Thought of the day...

Raking leaves can be so theraputic...this afternoon I had some time so I decided to tackle the mound of leaves that are in my front lawn...I have never seen so many leaves! It was very theraputic for me...I got lost in my thoughts...it was good excercise but about 20 minutes into it, the caffiene from my afternoon Starbucks was wearing off and the thought crossed my mind...sure would be nice to have a strong guy doing this job instead of me...my body was wearing out and i am sure the people driving by were thinking..."what is she doing outside right now...it's freezing!" So in the midst of my thinking, the thought came across my mind of what is said to me time and time again..."you sure are gonna make a great wife some day...you sure are gonna be a good mom....blah blah blah..." What people don't realize is the effect that comments like that have on single people...I know that they mean it well but when that is truly ones hearts desire...it's almost like rubbing salt on a wound...I'm not at all trying to sound ungrateful for where God has me...but then the thought came to me, what's wrong with being a great child of God? great daughter? great sister? great aunt? great friend? great leader? great co-worker? great neighbor? great confidant? great mentor? great servant? great soul-winner? the list went on and on in my head....this is what I want to strive to be great at for these things are what I am now and what I have been created to be. Why wish my life away thinking that I am not fulfilling God's plan just because I am not a "wife or mother" yet? I have the opportunity right now to be great at what He has already made me to be! I refuse to get wrapped up in thinking that my life doesn't count just because I haven't become the things that the world deems as being necessary to be successful or "great". Scripture tells me that to be great in His kingdom, one must learn to be a servant of all....that is what i want to be great at!





by the way...just had to share some pics of my precious lil Ava girl!

I am so blessed...

For some reason or another, I cannot sleep tonight...maybe its the fact that I went to the gym so late, or that I drank coffee too late...or that my roommates always seem to find themselves in my room and we cant control the laughter over the silly girl stuff! Anyways...as I am sitting here checking emails, looking at blogs, shopping for a car (carmax.com is a really cool site) ...I smile because I am so blessed...blessed with an awesome family that seeks God and encourages me in my walk with Christ, blessed to have this home that I don't deserve, blessed to have friends that genuinely care about me and pray for me, blessed to have a job with a boss that seeks to glorify God in everything, blessed to have co-workers who smile when you walk through the door only because they want to share what Christ has done for them with you....blessed to have roommates that accept me for who I am and always find a way to make me smile...
love you girls...

I'm blessed to have Jesus Christ as my Savior and best Friend....I am so blessed...blessed with a kitchen full of food, blankets on my bed....water in the shower...I am blessed with so much...
God, I thank you that I am so blessed...I pray that my life blesses His heart.

My Sweet 'lil Niece...

Ok, so I am head over heels for this precious little one! I cannot begin to fathom what having your own children is like and the love that comes out of you....seeing as I have so much love inside of me for this precious little girl that is not even mine. Ava is such a blessing in my life. Her smile lights up the room and to hear her precious voice cooing and jabbering...makes me smile just writing this. This thanksgiving was wonderful. It is amazing how a little baby can bring so much joy into a family without even knowing it. She just sits there and does what she does best and has no idea the impact she is making on the 6 adults sitting around her. I am so thankful to God that He has blessed my family with this precious one. And as I write this....I parrallel it with my walk with Him. I hear Him say to me..."my child, you have no idea the joy that you bring to Me when you just sit there and do what I have created you to do....you have no idea the smile that you bring to My face just for being you...." I then began to think about the Father's love for me....I cannot fathom the love that He has for me and I am His child! I come from His family....I belong to Him!!!

Time to Worship

Matthew 14:31-33
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

As I was reading this passage this morning, the latter part of this story stuck out to me. A number of times, I have read and reread and studied the first part of this story about Peter stepping out on faith...walking on the water to Jesus and focusing his eyes on Jesus and how that applies to me in the storms of life. Oh to have that kind of faith that walks on the water to Jesus in the midst of the storms of life....but today...the last part of the story really hit home. It says that when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.....I had to ask myself...how many times do I stay out on the water even after Jesus has caught me and rescued me once again...I realize that an important step to this deliverance was the both of them getting back in the ship. When they got back in the ship, the wind ceased....When I get back in the place of safety....when I get back to His arms...my Strong Tower and my Deliverer....my Hiding Place....the wind is gonna cease....it's not just gonna blow a little less....it says that IT CEASED! The second part that sticks out to me is that when they got back in the boat they ALL worshipped Him.....How many times do I just say "Thanks Lord for your deliverance" and then leave His presence without truly worshipping Him. What is the worship here? "Of a truth thou art the Son of God." Repeating Who He is....acknowledging Him for Who He is it's true...He is the Son of God! ...true worship!

