Flight of The Gypsy Bird

As I'm preparing for a word I'm to speak soon, and I'm studying through my talk relating to my blog post on "Slayer"... I hear " Cheat codes." And it gets me to thinking. Hmm...Cheat Codes. Well, let's explore this a sec. In relation to video games, Cheat codes are for those who want to advance quickly without having to actually learn the game...without actually having to struggle through the battles.  While it is CHEATING, and normally I would be adverse to skipping out on the process, I can see how this is beneficial. Don't hate. You know at some point you have pulled out that owner's manual looking for a hint only to find just enough info to piss you off. I mean  COME ON!!  Help a gamer out!! JEEZ!! And! If you think about it...the writers of the games come up with these codes...well...writers and hackers, lol. ANYWHO!! So! For the sake of argument, let's assume that God is the writer of this game

"WYATT! DON'T SASSINATE ME!!" "Okay." (gun fire) "WYATT!! I SAID DON'T SASSINATE ME!!!" (no answer) "You have ta let me sassinate YOU!" "You have to earn your assassinations." As I sit here, computer in lap...working on a completely different blog...I hear this exchange between a very frustrated Nacho and his older brother, and I look up from my blogging and watch them.  I see the almost desperate face of my 6 year old as he whole-heartedly petitions his brother not to "sassinate" him and I see the utter calm and resignation on the face of his older brother, who is unmoved by his pleas and unceremoniously "sassinates" him. "WYATT!!! LET ME SASSINATE YOU!!" Nacho demands desperately, but unfortunately his brother is not feeling benevolent. "No." (Whining) "THAT'S WHY I WANT TO JUST PLAY BY MYSELF!" As a mom, it's tempting to intervene on behalf

So...yeah. Captivity.  As believers...especially in a charismatic body...its a word that embodies negative things, right? I mean, when you think of 'captivity' you think of the Children of Israel in Egypt...or atleast I do...You think of addictions, chains, bondages, prison, slavery, etc.....See? Negative.  If you read my last blog, you know that Papa kinda rocked my world by just flat out atom-bombing a paradigm that most ppl who claim "charismatic" have.   Welp. He did it again. Read on.                  Wednesday night, before service (I play guitar for our youth service), I was walking the room and interceding (that would be ' praying'  for the non-church-i-fied) for the ppl who would come to the gathering that night...  Following is the dialogue that would wreck my sleep that night and every other night this week, so far...seeing as its 3:18am on Saturday morning.... ME-  "Papa God...Uncreated One...How?? How can we cap

So this is Ernie's Trail in Wyomia Tyus Park . Shane and I were walking through the amazing nature trails at a local park where we live and we came across a cute little bridge. We stopped for a minute and looked over the rails at the multitude of moss covered rocks and pebbles beneath us. The water trickled over them invitingly, as if saying,"Come explore!" Instantly, we were both transported back to our childhoods and the adventures we would have in creeks just like this one. Shane laughed and said, "Oh, wow! I remember when I was a kid, how I would spend HOURS down in there climbing all over, turning over rocks and..." "..And looking for salamanders and crawdads and getting soaking wet!" I finished his sentence and we both laughed and reminisced about all the things we would do in creeks like this one.  Then, he said something that kinda hurt my heart a little... He looked over the edge of the bridge again and said, "You know, I pr

Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there lived a little princess.  She was beautiful, joyful, talented, full of grace, and everything a princess should be.  Her parents, the king and queen,  loved her desperately and not a day passed that they didn't surround their little princess with their beautiful love for her, and they loved her well.   The little princess blossomed under their tender mercies and gentle guidance and all seemed well. Daily, the king would twirl her and whisper to her, "Do you know how beautiful and special you are?" She would giggle, the way little girls are prone to do, and respond, "Haha, Yes, Papa." as she threw her little arms around him and squeezed him tight. "You always tell me that."  And the little princess believed him with her whole heart. He was her papa and he had never lied to her. She knew he could be trusted and in her wee eyes, he was the wisest, most handsome man in all the world. She would sm

