SURPRISE!!!

So I wanted to start by saying thanks to everyone who has been praying about the opportunity I mentioned in my last post. God, however, had other plans and allowed that opportunity to fall through. We were upset at first. We were really hoping things would work out but God's plans are better than ours and not long after he said "I have something better" he showed us that something better.

I've waited to post this so that I could go ahead and let you all know that my husband and I are expecting a sweet little blessing in October of this year =D That's right.... WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

We were just as surprised as I'm sure some of you are but we are thrilled nonetheless. I would've posted on here sooner but things, as I'm sure many of you can imagine, have been a little crazy and a lot busy since finding out. I have had more doctors appointments than I would like to have had due to some problems I was having and I'm learning quickly that this doctor will probably be my new best friend by the end of these nine months.

Anyway, we are super excited to start this chapter of our lives together. The gym took a little bit of a back burner position once I found out because we didn't know whether or not my doctor was going to let me continue working out the way that I have been. Much to my surprise everything seems to point to a healthy pregnancy (other than my diabetes which I am now checking several times a day), so I can start working out again and I can't wait. I have missed it. Now if I can just get my husband to calm down and understand that doc says I'm okay, so I'm okay. He has been so super protective since we found out:) It's hilarious.

So now we wait. Wait for the next appointment. Wait for the next ultrasound. Get everything ready and wait some more. Everyone keeps saying these nine months will be over before I know it but so far it's passing at a normal rate.... oh well.

A new journey is beginning and I think I need to get all the sleep I can before it truly does.

Goodnight!
-Kelcy J.

PROGRESS IS HAPPENING!!!

That's right! PROGRESS! =D I am so excited to let everyone know that our hard work at the gym has started paying off! People have been telling me that I've lost weight and while I appreciated the compliments I didn't see it and couldn't believe it. Well.... I got on a scale and I have lost..... 20 POUNDS!!!!! That's right! 20 POUNDS!!!!

I was ecstatic after I was told the scale was indeed right. I thought it was broken! Nope! I may not see it looking at the pictures but they say the person losing won't see it for a while so I'll just have to trust the scales and others on this one.

For those of you keeping up, that means I now have 110 more pounds to lose out of my 130 pound goal. I am so excited and though I do want to lose weight this journey is worth it if only for how much better I feel.

Our journey to change has continued on quite a path since the first day of the New Year. We have been doing our Bible study at night along with reading The 5 Love Languages; we have been regularly going to the gym and working hard while there; we have been eating better for the most part (we are not perfect); we have been at church every Sunday and have only missed our class twice; and a few other changes have made their way into our lives by the grace of God that we will keep off of the blog (sorry!).

In other news! I would like everyone that reads this to be praying for a change that the Lord may bring into our lives this year that we are incredibly excited and nervous for! We aren't really talking to anyone about it except a few people that we have praying with us and those that have brought this opportunity to our attention. The Lord knows the cries of our hearts in this area and we are simply praying that He will allow everything to work out in our favor. Thank you in advance for the prayers, hopefully we will have answers soon!

As always I appreciate the continued support. I apologize for not being able to post a lot in the last several weeks, it's been incredibly busy. I can't wait to have another update about my weight for you all! I'm feeling good and going to keep working hard =D

I won't bore you with all of the pictures in between, however here is the most recent gym picture of Charles and I :) Sorry it's a bit fuzzy, the little seal band in my Lifeproof is loose and managed to come over the camera a bit. God bless!

Until next time!
-Kelcy J.

A Simple Dream Hard to Achieve

Growing up my dreams changed. I used to not want to have kids. I didn't care about getting married. I wasn't ambitious about the personal side of life. However, my career dreams were outrageous. Then I grew up. I met Jesus. My dreams kept changing but a few things became constant in what I wanted out of life... First, I wanted a husband. A best friend to stand with me. Hand in hand. Side by side. For better or worse. As long as we both shall live. Now, here I am coming up on our first wedding anniversary. It still doesn't even feel real sometimes.

The next dream I had was a house. Nothing fancy but big enough to accommodate us and four kids one day. Nice backyard for the kids to play in. Decent back porch with a swing. Maybe a garden in the front yard... Nice big kitchen table where we would always eat dinner as a family.

Then of course, as previously mentioned four kids. Obviously, I changed my mind on that too. Oh and my big outrageous career dream now? Stay-at-home mom and housewife. That's right. Cleaning house. Cooking (which is no big cause I L-O-V-E cooking), running errands, setting the tone of the home.... and all of the hundreds of other jobs ties into those titles.

Pretty simple dream right? Yet somehow.... that simple dream seems impossible to achieve. The economy sucks. When you get the better job its still not enough and yet you are watching everyone else with the same situations have everything almost handed to them.

Don't get me wrong. I know there are some people that are working hard and killing themselves to have the same dream but it seems like no matter how hard we try, we can never get where we want to be. Something always happens. Something always hits us. Something always comes and pulls us two or ten steps back... we get excited over a promotion or a better job only to find out that we still can't afford life.

I love my husband and I know without a doubt that he loves me, but you can't live on love. We just want our simple dream. We want to be able to have our own house. We want to be able to "afford" kids one day. I know they say you can never really "afford" kids but I just mean we can at least still make ends meet with them.

