Flight of The Gypsy Bird

Hahahaha! Ya'll. This picture was so me the other day. HAHAHAHA! Went down for a "Surrender" and just about surrendered for REAL. This is why I'm always in the FRONT when I work out with my TV or my computer...So people who work out with me only see the back of my head and not the "Oh sh$#, I can't get up!" face. HAHA! Too much real, right here. Hahaha! So, about 6 weeks ago, I started reclaiming my life and my health. I had my eating plan all mapped out and I was so motivated through the first workout.  I weighed more than I ever have in my life and my health was scary. I'm asthmatic and diabetes runs in my family and I was well on my way to heart issues.  My first workout in 2 years was an ugly one, but I completed it...Even if I did cheat a little.  It felt SO good to be active...until. About 20 minutes after I had finished the work out, my entire body began to get this tingly-numb feeling...my muscles felt like they were going to sl...

I can't think of a better description for the last 5 weeks of my life other than...Complete hell. Well, at first it was. Now that I'm in a rhythm, it's actually getting to the point that I am remembering why I loved working out 5 years ago...But it took a minute, lol. As I was dying the other day, I happened to look up at the screen of my computer where my workout for the day was in progress. I was sweating and grunting and almost crying from pushing through each round of torturous exercises and my eyes landed on "The Modifier".  You know that one....That one person in the group of badasses who is a little fluffier than the rest. The one who does a different exercise than the rest and lifts different weights than the rest. The one that makes it ok to be complacent with your workout program and commitment to yourself. I know, I know. They are there for those who, like me, were and are not at the fitness level to completely go all in with the exercis...

This is Süßi (pronounced "Zues-ēē) and her sleeping sister, Schatzi. They are our new kittens who will live OUTSIDE once they are big enough to fend for themselves against hawks and such. They have no tails and are...OMGSH!!!! SO FRIKKIN CUTE!!!!  Being litter mates and tail-less are the only things these two have in common, lol. Süßi is super sweet and a little shy and Schatzi is super sweet, sassy, and completely fearless.  This is Po...  Him's my fweet-punkin-smooshie-face-baby....not a mean bone in his fluffy body until... The twins arrived.  I have never heard him hiss or growl in his whole 18-month-old-life until the two little, no-tailed, kittens joined our family.  From the first moment he investigated their tiny, tail-less bodies, he decided, "Thanks, but no thanks" and proceeded to let them know that he was in NO WAY interested in their kitten shenanigans.   Süßi was easy to convince, being the shy and timid one...and she avoide...

So, recently someone asked me to write a 500 word essay describing what worship is and how to flesh it out. Easy, right? Yeah, I thought so too. Ehhhhnotsomuch. The topic wasn't the hard part. It was the 500 word part. I mean, worship is so much more than ANY of us can EVER hope to confine within a literary work. SO! I asked Abba to help me write this thing, mainly because if He doesn't help, it stinks. Haha. Don't judge. It's true, lol. Anywho, I had a revelation in the midst of this essay and I wanted to share it with you. So here is the 536 word essay...hey, I tried to keep it at 500... Enjoy. :) " That moment. You know what I'm talking about. That epic moment when imagination meets reality and it exceeds everything you thought it could possibly be. That moment when your soul is moved so deeply that all you can do is close your eyes and soak in that moment, relish the moment, love the moment, because to do anything else would seem....

    If you've been around me during worship and/or intercession for more than 2 minutes, then you have prolly heard one of these in what I call 'desperate voice':   "OH! I am DESTROYED by Your love, Papa!!"   or   "Come and DESTROY us with Your love, Jesus!!"   It's actually quite comical when someone doesn't know what's going on...ie, the bus driver...   yeahhhhhh.....funny story, lol.   Anywho.   Funny thing about the word 'destroy'?    It's not such a black and white word, like one would think.   I was reading in Deuteronomy the other day and Moses was recapping all that the House of Israel had been thru from the time their journey began.   Why?   I have 2 opinions on it.   #1 - To remind them of the faithfulness of God   #2  - This generation were babies or young children when all the craziness with their folks went down the FIRS...

