Terribly Interesting

The other evening Denbigh and I were invited to a most exquisite Christmas party at the home of the Mohon family. It was refreshing and beyond lovely. As we were departing, a gift was handed to us. That gift was Handel's Messiah. I have been in love with this oratorio since a friend played violin in it several years back. This year the Holy Spirit kept telling me to get a copy and I was just about to buy it off ITunes when the generous Mohons handed us the cd set. Marcus Mohon always has a great story (that is beautifully embellished to get you excited) to accompany everything. He was telling us how Handel composed the Messiah. If you know me, you know I had to study up on the story. What I read I know is the message the Holy Spirit had for me when He told me to seek out the Messiah (and was so graciously handed it by the Mohons)... Over the last few months, I have been terribly discouraged, attacked, and beat down by the enemy. This enemy has been using Christians to do his work a...

I was just reading a comment about how the devil loves to play dress up and it made me think of Santa. This is something that comes to my heart and mind every year. Please do not be offended if you "do" Santa. It is just something we are personally convicted about and I thought we would share some of the reasons we feel this way. Mostly, I do not like the idea of lying to children - even in the spirit of holiday fun. Here is the post, No Santa For Us , from Justin Childer's blog. Just FYI, in case you want to share instead that Santa is from a Catholic saint, the Catholic church says he never existed. Another Great Article: The Great Imposter

December 13 from A.W. Tozer Trials and Pain: The Sharp Blade of the Plow Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you. --Hosea 10:12 The fallow field is smug, contented, protected from the shock of the plow and the agitation of the harrow.... But it is paying a terrible price for its tranquility: Never does it see the miracle of growth; never does it feel the motions of mounting life nor see the wonders of bursting seed nor the beauty of ripening grain. Fruit it can never know because it is afraid of the plow and the harrow. In direct opposite to this, the cultivated field has yielded itself to the adventure of living. The protecting fence has opened to admit the plow, and the plow has come as plows always come, practical, cruel, business-like and in a hurry. Peace has been shattered by the shouting farmer and the rattle of machinery. The field has felt the travail of change;...

Austin Family Wins Home Makeover This show has never failed to make me cry and you consistently see the people thanking God for their new home (as seen in this article). I want to run over there and see the progress! Protest of Victoria's Secret Spreads As you all know, I have been boycotting Victoria's Secret and the mall! I am glad to see that others are willing to stand up to Victoria's vile ways. Has Rocky Balboa Been Born Again? I'd tell you that this is for my husband, but I am secretly a huge fan of Rocky!

The Village at Copper We have the blessed privilege to go to Copper Mountain, Colorado this week courtesy of Current Elijah Ministries. We anticipate a week of blessing, encouragement, prayer, great food, and joy! Please be in prayer for us as we travel and hear from God on our retreat. May God pour out His blessing and favor on you this Christmas season!

“It's the national addiction: warmth on chilly winter nights, innocence on Saturday afternoons, the essence of hearth, home and blissful abandon.” ~Patricia Linden

"It's like having breakfast with a good friend."- Marge Thanks, Marge. You encourage me. Just found this review on Barnes and Noble: a God-lover, A reviewer, 11/03/2006 Both convicting and encouraging at the same time! What an amazingly honest and refreshing devotional book! Stephanie shares both her victories and her struggles through this insightful, Holy Spirit driven guide for better intimacy with God. Don't be without this book!!

Denbigh took these photos at my parents house. Enjoy.

"in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NASB)

A year ago today my brother passed away. Today, in God's sweet and beautiful irony I was allowed to minister to a family who lost a husband, father, brother, and friend who was near the same age as my brother. Pray with me that this sweet family finds complete healing in the arms of our tender Savior. But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the lifter of my head. Psalm 3:3

God has been teaching me more and more about Himself through prayer in the last few months. More than anything, the Holy Spirit has used the words of Andrew Murray to bring the hammer down in my life and reveal my responsibility in the relationship. Andrew Murray prayed for 5 hours each day. He believed that what was accomplished in the spiritual realm was the only thing effective and nothing he could do in the physical realm could accomplish what merely asking God could do. He said, " If you want the power of Heaven called down on earth, You have to call it down." That is your blessed ability. We seldom choose it. On Monday I was telling Denbigh that I felt like God was wanting me to focus specifically on prayer during the next couple months and ask Him to do some specific things. As I showed up to hear Beth Moore speak on Tuesday, you will never guess what she was talking about. Yes, prayer. Specifically, she issued an 8 week prayer challenge to us. Don't you love God...