On very rare occasions we have hope. Then something rips it away or like most days we just feel like hard isn't the right word.... like its more along the lines of impossible. Our simple dream is impossible to achieve. That seems about right...

Ever feel like giving up?

-Kelcy J.

Blessed Beyond Measure:)

I am the most blessed woman. Upstairs there is a man sleeping in my bed that I get to wake up next to every morning. He is my best friend. He is the person I tell all my secrets to and whose secrets I keep safe in my heart. He is the only one I ever want to hold me. He is the head of our household. He is the person who always makes my heart skip a beat even in the middle of a fight. I always love him intensely and he loves me in a way that is consuming. He is my husband. He is a gift from my God. He is my favorite person.

Tonight I am sitting awake (very late at night). I've been balancing a check book, paying bills, budgeting our money for the upcoming month and the rest of this month, and all I can think about is how blessed I am. We have nothing extravagant in terms of things but we are richly blessed with extravagant love and an extravagant God and I couldn't ask for more.

Don't get me wrong, we pray for blessings on our financial situation but I won't sit miserably until God answers because I have the best life with this wonderful man God has given me. We have had trials. We have had heartaches and we still do but our hearts our still full. We are nearly eight months in and I just want to shout to the world for a minute.... EVERY SECOND OF THIS MARRIAGE HAS BEEN GREAT!!!! I have loved every second with him and will continue to love every second. We have our ups and we have our downs but in the end I love him just as much if not more.

Thank you God for this wonderful man you've given me. May you teach me the best ways to love him. Help me to be the best wife I can be for the best husband I could ever have asked for. In Jesus' name. 

I've Forgotton...

When I was little one of my favorite things to do was to write. As I got older the love continued to increase. I would write little short stories and as time went on they got longer, always fiction. As you can tell (at least if you read my Great News) I still enjoy to write. Enough that I have chosen it as a main part of my ministry...

However, with all of that being said... I have forgotten how to write for pleasure. When I write now I approach each piece with a plan or a strategy of just how everything needs to be within the piece of writing. I'm not saying that this is a bad way to approach writing, especially when it comes to doing so professionally. But at that point even if you are enjoying that writing, just as I enjoy writing devotionals for Great News, there is always a piece of your brain that recognizes it as business. This blog is for pleasure. This is a blog I created to not be bound to any commitment, but to simply just write what I wanted, how I wanted about my life, personally. Obviously, if you've been following this blog for any length of time you've probably noticed that it has been a good while since my last post. In fact it seems that with each post the time in between then just keeps getting longer. I haven't had time, haven't really had much to write about I guess, but mainly I just criticize and critique every little things to death.

More and more often I stop and think about how much I miss writing for pleasure. Growing up, I always wanted to be an author. I wanted to write books for a living, and while I may never do that the way I though I would, I can at least blog about my life with pleasure. Stop holding back because I feel like it's not interesting enough. Stop hesitating because maybe it's too short. Stop critiquing every little piece as if it were more than just a personal blog. So what if no one reads this. I can still write it. Maybe one person in the world who finds themselves awake and unable to sleep late one night will stumble across and find some humor or even better find some hope.

In the last few weeks, as I have remembered how much I used to love just writing for fun, I've sat down and attempted to work on some old, unfinished stories. I've tried to start new ones. Each time balling up pieces of paper or wearing out my delete button. So maybe I won't write stories anymore. Maybe I will just stick to this blog. One way or another, I think it is time for me to stop forgetting and start remembering.

So now I am asking for your help. You reader. You one person unable to sleep for whatever reason.... I need you to remind me that it's okay to write for fun. Sometimes the subject will be serious because there are serious things going on. Sometimes the subject will be funny, or confusing, or completely random. Sometimes it will be sad, and sometimes it will be happy... but if I start to forget again... will you remind me? I sure would appreciate it.

We all have a lot going on in the world. Busy jobs, busy lives, busy business to attend to, but no matter how busy things get we all should have that outlet. That thing we love that we can always go back to. So I'm going to try to start refreshing my memory. See you soon.

-Kelcy

If You Didn't Already Know

I want to start this post with a post I put on Facebook because I want you all to understand that I'm home:

"As most all of you know last Friday I left for Ecuador where the plan was to spend a little over a month serving in that country. As most of you don't know (though some of you do) I came home this past Tuesday. Before I go any further I AM OKAY. While there I got pretty overwhelmed by everything, began to feel like I was no longer supposed to be there and so after some time talking with the missionaries there, some staff members there, and praying I felt it was best that I came home so arrangements were made. I am very thankful for those that have already shown your support and I understand that not all of you will be supportive of this decision however, it comes down to this... I believe that I was obedient to God in going to Ecuador, but I also believe that I was obedient in coming home and I will stand on that knowing that even if many of you do not support this decision God is with me.

Now I do want you all to know that this trip was not wasted at all. God spoke to me about several things for the few days that I was there, brought new friends into my life, and allowed me to feel the love of a family I didn't know I had in the Chacauco staff. He is also about to teach me through this season of answering everyone's questions and dealing with I'm sure some very not so supportive people. There are things that God has taught me and is currently teaching me that I could not have learned with out making this trip and I trust that His hand has been on every decision made about this trip. God never told me that I would be there the whole five weeks, He just told me to go and expected me to be obedient enough to do so. I am very thankful for all of the prayers and support that have been provided up until this point and I pray that it will continue."

