Happy Wednesday

I guess I haven't been a regular blogger lately. Life is rushing by so fast right now...I got an e-mail forward the other day that really made me think: "Are you letting life happen to you or letting life happen through you?" Ooops...when did I start allowing life to happen TO me instead of THROUGH me?

I'll have to work on that. My workday is practically 12 hours from the time I roll out of bed to the time my car rolls home. It's very exhausting. Thanks to all of you who are praying for me to find a position closer to home. Jason and I are still trying to figure out how long I should stay and where I should go next. Toni, I may look into the position you forwarded to me. It is for medical billing AR. It's usually hard to get into medical billing unless you have experience, but this add did not require experience. It may be a good stepping stone into that field.

Well...I had best be off to the shower... Have a happy Wednesday!

(Oh, and if any of you see Miss Amy Sp, give her a big hug for me...I'm glad that she has opened herself to God. I heard a little about Sunday night...I am greatful for all the teens who have sacrificed their lives to live for God. It's worth it!)

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

Ok...five years later and I'm only finally asking the question...what have I gotten myself into? Five years ago I legally joined the Cupp family. I took on the name. I'm wearing the ring. Today I got an e-mail from my beloved grandmother who has been the only semi-normal one in the family. At least, I thought she was semi-normal...Read below and you'll understand...

Dear Family,

I regret to inform you I will not be able to be at Scott and Brenda's on
July 1st. I am so sorry because I have been looking forward
to it all year, but it seems I am needed at Amy's to bring my TATOO PARLOR!


Please bring the designs you want on your body (be careful now, remember I
am Grandma:-)) I will be using a "special kind"
of electric magic marker, so you will not be able to bathe for 3 months. I
bought a new croquet set for July 1st, but I will be using the mallets to
"knock you out" before I start using the needle! (On second thought, maybe
I won't have to do that because Rachel
is bringing her KEG. You won't know what hit you! )

Oh yes, I was practicing my hula hoop while mowing the lawn, but it slipped
down and got caught in the mower blade, however
I will bring "colored streamers" for all the little ones to play with.

I just know how disappointed you all will be but with J D having to mow his
lawn that day, and Journey with his wild pool party, you will have to think
up some way to use all those steaks.

Love you much - Grandma


So...now it's established. They're all crazy. I can't exclude myself, though. I have proved that I'm a Cupp time and time again. So, if you wanna be a Cupp, hang your sanity on the wall and take a number if you have to use the restroom. Sorry, guys...that's just the way it is.

he he...if you took any of this serious, then you need to calm down and live life a little. the only truths to the e-mail: 1. Grandma Cupp got two tattoos (YEP!!! TWO!!!) 2. we are having a hula hoop contest

....Ummm....Hi....

Well...no one commented on my last post. It's odd that this is huge life-changing thing happened and no one said anything.

But...I am here to say...

If you know of any positions in accounting or finance (preferable AR or billing), please let me know. I have done much searching on the net. I have not yet applied for anything. I am keeping my options open and hopefully I can find something that will start Oct 2. Oh...if you know of any entry-level reporting type positions, I may be interested in that, too. I am developing some advanced knowledge of MS Access and by the end of July, I hope to have my Power Point skills down.

Thanks :)

My Company Says Buh-Bye

So...the title says it all.

I can't write much right now as I am in a hurry. Yesterday, the big guys came in offering severance and relocation. Our office is relocating to Kansas on September 30. If I can stick it out and stay until September 30, I will receive six weeks severance - meaning my normal paycheck and benefits beginning October 1. I want to stick it out and do my job hunting beginning in September. Please pray for us. It's a major decision. The relocation package is awesome, but we can't just leave our family and church behind...even though the relocation is minutes from the "new site" of the Smithton revival.

Thanks!!!

A Message to...Well, Any of Us

God started speaking to me while I was commenting on Amy's blog. This is about the waves of repentance that are coming to CFC. (The words in italic are what I felt that the Lord was speaking to us. As I typed it, He was speaking to me. The part that is not italic below was personal experience, so I really don't want to say it's him speaking that. But, as you'll read below, He continued speaking to me after that. Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me this morning.)

You may think it's already started, but the tide has just started to return to the shore. Just wait, in a matter of minutes, maybe hours, the place where you are standing now will be consumed with water and you will have to run from it if you want to continue standing where you are. There is cleansing in the water. Be ready, let it cleanse your feet first. Let it hit your feet so that your feet will sing their own song, "be careful little feet where you go, for the Father up above He is watching us with love, so be careful little feet where you go".

