Faith, Hope, & Department Stores

My love, Carlo asked me to guest post on his blog today.  You can check out my thoughts on these three things here.

Guest Blogging

Carlo is headed out town for Catalyst today, so he asked me to do a guest post for him.  You can read that post here.

Stop Child Trafficking Now

I posted most of this blog last week, but it's something that needs to be posted again.  Yesterday, our county mayor proclaimed September as Stop Child Trafficking Now Month, and talked about the need to be aware of this initiative.  Please read, consider signing up in Clarksville to walk with us, or if you live somewhere else, see if there is a walk going on in your city and sign up to walk there.


At Xtreme we're passionate about a lot of things.  One of those things is Stop Child Trafficking Now.  SCTNow is an organization dedicated to eradicating the child sex trafficking industry.  SCTNow works to cut out the demand for child sex slaves.  "Special Ops" teams are deployed to track and help bring to justice the men and women who purchase the lives of children the world over to fulfill their sick and depraved fantasies.  In a supply and demand culture as long as the demand for child sex slaves is high, children will continue to be exploited.  September 24th I'll be joining with others from across the country for the STCNow Walk/Run.  My personal goal is to raise $250 to help fund the great work SCTNow does.  You can follow the link below to read a little more about SCTNow and what they do, and you can also give in my name.  If you feel compelled, search for your city and see if a walk is being sponsored.  Sign up (there's no registration fee), get some sponsors, and help make a change in the world.

http://events.sctnow.org/site/TR/Events/General?

SCTNow

At Xtreme we're passionate about a lot of things.  One of those things is Stop Child Trafficking Now.  SCTNow is an organization dedicated to eradicating the child sex trafficking industry.  SCTNow works to cut out the demand for child sex slaves.  "Special Ops" teams are deployed to track and help bring to justice the men and women who purchase the lives of children the world over to fulfill their sick and depraved fantasies.  In a supply and demand culture as long as the demand for child sex slaves is high, children will continue to be exploited.  September 24th I'll be joining with others from across the country for the STCNow Walk/Run.  My personal goal is to raise $250 to help fund the great work SCTNow does.  You can follow the link below to read a little more about SCTNow and what they do, and you can also give in my name.  If you feel compelled, search for your city and see if a walk is being sponsored.  Sign up (there's no registration fee), get some sponsors, and help make a change in the world.

http://events.sctnow.org/site/TR/Events/General?

Change

Last week was crazy for me.  I walked into work on Monday to be told that Wednesday would be last day.  Talk about having the floor drop out from under you.  My employers are friends and this wasn't a personal decision in the least.  Their hands were tied by the need for someone with education and training I didn't have and to be perfectly honest, I didn't really want.  While I was devastated by the announcement my boss went on to tell me that all weekend she'd prayed and cried and prayed and cried about this decision.  She cried because we are friends and she loved me and didn't want to let me go, and she prayed that I would find a job better than the one I had with her and her husband.


I'd text Carlo at the radio to let him know what was going on, and he told his co-host.  Well, on Tuesday morning as we were pulling into my office, Carlo got a call telling him about 3-4 positions that were available with the county and he was passed along a message about another position with the sheriff's dept (where a friend works and said to let him know if we needed any help with the application process).  


Thursday morning Carlo & I trooped down to the Career Center to get my name in the system so I could start looking for available jobs.  Unfortunately all the jobs that fit my skill-set required degrees in engineering and stuff.  There were three I was qualified for: customer service coordinator with a local retailer, teacher in a day care (not jumping on that ship again), and customer service at national oil change place (I'm not mechanically inclined and I can't drive a stick).  I dropped my application off with the retailer and decided to go over to the mall just to see what was up (too bad Border's is closing-they're right up my alley).  Carlo reminded me that we had a friend who is in management with Belk's Department Stores.  We went to see said friend and she says to me, "Fill out an application, we need 2 people in ladies."  I filled out the application, but the hiring manager was out of town until this week.  Monday I got a call to come in for an interview on Wednesday.  Wednesday morning it got rescheduled to today at 11.  And the results of said interview?  You are reading the blog of the new Ladies Dept. Sales Associate at Belk's Department Store!  The cool thing?  It's just what my former employer prayed - better salary and I get benefits, something they weren't able to provide.  Through it all God has proven Himself faithful to me and my family through some unexpected blessings and I know that this is just the beginning of something fun and new, a change.

