A Few of My Favorite Things

Christian Historical Novels

I love to read Christian Historical Novels. My favorite authors are Brock and Bodie Thoene. The best novels that they have written are the Zion Chronicles and the Zion Covenant. This is a series of stories set in the pre and post WWII era. Filled with adventure, love and spiritual journeys of its primary characters, these stories are, to me, enlightening. Even though they are not true accounts of that tumultuous time in world history I have still learned a lot from them.

Usually, in these novels there is always a moment when one or more characters receive salvation. No, they do not receive salvation the way we teach (as in receiving the Holy Ghost) but Christ is included in every story. I’m looking for someone in the UPCI to take up this issue and write stories like these authors but also add the Total plan of salvation. So far I have not discovered any one that compares to these authors. You have to try their books. If any are interested in more about these authors, I have all the books in these two series. You can also find these books at any Christian Bookstore.

Bookstores

Okay, I love Mardel’s Christian Bookstore. I cannot just go there and stay 5 minutes. I have to look at their music collections and the book section. Hey, its book heaven and they are all Christian! Love it! I can stay in there hours.

I also like Barnes & Noble. Good bookstore. You can get any book you need there but it doesn’t compare to Mardel’s. Oh, and 1/2 Price Books is an awesome store, too!

Gospel Music

My favorite Gospel music is Black Gospel. Favorite artists: Hezekiah Walker, John P. Kee, Kirk Franklin. My favorite of all is Kurt Carr. The best song he has out is “For Every Mountain”. That one’s a classic. I don’t know the story behind this song but it is awesome. I also like Israel Houghton and Martha Munizzi which is more Praise and Worship but they usually have good collections.

I really like Mark Condon, too. Love the release, “Worship The King”. Every song on this CD is good and is great for your worship time. You can go to his website and order this CD or you can also get it through the Pentecostal Publishing House.

So, these are just a Few of my Favorite things. Hope you enjoyed this Foray into MY thoughts and Favorite things. Guess I put myself in the spotlight this week… Scary, huh?  See you all next week.

Love,
Kimmie

Look and see what the Lord has done!

Wow, we have had some church! God is so awesome!

I wanted to share with you about some things I have been praying about and have seen come to pass because it is good for all of us to go through that list for ourselves. Take time to review things you have sought God on and how he has answered because it helps you keep the right mind set in prayer. I guarantee if you start to think of all the answered prayers and situations God has worked out and all Gods done you will be able to go through whatever you have to.

Sunday night was incredible for me and it was more incredible than maybe just an onlooker would have seen. We had 4 or 5 receive the Holy Ghost and it was so incredible to have the opportunity to be praying with the children that were at the altar. Also did any of you see the little girl setting next to me she would imitate everything I was doing during service. That just opened my eyes because the children really do watch what we do and I think about that responsibility and take it very seriously but while she was doing that I also felt in my spirit the hunger that she had and she did receive the Holy Ghost that night. She was so ready that even before Pastor announced the invite to the altar she was gripping the pew in front of her ready to go and she had the most serious approach about going to the altar I have ever seen in a child.

Here is the neat thing in all of this. A couple of weeks ago I wrote the blog and I talked about when God has you pray for someone and sometimes you know who and you see the results of this well this is my list I get to review with you today of the amazing ways God answers.

It starts with Sis. Duvall and when she got up to say about a year ago about reaching the children in the apartments around the church so that was the beginning of God answering. Not long after that about 9 months ago I was setting at my computer during the day and God had impressed upon me to go pray for the apartments around the church and it was one of those prayer meetings that God was waiting for me to respond and we had a time and I know when he pushes like that some things going to happen so I didn’t need to grow impatient just watch and see.

Then the next phase in all of this is Kids prayer. I knew I needed to start kid’s prayer one of those things God and I had a talk about and he decided to not let me go to sleep until I caught the vision. He is such a good God. So after I knew it was going to happen I started praying a long time before the very first Kids prayer about what direction to go and I just couldn’t get direction and it was about a week before and I was so excited God spoke and told me to pray about the kids in the community and he wanted me to pray about the enemy being silenced. I was so excited God spoke to me about this it was in the middle of the day on a Saturday and I just started to cry and get excited and my son thought I had lost my mind. I was so excited I had to text Sis. Duvall and say I have direction for kids prayer. She might have thought I was a little crazy too but when you have a relationship with God and he speaks to you it is just the best feeling in the world. No, I know she didn’t think I was crazy she is the best in believing in people in becoming what God has called them to be.

