It's Just That Simple!

I literally filled up on God's word this morning. I think I'll to have to force myself to eat for the first time today (3:00). I just can't seem to work up an appetite. I'm just... satisfied. Yes, you read that correctly. I'm not hungry! This time last year, if I wasn't talking about food, I was eating it! I'm still suffering from other symptoms of the steroids, but thankfully the garbage disposal inside my stomach has taken its leave!

This morning I was watching a show on Netflix that I'm totally sucked into right now. I'm trying to watch it as fast as I can so I can be done with it and stop flooding my brain with filth (it is so past R rated). Yeah, flooding it on overtime doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I realize that. But I just have to see what's going to happen next! Home alone, lying in bed, sucked into this show allowing each curse word to become more and more comfortable to my ears, the enemy had me exactly where he wanted me! We all know that idle hands are the devil's playground and he was toying with me! All of a sudden, "BANG!" A huge thunderstorm came out of nowhere.

Suddenly I realized what was going on and without hesitation, I put down my tablet and picked up my bible. I went to pick up where I left off in Proverbs. Then I started singing one of my favorite hymns. "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus there's just something about that name.." I know this probably all sounds silly. But there's one thing I know for certain: if ever you're scared or feel you're in trouble, just say His name! The bible also instructs us to cling to God and the enemy will flee. So I kept reading.

The rain started coming down like a monsoon which reminded me of the story when Jesus walked on water. So I flipped to John. I read about the disciples being terrified, "yes, this is so me right now!" I thought and the verse right after stated, "But He said to them, 'It is I; don't be afraid.'" Jesus came to comfort them in the middle of their storm, and he came to comfort me in the middle of mine the second that I read this verse.

So I read on. John 6:23 "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." It filled me with pure joy to read this. Nodding my head and exclaiming, "Yes! Yes, that's right!" It summed up a sermon I heard from my church in Arlington, spoken by my former youth pastor. In which he explained, the majority of us work very hard to finish school, get a degree, and earn a successful career. There's nothing wrong with that, but where is it in the bible to make that our main focus?

We work so gosh darn hard to have nice things and live a comfortable lifestyle, which is what most people would define as "happiness." A nice home, enough money in your pocket so you don't have to worry about little things; things like buying a new outfit for the party this weekend or accepting an invitation to meet your friend for lunch. I know this sounds very familiar to many who are reading this. And don't think for a second you're being accused... I have these desires too! However, I know where peace is found and it's nowhere near those things. When you chase for that so called "happiness," you'll just wind up chasing. The bible describes it perfectly: "A chasing after the wind." Come on, you can't catch the wind! 

Studies have been done that have determine the desires of the average millionaire: they would be comfortable if they just had $7 million. I guarantee if they got that $7 million, they still wouldn't be satisfied! They will either want more money, or "more out of life." This is not what God wants us to pursue. So what is it then?

I kept reading. John 28-29 "Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" Jesus answered, the work of God is this: To believe in the one He has sent." Wow. That's it? We spend thousands of dollars on an education, sign our next 30 years away to a mortgage loan, and kill ourselves working for that hefty car payment... and all He requires of us is explained in one sentence? Yes!! It is that simple! It gets better...

John 6:23 "Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."

John 6:40 "For my father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and will raise Him up at the last day."

A paragraph. The answer to life's most meaningful question is answered in a paragraph. Standing in awe of my salvation once again, with tears in my eyes, I prayed, "God, thank you! It really is that simple! I guess our little pea brains can't really handle much more than that!"To have eternal life, you don't have say a bunch of Hail Mary's, or make sure that you're in church on every Christmas and Easter. You don't even have to be "a good person." Isaiah 64:6 God says our works are like filthy rags! All you have to do is believe that He loved you so much, that He sent the best thing He had to offer, to come humbly to this Earth that He created, and die for you. 

Time for my pop tart :)

Want to know more about this? 1 John talks all about salvation. And the book of Ecclesiastes explains in the the uselessness of all of that "chasing." ;)

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of....

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of a whole lot of things according to the Bible." True words spoken by my pastor during our evening service. And man have I been fearing God these last few months!

