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A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/4/2006 8:17:38 AM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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 Hi, Everybody! Welcome to my new blog. I've never had a blog before, so I guess this is an appropriate place to have one.
I guess I will start out by giving a little bio, which will explain the title of the Blog. 
I started singing when I was three, loved drama and the arts from that point forward, and started taking piano lessons at the age of eight...about 2 months after I was saved.
Those few measures began this beautiful composition of a life that I have. I came up with the concept of the title when I was a senior in high school writing an application essay for my college's honor's program. Every aspect of my life has flowed together perfectly to make a wonderful masterpiece that is still in progress, obviously. And, just like any work of music, there are variances in dynamics, moods, tones, attitudes, etc. As a musician, I like thinking of my life like that and when times get rough, I remember that a composition would be boring if it was all pretty, lyrical major mode all the time 
 So, what are you going to see here? Probably alot about my group, Pure Heart, and our ramblings around the United States singing the gospel. Some junk about my dysfunctional family, and church stuff.
I hope you'll tune in!!!
Blessings,
Heather
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/4/2006 3:46:50 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Okay, so I work as a call center specialist in the world's largest disability insurance company...in family medical leaves...and for two days straight, three of us have had our phones die...which pretty much kills our quality assurance and makes the other reps have higher call volumes. I've already reached my goal for the day of 50 calls, but still... 
I'm having a pretty uneventful day, I guess. Tonight I have rehearsal with my group. Our new guy is working really hard but our music isn't, to quote my old choir director, "Come to Jesus in dotted whole notes."  Our first concert with him is at my former pastor and adopted daddy's church in Florida, so I'm a little nervous. I've done a couple of concerts there and I'm kinda freakin' out as to what we're going to sound like...but I know God is in control!
Then, Mom and I are going to go eat where my crush is....he's so cute, y'all. Sweet smile. I hope he's a Christian, but I don't know. Doesn't mean I couldn't lead him to the Lord!!!
Well, my phone just came on. Back to work! 
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/5/2006 1:48:56 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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HI! So, I went to see the crush last night. He wasn't feeling well but I found out that he smoked. I smelled it when he walked over to talk to us, and I thought maybe it was someone else. Then when he checked us out, I smelled it again and there wasn't anyone else around...so it had to be him  .
Practice went well last night. We figured out that our new fella hasn't quite learned his words, and that effects his pitch a little. Please pray that God will anoint him, make his memory sharp, and bless our ministry this weekend. Pray for our protection during travel and that God uses us in a mighty way to the congregation.
Also pray for Jesse's (our new singer) health. He is having something removed today from his side, apparently an exposed nerve or something. It's very painful.
Pray for me, as I am experiencing some strange pain in my abdomen. I'm trying to schedule a couple of doctor's appointments at the same time. I have a couple of theories as to what it is and I think they're all related.
Well, back to my turkey sandwich.
(((FRIENDS)))
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/5/2006 7:38:17 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Well hi again. I got an email from my mother about her Medicare. She's permanently disabled and now due to a situation (too long to really go into) she's no longer eligible for this. We don't know what we're going to do about her doctor bills or medications and she takes some VERY expensive meds.
Please pray about this.
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/6/2006 1:20:36 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Hey, folks. I'm not having a good day. A lady at work thinks I'm bad. My contacts are about to pop out of my eyes...time to change, I guess. I'm sore from an allergy shot gone bad and exercise. I heard my poppy's favorite song on the radio this morning and Sunday will be the 10th anniversary of his death. And, I miss our old lead singer. So yeah, not a great day. But, at 5:15 I can go home, go to rehearsal, pack and then head of to Florida in the morning and try to forget everything for a while...yeah RIGHT!
