Inside Mandy’s Head

Offering for Haiti

Saturday, January 16th, 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments

The last few days I have had a quote that has been stuck in my head that I heard in a conference back in September.  

“The church isn’t here to meet our needs, we are here to meet the needs of the world.”

We have all seen the destruction in Haiti & tomorrow, PCC is going to take a special offering to partner with Samaritans Purse.   Samaritans Purse is already in Haiti and have been helping in the relief efforts.   They are doing amazing things down there and bringing hope to the people of Haiti.  

Below is the link to see all the work that Samaritans Purse has been doing in Haiti so far.

http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/Samaritans_Purse_Today/

PCC, please spend some time in prayer today on how you can be apart of this special offering tomorrow.  You can also hop over to Jason’s blog (www.jason.prescottchristian.com) for additional information.

It’s a new year….

Monday, January 11th, 2010 | Personal Thoughts | No Comments

In my last post I shared with you my “self growth” project from last year by not drinking any pop.   As this new year has started, I have been thinking of what I can do this year as my “self growth” project.   I have decided to challenge myself with a reading project.    If you know me at all, you know I HATE reading books!!!    I can read short materials like blogs or articles, but give me a 100+page book and it will most likely just sit on the book shelf.   Cliff notes in high school were my best friend…..I perfected skimming in college…..and most of the books on my bookshelf in my office are for show.  

However, it is good to stretch yourself and challenge yourself to do something that will require discipline.    This will mean that I will have to plan time during the day to read and I will have to shut the TV off at night (EEEKKKK!!!!) every once in a while and pick up a book and read.  

Last week I had the privledge of speaking at one of the Christian schools in town and I challenged them to a “growth project.”   My orginal goal was to read six books this year, but afterwards a girl came up to me and in her lovely words pretty much told me that wasn’t good enough….so I’m uping it up to nine books.   Below are the nine books I’m committing to read this year.    I’m posting them to keep myself accountable of this decision.  

1.   Deadly Viper Character Assassins- by Mike Foster & Jud Wilhite    (Love these guys and the ministry they have going on with People of the Second Chance….check it out at http://potsc.com/)

2 & 3.  Quitting Church by Julia Duin & Real Church by Larry Crabb   (interesting books about people who have been burned by “the church” and their search for what church really is….excited to see what insights I can gain from these two books)

4.   If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat- John Ortberg   (one of our Life Groups is doing a study of this book this semester, and as I was preparing for this studying it really challenged me in some areas of my life)

5.  Mad Church Disease-  Anne Jackson  (This will be a book I pick up every year and read through…read it for the first time last year and it was AMAZING!   It’s about burnout and how to avoid it and get through it if you find yourself in the middle of it)

6.  Plan B-  Pete Wilson  (So excited for this book to come out this spring…..Pete is an amazing pastor in Nashville that I follow on his blog, twitter and through his podcasts)

7.  Killing Cockroaches- Tony Morgan   (This is  book that I bought a while back that has been sitting on my bookshelf “for show”….it’s about time I took it down and read it!…..it has recieved great reviews)

8 & 9.   Counterfeit Gods & The Prodigal God- Timothy Keller   (I have heard great things about this author, so I am excited to check these books out)

So there you have it…..that’s my reading list for the year.     How about you?    What are you doing to “Grow” this year?

Longest Day of the Year…..

Thursday, December 31st, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

So I made it…..December 31st…..

About six years ago I started this “self growth” thing with myself where every other year I would give up pop (or soda for you “westerners”) for the entire year.    I would go cold turkey at midnight on January 1st and could not have a drop until midnight on the next January 1st.    This past year was my third year doing it.    I love doing this because it really helps me develop self-control  (seriously passing Sonic is HARD!!) and integrity.   It may seem like a small thing, but I know that if I can have self-control and integrity in the small things it will help me have them in the big things.  

The year is tough, b/c I get strong cravings (I LOVE MY POP!!!).    Today will be the LONGEST day and I will down some can of pop at midnight.    If you read this, hop over to facebook and give me your idea on what pop it should be!  