 

This "fear" all started when a documentary came on a while back explaining the book of Revelation. It was the beginning of a frustrating rampant for Harrison. Once something gets in my head, it doesn't go away until I've completely dissected it. Many of my friends reading this are probably recalling this particular rant! I have a tendency to bring up my "obsession of the week" during casual conversation. Not exactly table conversation! But you have to be patient with me when I'm thinking in my "thinking zone." I will get it all out eventually! However, this particular one really caught my attention because realized I didn't understand the end times as well as I thought. The unknown gave me a sense of terror in the pit of my stomach. Knowing what could be lying ahead of me drove me into a scare that had me diving into God's word trying to figure out if I was really as "ready" as I thought I was. The end times: A scary revelation for me! 

 

How about anger? I know I have been very angry lately (mostly due to post-chemo out of whack hormones) did you know the Bible talks about not inheriting the kingdom of God when it comes to "hatred," or "fits of rage?" After reading that I had a long sit down with each of my loved ones asking for forgiveness, in an attempt to rid myself of all of my anger.

 

After reading things like this and (in the new testament, mind you! So there's no excuse of "well that's before Jesus died for our sins,") I was questioning my salvation. Now that is terrifying. The only way I know how to understand, or grasp the reality of eternity is by putting into perspective: after 1,000 years, you're no closer to the end of it than when you were there for 10 seconds. I do not want to spend that amount of time in hell. Are you beginning to feel that sense of terror I was talking about?

 

To calm my panic attack I started looking for ways to convince myself that I'm ok! I tried reminding myself of my faithfulness. There's one thing I can proudly claim: I trust God with all of my heart. I know that His ways are far better than mine. I have given Him my life: my marriage, my cancer, and look how He took care of those things! I also tried reminding myself of my accomplishments. God has used me on several occasions to lead others to salvation. This blog is another product of my faithfulness. I don't write these posts to puff myself up; I write them for Him.

 

This has been my struggle of mine for quite some time now. Am I saved? Was my seed of salvation planted on rocks instead of nutritious soil where it could thrive? According to these things I've been reading, the simplest of sins can send you straight to hell. But that's not what I was taught? I'm missing something! What is it? Then tonight, something wonderful happened! I ran across Proverbs 16:6 Which oh so pleasantly states, "Through love and faithfulness, sin is atoned for. Through the fear of the Lord, a man avoids evil." Ahhhhh... Yes! do you feel better? I sure do!

 

There's this thing that I sometimes forget to keep in mind when it comes to reading God's word: The context! Our bible lists symptoms of unbelievers. That would be someone who continues to live in sin; With no intentions and no drive to turn away from it. This certainly does not describe someone who sees one verse about anger and turns around to repent immediately, asking forgiveness of all their loved ones. That would actually be a symptom of a believer! Are you beginning to sense the bigger picture?

 

Through love and faithfulness my anger; my sin, is atoned for. Man, do I fear God! And that's how I will avoid evil. My fear of God's wrath scared me quick into repentance! That is just one of the many beginnings of fearing God.

 

If you have questions, or are struggling with understanding like I was, I'm a very good listener :) jones.taylorann@gmail.com And if you are interested in learning more about the blessings what come from fearing the Lord, the book of Proverbs is full of them!

Thank you Kennedy, And thank you God!

I was ready. When I heard the word, "lymphoma" I didn't even flinch. Don't get me wrong, it was hard and there were days where I felt like I couldn't do it anymore, but that's how trials are! For the most part however, I was a warrior. I know God won't give you more than you can handle and He gave me exactly the right dose of tribulation. Just enough to bend me, not quite enough to break me.

For whatever reason, after falling in love with Harrison, I have had a terrible fear of losing him. I was 19 years old and stressing out every time my boyfriend went out of town. What if he gets into an accident? I couldn't live without him. That's just nuts! You're not supposed to live in that and dwell in that. Especially not at 19!

That fear became real for me days after my diagnosis. Harrison and I held each other and cried all night long. He refused to get up from the couch with me when it was time for bed. "Let's just stay here a little while longer." He would say, "We can be closer here." We didn't know how much time we had left with each other. But once the doctors assured us that the treatments would work quickly and effectively, it was war time! And we fought through.