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/9/2006 4:54:02 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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HI! Happy Monday. I got in bed about 5:30 this morning coming home from Jacksonville. We had a wonderful weekend. The church put us up in the local La Quinta Inn...beautiful!!! We had some highly anointed services and it was so awesome. Our new guy did a great job, too. We're all pretty tired. I actually stayed up with John, our member who does all the driving, until about 3am when I just fell asleep singing. He tried to call me to wake me up and it didn't work. We were really tired, but it's SO worth it.
Well, back to work. I'm on until 8 tonight! Back on the road next weekend!!!
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/13/2006 5:07:13 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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YAY! I reached 100 hits! Thanks everyone!
Well, I'm working until 8 tonight then going to hang out with some friends I used to work with when I taught with pizza and CSI: The Game. I like being Gil Grissom...makes me feel smart. I love science, so that show is right up my alley.
Speaking of Science: I was almost a chemistry major. In fact, I had a full scholarship to UT Chattanooga for chemistry and turned it down to major in music education. I could be making some serious bucks right now working in a crime lab or something...but...that wasn't what was in God's plan.
I love science. During high school and college, I found myself a participant in many discussions about how strange I was that I was a Christian and yet believed in science. During my interview for the honors program at UTC, the directors thought I was just bizarre. I was a proficient musician, an excellent chemist, and a Christian. They just didn't believe those could go together.
In my sophomore year I took a class called "The Development of Scientific Thought" taught by an Orthodox Jew. It was very interesting to learn his perspective and have discussions with him.
Through that entire class, and for the rest of the very antagonistic college years, my faith was only strengthened. I honestly believe that the goal of that honors program was to turn Christians into athiests...or to at least shake their faith. All those people throwing ridiculous arguments at me only assured me that Christ was the way.
Science itself proves to me the glory and power of an all-knowing, all-powerful God. The perfection of science cannot be an accident. So many of the scientific processes reflect Christ's death and resurrection...I mean...think about our seasons! No other so-called diety has that.
So, there's my rant..
I will be in Florida and Georgia singing again this weekend!!! Please pray...that's all I'll say.
Blessings,
Heather
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/16/2006 6:55:24 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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[i]Happy Monday!
I had a great weekend, and I hope all of you did, too. Saturday morning I went to see my little man, MT, play Upward Basketball. He's the son of the married couple I sing with. Those children were so precious and we had a great time watching them.
It was a mighty blustery morning in Northwest Georgia and we bundled up and headed back down to Jacksonville to sing. The little church where we sang was full of precious little senior citizens who just blessed our socks off with encouragement and an awesome finger food buffet afterward!
I got a little distracted by the poster in the back of their church. We had to send promo flyers with our old pictures...and through the entire concert my eyes kept wandering back there, missing the sweet lead singer that had to leave us. 
Sunday morning we awoke to a beautiful day in Valdosta, GA where we spent the night. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep particularly well that night. Because JT, our bass singer and leader is very protective of his little sister, I sleep in a room with him and his wife. As much as I love these folks, I just don't do well in those situations. It's like my mind never quite stops worrying about things like...what if I snore? or...I can't go the the bathroom because they'll know what I'm doing! Yeah, I fully acknowledge that this is weird, but I've always been that way. It's pretty normal now.
Anyway, we headed up the road to Macon, GA where we would sing at Parkway AOG that night. For lunch I had a good portion of laughs...I think I laughed more than I ate! I'm a pretty easy target for JTand JY as they're major goofs anyway. My giggle box doesn't take much to turn on, and they definitely accomplished that. And for dessert, when we were leaving Sonny's, I met a waitress and moved against the wall to get out of her way. When I did, I hit a wreath on the wall with my head and it fell right on top like a crown. After JY picked himself up off the floor he removed it from my head and put it back on the wall. JT just had to walk off. ST missed all of it as she'd gone to the restroom. I'm glad I could provide some entertainment.
Then, we got to the church for the PM service. There, I had a breakdown. On the outside door was another picture of the old group. Then, JT reminded me that this was the last church we sang in before GM had his seizure 2 years ago. That followed by the win of GM's favorite NFL team, the Steelers, and some further discussion about my buddy and pal, I just lost it. The tears started flowing and I couldn't keep them in. The feeling of someone cutting away a peice of my heart hasn't stopped since he announced he was leaving us on 9/11/5.
