the matts…

I occasionally get really aggravated with how Republicans are portrayed in national news. Ok, let me be more honest. I very often get aggravated at this. In fact, there are certain shows that I cannot even stomach 5 minutes of anymore (like The View… poor Elizabeth). When Katie Couric left the Today Show I got really nervous of who would be her replacement. She had liberal views, but she managed to keep everything balanced in interviews and on show segments most of the time.

Enter Meredith Viera… her extreme liberal viewpoints coupled with her partnership with Matt Lauer have caused me to grow to hate the show I have watched ever since I can remember. But it’s not all their fault- the shows producers and writers bring on a constant barrage of left-wingers to bash Republicans. It’s pretty much a daily thing. I don’t have a problem with Democrats. I really don’t. I just want Republicans to be represented equally and fairly.

I just think it’s pretty bad when you’re doing a segment and bring on two people to discuss it and they both bash Republicans for 5 minutes. How about you bring on two people with different thoughts and have them duke it out instead? If the shoe was on the other foot and the right-wingers bashed the left-wingers all the time, there would be such a media outcry. I got so disgusted this morning that I was forced to begin a boycott of the Today Show. Hope Good Morning America proves to be a little better.

We are still a little over $1200 away from hitting our financial target for Italy. Like Mike always says: God is rarely early, but He’s always on time. We are still believing that the money will come in and we will be able to make the trip next week. We are getting so excited thinking about all that God has in store for the team while we are gone… Please continue to be in prayer for us and thank you for all your prayers so far!!

On a side note, Hillsong recently came out with a new album called “Savior King“. We sang “To Know Your Name” in church on Sunday and it blew my mind. It’s amazing! The lyrics will rock your world! Check it out!

Yesterday, Chris and I heard the most beautiful, wonderful, amazing sound we have ever heard… the sound of our baby’s little heart beating!!! It really changed everything. I mean yes, I am getting the “bump”. Yes, I feel pretty rough a lot. Yes, I am exhausted constantly. And yes, I definitely know I am pregnant… but hearing that baby’s heart pounding away put things in a whole new light. I am so grateful for this little miracle growing inside of me right now. It’s such a blessing and such an honor and I can’t believe I am going to be a mom in just 6 months!!

Speaking of wonderful babies, check out Rob’s blog for pics of he and Michelle’s new bundle of joy, Novalee Michelle Gros!!

Yesterday in our staff development, Pastor Dino shared a slammin’ Word out of 1 Chronicles 5:18-26. He talked about whether we are people that God can trust to the very end of an assignment. Lot, King Saul, Sampson, Caine, and Absolom were all people who didn’t make it to the end. That’s one list I do not want my name on! Trust in self leads to arrogance, which leads to defeat. God gave Chris and I an assignment to get to Italy on this missions trip, and though by human standards it seems impossible financially, I want to show Him that He can trust us.

It’s so funny to me… it’s not really an issue of whether we can trust Him. Of course we can trust Him! Why do we ever doubt that? The question is whether He can trust us…we will fulfill the assignment He has laid out before us, even though it’s a battle? And will we trust Him in that battle? 1 Chronicles 5:20 says, “They were helped in fighting them, and God handed the Hagrites and all their allies over to them, because they cried out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted in him.”

At this point, with all the money we have received and verbal commitments that have been made, we are still somewhere around the $1400 mark from reaching our goal to get to Italy. September 5 we still needed $3600, and now, just two weeks later, $2200 has already come in. Please continue in prayer for us over this… we are are going to finish this assignment, no matter how tough the battle gets!!!

So, I was reading my devotional this morning and couldn’t seem to break away from these words that just kept leaping off the page. They have been haunting me all day… In speaking about Moses in Exodus 2:15-25, Chuck Swindoll writes,

“Do you know who keeps erecting all those unrealistic standards in your life? It’s you…. Our problem isn’t that we’ve failed. Our problem is that we haven’t failed enough. We haven’t been brought low enough to learn what God wants us to learn. We are still trying to redeem Egypt single-handedly…”

“…So what are you trying to prove? Who are you trying to impress?…Plead with the Spirit of God to prepare you, then use you, however He pleases, dark side and all.“

Um… ouch? I’ll just let you meditate on that. I pray that it speaks to you as much as it spoke to me.

