My trip to NC - Part B

Part B to post below...



This weekend was full of adventures! Shelley, Aunt Beth and I hit the road on Friday for what should have been a 3 1/2 hour drive to the Deerwoode lodge in NC where the women's retreat was being held. After getting stuck in traffic and then getting lost we finally made it to our destination 7 hours later! It was a bit scary because we were traveling in the middle of nowhere on mountain roads at night, in the rain and in thick fog. Not only were we lost, but we had no cell phone reception and our GPS systems were giving us incorrect information. We finally found a place of civilization where we could call for directions and a sweet lady from the retreat came to meet us so we could follow her to the lodge. We all felt such a relief when we finally had someone leading us who knew the way.

I was thinking - isn't that the way life is? When our circumstances get dark and we cannot see our way, if we rely on the things in this world that give us inaccurate information we'll get nowhere. However, if we allow Jesus, the One who knows the way to lead us, we can get through any storm. We can trust that He will be with us and lead us in the right direction even when we can't see the road ahead.

The next morning after the rain had passed, we awoke to see that what had been thick darkness and fog surrounding us the night before was actually beautiful mountains and trees with the most beautiful neon fall colors. God reminded me again that the storm won't last forever and that He knows what is out there beyond what we can see. The end result is so beautiful!




After our weekend with the sweet group of ladies, we headed back home on Sunday afternoon. Because I have lived in FL most of my life I have never seen a real fall, so we took a small road trip/detour on the way back through Tennessee and the Blue Ridge Mountains so that I could enjoy the scenery of the bright fall colors. OH - MY - GOODNESS! I have never in my life seen anything as beautiful as what we saw. Words cannot express the incredible beauty of God's creation - I was completely in awe!

My trip to NC - Part A

This weekend I traveled to NC to lead worship for a women's retreat that my cousin, Shelley was speaking at. (I will be posting pictures and more details later). Shelley is a wife and mother of 3, a gifted Bible teacher, speaker, author, and television talk show host (she's a very busy woman!). Not only does she head up, "Church4Chicks", (www.church4chicks.com), but she has a ministry called "Mary's Vineyard Ministries" and speaks at women's conferences all over the US. (If you are interested in booking her at your church or event, go to www.shelleyhendrix.com).

I am so honored to be involved in ministry with my cousin. Shelley is not just my cousin, but she is one of my best friends. We call each other "BCF's" ("Best Cousin Friends"). Shelley has had a tremendous Godly influence on me through the years. Anytime I would go to Atlanta to visit her in the past, I would come back feeling closer to God. She is just one of those kinds of people that makes you want to have a deeper relationship with Christ just by spending time with her and seeing her relationship with Him. I have watched Shelley go through some of the most painful events one could ever go through over and over again in her life, yet she has remained faithful to God through it all. Her life is such an inspiration to me and she is truly one of my biggest role models. I am so blessed and proud to be involved with Shelley in ministry, and I cannot wait to see how God is going to use us in the future.

Well - I better stop my bragging before this all starts going to her head (Just kidding :)

I love you Shelley!

Judgement House

Hello from freezing Atlanta! It is so cold up here today! I'm going to have to get some warmer clothes! (Any excuse to go shopping :) )...

Anyways - This weekend my church in Florida, along with churches all over the globe are coming together to put on "Judgement House". Judgement House is a walk-through drama that takes you through a series of rooms that tell a story. It is made to feel as though you were actually there witnessing the events taking place before your eyes. The characters are presented with choices to make about what they are going to do with Jesus. Some will accept Christ, while others will reject Him. You witness the consequences of those choices and what happens to them when they die. The thing that makes Judgement House so powerful is the reality of what is presented. Each of us must make a decision as to what we are going to do with Jesus. Will we choose Him or reject Him?

Judgement House is an amazing evangelistic tool, and I read somewhere that since Judgement House began in 1983, there have been 390,000 people who have made decisions to follow Jesus Christ and to have a personal relationship with Him. That is incredible!

I have been involved in Judgement House for years, and I have witnessed before my eyes people coming in as one person, and then leaving as a different person - totally and completely changed! I have seen big tough-looking guys come in with smirks on their faces only to see them on their knees weeping by the end. God has His hands all over this ministry, and He continues to use it to bring people to Himself.

I am sad that this year I cannot be a part of Judgement House, but I will be praying fervently for all of you who are involved.

If you want more info on where Judgement House is in your area, you can go to www.judgementhouse.org . I have put the promo video for this year's JH below - check it out!

I'm Baaaaack!

Hey Everyone!

It has been over a year since I posted anything on my blog. Honestly, I got busy and just never came back to it - until NOW! I promise I am going to try really hard this time to keep up with this especially now that I have moved away. This will be a great way to keep everyone up-to-date with what is going on in my life. (If any of you have blogs that I don't know about, please let me know and I'll definitely check them out!).

If you don't already know - a LOT has changed in my life since my last post. I am no longer in the Sunshine State, as I have moved to Atlanta! Long story short, I believe with all my heart that God called me up here for reasons that I am not aware of yet. I have had to take some HUGE steps of faith in the last couple months, and at times it has been difficult. However, I know that God is up to something big in my life and He keeps telling me to just trust Him and wait on Him. Please pray for me that I will continue to be obedient to God's calling and will not give up. I would hate to give up right before I turn the corner to whatever He has prepared for me. I wouldn't want to miss out on His blessings because I got too impatient!

Since I have been in Atlanta, I have been the Worship Leader for the "Atlanta Encounter" (aka "Church4Chicks) www.church4chicks.com. "Church4Chicks" is a interdenominational Bible study gathering of women all over the Atlanta area on Tuesday evenings. My cousin, Shelley (whom I will tell you more about later in another post) is the one who started "Church4Chicks" and is the main speaker. Being involved in this ministry has presented its own challenges, but we know that God is in it. We have been experiencing attacks from the enemy both corporately and in our personal lives as well. Satan sees it as a huge threat and has done everything he can do to destroy it. But - hey - that's to be expected when you are in ministry and doing something that has eternal value. Satan obviously doesn't know who he is dealing with. We are the children of the MOST HIGH GOD - His spirit dwells within us, and we are NOT backing down until GOD tells us to! Please pray for us and pray for God's direction in this ministry.

It's good to be back on here! Stay tuned throughout the week, as I will be updating my blog as much as possible. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know you stopped by.

Have a wonderfully blessed day!