As you might know, I am a huge fan of Lord of the Rings. I am not some weirdo that dresses like the characters and quotes them all day long, but something about these movies resonates inside me. God speaks to me BIG TIME through these movies. On Saturday night I watched The Fellowship of the Ring and God used it to minister to me again.

The character that is chosen to bear the Ring, Frodo, is the least likely of the bunch. He is a hobbit, which entails being short, with a love for food, and zero combat skills. He barely even has any courage when the whole adventure starts, but somehow he knows he has to take care of the Ring, or no one will. Lately, this is the character I have most related to. I feel the least likely of the bunch to be doing what I'm doing, but maybe that's why God chose me.

This time, there were 2 scenes that really spoke to me. The first one was when Frodo was meeting with Galadriel. Talking about the task that has been assigned to Frodo (to return the Ring to Mt. Doom and destroy it), this conversation takes place:

FRODO: I cannot do this alone.
GALADRIEL: You are a ring-bearer, Frodo. To bear a Ring of Power is to be alone.
(Galadriel spoke from experience, as she had received one of the original rings of power.)

Recently, I've been feeling the sting of loneliness. It is something I've always felt, but until now I've neither understood it, nor known what to do with it. Because of the amazing grace of God, I realized that it is His gift, that I would run to Him, and that He would be my Best Friend. He wants me to realize that He is the best friend I have always been searching for. I read this great article by AW Tozer called "The Saint Must Be Alone," which really ministered to me. Check out this quote:

"You cannot carry a cross in company. Though a man were surrounded by a vast crowd, his cross is his alone and his carrying of it marks him a man apart. Society has turned against him; otherwise he would have no cross. No one is a friend to the man with a cross."

With that said, one could easily see the parallel between the movie and reality. The conversation then becomes:

LIZ: I cannot do this alone.
JESUS: You are a cross-bearer, Liz. To bear a cross is to be alone. I speak from experience.

Whoa. That is heavy. Literally.

A couple of lines later, Frodo speaks his doubt again, and Galadriel again gives him her wisdom:

FRODO: I am afraid to do it.
GALADRIEL: Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

I don't think I have to explain that quote. You get the idea.

To be continued...

Lyrics of songs many times express the feelings of the moment. These expressed mine today...

Sometimes while I'm drivin',
Tryin' to find my song.
Lookin' for the answers
And where I do belong.
Finally the children
Are bringin' me back home.
Oh... oh... oh...
Is there anybody out there?
Does anybody care?
Are the people really there?
Oh... oh... oh...
Is there anybody seeking?
Does anybody see?
Or are they deaf and dumb like me?

Burlap to Cashmere - Anybody out There

For in much wisdom is much grief,
And he who increases in knowledge increases sorrow.

-Ecc. 1:18

The Stovetop of Life

Recently I've been cooking up some side dishes on the front burners of the stovetop of my life. Delectables such as Sauteed Self Comfort and Fricasseed Future Plans. As we know, God is faithful God, and delights to answer our prayers, even when we don't truly know what we are praying for. When we ask for a "spirit of wisdom and revelation", and that the "eyes of our understanding would be enlightened", that we would "know the hope of His calling", He delights to answer that prayer. Even if we are blinded by the revelation and want to tuck tail and run.

Let's just say that tonight the eyes of my understanding were enlightened, or rather blinded, by a number of shining truths. The front burners of my stovetop are now giving off the wonderful smells of the dishes of Marinated Martyrdom and Pulverized Pride. Everything else has been supernaturally shifted to the backburners. Go figure. Oh, and for dessert, there's a Humble Pie in the oven. I think I'll take a seat and let the Head Chef take over for a time, while I take a few notes. Pray that I don't tuck tail and run.

Passover Seder

So I did a pretty cool thing on Saturday night. I attended my first Passover Seder at Beth Adonai, a joint seder with Beth Ha'Mashiach (both Messianic Congregations), where my friend Kevin attends. I had such a good time with my friend, Saji, my mom, and her friend, Jim. I highly enjoyed learning about the different traditions that are still celebrated today. The best part was that they spoke on how Jesus fulfilled being the Passover Lamb. They also talked about the institution of communion, which first happened at the Passover Seder that He had with His disciples. What impacted me greatly was that we were doing the same things and possibly eating some of the same foods that Jesus ate with His disciples.