Voter Registration ends on Wednesday, September 19th (that’s today)! In order to vote in the October 20th statewide primary, you must be registered to vote. Visit your parish registrar of voters or clerk of court to turn in your registration form. It is so important that we take responsibility as citizens, but more importantly as Christians. Politicians don’t just control roads and taxes, but abortion rights, gay marriage, religious freedom, and many family issues. They make many decisions that will directly affect the lives of us and our children. Get educated on the candidates and the issues, then get out and vote. It really does matter.

Many of you have asked about Italy… we still have somewhere around $2000 to raise in the next week or so. At this point, we know we have worked very, very hard and honestly done all that we know to do to raise this money. So, we are just going to have to sit back and let God show off and provide this money in ways we never imagined. Maybe it will come in one big check, maybe 20 people will send in $100, I don’t know. Please stay in prayer for this.

So you may have heard about the lady caught smoking pot while taking care of 6 children under the age of 3. You may have also heard that it was all part of an investigation to uncover a drug ring in and around Baton Rouge. DEA and local cops busted in on 6 residences yesterday to gain evidence. Guess where one of those residences was?… In the apartment directly above us! And guess who witnessed it all?… ME!!!

I woke up to what I thought was a gun-shot, people being thrown on the ground so hard that our ceiling shook, and lots of screaming. So, after I freaked out for a second, I went to the door to leave, but stopped when I heard several men running down the stairs and swarming the building. So, after I threw up a little in my mouth and called my husband in hysterics, I shoved some stuff in a bag and took off running out the door. I thought that a drug deal had gone bad and someone was coming to collect! On the way out I saw some uniformed cops and some other men standing outside the apartment, so I made sure everything was in order and got the heck out.

Chris left work and went home to check on the apartment and find out what happened. By that time there was a SWAT team, drug dogs, lots of uniformed cops and even more undercover, plus all the police cars that could fit in the parking lot. Chris spoke with one large undercover officer, and all he could say was that they were executing a search warrant. The noise I thought was a gun-shot was them bashing in the steel door. It all started to make sense.

Then, news breaks that police invaded 6 residences yesterday to uncover a drug ring. I have been living underneath this for a year! I mean I love Law & Order and cop dramas, but I never said I wanted to live in one!!! Pray for protection for us… we need it!

Ok, so it may be a little early for some of you to be thinking about Christmas already… But once again Children’s Cup is doing something amazing for the kids in Africa and I wanted to make sure you knew! Each year they have a huge Christmas party for all of the children at the CarePoints. It’s an opportunity to give them a chance to enjoy being a kid. For some who are elementary age and are the heads of their households, this is something they can only dream of doing.

This year, Children’s Cup has special Christmas cards that they’ll be sending to Africa. Here’s the deal: they’ll send you the cards now to fill out with a personal note to a child (and a picture of you or your family if you’d like) along with $6. This covers the cost of the party and buys the child a Christmas gift. Then, with a second piece of the card, the child who receives your gift will fill in a note to be sent back to you! I’m sorry, but that’s so incredible!

Can you imagine? A child’s Christmas will be completely rocked because of $6?! It seems like so little here, but there it can make all the difference. Chris and I are going to do a few cards every month through November. Their party is in early December, so Children’s Cup needs all the money and cards in by then. I challenge you to sacrifice a little every month so that some kids in Africa will be blessed this Christmas. How many cards will you send?

To order cards, email info@childrenscup.org.

Our needed funds have been reduced down to about $2300 due to some very generous givers… so, we have that much to raise in 3 weeks. After our meeting last night with Scott Steelman from Italy for Christ, we have never wanted to go as badly as we do now. He outlined exactly what we are going to be do while we are there and it’s going to be such an opportunity of a lifetime. Please continue praying for the funds to come in so we can fulfill this amazing dream! And don’t forget about the garage sale this weekend at Gayla and Steve’ house!

We still have almost $3000 dollars to raise in under three weeks! Please believe with us that the money will come in. Also, we still need a lot of stuff for our garage sale this weekend. If you or anyone you know has anything, please email me at meghan.matt@healingplacechurch.org so we can arrange a pick-up. Thank you in advance!!!