A wedding, camp, upcoming vacation, and much more summer fun!
Hi,
Wow, things are wild here! We’ve been on the road quite a bit, actually longer than we expected…
And, it’s not over yet… Although, it’s kind of bittersweet to see the summer half over.
We played at a camp for disabled adults on July 20, and we were blessed to be able to stay for the entire week of camp, when originally we’d only planned to stay until Monday or Tuesday.
Have you been to summer camp before? Do you have any favorite memories or storries to share?
Not only did we go to camp, but the weekend prior to that, we cellebrated as two of our dearest friends were married.
It’s hard to believe that Andy and I have been married now for almost four years, but God has blessed us indeed!
Are you or anyone you know getting married this summer? If you’re already married, do you have any unique storries of when you met your spouse or from your wedding cellebration?
Now, we have 5 events left before our vacation that goes from August 27-31.
After vacation, we’re headed back to the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission on September 6 for their chapel service.
This fall for me will be about finishing my “Life of Christ” class, and planning our 2009 Spring benefit concert series for Compassion International.
What have you been doing this summer? Any fun family vacations? Any big plans to end the summer in style? Have you gone on any mission trips or done any ministry projects?
Do you have any plans for this coming fall?
Until next time, keep your eyes and heart on Him!
Summer, A new toy, and I didn’t forget!
Hi,
We’ve been beyond busy for what seems like forever!
We have many events planned for this summer, and the summer has met us in full force, interesting weather and all!
From what we understand from our power company, four twisters touched down in Kalamazoo this last Friday night. We’re alright, but many have been and still may be without power since last weekend. It’s also been really rainy, and at times quite humid.
We’ve also recently bought an Edirol R09 to use for podcasting, music, and other recordings here and there.
This digital recorder will be featured in my long-awaited first personal podcast episode! See, I didn’t forget!
I have to run some erands tomorrow, so I may do my podcast while I’m out and about. We’re also working on new music, and preparing for our first event of the summer season. A little under two more weeks to go!
By the way, we’re going up North on vacation just as we did last August, so I’ll be sure and post updates then as well.
I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last update, but I appreciate all your patience!
Until next time, keep your eyes and heart on Him!
Song of Love
Do you truly understand how much you are loved? You have family and friends who love you, and you have a Savior who loves you more than anyone on this earth could ever dream of loving you!
I’m sure by now you all know I love to sing. Some may not however know that my favorite song to sing (and write) is a praise and worship song. I love praise and worship! I know that we should always be praising God, but what I love is to be able to lead others to the throneroom of the Lord through intimate praise and worship!
So, while we’re praising Him and loving Him with our songs, and He inhabits the praises of His people, do you know that He sings over us? Wow! That is truly profound! Can you think of a song that Jesus has been singing over you lately?
Maybe it’s a song of comfort telling you that you’ll get through this difficult time. Maybe he’s grieving and weeping over you because you’ve strayed away from Him as your first love.
Or, is He rejoicing over you because you’ve accomplished something?
Whatever it is, know Jesus is singing a song of love.
I’ll close with the Scripture that inspired this devotional:
“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with
singing.” (Nephaniah 3:17 NIV)
Who is Jesus to You?
Although I had many great father figures in my life growing up, my biological father was not present. The Bible says that God is the Father to the fatherless. That has given me much comfort over the years as I’ve grown in my faith. I’ve clung to many verses that show how He cares for His children.
So I wonder, who is Jesus to you? Is He your father? Is he your best friend? To some he’s their Savior. To others, their shepherd.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Jesus is all these things to me and more! But, I believe that we each hold something dear to us that Jesus has truly been in our lives.
Please share who Jesus is to you, and if you can, provide us with one verse that you’ve clung to that demonstrates how He has been there for you in that way.
When being a big becomes a bigger reward!
I started in Big Brothers Big Sisters as a little sister. My Big sister and I are still best friends!
I’m now a big sister, and have been for about two years now. My little sister Chasity and I have recently received our local agency’s award for Bif/Little Sisters of the year.
This has been a great honor for me! Even before this award though, I felt honored to be able to give back. I find great joy in knowing that with all my weaknesses and simplicities, I can make such a profound difference in someone’s life. And, it’s not hard to do! It doesn’t take money, fame, or many posessions. All it takes is the willingness to spend time with a young person and be the best role model you can to them.
Being a part of Big Brothers Big Sisters has really changed my life! My Big sister made such a major impact on my life that I wanted to be able to have that impact on someone else.
We are now at the Holiday Inn getting ready for the dinner where I’ll be presented with the Big Sister of the year award.
This Holiday Inn has free WiFi, so I had to take advantage of it and write about this wonderful expepience.
Have you been involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters either as a Big, Little, or both?
If so, I’d love to hear your story! How did it affect you? What things did you enjoy doing with your Big/Little? What did you learn from your Big/Little? If you had one piece of advice for Bigs or Littles what would it be?
Please share!!!!!!!
Until next time, keep your eyes and heart of Him!
We just want to be your friend!
Today I was browsing profiles on Myspace to see if I could find some new friends for In Him. There were many people and ministries that we would’ve loved to get to know. But, we couldn’t because all but one had image verifications! Not only could we not send a friend request, but we couldn’t even send them a message asking them to request to be our friend!
Yeah, I am a little annoyed! I understand being secure. And, I know all about hacking… But, for goodness sakes! We have it set to where we have to approve all friend requests, and we view the prospective friend’s profile before making that decision…
If one must have an image verification in their profile, make it either send message or friend request. Not both! I’m sorry to those of you who may be reading this, and you think I’m way off line or rude! Really, I’m not trying to be. But, it’s really sad that some people don’t take the time to think about those of us who can’t see to verify an image. Not all of us who have a visual impairment have a sighted friend or family member at our disposal to read all images for us either.