Overall, the experience was amazing and I would highly recommend it for any Christian. I personally hope to celebrate it each year from here on out until the return of Yeshua.

And like we said at the end of the Seder: "Next year in Jerusalem!"

I'm sitting in the prayer room right now and the Lord is blessing the socks off me! Every couple of weeks, the children come in and pray over the mic. It always really blesses me, because I realize that they are the ones I've been praying for. They are the next generation. The Lord is going to pour out His Spirit on them even more than us and they are going to usher in the coming of the Lord! Last Sunday the Spirit fell heavily on the children and they began weeping and crying for Jesus' return. This is just an appetizer for what is to come.

Now they are all waving flags.... this is a glorious sight! The spiritual energy in the room is amazing right now.

...Ok, so I had to go pray on the mic that the Lord would raise up mothers and fathers in Atlanta who would know that it is a blessing to have children, according to Eph 1:17-18, Mal 4:5-6, Deut 7:13 . I know that God will do it!

So then Louise prayed for a spirit of adoption to fall in Atlanta, especially on those women who are pregnant outside of marriage.

God is birthing a new generation! We WILL see these prayers made manifest... it is only a matter of time! Halleluja!

Do you ever keep seeing the same number or numbers repeatedly? Well, in the last couple of years the Lord has drawn me to pay attention to numbers. I know that He likes to speak in many different ways, and this is just one of them. Well, lately I've been seeing the number "421" a lot. I guess it has been fairly constant for a couple of months now. I've looked at scriptures, page numbers in the Bible and this morning I looked up the prophetic meaning for 4, 2, and 1. It could mean a date, like April 21, or could it be that the Lord is saying I should do 4 21-day fasts? As you can see I haven't gotten anything earth-shaking yet, which is why I am posting this. Does anyone have any ideas or insight? Oh and just a few minutes ago I was behind a car with the license plate "4221 ANA". This is interesting. Let me know if you get anything on this...

Spring has come...

My beloved spoke, and said to me:
"Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away.
For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
The fig tree puts forth her green figs,
And the vines with the tender grapes
Give a good smell.
Rise up, my love, my fair one,
And come away!" -Songs 2:10-13

Everthing in Atlanta is in bloom right now, including the brilliant azaleas and delicate dogwoods. Truly is the Lord calling me, romancing me into His arms. As I drove down the road today on the way to IHOP this morning, He opened my eyes to see the beautiful flowers that are in bloom and the bright green leaves of the awakened trees. This is how He is romancing me right now. He is showing me the splendor of His creation and has said, "This is all for you!"

He says, "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow... and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." -Matt. 6:28-29

He's wooing me, calling me, romancing me, and dancing with me.

A line from an old tune by Biz Markie popped into my head the other day, and it is so true:

"It's spring again,
Everybody knows it's spring again
To the girls and boys and people above
This is the time to fall in love."

Meet the Turnbulls

This is Kendra on a pogo stick, sticking her tongue out, with Samuel in hand. Very talented.



This is Samuel with my cat, Tucker. They are good buddies. Samuel chased him all over the yard.



This is Aiden, being funny. He is definitely a ham and was made for drama.



This is Kay, strolling with Samuel in his "Porsche".



This is David, with Samuel (taken on Christmas Eve '05).

The Turnbulls are the folks that I lived with in Douglasville, GA, before moving out to Lawrenceville. They are very special, and I call them my family. David, the dad, was my youth pastor 15 years ago, and as I write this blog, we are watching a video of the summer camp where I accepted Christ and was baptized (this tweaked my brain a bit). In fact, the video includes the baptism, in which I was the first one baptized by David, ever. How amazing is it, that after all these years, the Lord brought us back into each others' lives and he is one of my spiritual fathers? God is so good.

So today I spent this beautiful, spring afternoon with 'em, chillin' out, riding bikes, and getting to love on 'em. I also got to talk to Brenda about making homemade kimchee, yippee.