I met them... the faithful remnant, the anawinn in Hebrew, ragamuffins in the vernacular (from Brennan Manning). Warmth. Kindness. The love of the Father. Deeply tender pastor. That is what we experienced at The First Baptist Church of Santa Anna, TX. I wish I could convey to you what this experience was like for us. It was refreshing to see a group of people who were not about the business of the church. They were simply being the church. Beautiful. (I hate having my picture taken) Our speaker Robert Barge from Wherever Ministries. He was challenging, convicting, and wonderfully down to earth. I took several pages of notes. Here are some highlights: * If you have ever blamed a minister for your lack of spiritual growth, you might need a personal revival. There are 2 prodigals in the story of the prodigal son. One went to live in open sin and his heart yearned to return to his father. He was restored. The other was the older brother who was there physically and yet worked begrudgingly...

Denbigh has been home less than 24 hours and we are off again to lead worship for a revival in Santa Anna, TX. We have been exceptionally busy and we are praising God for that. May we stay busy as long as He will allow us to be fruitful. Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and minister. *Pray for much rest, anointing, and fruit for us. *Pray for a new guitar for Denbigh (his received an enormous crack in it during his travels to Maine this week. We believe it was dropped in transit). They are around $1,500.00 +. *Pray Denbigh has a fabulous birthday on Tuesday the 7th. Think of him when you are voting. We return Thursday.

My first set of books arrived via UPS today. Those words appear terribly calm as I write them. I am not calm. I am an author. I must now think of how I can live a more eccentric daily existence. The 93 page devotional is for sale at a cost of 10 dollars. Stop by and pick up your copy. You can also order them online. Patina on Barnes & Noble Patina on Pleasant Word Bookstore (I feel like Bob in the movie What About Bob when he goes sailing for the first time. He keeps telling everyone, " I am a sailor. I sail.") I am a writer. I write.

I haven't received my first allotment of books yet (they should be here anytime), but I did see that the book is already showing up for sale in a few online bookstores. It is quite exhilarating. I can't wait to have the book in hand. I will have a book release party. Excitement. I am a writer. Writers write and people read it. This fascinates me. I am one of those people. This is terribly interesting. Thanks be to God who uses the foolish and the weak in spite of themselves. May He receive all glory! Patina on Barnes & Noble Patina on Pleasant Word Bookstore

Here are a few pictures from our little bit of time sight seeing - of course, the Hollywood sign. I found that the area of Hollywood and Vine and Sixth Street in Austin are almost identical. The local/eclectic people could have easily been transplanted there from our lovely/unique capital city. I actually could not tell the difference. I was on the lookout for Audrey Hepburn's star..and somehow got distracted by a pizzeria. I love how Johnny Cash reads the Bible on cd ...so I took this photo of his star. Wedding! Casha & Coleman, may God pour out His Spirit on you as you strive to honor and cherish one another. It was a lovely wedding and reception. The dinner was lovely and the flowers exquisite. Flower girl... This moment got me! This man Loves his daughter more than any I have ever seen and it was one of the most beautiful moments I have ever been privleged to be a part of. This is my nephew, Cooper, doing the twist with Denbigh's brother, Brice. Nana is one of the most ...

The Cherry family will be covering America coast to coast in the next few days. Denbigh is headed to the east coast of Maine to lead worship at a four day event with Voddie Baucham. I (and the baby in the belly) are headed to the west coast to Los Angeles to attend a wedding. Keep us all in your prayers. Pray anointing, spiritual fruit, and protection over us. Thank you. May the God of all peace bless you and keep you (and us).

This evening, the publisher called and said they had the first copy of Patina laying on their desk. I will have a copy in my hand in a week. I think I am in shock that this has actually occurred. I wrote a book. Some small part of me is waiting for some catastrophe to happen and me to never see this book. By the end of the evening, I had actually managed to become discouraged and depressed. I keep reminding myself that if the devil can't stop me, he will atleast try to steal my joy. This is how you know you are doing what you are called to do . . . attack. The funny thing is that you never totally grasp that in the moment. You just feel beat down. You feel like no one actually loves you and all your work is in vain. You feel empty. You keep asking yourself why people don't encourage you and you take the martyr's pose. Truth is, it doesn't matter. People are not meant to satisfy. God alone satisfies. It is hard to be this honest. I just told God I was feeling attacked ...