So then after we had that very first Kids prayer, we have had incredible results of reaching people in our community. Those kids touched God and watch and see what else will come of Kids prayer. Along with God using kids prayer he continued to impress on me to pray for the kids in the community. I remember a couple of weeks ago and I could not do anything but pray and cry for the children of the community and it was such a gut wrenching prayer that I could only utter the words my babies and I just kept it up until there was that release to stop.

Then Rodney and I had a couple of kids over this last weekend and God impressed on me to talk about him as much as possible so that is what Rodney and I did. We had children’s church going all weekend every time we could use an example we did. Then came Sunday night! You know you just can’t plan God but you can trust him and follow his lead and that has been such a rewarding experience. Every time I go over my lists of prayer or go over situations God has answered and seen me through it is usually following his lead or just seeking his way.

This is not the whole story but a just of it. I wanted to share because God is the mighty God and this is not the end of the story it is the beginning. One of my favorite things to do is hear about the awesome things God has done and then I get that in my spirit and start to pray God I know you did this and you did that so lets see this and that. We serve a prayer answering God! Another thought came to mind before I end. While in prayer one morning I had this feeling of God why do I have such a burden for these kids I don’t know and I have my own children and children that I know in the church already, I am just being real here so I hope nobody thinks less of me but as clear as the day God told me to take care of them and he was going to take care of mine which is ours because I was speaking of our children. So I thought I better share that promise God has given to me. Sorry for writing and writing but I just wanted to share with the best bunch of ladies in the whole wide world.

I love you all sooooo much!

Sis. Kim

Making the kitchen your space.

What makes the perfect kitchen for you?

My dream kitchen is as follows:
Huge open kitchen
dark hardwood floors
matching cabinets (to the floor that is)
Stainless steal appliances
Huge Fridge
A pantry the size of Texas
Double gas stove (restaurant style)
Pretty wall color

I haven't thought about this much as you can see....ha ha.

But as I sit in my apartment, I have a kitchen that is so small there is no where to put anything, cooking Thanksgiving dinner is a nightmare....and the half broken stove is nothing to write home about.....

BUT.

I have learned to love it. Not for what it is, but for what I can make out of it.

The best ways to give your house a "homey" feeling

...is to bake something sweet. You can light candles all day long, leave them burning till there is nothing left, but it will not replace the homemade cookie smell.

....Try to make it a point to invite the kids in the kitchen to help you cook or bake.

(At age 5 I started peeling potatoes and by age 10 I was making whole meals....)

...Make meal clean-ups a family affair. Working together will not only help you get it done faster, but is also give you a chance to teach your kids proper clean up as well as give you more time to chit chat.

I may not have the fanciest appliances. And I may only be obtaining things like, mixers, food processors, and such for church bakesale (ha ha)....but fancy or not, it gets the job done, and it is done well.

Here is a poem I found, I think it fits my kitchen, does it work well with yours?

My Little Kitchen

God bless my little kitchen
I love its every nook
And bless me as I do my work
Wash pots and pans and cook.
And may the meals that I prepare
Be seasoned from above
With Thy great blessing and Thy grace
But most of all Thy love.
As we partake our earthly food
The table before us spread
We'll not forget to thank Thee, Lord
Who gives us daily bread.
So bless my little kitchen, Lord
And those who enter in
May they find naught but joy and peace
And happiness therein.

poem found here

Fences!

So...something has been bubbling up inside of me for awhile and I just gotta get it out! The subject of fences!

In my backyard, I have three different kinds of fences--two areas of wood fence, one brick fence, and one iron fence. I've come to love these fences because we live in an area where there are many predators. Routinely I will wake up in the night and hear the howl of a coyote. I've been told that a black panther has been spotted and that there are many wild hogs. My backyard is adjacent to Corp of Engineer land which goes all the way to the lake. If you've been to my house, you know I live close to water and woods. Even though that water looks beautiful and those woods are green and lucious, I know that danger lurks there.

