Happy February to You ~

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I totally get it now when parents of school age kids say they are so busy! There are drop offs and pick ups, playdates and extra-curricular activities. There is homework, cooking and housecleaning, fundraising events and PTA events. Church, work, family time oh yes and stuff you yourself enjoy doing at the end of the day. lol.

I don’t know how we manage to accomplish all of it. I personally find myself praying in the morning, ‘God I can’t do this by myself. Would you please orchestrate the day so I can get the important things done without pulling my hair out?’ The cool thing is He really does! When my focus stays on Him, He makes all of my “to dos” happen smoothly. He sets aside the things that can wait and allows me time to sit with Him and enjoy His peace. It amazes me every time.

As an update on where I am at with the album project, I am going to need to raise the money to fund it. I have had many wonderful people purchase my other cds that are out right now which helped me afford the Devoted EP. Now to make it a professional full-length album I will need to raise $7000.00. Crazy huh? I look at that number and think there is no way I can do that. And I am right. There is no way I can do it on my own. I will need my friends and family and supporters to come alongside and become partners in this endeavor. If this is truly what God wants me to accomplish, then I am trusting God will make away. = ) Brian and I also would like to take it in a little different direction and include some of the worship songs I currently lead at our church. Church members have asked us to make a worship cd which is a big undertaking, so by recording a few worship songs this would provide a way to serve them. It gets me excited just thinking about it. Plus, there will be a few new original songs as well. In the next couple of weeks or so, I will post my Kickstarter site. This will provide a place to donate financially and hopefully receive some cool gifts in return. All I have to do is record an awesome video of me pleading for money. ha ha. We’ll see. If you have any ideas let me know.

That is all for right now. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. God bless~

FQ Worship – Top Five Christmas Songs ~

My Christmas song, “Glory, Glory To God” has been chosen to be in the top five Christmas songs on Chris Tomlin’s FQ Worship site. Here is the link so you can listen to them: http://fqworship.com/2011-christmas-top-5/ To listen, click on the FQ Radio at the top of the page. This song is registered on CCLI, so feel free to use it in your services.

Thank you everyone for all of your love and support. Merry Christmas!

Lara~

God’s Call ~

Jesus Calling devotional-”…A life of praise and thankfulness becomes a life filled with miracles…” I loved this line. It sounded musical to me. Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” – This verse hit home to me today. This is a season of constant busyness. Emotions and stresses rise in adults especially, because there is pressure to make the Christmas experience a meaningful one. It is hard to see other Christians bicker and stress out about little things. Everything has to be perfect for them to be close to Christ. I have been this way before and it made me feel aweful inside. I want to encourage all of us who call Jesus as our Saviour, to remember this verse during Christmas. We are called to peace, not frusteration. May we all relax, take a deep breath, and surrender our days to the Lord, giving thanks and praise to Him for everything even if it is different from what we were expecting this season. And let’s be committed to be peaceful in our hearts. God promises “miracles” when we follow His ways. The miracles are joy, peace, love, hope… How wonderful to be filled up with these characteristics during the Christmas season. What a testimony to the love of Christ. And we will be able to defuse anger, stress, resentment, frusteration, worry, and hopelessness in others around us. What a beautiful thing. Let us give the gift of peace ~

Psalm 119:105-112 (The Message)

“There is a tradition that King David used this psalm to teach his young son Solomon the alphabet—but not just the alphabet for writing letters: the alphabet of the spiritual life.” – Wikipedia

I guess the writer of this psalm used the alphabet to title each of the sections of this verse. I did not know that = )

Psalm 119:105-112 “By your words I can see where I’m going; they throw a beam of light on my dark path. I’ve committed myself and I’ll never turn back from living by your righteous order. Everything’s falling apart on me, GOD, put me together again with your Word. Festoon me with your finest sayings, GOD, teach me your holy rules. My life is as close as my own hands, but I don’t forget what you have revealed. The wicked do their best to throw me off track, but I don’t swerve an inch from your course. I inherited your book on living, it’s mine forever- what a gift! And how happy it makes me! I concentrate on doing exactly what you say- I always have and always will.”

I love how the bible can give us just the right words to speak into our lives at just the right time. I wanted to share this with you today.