SCTNow

At Xtreme we're passionate about a lot of things.  One of those things is Stop Child Trafficking Now.  SCTNow is an organization dedicated to eradicating the child sex trafficking industry.  SCTNow works to cut out the demand for child sex slaves.  "Special Ops" teams are deployed to track and help bring to justice the men and women who purchase the lives of children the world over to fulfill their sick and depraved fantasies.  In a supply and demand culture as long as the demand for child sex slaves is high, children will continue to be exploited.  This September I'll be joining with others from across the country for the STCNow Walk.  My personal goal is to raise $250 to help fund the great work SCTNow does.  You can follow the link below to read a little more about SCTNow and what they do, and you can also give in my name.  If you feel compelled, search for your city and see if a walk is being sponsored.  Sign up (there's no registration fee), get some sponsors, and help make a change in the world.

http://events.sctnow.org/site/TR/Events/General?

You Know You're Part of the Xtreme Family If...

I've been talking about this blog post for a while, and thanks to Kevin, Heather, & Jayce, I've got all the material I need.  Let me make this disclaimer now:  I am in no way, shape, form, or fashion being malicious or talking about any specific person!  These are things I have noticed that make up the fabric & culture of Xtreme.  Our awesome family wouldn't be what it is if these things weren't part of our make-up, so please unwad your unmentionables and laugh, I think I was pretty clever with this.

1. You think a punch to the face could be a reasonable response to someone's stupidity.
2. You think that punch to the face is actually showing grace to the person, they need so much more.
3. You think playing Corn Hole is a must if there are more than 2 men present at "Chick Fest."
4. You know what "Chick Fest" refers to and you know that you risk a punch to the face if you persist in using that name.
5. If you get the reference, "It smells like a sweaty **** sack." - (Sorry for the crudeness.)
6. When every time you write a word that starts with "ex," you want to leave of the "e" and just start the word with "x."
7. Your pastor finds a way to work the phrase, "punch in the face," into every message, even those talking about love.

That's all I've got.  If you have something more, let me hear them!

Why *I* Love Xtreme

Yes, I know Carlo did 4 posts about why our family loves Xtreme, but I have to piggy-back and add something he missed.


I love Xtreme because of the worship.  Kevin, our worship leader, does (in my opinion) a great job of balancing newer worship songs with hymns and older stuff.  I think it creates this wonderful atmosphere of worshiping the Lord and then being drawn in and reminded of when you first fell in love with Him.  I love that Kevin doesn't look down on hymns or older songs, but instead looks the message and intent of the song.  He leads our church before the Father and sets such a sweet atmosphere to hear the Word.


Don't get me wrong, I loved worship at our old church, but it was different.  Not bad, just different from Kevin's style.


The thing is, since our first service at Xtreme, I've felt this wonderful presence of God during worship.  I know any lack of feeling is on me, and not who's leading, but I do think that the fact that I'm not responsible for anything but spending time with Jesus helps.  I always get a little jolt when I hear songs I sang at 15 and 16 when I first got saved.  Those songs obviously hold a special place in my heart, and when I'm singing around the house just worshiping God, they are the ones I usually sing.  I think there is still power in those songs, because of who they are about.  When we don't forget that, and look past the fact that they are 15+ years old, they can still move.  I know this to be true because I see people who claim they aren't very "churchy or religious" like everyone else clapping their hands and spending some serious time with God, not realizing what's happening in their hearts.


That's why I love Xtreme.

The Chapter Has Come to a Close

Tonight was our last service at Clarksville First Assembly of God.  We have put an end to 6 1/2 years of ministry there.  For Carlo and I, tonight was very bittersweet.  We were sad to say goodbye to friends and people who are like family to us, but we're also excited about the next chapter of our lives.

We don't have a definite answer to the, "Where are you going next?" question.  We can and will say that Carlo will be speaking at Xtreme Ministries the first 3 Sundays of August.  We are pretty positive that we will be the lead pastors at Xtreme, but we haven't been told we have the position and we aren't going to presume.

The church gave us a going-away reception tonight after service.  Pastor Montoya had a money tree set up for people to bless us and show us their appreciation for our time of ministry at the church.  This totally took us by surprise.  Even more humbling was the attendance at the reception, and the gifts we were given.  We never expected or asked for it, but God is good and we were blessed beyond compare tonight.

Stay tuned to find out what's going on around here!