We have three dogs--RazzMaTazz, Zara, and Daisy. Zara and Daisy live in the backyard and love looking at the woods and lake and all of the beautiful things surrounding them. But I know that they really don't have a lot of sense and I feel comforted knowing there is a fence surrounding them. Why? Not because I want to limit their experiences but because I want to keep them safe from predators. If we didn't have a fence in place, Zara would begin to wander closer and closer to the lake and begin to feel comfortable in the woods even though she is a city dog and doesn't know about predators. I watch the little bunny rabbits hop in and out and ignore the fences and am so fearful because I know the chances are slim that they will not be predator's prey.

I know that Daisy would probably stay in the backyard without a fence. When she was a young dog, she had a terrible experience. She decided to leave the protection of the fence and wander. She jumped the fence and was gone for over three weeks. She had on a tag so people could call the vet but no one ever called. We were so worried. We put up signs, called animal control, prayed..but no Daisy for three weeks. After this time period, animal control finally called and said they had picked up Daisy. She had lost a lot of weight and the pads of her feet were completely worn away from her frantic running. Since that time, she loves the protection of the fence. We have to call and coax to get her to leave the protection of the fence.

With Daisy being the older dog, she has tried to share her experience with Zara. We were staying at my parent's house last summer. We had just driven for about 12 hours to bring the dogs here. We were so tired and had finally been able to get in bed when we hear Daisy start barking. She barked and barked and wouldn't stop. Finally my husband got up and went out into the backyard to hush her. He scolded her and came back in. She started again. He went back out and she kept running around the yard. He got a flashlight to see what had her so agitated. She lead him to a hole in the fence and he realized that Zara had left the protection of the fence. We spent another hour looking for Zara and yes, we found her and the next morning fixed the fence! Now, one of our wood fences at home has a board loose. I'm worried sick about it because I know we need to fix the fence or there is a possibility that Zara could go through the hole and lose the protection of the fence.

Ok..why fences? Because the standards that we uphold are our fences. Many times we think our standards are to box us in and make us live a certain way. NO! NO! NO! Our standards are our fence. They keep predators out and keep us safe. They are the guardrails on the highway to Heaven.

We should love our fences because they keep us living where we should. When we begin to resent the fence and try to cross over is when we know we have lost sight of the danger. Also, we need to be like Daisy...when we see someone leaving the yard, do we cry out in warning or do we watch them go and shake our head while sitting in our politically correct hyponotic state? The church of God was not built on passive people. They wanted to stone Paul for his boldness and yet, we are afraid to call sin as sin? To voice concern when the fence is falling?

The more I pray and grow closer to God, the more I appreciate the foresight of our UPC predessors. They put some fences in place that have kept us on the path. TV was innocent in the 50s. TV is not innocent today. We need to put a fence on our media..we are letting predators such as sexual immorality, violence, etc creep into the yard because the fence is broken. I couldn't understand the big deal about Halloween until I lived in a state where pagan worship was everywhere on Halloween night. These fences that seem so silly to some have kept us on a path of holiness. Ok, some of you are as my dear dad would say, "riled up" but that's ok..I'm going to be Daisy and keep barking. If you don't understand our standards and their Biblical base, ask for Bible clarification and scriptures to study.

I am committed to handing over a heritage to my children that will take them to heaven. If I remove the fences, I won't be able to hand it over. I need to go home and examine my fences...are there loose boards and a possibility of predators entering my home? Have I grown complacent and no longer see the danger of something entering my yard?

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, [a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

You mean the rod and staff will help me dwell in the house of the Lord forever? It is the Word of God.

I love each of you and want to make heaven our home!

Sis. D.

How are You Keeping The Kids Busy This Summer?

Well,I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day!Yesterday's service was wonderful and I was happy to see all the visitors we had including my aunt.After service she said she wanted to thank me for inviting her because she really enjoyed it especially the kids singing.Let's keep praying she and the other visitors will keep coming!
So is everyone ready for this summer?I am but I just hate when the kids get so bored with nothing to do.Here are some places that I thought would be fun for the whole family.

SCARBOROUGH FAIR.I have been to this festival once before with my mom and sister years ago and it was a lot of fun!It is a little pricey but discount tickets are available at Tom Thumb.Tickets at the gate are $21.99,$8.50 for ages 5-12,free for children 4 and under.For more info click here

DFW SUMMER BALLOON CLASSIC.This sounds like fun!The fest features 40 hot air balloons,displays of airplanes,helicopters,gliders and other aircraft.Food,arts and crafts.Admission is free but parking is $10.summerballoonclassic.com

DALLAS AQUARIUM.This is always a kids favorite.While you're there take a stroll through Downtown.

