It's going to be a CRAZY week!

Tonight I leave after Lifeline to go to Willow Creek in Chicago for a Student Conference and I'll be there until Wednesday. I'm going with my friends Lisa Baugher, Corey and John Keim and it's going to be great - David Crowder Band is the worship band! I'm really looking forward to learning a lot more about working with high school kids - as you can tell from the picture, I must really need some help in this area - just look at Danielle's expression on her face and that says everything!

Then I'm home for a day and then I head BACK to Chicago to start a new school. I haven't mentioned this to many people, but it's VERY, VERY EXCITING and I can't wait to see what path God will take me as I start a path on this new career. I'm going to keep you guessing on what that is and I'll tell you more about it later in the week when I get back. Throw some guesses out on my comments - but if you already know what my new career is, don't give it away!

Remember: It is not how much we do, but how much love we put inthe doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving. Mother Theresa

This is my Daddy!

This is my Dad - Terry Staley, and he's a huge part of who I am. When I was thinking about what I should post next about love, I was thinking about my parents and how things they did for me when I was kid taught me about love.

When I was a kid money was not abundant. My Dad worked his butt off and made sure we had everything we needed, but we didn't have money for extras. It was important to my Dad that my Mom stay home and take care of us, so he did what he needed to do to make sure that could happen.

It was my sophomore year of high school and it was time to make the big class ring purchase - I was so excited! It was so much fun to pick out the ring and know that it was going to be custom made just for me. I was shocked when I found out how much it was going to be. I was working at the time and had some money saved, but not enough - so I figured I would just have to save a little more and wait awhile until I could order it. I was kind of disappointed, but it wasn't the end of the world.

Well, a few days later my Mom told me to go ahead and order it, that they were going to buy it for me. I was really surprised because I knew we didn't have that kind of money just laying around, but of course being a 16 yeard old I ordered it right away, said thank you and didn't think much more about it.

A few years later, after I was grown and out of the house, my Mom and I were talking one day. Come to find out my Dad really wanted to buy my class ring as a gift for me and didn't want me to have to pay for it myself. Since all of our money went to food and bills, he didn't know exactly how to do that, so he went to the pawn shop, took HIS class ring and sold it so that he could buy my class ring! WOW!

After finding that out, I felt so valuable, special and loved by my Daddy that he would sacrifice something that he loved and was special to him just for me. I still get teared up when I think about how much my Dad loved me to do that for me. Even to this day, when he gets me a gift that he's picked out himself, it means the world to me (because I know he hates to shop and that he must really love me if he went to the store just for me).

My Dad has taught me a lot about unconditional and sacrificial love because he has modeled that for me my entire life. From him I have learned about faith, honesty, integrity, kindness and character - to always work hard and do the job right no matter what. Thanks Dad - you are a huge example to me and I love you!

Billboards, Jesus and GCC

Did you know that . . .

Right here in St. Joseph County (not on the other side of the road but right here among our neighbors and friends) there were: (documented by Indiana State Department of Health)

1. 731 abortions in 2003 (18% teens)
2. 481 teen pregnancies in 2003
3. 37% of all births were to unmarried parents
4. 355 reported cases of AIDS

By age 19, 69% of boys have had sex and 77% of girls have had sex (as reported by the Kinsey Institute)

Porn is destroying people and families: (Family Safe Media)

1. The largest consumers of internet porn are 12 - 17 year olds
2. Pornography is a 57$ billion industry annually
3. Porn revenue is larger than all the combined revenues of all professional football, baseball and basketball franchises
4. That anyone (including kids) can download porn onto their cell phones or iPods - in fact, the first day it was available one service reported 500,000 downloads of porn videos in the first 24 hours after offering the service.

Christians are affected by porn too? 47% of ALL CHRISTIANS (OK, get that, that's almost HALF) say that pornography is a major problem in the home.

Did you know that . . .

1. Sex is a beautiful and intimate act that God created for a married man and woman to enjoy and bring them closer to each other and closer to Him?
2. Pure Sex is not anything to be embarassed or ashamed about - it's only because it's gotten twisted and warped through our culture that it is perceived as bad. It is a God given and God breathed act of intimacy and beauty in it's pure form.
3. Sex was not meant to be used as an act of trying to fill a void or trying to find your value and worth - Jesus provides all of that for us, not sex.
4. If Christians don't start standing up and addressing the "taboo" subjects to our friends, family and children there is no hope for our children's future.
5. There is a group of Christian men and women at Granger Community Church (me being one of them) that is willing to step out of the comfort zone, take extreme criticism from others, and be attacked by other Christians because lost, hurting and broken people matter to Christ and to us. We want to see families and lives restored through the love and grace of Jesus and we will do anything He has called us to do to make that happen.
6. We don't try to get people to our church who already know Jesus - we're reaching out to the people who have no idea that Jesus can even help them. Isn't that what Jesus did when He was on the earth? He didn't hang out with the "church" people, he went right in and hung out and loved on the "outcasts" and the "broken".

Did you kow that I am proud to be a part of a church that follows Christ and does what the bible says no matter what the cost! Jesus didn't change the world by being conservative and worrying about what people thought, so I'm happy to be following Him and doing exactly what I think He would have done, which is to get in the front lines of battle and fight the hard issues that are destroying people and families.