I understand (more now than when I actually posted that) that many of you will not understand, nor will you be supportive of the fact that I'm home. What I would like to say to those of you is can you honestly say that you know what God is saying to me, and what God is doing in my life better than myself? If so than I would love to sit down and have a cup of coffee or maybe do lunch. I hope that this doesn't come off rude, and forgive me if it does, but you are not me. You do not know me, nor do you have any right at all to judge my relationship with God. I don't judge yours because that is not my place just as it is not your place to judge mine. My point is, don't be so quick to question my salvation, or to say that I can't discern the will of God for my life. You are not me and you have no idea what God has or has not spoken over my life. I am not perfect and I will not pretend to be so (too much responsibility for that and I'm not God), but I believe I have a very close relationship with my God. Is it as close as I would like it to be? Far from it, but I am constantly growing and pray that you are as well. I want you to know that I say all of this in love but I want you all to be aware that this is how I feel about it.

Now on the same note, I want to be open and honest with you as I always try to be on this blog. Through all of this, especially in coming home, I realize that I have an idol. My idol is caring far too much about what people think of me. When I felt that God was bringing me home I knew I didn't understand and therefore I knew others wouldn't either. This made me waver. My first thoughts were what will people think when I come home and they understand it about as much as I do? What will they say about my relationship with God? Will they be disappointed? Will they be upset? Then I had to realize that I can't go on what other people think of me. My biggest fear coming home was what people would think when they found out I came back. Especially when I tried to explain as best I could and it wasn't enough for them.

Through coming home God has made me face this idol and deal with it head on. There are many who are against me right now, and who are even going as far as questioning my salvation (as I addressed above). Because of this I have had to lean on God and only God because I never know who is for me or against me. I sit in the midst of hundreds who I used to trust to have my back only to fidget and wonder who of those people have now turned their back on me. I still love them, please don't misunderstand that and if you are one of those people (and yet for some reason are still reading this post) I STILL LOVE YOU... However, it is indeed a painful experience. It has been a process and I realize that I should have always been leaning on God and Him alone. I knew that I had a problem caring too much what people think I just never knew it was this bad until I had to come home and face the idol I allowed it to become in my life.

Please know that God has a purpose for doing everything, and nothing He allows to happen is wasted. God spoke to me about things I personally could have only really learned by going to Ecuador and He did the same thing bringing me back as early as He did. I trust Him and His plan even though I don't understand. I just pray that you will have my back, however if you do not... the One who matters, does. Thank you for taking the time to read this. Love you friend!

In Christ,
Kelcy

Can I Share My Heart With You?

My heart is so heavy as I write this.... I have sat debating and praying over whether or not to post anything but I have seen so much negativity towards true Christians, that my heart is broken and as I type tears are pouring down my face....

Let me start with this. This started because of everything going on with homosexuality so I am sorry to drop this on those of you that didn't already know, but if you do know me than you know I used to be gay. Living very "happily" (I was seriously miserable) in the homosexual lifestyle. I tell you this because I want you to know that God saved my life. I was lost, broken, living in sin and God found me, picked me up and changed me. It was not an easy process by any means but here I am, living my life to the best of my ability for God by His grace and for His glory. I won't pretend to know all about what is going on in the political world. Quite frankly I haven't had time, and if you know me, you know just how true that is. I know that Birmingham is allowing gay marriage now. I know that a lot of people are angry over this. I can't promise that this will be the most well written post but I am going to try my best to get my point across and I pray that anyone reading this will allow the Lord to use this post to speak to your heart and break your heart as He has mine tonight.

Simply put... hate is NOT of the Bible or of God. While I am by NO MEANS saying that those in same-sex marriages are in the right, I am saying that God loves those men and women just as much as He loves you or me. His love is unfailing. HE IS LOVE! THAT IS WHO HE IS!!! However, they are living in sin, they are breaking God's heart and as Christians, we are to reach out to them in love and try to show them the light. We are not to do this hatefully. We are not to throw scripture at them angrily and tell them that they are going to hell. We are to love on them.

Below are some screen shots of a "rant" on Facebook. I want to be clear, some of the things that are said I agree with (some I don't), it is mostly the tone in which it is being said that I disagree with. Also, names were blocked to protect identities.

There is a lot that could be discussed about this thread, but I will only address a few things. First and foremost, this is not the way to approach anyone. There is a difference between passionate and hateful and this is hateful. Now as for the question "Is it affecting your life?" I want to say this, and I pray that it convicts everyone reading this and challenges you as well, as a Christian, it should affect my life. No, it is not my place or anybody else's to judge, but I should be continuously praying for those people and doing what I can to reach out to them in love so that maybe they will hear the truth, know the love of God and turn to Him. "Y'all need to stay in y'alls own relationship with God they have theirs under control", on this I would like to say that if they are in a homosexual relationship, odds are they don't have a relationship with God to be in control of. You CAN NOT be in a relationship with God and yet still be doing something that He is plainly against. Yes, all sin is equal. But whatever sin it is, it is still sin. Finally, the last thing that I would like to address in this thread is the next to last comment. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 in the New Living Translation says, "Don't you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people    none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." See the problem is, if no one steps in, how can they turn from their sin and be saved? Christianity is not just  personal... 