DALLAS FARMERS MARKET.My kids love going to Farmers Market.We give them each their own money to spend and it's a great way to get them to eat healthy!For more info and upcoming events,go here

Those are just a few places you can go to this summer and it fits into any budget.
There are also several museums,Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is our favorite along with the Omni Theatre.
If you got some young bookworms out there,or not,get them into reading this summer by earning a free book.Barnes & Noble has a summer reading program where kids can earn a free book for every 8 that they read.Check with your local library too,most of them have summer reading programs where kids can earn free prizes,t-shirts,or even a free kids meal.
Another good place to look into are your local rec. centers.They offer several different classes that you can sign the kids up for(prices vary).I'll be signing Sara up for a kids cooking class since that's what she enjoys doing.To find the closest rec center near you and for more info visit www.naturallyfun.org
If none of those ideas interest the kids then there's always six flags!and if you buy the season pass,I heard the best price for season passes ends on May 17th so hurry!

So remember you don't have to spend a lot of money to have fun this summer,just enjoy the time you spend with your family and make the best of it!I can't afford to go to every place that I listed above even though I'd like to but I can afford to pack a picnic lunch,load up the bikes and go to a nice park and enjoy the day with my family.Don't forget to take your camera so when the kids are all grown up they'll remember all those special memories.

In The Spotlight - Julia Ann Vazquez

In The Spotlight – Julia Ann Vazquez

Julie, as I know her, was born on December 09, 1960 in LA (Little Abilene) to Raymond Valencia and Amy Cisneros. She has 4 sisters (Donna, Jovita, Melissa and Isabella), 2 brothers (Michael and Carlos) and one brother who passed away when he was 17 (Joe Richard).

Childhood and School Years

Julie describes herself when she was young as definitely a tomboy. She loved climbing trees, skateboards, tumbling, and skating. I can see her doing all of these things. She is a fun loving woman of God. She spent most of her summers in Abilene.



One thing a lot of us wouldn’t know about Julie is that she is of the Apache heritage. I wouldn’t have ever guessed that until she told me about a year or so ago. She is Apache on her dad’s side. Her grandfather, George Valencia, was full blooded Apache Indian. She couldn’t remember what his name was before he came to Texas but when he came here he changed his name to George Valencia. I say, with a heritage like that the devil better not mess with Julie!!! My impression of an Apache would be of a fierce fighter! They were pretty fierce in their day. So, if we apply that spiritually, I would say that Julie is a strong spiritual fighter! She doesn’t give up and I believe that!

In 1964, Julie moved to Dallas with her mom, Amy Cisneros. They moved here because Amy got a job working with Vought off of Jefferson here in Grand Prairie.

In October 1979, Julie met Joe. Julie was out with some of her friends. They stopped at a red light in Dallas off Jefferson and Hampton. Joe pulled up alongside them with some of his friends and from that night they were an item. They have four sons (Albert, Marko, Alex, and Isaac). They were married and moved to Grand Prairie. Lived in the Donna Lynn Apartments many years. Elsie and Ken Aubrey and their family lived in those apartments, too and they were always witnessing to Joe and Julie.

While they were living in Grand Prairie, Julie attended Christ Temple pastored by Bro. Dehart in Irving. She received the Holy Ghost in 1980 and was baptized by Bro. Dehart in the Irving church. She attended the Irving church until her mother, Amy, found Bro. Martinez’ church. A tragedy happened to the family when Joe Richard passed away and it was during that time that Amy decided to start attending GP church. Shortly before Julie started attending our church she had stopped going to church. She had become discouraged and down in her spirit and wasn’t able to come out of it until Amy told her about our church. Julie decided to visit and in 1996, she made it her home church.