My world has been consumed with dropping kids off, picking kids up, playing with the kids, errands, cleaning, worship leading, rehearsals, teaching voice and piano and preparing for Christmas by buying gifts and making them which has led me to discover a love for crocheting hats!! I actually put some in a store here locally to sell. So I am making some as gifts for friends and family. It has been time consuming, but a lot of fun! Even in the midst of all of the busyness, I’ve made it a point to start my days off with the Lord by doing my devotions and talking with Him. That has helped me tremendously in keeping me centered and at peace (for the most part lol)

As far as singing is concerned, God is guiding me to lead worship more. Brian has been sensing it and so helping me learn how to do it. It is a surreal experience. My dad was and still is a worship pastor, Brian is a worship pastor, but I have always been a performer. Leading worship was so foreign to me and scary. You mean I have to get out of my comfort zone and communicate with the church. What if I say something dumb? (Which I have been known to do on more than a thousand occasions lol) Will they actually follow me and what I ask them to do? My voice is quiet, how can I make it leadership quality without sounding commanding. These are questions that come to the surface of my mind very quickly, but I have discovered with Brian’s guidance and my surrender to God’s leading, He has been able to use me to lead some great times of worship. It has been amazing to see and I give full credit to God, my help and strength. Kind of a change of direction for me. But very exciting. I am still writing more songs, but this season has become very busy for me and for my producer that we will probably wait until the new year to start recording again. It is hard to wait, but it also is very important for me to follow God’s lead. I do not want to take control and do things my way. I want to do things God’s way even if it might not make sense to me at the time.

Video Log #2 – Singing Scripture/I Wait For ~

Video Log – Album Update/Song “Praise the Lord O My Soul”

The Last Days of my Fast ~

September 15th, 2011′ Journal Entry –

I woke up at 5:30am and my back really hurt. I was upset to be up so early again. I took an Ibuprofen, woke Brian up and just laid in bed til’ 6:45am. I felt guilty that I didn’t want to get up and do my devotions. I wanted to be with God, but I was weak and tired. I asked God what He wanted me to do and He said rest. So that is why it is close to 7am. But it amazed me how relevant Jesus Calling (devotional) was to my situation. So I am going to copy the entire entry to remember.

Jesus Calling “Rest in Me, My child. This time devoted to Me is meant to be peaceful, not stressful. You don’t have to perform in order to receive My love. I have boundless, unconditional love for you. How it grieves Me to see My children working for love and trying harder and harder, yet never feeling good enough to be loved. Be careful that your devotion to Me does not become another form of works. I want you to come into My Presence joyfully and confidently. You have nothing to fear, for you wear My own righteousness. Gaze into My eyes, and you will see no condemnation, only Love and delight in the one I see. Be blessed as My face shines radiantly upon you, giving you peace.” inspired by John 15:13; Zephaniah 3:17; Numbers 6:25-26

September 16th – journal entry

I read through my prayer journal from 5-6am. I woke up with my back hurting. How do I put all that I’ve learned during my fast in story form? There is so much.

I kinda thought God would direct me to what to do next in my singing career through this fast, but instead what He did was change my anxious heart into a peaceful one.

Spirit – I love you, Lara. I am so proud of you. You stayed true to your mission to finding Me. I am blessed. Oh My dear child you have no idea what I have instore for you. It is very exciting. Have fun today at CMS. Go and be available. Go and walk in my rest. I am so proud of you. You did it. Isn’t My peace amazing? I am Your Father, Lara and I love you with an unquenchable love. You delight Me. Sing for Me alone. I love to hear you sing for Me.

Jesus Calling “I designed you to live in union with Me. This union does not negate who you are; it actually makes you more fully yourself. When you try to live independently of Me, you experience emptiness and dissatisfaction. You may gain the whole world and yet lose everything that really counts…Though I may lead you along paths that feel dim to you, trust that I know what I am doing. If you follow Me wholeheartedly, you will discover facets of yourself that were previously hidden. I know you intimately-far better than you know yourself. In union with Me, you are complete. In closeness to Me, you are transformed more and more into the one I designed you to be.” inspired by Mark 8:36; Psalm 139:16; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

** What an incredible time I had with the God of the universe! I had forgotten what it was like to actually have a relationship with Him. Even though I was living for Him I really wasn’t living with Him. I came to a place of surrender. That was what He wanted because it was then that He had the opportunity to work in and through me, changing me from the inside out. I don’t ever want to go back to the worry, the fear, the anxiety, the stress, the frusteration, the anger, the bitterness, the pride, the control, the judgemental spirit, and the wandering, that I felt before my fast. I know and still feel those things, but I have learned to go right to Jesus first and spend time in His Presence. There is nothing on this earth that can compare to His great love. What I have learned in my life, you can learn in yours. God gave us Jesus, His Son, to be the direct link to God Himself. Through Jesus alone, we find grace and mercy. When we receive those things from Him each day we can then be filled up with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22) I realize now those are gifts from God. Going through so much unrest in my life to finding peace, I can tell you it is an amazing gift! There is no one perfect, not one. We all fall short of perfection. I love knowing I am not perfect because there is no pressure to be perfect. = ) I know I will make mistakes, but hopefully with God’s unfailing love and help, I will be able to continue to have a peaceful heart.**

May God bless you richly as you continue to pursue Him. God says, “seek Me and you will find Me.” Jeremiah 29:13 Take Him up on it. ~ God Is Light ~