PODCAST!!!

I can't believe I forgot to mention this! We are broadcasting Naeem's message EVERY week. So if you didn't make it to church this week (or you live just a little too far away...) and you're interested, PLEASE check it out! Go into iTunes (free to download) and search "Mosaic Charlotte" after you click on podcasts. You can even set it up to subscribe so that it's automatically uploaded into your computer every week. For free, of course! Videocasts are also on their way, so check back soooooon!!

More Pics

Ok, who am I kidding? Like I'm only going to put up one picture from the launch?? haha I know, folks. Here are some more...and more to come...

This is it...Our New Home!! Exit 18 off of 77.

The band practicing before the service.

Getting my heart ready during practice in order to help lead people in worship.

Children's Ministry getting set up...my friend Joel totally drew all of our logos!!

Coffee (thanks, Starbucks!) and muffins are set up...it's Go Time, baby!

Liquid Love

For anyone who hasn't heard (and if you haven't, I must ask -- which rock are you living under??), our launch service on the 22nd was amazing!! As the overused phrase of our team goes...It rocked my face off!! Seriously. It was mind blowing. All I could do all that day was cry. :) And not in a bad way! I was just so overwhelmed with God's power and glory that it was all I could do. During worship as I'm on stage for "Sing to the King"...cry. At Red Robin while we're figuring out what to eat...cry. Talking to my roommates about what they thought of the first service...cry. I was an emotional mess!! My mom would understand. She calls it "Liquid Love."

Our theatre actually holds 300 people. For our 1st service, we had 434!! We had an overflow theatre set up where people watched a video feed coming from next door. We had 2 people give their lives to Christ and another 15 who recommited...and Naeem didn't even mention salvation in his message!! haha God is so funny. I think He just looks at us and laughs sometimes...as if anything that happens is actually due to our credit. We also had 95 people indicate that they want to come to Newcombers!! What?! :)

Everywhere we've gone, people have been asking about Mosaic. It's amazing!! We even drew the Charlotte Observer in! If you missed it, here's the link to the story...PLUS they even put together a short clip of pictures and music that you can check out, too. Ken Garfield, THANK YOU!! You wrote an amazing article for us. The pic above is the one that was on the FRONT PAGE on Saturday.

*Sigh* I don't even know what to say about it. I was on Cloud 9 all week...just floating on the glory of the Lord. Seeing the people I work with so changed in just a matter of a few days is the most mind-blowing thing and is still what keeps my mood positive. I can not believe how God is using me in such incredible ways. My life has never been so rich. More to come tomorrow. As my beautiful friend Anita told me today "My heart is just too full" for me to continue on right now. (I LOVE your heart, girlfriend!!)

Crazy Paradox

Sometimes I feel like I am nothing but a fat girl trapped in some skinny girl's body, who is willing to eat any and everything just to get out. I want to literally cut off parts of my body while at the same time, I can't stop stuffing my face. I'm torn between these sick split personalities...and no one seems to understand!!

I am so not right in the head...

I have to be honest...

Not everything about this weekend in Chicago was magical. Yes, seeing my girls was wonderful! Yes, seeing the baby boy was amazing! Yes, having a long weekend to spend with my loves was much needed! However, if I'm completely honest with myself, I have to say that I did have my moments. Moments of...I don't know exactly...sadness? impatience? feeling let down? I guess I could explain.

Jody and I flew in to Chicago on Friday night and before we went to see Bonnie and the babe on Saturday afternoon, we spent the day with Lisa, looking for bridesmaid dresses. It was so fun. This is the first "real" wedding that I've stood up in (minus my aunts, when I was like 13) and it was just a lot of girly fun trying on all kinds of dresses to celebrate Lisa's getting married this summer. We started at David's bridal and after trying on many an outfit (and avoiding multiple people from my highschool - yikes!) we left there to go to another small specialty shop. So we get there and I go in and try on the dress that Lisa thinks she wants us bridesmaids to wear. It was very cute and I was very happy at this point...full of excitement for my best friend.

Then, it happened. I came out of the dressing room only to have Jody point out to me the dress (in the pic) that was - at that exact moment - being hung on the hook directly next to me. It was my dress. The exact bridesmaid dress that I had picked out for my girls to wear in 2007. For my wedding. The one that I no longer have any need to plan because it's not happening...

After looking at the dress that Lisa had picked out, she wanted me to put on the other one. Yes, "my" dress - for all intents and purposes of trying to keep the story straight... So I put it on while she went to get my heels out of the car so that we could see what the dress looked like. (I couldn't exactly go outside in an unbought dress.) I came out and walked over to the big 3-fold mirror and just started to cry. It hit me all of a sudden that, though I had chosen this dress for my girls (and in the exact same color, might I add), I no longer had a need for it.

