The Dip

Our youth pastor, Eric Sebastian, preached tonight and it was wonderful. I wish I could bottle his energy and drink it. He is a fire ball!

His message was called the Dip: Big God, little dip.

Kings 19: 1-18

A dip is a a valley. You are going through stuff!

1. When you find yourself in a dip, stop digging!

2. The deepest dips often occur after the highest mountain tops.

a. We forget yesterdays mountain tops when we are in today’s valleys.  b. Depression sets in like it did with Elijah and you want to worry about it and possibly even die. Elijah begged God to take him home.

3. Don’t dwell any deeper than your dip.

a. Every valley is located between two mountain tops. Your perspective can be lost when you are in these times.

4. A lot of times in our dips, the devil wants to blow the dimensions of your dip out of proportion.

a. How big is your God in the context of your dip? Depending on how you view God will depend on how hopeless or overwhelming your dip (situation) can appear. If you view your God as big then when you enter these times, you know God will navigate you through them.

5. Gentle whisper- original language represents the concept of a sheer silence, a silence that can be heard.

a. As a parent you have a way of looking at your child that does not require words this is what he is talking about. Sometimes silence can speak volumes more than yelling ever could.

We serve a God who is faithful, compassionate and loving that he will strengthen you even when you are running in the wrong direction.

God is saying get back on the right path. You are going in the wrong direction but I am hear to navigate you through this rough time a dip.
Psalm 23:4 really says it all here. He has a plan. He never promised that we would not have difficulty in our lives but he did promise to help us through it. We just have to trust him instead of falling into depression and worry over it.

This of course I needed. I struggle sometimes with life issues and I do feel like Elijah but God wants to help us through these times.

We also sang this song in worship and I hope this will minister to you the way it did to me.

Swine flu cases on the rise

Our local news is reporting swine flu cases are on the rise. In three months 6 people have died. So far it is still the same virus but more people are dying so it could be the virus has gotten worse. It is strange to me that this virus thrives in the heat because it died out during the winter and is now making it’s third come back. This just means we always have to stay on guard and be super careful about hand washing and taking care of ourselves.

American Idol 3-31-2010

UPDATE: Didi did go home. I was sad because I love her voice but there are others that are in it to win it. I believe eventually Tim and Katie will go home. The top four will be Mike, Lee, Crystal and Siobhan. I could be wrong but these are the strongest of the four.

Lee and Crystal were my favorites of the night and Mike did another fantastic job.  Andrew also did well! I think Didi will be leaving tonight. She has consistently had several bad weeks. I love her voice but she is singing songs that are way to mature for her. She does need to be more current. We’ll see after the results right? Anything can happen!

Monk

I love this show and I am very slowly collecting each DVD season. I was sad to see the series end but I am very glad that each season is out on DVD. On Thursdays and Fridays they have a few episodes on in the mornings so I Tivo those and watch them. He is clever, funny and always solves the case even the one of his late wife Trudy. We have several friends who also love this show. I watch a few TV series but this is my favorite!

Sarah Palin to host special on Fox News

UPDATE: Fox has pulled the piece on LL COOL J because it was an interview done in 2008 and pulled with out permission and placed on her new show. The show ill still air but without LL Cool J’s interview.

I figured this was coming and I think it will be great; however, I am a little sad that they are putting this on in Greta’s time slot. I love Greta and thought her show was top rated. This is a first of several specials she is doing. Here is the post talking about her new show and her first guest.

Kate Gosselin’s latest diseaster with Dancing with the Stars

This is a little sad to me that she is not doing well. Here is what Fox 411 said about her.  My first time watching her last week. You could tell she was so nervous. I know it was out of her element but I thought she may get better as time went on but all the pressure and travel can really get to you. Sometimes your worst fears can consume you and be a self fulfilled prophecy!

Extreme Makeover

Okay, my very sweet and handsome husband secretly entered me into a makeover contest at my old salon. He did not realize I know longer go there. Anyway I was chosen as one of the winners. I had a mixed reaction. At first I was really excited but then I had a knot in my stomach. I left there because the lady that was cuting my hair butchered it. It took two hair cuts later to straighten it out.  This is  funny because I never win anything. I do not hardly do anything for myself or take time for myself so this sounds amazing! While this is an amazing blessing and a day of pampering, I am so nervous about my hair. It is not all that long so would they cut it all off to which I would be mortified. I have prayed about it and now I have petitioned all my friends What should I do?  I will post pics if I decide to go for it!

