Baptism

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

***This slide show was "borrowed" from Traci, so when it says "my hot hubby" you'll understand :-)***

Today, Greg and I were baptized together in the Ocean! It was an absolutely perfect day in every way...being baptized outside in God's beautiful creation at one of my favorite places, the beach...baptized by dear friends Izzy & Devin...witnessed by my closest friends and family...and finalized by a wonderful outdoor feast at Deb & Larry's. Both Greg & I were baptized as infants but when the class opened for Halogen to hold its very first baptism Greg began to show interest in wanting to make that decision as an adult. I too realized I wanted to make this incredible public expression as a physical sign of what God has done in my life. It really was a special day and I am so honored to have shared it with my husband. Greg shared his testimony of giving his life to the Lord at Angel Stadium during a Harvest crusade and that he always thought he would get a standing ovation for playing baseball there...that never came to be but God did give him his standing ovation as the entire stadium stood and applauded for those new decisions given that night. That was over 10 years ago. Praise God for his faithfulness!

Greg...my superstar!

Greg has a debut on Real Fusion. For those of you who never got to see him back in his baseball days this will give you a small taste...he should have gone pro I tell you...and I'm not being biased ;-) To see him in action, go to the archive of shows for Wed. May 23rd. "Turfburn". Enjoy!

Crossroads Community Purity Conference

This past week I had the opportunity to speak at Crossroads Community Church in Michigan. Angela (who used to be our youth pastor here in Cali) is the youth pastor at this church and invited me out to be the keynote speaker at their first annual purity conference. I had the most amazing time while I was there. I flew in thurs. evening and had all day fri to prepare my notes and my mind on what I felt God wanted me to convey to these young girls. It was interesting b/c most of what I had planned to say was scrapped that day. I really felt God was leading me to a whole different direction. The conference was all day Sat. It started out with a fashion show titled "Modest is Hottest" and showed the different ways young women can still be fashionable and God honoring. That was followed up by an all girl worship band and then I had a one hour session based on the theme verse I Tim. 4:12 "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity". We shared lunch in a beautifully decorated room of the church complete with a chocolate fountain. After lunch the girl's broke up into different "breakout" groups led by different people in the church. One was for the moms and mentors on helping their young ladies guard their hearts, one was lead by Angela's husband Jared on a guys perspective, one by Sharon (owner of several fitness centers) on positive self image, and Angela led one on creating/setting boundaries. We met back up in the sanctuary for more worship and I finished the day with another hour long session focusing on emotional/sexual purity. Each lady was invited to the stage to pick out a china plate that had the verse II Tim. 2:20 which talks about some dishes in the master's house are used for noble purposes some for for ignoble. We are like china plates in the master's house, set apart for his most noble purposes. The plates were to be a reminder to each young lady that she is a precious treasure set apart from the things of this world and when times get difficult in remembering that truth I encouraged them with the plate and verse to be ready for God's most noble purposes by remaining set apart. It was a powerful day, I had a wonderful time meeting the ladies, sharing my testimony and more importantly God's truths for their (and my) lives. It's funny, but whenever I prepare for these events I find I'm trying to seek out the right "stuff" that will encourage/convict my "audience" but in the process God does such a work in my own life through the process of preparation. Thank you Angela for allowing me to share with your church and to spend time with you and your family! It was a blessing.

Bedford, Michigan Relay for Life

During my trip to Michigan to speak at a girl's purity conference, I had the opportunity to participate in the Relay for Life event that was taking place in the area. Angela's church (Crossroads Community in Ottawa Lake, MI) had a team that pledged to race for the full 24 hours. Angela and Jared planned on running for an hour from 7-8pm. I decided to join them as they ran in memory of Jared's father who passed away three years ago after being diagnosed with cancer. Later on in the evening we had the opportunity to be a part of the luminary lighting ceremony. It was both beautiful and emotional as we watched the luminaries being lit and took a moment of silence to listen to the bagpipes and follow behind in a procession to remember those lost to cancer and hope for those in the fight. What a wonderful thing to see a community joined together to do what they can to fight this disease that has affected every one of us in some form or another.

