I believe, but.....

From my other blog: http://destinationhamilton.blogspot.com

Remember that story about the man who came to Jesus to ask Him to heal his son?
The son had been possessed by an evil spirit that was tormenting him day and night, and his father had come to Jesus for help.
The father said to Jesus, "If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
Jesus responded, "'If you can'? Anything is possible for him who believes."
Immediately the boys father said, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

I have to say that I've always sort of smiled at this story. The father of the young boy proclaims to Jesus, "I do believe!" and in the very same breath says, "Help me in my unbelief!" How can you believe, yet still struggle with unbelief? In the last few weeks I have come to completely understand what this father meant.

I leave for Portland in 18 days (17 days now...). Just over 2 weeks. I believe with all my heart that God has called me to this ministry and that he will provide for me (he has already done miracles for me financially!) - and yet there is still unbelief in my heart. I'm nervous. Sometimes I'm scared. I know that God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. That he has promised to provide for our every need. That we cannot be taken from His hand. I believe that the Word of God is true. Yet every now and again, I struggle with thinking, "Lord, I know what your word says, but is it for me? Is that promise for me?" I can very easily believe that God will provide for other members of this team. I've seen him work miraculously in the Seger's lives and in others lives. But when it comes to believing those promises for myself - thats where the unbelief starts to set in.

I know what that father meant. I have prayed his prayer over and over again these last few weeks, "Lord, I believe you when you said you will take care of each of my needs. Please help me overcome my unbelief." Or, "God, I know that you will not leave me or forsake me, help my unbelief." And can I just say - he does. Every single time. He helps me over come the unbelief. It comes back, and I ask again, and he helps me again.

Thats why He's so cool. God rocks!

Prayer Requests:
Please pray for the members of the team going to Portland.
It seems that January is the month when most everyone will be traveling to Oregon.
Please pray for safetly on the roads, for good weather and that God will work out all the plans.
Pray for me and Tracy as we leave out on January 8th. Tracy will be flying in and driving back with me.
Pray for a job for each member of the team.

Thank you so much!

Destination Portland

I have another blog.

I've not shared it with many people...till now.

http://destinationhamilton.blogspot.com/

Its documenting my upcoming move to Portland, Oregon.

Yep. I'm moving to Portland in January! Going to be helping with a church plant!

Very exciting. And awesome. And gut wrenching. And amazing. All at once.

I do encourage you to visit the other blog, will tell you lots more about the upcoming move, the people I'm going with, and most importantly, prayer requests. Please keep me and the others in prayer. God has already shown us favor and provision, and we are all very excited to see what He will do in the coming months!

Experiments

I like science. I'm kind of a dork in that aspect. I went to Space Camp when I was in 7th grade. I was no stranger to nerdiness. So it should come as no suprise that I sometimes experiment - using myself as a test subject.

Last night I'm in my room - its completely pitch dark and I'm not falling asleep. As I'm laying there, I'm thinking - I'll bet my pupils are extremely dialated right now because of the dark. In order to test my hypothesis, I grabbed my phone, and shot a photo.

See for yourself:

Yep, my hypothesis was correct...

Phoenix Area Ladies!!!!! and Gentlemen's ladies......

Hey everyone -

Just want to let all the ladies in the Phoenix area that the DSC Women's Freedom conference is coming up Nov. 19-21. Galatians 5:1 says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." For freedom. I know in my life I have been bound by sin, by negativity, by fear and anxiety. Christ set us free so we could know and experience freedom.

I would encourage any woman who is in need of freedom - the sort of freedom Christ brings - to attend this conference. Early bird registration ends this Sunday, October 11. After this Sunday, the registration price goes up. You can learn more about the conference and even register online at: http://www.freedom09conference.com. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions!

Oh, and yes - I'll be there! :)

Awesomeness

Have a few updates to share this go around....

First, this week I had to go down a pant size...actually a couple pant sizes! Depending on the brand, I've gone down between 4-6 sizes! What?! (at least I think....from a 22 to a 16/18ish....) Okay, thats cause for celebration, right? I got myself a new scale, and have lost 3 pounds since last week (could just be the new scale....but I don't care.) So my total weight loss to date is: 27.2 pounds!

As if that weren't enough....this Thursday I have an amazing opportunity:

Have you seen this show on ABC? It might be off the air for now, it may be a summer show, but a few weeks ago I applied to be on it.... and guess what - and a couple weeks ago they called. I will be flying to LA on Thursday, Oct 8 to audition to be on the show!!

I will SO win.

Just you wait.......

Weight Watchers Update

I've lost 24.2 pounds!!! thats like......a lot! :)

Why'd I do that?

So, I had an extra earring in my car, and thought, "Hmm, what can I do with this?" I already had earrings in my first set of earring holes, and my second set of earring holes had closed up.

I looked around my car.

I spotted a thumbtack.

I now have a 3rd earring in my ear....and a really sore earlobe.

What a Week!

This has been some week, I tell ya. Let me give you the rundown:

(the following all occured on ONE DAY)

1. Set the alarm clock for the wrong time. Woke up late.

2. Heard on the radio that the highways were a mess and backed up because of the rain (which, come on - why do people have to drive like idiots because of a few drops of water....)

3. Left the house 1.5 hours early for work - to make sure I had enough time to get there (because of the idiot drivers)

4. Got to work in PLENTY of time - decided to make a stop to the store to get breakfast.

5. Came out of the store. My car is NOT where I left it.

6. OH CRAP

7. I locate my car - across the parking lot - where it had rolled into another vehicle.

8. OH CRAP

9. Assess the situation - driver of the other car is not in sight. I do the Christian thing - LEAVE THE SCENE! (sure, I was convicted - but I tried not to let that bother me...)

