Batman

With all the talk of the new Batman movie I would just like to say one thing...Michael Keaton is my all time favorite Batman in the "Batman" and "Batman Returns" movie. I can't believe it was 1989 when the first Batman movie came out...time flies!

Spotlight

I know today, a tiny little bit, how Eric feels every service. It is really scary to stand up center stage in front of the church. I didn't realize how big the place really looks until you are looking out. Lots and lots of eyeballs looking back. :)

As part of the "Healer" song today, three of us came up during the bridge and gave our testimony of healing. For those who don't know, God healed me 2 years ago from degenerative disk disease in my back. It had gotten so bad that there were times when I had to physically crawl from room to room and I even lost mobility in my leg (had to drag it around when I walked). At 29, I the x-rays showed a spine of someone who was over twice my age. The doctors told me that my only real option would be surgery before I was 40 to fuse part of my lower spine. I knew that my only REAL option was to get on my face before God. I fasted and prayed...and God touched my back with complete healing. I was even told that I would never be able to have any more children due to the fact that the weight would be too great for my spine to handle. After my healing, God blessed me with a beautiful little girl...I didn't have a single back pain while I was pregnant. Praise God.

Pre-Service Slides

Part of my job (a very small part) is to make pre-service slides for Sunday. The problem is that they are way down on my list of priorities for the week and normally don't get done in time. One of the things that I have restructured in my weekly plan is to make sure and keep the announcements up to date. Due to the short work week for me, I had to make 12 slides today. Now, if you are creative at all you will know that designing 12 of anything is hard to do in a week, much less one day. I was burning up Photoshop today! :)

Here are a couple that I was asked to make today...

1. "Please visit restrooms before service begins." Now, you know who you are...getting up several times during service to go to the potty. If I had my way, I would have the doors lock on your way out so you don't disrupt service on your way back in. You have to feel 500+ eyes burning a hole through you on your way back in. I am in the media room directing the television broadcast and see you creep back into my camera shot...I normally yell "sit down!" :)

2. "Please silence cell phones before service." Pastor Mike called someone out last week for a cell phone ringing and it was awesome. He said "tell them I am a little busy right now and will have to call them back."

3. "Nursery Available." Now this is the most sensitive issue at church. We, at The Torch, have the best and most loving nursery staff ever! They truly care about our kids (my baby has been in the pod since she was an infant...for both services). As a parent, just upfront, I love kids....BUT NOTHING is more distracting to those in the sanctuary than a baby crying or a toddler screaming for his/her crayons. I would hate to know that it was my Breelyn who kept the people around me from hearing a word from God.

Go Speed Pastor!

This is the funniest thing that I have seen in a long time and when I saw Pastor put on these glasses, Speed Racer was my first thought. "Go Speed Pastor!" If I get in trouble for posting this...it was worth it. :)

Sleepy!

Last night, I got home from a two day staff retreat at the lake. I took a ton of pics but have been threatened with an inch of my life if I post them (sorry everyone). We had full days of meetings (boooo) and then we had the rest of the evening to spend "fun in the sun" with each other and our families. The main topic of discussion centered around the church vision. Where are we headed? What can we do to reach more unchurched people? What else do we need to be doing to fulfill our vision of "Connecting People with God and Others". We came up with a lot of great ideas on how to restructure things we are currently doing and evaluated areas that we need to expand our outreach. Personally, I am excited about the changes that are getting ready to take place in the media ministry!!!!
Monday night was awesome! We all stayed up LATE and played one of Eric's favorite card games called Mafia. Everyone got a card and were either a towns person, a cop or a mafia member. Mary Beth Thomas and I always seemed to be partners either taking out towns people or saving them as cops. It was a great time for us, as a staff, to get together and spend time getting to know each other outside of the office. It was a lot of fun!

MONSTER!!!

My son is obsessed with bugs...any size and any kind. Well yesterday after we got home from church, he brought in the biggest bug I think I have ever seen in person. You know those large strange caterpillars that you see on National Geographic. Yeah, it was one of those monsters. It was as long as his hand and as big around as a hotdog. MONSTER! Of course, I am not one to love bugs so it really freaks me out that he is holding it right now on my sofa!!!!! Pic to post later....I gotta get to work!

Today at The Torch

On a rare occasion from time to time, I get to sit with my husband Mike in the sanctuary during service. Today started out that way. About 30 minutes into service I got a wave from Daniel (who was running camera at the time) to get upstairs quickly. I had noticed during service that there was a strange "blip" on just the side screens for about 1.5 seconds. It was only once so I assumed that someone had accidentally touched a cable that might have been loose or the hateful scan converter. As I sprinted up the stairs (in shoes that were not conducive to running), apparently the screens "blipped" again.
With the fear of messing with anything during service, I decided to check on it later. Come to find out, one of the master cables has a bad end on it and will have to be replaced (I'm glad that's all it was). I apologize to those in the sanctuary who were distracted from the message by the strange "green glowing blip" on the screen during 2nd service. That's technology for ya!
Also, the Worship video seemed to have gone over very well in the services this morning. I will post it on youtube closer to the end of the week so that those who missed it can enjoy it.

What is Worship?

This Sunday we will be showing a video before service that I edited (and Daniel Usher videotaped) entitled "What is Worship?". It is a really powerful look into what some of our praise team members consider worship. Here is a sneak peak screen shot:

New editions!

New addition to our family.

Jackson and Ryder Cantrell

Born July 3, 2008

Parents: Corey (my first cousin) & Haley Cantrell

They are sleeping together in a "Moses Basket".

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm not going to say how old I really am but it looks like my birthday cake only has 5 candles on it. :)

The Death of Torch Blog

The staff of the Torch, I won't mention any names (Eric, Bob & Scott) aren't blogging on their personal sites anymore. What is strange is that people are still checking their sites everyday to see if they are posting anything new...they are not! If you see them in the hall at church (even if you don't read their blog) please tell them that you love their blog site and miss reading their posts....don't tell them I told you to say that though! ;)

In Tough Times

Pastor Mike shared tonight on how to deal with the tough times in our lives (he called it "barren" times - Isaiah 54)
1. Praise (Praise God anyway, regardless of hard times. Praise in faith that He will see us through)
2. Prepare in Faith (Even in barren times, God is still working out His plan in our lives. TRUST God's Plan)
3. Don't Fear (stand without fear...have faith)
4. Forget the Past (We tend to say "what if" and second guess life decisions we have made)
5. Remember the covenant (the promise) that God made with you.

Real Life ER

Yesterday was such a dramatic day. The daycare that my children attend couldn't get me on my cell phone so one of the teachers got in her car and came to find me! Needless to say when I saw her coming down the hallway of the church, my heart fell to my feet. She said that my son "had an accident at school".

I rushed out to get him and take him to the ER. After a catscan on his head and neck, the doctor came to the diagnosis that Colton had pulled a muscle in his neck. Praise God that is all it was! I took this photo of Colton asleep in the ER while we were waiting for the results of the catscan. His neck only hurts when he lays flat or looks up...this position seemed not to hurt. The elephant was a very sweet gift from the "catscan lady".