Venusdflytrap’s Weblog

Hey guys,

Just spreading the word and some good music. Jesse posted a video from The Saturn Project. You get to see them in action on stage. It’s awesome. Let’s show them some support. We’re blessed to have them at LPC. Nice job guys!

It’s under my links.

I read on Chris’s blog that we had 13+ inches of rain these last couple of weeks. The rain was much needed, especially since it has been so dry these last few months. Well, along with the rain came lots of thunder, lightning and power outages. It’s scary because my power almost always goes out, even with the slightest hint of thunder. Today, I was in Walmart shopping for a few last minute salad items for this week, and in the middle of shopping the power went out. Then it went back on right away, but then it went out again, and then on again. This happened repeatedly for a good 3 minutes. Then about 5 minutes later, the entire store lost power and it was pitch black! It was scary! I even grabbed my purse from the cart and used my cell phone as a flashlight for a minute because this time the emergency lights didn’t even go on! People started to panic after they didn’t go on right away and I heard people scrambling towards the front of the store to exit. I just remained calm and stood in the isle I was in waiting patiently for the lights to come on. After about 2 mins the emergency lights finally turned on. Then after another 5 mins the power was back up. That got me to thinking. I really need to start preparing for hurricane season (which already started)! I definitely don’t want to be in Walmart when a storm is coming though. Five minutes is a long time to be without power in a store like that. Thank God there wasn’t any chaos! And thank you lord for bringing me home safely.

In preparation for our new Life group, we came across this great video for new and non-believers. If you have friends that are not saved and don’t know the lord, or maybe they’re on the fence – this might be a great tool for you to share with them. Check it out!  It’s a 15 minute video that could change their life!

http://www.juststopandthink.com/

I’m so excited about tomorrow. Our Life group starts up again and I’m looking forward to it. We have some newcomers and a few graduates. I’m glad to have some familiar faces back again. It will help us make the newcomers feel welcome. We’ll also be celebrating a birthday – Happy Birthday Chris! I’m sure we’ll have a great time. We’ve got some great stuff planned for this semester. Tune in for some more in the coming weeks! Also, check out Chris Day – The Major’s blog. He usually does a great recap for us after group.

My good friend Patricia treated me to a wonderful dinner at the newly opened Longhorn. It was worth the 1 1/2 hour wait ( at least that’s what she said – I got there from work right when they were seating us – lol). But seriously, from the fresh out of the oven soft crusted nut filled bread and the sweet butter (eeewwhh!) to the mouth watering flo filet steak, the meal was on the money! Not quite as cheap as Applebees, but worth every penny! (Although it wasn’t my penny this time around – lol – thanks P!) I highly recommend the Crab stuffed shrimp & Flo filet steak entree. It was absolutely delicious. Even the sweet potato melted in my mouth. I had Blackberry sweet tea, which was delicious and refreshing and for dessert – now you know we had to do it (and it was all Patricia’s idea -bad influence! – Lol) we had a dangerous Ghirardelli brownie sundae. It was so big, the glass nearly tipped over while we were eating it. We thought about asking him to box it up for us (kidding), but yes it was that good too. The service was great – although our eccentric “d-man” waiter was a little forgetful, he was very nice. We (the food critics) cut him some slack since it was extremely busy and since he gave us a nice warm loaf to take home 8-p.  We rated it at about 97 out of of a 100%. Lol. Only because Patricia’s Renegade Sirloin was missing it’s famous prairy dust (or was that fairy dust?) Hhhmmm, maybe that’s why they called it renegade – because it deserted its flavor - LOL!  8-) Her “Wild West shrimp” were amazing though.  Recommend those too. Overall, it was a fantastic meal. You may want to wait until all the hype is over though – if you’re not a patient person, since the wait will probably be at least an hour. But if you are up for it, you won’t be disappointed. I can’t remember the last time I had such a delicious steak! It has been so long since I’ve eaten steak that I forgot what a treat it is. I went home stuffed and feeling great. Thank you lord for good friends and great food! My love tank was just as full as my belly!

