Who's off their rocker?

A woman has been coming into my work for months and telling me that I look like Winona Ryder. "Who is Winona Ryder?" I don't keep up with Hollywood, I'm a one God Apostolic! She told me Winona Ryder was her favorite actress. I told her that I don't watch t.v. or anything like that and she was really surprised and told me I was unusual. Something like that anyways. After her telling me a few times, I went and looked this lady up. I think that I look nothing like her! Of course she looks different in all her pictures because she is an actress and is constantly changing her appearance, but I don't think I look like her at all.

Here is me:
Here is Winona Ryder:

The lady came back the other day and mentioned it again. I told her that I looked up Winona Ryder and that I didn't think I looked a thing like her. She was like really?? Almost like she was offended or thought that I was crazy! But hey, I refuse to look like the world! And I don't resemble this lady anyways, at least that I can see. So, is this customer of mine off her rocker, or am I?

Cassy's party

You're probably wondering about the big fishy. One fish two fish! I can't tell you! Hehe It's an inside joke....

Anyways, about Cassy's party. We had such a good time! The party was at her mom's house. We had BBQ, cake, and ice cream. She got lots of cute gifts and we took a lot of pictures! After the party we went to Jeremy's house to play games and hang out. Then to Starbucks afterwards. I don't have any pictures to post right now but I might later. I love my friends and I am very thankful for all of them. Happy Birthday Cass! Love ya lots and I hope you had a really good time!

Great news!

Praise report: This morning I had an opportunity to teach a bible study to a lady at her house. Her sister who goes to my church came with me. I could feel God anointing me to speak to her things that weren't even in the Bible study and she was receiving it. It is such a wonderful feeling to share God's word with somebody else! I want to do so much more for God! Her daughter Briana has been in and out of Oakland Children's Hospital. We went to visit her last month. Please keep the Velasquez family in your prayers.

Praise report: A lady from our church is visiting her 80 year old mother in Arizona. She has been witnessing to her mom for a very long time and talking to her about the Lord. Her mom visited our church very recently but cut her trip short. She was not feeling good and I think it was a little too much conviction for her. She went back home and ended up having to have surgery. Sis. Theresa went to be with her some while she recovers, and this morning her mom got the Holy Ghost with evidence of speaking in other tongues! Right there in the house! This is an answered prayer!! God is so good! We are so happy for Sis. Theresa and her mom! God can fill anyone with the Holy Ghost, old or young.

Act 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.

Coco

I told Coco he needed to get me another hamburger so he said "you make me a blog post, I'll get you a hamburger. Deal?" lol So. Coco. Coco is a great friend, has a good sense of humor and a good head on his shoulders. I remember when I used to be taller than him. Where have the days gone? lol
He never talks to me anymore though...that's why he owes me a hamburger. :) Anyhow, I remember when he always used to play the drums on his face. It sounded like bongo drums! I remember when he had a huge crush on this girl when he was about 14, and she turned him down. He said, "Okay, I'm gonna take it like a man." And he did! Hahaha! Sorry Coco....

Through all the jokes and "roasting," Coco has been a really good friend and is like a brother to me. There were times when I was down that he encouraged me and was looking out for me. I appreciate his sensitivity towards the things of God and I am proud of him for obeying the calling God has put on his life.

I'm thankful for all the laughs for sure! And we have a lot of those with Coco around. Laughing with him, and AT him....he's just so much like his mom.

So there Coco, you have your post. Now where is my hamburger? :)

Happy Birthday!!!

TO:

Cassy! My awesome bud who I have so much in common with! :) Hehe Love ya girl, hope you had an awesome day!

Sis. Eva! Our Kid's Church director and much more!! Hope you had a really good birthday


Matthew! One of our church clowns! lol Keep up all the good work!! Happy 15th birthday!

Birds of a feather

Flock together!

Hehe. Just a picture I came across from West Coast Conference '09. We're so silly.

Do you want it?

School has started, and everybody is busy with that, work, and other things. Busy, busy, busy! And while I am busy as well, I don't want to get so caught up being busy this winter that I forget about what God wants to do in our midst. I don't want to limit God to what He can do for me and my church. In the summer people go to camp meetings and youth camp and get fired up about Jesus, and then start to slack off when they get home and go back to school/work.

I want to challenge/encourage somebody: Keep your mind on Jesus in every season. Fall and winter seem to get a lot of people down in the dumps and busy because of the overcast weather and just the daily grind. But don't stop praying for revival. We are in desperate need of a great book of Acts revival in this day and time. I don't know what the journey will be like to get there but I can see the peaks of the mountains and I KNOW we are going there! We need to start praying for great revival: Out pouring of the Holy Ghost, healings, miracles, signs and wonders. Young people need to see the mighty works of God - it would get them excited and on fire. We just need to SEEK IT. There aren't enough people doing that.

