Compelled

• Compelled is the word Pastor Bryan Used to describe how Jesus felt about sacrificing everything for our sin.
  
• Can you even imagine loving one person so much, not to mention a whole species of people, that you would give your life to save them? A love like that can not be duplicated.
  
• Those of us who have children can try to imagine a love like that. For our children I could imagine giving my life so they could live, but for a bunch of ungrateful sinners who deny God and choose to live in sin, NO WAY!
  
• Jesus loves us so much he chose to come here and do the will of his father so we might be saved.
• Jesus had a chance to back out, but instead he was compelled to do the His fathers will.
• God loves us like we love our children only better. He knows that we will sin, He waits for us to come back, and He is always ready to forgive us.

I realize this blog seems redundant and you may have heard it all before but have you ever really thought about what happened the day Judas gave him up? Jesus did not get angry, God did not get angry. Judas felt so bad for selling out his best friend he committed suicide. Any time he wanted to Jesus could have killed all of us with a wink, but he chose to suffer a most horrible beating, one I can not even begin to describe. He allowed giant nails to be driven into his hands and feet. He wanted us to be free. He is our way out and He knew it. Therefore He was compelled to die for us. Easter is almost upon us and this time of year makes me think about What Jesus did. All we have to do is believe in Jesus and ask for forgiveness repent and we get free. That is what makes Christ followers different. We know who our savior is.

• Join us at ROCK church for Easter
  
• Listen online
• 2 services The first @ 9:00 and the second at 12:00
  

Car Trouble

Well it started out to be a better day than usual. I was up early, kids got ready early, everyone ate breakfast before it was time to go, They even got to see a little tv before school. The day was going well. I was able to drink 2 cups of coffee and had some quiet time with God before I got the kids up. Well you might be asking what could go wrong? I even left the house in plenty of time to miss the morning rush at the intersection of he double hockey sticks(left hand turn, no light) Any who, after dropping off my little angel at school I made a right, stopped at the red light and then......., my steering felt funny, the battery light came on, hmmmmm? what could it be? I carefully turned into the empty lot to my right, car still running but something was definitely wrong. I shut the car off and called my very smart husband, (who is also a mechanic) explained the symptoms and he knew exactly what it was(or so he thought) He brought the belt he thought he was going to need to change and discovered that it was not the belt but a pulley that turns the belt. I guess the barrings froze up (according to my genius husband). That was just as easy to fix. So $40.00 and an hour later I was on my way again. Thank you God for my husband. He saves me tons in auto maintenance. Love you baby!

Geese are Back

Some of you may remember the goose fence I talked about last year. Here is an update. It works! As long as you maintain it, and that only takes a few minuets, they stay away. We had an incident last year where a flock of about 14 to 20 geese came to visit, I noticed that part of the fence had been knocked down by a deer or some other critter, I quickly fixed the downed fence and miraculously the geese left. As it turns out if the geese can not easily get in and out of the water then that is not a good place to nest and because of that they will leave in search of new nesting grounds. I love the goose fence Idea because it is harmless to all animals and keeps the nasty goose droppings out of our parking lot.

What a GREAT DAY!

The Fun festival turned out to be a huge success. The weather held out and fun was had by all. I have to give a shout out to all the volunteers who helped make the day possible. We had over 100 volunteers picking up trash, running rides, serving food, and selling Bar-B-Q plates, and a whole lot more. They were wonderful. PM, you did an excellent job organizing this whole thing. Thank you to Powers Midways for the awesome rides, I know my children enjoyed every one. Can't wait to do it again next year. All the entertainment was top notch, from the heaviest of metal bands to the Glory Academy dancers. This was a quality show.

One More day!

The Fun Festival is almost here. You can feel the excitement building. The rides are up, dunking booth is here, funnel cake truck is ready, fire ants are dead and according to Pastor Matthew the rain chance has fallen from 80% to 40%. We are going to have a great time. Check out PM's video's on U-tube. I have created a place here on my blog for you to see Pastor Matthew's creative side. His weather video is hilarious. Just scroll down and you will find them on the right. Two years ago we did this and it rained all over New Hanover Co. but not @ Rock Church
We had a great day. It looked like rain all day but it held off until the festival was over. God is good. Besides I heard about a strange formation of a bubble of some sort surrounding the Castle Hayne area that the meteorologists has never seen seen before. You can check it out for yourself on u-tube. Just scroll down and find Pastor Matt holding a map. Click and you too can see this amazing phenomenon. Go check it out and See you tomorrow @ Rock Church 5301 Sidbury Rd. in Castle Hayne N.C..

Fun Day

Family Festival is about to happen. We are all as busy as beavers this week. We are expecting at least 2500people I am expecting a lot more. We are praying this will be a great day to celebrate the love of Christ to our city and surrounding neighbors. There are a lot of volunteers and you can feel the excitement building as the day draws nearer. The weather man has reported rain we are praying God will hold off until late Sat. evening.
Working out side this week should be a blessing because the weather is supposed to be glorious. Well I do have a lot to do so I will catch you up later. If you check this out come to Rock Church and have a Great Day.
Grateful List:

1. Crazy Love
2. Micro Mission
3. Sharing the love of Christ
4. My son's mission in Iraq is half over
5. I will see my daughter in a little over a month.(She lives too far away.)
6. My friend Angela is coming to visit and wants to help me paint.
7. Spending time with my children
8. New tires
9. New headlights
10. Kibosh(kills stinging insects)
    

A BIG WIN!

A few days ago I blogged about my 8yo who could not tie his own shoes. Well thanks to God, a two hour delay for school and a good book, he accomplished that task today! Ross was so proud of himself and I am grateful for the nudge to get him going. Thank You Jennifer.

Crazy or What?

Rock Church is doing something and as Pastor Bryan says "we are not letting the year happen to us, we are going to happen to the year". Yesterday not only did we do the baptisms during praise and worship but the whole congregation was given an envelope that read "Top secret". Inside those envelopes was either 5, 10, or20 dollars and a letter to go and do something. It was a Minnnie mission and I believe it was well received by everyone. This is not a gimmick but a God thing and it challenges us all to do something. We could pool our money with others and do a big thing or match what we had to bless another person, you get the picture. My husband and I have decided to pool our money and add to it to bless a new mother in our neighborhood.
I must tell you though, My husband and I practice this concept of giving already. We get along well with our neighbors and if we see a need we can do something about we try to do it. This past winter we burned a lot of wood to cut the cost of heating our home, Our elderly neighbor asked if he could have some of the wood my husband worked so hard to cut and split. No Problem. Same neighbor paints for a living and business has been slow. I came home one day and he had painted my mailbox post and box. It desperately needed the paint and we did not ask, he saw a need and filled it. Last week Same neighbor painted my back door. The paint was chipping and about gone as it was. Now my door has a fresh coat of paint with Green trim just like the rest of the house. I went to thank him immediately. We are blessed to have such compassionate neighbors. I must also tell you what ever you decide to give it does not have to be monetary, give up a parking spot, let someone in line ahead of you, hold the door for the next person, simply smile at someone, you would be amazed at what a kind face can do for a bad day.
10things I am grateful for today are:

1. Another opportunity to be a blessing and a light to someone else
2. Port City Landscaping they do a great job at Rock church
3. Volunteers
4. Debbie Powers' Kabota
5. Rock Church
6. Carolyn, great Photographer without who's images I would not have a pic of the Top Secret envelope. Thanx.
   
7. Gods peace and grace during the hard stuff
8. Kids that make me proud
9. Spanx... If you know what that is you will get it
10. A husband that truly loves me