1 John 2:3-4 (NKJV):

"Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him."

When you know about God, you will read the Bible because it's something you feel you are supposed to do, you may even claim to be a Christian.... but when you really know God... you will read and keep His word because you are driven, and compelled to do so out of the deep love you will have for Him because He saved you....

I know that many people who read this post are not going to like it. You are going to be angry and probably delete me from your friends list or whatever but can I be honest? While I love you, it won't shake my life or my faith if you hit the delete button. I will be praying because I sincerely want you to know the true, unfailing love of Christ.... I'm praying for you, I love you and I thank God for you because you are His masterpiece and while I many not necessarily get along with you He loves you and so I will too. May your heart be opened... there is not really anything else for me to say...

In Christ,

Kelcy

The Flu and Christmas

That's right. I said it. The flu. I have been sick with the flu for three days now. I am tired, I am achy, I am dizzy, and this is NOT fun. I honestly think this is my first experience with the flu and quite frankly I would prefer that it be my last but something tells me, since I do work at a daycare, that's probably wishful thinking. I have had two kids go home in the last two weeks with high fevers of 102.9 and 103.3. Both were crying, really red faced, and shaking. I know how they feel because I think I have experienced their pain in the last three days. Friday I left work with a fever of 102.2. Crashed at a friends house because 1. The plan was for us to have a Christmas movie night and 2. There was no way I could drive home with how dizzy I was. Everyone at church knows that I must have been sick even if they weren't told simply because if you know me, you pretty much don't expect me to be out of church unless I am near death or in the hospital, in fact I would rather be in church anyway but even I felt bad enough that I decided (without being forced) to stay home from church). On a brighter note as we are about to be officially in the week of Christmas I feel decently better than yesterday with only a slight fever, dizziness, and I am very sleepy. 

Now some of you just looked at that last part about being sleepy and are saying to me (your computer screen really) "STOP BLOGGING AND GO TO BED, YOU'RE SICK!" I would probably agree with this accept I have slept away most of the day after watching the church live stream, and if I don't stay up for a few hours I will be up a half a dozen times tonight even with NyQuil, and if I am up a half a dozen times tonight I will be miserable tomorrow. Sadly, with all of this going on I have to call into work tomorrow, believe it or not, while many of you think that should be a good thing I am actually kind of sad about it. However, I would never wish the way I have felt on my worst enemy therefore I would rather say home and get better than pass it on to people I care about. 

Finally, the part of the post I was looking most forward too. As you go about your last minute plans to prepare for Christmas, be it groceries or gifts, stop and take a moment these next few days to be still before the Lord, quite your heart before Him, worship, and remember that the whole reason we celebrate Christmas is because CHRIST came to earth. May the Lord bless you all richly this CHRISTmas season! Love you all! 

In Christ,
Kelcy

P.S. Please keep my family and me in your prayers so that we who are sick may be healed and the one who isn't (mom) may remain completely healthy! In Jesus' name!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Well ladies and gentlemen the week of Thanksgiving is finally upon us. NOW it is okay to fully decorate for Christmas! Our tree is up and decorated (though I will be honest, we did it about a week ago), I have my room partially decorated (which I am excited about because I have never really decorated my room for Christmas before) and I am sure soon we will all break out the Christmas goodies. Now, as many of you know I posted about a week or so ago that it was FREEZING!!! However, if you went outside yesterday it was almost 80 degrees!!! That's Alabama weather for you, it makes absolutely no since...

So Thursday we will all have the opportunity to gather with family and/or friends and celebrate all that we are thankful for. God has blessed me with so much that the thought of all I am thankful for is overwhelming. What about you? What are you thankful for most this year? Here is my top 20 list, not really in any particular order:

1. I am thankful for my God
2. I am thankful for my family
3. I am thankful for my church (GFBC)
4. I am so very very VERY thankful for my worship family at GFBC, my heart is overwhelmed every time I have the opportunity to come together with such an amazing army of God.
5. I am thankful for the worship leaders at GFBC, those three amazing people are on fire for God and so very encouraging to the rest of the worship ministry. 
6. I am thankful for my friends, (they keep me sane... or make me weirder... yeah probably that one)
7. I am very thankful for the sweet guy that God has just recently brought into my life:)
8. I am thankful for my pastor and for the passion he has for the Lord
9. I am thankful to be a student at a pretty awesome school (Grand Canyon University)
10. I am thankful to live in a country where I can own as many bibles as I do and use every one of them publicly
11. I am thankful for my job
12. I am thankful for my co-workers
13. I am thankful for good God conversations
14. I am thankful for a roof over my head
15. I am thankful for the passion and love God has put in my heart for Him. 
16. I am thankful for the passion and love God has put in my heart for worship. 
17. I am thankful for Great News!!!!!
18. I am thankful for the gift God has given me to write.
19. I am thankful for the gift God has given me to play and sing music.
20. I am thankful for you. For each person that passes through on here or on my Great News!!!!! blog (or Facebook) and takes the time to read, like or even share the (sometimes crazy) things that the Lord lays on my heart. Thank You!!!

