A Name more powerful than cancer

I just received a prayer request for a man with a young family struggling to fight cancer. It seems like every week I hear of someone else who has been diagnosed with this disease, and I HATE that it strikes fear in our hearts. I know that it is a normal reaction, but in the words of the Dean of Students at HILC “To Hell with Cancer!!!!” It’s from Satan and we have authority it the name of Jesus to command it to go back where it came from. The name of Jesus Christ is certainly more powerful and stronger than the name cancer. I believe in healing. I believe that it’s God’s desire that we experience healing on earth with my whole heart and mind. I have no hesitation in praying and believing that God wants us healed, whether it’s from a cold or cancer. I am very thankful for the resurrection power in the name of Jesus Christ; I pray that as the church we choose to believe and trust that name.

search for significance

So, I’m doing this study called the search for significance. The first week it listed several areas that people commonly struggle with and said to mark the ones that you thought might apply to you. I looked at the list and thought…hmm, I don’t think I need to do this study…I think I’m good, I’ve got this stuff down.
Then week 2 hit… It was all about the fear of rejection. Then I began to realize… yeah, I’m screwed up in the head.:) It focused a lot about perfectionism and our need to have achievement after achievement, success after success. That is certainly true of me. Not that that’s wrong, but it stems from a need to cover other faults and inadequacies within myself.
I realize now that I can not handle criticism. I get really defensive and I perceive criticism often when it is not intended.  Also, I place unrealistic expectations on myself. When I feel like I fail at those things, I react in by finding fault in other areas. 
I’m praying that as I complete this study it will help me to deal with this issue in my life now that I can see it.

25 Random Things About Me

1. I rarely wear eyeshadow.
2. When leaving a C of C parking garage one bright spring day after class I called my Dad and told him my battery in my car was dying or something because my interior lights on my dashboard would come on even though my headlighs were on. He told me to call him if I broke down… I left the parking garage and began driving down the road. I stopped a light and pushed my sunglasses up on my head… that’s when I realized…
3. My first real job was at Lens Crafters working in the lab literally making eyeglasses. It lasted about a month. When no one could figure out why all my glasses kept breaking… I threw in the towel, and faced the fact that I was never meant to have a technical job.
4. I lived in Hell Hole Swamp for the first 4 years of my life. Ha!
5. I’m scared of the dark in a big way. I always sleep with a nightlight (or bathroom light) on unless someone is in the room with me. 
6. I once was in a movie… I was going to give the title, but then I thought it sounded kind of sketchy.
7. I cheered in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. We performed live and if you watched VERY closely you could have seen me on TV.
8. I know this could cause a lot of feedback, but I don’t like pets, especially ones that shed.
9. I HATE peas, especially canned! My parents (mainly my Dad) used to force me to eat them until I threw them up all over the kitchen floor. However, I’ve been known to enjoy a bowl of split-pea soup, but I pick them out of vegetable soup or pot pies.
10. I stopped doing homework in the 2nd grade. In the 4th grade I turned in blank sheets of paper for it. 
11. I love walking in freshly cut grass barefoot.
12. My left ear lobe is twice as big as my right.
13. If I don’t like what someone is saying to me, I bite my tounge between the teeth on the left side of my mouth. You can’t tell it by looking at me…however, you might be able to notice that my jaw shifts slightly to the left.
14. I once sat in Darlene Zchech’s dressing room at Hillsong Conference and gave her some stats for a message she was writing.
15. I’m a naturally very shy and easily emabrassed individual. To some of you that’s no suprise, to others you’re like “yeah, right!”
16. Myers Briggs personality- INTJ
17. I defend the under dog, even if I’ve previously criticized them. 
18. I sleep with one arm extended under my pillow…on my side, often with the arch of one foot on the knee of the opposite leg…kind of like a flamingo, but lying down. LOL! 
19. When I’m thinking about something that I’d rather forget, or if I’m really scared, I put my fingers in my ears and say “I love Jesus” over and over again. 
20. My favorite movie growing up was Gone With the Wind.
21. I have 8 nieces and nephews.
22. I wish it were Summer year round…a good 90 degrees and Sunny would be perfect.
23. I can’t handle criticism because of my fear of rejection… however, I can dish it out, probably because I’m trying to deflect attention away from my own faults.
24. If you ask me a question and I want to lie, I’ll say “What?” even though I heard you perfectly clearly.                                                                             
25. I don’t really like coffee even though I drink it occasionally.

