the matts:

So I realized this morning I haven’t gotten to tell you about last weekend when Chris’ family came in town! We went to Slaughter for a family reunion, and I met a lot of people. Chris’ Granny is one of 13 kids, so there were tons of people there. The best part was getting to hang out with Lauren and Chase. We had such a blast! Check out some pictures:

Also, don’t forget about the KICKBALL TOURNAMENT tomorrow from 1-3pm at Highland Road Park. It’s going to be so fun! (I will only be watching, of course, and partaking in free snoballs!) Check out Mike’s blog for some hilarious videos. I’ll post some pictures of the festivities soon!

Johnny Green tore it up last night at Life U with some great lessons from the life of Hosea. If you want to hear the whole message, order it from the product booth… but I have to share some things I learned. Hosea is killer!

God told Hosea to marry a prostitute. Hosea’s entire life was an illustration of God’s relationship with the Israelites (they were unfaithful time after time, and He always took them back and showed them unending compassion). I got rolled up with this verse: Hosea 6:6- “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.” It’s not about what we do for God or His people, but it’s about our relationship with Him. He wants us to be familiar, intimate with Him. I can’t be so busy serving God that I don’t know Him! Sometimes it’s easy to get wrapped up in the “ministry”- we see all the acts of service we do and we think that’s enough. God just wants true relationship with us- that’s what we were created for!!

Something else Johnny pointed out was great: The pathway to idolatry is through your greatest need. Satan tempted Jesus with bread, because that’s the thing He needed most. What does the devil tempt you with? What do you feel is your greatest need? Financial security? Then money will be your god… Companionship? Then you’ll fall for the first person who walks through the door… Power or recognition? Then you will do or say anything to be noticed or promoted. We have to quit worrying about fitting into culture and focus on fitting into HIS standard.

The greatest lesson of this whole story is God’s compassion and unfailing love. He has a passionate desire to take us back when we drift away. He doesn’t act out of impulse or anger, but out of His purpose for us. He sacrificially faithful, no matter how unfaithful we are! He blows my mind!!!

Several people have walked by my desk and seen the book I’m reading, with the immediate response of, “That’s the Starbucks book!” God bless Starbucks for getting people interested in this story, but they have nothing to do with this. You HAVE GOT TO read this book. Yes, I love Africa and people might say I am biased, but if you are human, this story will affect you. Go here to check out more info on this amazing book. Here’s a excerpt from the website.

“A gripping story of a child’s journey through hell and back. There may be as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s, in more than fifty conflicts around the world. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. He is one of the first to tell his story in his own words.

In A LONG WAY GONE, Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells a riveting story. At the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humanity and to reenter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion. This is, at last, a story of redemption and hope.”

This book will change your life. Period. Don’t want your world rocked? Don’t read it.

You have to go to Carole Turner’s blog to check out this great post. I didn’t read it at first because it looked a little lengthy, but now that I have read it, I think everyone else needs to as well. Political or not, worried about the environment or not, if you care about anything that’s going on in America right now- read this!

Terry Olivier did a SLAMMIN’ job preaching at Late Nite on Saturday. It was his first time to preach in that setting (he speaks at Refuge frequently) and he amazing. It is refreshing to see that this ministry really is secure and has a huge future with guys like him behind the wheel. His message on “What is Love?” was so strong, and he offered great insight that I had never heard before. You should order a copy from the products booth if you weren’t there to hear it.

Also, Elevate full-time and Dan Ohlerking are in Africa right now. Check out their blog here. They also all have individual pages that they have been blogging on since they got there… you can link to most of them from my blog roll.

Finally, check out a blog by Jason Laird here and then see what Pastor Dino said here about the same guy. Marcel Terrebone and his family are a huge asset and blessing to HPC and I’m glad they are getting the shout-outs they deserve!!!

As most of you know by now, Chris and I will be traveling with Late Nite in October to bring the gospel of Christ to Italy. Together we must raise $7000- this amount covers airfare, transportation, meals, lodging, ministry supplies, and a care package for the missionaries. Through various types of outreaches, giveaways, and concert-type events, we hope to reach thousands of college students on campuses in the area.

We are making our babysitting and cleaning services available to you for the next few months in order to help raise the necessary funds for the trip. Chris and I will baby-sit together on various nights, and I will clean on Mondays during the day. Please contact me by email (meghan.matt@healingplacechurch.org) or on my cell (if you have the number) if you would like to employ our wonderful services. Y’all are the best! Thank you in advance for thinking of us!

Ok, girls… we need to step it up! I was organizing my blog arrangement on netvibes today, and I realized that I read way more guys’ blogs than girls’ blogs. So I did some looking around, and I discovered that I really do know more guys with blogs than girls. This upsets me! Of the blogs I read consistently, 6 are families and of those 6, the man in the family is almost always the writer. (This doesn’t include the blog I share with my hubby who never posts!) In addition to family sites, I read 9 girls’ blogs, and 15 guys’ blogs!

