Fall Riot is Happening Y'all!

Tonight the Student ministry at the West Campus is putting on an event called Fall Riot! I am super excited about tonight and seeing it all come together. Fall Riot is an community wide event that brings in local football players, cheerleaders, a dance crew and more! It has been so neat to watch the students that serve with me on the GiGL Team get passionate about inviting their friends who are lost to come tonight! I can't wait to see what The Lord does through our talented Student Ministry and the kids who come! If you have a chance please lift up a prayer for this event...the staff working it & every single student who is going to attend!

Katie Warren's CD Release!

I have some very exciting news to share! My sweet friend Katie has been working on her CD for the past year and it is debuting on November 1st! If you are in the area come on out to Second Baptist Houston C gym at 6:00pm.

If you need a worship leader or performer you should contact her! She is an amazing girl with a heart for The Lord. You can tell just by talking to her or watching her worship Him!

When Katie and I first met we instantly clicked it just seemed like everything we talked about we had something in common. A bond was formed & instantly we knew we would be life long friends. I am so proud of her and can't wait to see how The Lord uses the gifts He has given her as she starts this new exciting journey!

Check out her website here www.katiewarrenmusic.com.

love

This past week I have been learning all about Christ's love...I can't seem to get away from it. Dr. Young preached about it, the topic in my Bible Study was on it, we even touched on it in small group on Tuesday night.

Christ's love.

I sometimes find it difficult for me to wrap my mind around His love. To grasp it. To rest in it. To accept it. That everyday I fall so short and yet the one thing that still remains faithful and true is His love. That fact alone should make it easy. His love is constant, never changing, never failing.


Thank you Jesus for your love.

My prayer this past week has been that I would rest in His love & to fully know it. So return I can show His love to others. I do. I want people to ask what is different about me. To be a girl that people want to be around because I radiate Christ's love. To love with a love that is contagious and overflowing. To brighten & bless someones day with His love.

Who are you showing Christ's love to today?

"And I pray that you, being rooted & established in love, may have the power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide & long & deep is the love of Christ." Ephesians 3:17-18

Recap....

Get excited Blair...I'm back to my weekly recaps! :)

Last night at small group we started discussing Max Lucado's new book Fearless. Chapter one was all about Fear. Understanding it. Identifying it. Fixing it. It was so insightful and encouraging to sit with these Godly gals & just encourage & challenge each other with our fears. One thing we focused on was the root of our that fear. Where does it come from, why do we have it. After all there is something in our hearts is causing us to fear that rejection, disappointment, people, perfectionism....I'll stop there my list could go on and on.

I don't know.....maybe it's because if I let that person down I'm afraid they'll stop loving me. Or if I let the people in my life see me mess up then *gasp* they will figure out that I'm not perfect. If I love that person big and with all that is in me maybe I won't get that in return. (then why do we even love at all) Or if I let them see the "real me" they will see the imperfections, the cracks, the bumps and bruises (that have made me me) & stop loving me. These are just a few of the things we discussed last night.

One thing that really struck a chord with me was when we were talking about the fear of love. I don't know about you but I know sometimes I can find myself struggling with loving myself the way I love others. It's so easy to sit in front of a mirror and pick myself apart. But then Katherine shared a conversation she had the other day that sounded something like this. As Christ followers we are commanded to love our neighbor as yourself....it is the greatest commandment after all. If you can't love yourself for who Christ has created you to be then it's going to be awfully hard to love your neighbor unconditionally. When I fall short and fail to love me for who Christ has created me to be then that hinders me in loving others. I so do not want to be there. I want to love people big. With a love that is contagious and just causes people to smile! I do. I so desire to show the love of Christ to everyone I cross paths with. Does this happen all the time? Heavens no! But I'm not going to let the excuse "it's not easy" be a crutch or an option. So I challenge you today to love without fear and without the expectation of getting anything in return.

I Did It...

Well I did it. I just registered to run my first 5K ever! I have to admit I am both a little nervous and excited now that I am for sure committed to run the race. I have been preparing now for around two weeks and have really enjoyed pushing myself & am looking forward to acomplishing something I never thought I would ever do!

Happy Tuesday Y'all!

My small group started back up last week and can I just say how good it was to be back? We take a little break during the summer because of our crazy schedules & I didn't realize how much I missed our sweet time together until I was experiencing it last week! There is just something about getting together in a "safe place" to talk about Jesus & just what's going on in life! I am so blessed to be apart of this group of amazing gals....I can't believe we've been meeting for almost two years now!

We are reading the new Max Lucado book Fearless and I am really enjoying it! I am so that girl who will start a book, put it down, and NEVER finish it....let's see...there are around three "unfinished" books sitting on my nightstand right now! So I am super excited about reading this book in it's entirety! Can't wait to share with y'all all that I am going to learn through Tuesday nights and this book!

Pure Delight....

The ladies in Team Kid are going through the Max Lucado study Experiencing the heart of Jesus. If you haven't done it yet and are looking for a new study pick this one up. It is amazing and full of some rich stuff y'all! I am loving it!! This week we started the chapter on Experiencing the joy of Jesus and one of the sections focused on defining sacred delight. I'll admit while doing the study I just breezed through this section but today when we were discussing we focused on finding delight in the scriptures. Not just when I read it but do I view it from the view point of delight?

Here is a little bit from the study....
"Delight is the look on Andrew's face at the lunch pail that never came up empty. Delight is the dozing wedding guests who drank the wine that had been water. Delight is Jesus walking through the waves as casually as you walk through curtains. Delight is a leper seeing a finger where there had been only a nub....a widow hosting a party with impossible things in crazy ways:healing the blind with spit, paying taxes with a coin found in a fish's mouth, and coming back from the dead disguised as a gardener."

I do.

I honestly believe with my whole heart that when Jesus performed these miracles He did it with pure delight. Not with a frown on His face or with a sour attitude. He found joy in everything He did...even the little things. I also think some of His delight was driven by the surprise in it. Think about it...He changed those peoples lives one step at a time in a way they didn't expect.

What an example we would be to a world of hurting people if we showed delight to others in the things that we do....even when it is hard. I can imagine the conversation that would go on in their heads.

I was challenged today to find delight in everything that I do. My actions, the relationships I am blessed with, my job, the scripture that I read...my list could go on and on. Thinking about it can't help but bring a smile to my face....all of the extra joy it's going to add....I'm super excited!

Psalm 126:3 "Yes, The Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!"