Everyone kept asking me what was wrong. JY came and just held me for a while (  ). JT knew...we were born on the same day, 20 years apart...and he knows that's wrong before I can say anything. We're the closest thing to twins I've ever seen. During our practice that night I just cried like a baby when we were singing "In the Garden" as a year ago on that night JT was notified by my mother that my grandmother had suffered a cardiac arrest. He drove non-stop to get me home so that I could say goodbye, carrying the burden alone from Florida to Fort Oglethorpe. Later he said he just couldn't bear to tell me and have me know all the way home without being able to comfort me as he was the driver. GM couldn't yet drive because of his seizure.
But, I am at peace with my Grandmother's homegoing...I still haven't closed on GM leaving. I miss him like crazy...and trust me, he knows. I email him at LEAST once a week. He and I had some really in depth discussions on our pew awaiting a concert to start. He was an awesome brother in Christ. I love his wife and his children, and really miss seeing them. We all got so close and it ended so soon. 
The service was wonderful, however, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. God moved in a mighty way.
***********************************************************************
And now...a confession. I'm terrified. Of everything. I'm so uncomfortable in most situations it's not even funny. I'm scared of offending people, I'm scared of making people mad.
I'm terrified of men. I'm terrified of one touching me because that means he is either a sicko or has an agenda. There's no way one could just be showing genuine affection. And Heaven forbid a guy actually be interested in me!
When a gentleman even gets near me, all the nerve endings go in one direction...fear. What are they trying to do? Is someone going to think something about this? I tense up and freak out. Now, there's no way I could ever get close enough to a guy to even pursue a relationship. I keep everyone at arms length. The people I love the most I'm terrified of losing or making upset with me or annoying. I have no reason to think that because they've loved me when I was unlovable, but still...
Please pray for me.
Blessings,
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/20/2006 3:42:12 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Hey, everyone. It's FINALLY FRIDAY!! WHOOOO! What an insane week. I'm exhausted. We have been so busy today at work I haven't had time to think!
We're heading off to North Brunswick and Valdosta Georgia in the morning to sing. I'm sure we'll have a blasto!
Nothing of much note has happened lately. I'm going home tonight, running to Walgreens, picking up some chinese takehome, washing clothes and packing for the trip. Then, I will die until the morning!
Toodles, y'all!
Thumbnail Image
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/23/2006 5:51:41 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Happy Monday evening, all. I trust that everyone had a wonderful weekend; I know I certainly did!
I posted about it in General Faith...click HERE!!! to read how awesome my weekend was...
I'm on the late shift again at work. This is getting really old. When they started the call center, we were only supposed to work 1-2 late shifts per month...we're working 1-2 per week. Not fun. You really cannot do anything when you're working 11:15-8.
This weekend is going to be so awesome! We're singing at our former lead singer's wife's church where she is minister of music. He's going to sing with us on a few songs. I'm SOOO excited! Man, do I miss that feller.
Well, nothing else very exciting. Keep praying for my strength in the matters above!
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/27/2006 10:35:03 AM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Hey, y'all! Happy Friday! This has been LONGEST week in the world. Probably because I'm SO EXCITED about Sunday.  We're going to visit our former lead singer and he's going to sing with us a little on Sunday evening when we sing at his wife's church. We haven't seen him since October and we cannot wait! I'm nervous about seeing him, however, as his health hasn't been good and I'm afraid he'll look bad. I still can't wait...I will want it to last forever. I have missed him so very much. We got really close when we were singing together. I was friends with his wife, too, and loved his girls. And even though they only live about an hour away, it seems like halfway across the world!
My friends gave me an awesome book by Joyce Meyer, "Battlefield of the Mind" to read to start overcoming some of my fears. It's great so far!