God has blessed me so richly and I promise you these aren't even all of the things I am thankful for. I pray that you will take time this week to sit down and make your top 20 list. Meditate on the blessings in your life:)

On a final note I want to make everyone that is not on my Facebook or in my life aware of the new change as far as my schooling. As most of you know I have been pursuing my degree which was B.A. in Christian Studies with an Emphasis in Biblical Studies. This past week the Lord touched my heart on the way to work about the love He has placed on my heart for music, the gifts He has given me to play and sing music, and the heart He has given me for worship. I prayed about this for a few days and received an email from my school letting me know that they have added a new program to their Christian Studies programs. Before I go any further you should know that I was told before I ever enrolled that there were no worship classes for online students. The new program is the same degree except instead of the Emphasis being Biblical Studies it is Worship Leadership and it is for online students! This past week I changed my Emphasis to Worship Leadership. To say that I am nervous would be grossly understated. I have no idea where God is going to take me with this but I trust Him and will follow Him wherever He leads. Now some of you may be wondering and I want you to know that I feel no leading to walk away from Great News!!!!! or public speaking, but I feel like this is just something that God has added and while I'm nervous, I am also very excited to see what He does.

I hope you all have the most amazingly, richly blessed Thanksgiving in the Lord!!!! Count your blessings this week and be sure to thank God now and every day for everything He has given you. God bless you my friends! I love you all =D HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

The Holiday is Approaching...

I realize that I have posted several different posts about Christmas and my excitement for it to get here. I have told you that I enjoy listening to Christmas music (even if I do think it is so wrong that they put it on the radio before Halloween got here) and I am excited for all of the beautiful lights and even a little excited for the cold (but not the sickness that is going to come with it). So having said all of this, I would like to point something out that really only occurred to me this past week. Do you realize that we only have two months left in the year 2014? I feel like just last month we were welcoming in the year and now we are about to say goodbye to this year and hello to 2015. It almost seems to me like each year is flying by faster than the one before it. Thinking about that reminds me of a verse:

"Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." - James 4:14 (ESV)

Isn't that amazing. The Bible says that we are a mist that appears for a little time and then we vanish. Psalm 39:5 reminds us that to God our entire lifetime is just a moment and that at best, each of us is but a breath! How amazing is that? 

So this past week Gardendale started putting up their snowflake power pole lights. The colder it gets, the more accepting I become of this but on warm nights I find them kind of odd and out of place. However on the nights that it is cold, I turn on the Christmas station as I am leaving work to give the night a more Christmasy feel, but (and I know this is probably weird) when the snowflake lights are out of sight the station is changed back to 93.7 or a choir CD. So with these random things posted for the world to see, I am going to get off of here and try to go to sleep. I am SOOOOOOO excited to go and worship the Lord with my worship family tomorrow. I know it is going to be so incredibly awesome!!! =D Have an awesome night/day in the Lord!!!!

P.S. Just wanted to share a piece of scripture that jumped out at me during my study time tonight: "So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead even though you have to endure many trials for a little while." - 1 Peter 1:6 (NLT)

I pray that you are greatly encouraged by this verse, I know I was! =)

Two Pennies and a Message

God did the most awesome thing last night. This morning I had the opportunity to speak at First Priority at my former high school. Since I was asked to do this Monday night I started praying continuously for God to lay something to speak about on my heart. As the sun went down yesterday I still didn't feel what God wanted me to speak on, I stopped off at Walgreens on the way home and used cash (which I never do) and as I walked out, God finally answered my prayer (in His timing) when I opened my hand and saw two pennies. Yes, it does sound crazy, I know but keep reading it gets better. I had been given a very shiny penny and a dirty penny. As I stared at the two coins in my hand my eyes grew wide as the Lord began speaking and I listened. As I went home I told my parents about what God had spoken to me and my mom made it better, she gave me a filthy, chipped (broken) penny. With these two pennies God gave me the message I was to speak to the students this morning.

Think of this with me for a second. Jesus is the shiny, spotless penny. We are the broken, filthy penny. When Jesus died on the cross He covered our sins with His blood. Now think of that shiny penny covering that dirty, filthy, broken penny. You can't see the filthy anymore... THAT'S WHAT JESUS DOES TO US WITH OUR SINS!!!! 

"We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags." - Isaiah 64:6 (NLT)

We are like FILTHY rags! We are impure, unclean, infected, broken with sin and Jesus comes in and cleanses and purifies us! HE MAKES US LIKE HIM!! THIS IS THE GOSPEL!!!!! Is that not the most awesome thing?? There wasn't a whole lot of students in there but God allowed me to look at some of them and watch the expression on their faces change as they really just... got it. It was such a blessing to be able to speak there this morning and I pray that God allows me to have more opportunities in different places to speak before long. So that's what God gave me. Two pennies and a message, and wow wasn't it an awesome message:) 

May the Lord bless you richly!

God is BIGGER than ______________.

