Christy and the Giant Spider

So it was Saturday night when the whole thing went down. If you know me, you know I am NOT a fan of spiders. I can handle little bitty ones, but anything over an inch and I'm gone. I had just finished a 4 hour band practice and couldn't wait to get home and get in the bed. As I always do, I tried to call my husband to let him know that I was on my way. Every time I tried to call, it went directly to his voice mail. So I cranked up my music and went on my merry little way home fully expecting him to be up when I got home as he is ALWAYS the last one to go to bed. The porch light was on to welcome me as always since it was however 11:00 at night, but I was not expecting the giant size of my hand black spider that was glaring at me now as if to say "my dinner has finally arrived". I looked down at my half naked, yet perfectly pedicured feet as they are always found in 80 degree weather on the first day of summer and decided that it was just too risky. The spider would surely mess up the polish on my toes (not what I was really thinking, I'm just trying to make this story as interesting as possible). I tried one more time to call my husband to no avail.... straight to the voice mail. In my desperate attempt to get into my home, I began to yell at the top of my lungs... ADAM!!!!!!!! ADAM!!!!!!!!!!!! HONEY?!!!!!!!!!!! ADAM!!!!!!!!!!!! HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!! SPIDER!!!!!!!!!! My desperate attempt was just met with silence and the darkness of the night.... and now maybe the distant bark of a dog trying to join in my cry. The spider didn't move. Just sat there licking her lips just waiting for her moment to enjoy the feast before her. I could have gone out into the yard to look for a stick, but we have only lived there for a month, and the neighbors warned me about snakes so there was NO way I was going to do that. I would just be asking for my death sentence and nightmares for the rest of my life.... not that I wasn't already living out one at the current moment. As I was standing there looking around my yard for a possible solution, I realized what my weapon would have to be. Luckily, I am a hospitable person and just happen to have a nice little welcome flag in my garden. I pulled it out of the ground and reluctantly went to face my Goliath with whimpers escaping my mouth frequently. I raised my welcome flag weapon and with a shout unto the Lord, I landed perfectly on my enemy spitting that spider in half......just like David. What happened next was the most horrific scene of my life as about a thousand baby spiders went scattering everywhere. I began to scream bloodly murder just sure that someone would come running to my rescue.... but again.... silence and darkness ruled the night. So finally I had to make a decision, I would have to jump onto the porch and ring the doorbell and jump off, so with crawling skin over the sight that I was seeing, I asked for bravery and did just that. Still, silence. By this time, I was sure that the spider had eatten my entire family, including the child who was sleeping over since no one would come to my rescue. Finally, with everything in me, I ran onto the porch and with dancing feet, I unlocked the door to my safe haven and ran inside only to see the sleepy face of my husband coming around the corner..... thank GOD you're alive! I grabbed the wasp and hornet spray from the cabinet and proceeded to hopefully save my neighbors from ever experience the same horrific episode that I just faced.
Matthew 8:26 says that He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
I know that I was bigger than that spider, but fear had overtaken me. Now that I think about it, I get sucked into that frequently don't I? Maybe you're like me and it's easier to see the hugeness of your situation rather than the invisible promise that God has given to us. He hasn't given us a spirit of fear but of Power, Love, and a SOUND MIND!!! Think about that... sound mind. That's hard to come by in our world nowadays isn't it? We need to remember that there is a God who has paid the ULTIMATE price for us and will protect us, we just have to claim it sometimes. Don't be afraid to rebuke the enemy when he throws fear and failure our way.. in fact shout it out! My friend Todd, recently reminded me that if we try and rebuke the enemy with our mind, it won't ever work. He can't read minds. Sooo.... open up and yell at the enemy. Let him know you are serious about it. He has to flee. You're covered by the blood.

