State of Emergency!!

A State of Emergency was issued for the State of West Virginia on Friday because of a winter storm we were expecting! We ended up with 15 inches at my house!! So many people dreaded this storm! I've heard countless complaints about the snow and how much people hate it. Im having a hard time understanding why people who HATE snow live in Morgantown, WV... I dont get it. Regardless... I LOVE IT!!! I think snow is the most beautiful thing. As I look out across these WV mountains, I stand in awe! I grew up in Arkansas... where snow happens rarely - if ever! I've seen more snow in the last 2 months than I've ever seen in my entire life. My car doesn't function in it with all of the hills... but I love it just the same!!!

Here are some pictures of our weekend!!

Our driveway leading out into the street

Me standing in our side yard!

OUR SNOWMAN!! He was about 8ft tall!

Steven and I with our snowman! (The Hamilton's helped build it!)

Mr. and Mrs. Alexander

Life Rocks!!

THANK YOU all so much for your prayers over the last week! God showed up in a big way and provided 4/5ths of the deposit needed to book the bands for the "Life Rocks" concert fundraiser event!! We are extending the offering one more week (if I understand correctly) - so please be in prayer for this!!

The Lord has also given us an opportunity to be the GRAND OPENING EVENT for the new venue at the Waterfront that is set to open in April!!! Now all He has to do is work the dates out between the venue and the bands!! It has been amazing seeing the Lord work out all of these details and I am so very blessed to be a part of this crazy, big, God-sized thing!!

One of the ladies in my church, Kim Aurelio, is an Avon sales rep and has agreed to give 100% of her commission during the month of February towards the "Life Rocks" event!! The goal in this Avon fundraiser is to raise the remaining $4,000 we need to cover the cost of the bands!! If you are an Avon shopper or know anyone that is, you can help support us by:

1. Go to: http://kaurelio.avonrepresentative.com/

2. You can place your Avon order online... and have it shipped DIRECTLY to you!!!

3. Order by February 14th and receive FREE SHIPPING on all orders when you use the code: FSANY

It's that easy!! Please be sure that you order using "Kimberly Aurelio" as the Avon rep!!

You can also share this with other friends and family so that they can have an opportunity to be a part of this crazy, big, God-sized event!!!

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me! asalex1217@hotmail.com

Again, thank you for your prayers and support!!

THE CRAZY BIG GOD SIZED IDEA!!

Crossroads Mission Team (which I am a part of) has an exciting opportunity that God is guiding us towards for Labor of Love Ministries.

As a church, we partner with Labor of Love Ministries - which is the ONLY unwed mother's home in the state of West Virginia. Labor of Love has a crisis pregnancy center and serves many women who are in crisis pregnancy situations. This ministry has a GREAT financial need that has been expressed many times through Judy's (The founder of Labor of Love) presentations.

To begin to meet this need God put it on our hearts to have a Christian concert!! God has focused this basic idea to specifically a Christian tour which includes three bands. The bands are Aaron Shust, Laura Story, and Downhere.

The mission of the event is two fold. First, to raise monetary funds for Labor of Love Ministries and second to increase awareness of Labor of Love Ministries.

God has consistently brought us back to this particular tour despite considering other options. We feel at this point that it's time to trust God and step out in faith and into action. Which is where Crossroads church comes in. The Mission team would like to have this event sponsored by Crossroads Church...both to affirm God's direction and that Crossroads church supports it.

To start, we have three needs:
#1. PRAYER!!!
#2 DEPOSIT.
In order to step out in faith we need to book the tour. This requires a $1000 deposit.

#3. PEOPLE.

This has the potential to be GREAT for Labor of Love Ministries and more importantly for God's glory! We are soooo excited to be included in God's will!!

As we step out in faith and begin this process, please pray for us!!! If you feel led to give, you can contact me via email for more information!! (asalex1217@hotmail.com) As the process goes on I will try to post frequent updates to let you all know where we stand!!

Specific prayers for this week:

1.VENUE - We have 2 options that we have been meeting with people about. Pray that the Lord will give us what He wants!! In order to book the tour, we need to have a date and venue picked THIS WEEK. So please pray that God will provide!!

2. That God would confirm this through the support of our Church. To book the tour, we have to have the deposit. Pray that the Lord will provide!

Unalterably His.

I am simply going quote this because the parallel is so wonderful. I'm reading a book by Max Lucado and in the chapter I'm on right now, he is posing the question, "why in the world does God even love us.?" After all we have done to him, he still loves us the same. How? He writes:

“Moms: why do you love your newborn? For months this baby has brought you pain. She (or he!) made you break out in pimples and waddle like a duck. Because of her you craved sardines and crackers and threw them up in the morning. She punched you in the tummy. She occupied space that wasn’t hers and ate food she didn’t fix.