Continue to pray as I gain boldness and fearlessness in my life!
Have a wonderful weekend!!!
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 1/30/2006 7:33:46 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Well, hi guys. Sunday was so wonderful. GM, our former lead singer, looked wonderful. His health is slowly improving, not nearly enough to travel. He is, praise God, still singing some solo. I am so happy that he isn't going to stop singing. If you could hear this man, you'd know why. He is one of the most amazing tenors I've ever heard.
He did such a great job, which made me miss him even more. It was so wonderful to have him by my side again. I got a chance to talk to his wife and girls, whom I have also missed dearly. His wife is so very busy and hopefully when she slows down in the summer we can all get together and go shopping.
Today, however, was rough. While I've never had one, I guess it's kind of like a hangover. Last night was such a blessing, and today I'm so blue. I've cried all day. To make things worse, he gave us a solo project that he's put together to pay some of his expenses when he does solo gigs. I just listened to it at work and cried all the way through it.
He is so blessed...could go pro any day. And we had the honor of singing with him for 2 years. It kills me, though. He is like my big brother, and he's just so amazing it's hard for me to let go and not want him to come back.
I know he needs to rest physically and spend time with his children...and that's what I want for him. It's completely selfish of me to want him back in our ministry. It's just hard to see an awesome thing go. The chemistry between the 4 of us onstage hadn't diminished a bit last night. It's just not like that now... 
Please pray for me. He will be with us the next two weekends for a Super Bowl party and to redo a song in the studio from our project. I have lost many people in my life, and though I haven't lost him by any means, his place in my life is different now, and I'm not good with that.
*******************************
On a better note...
I'm reading Joyce Meyer's "Battlefield of the Mind." I have been flooding my life with negative thoughts all my life. God doesn't want us to live like that. He doesn't want us to feel downtrodden or like an outcast. We are His children and special, therefore.
I have a blessed life. I have people who love me, an incredible ministry, a great job, and I'm going to Heaven. How much better can you get?
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 2/7/2006 4:24:01 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Okay, well I'm back. It's been a while.
We've been so daggum busy at work because one of the girls has been out for 2 weeks! ARRGH!
Today is a bad day. I've already taken 65 phone calls and my brain is oatmeal!!!
I'm supposed to go to a concert tonight featuring my former choir director from high school and the theatre tech teacher. I'm so tired and I want to go because it's his last one before he retires. I'm going to have to perk up!!!
Byeeee
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 2/9/2006 10:13:48 AM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Okay, so things are a little better today. It's turned really cold here in Northwest Georgia and so I feel wucky. My entire body feels swollen and my asthma isn't taking well to the cold weather. Thursdays are usually a little slower at work, so maybe it won't be so bad today. I get to go home tonight and just chill.
This weekend PH is going to finish our recording and hopefully it will start duplication REALLY soon. It has taken us 2 years to get this sucker out due to one delay after another, but we know God is in control and it is destined to bless many people when it does hit the shelves.
My best friend and I have decided we are going to save our church choir. Since the retirement of our minister of music of 20 years, our music ministry has suffered terribly. We hired an awesome director, but when he didn't do things to suit a few people, they wrote him out of his contract and we were left wounded once again. Our choir has now dwindled down to about 15 regulars from what used to be 40, the most talented and blessed people leaving because 2 people do 90% of the singing. Now, I'm not saying that this is the right reason to leave, but when you aren't able to use your gift, you go where you can.
Please pray for us as we do this. Our Min Mus has opened the door for suggestions, so we are going to provide.
((((CW FRIENDS)))))
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 2/13/2006 5:42:11 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Well, things went very poorly with the attempt to save our choir. We were shot down pretty fast by our minister of music, who advised my best friend that if I had anything to do with it, he couldn't even entertain the idea. His wife has forbidden him from having any association, even indirectly, with me. He was very indifferent about it, despite the mess I've taken off of her when I did nothing wrong, and we knew it was OVER. He even had the audacity to say that he might just get rid of the choir altogether and just have a praise team. This will be the biggest mistake he EVER made. Our church won't go for that.