El retazo, the remnant. rem‧nant  [rem-nuhnt] –noun 1. a remaining, usually small part, quantity, number, or the like. 2. a fragment or scrap. 3. a small, unsold or unused piece of cloth, lace, etc., as at the end of a bolt. 4. A surviving trace or vestige: a remnant of his past glory. –adjective 5.remaining; leftover. ( a small part or portion that remains after the main part no longer exists ) Why are definitions so intriguing? You can tell a true logophile by their love of definitions. The richness it communicates cannot be shared by trying to capture something in a single word. I love this definition number four. A surviving trace or vestige: a remnant of his past glory. In the past few weeks I have beheld the remnant. I have seen miracles among God's people that have brought me to my physical knees to worship. This past Sunday I was privaleged to look on as 2 of my friend's saw their children be baptised. One was a foster child and my friend wondered what she had to off...

Reading revelation Chapter 18 the other day I saw something I had not noticed in my reading before. I have read these few chapters about the wickedness of Babylon several times and studied it at church. I grasped that Baylon was being described as a harlot who lured men into her iniquity. This time in reading it, something in particular struck me. It is Chapter 18, verse 4. "I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;" COME OUT OF HER! I think in my other translations it said "come away from her" or something not quite so posing. This time the extreme sexual nature of these chapters was standing out to me. God was not just saying to His people to get on their camel and come home. He was saying for them to take their "male part" out of her and quit making her wickedness fertile with their seed. Come out of her! These people, God's people, Us were...

We loved being there on Sunday night. Denbigh led worship at their Greenhouse gathering. It was excellent. The worship was already thick in that place long before we ever arrived. We were embraced by an overwhelming sense that the Holy Spirit was well pleased to dwell there. We loved it! (My spanish word of the day: el efecto invernadero - meaning greenhouse effect) GHWG.blogspot.com Alamo City Chrisitan Fellowship

Yesterday, I happened to look down at the floor and I noticed something. I can no longer see my toes when I look straight down. I was explaining this to Denbigh and he couldn't believe I couldn't see my toes and then he got distracted talking to the baby in my belly. This led me to an attempt to photograph my vantage point. I have found that the decreased blood flow to the head makes it quite easy to amuse myself. I actually enjoy this aspect of pregnancy. I laugh all the time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ On to more serious matters, I do not pray enough. I am praying. I love praying. I am praying and probably look great if I compared myself to some people, but I am not praying as one who has lived through the fire and been delivered from the lion's mouth. I pray as one who merely believes. I am desperate to pray as one who trusts, as Andrew Murray says, that my prayer calls upon the power of God Himself. (God, help me pray more boldly and trustingly. Let me know ...

Denbigh and I have started working on a Legacy album to preserve the legacy of what God has done for our families throughout the generations (like the stones Joshua set up in Joshua 4). We have been going through some wonderful old photos and I thought I would post a few. Here are a few of Denbigh's paternal grandparents, Nana and Granday (Delmon and Jean Cherry). They had a powerful spiritual effect on my husband. It is one I hope he passes along. Granday was dying of cancer last year and still witnessing to people from his death bed.

Conviction and repentance have come to my house this week. I have been shown 3 ways in which I am not pleasing in my various studies. I do these things, but not on the levels that God has and is calling me to do them. Things in my life are shifting toward a more thankful existance. I thank God that He never allows us to become stagnant in His Word. As I look at the amazing things that have been accomplished in my life by the Mighty hand of God, I am ashamed of how little I have loved, prayed, and praised. You do not love. You do not pray. You do not glorify. "But the God in whose hand are your life breath and your ways, you have not glorified." -Daniel 5: 23 "And He said to them, "It is written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'... -Matthew 21:13 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." -John 13:35 "Praise and Prayer 7 I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds f...

This book is an absolute Must Read. I bought a copy for my brother the minute I finished...and I took 9 pages of notes from it. I am sure you will hear more about it. Synopsis: Brennan Manning believes that all changes in the quality of life must grow out of a change in our vision of reality. Calling into question the prevailing vision of God as a remote overlord who alternately purveys judgment and blessings to his creatures below, Manning shows how this distorted image of God leads to a spirituality that is shallow and ultimately in conflict with the message of the Gospel. Rooted in the author's compelling grasp of God as a loving parent, The Wisdom of Tenderness gently invites us to embrace the unfathomable mercy, grace, and love of God. By relating to God as a loving parent with the heart of tenderness, we can develop a spiritual life that allows us to let go of worry, stop organizing everything as a means to an end, and begin to live fully in the awareness of God's infini...

John 13:35 (Amplified Bible) By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]. This is one of my favorite Scriptures and it brings forth a powerful question. If the only distinguishing characteristic of a disciple is love, would your position be apparent to others? Would they recognize you by your love?

"One of life's great paradoxes is that it's in the crucible of pain and suffering that we become tender. To these elements must be added mourning, understanding, patience, love, and the willingness to remain vulnerable. Together they will lead to wisdom and tenderness." -Brennan Manning, The Wisdom Of Tenderness