Phone Update

This is for those of you who may have been texting/trying to contact me via phone in the last month.
Lest you think I have been rude in not responding, let me fill you in...
My lovely blue phone crashed/quit/whatever on my birthday, January 29th. So since then (until today) I have been without a phone. Its been quite lovely, actually, and I really haven't missed it hardly at all. I think my family missed it more than I did; they couldn't keep track of me as well. =)
We have been in the south the past month, and down south they don't have US Cellular stores. So we had to wait until today, when we finally located one in Virginia.
They told my brother (who kindly took care of the transaction for me because he's just nice like that) that they wouldn't be able to transfer my contacts to the new phone.
Whereupon mother dear said "wait a minute...how can they be able to track people and supposedly access all this information from your phone but they can't transfer your contacts?"
#truefact
So brother and dad went to battle with the salesman and it ended with all my contacts getting transfered.
#nevergiveup #learntoarguewell #happydance
If you've texted me in the last month and I never answered and you feel so led to text again, go right ahead. =)

-chels

#storyofmylife

Baby Love in Georgia

 with two of my favorite things in this world: a baby & a cup of coffee

 I love babies. or adore them. or something like that.

some day {Lord willing} I'm gonna have a whole houseful of my own.

but in the meantime, I'm having a ball loving on other people's. =)

 I really miss the little people at my church, and can hardly wait to get home and see how much they have all grown up while I've been gone.

But while I'm on tour, its been pretty special getting to meet new little babies that our friends have had lately.

after he woke up I had to take a few pictures, even though he was leaning up against my knees and the angle wasn't so great.

what a charmer. that double chin just gets me. =)

-chels

Frustration in Delays and Goals

What a cheerful way to title a post. I know, I know.

And I have no pictures? Blogger strike number two.

My, where to start? It's been over a week since my Valentines post. In the last week I have been nearly everywhere except for here on this blog. Well, not quite. =) 

This touring business has been pretty hectic these last ten days. I had such high hopes for all that I thought I could accomplish this month, and this past week, in particular, but I am realizing that even though I worked hard at it, I

A) didn't work hard enough

B) aimed way too high

C) totally underestimated the commitments I would have with our touring schedule

Ever been there, my friend? Sometimes I feel that this is the story of my life. 

Dream up grand, big ideas. Write lists that stretch for miles and miles with ambition and zeal and energy. Run into a totally different schedule than what I was planning and multiple unexpected delays, especially when on tour.

And then have a little mini crash with the dust of frustration billowing around me.

{just being honest here}

There's nothing quite so discouraging as missing most of your goals and having all that ambition come crashing to the ground.

All that said. There was no guest post. I have yet to experience the wonders of owning Lightroom. Three of the five books on my February reading list have been virtually untouched. There weren't even close to fifteen posts. And so on. 

Ah, I am so thankful that tomorrow (or next month, rather!) is a clean slate. I'm learning my lesson though and I won't allow myself to be so ambitious for next month either, because most of it will also be spent on the road. 

It's a hard thing to describe, this road life. I'm not really sure how to explain it but there is no such thing as schedule. There is no such thing as routine. Sometimes it feels like one huge jumble of instruments, siblings, belongings, and more towns, churches, and people than I can possibly remember or keep up with. I'm compiling a list of sarcastic comebacks to use on the next person who says to me "Oh, thats SO COOL that you get to spend the winter vacationing with your family down south!" Vacationing? Gracious-there may be many words to call my life but "vacation" is not it!

I also apologize that its taking so long for the upcoming posts I mentioned here. I haven't forgotten about them; they are both in the making and saved in drafts, but to make a long story short, the one post needs some pictures to accompany it and I can't take the pictures til I get home because some of the outfits I need for the pictures are at home (long explanation there!), and the other post ended up being way bigger than what I was thinking it would be so I'm attempting to break it down into a series-type deal and sort everything out into the proper order. And posts like that are HARD to do when internet time is limited to a quick, timed stop at Caribou, or hacking into the Lowes wifi for ten blessed minutes while brother dear is inside making a purchase and my minutes are ticking away. 

We are approaching our busiest stretch of all for this tour, so I will probably be absent even more. However, in the midst of everything else God has provided an exciting upcoming opportunity for me (stay tuned!) which will involve quite a bit of time in five different airports, so maybe during those amazing hours of solitude I will be able to cook up a whole storm of posts and be back to normal again! =)

In closing...I've been reading lately in the Old Testament, about the children of Israel and their journey to Canaan. What a challenge it has been to see the good in life, and to BELIEVE God's promises to us! 

I want to be like Caleb and Joshua who saw the grapes, and not the giants. They could have chosen to be distracted like the other ten spies and focused on the giants and the "impossibility" of conquering the mighty cities, but instead they saw the land for what it was-God's promised gift to them-and they choose to believe God's promise and GO FOR IT! That's what I want-to choose to see the GOOD in everything. I want to find joy  in seeing His hand working in my life, and in the lives of those around me. 

{even when we're stuck on a 45ft bus and this farm girl misses that good old farm air and Iowa snow like everything!}

Be blessed, friends! Let's go conquer those Canaanites! =)

-chels

Happy Valentines Day!

{don't get excited; these aren't mine. =)}

//Valentine's Day//

I've honestly never given this holiday very much thought. 

It's not that I have anything against the holiday. 

I've always know that Valentines meant love and roses, fun little notes, and an abundance of all things pink and red. 

I just never really cared about it for myself, personally. I never felt like I was lacking, or missing out, or anything like that.

In the last several days I've come across quite a few people talking about Valentine's Day. Specifically talking about how it can be a difficult holiday for single people.