I was in the car a couple of months ago listening to a new song that I'm obsessed with! I was soaking up the lyrics and praising God for what He did in our lives through my battle.

"Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior"

These words describe perfectly what God put us through. As I continued to worship, that daunting fear took over my thoughts again: what if something were to happen to one of us? I began to pray and plead that God would get rid of those horrid thoughts and the pain that came along with them. "Why am I dwelling on something like this? This is so unhealthy!"

All of a sudden I felt a calm and then I felt God speaking to me. "I already saved you. Wasn't that enough? I put you through a life threatening situation and I saved you. Did that not show you?" Feeling relieved,  I quickly changed the station and praised Him all the way home! "You are so right!" I thought. Isn't he always though?

Some of you may be familiar with Kennedy Branham, the 14 year old girl who just recently lost her fight with brain cancer. Harrison and I watched her story on the news last night and instantly fell in love with this young girls heart as we listened to her loved ones talk about her. This girl's only focus was to use her tragedy to share Jesus with others. Always smiling and not once asking God, "why?" As I watched a clip of her, having completely changed in appearance due to all of her medication, smiling as she hugged and thank someone, I felt God speak to me again. "I gave that to her, I didn't give that to you. She could handle it, you could not. I will never give you more than you can handle."

I know that sweet girl touched so many lives, teaching others about the peace we can have through a relationship with Christ. God used her life to teach me something too. Thank you Kennedy and thank you God!

Response to the Robertson's

Yes, I'm doing it. Joining in on the commodity of all the reporters, bloggers and irate Facebook sharers on Phil Robertson's dilemma. Is it really a dilemma though? I believe otherwise.

Just like when studying the bible, if you focus too closely on all of the nitty gritty details, you will miss the entire point; the moral of the story. I have written about this in previous posts. In the midst of my sinful nature I will go ahead and admit that I am so tired of all the picking and pulling apart of every little word that was said during his interview. Quoting every small detail of his words, the amendments, and even Miley Cyrus for crying out loud! But in the midst of all of the commotion, I think God has done a very clever thing here! I mean He is pretty smart, right?

Whether what Phil said was pushing the envelope or not, who cares! Look at all of the attention this family has gotten! All of America typing Phil Robertson's name into Google, and youtube in hopes of hearing what he has to say for himself.

I've looked up his name on those sites many times myself. Not to catch up on the latest gossip, but to listen to his sermons. America is "googling" the name of the man who has made some of the most incredible points I've ever heard.

The only thing that man and his family hope for is to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. I think God has answered their prayers. I doubt it was the way they were expecting, but God has put them all in a position where our nation is listening to what they have to say. Their voices are being heard!

I say something often that I never thought I would ever say: "God, thank you for blessing me with cancer." Sounds crazy right? But God answered my prayers during that difficult trial as well: He has made it way easy for me to share Him with others. After sharing my "Mary and Martha story" with my pastor, in response to my  joke, "I didn't literally mean it when I asked God to use me to speak to others!" he said, "No, you just didn't know what you were asking for."

As I have seen Him do it many times in my life, I believe when you put your hopes and dreams in the hands of the creator, He's going to give them back to you bigger and better than anything you could have ever planned out for yourself. I know He has done the same for this God fearing family.

Mary and Martha

The past 48 hours have been stressful and sleepless. I did very little over thanksgiving break after my surgery and it dawned on me just how much schoolwork I didn't get done come Sunday night. My "study buddy" and precious friend, Jeanette, is in the same boat!

We decided to meet at the library on Monday to knock out some studying. Bad idea! I've mentioned before that she and I don't do anything but talk when we get together. And talking, we did!

We have always felt strangely comfortable with one another to share what's on our minds and on our hearts. She has been going through some extremely difficult struggles and has fallen on hard times. I just let her talk it out. Soon enough some of her old skeletons fell out of the closet, and I watched her fall apart before my very eyes as she relived a traumatizing event. So much for studying! However, I'm glad God chose me to be the one to help comfort her.