Pure Heart FINALLY finished our project once and for all and barring any additional hard drive crashes or anything like that, will begin production soon. YAY!
Well, I'm at work until 8 tonight and have nothing really profound to say other than I'm cold and my back hurts.
Seeya
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 2/17/2006 1:17:46 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Happy Friday! Well, I'm on the late shift tonight. It's a little slower on this shift, so I have more time to write. I was reading Leviticus just now, and as I perused all of the sacrifices, which still blow my mind, I was so thankful that Jesus is my sacrifice. By His death on the cross we don't have to worry about doing this or that, if we can't do this, do that, to atone for our unrighteousness.
That's so amazing. I think sometimes I was saved so early that the sacrifice Christ made isn't real to me. I didn't come from a life of drugs or alcohol or bad behavior, so it wasn't as dramatic a change for me. Now, I'm certainly not complaining, because being a Christian spared me a lot of grief, but it's sometimes hard to appreciate the amazing gift as when you're saved from those things. But reading about the sacrifices today really made me unspeakably grateful for Jesus taking away all of that. Can you imagine having to keep straight which sacrifice was for what today?
Thank you, Jesus!
More Later!
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 2/28/2006 9:27:16 AM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Okay, hi, y'all. I need to resurrect my blog a little.
Things are going okay around here. Just a lot of frustration and concern about things, but God is in control and that's all that matters.
Just a random thought about something. Why do we let people get to us? I have an approval problem that I am now aware of and ask for God's guidance every day. But, why do we allow certain people to have so much control over our lives? Why do we seek to make them happy?
What a lie from the enemy! We can't control what others think about us or how they view us. If we're living for God and being true to ourselves in Christ, it doesn't matter.
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 3/6/2006 6:19:36 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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HI! Happy Monday. It's turning Springtime in Chattnooga, Tennesse! Warm temps, although I'm freezing in my cube as I right this, and sunny skies. Very nice.
Some of you will recognize today's blog entry from the singles forum, but oh well.
Last night after having a very in depth discussion with our bass singer who doubles as my spiritual leader since I don't have one elsewhere, he helped me realize something...
1). While I have begun to deal with my approval addiction by the grace of God, I haven't yet come to terms with my fear of rejection. Yes, they are related, but not the same thing. Having to have everyone approve of you in all things is one thing, but being afraid of being rejected by someone is another.
My approval addiction causes me to maintain my A-type personality, constantly trying to do everything right and perfectly, never saying anything to anger or upset anyone, etc.
It stemmed from losing important people in my life and believing Satan's lies that I must have done something to cause them to leave. It had to be something wrong with me, not them, that made them want to part ways with me. So, out of fear of losing the people I love, I do, do, do to keep them happy, never realizing that people who love me will love me regardless of what I do for them...it's me who they love, not the stuff I do for them. That's called loving like a Christian.
On the other hand, fear of rejection is what keeps you from doing. Fear of rejection keeps you from making new friendships, from stepping out of the boat. I made the comment to JT last night that, "It's often just easier to not try at all than to be shot down." I shared a story about a guy that I was crazy about. He matched to a tee the vision of the man god put into my mind when I prayed for Him to give me a glimpse of the man he had for me years prior.
However, I didn't feel that I stood a chance. He was gorgeous and his ex and current gaggle of girls hanging around him were just as beautiful. I felt like he'd never notice me among them and when I asked him out to lunch and he said "Heather who?" I pretty much resolved myself that I was right and I was just invisible to him, even though we'd talked on many occassions and he very well knew who I was.
So rejection is different from the approval addiction. My goal now is to apply the same lesson I learned about the approval addiction to the fear of rejection: I am my Father's child. I am fearfully and wonderfully made and a treasure for the one who He has for me, so the rest doesn't matter. However, if I never take the plunge, I'm missing out on friendships and releationships that may enrich my life simply because I'm afraid of being rejected again.