Run. He said to run. So I ran. No so far the first time, and He was mostly quiet. But the more I was obedient to His command, the  more chatty He became. The more He took on the role of physical trainer. The more He began to show me the correlation between my physical actions and what was happening..or would happen..in the spiritual. Take last night for instance: I was pooped...and sore... See, two days before, my 8 year old daughter had this amazing idea that it would be 'fun' to do yoga together..just us two...mother and daughter.. First of all, yoga is not now...nor ever WILL be fun. Ever. So like I was saying,  mother and daughter yoga. ..yeah.. That didn't happen. Little stinker pooped out on me FIVE MINUTES into it and laid in the floor on her yoga mat, giggling at the unnatural contortions I was forcing my screaming body into. X_x SO! Entywho. Fast forward. I was NOT feeling the run last night, but He said to run. So

I've been a little off lately.           A little quiet.                  A little snappy at times.                        A lot thoughtful and reflective.                                A little...hermit-ish. Noise gets on my nerves...which makes navigating my day with 6 kids an adventure. O_O I just want to be left alone these days.   Crazy, huh? To love people so much and yet just want to be away from people... In the stillness.        In the quiet.              Alone with Him.                       In our garden...just the two of us. Complexity frustrates me, when it used to not bother me one iota, and I find myself asking the question, "Why is this so hard?...I mean really...it's not that hard." And I take a deep breath and "ooosahhhhh" my way through practices, conversations, daily activities, etc. I relish simplicity and solitude.  So, when I got an email from a prophetic community that I subscribe to a

Let me start by saying that I have been the brunt of MOCKERY since October. Jes kiddin. It's not really mockery. They just giggle when it happens, lol. I used to do the same. I would watch "the Frizzness" on Bethel's YouTube channel and would giggle when Papa would touch her and she would jump or twitch. I giggled, that is, until it happened to me. I was at a women's retreat and, well, He just dumped a TON of His glory right on top of me and I was a jumpy, twitching, uncontrollable mess. For a week afterward, I had a hard time talking about Him or TO Him without twitching so hard that I couldn't speak. Thank GOODness I can talk about Him now with only mild jolts that are unnoticeable to anyone else, but they are little reminders of how very much He loves me and how very near He is to me... Although....when He agrees with a statement I make..or when He draws very near to me, haha, He will touch me and my hold body will jerk once or twice..

So we are doing a series with our students this month...and to say that I am nervous and feel UBER underqualified to even DO the stuff we are talking about, let alone TEACH it is...well..the understatement of the year. You would THINK that after the craziness that had happened at home group the night before, I would be FULL of confidence....BUT! I wasn't. (GASP!) I know, right? I even sent Mrs. Beverly a text earlier that day asking her to pray for me and, God-love-that-woman, she zapped me (in love) and reminded me of a few things, lol. Later Wednesday afternoon, the hubs said he felt strongly that Papa was saying that before we started getting into the depth of this week's topic, that we should have a time of repentance and heart checking...to basically start the service backwards. Which was so cool bc, the songs Papa had given to me for worship weren't the normal "pre talk" stuff. They were mellow and moving...like 'decision time' stuff

Here's the deal.  I'm a chicken. A great big colossal chicken.  And Papa knows it.  Mainly, because He's, well, GOD... but also because I have told Him MANY times how hard of a time I've been having with teaching the series on healing that we are doing with our students this month. I've only shared that with a VERY few trusted ppl who I know will cover and pray for me.  Every second and 4th Tuesday nights I attend a ladies home group that is...well...no words can describe the levels of glory that we experience there. This past week me, a friend, one of our students, and one of our youth sponsors got there late. As we walked in, we walked right slam into the presence of the King. One of our sisters was dancing in the middle of the circle of women in Mrs. Beverly's living room,  and we didn't need to ask why. It became increasingly evident that Papa God was talking to His daughters that night.  We slipped in as quietly

HOLY. MERCY. COW. This picture... So today (while I was packing for my trip to NC) I was listening to a song that Kristan and I will be practicing tonight with our amazing worship team. Let me just share this awesomeness with you: http://youtu.be/_2nBOGA6X2g Yeah. So, I was listening to this and working. Singing lightly with my mouth and my mind while my hands were busy sorting laundry, starting more, and deciding which outfits to take with. I've been sick for a while, so its hard to REALLY sing. Not super sick, but for a week I was just...gross...And now for another week my body has still been recovering. My lungs have taken the hardest hit. It probably would be a little better if I wasn't such a fool about incense... ANYWHO. Amidst all the "busy work" I found myself becoming engrossed in the dynamically thematic elements of this song...I mean...this song is SO stinkin theatrical and so expertly done...you just can't help but be drawn in. So! I