While I am floored with excitement for Lisa (and she is free to choose "my" dress if she likes it the best), it was also a little sad to be hit with the realization that the world around me is still moving on. Here I was, with my best friends in the entire world, feeling a little bit all by myself. There's Lisa: Planning her wedding for this summer and redoing a house they just bought together. There's Bonnie: Married, living in a new house with her best friend and their new baby boy. There's Jody: Just back from spending a week with her boyfriend who she gets to talk to on a daily basis and be excited about seeing when the countdown comes to an end. And then there was me: Standing in a dress that was to be in a wedding I started to plan with someone that I loved before it all fell apart. It was just a harsh reality to feel and I couldn't hold back a few tears.

I'm definitely doing better and I can honestly say that I am okay with being just me. But there are still moments that creep up on me, no matter how hard I try to rely on God to be content with my life today. There's really no other way for me to be sane. :) In closing, here's the verse from Philippians that's been my lifesaver the past few months. Maybe it will be able to help someone else, too...

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the PEACE of God, which SURPASSES all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Baby Buddha is Born!!

So over the weekend I was back in Chicago. And it was so wonderful. Just what I needed before this very busy week ahead! As I posted last week, Bonnie and Mike had a beautiful little boy named Mariano, also affectionately referred to as Buddha. Nothing significant there, just something that they started calling him so they didn't have to refer to their unborn child as "it." And what can I say? It stuck. This sweet baby is less than 2 weeks old and already has more nicknames than anyone I know! :) Here's a picture of me feeding him. Can't see much of me, I know, but it was one of those days when you wouldn't really have wanted to anyway... haha Seeing Bonnie was lovely as always. It's so nice to know that I have a sisterhood with these three girls and that no matter what happens -- marriages, breakups, babies, new houses, deaths -- we can always pick up right where we left off, like we never skipped a beat. I love you girls. You are my favorites. :)

My BEAUTIFUL family photos...

Mosaicanites...prepared for launching!!

Our last worship set before the official start on the 22nd!

Me, Gil and Whitley...Just a'clapin for Jesus!

Praying over the 44 THOUSAND mailers that are being sent throughout the city...

I am NOT giving up this fight!

I am in such a funk right now! And I am MAD at myself for BEING annoyed. Why do I let this happen?! Well...actually I know why it happens. But I'll get to that in a second.

Church this morning was aMAzing! I was literally on the verge of tears like 3 times as we prayed for our mailers that are being sent all around Charlotte and the people who would receive them, as we discussed how the set up and organization of the service is going to be run (and all of the EXCITING things are going to be in place!) and as we talked about encouraging each other this week as we all run around to put the finishing touches together. We even took a group picture in front of our new Mosaic Trailor, which is going to hold all of our fabulous new equipment. Needless to say, I was on top of the world and in a very good place.

After all of the that, the worship band went to the children's hospital to drop off goodie bags and just visit for a little bit. Well, on the way there, I (of course) got lost. I swear I followed the directions exactly, but whatever, I take the responsibility...we drove all around the city. There are 2 things that bother me to no end. One of them is wasted time, which is what was happening as we drove aimlessly around Charlotte. And had it been my own time wasted, I wouldn't have so much minded...but I had 12 other people relying on me to get them there. Of course, after all that, we were late. (Which also bothers me.) By the time we got to the hospital, I was frustrated because I felt like I had messed everything up. (That being the 2nd thing that I really bothers me...when something that I plan for good doesn't work out.)

Of course, as soon as I saw a few of those children's faces, I wasn't able to hold onto my frustrations any longer. And the trip did turn out to be successful. But there was still a little part of me that couldn't shake that annoyance at myself. If only I had...this or that or something else. It wasn't until I got home that I figured it out. And here's why it happens:

Satan is fighting us, folks! He hates us and the good that we are trying to do in this town and he wants more than anything to put a stop to it. I know I've written about this before, but I myself seem to forget too often. I was right on with God this morning and on a major high with excitment for the weeks that lie ahead. I should have been on the look out for satan's hand at work...the more excited I am, the more he's going to want to bring me down! And he knows our weaknesses, friends. He knows that I have a type A personality and have too high of standards for myself. He knows that all he had to do was throw off something that I was in charge of in order for me to get mad at myself and allow that to ruin my day. Sad to say, I let him win. Now that I've realized (and confessed) it though, it's passed. I've been able to shake the last of my funk.

Hold on strong, Mosaicanites! It's so much harder to see satan pushing buttons in your own life because he makes you blind to that realization. But I'm saying right now that if you notice anything negative in me, you have my permission to slap it out of me. :) I apologize to those of you who had to be in my negative presence this afternoon and I promise to work on it! Thanks for not holding it against me!! We have to rely on each other to keep pressing on. As Samwise said in The Two Towers, "There is still some good left in this world, Mr. Frodo. And it's worth fighting for."

