Random things that have touched me at church lately:

• In myself I'm full of weakness, can you use this life somehow?
• None of us want to be sinners, but how often do we choose to be transgressors?
• We are learners our whole life long as we are an apprentice to Jesus.
• Behavior, not vocabulary, provides the platform for the kingdom download in life.

I know God wants to use me.. but sometimes, it's just so hard to know which way he wants to... Right now, there are so many mission opportunities for next year, and I have no idea which one I should do... I really hope that my new "boss" will let me have the time off to do the things that I feel God is calling me to do and that I enjoy doing.

Today, our pastor said it's not like any of us want to be sinners... but then I thought, many times we choose to be transgressors... Sin is doing something that you don't know if it's wrong... it's an unknown disobedient act of some sort...Yet, transgression is a choice to do something that's wrong when we know and acknowledge that fact. As we grow with God, we do this more and more because we have more wisdom and knowledge of what God wants and desires from us. It's all a part of the learning process.. as we can spend time with God, have Him download Himself and His ways into our lives...

Friends should help each other become stronger people, not weaker.

Friendship should never be one-sided. Both people need to and should want to participate.

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If either of these occurs, it could be time for the friendship to be over... I am going through this right now with someone. It's hard, but in the end it's the right thing to do.

So here I am...back home in good ol' AZ... Since the CA trip was cancelled, I am thinking about going to the Jason Mraz concert tonight. As I am waiting for Dina to call me back, I realized I haven't been on Mr. AZ's journal in a while... Apparently, we have had some similar things happen to us in our lives lately, between going to FL and having bees exterminated at our houses... Anyway, here is a great quote from his journal.

Somewhere along the accidental route that thieves use to try to steal my youth,
it occurred to me that the harmonies in Kokomo are supernatural and shouldn’t be
acknowledged by anyone. It’s like placing two mirrors toward each other. That’s how evil enters our universe according to Extra-Spiritual Home
Interior Monthly, a magazine I’ve made up in my head to please me when things go
wrong at home and I have to relocate some furniture or kill a spider. I
don’t like to harm things but sometimes my fear needs an ego boost and I must do
what I have to do. We had bees a few months ago and instead of just destroying
the hive in our rafters we found a specialist who rounds the little stingers up
like cattle and takes them away in a bucket to a new location. It’s a bizarre
process but even more so it’s an oddball profession. The guy is as much a bee
lover as I am an Anti-Kokomo Un-thusiast.

For more of the journal entry, click on the following link: 06.26.2005 Off the Florida, Please >>

So here I am in Flordia...

Well, Hurricane Dennis "passed up by", but not completely. The Tampa area was still hit with a tornado. Which is really funny because when I asked the guy at the front desk of my hotel about what type of notice I would receive if we were forced to evacuate due to the hurricane, he replied with "It's not like we're in KS and we're going to get hit with a tornado." Yet, that was exactly what we were hit with. Just as I was about to leave the hotel on Sat. to go to the beach, that's when the tornado hit which forced me to stay inside for the remainder of the day. I was not about to drive in my first tornado. Yet, Sunday was a different story. The tornado watch was until 2, so I was a rebel and went out at 1.....lol....

Oh and my friend that was supposed to come out, didn't. But it was fine... this gave me a lot of time to relax, take everything in and to think a lot.

Overall, I can't wait to get back home and have full access to the internet again without trying to be extra careful.... :)

Oh, there is this highway that connects Tampa to Clearwater (which is on the penninsula of the penninsula) and it's basically just a bridge over the water. It's absolutely beautiful... Sometimes I just drive that way for the scenary because it's so beautiful. Yesterday, I was driving on it (right after the tornado went away) and the water in the bay still had a lot of waves. Well, one of the waves crashed on the edge of the highway and actually splashed onto my windshield... that was an incredible and interesting experience... one that I will probably never have again... :)

Random facts that I am learning.....

1. In case you ever think that you might know yourself more than God does, you're wrong. He'll prove it to you time and time again.
2. In the end, it's always important to follow what God is telling you to do, no matter what people around you say.
3. The Spirit is powerful and can work in more ways than imaginable. In the end, a horrible situation can actually be one that sets a person free.
4. Just when one thinks that all hope if gone, there will be that one person or situation that brings it all back and relights that fire.
5. Personal strength and strength in knowing God's strength, is something that is worth emphasizing and working towards.
6. Not knowing what God is doing can be scary, but it also can be exciting and bring peace to the soul and mind.
7. One might think that they are wondering off in the woods, but it's not until the end is seen that one may realize that they were walking on the straight path all along and doing exactly what God was telling them to do.