**I must confess this year I did cheat a little this year, but it totally wasn’t my fault!!!    A couple of weeks ago I had a doctors appointment to have a medical procedure and my blood sugar was a little low so I had to drink a Sprite (hint the picture above) before I left.   I only drank 3 sips and dumped the rest as soon as I left the doctors office.   I didn’t have the heart to tell the doctor I couldn’t drink it …..hahaha……My doctor still doesn’t know this was the real reason I was crying that day, not b/c the procedure was so painful….

Happy Birthday, Daniel!!!!!

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Somehow I blinked and my nephew went from this…..

To this…..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DANIEL!!!!!!       I love you more than you will ever know!!!    You are growing up into such a wonderful boy that I am so proud of!!!    The last five years have been such a joy to watch you grow and develop into this wonderful child God has created!!!    I hope today is everything you want and more!!!!!

Why I Love Mondays

Monday, November 23rd, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Yes, it’s Monday and no, I’m not being sarcastic in my title.   I truly love Mondays.   I refer to Mondays as my “game day.”   It’s the day that I preform at my peak and I get the most work done.   My mind is the sharpest, I’m the most alert, I have the most energy, I have the most motivation, etc.   Mondays are the days I can’t wait to get into the office.  

It’s the day that I come and evaluate and celebrate the previous Sunday.   Now, I will be honest, there are some Mondays I’m celebrating that Sunday is over and I made it out alive, but it’s Mondays like today that I get to celebrate great kids that were here at church yesterday and AWESOME volunteers that showed up with smiles on their faces and were flexbile and willing to do whatever I asked of them….and even a volunteer who before coming to teach their class went and did a radiation treatment for their cancer they are going through (NOW THAT IS DEDICATION!).  I loved getting to teach the elementary kids about having a good attitude even when things get tough (a lesson I needed to hear as well).  

It’s also the day that starts a new week.  I need new beginnings; we all do.   Each Monday I get to look forward to the new week and see what lies ahead.   I LOVE Administrative work, so Monday is the day I work on my “to-do-list” for the week; combine all of my calendars into one, get a good feel for the week, plan and get ready for Sunday and get crackin on that t0-do-list.   I’m really excited for this week….obvioulsy Thanksgiving is this week and my FAVORITE day of the year, Black Friday!!  But I’m equally excited for this week as we start our Christmas series with our Elementary kids and we get to decorate and everything!  I also get to teach about the book of Daniel to the first hour elementary class (which, side note….the book of the Daniel is so good and so much more than the little kid Bible stories that we learn in Sunday school). 

I know most people dread Mondays because the weekend is over and they only see five more work days will the next week, or for Pastors, the “peak day” of their week is over and they have six more days till another one…..but I want to challenge you this week to look at it with excitement!!!   Celebrate this past weekend and use today to look forward to the coming week!!!

HAVE A GREAT MONDAY EVERYONE!!!!!!

Why do you go to church?

Friday, October 30th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

I started reading a book by Larry Crabb the other day entited  Real Church:  Does It Exist?  Can I Find It?  

Now I have only started this book, but I’m excited to hear his heart about the church.  

In Chapter Two, Crabb suggests the reasons people go to church and he breaks it down into four categories:

Category #1:  people who go to church to live more Christianly during the week or to serve others through the church.

Category #2:  parents who regard church as a partnership with youth workers and Sunday school teachers to keep their children out of trouble and into faith.

Category #3:  folks who live alone and value church primarily, or at least significantly, as a place to meet Christian friends and maybe a husband or wife.

Category #4:  bored people who go to church to find some relief from an otherwise tedious existence.

Now I realize that not everyone falls into one of these four categories.    Here is where you come in….I would love to hear from you.   Why do you go to church?   Do you fit into one of these categories?   If you don’t go to church, why don’t you go?    I would love your honesty!    (You can post annoymously on this blog….just use the name “Annoymous” or make one up).

Things aren’t always as they appear…..

Saturday, June 13th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

So I’m a sucker for advertisements…I watch commercials with the latest gadgets, cleaning products, restaurants advertising their new specials, etc.   They always make whatever they sell seem so perfect and that you HAVE to have it!!   But for any of us that have bought just one thing from those commercials we usually find out that it isn’t all that the commercial said and we leave disappointed.  