When she started going to church again, Joe would not go because he was a full blown Catholic. That was okay because, like I said, Julie is a fighter and she doesn’t give up. She prayed and fasted for Joe for years. She told me the story of the compromise between her and Joe. She told him she would attend the Catholic Church one Sunday and then he could attend her church the next. She did this for a while until at a fundraising event the Priest said that they could drink beer. She found this to be a little disconcerting since it was a church event. At that point, she decided she wouldn’t compromise anymore. She stopped attending the Catholic Church and came full time to the GP church. She continued to pray for Joe and in 1999, he came to the Lord. Bro. Wayne Weathered was preaching when Joe received the Holy Ghost. God answered her prayers! Julie didn’t give up. What an awesome team they make, don’t you agree? I love their spirit and worship! And I hear the kids in the Sunday School department really love Julie! You’re doing an awesome job, Julie!

I asked Julie what her impression was of our church in the early days. She said the church was just what she was looking for. Becoming dissatisfied in Irving, she wanted to make a positive change for herself and her family. GP church fit the bill! She loved the ministry of Bro. Martinez and appreciated his loving, caring, kind spirit. Bro. Martinez helped her family through many hard times and they will always appreciate them.

She loved Bro. Martinez’ ministry and now looks forward to and is enjoying the ministry of Bro. Duvall. She stated that God couldn’t have sent a better man to us. Bro. Duvall was all she was looking for in a new pastor. The future is bright for GP church!

Sis. Julie, you are an awesome woman of God! I’m so glad I got to sit with you and learn more about your life! It’s a privilege to know you. I love you, girl!

I hope all of you who read this blog learn something new about Julie. See ya all next Friday!

Love ya,
Kimmie

Prayer on Thursday! The Key!

You see prayer is a Key! Actually you are reading something from someone who believes it is everything and I know that it is not actually everything but that is how important it is to me. If I am not successful in teaching my children anything, the one thing I want to teach them is how to pray and not necessarily how but TO pray. Here is where the Key comes in. Prayer controls things, prayer changes things, prayer preserves things, prayer comforts, heals, removes. This whole concept blows my mind!

I am a natural worrier I worry a lot about things I can’t control. Like will my kids be safe at school, did I say the wrong thing, did I do the wrong thing, what if I take this way and it is the wrong way. Ok you see what I mean well I have learned that I have a key and I can use it. 1^st I can give it to the Lord in prayer. 2^nd I can be confident in what does happen the Lord will see me through. 3^rd I can move God with a sincere heart. 4^th God knows what’s best so I can confidently pray Lord not my will but yours. Those revelations in my life are so powerful.

Prayer is intense, prayer is hard at times, prayer is discipline, prayer is fun and yes I said fun (just come to kids prayer we will be doing m & m prayer soon) but also prayer is an escape. When I was a new convert I heard Pastor say from the pulpit that the enemy tries to imitate the things God has for us and I thought about this and since he said this just recently after being delivered from so many of those things that the enemy used to imitate what God had for me in my life I bared witness to that comment.

So let me give you a testimony of a time that I asked God to be my escape when I would have used the enemie’s ways of escape. One morning I was putting my kids on the bus for school and it was one of those mornings, and I had just put them on and felt frustrated and like a failure at being a mom(for the record this was my pre praying with my children before they would leave the house days, if this is not a practice in your home I recommend it) ok so back to what I was saying so I felt like a failure and if you are a worrier then this is especially hard because I worried about the day my children was going to have but you see I heard my pastor say that the enemy was a fake but God had the goods (Kim’s version) Well before my days of deliverance and walking in the Lord I was addicted to several things the enemy uses so that I could escape reality and being a worrier I used those things often but not this time I was a new creature and old things had passed away and those things did not enter in my life anymore and I had to see what God could do in this so I said “God you have the goods and I am going to try that.”

I went to my room and started to pray but it wasn’t very long until I was lost in his presence and I felt the worry lift and I didn’t even care about anything else, the fear of my humanly error was gone and I came out of that prayer meeting knowing God is tried and true he does have the goods but we have to go to him in prayer to get it. So if I can get any point across it would be to take your key, use it, and don’t let the enemy bring fake escapes into your life God has the goods!

It is amazing how God’s word is so alive in our lives when we have a prayer life after I wrote this I was reading Psalms 34 and verse 4 jumped off the page at me and it reads “I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” And then after I read Psalms 34 I went back and reread the heading and it read A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimeleck; who drove him away, and he departed. And so I thought on this and that is what I did I changed my behavior and sought God instead of my old paths before God saved me and he did hear me and deliver me once again. So please don’t keep yourself from what God can do but use the key he has given you and pray. Have a wonderful Thursday!

Sis. Kim