going unplugged

today is my monthly prayer day. i'm turning off my cell phone. leaving the laptop at home. taking my bible, journal, ipad (since it has books and music on it) and some books with me. leaving the distractions of the house and things i feel like i need to do behind.

going to pray. going to rest. going to seek the Lord.

today, i'm praying for the UNT BSM, my family and my wandering heart.

waging a war worth fighting.

UNT BSM Mission Trips Update

We have 3 UNT BSM mission trips this semester, 2 during Spring Break (March 12-19) and one in May.

Our Beach Reach team left early this morning and our Mission Denton team starts ministering to our Denton community tomorrow.

In May, we will be taking students to Boston to partner with 2 church plants to minister to college students in their community.

Many of our students who want to participate in these trips are in the process of fundraising! If you would like to provide a scholarship (full or partial) for a student, you can do so by:

going to this paypal link:

or by mailing a check made out to UNT BSM to PO Box 310890, Denton, TX 76203.

Mission Trip Costs:
Beach Reach - $450
Boston - $500

inclement weather update

within the past two weeks:
- we have had 5 snow days, which has caused me to:
1. spend more time working from home than at the BSM
2. cancel 7 BSM events
3. had to reschedule lunch with the same student 4 times

- my pipes froze & unfroze at my house... without bursting

- we've seen temperatures in the 60s and experienced -6 degree wind-chills

Woke up to 4-6" of snow... to accompany the 2-3" of ice. Snow day #4 looks like this:

Stephanie Gates

Still a work in progress... But the painting is finished!

Sent from my Palm Pre on the Now Network from Sprint

master bedroom makeover

the redoing of my bedroom has been a long process. one that has included, painting and repainting. today i completed the majority of the painting... stay tuned for the before and after pictures in a few days.

My breakfast today: crab cake benedict & hashbrowns. I'm spoiled.

Sent from my Palm Pre on the Now Network from Sprint

in honor of the big 3-0

in honor of the big 3-0, i bought myself an age appropriate gift.

not only am i now the proud owner of a marshmallow gun (i've wanted one for years), but it's a rapid-fire one... it shoots 12 marshmallows at once.

Pastor's Faith Endures After Cancerous Brain Tumor

here is a video of matt chandler's interview on ch. 5 news this week.

a repost...

i read this post this morning and wanted to share it here.

You Can't Follow Jesus, A blog post by Steven Furtick

Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me?
John 13:36-38

The propelling force behind Peter’s denial wasn’t his lack of faith. Otherwise he wouldn’t have made the claims he did. It was his overestimation of his faith. He believed he was ready to die for Jesus. But he wasn’t, and Jesus knew it.

So Jesus said the unthinkable: you can’t follow me.

That doesn’t sound like Jesus. After all, this is the Jesus who had told Peter to leave his family, profession, and home to follow Him. Now Jesus is telling Peter he can’t follow Him. Sounds schizophrenic.

But it wasn’t. Jesus knew exactly what He was doing because He knew the exact measure of Peter’s faith.

Peter had initially followed Jesus.
Peter had followed Him on the water.
But he wasn’t ready to follow Jesus to the cross.

Peter wasn’t ready to follow Jesus everywhere. Not at that moment.
You’re not ready to follow Jesus everywhere either. Not at this moment.

And here’s the truth: Jesus isn’t expecting you to. While we definitely often overestimate our own faith, I think we underestimate the grace and patience of Jesus for our lack of faith even more. Jesus expects you to exercise the faith that you have, not the faith that you still have to develop.

There are places in your life where your faith is still lacking. There are moments where you still struggle. The question for you in those places and in those moments is the same as it was for Peter: will you really lay down your life for Jesus?

And the answer is no.
But that is why He laid down His life for you.

That’s what He was leaving to do when He told Peter he couldn’t follow Him.
And that’s what He’s done for you when you can’t follow Him.

Practice the measure of faith that you have. Follow Jesus where you can.
But know that His grace covers you when you can’t and He is patient with you while you are developing the faith to follow Him where you can’t go right now.