Here is the Church, Here is the steeple...

Open it up and see all the people (sorry I had to finish it)

I had a very sad night last night. 7/22 came to a close last night after 13 years of service in Atlanta. I wasn't blessed to have been a part of it that long, but I've been participating for about a year now and I cannot begin to express how my life has RADICALLY changed in that last year. I'm very sad to see it go, but I have realized two things from last night.

1) Praising God should be something you do everyday and you don't need a particular place to do it. I had started to depend on 7/22 to move me every Tuesday night, I thank God every day for the gifts in my life but I had started to depend on Tuesday nights to be spiritually filled each week.

That shouldn't happen! I should be spiritually filled before even walking in those doors on Tuesday nights!

2) A church is not a building. It's the people inside the building. It is up to us to find a way to let God shine through our daily lives. I sort of already new this but the argument was renewed inside of me. You don't have to bring people to church for them to see the way God can move you. Let them see it in your everyday life. Live a life that is always giving the glory to God and people will see how amazing he is through your trust and dependence in/on him.

Those are my thoughts...Really don't know what else to say.

Updates

So I'm off to see the Condo tonight, I'm hoping to walk in and see a fully painted condo since the painters were supposed to be done yesterday! I'm so Excited, and so relieved to not being doing it myself anymore. I spent a total of 4 days and at least 30 hours just trying to prime the place and it still wasn't close to being done. This is also after spending 3 days in the smallest bathroom and only getting half the wallpaper off. So I decided to start looking for painting quotes. As soon as I got one that was in my price range I dropped the brushes and handed over the task!

Now I've just got to get packed up before next Saturday! and hopefully get the furniture I have in there assembled by then so I can start to put things together!

I'm so excited! I'll post pictures as soon as I get my camera back, it decided to stay behind in Washington DC after my Labor Day Weekend Visit. I called and told Katie to inform it to quit hiding from me, it has work to do!

I GOT MY BRACES OFF!!!!
I'm so incredibly excited! I can't wait to show off my new smile! too bad I'm working on the Condo all weekend :-( Oh yeah! I also closed on the condo! Now the projects begin!

My Support Letter for My Mission Trip to Spain.

Hi Everyone!

I hope this letter finds you well and in good spirits. So much has happened in the last year I don’t really know where to start. So I’ll just dive in…

Last fall I decided to find a new church and a new job all at once. Amazingly enough it all happened at once too! I found a great job working for an advertising agency in Downtown Atlanta called GREY Atlanta. I’m the Administrative Assistant to the Senior Vice President, the office manager, the front desk reception, and anything else they need. I love the people in my office and love working downtown. While it’s not my dream job, it’s perfect for me while I figure out what that dream job might be. Check us out! www.greyatlanta.com

I also found a church that has opened up a whole new world of worship for me, and have had some great opportunities through it to grow spiritually and as a person. I’ve become a small group leader where I lead a group of women through a Bible study each Wednesday night, I’ve started volunteering for the church and outside the church, I’m in the process now of volunteering to lead another small group of children each Sunday through a Bible study, and I’ve got a great opportunity to go on a mission trip (to be described later).

I finally had my jaw surgery on April 29^th. The surgery went perfectly and I’m recovering well. No one ever warns you that 4 months after it’s over you’ll still have a little residual swelling and eating will still be an interesting process. Each day is getting better though and soon enough the surgery will be nothing but a memory (in the meantime any prayers that I can get back to normal faster would be much appreciated). I should get the braces off by Halloween so that’s exciting too!

This August seems to be the craziest month I’ve ever experienced in my very short life. I’m buying a Condo! And as Dad jokes, I’m getting the full experience of real estate with this one. The woman who owns it wants to close REALLY early, so about 30 days after I first laid eyes on the place, I’ll have keys in my hand and will own it. This is so exciting for me, and of course I’m learning a lot through the process. It’s in an awesome location and is such a cute place; I’ll post pictures online once I get in there and paint/decorate.

So what’s in store for the future? (Besides a few painting parties and housewarming soirees) I’m going on my first mission trip in October. This opportunity presented itself just a few short weeks ago and I’m really excited about it. Our group of seven will be flying out to Villanova/Stiges, Spain to lend support and do anything we can for a new church out there.

The church just started about 3 years ago and because it’s the only church in that area that is not Catholic, they’re often looked at as a cult. From what I’m told, people in that area often think of church as something you only do once you’re older and closer to “the end.” It’s an after thought for most of the younger generation. Iglesia Cristiana del Garraf gives an opportunity for the younger generation to get excited about God; it gives the people of the area another choice for worshiping.

There’s still a lot left for them to do though, their building is not finished, they’re still putting programs in place for Bible Study and childcare, and there’s a lot of encouragement needed for them, they’re doing something that seems so great, and so simple to us, but from where they’re standing this is HUGE, and there is no support coming from the area around them.

The cost of this trip is $2700 dollars per person and there are 7 of us going. That being said, we can use ALL the help we can get! Please don’t feel like you need to donate, prayer and support is just as appreciated, but if you feel so inclined you have many options as to how you can do this.

1) Write a check to me, I’ll cash it and put the money in our account

2) Write a check to North Point Ministries and put “Villanova Connections 2” in the Memo line

3) Go online to www.buckheadchurch.org and donate there, once to the site follow these instructions:

a. Click on “Welcome Back”

b. Find “Online Giving” in the menu on the right of the screen

c. Find “GlobalX online giving” on the right side of the screen again

d. Fill out all the information

i. Country: Sevilla/Spain

ii. Trip: Choose the trip with correct dates (October 17-26^th)

e. Fill out how much you want to give and what Credit Card you’re using.

f. You’re done!

g. Thank you!!!!!!!

Thank you so much for your support, please check out my blog for updates on what’s going on in my life and pictures of the trip once it’s over. http://timingiseverything52.blogspot.com

Peace in Christ

God at the Bars?

This is pretty cool, I'm interested to see how it turns out. Just in case you don't know...this is the church I regularly attend and they're going to take the music that we use in worship as well as other music by the same artists out into the city and play it in venues all over town. Trying to reach the unreached!

Oh my Purple!

Calling all Painters!!!!

The offer has been accepted and I'll be closing on my very own Condo on August 28th (Yes I know that's very fast) !

Problem is the paint colors are all sorts of ugly and the woman won't re-paint. SO. I'm throwing a painting party, We'll have a super fun time and then head to Rio Grande after for some margarita's while we watch the USC/UGA game. If you wanna come just let me know! I'll send you the e-vite.

Problem is I need to get started the weekend before, priming the walls, doors, door frames...everything and getting all the wall paper off and so far I've got no help...Anyone? Do I need to throw another party?

I'm ever so excited and can't wait to get started...I want to fast forward the next two weeks and get in there, but I also want to put them in slow motion...two weeks from now I'll have more debt than I've ever seen!

To just give you an Idea of the paint job I'm up against take a look at these pictures!

PS...the doors and the door frames are the same color as the walls in each room...yeah I typed that right!

Condo...

So, I'm putting an offer down on a Condo today or tomorrow. Problem is that I love the darn thing, so I'm hoping she doesn't reject my offer, or she counters with something close to it. It's SUPER cute, right in Buckhead, it's old but I'll be able to turn the thing into something great and I'm super excited! I'll have a room mate that will pay my mortgage so I'll just pay the taxes and HOA fee, if it all works out correctly it should be cheaper than renting!

That's my only news for today! Back tomorrow with fun updates!