks. Scooter totally ruins our house. By the way he is fine. We put some antibiotic stuff on it and he was being crazy Scooter like always.

I remind you that he recently caused our laundry door to fall down and hit our wall which left a huge hole in the wall. Scooter apparently doesn't want us to sell the house.

10:30

Anyone who knows me or Wade knows that I love me some sleep. I usually start making a big deal about us having to go to bed at 10:00. So why am I writing a blog at 10:30? Because I am at the church for our Sunday morning praise band rehearsal. I have finished my MediaShout for all three services and am listening to the band practice "Grace Will Be My Song" by Steve Fee. Of course the band didn't get to start til 10:00 since our sound has been rewired and we are having some issues about whose cable is where kind of things. But the sound system will be freaking sweet when it is all fixed! So it looks like they have decided just now to call it quits and come at 7:30 on Sunday morning. So if you wanted an update of the praise band rehearsals then you have the scoop. I am glad Megan is singing again this week. She was great this past week. I saw her lifting her hands up to God like she was the only one in the sanctuary (even though she was standing on stage in front of 500 people)...it reminds me of just how amazing and personal our God is. Wade does this too, but it is a little harder for him since he is playing guitar and has a pick in his hand. I like seeing the band members really worshiping and being passionate about the song. I like seeing that they are proud to take us into a place of worship through the music. Anyway, the band is packing up and I have done enough rambling. Goodnight! Even though we have a 30 minute drive home! Got to love Wed. nights.

Being A Servant

Luke 22:24-27

24Also a dispute arose among them [the disciples] as to which of them was considered to be greatest. 25Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. 26But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. 27For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.

Wow. That is some teaching. In my couples small group we were having a discussion and I brought up this passage that I had just read in Luke that day. Today I came back to read it again and I am just amazed! I started thinking about am I striving to make it to the head of the table or am I focusing on serving others? Would I rather get praise and glory here on earth for some kind of design I have made or would I rather wash the feet of a homeless person. I mean I haven't even made an effort to help the homeless so I guess I know where my answer is. And I HATE that. It has to change.

Mt. Horeb has been doing a series on heaven and it has let me think about how much this life actually is of the big picture. We put an illustration on the screens about the significance in time of being on earth compared to our eternity.

In reality, that line will go on forever. So eventually that tiny dot would basically disappear. There are going to be some people who go to hell that will wish they could come back to their time on earth to change their decision about not accepting Christ. This life on earth does matter because you are going to make the decision of where you will be during that ongoing line. We will be rewarded in heaven for our deeds here on earth. So that takes me back to Luke. I have a desire to serve and I want to honor Christ by following his command. I want the world to think I am but a servant, but for Christ I will be a leader.

So, I want to go on the record and say that this year I want to be a servant. I am going to look at each of my days and see what I can do to better fit the role. I will no longer limit serving to just the church or to our teenagers. I want to take it the next step. I want to honor Christ and have something to tell him when I get to heaven.

A Birthday Wish

Today is the birthday celebration of my dear co-leader and friend Wendy Moody. And since I am weird and have photoshop skills, I decided to make sure Wendy had on some birthday gear!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WENDY!

YOU ARE THE BEST.

Church Rules

How many of you have heard, "You need to wear your best clothes on Sunday morning?" I know growing up a Southern Baptist I heard that all the time. In fact, if I didn't wear a nice skirt on Sunday morning to church then I was pretty much out of place. Somehow though on Sunday and Wednesday nights I could wear jeans. I guess the rule only mattered for that Sunday morning.

But I wonder how that rules really came to be. I mean did we take God telling the Israelites to bring their best offering as today being wear your best clothes to church? In my Sunday school class back then I remember our youth pastor trying to hound into us to treat outsiders as family. He would use the illustration of a guy coming in with dirty overalls to church and ask us what we would do. The answer we always gave was to welcome that person in and that it shouldn't matter what he was wearing. But our Sunday morning dress code didn't say that at all.

While I was looking at some blogs, I saw Tim Stevens and this postcard thing they are doing with their church to let people share their story. You can check it out here.

But I happened upon something very interesting. I saw this postcard. And then I thought about my home church. What if a person like this pulled into the parking lot on a Sunday morning and made the statement, "God, if one person goes by with jeans on I'm going in." They sure would be waiting a long time cause I doubt anyone would have been wearing jeans.

I feel like my attitude has kind of changed about church over the years. Back in my youth days my thought was church is here to replenish me and other sound believers, but now it's also a place where a non-believer may happen to come in and will get his/her 1st impression of church and Christians. It is my thinking that nothing else really matters except bringing lost to Christ. What can we do to make non-believers know we won't judge them and to show them our only aim is about helping them find Jesus. Do we really want our dress code to be what holds them back? Or even if they came in with their jeans on, do we want them feeling self conscious about what they are wearing instead of instantly feeling loved and at home? I love how this person felt. He/She was a paper plate transformed into fine china. All because someone walked past the car with jeans on. Kind of crazy.