I said all that to say that: The enemy wants us to live in fear, which is the opposite of faith. You have to have faith that people will love you for who you are. Yes, there are those who won't, but that's okay, because God will place the people in your life who will love you with all their hearts. I've been so blessed to have wonderful friends, a few whom know me better than I know myself, or so it seems...I guess I'm more transparent with them.
2). There's another part to this. I realized it after my conversation last night as JT told me how he knew what I really wanted was a good husband and that my claims that "Maybe God just means for me to be single" and "I wouldn't have time for a relationship now" aren't very convincing. He knows me WAY too well.
I realized then that I have somehow learned to associate the desire to be loved and have a relationship with weakness and co-dependence. Somehow, for me to admit that I really do want to love someone is admitting that I'm weak and not strong enough to take care of myself. What a warped lie of the enemy is that!!!
I don't want to be under this anymore. Yeah, my weight is a constant issue with me...and for some reason I think if I lost 50 pounds I'd magically get dates and stuff...but that's a bunch of baloney, too.
Satan's goal is to steal our joy...I'm not going to let him do that anymore!!!I want everything God has for me, and I'm not going to be afraid to step out. I just need lots of accountability on this one.
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated By God - 3/8/2006 8:55:35 AM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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YAY! I am so happy! One of my voice students received spontaneous applause during the a capella section of a song she was performing in a talent contest Tuesday afternoon! There were two divisions, entertainer and vocalist, and this song was for the vocalist competition! Her mother called me last night and told me about it and that it just boosted her confidence so much when that happened that she slammed the other song against the wall, too. We're talking about a girl here who was terribly shy, but has found herself in singing.
This is why I teach!
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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A Life Orchestrated by God: Pure Heart Goes to Texas - 5/5/2006 5:55:47 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Well, HI! It's been a while since I've updated my BLOG, sorry.
Here's the story of "Pure Heart Goes to Texas:"
It was wonderful, exciting, frightening, and frustrating all at once, but God was with us the whole long way.
***Tuesday: We get started 2 hours late as the garage working on our van to find out why we broke down on the trip April 2nd had to order the parts to fix it.
We finally get on the road and about four hours into it, our transmission starts leaking again (as it did back in March but not as badly). John pulled over at a rest area, gave it time to cool down and start again. No more problems the rest of the night...until we get to the motel. We arrived in Longview, TX about 2:30 or so Wednesday morning.
***Wednesday: Sheila awoke with a horrible headache and said she felt like she'd been hit by a truck. We get started to Elbow, TX for our evening singing. Still feeling horrible, Sheila slept most of the way and had an excruciatingly painful headache. Twenty miles from where we would stay the night, our van broke down again, this time seeming to be suffering from a lack of fuel to the engine, just like the week prior. Something came over me and I simply began to cry and pray. It was terrifying to think that we were out in the middle of nowhere and our dear sister was so sick she couldn't open her eyes. She had a fever and was chilling. Just a few minutes after we pulled over, a man who'd passed once turned around and said God had told him to help us. He took all of us to the Hospitality House where we would stay the night. John managed to get the van to the next exit, fill up with high test gas and get to us.
For the first time in 16 years, Sheila missed a concert. John, Jesse, and I tried our best, but we still felt so strange without her, especially and of course, John. In spite of all and the fact that we were so very tired, God blessed us with a wonderful service. Our contacts at Central Baptist, Kelly and Courtney and their children, provided us two large fruit and meat/cheese platters and plenty of water. We got home to find Sheila feeling some better and got a good night's sleep.
***Thursday: We got up and the gentleman and his wife who ran the Hospitality House took us to a local mechanic who would install a new fuel pump for us. He lent us his car so we could go to breakfast. Soon the van repair was done, Sheila was feeling much better than the day before, and happily we went along our merry way toward Lubbock. No leaking transmission fluid, but we still noticed some hesitation in the van when it came to starting and idling.