I want you to take a moment to fill in the blank. God is BIGGER than __________. Take something that you are currently struggling with; school, work, finances, trust issues, fear, lies... and fill in the blank. It doesn't just have to be one word, express your weakest self, knowing full well that He is BIGGER. While you do that let's talk a little bit about why I am asking you to do this.

Most of you on Facebook have seen, I'm sure, the God Is Bigger movement. I have a bracelet to remind me that He is but in the last few days I have become so overwhelmed with some things that I am losing my grip on this truth. When I open my bible there is a quote that I wrote down after having seen it on a church sign on my way to work, I took a picture so you could see it below:

"Let your faith be BIGGER than your fears."

I am sharing this with you because as I flipped open and read that quote over and over and over again today I found myself crying, my heart writhing in pain because I realized that my fears about certain things in my life, far exceed my faith... I feel like I am powerless against my fears (and please feel free to comment on what God says about these feelings) but I feel like I am being held under water because of these fears, worries, and concerns about things that could NEVER be in my control. I know that the Word says God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity but one of power, love, and a sound mind. I try my best to cling to that when I feel most overwhelmed by my fears. My insecurities. My stress.

I am weak. I am allowing you to read that here. I am opening my heart and allowing you to know that I am broken and I am weak... but I know... no matter what... I am loved. I am cherished. I am HIS.

Greater is He who is living in me than he who is living in the world. (1 John 4:4)

So let me fill in the blank for my life. God is BIGGER than my every fear, every temptation, every doubt, every insecurity, every trust issue, every hurt, every bit of stress, every concern or worry, He is bigger than my anxieties, He is bigger than my finances, He is bigger than every lie that Satan is trying so hard to convince me of and quite honestly God is bigger than ANYTHING I could ever face. 

So now it's your turn. Take some time. Allow God to bring it to your mind and fill in the blank. Speak it out loud, shout it from the rooftops or at least to the top of your lungs where ever you are at right now. CLAIM IT! Right here. Right now.

God is BIGGER than _________________.

Worship as a Lifestyle

Something has occurred to me recently that I don't guess I have really consider: Worship is not just an activity or an action, but instead, a lifestyle. Our entire lives, the in's and out's, the up's and down's, in everything that we do, we should be worshiping God. God created us to worship Him, we are worshippers. So why is it that we only seem to consider worship as singing a few songs. There are plenty of "lifestyle" choices that are being made in the world. People choose to have a lifestyle of being gay, or partying but as Christian's should we not choose a lifestyle of worship? Stop arguing over whether or not we should accept the lifestyles of non-believers and start shining through the darkness with the lifestyle of a WORSHIPPER!

Starting this week I am going to make every effort to live a lifestyle of worship. Because of certain struggles I have been facing my mentor has recommended, that I fill as much of my time as possible with reading the Word, and listening to praise and worship music. Now don't get me wrong this should always be our goal, struggle or no struggle and I have always enjoyed doing these things but now I need to increase these things in my life as much as possible. I think doing this will be a great help to me as I begin to make worship a lifestyle, and NOT just another church activity, as so many of us have sadly made it.

So will you join me? Will you stop worshiping on just Sunday's and Wednesday's and start worshipping all day every day? Will you stop allowing worship to be just another church activity and start making it a lifestyle? I can promise you, God will change your life in ways you never expected if you do:)

I know this is a short post so this next statement is probably kind of sad but this actually took me about three days to write... I know... sad. Truth is between work, church, school, study time, and family it was a lot harder than I thought to write a post this week. I know you understand:) Hopefully next time it will be a bit easier=D May the Lord bless you richly and far beyond all you could ever hope or imagine! May the Lord help you to make worship a LIFESTYLE from this day forward. =D Love you all!!!! =)

I Have a Lot of Children

For those of you that know me you know that I work at a daycare, in fact some of you reading this may be the parents of the children that I keep every afternoon (please keep reading). When I say I have a lot of children I mean it. I didn't give birth to them, I have no legal right to them, I am not their mom, and in some situations I am not their teacher. If you bring your child to the daycare I work at odds are once I meet that child whether they are in my class, have left "graduated" from my class, eventually coming to my class, or are to never set foot in my class they are still mine while they are there. For most of them I have changed their diaper more than once, I have kissed more invisible "boo boo's" then I can count, I have rejoiced over counting (correctly) from 1 to 10, I have potty trained, cleaned up accidents, tied shoes, found socks, cleaned up spilt water, spilt milk and dried the tears caused by the spilling of the milk. On some occasions I have held children close and rocked them doing every thing I could to soothe them as they screamed and cried because they had a fever well above 101 degrees and their parents hadn't quite made it to the daycare yet. So parents please be aware when we call you to let you know that you child is extremely sick, there is someone (be it me or another teacher) who is holding your child close and comforting him or her until you get there, and quite often we get whatever they get but we would do it again because they are ours while they are at that daycare.

I can honestly not tell you how many times I have had to go back up to someone and let them know that I work at a daycare because I have went on and on about "my" kids and how they have; learned a color, learned to count from 1 to 10, learned to use the potty, told a crazy and funny story, learned to walk, learned to talk, and so on and so forth. I remember when I was on the baby hall and had my first, first steps moment with one of the kids (had another parent walked by they would have thought she was mine) I was so excited and went from room to room to room making sure every teacher saw that she was walking and (yes I did make sure they got just as excited before I walked away). I reacted the same to the two kids that did so afterwards as well. Not only did I get excited in the daycare, I stayed excited after I went home and proceeded to tell my family (in detail) about each child and their first steps.

