Coming Back to the Heart of Worship

This past weekend was such a good weekend. Not only did I get to spend some sweet time with my friends Dacy and Robert in Birmingham, but I really felt like God spoke to me as well. Today was Robert's birthday (along with his very first Father's Day), so initially it was supposed to be a "birthday surprise" that Kyle and I were coming, but Dacy ended up having to spill the beans, but in the end, it was a great weekend. They have such a precious 3-month old baby girl, Dacy Caroline. It is just SO neat to watch Dacy and Rob with her. Dacy and Rob have been good friends of mine for years now. Dacy and I went to high school together and then I was in their wedding and now I am able to share in their joy of having a daughter! It's just SO neat how life changes. Here are a couple pics from the weekend.

Sunday was so great because we got to go visit Rob and Dacy's church, Clearwater Community Church (which I LOVE!) I felt like I was back in "Revolution" which used to be our college ministry at FBCO. Chris Harris was the college minister then and now he has started his own church in Birmingham (Chelsea) with quite a few of the same people that were leaders during the "Revolution" days. But the great thing about church this morning was the worship. To be perfectly honest, I have felt a bit disconnected from my worship for quite some time now. I used to LOVE praise and worship..it was one of my FAVORITE things to do above anything else and lately I have just sorta lost touch with that. Maybe it's because I need more of a contemporary style of worship and I haven't been involved with that lately. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the sunday school class that I am in at FBCO, Mrs. Karen Scoggins is wonderful, and I feel like I'm being fed there in such a great way. But at the same time, after experiencing the type of worship I did today, it is starting to make me think otherwise. The praise band led us in a song called "Marvelous Light" and it really hit home. Not only is that such an amazing praise song, my eyes were filling up with tears, and I felt like in THAT MOMENT, I was coming back to the heart of worship. I felt like the Holy Spirit just came to me and filled me up like an empty cup, and it was such a marvelous feeling; like no other. It felt so wonderful to be able to sing at the top of my lungs and cry out to Jesus and know that He heard me. I must admit that I have struggled lately with sort of finding my place in church. I thought I had definitely found my place when I joined the One2One sunday school class about a year or so ago. It has blessed me so much and I have found great friends through that, but I am starting to think now it is time for me to try and branch out a little. I think my heart needs that contemporary worship, so I may try doing that for a while. Lately I have just been feeling a sense of "unrest" I think. I couldn't really put my finger on a word to describe what I have been feeling lately, but Natalie put it perfect to me when she said "Amy, I think you are just feeling lots of unrest right now." I think she hit the nail on the head. I am settled into my new job and the whole night shift thing is going really well! The Lord has blown me away by that. He has totally helped me adjust to nights so easily and I am SO thankful for that. I was so nervous about it and worried that it was going to turn my world upside down to be on night shift (I NEVER thought I would have been able to stay awake at night, much less sleep during the day), but God has totally made that transition easy for me. That's lets me know (even in something small) that He will provide for me; He will take care of me when I need it. He knows our needs even when we don't even know. Isn't that awesome?! It reminds me of a verse that I love that says,

"Now to him who is able to immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..."
Ephesians 3:20

And that verse reminds me of another great verse,

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:6-7

I have definitely heard that verse plenty of times before, but it's one I need to hear right now. He is telling us to not worry about anything, but take our requests to God. Tell him what you want/what you think you need. Tell Him your fears, tell him your feelings; that's what He is there for. I have realized that if I am upset, I can cry to God. I can tell Him that I don't understand, I can tell him that I'm mad/upset/hurt...He is the ultimate comforter. It's hard not to worry about things. But a footnote in my bible says, "Whenever you start to worry, stop and pray." I guess in my case, I should be praying a whole lot more than I am, because I know I'm a worry wort.

Although some parts of this weekend were tough for me, I definitely had an eye-opening experience today. It was something I needed..something I think my heart has needed for a while now; just needed to be in the right place. Here is a video of "Marvelous Light".