If you have ever been at the ocean when the tides coming in, you know how at first it can seem like it's teasing you...yeah, it's coming but a little slow, then all of a sudden WHOOSH, it's there. It's at this point that it often scares people. This is the point where I feel like God is telling me that there will be some stuck in their sin who will run.

But they won't run far. Those who fear what the waves of repentance could do to them and how it could change their life will not run far. They will go to a safe distance and stand there watching as their castle in the sand is destroyed by the consuming water. They will watch as others beginning dancing in the water. And they, too, will leave their fears behind and come and join us in the water.

I'm Free.....Free Fallin'

God has been good to me. Without going too deep into things, I will share that the Lord has removed some obstacles from my life many times over. When Dennis Cramer came the first time to CFC-Knightstown and gave Jason and me a word about our lives (here's a hint...he said we were the Cleaver's). After all the fun stuff, he said something directed at me. Now, the "ears" in my heart heard Dennis Cramer telling everyone about all the crap that I have suffered through in my life. When he was speaking I was listening with my heart, not my ears. Later, when I replayed the recording of the prophecy, I listened with my ears and realized that He (Abba, Father) hadn't hung me out to dry as I had thought. He had allowed me to hear exactly what I needed to hear in order to give all things over to Him to allow Him to complete a work in me. So, at this point, God stripped me of the pain of my past. He repetitively told me, "It's behind you, it's behind you, it's behind you." Very powerful words when one considers lies in the past.

Anyway, I thought God was finished. And really, He probably was, except that I allowed the fear and pain to return in greater power. Last July, Jason and I went on vacation (with Shep) to Charleston. While we were there, God repeated the miracle. He allowed me to give up my past and to really be refreshed and I was renewed on vacation.

Then we returned back home. In a matter of months, it had returned. This time not only was there fear and pain, but also rejection and bitterness. Greetings to these evildoers. But I allowed them to slip in and just suffered through it for awhile. I can praise God that while I was a teenager, He delivered me from suicidal thoughts. That in itself is a miracle. I have suffered with the pain, fear, bitterness and rejection since soon after I went back to work. Last Wednesday night at prayer meeting, God really removed all of it. Even the memory of being hurt is gone. I could physically feel God removing the roots from my heart. It hurt...it really hurt. But I feel so good now! I'm free!

Intimacy

I've been listening to a lot of Ravi Zacharias since I went back to work in August. One of the lessons he taught on was intimacy. I am not eloquent, but I hope to be able to pass along the idea of what he was saying.

Ravi said that couples rush into intimacy too early in their relationship. It is necessary that if a relationship is to last and to prosper, that the couple get to know one another first. We must learn to communicate effectively with one another and to learn about the other person. If we ever really hope to be intimate with our spouse, we must be first be intimate in our conversation.

It's about sharing you dreams together, so that his dreams become her dreams and hers become his. It's about uniting together to protect one another from the likes and dislikes. It's knowing that she has fears and that he can offer protection for her. The trust forms when she knows that she can tell him anything and that he will not hold it against her, but instead protect and encourage her. She is brittle clay in tender hands, and while ultimately she is in the hand of God, God has entrusted her to his (boyfriend) hands for the moment.

Likewise, he is also brittle clay in tender hands. The media has made it clear that men have physical needs. Since the beginning of time, ladies have been deceptive. Be of the utmost purity in your thought. Do not entertain unwholesome thoughts and do not lure him into unholy talk. Edify and encourage him. Men want to know that they are secure and that they are loved. If he is the one, be sure that he knows that he is the one and that there is no other.

The biggest thing that helped me out when I was searching for Mr. Right: I was searching for Mr. Right. I asked God "is he the one", or "is this one the one", "what about that guy in the corner, is he the one?" When I finally laid these thoughts at the feet of God and I asked God to reveal who would be the one, He showed me. I expected that when my eyes would be opened that it would be someone I had already been considering. Nope. God showed me my youth leaders brother who was ten years older than me. I never pressed it with God, and I didn't press it with my youth leaders brother. I just accepted it and knew that God would work it out. I could continue on with how God worked it out, but this is quite lengthy already.

Just trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways (yes, all of them!) acknowledge Him and He will make your path straight.