Tonight it was time to get back to it! We both had specific things we needed each other's help with for our upcoming test. After my night class, I went straight to her house to tie up some loose ends on the studying. "Ok, I have enough time to clean up before you get here so your timing is perfect!" She told me in a text. "You do not have to clean for me! The only reason my house is so spotless is because Harrison is a neat freak!" But sure enough, as soon as I walked through the door, the smell of cleaning products smacked me right in the face!

We sat down to study and got off topic before we even started! Talking in disbelief about the evolutionary processes that we were trying to cram in our brains for the test. The bible opened up before the biology book did! I have so enjoyed these conversations with her. We finally got on track and hit the books.

Before I knew it, it was 2am. "Oh my goodness I need to get home!" Our conversation went down another rabid trail as I was packing up my things. This time we got onto another blood boiling subject: her previous religion. She was shooting out bible verses that eliminate any possibility of her former beliefs to be true. She was going on and on and all of a sudden, I totally zoned out of the conversation. I looked at her and saw this girl who had been so worn down. Tired and broken. But then I was reminded of the mind blowing thoughts, epiphanies, and revelations that she has come up with so early in her faith and with nothing but prayer and God's word to guide her. She was learning things that took me years to figure out after numerous explanations from my dad, my youth leader, and my pastors. In the midst of all of her struggles and hardships, I saw this woman who was so bright and so intelligent. "This isn't her. She's not going to be stuck in this rut. She's so smart and so above all of this. She's going to be just fine and she is going to do amazing things. If she just put every ounce of trust and gave everything she had to God, Oh my goodness, He is going to richly bless her!" These thoughts were swarming my head as she continued to ramble. And then I heard a voice, "Tell her."

My head became light, almost as if I was going to faint. My stomach was exploding with butterflies. "Tell her!" The voice got louder. "Taylor, tell her!"

She was so caught up in what she was talking about and I was completely gone from the conversation. I didn't want to cut her off so I began to pray for her. Repeating all of the thoughts that just flew into my mind about this girl. The butterflies were unreal and then I felt them start to drift away. I tuned back into the conversation. "This is so insignificant. Why are we talking about this?" I thought to myself, but now I knew, it wasn't me thinking this. Jesus was talking directly at me and Jeanette came to an end with her speech.

"I have to tell you something." I started. "I feel so light headed and my stomach is swarming with butterflies. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before." The look on her face changed completely. "I have to tell you that you're going to be ok. You are so smart and you are so above this." I said.  All of a sudden we were crying. Why was I crying? Not that I don't enjoy and care for her, but I don't have much to do with her situation. Then I continued,  "Put all of your faith and trust in God and you will do great things. And don't dwell on this stuff; these other religions. Focus on what is." I told her. All of a sudden the butterflies left my stomach and heart felt like it bursted right out of my chest.

"Taylor, did you just feel that?" Jeanette said. "My heart just felt so heavy, but open at the same time time." She cried.  "Yes, I felt it." How did she know to ask me that? What would  make her think that I was experiencing the same physical feelings? "When you said you were light headed and your stomach... I was feeling the exact same way!" She continued. "Taylor, your eyes got so big when you started talking to me. Your pupils were so dilated." She then reminded me of the story she told me in the library. "Every stranger who went out of there way to help me that day, they had these big blue eyes. I didn't get it at the time but then I saw your blue eyes get so big and it all made sense. It was Jesus!" She exclaimed. This reminded me of how the little boy in the book, "Heaven is for real" described what Jesus looked like. He couldn't stop talking about His eyes; His big sea blue eyes!

"Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. This is just crazy!" I told her. She then told me of a bible story she was reminded of. "You know that story about the two sisters who had Jesus over at their house? One of them was cleaning and cooking and told Jesus that her sister needed to be doing the same thing for Him?" She asked. I wasn't familiar so she went on to explain "Jesus told her to stop and that she should be doing what her sister was. Taylor, I was cleaning like a mad woman before you got here but then I felt God telling me to just calm down. I get it now. Jesus was here! Oh my gosh, He lives. Jesus lives!" Everything she was shouting was so biblical.

This is the craziest thing that has ever happened to me. I have been asking and praying that God would use me to speak to others for His glory. I didn't mean that literally! What an awesome answer to prayer!