What would happen if young people would start getting together and praying for that? What would we see? If you needed a miracle, wouldn't you want someone to pray for you? It's just been on my heart and I cannot get away from it. I don't want to get away from it because this is what I really want, more than anything. To be used of God and see great revival in young people. I have a burden for young people because God gave it to me and I know that they are the key to a great revival springing forth in our world today. God wants to use the young people.

When people hear "young person" or "teenager" today, they don't really think of it in a good way because the youth of America are crazy, wild, perverted, and rebellious - it is very evident. So when a young person is truly living for God with all their heart and separating themselves from the world, AND excited about the things of God and witnessing to others, the light shines so bright. It is because it is so opposite from the darkness that has a hold of the young people of this world. We can start a revival! We just have to want it and seek it!

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. - Matthew 7:7-8

Do you want it?

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. -2Ch 7:14

Do we believe God's word or not?

Lessons to learn in the shadow

My aunt wrote this poem out of grief when her dad passed away. If you are going through a hard time, I hope this will help and encourage you.

There are lessons to learn in the shadow

That can never be learned in the light.

His rod and His staff they will comfort

And guide you through the night.

Be not anxious to get through the valley.

With its weariness and care.

There are lessons to learn in the shadow

For God will be with you there.

There are lessons to learn in the shadow,

That can never be learned in the light.

Restoration begins in the valley.

This is where God turns wrong into right.

There are lessons to learn in the shadow,

Though we long for the morning to break.

As you traverse the darkness remember,

“He knoweth the way that I take!”

There are lessons to learn in the shadow.

Do not pray for an easy time.

Ask God instead to be stronger,

And He will teach you to climb.

Yes, there are lessons to learn in the shadow,

That can never be learned in the light.

When the valley’s dark clouds overtake you,

We walk by faith, not by sight.

So study and learn through the dark times.

When you pass the final test,

The lessons you learned in the shadow,

Will gain you a city of rest

-written by Karen Mester

iPost

Ever since iPods came out, there's been an iCraze! I found some of these online and thought they were kind of funny.
iEat! Sho nuff honey!

This one reminds me of my dog! lol

Hallelujah! Couldn't resist throwing a piano in there. :)

iPray! Thank God for prayer - a place where we can touch Him.

On a side note, I would recommend reading this post by Sis. Siena over at the Polished Plume. It's a great post and important for young people to read and understand. God Bless!!

Italian Recipes

If you like to cook Italian you should try making some of Olive Garden's recipes. I found a bunch of them on their website: Sauces, Appetizers, Pizza, Main Dishes, Desserts, Soups, etc. Mmm! Click here for some great Italian recipes!

Just another one of my updates! :)

I have been so busy lately with work, church, errands, etc. This past Friday and Sunday night I went with people from my church up to the Gaton's church in Sacramento. They invited us to their revival and it was great! God really moved and the services were needed. It was definitely a big blessing to us and we were so glad to be there! We started the new quarter for Kid's church 2 Sunday's ago and it is way cool! I love it! And I'm not even a Sunday school kid. I love kids and doing fun stuff so I guess I'll never get tired of it! It looks really good and we are growing. Thank God! :) Sooo. I am finally learning songs in Spanish for church. About time, I know! I'm glad though and I am picking it up fast! I do horrible when I try and learn a language through school or a program, but if I am around people who speak it fluently, I pick it up pretty fasty. One step at a time! It looks like I will be going to Disneyland for the FIRST TIME EVER IN MY LIFE. Sad, I know! lol I am excited though!! I'll be going around the end of October if everything works out okay. Yay! Well that's my update for right now! I'll try and post something more exciting later!

This world is CRAZY

"Hey, young person! You're weird and you're crazy! You don't tattoo your body and cake your faces with make up like us. You don't show off your body, dye your hair a million colors or gage your ears like us! Hey, young man! Why don't you grow out your hair or let it go wild like us guys do? Hey, young lady! How come you don't chop your hair like the rest of us girls? How come you don't wear skin tight jeans? How come you always wear those skirts? You're crazy!"