It's a Boy!!!

I'm a mommy!!! :) Well, not technically... For those of you who don't know, I am one fourth of a very tightly knit group. We had our 1st marriage about a year and half ago, the 2nd one is being planned even as we speak. And today - January 5th - at 2:30 this morning, we recieved our 1st baby!! A beautiful boy, Mariano Joseph. I am so excited because I get to go see him (and his wonderful mommy!) this weekend!! :) It's a shame that I didn't get to see Bonnie pregnant, but that's what happens when half of you live in Illinois and the other half in North Carolina. Jody and I are flying out this weekend, though, and I could NOT be more happy. This will be one spoiled baby! Congratulations, Bonnie and Mike! Love, Auntie Kristin

Realizations from reading

So I was reading yesterday and I found this: "For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything." (1 John 3:20) Isn't that wonderful?! :) It was one of those things where I read it and then I literally just stopped and looked at it, thinking it over. For me, it's helpful because I've been a little nostalgic the past couple of days. Not sappy and pathetic or unrealistically wishing for "what could've been," just thinking back on memories that bring a smile to my face. You know, those things that will always warm your heart no matter how the circumstances change. And I thought about how beautiful it is that no matter what's in our heart (anger, brokenness, jealousy, pain, insert your feeling here), that God is still greater. And he can and will overcome those things. Because he knows everything. I'm a firm believer of that whole cross thing and I really think that it was more than symbolism. I believe that when we weep, God hurts with us. When we're happy, he dances with us. And that's how he's able to be trusted. Because he does know our hearts...and more. He knows the past and why our hearts have whatever's inside and he knows the future, both the ups and downs that lie ahead. But no matter what has happened already or what is to come, he is still greater. That's such a hard thing to fathom sometimes. But it's so amazing when you can finally grasp it! What a beautiful thing to ponder the next few days...

Holla!!

I just have to say that I work with the BEST ladies ever!! And this is a shout-out to all of you who commented on my fun blog today. (Yay for learning a new word!) haha I had to make sure I posted today so that I can keep you all coming back!

We had a teacher workday today which pretty much means that we had meetings all day long and then worked in our rooms for a little while. We also took at least an hour and went to lunch at my FAvorite place. It was so fun seeing everyone after being gone for 2 weeks. I think we need more days where the kids aren't there so we can all go out to lunch together and just catch up. But, the kids do come back tomorrow and after rearranging my classrooom for like the 12th time today, I think I'm actually ready for them. I'm so glad to be back home!! I've have been blessed with this job!

There's an open road to the future...

New Year, New Post! I'm back from an extended stay at my parents' for the holidays. I love 'em to death, but it's always nice to be home. :) While I was there, I was of course still religiously checking my email and myspace...and good thing, for I found some long, lost friends from my days in Michigan that I haven't seen or even spoken to since high school. One of those being my friend, Mark. Even more exciting than finding an old friend, I also found in him a new brother!

Mark and I started catching up back and forth through emails and I asked him what recently drew him to Christ. I think that he was where a lot of people find themselves right now, that they realize something in their life is missing and they don't really feel like they're any different from anyone else. They know about God, but it's still not the same as accepting Him. I see so many of my friends in his story, that I asked him if I could share it. So that's what this is:

"As for my spiritual journey with God, it actually has been quite a long one. My parents have been divorced since I was about two, so that hasn't helped with giving me any family structure and guidance. It was during high school and into college when I really started thinking seriously about God and what He means to me and all of humanity. My brother has been saved for about six years now and has been a HUGE encouragement to me and given me an ideal life to look up to. Things up in Michigan were getting a little shaky, nothing bad, but I didn't feel like my life was leading anywhere and that it didn't have much purpose. So, I decided to move down to Fort Myers, where my dad had been living for about 7 years prior. I lived with him for the summer and then moved into the dorms for two years at Gulf Coast University to finish up my Education courses. I met some really nice people in college, but none that enjoyed life in the same way that I did. They were either 35 year old women or they were 21 year old women that only wanted to party. It wasn't until I started teaching this year and got involved with a local church, that my relationships began to actaully mean something. Just out of nowhere, I just started attending this church every week, which is held in the movie theater here in town. The services are amazing and just really touch my heart and fill my life. The whole process of finding God and accepting Jesus in to my life had taken about 2 solid months of worship and time spent with God. Then, I just decided to take the next step and make it official, and ever since, my life has been changed for the better. It probably sounds like the typical story, but living it is a much greater experience than I could ever write to you."

Thanks, Mark. It might seem like a typical story, but for those who are yet to experience it, it's the most beautiful story ever written.

*P.S. Blog title and picture both borrowed, thanks to Mark.*