There is one last thing that I want each parent reading this to be aware of, not only do I love your child tremendously, but I pray for your child AND your family. I pray that your child will be a mighty warrior for God and that they will serve Him all of their lives. I also pray for you (parents) that you will trust in God, that you will find strength and peace in Him, and that you will never be discouraged. I pray so much more than all of this over you and your families. When I walk into the classroom in the afternoons, before I ever wake the kids, I get on my knees and I pray; for my kids, my co-workers, the day and yes I pray for me too. When I sub for a morning teacher the first thing I do as I walk in and start preparing the room is start praying for the same things. Please never doubt that when you leave your children with me, they are loved, cared for, protected and prayed for. Things happen, your child might get bit by another child but it DOES NOT mean that we didn't do what we could to prevent that from happening. We are not perfect people but we do our best to take care of your child while they are with us. If you sit down and you think about it 9 times out of 10 your child is with me more than they are with you. PLEASE DON'T MISUNDERSTAND ME, you work and I get it, sometimes you are off and you need that break and it's okay! I don't mind having your child but it is a fact that I see your child more than you do in a day, Monday-Friday. So, please find comfort in the fact that when you walk out that door headed towards work or wherever, and you leave your child with me, they are mine. I love them and will take care of them to the best of my ability until you come back.

So, now I am going to go and get ready for work. I am going to go and be with these kids whom I love so very much. I would ask that you would pray for me and my co-workers because while we love your kids, we also have many others. I have 9. It takes a lot of strength to care for 9 2-3 year olds. This is my life. God has put me where I am and while He may move me later in life, for now I am right where He wants me. I have A LOT of children and I love them all. =)

I'm so Excited!!!

Yep, you've probably guessed the reason for my excitement correctly. IT'S WEDNESDAY!!!!! Okay, part of my excitement I will admit is because we are half way through the work week and it has been a rough work week. However, the bigger (much BIGGER) reason is that I get to go to church tonight! If this is your first time reading my blog than you should probably know that I have two favorite days of the week every week, no matter what. Those days are Sunday, and Wednesday. I LOVE my church. I also LOVE my worship family (again if you are new, that's a BIG thing and there is a post to help you understand just how much I love each person in my worship family). I look forward to these days with excitement every week, I think if they took away one I would probably cry because that is one less day that I get to go to the house of the Lord and worship with the people of the Lord. So, tonight not only do I get to go worship God with my brothers and sisters in Christ, I get to go downstairs after the service and worship with my worship family.. so yeah, I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!! If you are not new you may be getting tired of reading this because I have been pretty repetitive in the last few weeks, and while I am kind of (not completely) sorry for my repetitiveness I am not sorry for the reasons that I keep repeating myself:) I have an AWESOME God, an AMAZING church, and a beautiful worship family! I want people to know! =D God has blessed me so much more than I ever thought He would, and far beyond what I deserve.

Don't you want the excitement I have? Find true love in Jesus:) That's all it really comes down to.
If you know me personally or even if you just kind of know me (some choir members, it's okay I don't know all of you either but I LOVE YOU JUST THE SAME!) and you want a "GOD IS BIGGER" bracelet (www.facebook.com/GODISBIGGERMOVEMENT) just find me and you can have one:) It's a good reminder.

To my worship family: I will see most of you tonight, and I absolutely CAN NOT wait to worship with you during practice! =D I love you all, and may the Lord bless you richly! =D

P.S. If you come in contact with me today (and if you work with me you will) please be aware that I am sorry for how annoyingly excited I am going to be throughout the day and also for how much more annoying I will get closer to time for church:) Well.... I'm only a little sorry =) PLEASE feel free to follow =D

Well, in just a few short hours my first college class will officially be over and my second class will start. It doesn't feel like so long ago that my family and I were sitting down and coming to the conclusion that God just didn't want me at college. Now here we are more than a year later and God opened the door back up and carried me through class number one. I am finishing out strong with a 99! These past seven weeks have flown by faster than I ever expected. I am excited to start my second class but more than that I am excited to start my actual theology classes. I know that the Lord will get me through all of these classes by His grace, EVEN MATH! God is bigger than anything and I am praising Him with all of my heart for helping me through this class:)

Anyway, today was AMAZING. Another amazing day with my worship family praising the God that we all love. I enjoyed getting to walk in with my fellow choir members as our orchestra and band played "I am a Friend of God" while we greeted the members of the congregation. My heart is so overjoyed each time I get to stand in the choir loft surrounded by such wonderful people. I am so much more than blessed! I would ask that you would pray for our worship pastor as he is in Georgia for revival at a church there, and also pray for Pastor Kevin who will join him for two night services there.