Ladies, what’s the deal? I realize that there a lot of girlie blogs out there that I don’t read, but that’s because they’re either boring or rarely posted on. The fact is, there are a lot of random, funny, and spiritual blogs out there written by dudes who post very frequently.

Are there any good girl blogs that I am missing out on?
(P.S. The word “blog” was mentioned 12 times in this post, including the one in this sentence)

Ok, so I know I have posted twice today, but I had to make sure everyone reads Ps. Dino’s blog entry for today. It is STRONG!

So, I am pretty much the most grateful person in the universe right now. Pastor Dino did an amazing job with Staff Meeting and Sub30 today, and some of the things he said really hit home. I won’t give you all the points, but I want to share some of my favorites.

He first discussed Psalm 84:10 and what it means to be a doorkeeper. It’s such an honor to just be on the edge of what God is doing! I would rather scrub floors in the House of God than be an honored guest in a palace of sin!

Marks of an MVA (Most Valuable Assistant, because we are all assistants in the House)
*Get the job done without drama- can’t be quarrelsome and must be able to contain emotions
*Address your ego- let go of selfishness and schedules
*Always be respectful- even though some people are really hard to be respectful to
*Tremendous people skills- can’t say “That’s just the way I am”- that’s defeat!
*Be likable- can’t be a barrier to what God is doing in someone’s life or will do later

How do you keep loving what you’re doing?
*Expect moments that aren’t pretty- see the ugly stuff and still love it
*Receive and look for correction- correction is attached to anything life-giving
*Accept the litter you were born into- your family at home and your family in the House
*Don’t take it for granted- God can do it without you, so be grateful!

YES!! My day was made yesterday when he was FINALLY voted off American Idol! Now the competition can really begin. My favorites are Jordin Sparks and Blake Lewis. Jordin has the best voice, plus in every article I read on her it portrays that she holds Christian values, which I obviously appreciate. Blake is the most talented overall musician and definitely has something that no one else on the show has ever had.

I know Melinda is a favorite to win, but if she does, she will end up just like Fantasia, Reuben, Taylor- one decent single that sells a decent amount of copies, then falls off the radar. Fantasia is starring on Broadway right now which is amazing, but she wasn’t much of an “American Idol”. Kelly and Carrie are the only winners who have had success and longevity, and it’s not necessarily because they were the best singers, but they had the most star quality.

Who do you think should win? Who do you think will win? Why?

Baby Hudson is now officially off the ventilator, and Gena is on the way to the hospital to hold him for the first time! He is still on the oxygen, but his lungs are expanding and collapsing on their own, so that’s great news! There are a few more things he needs to do before he can go home, but we are believing God it will be sooner rather than later!!

My devotional this morning was really good, so I wanted to expound on some of it with you. (The lessons come from the story of Joseph, specifically Genesis 39:1-6. )

The first great point is that God was the secret to Joseph’s success, not luck. It also says that Joseph found favor with Potiphar- he didn’t ask favors. This just made me think of times when I ask for blessings at work when I should be more concentrated on going the second mile for others instead.

It goes on to discuss the temptations that come with prosperity. For the record, Chris and I are not exactly “ballin’ outta control”, but we do have enough to pay our bills, get a few extras now and then, and give some away. We are blessed with amazing families and incredible jobs. We have some of the best friends in the world. I would consider that pretty prosperous. The temptations that come with prosperity are far greater (and far more subtle) than those that accompany adversity. No longer are we worried about just having faith that God will come through- now we are faced with greed, deceit, and all those ugly sins that creep up on us when things get “peachy”.

Thomas Carlyle wrote,”Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man, but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity”. In other words, for every 100 people who face adversity and get through it, there is only one who is prosperous and maintains righteousness. That’s rough!

What are your thoughts?

I got this off Dan’s blog… (click on it to see a larger image) It definitely hits a nerve in me! What about you?

So Chris and I have been taking the month of April to really press in and seriously pray our hearts out about our future. Here are some questions we are asking God:

*Do we move to Africa or just do frequent short-terms trips there?
*How many kids to we adopt? From where? And most importantly- when?
*Do we adopt first or get pregnant first? And should I quick trying to control pregnancy by human means and just leave it all up to God?
*How are we going to raise $7000 for our mission trip in October?
*When should we begin the process of buying a house?
*We need patience!

As you can see, we have a lot on our minds. Ultimately, we just want clarity. Like Johnny said this weekend: God is the compass- He points us to Him and everything else falls into place. But we want MapQuest with step-by-step details!!! We will be attending the adoptions workshop at the end of the month and we pray that will help give us some of the answers we need.

We hope that you will join with us in prayer for these things! We could really use your support, prayers, and encouragement.