Cotillion Year End Dinner

Alas, another Cotillion year has come to an end and as usual the Martine's end it with a bang! This year instead of our normal spot for dinner at the Four Seasons, we had it at the Ritz. Not a bad substitute :-) The evening began with toasts all around for a successful season and continued on with "The Carousel"
A Lazy-Susan laden with Akvavit-cured "Gravlax",
Smoked Idaho Trout, Gulf Shrimp, Dungeness Crablegs, Shelled Maine Lobster Claws,
Goose Liver Paté, "Parma" Prosciutto Ham & "Tartare" of Filet Mignon...and that was just the beginning. We moved onto our next course with Maine Lobster Bisque laced with Sherry & Cognac. (Ok if you're wondering how I'm remembering all the yummy details of each course I have to share my secret...it's called cut and paste from the online menu) The soup was followed by my main entree' Nantucket Day-Boat Scallops Sauté "Belle Meuniere" Pan-seared w/ Mushroom Brown Butter over Mashed Potatoes & fresh Asparagus. So your mouth should be watering right about now...but that's not all. There must be room for dessert! My choice: "Profiteroles", Cream Puffs filled w/ Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, sauced table side with Hot Belgian Chocolate. So one might think this is quite enough to celebrate the years end but not the Martine's. It is a blessing to work for such a wonderful family, and I'm not just saying that because they know how to spoil...even without all the wonderful gifts they always manage to surprise us with, they have been a joy to work for and I look forward to many more years to come. Thanks Martine Cotillion for a wonderful 2007!

Light & Life 1st Annual Heart Gallery

I can hardly believe how fast time flies! It seems like only days ago that I suggested Halogen sponsor a Heart Gallery event and now it's already here and gone. The event was even more than I had expected. I had a wonderful troupe of friends that helped me set up the sat. before...thank you to my faithful friends, Jason & Traci, Izzy & Audrey, and my incredible husband Greg who supports me 100% in whatever I do. Fawnda, from DCFS (Dept. of children and family services) came that evening to help set up as well, thank you Fawnda for all your hard work too! Sunday morning Larry let me address the congregation on the importance of being involved in some capacity with the foster children in our own community. In the Lakewood/Long Beach area alone, there are at least 800 foster children waiting to be adopted! After speaking at both services I had a booth out front to answer questions and take sign ups for those interested in doing more. We had 47 names on that list by the end of the morning and several families were interested in specific children in the gallery. My next step is coordinating an informative class at the church where these interested families can come for more information and get signed up officially to start the paperwork in getting them approved to be host families, foster families, tutors & mentors, and some signed up to be a part of remembering the birthday's of foster children. The day continued with a special service at Halogen's evening service. Johnston Moore, a foster adoption advocate from His Children Inc., came as our special guest speaker and gave a compelling testimony of his own family (they have five children - three they adopted from foster care & two they are fostering that are in the process of being adopted) They were so inspirational and challenged the church on what they are doing to take care of the orphans. Devin followed up with a compelling message that also tied into the need for us to care for these children. During slow worship the church was asked to go around the sanctuary and read the children's biographies and look at their pictures and even more importantly, to pray for each one specifically that they would be placed in a loving family. I want to thank all of you who played a part in making LLCF Heart Gallery a hit, I can't wait to put it on again next year and bring even more attention to the need of our Foster children and what the church specifically can do to make a difference.

Heart Gallery May 3rd

Light & Life Christian Fellowship is hosting the Los Angeles Heart Gallery this Sun. evening at the Halogen service 6 p.m. at 5951 Downey Ave, Long Beach. If you can't make it for this special service you can view the portraits at the 9 a.m/11 a.m. services.

May is the National Foster Care Month - so come on out to learn more about what you can do to make a difference in a young person's life!

National Day of Prayer

This was emailed to me from the AFA - for those of you who are interested...

Meet At City Hall on National Day of Prayer, 2007

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord..." Psalms 33:12

On May 3, I invite you to participate in Meet At City Hall from 12:20 pm to 12:40 pm during the National Day Of Prayer. At thousands of city halls across the country, individuals will gather to pray for a moral rebirth in our country. The National Day of Prayer is an annual event established by an act of Congress which encourages Americans to pray for our nation, its people and its leaders.

Your participation in Meet At City Hall is very simple. Simply show up at your local city hall at 12:20 pm on May 3. There will be others present. Spend the 20 minutes in prayer.

If you want to help promote Meet At City Hall, we suggest you invite members of your Sunday School class or church to join together and organize, as you desire. You can invite some public officials, local pastors, church choirs, etc. to participate. The amount of organization and promotion is entirely up to you. Let us unashamedly take our Light from underneath the basket and set it on a table.

Projects never end...

one thing I've learned about being a home owner is that there seems to be a never ending list of projects to get done...first it's refinishing the floors, painting the rooms, hanging pictures...then they get a bit grander like, remodeling the kitchen & bath. So after a brief respite of working on projects, we're back at it and this time we've decided to install a sprinkler system. Thank goodness my pops has had his share of experience helping three out of his four kids rig up a good system. Greg and I along with the help of some trusty friends (thanks izzy & dad) shed blood sweat and tears digging trenches (ok just sweat). I'm pretty proud to say that Greg and I laid all the pipes not just for the main but also a drip system for my landscaping - yet another project. Next up...laying sod...to be continued.