This week, if the Lord is willing, I get to post new devotionals on Great News!!!!! I know that it is going to be AWESOME! I know we just got done with Sunday but I honestly can't wait for Wednesday. After what I know will be a wonderful service I get to go downstairs for choir practice and I can't wait! This is a short post but I hope that you found something to enjoy about it:) May the Lord bless you exceeding abundantly! May His favor be poured out upon you! May He fill you with more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control than you have ever know before! May your eyes be opened to the wonderful blessings that God has placed in your life! I love you all! =D

It Keeps Getting Better

So if you have kept up with my blog then you saw my last post, the one where I addressed my worship family. I let them know just how much I loved them and to be quite honest I was a little shocked at the response. I had 88 views… 88 in two days! I was overwhelmed by the comments and messages I received and while I didn’t know that it was possible for my worship family to bless me more than they already have, they did. I was brought to tears by each of the responses.

If anything was accomplished from that post I simply think that it just increased my inability to describe how much I love each person in the GFBC worship ministry. I am so incredibly excited that I get to go and worship with these wonderful people once again tonight on stage and then again during choir practice. My heart is so overjoyed that there are once again no words for me to describe what I am feeling. I pray that someone reading this knows this same feeling when it comes to the people the Lord has blessed them with.

In other news, it is finally Fall! Walking outside to cool air and a nice breeze is so refreshing. I know that this means we are one step closer to Winter, which means one step closer to non-stop sickness for my co-workers and I, better known in my family as the “Daycare Curse”. While I am not ready for that, I am ready for the cooler weather and yes, I am ready for Christmas.

For those of you that haven’t yet received an update, school is still going great! I currently have a 99.35, and I am currently in my last week of my first class! I am praying for the next several classes to pass by quickly because I am ready for my Theology classes but I know that everything will happen in the Lord’s time and His timing is perfect!

I can't wait to see what the Lord does throughout today. He has blessed me so much in the last few days and tonight will be no exception I am sure. When I checked the order of service I was surprised to see that all but one song we are singing, are some of my favorite songs for my personal worship time. It makes me think that God has something special for me tonight:) I can't wait! May the Lord bless you richly and beyond measure today! =D

To My Worship Family

Dear GFBC Worship Ministry,
I want to publicly tell each and every one of you that might read this, just how much I love you all. You are more than just people that I get to worship with on Sunday's and Wednesday's. You are my family. I can not really put into words the overwhelming love I feel for each of you when I get to see you all during services or practices and while singing with you. While there are far too many of you for me to know each of your names, I pray for the choir, orchestra, and praise team as often as the Lord brings you all to my mind. It is such a blessing to be able to stand with so many people that have such a strong love for the Lord and want to use the gifts that He has given them to show it.

When I stand in the choir loft, the choir suite, on the stage, or in praise team practice, I am always overwhelmed by the love I feel for all of you and the joy that I feel getting to praise God with each of you. I can't tell you enough how much I love all of you, but may the Lord allow each of you to know the love that He has put in my heart for you. If you can't grasp anything else of what I am saying please know these two things. You are my worship family and I love each of you so much more than I can explain.

To our three God fearing, Spirit filled worship leaders: While everything above is for you as well, thank you so much for all that you three do to keep things running. Thank you for praying for each of us, for encouraging us, and for leading us. God's hand is on each of you and we couldn't ask for better leaders. Not only do you encourage us to sing or play out for the glory of God, but you encourage us by your lives and walks of faith. You work hard and it is appreciated more than the three of you will ever know. May God pour out His blessings on each of you in overwhelming waves!

Thank you all so much for loving God and allowing Him to use you for worship at GFBC. I look forward to worshiping with each of you again soon! May the Lord bless and keep you!

In Christ,
Kelcy =)

Confession Time

I have a problem. There I said it! I have a problem. I have a problem! My name is Kelcy Parker and I am a foodie. I love to cook, I love to eat (I really love to eat) and I absolutely abhor all forms of cleaning related to the kitchen and other large messes. It’s a thing. My husband will definitely have to take cleaning duty for the pay of really good food. I think that is a fair trade don’t you? I don’t have one of those right now so I guess it doesn’t really matter (a husband that is).

            Anyway, there is a movie I am sure you are pretty familiar with called “Julie & Julia”. There is obviously a LOT of food in this movie and therefore it causes two things to happen in my brain. Number 1: I become very, very hungry. Number 2: I start having this increasing urge that is almost unbearable to cook amazing food that I know I am capable of cooking, but as I said it’s the cleaning factor that really stops me because if I am being honest, my problem extends to making huge messes when I cook. Maybe I just need a husband that enjoys cleaning…. Yeah cause that’ll happen!

            I’m getting off subject…. Something that not a whole lot of people know about me is that I was once very determined to go to culinary school and was talked out of it by a few people that did know. Something about it being hot in the kitchen and a very fast paced job (oh by the way… I tend to take forever when I cook big meals). At least I think I do… I may be wrong on that but you would have to ask my family that question to be sure. I know for a fact that I take forever when it comes to cooking breakfast when bacon is involved BUT it should be noted that I use one pan for all of the food and make a minimal mess with breakfast. Why am I telling you all of this? Well… I don’t really know why to be honest. Guess I just thought I would give you a peak into my thought process for the day. Now you know, God blessed me with the ability to cook and maybe one day I can do something with that ability for Him! Any ideas? Have an amazing, richly blessed rest of the day in Jesus! =)