American Idol 2010 is boring this season!

This is one of my favorite shows but this year is so boring. I have a few favorites such as Crystal, Mike, Lee and Aaron and after the rolling stones week I love Sioben! I miss Lily and I just think so many of them are picking boring songs. Out of the top 100 hits they mostly picked older songs. What about today? Now Crystal totally picked the right song. I hope next week is better. I was glad to see Paige go I feel she did not take enough risks and this week was horrible. I predict Andrew off next week unless he starts picking the right song and the same goes for Tim. I love his voice but come on! My favorite moment so far was Mike singing this woman’s work! I am with Kara it brought me to tears. He ought to knock it out of the park next week!!

Obamacare: questions we need to be asking

Okay so I have had a few days to think about Obamacare and this is a disaster waiting to happen. Pandora’s box has been opened! I have never seen a time when Congress totally ignored the will of the people and the constitution and did something anyway. I am sure there are tons of examples but I am only 32 so for now I cannot think of any examples.

I am all for insurance reform. We need it! If my husband did not have his job, he would not be able to get insurance due to a preexisting condition so I applaud this pre-existing condition provision; however, forcing people to purchase insurance is not right! It is not just any insurance you must purchase, it must meet  new guildlines! My husband also works for a small business so if their insurance coverage does not meet the new federal guidelines then they will be forced to pay a fine and drop us or add more coverage. With a company of only 25-30 employees it will cost less to drop us and pay the fine.

You see where this is going right? A single payer system.

First companies will decide it is not worth the red tape or people will no longer want the expense so they will choose to drop their insurance and purchase the Gov’t exchange program. I am not the only one who was thinking about this. Here is a CBS reporter who came to the same conclusion.

Secondly, I don’t know about you but our doctor’s office does not take new medicaid or medicare patients. Now Wal-greens announced they will no longer take new medicaid patients. People will find it harder to find doctors and pharmacies to take them so people will outcry and congress will make the changes they need to give access to all so welcome: Universal Health care where all doctors,  labs, hospitals will receive payments from Gov’t.

Two questions to ask yourself:

1. If this bill is so great, then why did the house and senate have to make backroom sweetheart deals to pass it?

2. Most disturbing why is the white house and congress exempt from buying into this program?

One answer because they know this is crap!

There are 2,270 pages of this law and as John Boehner put “hell no you have not read it.”  If they had they would know that children with pre-existing conditions can still be denied insurance until 2014 because they forgot to add it. Here is a post explaining what went wrong. Idiots!

Here is a article by Fox News on 7 questions to ask yourself about this massive gov’t takeover!

Real reform would have been done in an ethically, bi-partisan way that America would have stood behind.

Three new Shows I love!

I am now a fan of the marriage ref, Parenthood and Who do you think you are? The marriage ref is hilariously funny. I thought it was going to be stupid when I saw previews but then I saw the host and Jerry Seinfeld on Oprah and I just had to watch. I never laughed so hard in my life. These people are crazy but I love the humor. I also like the fact that they will only put people who love each other with petty issues and not serious ones that require counseling or something.

Parenthood is very relevant to today. The child with autism, the single mom with kids trying to fit in, the good kid that is not so good and the working mom. The entire family is dysfunctional and I love it. I love the entire cast. Some of the people I know from other shows and some are fresh faces but the dynamics and chemistry is unlike any show I have seen recently. NBC needed this comeback and I hope it will be on for a while. They have a great spot too following the biggest loser which is still a huge hit.

The final show I love is Who do you think you are? It is produced by Lisa Kudro of Friends.  It is about celebs finding out where they came from and who their ancestors were. I have always been fascinated by this since I was a teen and this is one reality show that I love. It premiers tonight on NBC at 8. My Tivo is set!

I am really shocked by NBC has some really awesome shows right now. I love it!