You are loved!
You're friend.... the Spider Slayer

Christy

Attitude of Gratitude

I've been reminded lately how very important having a positive attitude can be. Back in September of last year, I began a new chapter in my life. I became a Worship leader. My church was feeling led to reach our community in a new way. Instead of planting a new church, we decided that the Lord was calling us to plant a church satellite. The great thing about that was that we're get the benefits of all the resources in a large church while still being somewhat small. Needless to say... I didn't understand fully what I was saying yes to when I became that Worship Leader. In fact, the identity of the word "leader" had NEVER been on my radar. I was a follower, a people pleaser, and a doer, but for some reason, God called me leader. We began the church at the end of September and it was awesome. It was great meeting new people and getting to know people who I may not have ever had the pleasure of knowing had I not taken on this new adventure. What happened along the way was unexpected. I guess I never thought of how much I would miss the people at the other campus. In fact, there were many mornings that I would cry all the way to church, just longing to be back there for just a moment. I could have given in to that longing and given up, but God has called me to a new thing. , It would have been the easy way out to just resign and say I can't do this, I want the easy way out. I want to go back. but I didn't. Can I just tell you how much more I got out of every one of those mornings by choosing to follow the Lord than my own way? It was during those times that I have experienced the most amazing growth as a Worship leader. I chose to have a right attitude and press on despite how my emotions felt. I've watched people along the way become discouraged and a negative attitude rises up out of them. What is scary about that negativity is how poisonous it can be. It kills and destroy people all together......especially the one that it's coming from. It's so important to not get sucked into that kind of thinking especially in our new church atmosphere. That is EXACTLY what the enemy wants us to have. He doesn't want to see Southside Church Midlothian grow. He wants to destroy it and if he can get us to point our arrows of anger and resentment, bitterness and hatred at each other, than maybe he has a chance at making us go under. I'm going to fight for all it's worth to never let that happen. What we have got to remember is that we have alot of people watching us as leaders. The question that they are asking is...why should I want to step into a role of serving? What is your life showing? Is it a poisonous attitude? One that says...don't step into a role of serving. No one will be grateful for all you do. They will use and abuse you. Or do you have an attitude of gratitude? One that says... this is not about me. It's about doing everything I can to assure that the people around me experience the same freedom in Christ that I have found. The joy in the reward of following Him? I can assure you of this....if you will choose to have the latter of the two attitudes, we will NEVER have an issue of people wanting to step up and serve. What kind of attitude do you have? I choose joy.

Count it all Joy

I believe it's in James where the Bible tells us to count it all joy when you encounter various trials. The testing of your faith produces endurance. I left work early today because I just couldn't take any more pressure, you see, I'm in about 3 different trials and just when I thought the waters were about to settle, BOOM, out of nowhere a phone call comes and my day is ruined and I am reduced to tears literally in front of an entire office of people. I don't feel very joyful right now. The only good part that I can see at this moment, is that I'm able to sit outside on a very peaceful deck and write out what I'm feeling and going through. God, Thank you for providing a peaceful place. The amazing thing is that I'm watching my husband go through it all as well, but f.or some reason, it's not seeming to scar him up too much. How does he do that?
I think I've come to one conclusion and that's the fact that I've not made any time to really pray and seek the Lord. He's constantly in the word because that's part of his job. He's writing new material all the time and is learning more and more about the Bible, me... I'm too busy planning music and services and all the logistics that go along with what the preacher has to say. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do.... more than any other job I've had, but this job comes with a cost. The one thing that I know is that Satan is doing his very best to try and keep me distracted. So as for the drama today...We're all in money crunch time with gas prices and food cost on the rise, it's hard to trust God. In an effort to have a better living situation for my family, we moved to a new house 2 weeks ago. The landlady at the old house was crazy and hard to live with I did everything I knew to do including fix things in the house that were not done prior to us living there four years ago. I was so proud of my efforts and I just knew I would get my money back. Instead, I got the call of a screaming voice and now the voice in my head.... You will NEVER get out of renting. You are stuck for the rest of your life. I know it's a lie, but it's SO loud in my head right now. I am never good enough. I'm always going to dissapoint people even though I practically kill myself trying to make everyone happy. I'm never going to get to a place where I have enough money. As of yesterday, my phone was shut off because I couldn't pay that bill, I owe for my current rent payment and I have to choose. I just threw a beautiful wedding for my mother this past weekend... don't even get me started there. I just don't know what God is trying to teach me right now. I don't know how we're going to eat this month. I just feel sick and wish so badly that I had more faith than I do at this moment. I just feel like a beat up soldier waving the white flag that I can barely hold in my hand because I'm so very broken right now. In the meantime, I'm just going to HOPE that something good is coming my way. That God will increase my strength to get through it despite how I feel right now. Today, I walked into my husband's office where he was playing video from Winter Retreat of this past year and there I was singing with my friend Mike on the screen and I broke. I don't know why, I just did as I am once again at the memory of my day right now. Pray for me.