I went home and found the story she was talking about. I think she and I both took on the roles of Mary and Martha!

Luke 10:38-42
New International Version (NIV)
At the Home of Martha and Mary

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one.[a] Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Jesus and Makeup

Today was a momentous occasion. I got my port taken out! We had bible study tonight (which I refused to cancel. I wanted my friends with me during this time). Ashby's first words: "Tell me all about it! How do you feel? Physically? Emotionally?"

"It's over. The one thing that kept me emotionally tied down to the category 'cancer patient' is out of me. I feel normal again." I responded

Not only was this the reason it was such an important day, but we also had a huge opportunity to impact the lives of others as we were able to freely talk about our journey this past year; Sharing with doctors and nurses what God did in our lives. I was asking for many prayers today. Not because I was nervous, or worried about complications or infections, but because we wanted God to be glorified during our time at the hospital. And boy was He!

I had a couple of nurses come in and ask me questions about my medical history. One of them mentioned that she worked in the oncology center for years and actually knew my oncologist!

Then it was time for the anesthesiologist to come in and ask me the same questions. (The most expensive 2 minute conversation you will ever have!) After he left, the same nurse came in and leaned over my bedside. "I had to text him before he came in and just tell him that you are absolutely radiant. Something about you is glowing. I don't know if it's your skin or..." I chuckled and thanked her, "Makeup helps!" I told her. "You were obviously faced with this and accepted it and got through it." She responded.

This is all to say that God answered "yes" to our prayers! We asked that He would be glorified and that others would see Him in us and it is clear that they did! Everything that woman described... None of it was me. Only Jesus can make me look that good! And makeup ;) Harrison and I were only able to get through such a terrifying situation because we were getting our strength from a very mighty God.. The creator of the universe!

Harrison and I were waiting in the surgery prep area for hours. The person in surgery before me ended up having some complications, so we had to wait. As anxious as this made me, it allowed us to have more time to meet and impact more people. God's timing is always perfect!

Finally Doctor Taber entered our room. The last time he saw me, I was riddled with cancer, skinny as a bean pole, and sick as a dog. Today, I was cancer free and very healthy! As always I was a little embarrassed by the significant weight gain, but I was excited for him to see my 100% turn around. And he was too!

He took one look at the scar located above my port and said, "Oh yeah, we can tighten that up and it will heal much better." Score! No more giant red line across my chest? That was great news!

Finally, it was time for my relaxation medicine (the best part!) and a quick kiss goodbye from Harrison. They wheeled me back to the OR and started prepping me for surgery. The anesthesia started kicking in while the nurses were getting me all tucked in. "I'm sorry I know this is cold." They kept saying. "Listen lady, I feel great!" I said. "Well just close those eyes." She chuckled.

The next thing I knew, I was in the recovery room. "I don't feel sick, this incision doesn't hurt, and I'm totally alert." I thought. "Is it gone? I better check" I said to myself. I looked down. "No bruising!? My last two surgeries left nasty bruises. This thing looks great!" I continued. Then I felt. "It is gone!" I started trying out positions that normally would be uncomfortable due to the port. And... Nothing! I felt nothing! What a wonderful feeling...

Next they took me back to get dressed. Last time, I was so out of it that the nurse had to do this for me. Not this time! I got up, told the nurse "thanks, but no thanks," grabbed my clothes, and dressed myself! A big thanks to everyone who kept me in their prayers. God answered "yes!"

Before discharge, I handed the nurse a few cards with my blog site on them and made sure that she gave one to the sweet lady who had such nice things to say about me.

Matthew 13: 3-9

^"3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Will you all continue to join us in prayer as we pray for the hearts of our witnesses today? We will be praying that a seed was planted on good soil! I hope He says "Yes" to that too :)

We went into overtime, and God won.

I remember when I lived with my parents in Seattle, we had a night at youth group where we shared what God was doing in our lives. The lights were dimmed and there was pretty music in the background. God always moves of course, but that night He moved! I guess what is so awesome about it, is that it was an experience I shared with my closest friends. He was touching all of our hearts the same way.