Stupid Decisions

Yesterday I read a blog that talked about stupid decisions. The blogged really touched on the murder of football star Steve McNair, and how his one stupid decision led to many more that ultimately led to his death. The author of the blog talked about phrases like, "But for the grace of God there go I," and how just one decision we make affects so many others. I don't know if you know about the the "Butterfly Effect" if you've seen the movie (extremely lame), or possibly the episode of Scrubs (hilarious), but basically, the "Butterfly Effect" is this: if you kill a butterfly that lands somewhere around you, how would the ripples of this affect the world. Could that butterfly be the last of its kind and now that you've killed it before it could reproduce it's extinct and we will no longer enjoy it's beauty? Did it have pollen from a tree attached to its legs that when combined with the pollen of another plant in just the right combination it produced a new type of plant that could lead to the cure of a terminal disease? The possibilities are endless, just as the possibilities are endless if you don't kill the butterfly. So why the ramble? This: When we make decisions in life the ripple of those decisions carry on through our lives. The one lie we tell turns into many more until lying becomes second nature and we can't separate truth from fiction anymore. The one person we go too far with on that innocent date leads to going further and further until we're trapped in a life on sexual sin that we don't no how to escape. That party where everyone was drinking and smoking out. You decide one drink and one joint won't hurt. Next thing you know you're on the streets doing whatever you can to score a fix. I read a Sweet Valley High book when I was younger about a girl who was pretty popular in high school despite some physical disabilities. She went to a party one night and people started doing cocaine. She made the decision to try it. Well that one hit sent her into cardiac arrest and she died. Keep in mind that this was just a book, but I'm pretty positive stuff like this happens everyday. A few years ago I had the pleasure of hearing Josh Mayo speak. He talked about playing "Jenga" with life and family. The gist of his talk was about making your family priority in life no matter what, but with lives like the ones you lead in ministry, those choices are crucial to the lives of your children. He talked a lot about making the "Pre-choice Choice." What is the Pre-choice Choice? Simple, you make decisions about things in life before they come up. You make the decision before you have kids that you will raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Church is not a choice they get to make, if they live in your house, they go. You make the choice before you have kids to protect their purity. This means not playing the "They're so cute, just like a little boy/girlfriend" game with your toddlers. It means not labeling them as a heartbreaker. It means teaching them that there are more important things than the opposite sex. Teach them that they have value as a person, in your eyes and God's. Teach them to be young ladies & gentlemen. Show them the respect they need to have for the opposite sex. When the time comes talk about dating and teach them to make the Pre-choice Choices about their dating lives. No solo dates, no places that are quiet, and dark and isolated. No hang ing out in parked cars or in homes with no supervision. All these Pre-Choice choices lead to smart decisions when the time to make a choice comes, because we are set up for success. We've already made the decision to do or not do something, so there is weighing the options, we've already done it.

I think if people did more thinking and planning and made more Pre-Choice Choices, we wouldn't be caught by surprise about things and we would make sounder life choices for ourselves. Whether we make a decision in innocence and don't think about the conequences or

Hail the Conquering Me!

So I just killed a spider in my bedroom. Who cares right? Well, I do. I HATE spiders in a major big way. When you come up with the list of questions to ask God, one of my top 10 is, "Why did you create spiders?"


Now, the big deal about me and this spider is this, it came out of nowhere fast and was headed to somewhere else in my room *very* fast. I didn't have time to do what I normally do (call my hero of a husband to come dispatch it), so I strapped on my big girl clothes and made mincemeat of the thing. Not only did I kill it, but I didn't scream my house down in the process. Usually when I'm forced to deal with killing a spider (or the mutant crickets that want to live in my laundry room) I get this build up of adrenalin and yell or scream as I'm taking care of business. My two boys find it quite amusing to watch, but for me it helps me to get the job done. I know I'm bigger than the spider and it's just doing what it was created to do and what not, but it doesn't have to do that in my house! Today I uttered a quick, "Holy moly!" when I saw it, but then boom....I took care of it. Not big on someone else's list, but I know 3 guys who are going to be mighty proud of my accomplishment when I tell them about it.


How do you handle the one creepy crawly you just can't stand?

Like Flash? Try HTML5

I had a conversation with my mom a couple of weeks ago about not being able to use a lot of Facebook's apps on our iPhones. for those of you with farms or mafia or cafes to manage, you know that not having access to these apps when you are away from your computer can be a pain.

I tried to explain to my mom apple's stance on Flash vs. HTML5. Now truthfully, a lot of this went over my head, but I knew enough to tell her that Flash is ok, but HTML5 is better and that most developers are moving to HTML5. She got the idea of what I was saying but was still upset. I read a blog that Steve Jobs posted on apple's website that helped me to better understand the why. Read his post here and hopefully understand better as well.

David

My baby boy, my promise from God. This little boy is so full of energy and life. I always joke that he moves in two speeds, fast & faster.

I honestly believe he couldn't sit still for 2 minutes if his life or favorite toy depended on it.

He's smart, independent yet definitely "momma's boy." He's rough and tumble and such a dare-devil. My heart has stopped & my stomach dropped so much because of some of his antics.

I know he'll be a bigger handful as he gets older, but I love my David Elijah and I wouldn't take him any other way.