Kidspointe- investments that count

http://www.vimeo.com/4885389

What is wrong with me?

Lots of things! Specifically though why is that I’m never satisfied… am I simply a bi-product of the American culture or is it something else? It’s not so much that I’m never satisfied with material things its that I’m never satisfied with where I’m at and what I’m doing. I always want more. Several times in my life people have said to me, “you’re just a dreamer.” 
I’m always ready for the next move for the next challenge or the next big thing. I’ve been warned against living from big event to big event, but I can’t seem to get beyond that. There is nothing about me that is content with doing the same things day after day. I need adventure! I crave it, I get antsy without it. I know God wants us to be faithful with what we’ve been given (and I think I am), a little variety would be nice. Some single friends would be even better. I feel like I’m closed off in the town of Moncks Corner where there are 2 single people in the whole city… me and Keeley.
Not that I’m bitter with the lack of single people in MC cause I want to get married… it’s so not that! I just want some normal single friends who want to hang out and go places and talk about random stuff that single people talk about. 
Is that so much to ask?

dumb blonde moment… happens all the time for me

Tonight at KidsPointe I went into one of my teacher’s classrooms where the kids were working on a craft that needed a stapler. The teacher looked at me and handed me a stapler and said, “this is jammed, I need something hard to get it unjammed.” “Something hard,” I thought to myself…”I know!” I went to the stage and picked up a wooden stool and brought it back to her and said “Will this work?” She looked at me kind of oddly and said, “Umm, you know… something smaller to get the staple out.” I don’t know what I thought, I guess I thought she was going to bang it on something hard (that’s my usual method of fixing something). So, once I put the stool back I when and got a tool (not really sure what it’s called… pliers I think). I then went back to the room and tried to use it to pull the staple out. It didn’t work, so I turned to leave and go try and find something else (maybe just another stapler) and as I was walking out she yelled, “Fixed it!” …. I’m so not handy!

I wonder if anyone gets that the funniness of this story. I was cracking up at myself writing it, but I may be the only one who gets it.

vacation is truly over

Why is it the week after vacation always brings many challenges? I refuse to allow what could be some very very frustrating things rob me of my renewed energy. That’s not to say I’m not going to have to face some of these challenges head on, but I am determined to do it from my peaceful, positive state. Why can’t every day be vacation? I think God may be calling me to the mission field in Jamaica. =) I’m sure that I can reach lots of people from my lounge chair on Seven Mile Beach.

1 yr ago today

Happy Birthday Carson! One year ago today my beautiful niece Carson was born. I love that she looks like I did when I was a baby… it’s so cool.

God loves me

I’m so excited to be going on a real vacation in a couple of days. The best part is that I didn’t even have to pay for it, it was given to me! How great is that!!! I’m driving to Miami then going on a cruise to Jamaica and Grand Cayman Island. Jamaica is one of those place that I’ve always wanted to go to… ever since I saw the movie Cocktail in like the 90’s. =)

What’s really great about this is that I’m able to go because I have the best team in the whole world. So, I can leave knowing that KidsPointe won’t suffer with me being gone. Thanks guys!!!

2 things I’ve learned since becoming a pastor-

1. It’s all about GRACE- Galatians 1:15-17
      -Of this one thing I am absolutely certain, there is nothing in Hope Murphy that makes me special or set apart or able to minister. I am not even close to sinlessness or perfection… the only thing that gives me assurance that I can lead others, and at this time especially kids, closer to Jesus is that I know, believe and trust that His grace is sufficient for me. I know that He called me and appointed me for such a time as this, knowing my faults, but seeing the potential for Christ at work in me. It’s a miracle beyond comprehension.
2. It’s a lot harder than it looks
    -I’ve been in ministry my whole life. I became a youth leader when I was still a youth. I volunteered at church for more than half of my life time (13 yrs) when God called me to go to Bible college where I volunteered practically countless hours, got a taste of working  in ministry and learned and studied under some of the most influential and dynamic leaders in the world. I came on staff at PNCC at first part-time (although I worked at least 40 hrs a week pretty much from the beginning), moved to full-time after a couple of months and then became a pastor after 1 year and 3 months. I’m embarrassed to say it, but I looked at people in ministry and pastors and thought… “what are they on about, their job is not much different than mine.” Ha! What a joke! The second I was asked to take on the role of children’s pastor their came upon me a burden and and urgency for kids that I could not articulate or handle. I think it’s God’s way of helping us remember we can’t do it without His help… it is sooooooo impossible.