Wow, I can’t believe we’re already going into the 3rd semester for the Singles lifegroup. It seems like only yesterday when we were just starting up. God has really shown himself in so many ways to the many members of our groups and I love it!  Patricia and I are excited about the new curriculum/book – Crazy Love by Francis Chan. There is something deep inside all of us that yearns for something more, something that calls us to dig deeper into our soul than we ever have before. Don’t we all want to feel true love and to be able reciprocate love in return without getting rejected? Where else can we find that but in and through God? After all – GOD IS LOVE! Crazy love gets right to the heart of that, and we’re looking forward to experiencing that? Our mission in SWAT remains the same (I’ve pasted it below for those who’d like to know what it all means). If you know anyone that is single and searching for love (maybe in all the wrong places) or that has just given up hope, or maybe doesn’t know what being single with God really means, please invite them to join our group. Pass this info along.  We’d love to have them join us.  Lots of love.

S.W.A.T. (Singles With Armor & Tactics)

MISSION STATEMENT:

To glorify God by taking the focus off of ourselves and placing the focus on Him. Embracing the season of singleness as a divine purpose while discovering what the Lord has purposed us to do in this season and doing it. Developing an intimate relationship with our first love through a commitment to worship, ministry, service, fellowship, and discipleship. Shift focus off of being single…to being single with a focus!

 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.

Ephesians 6:11

 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Matthew 16:24

Just got back in from NY. What a trip! Never thought we could do so much in 3 days…but I guess that’s what makes NY, NY! Lol. We had a blast! I was the tour guide for the girls and we had a chance to see lots of NY. We took a few tours in NYC, visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (although we didn’t exactly get off the boat at Ellis island – lol), ate some fabulous NY Pizza (mmmm – I miss it already), Knishes (soooo good!), Hot dogs, Arroz con gandules y pollo (when we visited my family) and tons of other delicious and fun stuff! The girls got a chance to live NY style  for a little while – riding the subways, watching an off broadway show (that really should be off broadway – lol), shop in chinatown and take in all the sites and history. We even had time to visit my family, eat and joke around (cause we’re just a bunch of clowns) and they fit right in! My family loved them and they seemed to reciprocate the feeling. I was blessed to have had the chance to share such great moments with members of S.W.A.T. and my family. Truly a time to remember!

Ended my week perfectly! With a great friend and some SMOKIN wings at Sonny’s.  Aaaggghh…it was pure pleasure. You know I’ve past Sonny’s hundreds of times in this last 3 years and never knew about those wings. Patricia and I went there for some ribs one day – because that’s what they were supposedly known for, but man they were terrible! We had the wings as an appetizer – now that was a hit! Right out the park! Not sure about all of them, but the “smokin” wings are da bomb! Every since that night we were hooked. So we went today for an after work treat and as usual they were awesome. Then we decided to have some dessert – and P chose the Key lime pie. Or Key Lime whipcream if you ask me. Couldn’t really find the lime. Lol. It was delicious though – no complaints, except that the waitress seemed to get annoyed when she stepped into a part of our conversation..thinkin she knew what we were talking about. P was talking about how the Key lime pie reminded her of this dessert from back in Maryland. I was trying to figure out which ones she was talking about, and I said “all that comes to mind is the Sarah Lee pies” and at that moment the waitress walks by and put the only face on. And if that wasn’t enough, she sucked her lips and hissed. She gave us major attitude after that – thinking we were criticizing the Key Lime pie, calling it Sarah Lee. Hey, Sarah Lee is not bad. Dang! You would’ve thought she made the whipcream.  She’s lucky we’re good christians cause her 20% tip almost went to the homeless guys outside. Lol. Nah, it was cool. We enjoyed our wings and her service…initially. Hopefully, she won’t wait on us again.

Ok, so I’ve been getting ragged on for not updating this blog. It’s time to get on the ball – as my mom would say. I set up a facebook account too. I’ll try to link all of them up. In the meantime, feel free to check it out. Tried to find all my LPC buds but still missing a few of you guys. I haven’t put any pics up yet, but after this trip from NY I should have a few good ones. Yes, yes I know P, Tammy and Chris that I have to put the others on too. Love you guys much. See ya at lifegroup on wed!