As we were leaving, we experienced something like never before...a duststorm. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time. Visibility was horrible and the winds were at times at 80 mph gusts. During a fillup before we left Mitchell was sitting in my lap trying to look out the door that I was holding the handle for was pushed back by the wind and his thumb was slammed in the door! By the end of the storm that day, our equipment and trailer was covered in red dirt.
Once again, however, we had a wonderful time at Genesis Baptist with Roger and Joy Garrett. Roger hooked us up with a mechanic who was a member of the church and he blessed us the next morning by placing several parts on our van, including an O2 Sensor without charge.
***Friday: We headed out to Wichita Falls excited about God's blessings on us. Without a hitch, we made it to Wichita Falls and had a wonderful service with Mike Rucker and his congregation. By this time Sheila was feeling much better, but we were all suffering from inhaling so much dirt. After a wonderful dinner with Mike, his wife, and a friend, we headed back to our very interesting hotel room. I tell you, we've never seen anything like it. The bathroom was almost exposed. It had a jacuuzi tub with frosted glass doors open to the sleeping area, a shower curtain behind those and then another in the bathroom itself. While you couldn't see exactly, you could still see the silhouette in the light. To make it worse, the area over the tub was open, so you could hear whoever was in there doing whatever they were doing!!!
That we could deal with, though. A funny event happened, however, as we'd all started sleeping. Jesse was on the rollaway and all of a sudden we hear "Thud" and Jesse is folded up in the bed!!! Poor guy...he was a good sport though, even when Sheila was disabled by laughter and I awoke out of a dead sleep to find his feet in the air and him folded in two!
***Saturday: Mike is a race car driver and a mechanic buddy owed him a favor, so he arranged to have his friend check out our van. Again, God blessed us with several new parts for free, including an air filter and a fuel regulator. Sheila and I got some girl time to talk as we waited on the guys. I really enjoyed that. The boys came back to get us and we were so very excited to finally have our van ready for the road and that God had continued to show us such favor.
Then seventy miles up the road toward Arkansas, we had a flashback of the Florida trip. We pulled over just out of Layton, OK, to find all of our transmission fluid draining out. A state trooper had dispatch call AAA for us as no one had a signal. A wonderful man came to pick us up that we've so lovingly named "Uncle Jesse" and got us back to Lawton to a garage. There a wonderful man who had at first said he couldn't look at our van changed his mind and cancelled an appointment to help us. We thought we needed an auxiliary cooler for the transmission, but when they looked at it, we already had one. There was nothing else he could do and we still had about 8 hours ahead of us. With a full case of transmission fluid and many, MANY prayers, we headed out.
Once the temperature outside cooled off, we were okay. We were all on "smoke patrol" to watch for overheating and we were all in supersensitive mode listening, looking, and smelling. John said that his olfactory nerves finally determined that the smell was a combination of oil, antifreeze and body odor...yum!
Finally, we saw the sign stating we were 21 miles from Mountain Home, AR, when we turn a curve and hear "bump bump bump." We had a flat on our trailer. The boys got out to change this extremely stubborn tire that had been cooked in the desert heat and sauteed in hot transmission fluid vapor. Unfortunately, John and Jesse both had on shorts and the cold mountain temps were not agreeing with them. To make matters worse, they'd parked in a dip and they had to pull everything out of the inside of the trailer to get the right iron out to fix it.
Fully awake, we headed on down to our motel where we got about 3 hours of sleep before we had to get up and start over.
Sunday: We awoke, got ready, and went on to our wonderful service at Twin Lakes COG. God truly blessed this service as well, and after a lunch at Taco Bell, we started our journey home down the never ending road 412. For precaution, we bought a tire for the other side of the trailer, and only had a couple of overheatings on the way.