You kept her warm. You kept her safe. You kept her fed. But did she say thank you?
Are you kidding? She’s no more out of the womb than she starts to cry! The room is too cold, the blanket is too rough, the nurse is too mean. And who does she want? Mom.

Don’t you ever get a break? I mean, who has been doing the work the last 9 months? Why can’t Dad take over? But no, Dad won’t do. The baby wants Mom.

She didn’t even tell you she was coming. She just came. And what a coming! She rendered you a barbarian. You screamed. You swore. You bit bullets and tore the sheets. And now look at you. Your back aches. Your head pounds. Your body is drenched in sweat. Every muscle strained and stretched.

You should be angry, but are you?

Far from it. On your face is a for-longer-than-forever love. She has done nothing for you; yet you love her. She’s brought pain to your body and nausea to your morning, yet you treasure her. Her face is wrinkled and her eyes are dim, yet all you can talk about are her good looks and bright future. She’s going to wake you up every night for the next six weeks, but that doesn’t matter. You’re crazy about her.

Why? Why does a mother love her newborn? Because the baby is hers? Even more. Because the baby is her. Her blood. Her flesh. Her sinew and spine. Her hope. Her legacy. It bothers here not that the baby gives her nothing. She knows a newborn is helpless, weak. She knows babies don’t ask to come into this world.

And God knows we didn’t either. We are his idea. We are his. His face. His eyes. His hands. His touch. We are his…unalterably. He loves us. Undyingly. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ (Rom 8:38-39).”

Life

I've posted a lot about my quiet times lately and things that I've been reading - but it's been a while since I've given you faithful readers a "life" update!

• As you know we spent Christmas here in WV!
• We went home for New Years and got to spend 4 days with my family! It was so wonderful getting to see my parents, my siblings, my niece and nephews, my aunts, uncles, and my dear Granny! We also got to see some of our First Baptist friends and got to attend the Big Reveal in the youth building at FBC! We had a great time, but decided that a 13 hour drive is a bit much. From now on we're going to try to fly as much as possible!
• The next trip we take will be to see Steven's family (it's been too long!)
• From the time we got home from Arkansas (Jan 3) until... somewhere around the end of last week - there has been snow on the ground here! Our friends who live on Grafton road got as much as 24 inches! It has been very very cold, but we love every minute of it! It is starting to warm up a little, though our "warm" days have been rainy!
• My 10-year-old nephew had a diabetic seizure last Saturday. It was very very scary, but we are thankful that he is okay. He had a CAT scan and an EEG done last week just to be safe and we are still waiting on the results. Prayers are appreciated on this matter.
• Steven and I toured Fairmont State University almost 2 weeks ago! Steven is 90% set on enrolling in the Aviation Maintenance Management program. This is a 2+2 program, which means that after 2 years he will have an Associates Degree & be a certified Aviation Maintenance Technician. He could get a job immediately & then continue the other 2 years of school to obtain the Bachelor's Degree at night, if he needed to! We are still praying about this, but are almost certain this is the direction he is going to go in school!
• We've started the P90X again! (This is an intense workout by BeachBody) We are exercising 6 days a week for an hour to an hour and a half per day. It's a tough workout, but we are really enjoying being able to do this together!
• The Lord has blessed Steven and I with some pretty cool relationships over the last month. Relationships that we would have never developed on our own.
• God has been molding and shaping Crossroads Church into who He wants us to be. We are trusting Him and following His lead!
• Our Missions team has become more active in the last week or so and God has laid a REALLY BIG IDEA on the heart of one of the ladies' in our church. Pray for us as we step out in obedient faith, asking the Lord to lead, guide, and direct us! (I'll share more as it develops)
• God is teaching me that my relationship with Him is above all, the most important relationship I posses. God loves me more than I can even wrap my brain around. He has shown Steven and I grace in many areas of our lives and as a result we are growing closer to the Lord as we grow closer to one another.
• God is showing us that he will stop at nothing to make sure that we are 100% His.... He loves us that much.

Galatians 5

I love the word of God!!

Galatians 5:1, 7-10, 13-17

1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery...

7You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? 8That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9"A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough." 10I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.

13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

"He who grows in grace remembers that he is but dust, and he therefore does not expect his fellow Christians to be anything more. He overlooks ten thousand of their faults, because he knows his God overlooks twenty thousand in his own case. He does not expect perfection in the creature, and, therefore, he is not disappointed when he does not find it."

- Charles Spurgeon