That is what the world says and thinks of us Apostolic Pentecostal young people. The kids at school may always be asking you "why don't you do this," or "why don't you do that?" Maybe they tell you that you're weird or that you look funny. It sure happened to me when I was growing up, and words do hurt. But I want to encourage a young person. Think about it. THIS WORLD IS CRAZY. You're not crazy. THE WORLD IS CRAZY:The world looks and behaves un natural and abnormally.
The world changes their own identity.
The world sells their bodies for somebody elses lustful pleasure.
The world partys hard on Friday and has a hang over on Saturday.
The world isn't happy. The world is searching.

....And they make fun of US? THEY are crazy. Young person, next time somebody makes fun of you, just remember that you are normal. You are living right. Look at what sin does to people. Look at where it leads them! It makes them do all sorts of crazy things - one thing leads to another. Stand strong for what you believe in and the other young people will see a difference!

"That's right, I don't tattoo my body or cake my face with make up. That's right, I don't show off my body, dye my hair a million colors or gage my ears! That's right, us guys keep a good clean hair cut. That's right, us girls let our hair grow long and dress modestly. THAT'S RIGHT, WE'RE APOSTOLIC!"

"That's right, we have good fun! That's right, we don't need drugs or alcohol to give us a temporary happiness because we are full of everlasting JOY! That's right, the world is crazy. We are living the best life there is - a life dedicated to God."

:) WE REFUSE TO BE A PART OF ANOTHER GENERATION!

Make up your mind

Looking back over my short life I have already seen many people fall away from God. A lot of them got involved in things they shouldn't have and that is why they fell away from Him. But there are others who got discouraged because they got their eyes on the waves and not on Jesus. Let me give you an example. This is a true story. The name of the individual it is about has been changed.

Jessica was a beautiful Pentecostal girl who had a good head on her shoulders. A lot of guys liked her. People would look at her life and see she had everything going for her. She was musically talented, very involved at church, a leader in her youth group, had a car and a job, and did well in school. She used to tell me of the things she wanted to do for God. She was always the first one praying up front at youth service. She sang and played the piano at youth services and youth camps. One day something really bad happened to her that was not her fault. People found out something had happened and she thought everyone was talking her down. She got discouraged and began struggling to stay in church. She starting focusing on the waves and the storm that was happening in her life. Her eyes weren't on Jesus anymore, because of the storm. She fell away from God. She left her church and her family. She got involved in the things of the world and is already living with regrets. Her life could have turned out so beautifully if she would have kept her eyes on God and where He wanted to take her. But because of what happened to her, she lost her focus and sunk beneath the waves.

• Don't base your faithfulness to God off of life's circumstances.

What happened to this young girl with so much potential? She began to give less of her time to God because of what had happened to her. She was discouraged and she focused on those things that were discouraging her. When you focus on your trials, you'll lose your faithfulness to the work of God. We all have trials and we all have heartache. Hard times do come to everyone and if we aren't careful with what we focus on, we can easily become bitter and angry with God. I am so encouraged by those who are going through the trial of their life, yet they are faithful in their prayer and devotion to God, and they are still doing their very best to do whatever they can to serve God and work for Him. Those are the ones that will come out on top. Yes, life does throw some very difficult things our way, but the Lord sure does look out for those who love Him and serve Him with all their heart. There are benefits in living for God.

• Don't be angry with God over the trials that come your way.

God is the very one who can and will help you through your trials and tribulations. He is the one that can make it better. Don't blame God for the bad things that happen to you. Just go to Him in prayer and know that He is working all things for your good if you are truly living for Him. If you aren't, He may be trying to get your attention. God will do whatever He has to for you to make it. The very trial that has you confused or questioning God may be something that God is going to turn into a blessing even though you cannot see it. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6 If you keep your mind on the work of God no matter what happens to you, He will do wonderful things for you. That is what will help you make it. The Bible says the just shall live by faith. Faith without works is dead. Things may not look good and the storm may be raging, but make up your mind to keep your focus on God and not on the waves. That is living by faith. Show it in your actions.

• Are you discouraged? Try encouraging somebody else.
• Are you confused? Cast all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you.
• Are your friends and family leaving you? Go teach somebody a Bible study.
• Are you sick? Tell someone about Jesus who still heals and saves.
• Are you lonely? Find a young person to befriend who's parents are getting divorced.
• Are you suffering loss? GIVE. Give of your time to God and His work...

And watch what He does.

Keep your eyes on Jesus! That's when you'll be able to walk on the water. Make up your mind: I will not base my faithfulness to God off of life's circumstances.

Cool chair

I like this chair. Alot! lol I like decorating if you can't tell from my last post! I love to look at decor. I came across this pic on accident and I thought it was really neat. Especially for all the seniors getting their pics taken - this chair would be perfect!