Ava Grace Hayward

To God be the Glory Great things He has done! This is our song as we think of our precious Ava girl. Ava was born to proud parents Brian and Dia Hayward on August 10, 2007. She weighed 8lbs. 13oz. and was 21.5" long. She's a big girl. God brought her into this world via C-section and she was quickly acquainted with her momma and daddy. They are hooked! We all are! She was admitted into the NICU on Sunday morning, 8/12, due to an infection in her lungs and has remained there for a week. A very long week. God has been so good and so gracious every single day. We have watched her make improvements daily and will be coming home very soon! She has brought so much joy to our lives already and we know that God has used this bump in the road to bring His name Glory and to once again, show His awesome power at work in our lives. I praise Him for how He has already used Ava's life to impact the lives of others!

"able also to perform"

Today my reading found me in Romans 3-4. These are both chapters that I have read over and over and yet once again I have learned something new and I praise God for His ability to accomplish His Word in my life.

Romans 4:3

...Abraham believed God...

Romans 4:18-21

Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:

He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform

These are the verses that jumped off the pages to me. I cannot tell you the number of times that I have read these words and yet I found myself desiring to know more from them again...

I begin looking up the definitions of these words and was strengthened by what I found...

Believe~to have confidence in/to be persuaded of the truth/accept as truth/credit/to have belief in

Hope~expectation of something desired/desire accompanied by expectation/confidence in a future event/ground for expecting something

Weak~liable to yield, break, or collapse under pressure or strain/defficient in power

Faith~confidence or trust in a person or thing/belief which is not based on proof

Stagger~to walk, move or stand unsteadily/sway/to begin to give way/to begin to doubt/hesitate

Strong~powerful/clear/firm/WELL SUPPLIED or rich in something

Fully~filled containing all that can be held/filled to utmost capacity/complete/entire/of the maximum size

Persuaded~to prevail on by advice/urging reasons/convince

Able~having sufficient power/strength/qualified/competent

Perform~to carry out/execute/do/to complete/to fulfill a command, promise or undertaking

In taking the truth of the Word of God and disecting it into smaller pieces this is the application I have learned from these verses:

I am persuaded of the truth of God. I accept all that He says as truth and have complete confidence in Him. Against every desire and expectation of that desire being fulfilled and against all confidence of a future event or desire coming to fruition, I am persuaded of the truth of the expectation of my desire coming to pass. I will not be liable to yield, break or collapse under any pressure or strain nor will I be defficient in power in my confidence and trust in THE GOD that I serve even when there is no proof to believe on. I will not walk, move or stand unsteadily. I will not begin to doubt, hesitate, waver or falter at the assurance of that which has been declared to me in my "lack of confidence" (unbelief) . I will be rich and well supplied in my "belief which is not based on proof" giving all the glory to God. I will contain all that can be held, be filled to the utmost capacity and be complete in His convincement that He, GOD ALMIGHTY, is qualified to complete what He has promised.

There are over 8000 promises in His Word for me to claim and I choose to have this stand on every one of them!!! Glory to God!

"He is Able, more than able, to accomplish what concerns me today

He is Able, more than able, to handle anything that comes my way

He is Able, more than able, to do much more than I could ever dream

He is Able, more than able, to make me what He wants me to be!"

He is Able...Do you believe it?

"every knee should bow...."

"Great is the Lord and worthy of praise
Slow to Your anger and rushing to grace
Covered in mercy I stand at Your throne
And dance for the praise of this love that I owe
Great is Your faithfulness God unto me
Never forsaking You always will be
The Glorious Lamb of God slain for us all
Lion before all the nations will fall...."


The words of this song echoed over and over in my head this morning. In thinking about that last phrase "Lion before all the nations will fall"

I was remembering what scripture says in Philippians 2:8-11...

And being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.

That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

I began to look up the definitions to the words in these verses and was greatly challenged by what I found. Some of the definitions that stuck out to me were:

Humble: low in station, grade of importance, modest, meek WITHOUT PRIDE, courteously respectful, low in height or level, to lower condition, abase.

Obedient: State or act of obeying. Obey: to comply with or fulfill the commands or instructions of, to respond conformably in action to.