So, this is a plea to our sighted online friends. Please take Blindness in to consideration when setting up such online profiles. And to those who are the webmasters of such online communities, we ask that you also take Blindness in to consideration as well. Audio Captcha is a wonderful thing!
Thanks for hearing me out, and please Do Not take this as a personal slap in the face. I just really needed to share my thoughts on this.
Until next time, keep your eyes and heart on Him!
March Madness… My Way! (Written March 27, 2008)
Hi,
No matter what the title implies, this post has absolutely nothing to do with basketball!
In any event, I wanted to write and tell about all that has happened so far this month.
Well, let’s actually start on the last day of February, which was the Gospel Mission benefit.
I woke up and went to one of the local music stores to purchase a portable keyboard stand which unlike my older one, this stand will actually come apart so it can be put in a duffel bag for travel. We then warmed up and were on our way…
Although we had some initial technical difficulties, the evening was well worth all the hard work and dedication! In all, twelve boxes and $131.00 was gratefully accepted by the Kalamazoo Gospel Mission, and everyone in attendance participated in an evening of worship that was absolutely beautiful!We debuted two new songs, and the audience interaction was much more than we ever expected. Kalamazoo, you really know how to bless not only us but more importantly the Lord!
Our partnership with the mission didn’t end there. On Thursday March 20, we had the privilege of ministering at the mission. It was another evening of incredible worship and audience interaction! We are still humbled and in awe of the passion and zeal those in attendance had for the Lord, and the hunger that was evident for more of His presence.
Our friend Caroline was planning to spend the Easter weekend with us, but she was stranded in Chicago on Thursday night (while we were playing at the Mission). She arrived at our house on Friday evening, and we had a great weekend together! On Saturday, we went to Panera Bread for lunch. The food, prices, and service there are great. So, if you ever get the chance to go to a Panera, check them out!And to top it all off, I now have wireless internet and an 8 gig compact flash card for my Pm!
This has been a good month, and we can’t wait for the months to come. Maybe we’ll actually get spring weather soon… The Tigers begin their season with opening day on Monday, and Down Gilead Lane begins their tenth season this weekend!
I should probably also mention that thanks to Caroline, I have created a podcast! I’m still working on my first episode, but I’ll post more on that when it arrives.
My podcast will be a companion to this blog. I’ll have tech tips and reviews, audio clips from vacation or other such adventures away from home, and whatever else I can think of. If you have any ideas, please let me know!Thanks in advance for the feedback!
Until next time, keep your eyes and heart on Him!
Reflections on Easter
As we’ve recently cellebrated Easter in remembrance of our Lord’s death and ressurection, I just wanted us to reflect on a couple verses from the book of Isaiah.
Isaiah 1:18 says: “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
While studying this verse, I was convicted with the question: “What color is your life?” Even if we’ve accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior, we should still be considering this question and whether or not we portray the right colors to those around us.
Isaiah 53:5 says: “But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
As I consider this passage of Scripture, I am amazed by the fact that Christ loved us so much to take our sin upon himself. And in doing so, He gave us life and healing!
Although the a-nual cellebration of Easter is behind us, may we stop and thank God for his unfailing love and faithfulness every day.
What are your thoughts on these verses? Do you have a favorite verse about the the death and ressurection of Christ? If so, we’d love to hear about it and be able to share it with others. Please know that any feedback you send us may be featured on a future edition of the InHimCast podcast.
You can call our comment line at: (206) 350-7994.
If you’ve been blessed…
Hi everyone,
After not receiving any calls to our toll-free comment line, we took it down. We are sorry to those of you who truly meant to call, but never got the chance. But, it’s not the end of the comment line entirely!
That’s right, we still have a comment line… It’s you who we need to help keep it alive! The number has changed. The new number is: (206) 350-7994. You, yes you, could be featured on a future edition of the InHimCast! But that’s not all…
One of the rewards of our ministry is to be able to connect with those who are being blessed. Seriously, we enjoy hearing from you! We treasure every comment, email, song request, and friendship! This ministry is not about how many songs we write, how many concerts we play, how many CD’s we make or sell, and it sure isn’t about the money!
For us, it’s about how many lives were touched, and how many people were blessed. It’s about how many either met God or drew closer to him. When we play at a concert, it’s about coming face-to-face to a loving God in intimate worship.
So, please call in leave your comment on our comment line! You never know if what you say may bless someone else.
You can comment about anything from the worship at one of our concerts, your favorite In Him song, or just wanting to stop by and say, “hi”. Maybe you have a question? If so, we’ll answer that as well.
Stay in touch, and have an awesome day!
Love,
Andy and Miranda - In Him
In the name of…
Last Friday evening we debuted a brand-new song called “In The Name”. This is a great worship song that shows what we have access to through Christ. It’s amazing to think that so much power, freedom, and healing can be found only under one name! And, that name is the wonderful and awesome name of Jesus!
We can’t get this power, freedom, or healing through drugs or alcohol. We can’t get it through any relationship, and we sure can’t get it from our own imperfect human attempt at strength.
Can you think of one thing in particular that you’ve found in the name of Jesus? Maybe it was freedom. Maybe it was healing. Or, maybe it was wholeness when you were broken. Whatever it was, we’d love to hear about it! And, if you’re lookking for something and you don’t know where else you can turn, I encourage you to call on the name of Jesus! Maybe you are calling on His name, but you’d really like some encouragement or someone to stand with you. If so, please don’t hesitate to let us know. Whatever your prayer request is, we’d love to pray for you!