Click here to see exactly what the point of the GCC SEX billboards around town are all about www.mylamesexlife.com

Click here here and here to read more about the PURE SEX series coming up.

In honor of "the week of love" that I declared yesterday (Valentine's Day), here is a list of some of the things I love (not necessarily in order):

• I love Jesus
• I love my husband Trent & My son Cody
• I love my crazy but awesome family (they keep life interesting!)
• I love my Lifeline students (especially my girls!)
• I love my dog and my kitty cat
• I love tennis (especially when I'm winning)
• I love the beach and the sun
• I love morning coffee time with my hubbie out on our deck by the water
• I love Little Sable Point Lighthouse at Silver Lake
• I love our summer shack at Silver Lake
• I love boat rides with friends
• I love having Cody's friends Kyle and Chris hang out with us
• I love real, honest conversation
• I love sharing my dreams and insights with someone who cares
• I love watching God weave lives and experiences together to bring us closer to him
• I love Starbucks Vanilla latte - 2% decaf with whipped cream
• I love dinner with girlfriends (or anything with girlfriends)
• I love sunsets - especially with my husband at Silver Lake
• I love conversation that blows your mind and makes you think about things in a new and different way
• I love old, old songs from my childhood like The Carpenter's, Barry Manilow and Air Supply
• I love old 80's songs and movies from my high school days
• I love chocolate cake with my Mom's home made chocolate chip frosting
• I love avocadoes - I'm addicted to them
• I love to be a part of a team
• I love my Grandma Betty, Grandma Russell, Poppy, and Father-in-law Jerry who are all waiting for me in heaven
• I love getting sweaty and dirty working my bootie off on a mission trip
• I love spoiling the people I care about and making them feel special
• I love my bed, pillow and heated mattress pad
• I love snuggling up to my hubby every night and waking up with him
• I love getting lost in a sappy romantic movie
• I love my Mom's augratin potatoes and her potato salad
• I love making a difference in people's lives and having a part in changing the world
• I love visiting my in laws and their friends in Florida - hangin' out at the retirement park is cool!
• I love Mexico - especially The Mayan Riviera in the Yucatan peninsula and Monterrey where Back 2 Back Ministries is located
• I love to explore and travel anywhere I possibly can
• I love to be outside (when it's over 50 degrees)
• I love it when the wind blows on my face a certain way and I know that it's God showing me here's right there
• I love the feel of the sand between my toes
• I love to scuba dive and snorkel
• I love Off-roading in our jeep
• I love being loved
• I love Jesus - Oh yeah, I already mentioned that but it's worth saying again!

Happy Valentine's Day!

To all of my friends, family and loved ones - I hope that you had a Happy Valentine's Day today and that you felt loved. I also hope that you gave some love away today and that you showed the special people in your lives how much they mean to you.

I have a lot to say about love - so I am declaring this "the week of love" - so stay tuned, it will be interesting.

Thank you for being in my life - I love being on this crazy journey through life with you!

God is amazing!

When I look at the galaxies on a clear night,
when I look at the incredible brilliance of creation
and think that this is what God is like,
then instead of feeling intimidated and diminished by it
I am enlarged . . . I rejoice that I am a part of it.
Madeleine L. Engle

It's Strep

It's Wednesday and Cody is still home sick from school. We went to the doctor today and it is confirmed . . . STREP THROAT! I got him some ice cream and just got done getting him settled in for the rest of the day. He's really bummed because he's already missed guitar lessons, he's gonna miss 5-Star and Oasis tonight, and he'll miss his last school snowboarding trip tomorrow. The doctor said he's definitely out of school tomorrow and maybe Friday. This is making things tricky for me at work, but fortunately I have a boss that is very understanding that way.

So now I'm trying to be a good Mom and give Cody all the attention and love that he needs because he's miserable, but inside I'm freaking out because I don't want to get strep throat!! I hope that my Seaweed vitamins and Echinacea kick in so I don't catch - The doctor said it's VERY contagious.

OK - gotta go - I'm going to go take an extra shot of Seaweed essentials & Vitamin C!

Dirty Feet

Quote of the Week:

I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet - Ghandi

I've been mulling this quote over a lot in the past day - it really spoke to me and challenged me. How many times have I been part of a conversation where something unkind, disrespectul or inappropriate has been said, and I've done nothing about it?

This quote could also be applied to the shows I watch on TV, books I read, movies I watch, music I listen to, etc., etc. My mind can't be pure and clean if I'm letting/putting unclean stuff in it. I believe that a pure mind leads to a pure heart, and that is what Jesus calls us to.

So from now on, if you hear me muttering something about dirty feet and walking away, please don't take offense - just understand that it took Jesus a lot of years of working on me to get my mind and heart cleaned up and I have no intention of messing it up and getting it dirty again.

Cody is really sick - he was home from school today with a high temp, sore throat, and throwing up - not fun for him at all. I knew he was sick when he said he'd rather be at school. Right now he has a 103 degree fever and I'm worried about him. This is about the sickest I've seen him since he was a baby. SAD!

WOW - it's been a busy week!

We just got back from a trip to Nashville with 46 student and leaders. We went to Student Life 2006 and heard Erwin McManus and Charlie Hall. The conference was incredible, our students were amazing and our bus driver was a man of many words. I'll follow up this week with pictures and details.

I am so blessed to get to do this - thank you Jesus for all of these incredible opportunities you give me. I can't believe I get to do this!