 Annnnnd it's been a minute... I know. Forgive me for having six kids living at home and allowing them to have a life OUTSIDE of my own. ;) Blogging has taken a backseat to life these days. Until the other day. Lemme just tell you. Watching your kids live their lives and watching their sibling squabbles and giggles can really slap you in the face with some pretty blinding "light bulb" moments. Like this one, for instance: Nacho and Lily were playing in the floor. FIRST, you need to understand that Nacho loves his sister...like luuuuuuuvs her...like...really really...really..........really loves his sister. So much so that she will scream at him to get off her. (She gets it honest) That being said, I was watching this moment in time as my 4 year old went from playing with his 1 year old sister to LOVING his 1 year old sister...with her 1 year old 'tude with a capital T...and her 1 year old backhand across the face.  He was trying so hard to ...

So, I had a moment the other day. A moment when I was faced with a conversation I never thought I would have. My husband told me something that led me to tell him that I was, indeed, hopelessly in love with another man. O_O The other night at IHOP Macon ( http://www.ihopmacon.org ), while I was pouring out my devotion on my Lover, God spoke to my husband. That evening on the way home, he said, "Nicki, God told me something tonight and I didn't know how to take it." I was intrigued. "What did He tell you??" "He told me that I am jealous...of...Him.." I sat silent in the car, waiting for him to go on. "He told me that I resented how intimate you are with Him because I want to be that close with you, but I feel like He's got all of you." I looked incredulously at him. "Really?? He told you that??" I couldnt wrap my mind around the gravity of what he was sharing with me. I was torn ...

Hahahaha...I just pulled up my home page and that picture of that pissed off baby was staring at me... Ok. Sorry! Serious face on now. So I've been thinking....scary, I know. What started as 'picking' one Friday night on the way to the Prayer Room is now at the forefront of my thoughts... And has been for a while now. I've been mulling it over in my mind...turning it around...really putting some time into deciding how I feel about it and talking to Him about it some, trying to figure out how to get it out and be clear with it....thus the LONNNNNNG time since my last post. I'm going to try to do my best to get it all out in a way that makes perfect sense...which with me, is sketchy at times, lol. Here Goes! We (Shane and Kristan and I) were joking about an older worship song that deals with the heart of worship... (singing in epic early 2000's contemp worship voice) "When the music fades....and all is STRIPPED away..and I simply cooo...

Hahahaha...yall, that picture straight cracks me UP! I literally "LOL" everytime I look at it, haha. I'm thinking this kid is some-kinda-pissed, hahahaha. Anywho. I was skimming thru Genesis this morning, refreshing my memory... Because my kids ate my brain... Something stood out. (COULD be that it was underlined and highlighted and there was scribbled notes all around it..) Some of us know the story of Abram (Abraham) and Lot. For those who don't, you can find it in Genesis 12-19. For the purpose of this blog, we are focusing on chapter 14. (if you read the entire story of Abram and Lot, you will understand why I called this blog, 'Defending The Brat'...Lot is the brat in question) At this point, Abram and Lot had seperated and Lot had chosen the fertile valley near Sodom and Gomorrah(a total brat move and another blog for another day), but little did he know that there was trouble awaitin' him there. Unbeknownst to them, the...

I've been trying to write this blog for 3,4,5,6...7 days now...Anybody want a pair of youngsters who are into everything at the top of their lungs and DEMAND attention???..ummm...maybe I should rephrase that...Anyone want a precious pair of youngsters who are joyful and love quality time?? Here's to a 100th attempt to get this all out...(Deep Cleansing Breath) Annnnnndddd...Here we go: SERIOUSLY??? I JUST sat down and now Tucker (who was bringing our Dobie, Ronan, in because it's getting ready to storm) just came in and told me he got lose...sigh...I'll be back in a bit. Got a great big goofy gallute to track down....smh. OK! NOW! That's taken care of...lets get going before the world as we know comes to an end and I get 'activated'...haha....this life of mine, lol...never a dull moment! Ok, I've been reading thru my bible again. I've been asking Him to show me new things, or remind me of things I had forgotten. I've been ove...