Bow: To bend or curve downward; stoop. TO YIELD OR SUBMIT. To bend the head or body in worship reverence, respect or submission.

Confess: To acknowledge or avow, TO OWN OR ADMIT, admit the truth or validity of, to declare.

As I continued to break down these verses I see Jesus Christ being found in fashion as a man...right where He was at....He did these things....He was just as human as I am, yet without sin and in His humanness, HE became humble and obedient....I would like to share my application of these verses to my own life and I pray that they encourage you to be more like Him.

In coming to the conclusion that I am human and but flesh, I must become WITHOUT PRIDE and I must comply with and fulfill the commands that are asked of me even when it will cost me my plans, my desires, my thoughts...and my life I must choose to obey. God is the One that will take the One who has abased Himself and bring Him to a place of high exaltation. He gave A NAME above EVERY NAME to THE NAME Jesus! At THE NAME every knee including the 2 I have been given will yield, and submit in reverence, respect, and worship to ALL of Who He is. The tongue that I have will no longer be used to the fulfilling of the flesh, it will be used to own and admit that Jesus is Lord...to the glory of God the Father.

Surface Cleaning vs. Deep Cleaning

John 15:3

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

This past Saturday night, I went up to spend some time with my brother and sister in law. They are expecting a baby in 6 weeks and since I had some extra time, I just wanted to hang out with them and help them to get some things done around the house in preparation for baby...

One of the things my sister wanted to do was to plant some flowers...I know...that hardly sounds like something that needs to be done in preparation for a baby...but I just went with it! :) We went out to their back patio where my brother Brian was power washing the house and the patio and everything on it...and seeing as I have no "green thumb" in me...I felt like I wasn't the greatest help to my sister in law...seeing as she is a "green thumb". So, I helped where I could but then became intrigued by what my brother was doing...and by observing him, I learned a great lesson that night.

When I first looked at the patio...yes, it looked a bit dirty, branches, leaves, dirt clumps here and there, in my mind, nothing that a good sweeping wouldn't take care of and make it look better...right? I was amazed at the junk that was being washed away by the power of that power washer. I guess I had never seen anyone wash with a power washer. It was night and day difference the side that had been cleaned vs. the side that still needed cleaning. I begin to meditate on the concept here and apply it to my life spiritually. The power washer operated when the power was hooked up and the water was hooked up to it. In the hands of the operator, in this case, my brother, it was able to deep clean the patio and get the junk out off of it in ways that the hands of one alone could not do. As I began to apply this to my life I asked myself. How many times do I just "sweep away" the dirt out of my life offering up to God a surface cleaning..."God forgive me...I need to be clean of this sin..." only to find myself dealing with it again and again? I want the deep cleaning...the cleaning that brings change...the cleaning that is done with the water of the Word and the Power of the Holy Spirit...I learned in this illustration that I cannot clean myself up...it has to come from the power of the Word! John 15:3...now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. In Ps. 51:10 David is saying You God..."create in me a clean heart"...to create is to bring into being; cause to exist; produce. to originate or invent...the creation of a clean heart is something that can only be done by the hands of the Creator. The power washing was like a surgical transformation....I was amazed the ability it had to clean deeply and I am thankful that God opened my eyes to this picture. I desire the power washing of the Word of God to create in me a clean heart....I heard it said once..."You God alone are Holy and my unholiness craves Your holiness..."

So I present the question...are we just surface cleaning...getting rid of the junk on the outside but never even touching the deep dirt that plagues our hearts and hinders our lives from being holy? It's time for a deep cleaning...a power washing....a cleaning that can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit and the Water of the Word! I challenge you and myself to offer up our hearts to God and give Him the liberty to deep clean our hearts so that we can be freed of sin to serve him with a clean heart...

Clean:free from dirt or filth: unsoiled/free from foreign or extraneous matter/free from defect or blemish/unadulterated; pure/entirely clean/free from encumbrances or obstructions/free of any form of defilement.....in simple words... CLEAN=FREE...

Are you clean? DEEP CLEANED?

Compelled to Serve

Psalm 110: 3

Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning; thou hast the dew of thy youth.

"One mark of revival during which God comes to His people in power, is that God's people are compelled to offer their lives for His service. Many churches lack people who are willing to get involved in carrying out God's redemptive work. The mission fields are crying out for Christians to go and share the gospel with those who've never heard it. What we need is not more plans for volunteers, but an outpouring of the power of God. When God comes among His people in power, there is never a shortage of volunteers or resources for His work!