We we're always very close as a group, sometimes in ways that would disgust most. For instance, if one of us had Starbucks at church and the person at the end of the row wanted a sip, we would each take a swig as we passed it down and then do the same as we passed it back. Talk about church family! But, hey,  we were also teenagers.

When we would sing together on Thursday night's, there wasn't a group of us on stage that were better than everyone else because we were musically talented. No, we were worshiping and praising God! Sometimes we would all get up and sit in a group on the stage, including the singers, and worship while we held onto one another. We would also sit together like this on night's when we shared with one another what God was doing in our lives. I remember when I got home from that particular night, I just didn't want it to end! I looked up the same song that was playing in the background on the internet and played it in repeat until I fell asleep. I slept on the couch that night so I could listen to it and continue to pray.

I never thought I would have anything like that again after I moved back to South Carolina, but I'm having one of those night's again tonight. I am I'm awe of how God moved this morning in church. This morning was the first time in a long time that I felt that same unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and we didn't even have to swap spit drinking after each other!

There is a girl in my class who has pulled on my heartstrings since the day she said me, "I've been struggling with so many things but when I saw your scar, I knew what I'm going through doesn't compare to what you have probably been through with your health."

We have gotten together on several occasions to study and have seriously failed each time. We always get so caught up in conversation. Her curiosity for Jesus was exciting and we would end up talking for hours about it. This has gotten me a parking ticket and B on my last test! But every moment has been worth it. I finally invited her to our church, not expecting her to come, but she did this morning!

Today was a perfect day for her to come because we had a worship team visiting who were awesome! Kim and Rance were there also which made me feel better having some people our age welcome her to the church.

The worship was beautiful and Pastor Shane's message was powerful. Before we stood up for the time of invitation I explained to her, "This is a time where you can go down and have Pastor Shane pray for you to receive salvation. No pressure whatsoever, I just wanted you to know that's what this time is for." We didn't even get to the chorus of the song and she was a blubbering mess! 

Thankful that I sat at the end of the row, I had Kim take my place comforting her while I frantically dug the tissues out of my purse. I had to get one for myself too... darn hormones!

Before I knew it, she went downstairs. I gave her a minute before I followed her down to check on her. There she was, "Where in the world is there a bathroom in this place!" She laughed. I didn't want to push her, I just asked her what was going on. "My family will be so upset with me if I do this." She confessed. "Jesus said, 'they will hate you because they hated me first.' But I promise there is nothing better and more comforting than letting Jesus have your life. Are you ready?" With a quick nod, we opened the door into the sanctuary.

Uh oh, the invitation song is over but at least they sang one more for a love offering. A buddy from Harrison's work was at the door. "Is everything ok?" He asked. "We need Shane." I whispered. He pointed him out and we walked down the isle together to get him. He immediately stood up to embrace her. She fell apart, and so did I! Stupid hormones! " She's ready." I told him.

Instead of praying with her right then and there like I had expected, he grabbed the youth pastor and his wife to take her into another room. I am so appreciative that he took the time to explain to her what it means to be saved so she could make an educated decision. He explained to her that we, as humans, deserve to be punished and we deserve to go to hell due to our sins. But Jesus took care of that for us when He died on the cross. After that, my sweet friend prayed a prayer that forever changed her.

"The bible says that the angels rejoice when someone gives their life to Christ." I told her. "That's right." Chase said. "They're rejoicing for you right now." He told her.

What a beautiful day in the midst of God's works with my church family there to support and be there for my new friend. I didn't want it to end! 30 Minutes before evening service started I said to Harrison, who was exhausted from working long hours day and night all weekend, "I'm still so pumped. I'm sorry, I'm leaving you to go back to church." I told him.

At church there was another beautiful message, as always, but I loved one thing Shane said during his sermon. "We had to go into overtime today, and we won! God won! Someone got saved today!" That's right. I explained to Harrison that if it wasn't for that extra song and those rare few minutes, we would have missed it. But even still, Northside sacrificed beating the Methodist to the buffet and went into overtime for my friend.

I still don't want this day to be over. Just like when I was 16 on the couch, in the basement at my parents house in Seattle, I've got this one song on repeat and I'm going to praise Him until I fall asleep.