Well last week was no exception….have any of you seen the Whataburger Commercials for their Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich?   Well I have and I WANTED one!!!   Now this is rare for me because I don’t really like Whataburger, but I HAD to have it….seriously, I was salivating every time the commercial came on!!   So one day this week I decided that was going to be lunch.  

…..now this is what I was expecting.  

This is what I got…..

It was nothing like the commercial portrayed it to be.   I ultimately left pretty dissatisfied.   So where am I going with all of this?    Through my Whataburger experience it made me think back to Jason’s sermon on Sunday.   Sexual Immorality temptations are big and hard to say no to, but they never satisfy us completely.   They may make us feel good for a little while, but in the end we are left lonelier, emptier, and still looking for something to satisfy us.  

I pray that we would all take 1 Corinthians 6:18 and RUN!!!!!!!!    (and not waste our money of the Honey BBQ Chicken Strip Sandwich)

Offensive Grace

Monday, June 1st, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

The past year, God has really given me a passion to be a part of a church that really shows the “offensive grace” that Jason talked yesterday.   I have truly been inspired and encouraged by a church in Las Vegas, Central Christian Church, as they show me what it means to be a church for unchurched people.   Below is an blog post from the Senior Pastor’s wife, Lori Wilhite.  

“Only in Vegas do you have this conversation with the barista at the drive-thru at Starbucks with your kids in the car:

Barista: (Noticing Ethan’s bare feet on the car window) Hey buddy, where are your shoes?

Me: Oh, my kids would be barefoot all of the time if I let them.

Barista: Me too. The other day I went to the video rental place and got all of the way there before I realized I didn’t have my shoes on. Thankfully it was right after the weekend, so I had my high heels with me. I put them on with my sweats and went right inside. My friend said, “I’m SO glad you’re a stripper!”  Ok, here’s your chai. Have a good day.

Me: Thanks. You have a great day too!

Ahhh … I love this town! And I’m so grateful for JCs Girls. And I’m so glad to be at a church that I can invite her to. So, warning, cute barista girl. I’ll be back … invite cards in hand.”

Now that’s offensive grace!!!   Would you feel comfortable inviting a stripper to church?   What would your response be if you found out the person that sits beside you every Sunday was a stripper???   It is my desire that PCC is a church for everyone to come and feel welcomed…no matter where they are in life.   I want it to be a place where we don’t pretend we all have it together, but where we can meet Jesus where we are.   

How can you show offensive grace this week??

3rd Time is always a charm…

Monday, June 1st, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Town Hall for Hope

Saturday, April 25th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments

Last Thursday I decided to go check out what this “Town Hall for Hope” was all about that Dave Ramsey was hosting.  I watch the news all the time and there is nothing hopeful about it lately, so it was so refreshing to listen to someone who had hope.  I left that night with two thoughts:

1.  I am very thankful to my parents for the values they raised me with concerning financies.  My parents practiced most of Dave Ramsey’s principles before he came out with them.  They have always lived by the principle that if we didn’t have the money (cash), we didn’t buy it.  While we did have credit cards they were paid in full every month.  I even remember getting my first credit card and my parents threatening every inch of my life about paying it off in full every month.  Because of their continued dedication to their finances they have been able to give abundantly over the years.  They were able to buys my sister and I’s first cars, paid for our college education, is always there to give above and beyond to the church when needed, and they both enjoyed retirement at a very early age. 

This lifestyle has been a huge blessing to me.  Because of their teachings and values, I get to live debt free, and I’m able to carry on those principles. 

PARENTS:  Be a blessing to your children…..they ARE watching you when it comes to how you deal with your finances!!!  They WILL learn from you?   Think about how you want your children to live in the area of finances and teach them through your actions!!

2.  The whole premise of this seminar was to inject some hope in society.  I left reminded of the hope we have in Jesus Christ.  Money is money and it will all fade away, but Jesus won’t.  When the stock market and our retirement plans change every day, Jesus doesn’t.  My future is secure because of Jesus.  So no matter what happens we can be assured that Jesus is still here, still in control, and we always have hope!!

God is so good!!!