This was revelation to me. Call me weird or whatever, but the thought never really occurred to me that single people might struggle on this day, with wishing for a special someone to love them. 

I've been realizing though that it is a major problem, apparently. From what I've been hearing from others, it sounds like there is a multitude of singles out there who get honestly depressed on this happy, lovely day called Valentines.

So. In light of that, I'm here today to offer a little love to all of y'all, whether you fall in the camp of "I wish had someone to love me and that I wasn't single!" or "I could care less about having a significant other". =)

Most of you reading this have family of some kind. Parents, siblings, cousins...something. Go out and love on them today. If you feel a lack of love in your life than I would say that the true reason is because you don't have much love going out. Don't focus on love coming in! Focus on being a giver. Consume yourself with loving on others and you will be amazed at how your whole perspective will change. If you actually stop and think about it you will realize that you are way more loved than most people in the world. There are orphans who would give anything to just have one parent to love them! There are soldiers who would love to be home with their family's but instead are spending today sacrificing for our freedom. There are abused children who don't even understand what true love is because of how they have been mistreated.

And you are complaining because you don't have a boyfriend today? Grow up, girl!

All of us have friends, too. (at least I hope so!) You have a friend who you know is going through a rough time in life right now? Why not send her flowers today? Stick in a note of encouragement with a scripture verse and let her know you're praying for her. Who says guys are the only ones who can give flowers? =) Think outside of the box! 

Even if you think that no one else loves you or cares about you today, let me tell you that JESUS DOES. His love far surpasses any other love you could imagine and it is the very best thing in the world to be His child and experience the fullness of that love for yourself. 

Spread the love around today!

-Chels

Joy Killers Cd

.......goes to commenter #24, which is Luba!

Please drop me an email including your address at daughterofvision@gmail.com 

and I will get the cd in the mail to you. 

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and comments. It sounds like God wanted me to write that for a reason! I'm so thankful it was an encouragement.

also, this is random, but...if there are any people planning to come to our Sarasota concerts tonight or tomorrow night, the times are different from what I posted two weeks ago.
here are the updated times:
February 14th-Pinecraft Park-7:30pm
February 15th-Bethel Mennonite Church-6:00pm

-Chels

Is Something Stealing Your Joy?

Joy. I love that word. Joy is such a beautiful thing. It is such a perfect reflection of Jesus, I think, because it is so what He is about! To bring joy to our lives, most importantly through salvation, and then as we grow in our walk with Him.

Back in this post I mentioned about how the Lord had been working in my heart so greatly through the preaching at my church. I also promised that I'd be back to expound on that in several posts after we'd left on our tour. 

Finally, here is the first one, about a message entitled "Joy Killers". 

My pastor preached this message back in November of last year, at a time when my joy was, to be honest, very much lacking. I found myself discouraged and oh-so busy with so much. I felt mentally and physically overwhelmed and overloaded, and my joy bucket was running dry. 

God was so faithful to bring this message into my life on the very night I needed it most. 

I had gotten the message on cd so I pulled it out the other day and listened to it again as a "refresher" course, and also to jot down some notes to share here. 

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Message Title:

JOY KILLERS

{my personal additions are in italics}

The word JOY is mentioned 155 times in the Bible.

"And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH."

Nehemiah 8:9&10

Christians should be the ones modeling joy, because God has designed the Christian life to be an abundant life!

"He is come that we might have life, and life abundant."

People often use the phrase  “_______ takes my joy”, but Jesus says that NO MAN can take our joy from us. 

If joy is given by a man or by an earthly circumstance, than it can be TAKEN by a man or earthly circumstance. {think about that! so true!} 

True joy is only given by God. If God is our joy and our world, than our joy will not be taken from us when we go through difficult circumstances. 

SEVEN THINGS THAT WILL STEAL/KILL YOUR JOY

1. a lack of devotional life

2. an unthankful spirit

3. dreaming outside of the will of God

4. comparing yourself with others

5. impure thoughts

6. unresolved conflict

7. failed relationships

I challenge you to look through that list of seven and ask the Lord "are any of these seven true in my life? Am I allowing my joy to be taken away and replaced by sin?" 

For myself, when I first heard this message, the Lord used it to immediately convict me about numbers one, two, and six. My devotional life had been majorly struggling, I was giving in to the spirit of unthankfulness, and unresolved conflict was what half of my trouble was about in the first place. 

People read our (my family & I's) blogs and tell us, "from everything that you say about your church, it sounds like a pretty amazing place." I can only nod in agreement because it is! 

But this is the thing-it isn't amazing because it is full of perfect people, or because our pastor is perfect, because we all know that nobody is perfect. We are all sinners, and we can't do anything amazing on our own strength. 

No, the reason it is such an amazing place is because, quite simply, God's Word is #1. 

God's Word is the base. It is the foundation. The messages preached are founded on and based right out of the Bible. I personally think the reason a lot of teaching and preaching is so unbiblical these days is because people are turning to books and websites and movements and organizations for the answers, instead of finding it all in the Word of God.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

 But that's all more for another time. There's so much to say about just that last line above (and believe me, I will put it all into words and say it on here one of these days!) but I will save it for later. 

I have an extra cd of the whole message, "Joy Killers", that I would love to "gift" to one of you readers. If you're interested, just leave a comment with your first and last name and I will draw a winner on Monday.

Also I would love to hear other thoughts on this, or how the Lord may have convicted you in reading through those seven points. Take a minute to share in the comment box!

I apologize for the rambling-I felt like I needed to post this today and I don't have time to comb over everything and say it as eloquently as I would like. (got a concert coming up in just a bit here!) Hopefully the Lord can use this to bless someone anyhow!

have a blessed weekend!

-chels