When Christians today are asked what aspects of the Christian life are most important to them, missions is not usually ranked as a priority. This is because we have lost track of why God called us in the first place. We were not saved from our sin simply so that we would qualify for Heaven. God delivered us so we would have a relationship with Him through which He could carry out His mission to redeem a lost world.

Only the power of God can free us from our natural self-centeredness and reorient us toward the mission of God. There is no need to pray that God would come in power. That is the only way He ever comes! We need hearts that are so responsive to Him that He will chose to demonstrate His power through us. Is your heart so filled with love for God that you are watching for the first opportunity to say with Isaiah 'Here am I, send me!"

Henry T. and Richard Blackaby

"One Night with the King..."

Isaiah 45:5-6
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
That they may know from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.

February 14, 2007 was a fun-filled night! I was able to share the evening with my sisters in Christ from Church...best sista's in the world! We had a blast in our V-day pj's, eating pizza soup and just being girls....it was encouraging and edifying to just share our hearts with each other and we all walked away that night with our cups overflowing!

We watched the movie called "One night with the King". A movie based on a book inspired by the story of Esther in the Bible. There were many phrases from that movie that stuck out to me, but one continually echos in my head. In one scene, Esther is having a conversation with the King and she asks him why he had summoned Vashti for the last time. His reply was "I am the King, I answer to no one". The first time I heard this quote, I had to rewind it again and again and again...Letting the words sink in it was as if God Himself was speaking to me saying..."Amy, I am GOD...I answer to no one..." WOW! I cannot tell you the peace that overwhelmed me at this thought. HE IS GOD ALONE, He answers to no one! Especially not me!

I think it is safe to say that at some point in life we have all had questions for God, His Word tells us that His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts, so naturally we would have questions. There have been many times in my life where I have questioned His ways, His direction, His plans, His thoughts and even the circumstances that have taken place in my life. I find myself asking why God? Show me your purpose!!! In time He does reveal His ways, His plans and His purpose. I have learned that He allows the questions to come so that I will seek His face! Proverbs 28:5 says "...they that seek the Lord understand all things." I find peace in the waiting times in knowing that He is God, He is still on the throne, and because He is God, He doesn't owe me an explanation for His ways...He desires my trust to remain stedfast and confident in the fact that He is God alone!

Peace comes when I remember that

He is the King, He answers to no one!

He is still on the throne!

All praise to the King of Kings!

The Peace that I desire...

Unshakable Peace
Philippians 4:5-7

The Lord has only good plans in store for your life (Jeremiah 29:11). You may go through difficult times, but God promises to use every trial to build "good" into your life (Romans 8:28). When Satan tells you to worry, God has the opposite in mind. He wants you to trust Him and to experience His peace on a daily basis. How do we gain and retain the true peace of God?

• Recognize your dependence is on God. The heart that finds its identity in Jesus Christ is a heart of peace. The person who rushes here and there to solve his own problems quickly can become a person of strife and worry. Take responsibility for your actions, but let God have the reins to your life.

• Pray. The enemy cannot defeat you when you are on your spiritual knees before God in prayer. This is the true pathway to unshakable peace.

• Trust God. When thoughts of fear invade your mind, tell the Lord what you are feeling and claim His presence as your protection and shelter. David prayed, "Strengthen my arms so I can bend a bow of bronze." In other words, "Strengthen my faith, Lord, so I won’t doubt your goodness."

• Focus only on God. Don’t cling to negative thoughts. Set the focus of your heart on God and His possibilities. When God views your life, He sees only potential. You can live life to the fullest because Christ is alive in you and all things are under His feet.

G.R.A.D.S.....I am so blessed!

I am so blessed to be surrounded with an awesome group of girls (and guys) that passionately pursue Jesus! For the last 3 years, God has given me the privilege to invest in the lives of college age students. This group G.R.A.D.S. (Growing Radical As Devoted Singles) are not only my ministry, they are my dear friends and brothers and sisters in Christ. They bless my life more than I could ever express to them in words. They teach me so much and I praise God for each one of them. We are co-laborers together in Christ pressing on for His Glory. God continues to use this group to bring joy, laughter and accountability into my life. I honestly don't know what I would do without them...except maybe drink a little less Starbucks and get a little more sleep!!! :) They are my blessing from God and I am so very thankful for the opportunity to invest in their lives. I praise God for the work of His hands in each one of their lives...to Him be ALL the Glory! G.R.A.D.S. ...You 'da Best! Love you guys!!