Everyone was tired and we prayed all the way home that we would be safe, especially going down Monteagle Mountain. After dinner I sat in the front while everyone else slept to keep John awake. I purposefully took the day off on Monday so I could do this because everyone else had to be up so early. John couldn't let anyone else drive the van because of the problems, which put a great deal of stress on him. Sheila and I both agreed any additional trips like this would require a travel day and to let someone else drive once the van is fixed.
Praise God we got home safely. The coolness of the air made things better and we went about 500 miles with no smoking or trouble. We arrived back in Rossville about 2:30 Monday morning.
There is no doubt that the week was difficult, but we saw God show off and bestow His blessings upon us through His people and favor countless times. We grew together as a group and in Christ. Despite the struggles, it was a great experience for all of us.
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated by God - 6/8/2006 4:12:36 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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HEYYYYY!
Got some news. No insulin resistance or diabetes, just fat.
No really, since going on the caloric restrictions and the birth control, things are going much better. My face has started clearing up and I've already lost enough weight that people are starting to take notice!
I don't want to eat anything really. I get hungry, but then I am done really fast and full.
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Kind of brings up an interesting spiritual parallel. When you take out all the junk food in your life, it's very difficult at first because you like it. It's good, it makes you feel good. But once you've gotten through the hardest part, you don't want it any more.
The same with spiritual matters. If we get rid of all the unhealthy stuff, it's hard at first, but once all we put into our lives is the pure, right, and good, that's all we need and all we want. We don't need the other stuff to make us whole or feel better.
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Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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RE: A Life Orchestrated by God - 12/8/2006 7:40:57 PM
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sunshinesoprano
Posts: 447
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Georgia
Status: offline
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Hi. I'm back.
Just another boring night here in the FMLA call center, nothing much going on.
Pure Heart FINALLY got our projects back from the recording company after WAY TOO LONG! They're awesome, though. If you'd like one, PM me. 
God's really been dealing with me lately about surrender....and not worrying about things I cannot control. My work situation has mostly been the focal point of His teachings. My department was moved and assimilated into the large contact center in September and it didn't just worry me...it made me ANGRY!!!!!  I was livid, mostly that not only had I not wanted to work in a call center anyway, but that I was now forced to work in a real, true blue call center!!!! They started changing all kinds of stuff, implementing new procedures and all sorts of junk that I didn't like. I was totally bent out of shape for weeks.
Then, God pretty much said, "Would you be quiet for a while and listen to me?" "Yes, Sir," I said. He replied, "You can't change any of this. I'm in control of your life...so that means, your schedule, your pay, your performance, give it to me and I'll handle it. So far, you haven't been doing so hot on your own." 
So, that started my surrender process. Learning to lose the control. Learning to let go of what I cannot change and make the best of even situations that I don't like (what a surprise!!!).
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And enough with work...I met a guy. Here's the story.
I met this guy online last year. He and I stopped talking because he made me nervous. Then, this summer, I felt like I was ready to really pursue a relationship at this point. I was at work the following Wednesday and God said, "Email Andy." So I did. We started talking, and then he tells me that he will do anything he can not to have children. He used all sorts of arguments as to why we should continue to pursue the relationship, culminating in a HUGE fight. I told him I would pray about it over the weekend and when I got my answer I'd let him know.
Well, that weekend I was catching up on some Bible study and I got my answer. I sent him a text message and never heard from him again.
On the way home that weekend from a singing, God spoke to me again as we were driving through Knoxville, TN. He said, "Okay, you passed your test. You said you were ready, so I wanted to see if you would sell out just to be with someone. You didn't and I will now bless you." The next day, I felt impressed to join eHarmony. I said, "one month, that's it." The day after that, Chad contacted me and the rest is history. No other match ever went anywhere. We haven't met yet, but we're working on it. 
Isn't God just awesome?????
_____________________________
Pure Heart-Fresh, Progressive Southern Gospel
Sing, laugh, love, PRAISE!
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