Tony

What can I say about my oldest son? He is a joy to parent. He's smart, compassionate, tuned into the Heart of God. He's got an imagination to rival Mr. Magorium & a his emporium. He's our miracle and I'm so thankful to be his mother. I love that he is totally & completely himself all the time. He's doesn't feel pressured to try and fit in. He does his thing, take him or leave him and guess what....his friends take him. He's so handsome and sweet. I could go on and on about this wonderful son of mine.

Carlo

Words can't can't begin to describe how much this man means to me. He's my best friend and lover. The last 12 years have been so much. He is an amazing father and never ceases to amaze me.

He's talented, humble, funny, sweet, compassionate, and tender. He takes superb care of me and boys. Not just as a provider, but he is our priest, our confidante, our teacher, mentor, sounding board, and strong shoulder. Who could ask for more? I know I couldn't.

Remembering

Today all across the country people are drinking, pinching, using horrible Irish brogues, and so many other things in homage to St. Patrick's Day. Me? I'll have on a green and white polo, I'll do a devotion on the legend of St. Patrick, and I'll whisper a happy birthday.

You see, 7 years ago today our twin daughters, Chloe Suzanne and Alexis Pearl were delivered. They were still-born at 37 weeks, a thought that is still mind-boggling. I won't go into gory details, suffice it to say, my body was shutting down and I was dying so my body fought against "the foreign invaders" that were causing the problems. To say my family was devastated wouldn't do justice to our actual feelings. 37 weeks of expectancy, for me a dream coming true, so many things crashed down on us and it was hard.

I praise God that He healed my body and promised us our precious David. Without the Lord, I never would have made it through my recovery or the subsequent year Carlo spent in Iraq. His grace and mercy are good. My memories of the labor and delivery process are very fuzzy. I remember all the wonderful people from the church who were in the hospital with us, I remember the the girls being born, but I don't have any clear memories, until the nurses brought my precious babies over for me to see and hold. They were gorgeous!! The were feminine versions of their big brother, Tony. They had heads full of black hair I'm sure would curl. Both had their bottom lips sucked in and looked so peaceful.

It took me a couple of years to care about St. Patrick's Day again, but I have slowly started caring about wearing green again and making a nod to my Irish roots. I still whisper a happy birthday to my baby girls though and look forward with anticipation to the day we'll all be reunited.

I confess...
I get really frustrated praying for people who don't truly follow the Lord and live a psuedo religious lifestyle. It's hard to pray for God's will to be done when people are living in direct contradiction to His Word.
Please understand that this is a bit of a rant, because I pray for people the people I have in mind as I write this. What do I pray? That first and foremost they have a real and personal encounter with Jesus so that they can be called His in spirit and in truth. Then I pray for the situations they are in because I never know, those very situations might be the thing God chooses to use to reveal himself to the person.
Okay, I'm done.

Why??

I don't get why people make a big deal about something and then totally ignore what they made a big deal about. Not necessarily hypocrisy, but you know to bring up something that bothers them or hurts them that you've done, but then they turn around and prove the point of why you've done that particular something.

Just a thought.

I know, very random and vague but hey, my blog is titled, "Random Thoughts from Me" for a reason.

Snow and Stuff

So today we didn't have school, again. We were out on Monday and Tuesday because of snow and today was due to a massive power outage on our side of town. An estimated 8,000-9,000 customers were without power for about 6 hours total.

For the Serrano family this was okay because we went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel to eat something hearty and get warm. We also scored the two Batman movies missing from our collection and a drum-set for Rockband. We should definitely have a fun Friday.

Now, for the rest of our school, they may not have as fun a day as us. For that I am sorry. I'm also sorry about the fact that the elementary school students will have to postpone their Valentine's Day festivities until Tuesday. The even more tragic thing is the fact that this puts us 2 days over the days set aside for inclement weather and we're scheduled for more snow and winter weather this weekend.. What does this mean? There is a possibility of losing one day out of our Spring Break, but I foresee going to school into our Summer Break. I hope this does not happen, and I hope that we are able to come to a better solution. We'll see...

It's Been Nice

It's been a nice weekend. Thursday we celebrated David's 5th birthday, and had all of yesterday off. School was officially canceled because of the winter storm headed our way, but Carlo made the executive decision that the boys weren't going long before the announcement was made they didn't have school. This made for a great Friday. The boys were able to sleep late, and then enjoy a lazy morning playing together.

The snow didn't get started until late morning, but once it started there was a constant stream of white stuff falling from the sky. I spent the day doing nothing! I did get dressed and stuff, but beyond that I did nothing. It has been a long 2 two weeks with extremely early mornings and not enough sleep, so I took the day to enjoy not being responsible to do anything. Today, I will take up the mantle of responsibility and do laundry and stuff, but it was nice to do nothing yesterday.

Here's to snow days and being able to enjoy them as an adult!! :0)