10. High tail it back to work where I discover I have lost my phone. Did I leave it at the store? Is God trying to make me do the right thing?

11. Drive BACK to the store - locate my phone in the shopping cart I had been using. Decide I should go to Customer Service and let the other driver know about the 2 inch mark I left on their bumper.

12. YAY - The other driver wasn't around.

13. Now I'm late for work.

14. Get to work - a button falls off my shirt and one is dangling dangerously... (not to mention I had ALREADY sewed two buttons back on that shirt that morning!!)

Wow, think thats enough for the week? Yeah, I did too. But then I was in the shower last night trying to get the conditioner to the top of the bottle so I could actually dispense the stuff - and being a large, heavy, slippery bottle - I lost my grip on it and it fell - no SLAMMED, full force - into my ankle ripping off flesh in the process....

Sorry its blurry..... the picture doesn't do this wound justice. I nearly lost consciousness due to the blood loss......well, maybe not - but it did hurt, and there was skin and stuff hanging off it.

Good times.

Hoping for a better week this week!! :)

Short Story

I know, I know - its been almost two months since I've posted.

Sorry.

I don't even have much to say, except I'm going out on a limb here. I wrote a short story. Really short. Just a few paragraphs, but want to share it with you. Let me know what you think. There are parts that might be confusing to you....I know what I meant, but you might not. :) (comment at www.onetimewithaimee.blogspot.com for my Facebook friends...)

He took into consideration every detail to make her perfect. Beautiful hazel eyes, wavy brown hair, and soft olive skin. He put in her a heart of mercy and a spirit of encouragement and when he was finished he stood back and gazed at what he had created. He loved her. He loved her not because of anything she had done or anything she would ever do he just loved her because she was his creation. She was His daughter and he was her Father. He would do anything for her. He would die for her.

He had knit her together in her mothers womb and she was born on a cool December night. He knew that by simply sending her into the world he created for her that they would be separated for a time. How he wished for her to know him. He had made her, after all. They had been together before. Did she remember? Would she know Him who had gone through so much. Would she ever know all that He had done for her? Would someone tell her about Him?

He was her king and she his princess. She was mighty. She was bold. She had the all of the kings power within her, but she didn’t know any of it. For there was another at work in her life. An enemy whose sole intent was to rob her of the power and purpose that the king had given her. Though she was created in the image of a mighty king, the enemy would have her believe she was not beautiful enough. Though the king had made her victorious in all things, the enemy told her she was defeated. She listened to the enemy’s lies, and though he had no power of his own – he had power over her. She saw herself an ugly, defeated mess. She was deceived. She believed the enemy.

She would never forget the day that she heard her Father’s voice for the first time. She thought it a familiar voice, though it was unlike anything she had ever heard before. It was comforting and loving and she wanted to hear him speak more and more. And speak He did. He spoke directly to her heart. He told her of his love for her and how beautiful she was. He told her that He wanted nothing more than to pour himself into her and love her and call her his own. He told her the story of when he created her. He told her she was fearfully and wonderfully made. It was as though she remembered Him somehow. She began to trust Him. She began to believe in Him. As she listened He asked for her heart. He asked for her life. What could she say? He was her Father. He was her King and she his princess. Her heart was His. Her life was His. She was back in the loving arms of her creator, her sculptor, her potter, her Father. There she would stay all her days.
2009 - Aimee Hamilton

His Grace is Enough

Ever come across one of those passages that you have read about a million times, but suddenly you get it. It happened to me today. Not that I didn't understand the passage before - I just needed to hear it today. :)

This has been one of those weeks. Its only Wednesday, and I'm ready for the weekend (okay, truth be told.....I was ready for the weekend on Sunday......). I don't really even have anything to complain about. I'm healthy, have food to eat and a roof over my head. I'm blessed. Sometimes, we find ourselves in situations we just don't want to be in. Sometimes other people cause us to be in those situations - sometimes we cause ourselves to be in them. But regardless of how we got there, we're there. I sort of find myself in a situation like that right now. One of those things I mostly brought on myself, and now I have to deal with it. The thing is I don't want to deal with it. I want God to take it away. I know he can do it. Its too hard to deal with. I'm sure God knows that, but for some reason he is ALLOWING me to go through this. At least now I think I know why...

This morning I really wanted to hear from God. No, I needed to hear from him. I cracked open my bible and turned to 2 Corinthians 12:

7To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to
torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9But
he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in
weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so
that Christ's power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight
in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For
when I am weak, then I am strong.

Now, I've read this passage lots of times. Hundreds probably. I've heard songs written about this verse. But, I'm telling you, when I read this today - I understood it. I overwhelmingly felt God, the God of the Universe come to me and say, "Aimee, I know this is hard. But trust me, MY grace is enough for you. It really is. You are weak right now, but it is because I want to make my power perfect in you."

His grace is sufficient.

His grace is all I need. Its all you need.

His power is made perfect in my weakness. Its when I'm weak that I am strong, and not with strength that is my own - but because his power is being made perfect within me.

Am I still in the same situation I was before? Yes. Does it still suck? Yes. Will I get through it? Of course. Its not even that big of a deal, in reality. It is to me though, and if it is to me, then I know it is to God. He felt like my friend this morning. His grace really is enough.

Weight Watchers...again

Okay folks. Its Saturday. Weigh in day. Ate late last night. Evidently, that didn't matter - I still lost 5 lbs! Whoop Whoop!! (that was me, tooting my own horn.) So to celebrate, I went out and got my hair done.....and yes, Elaina.....my eyebrows waxed. Pics will be uploaded soon! :)

Weight Loss - Update

5.6 lbs. Not too shabby, eh? :)

Weight Watchers....round 2

Okay, I'm doing it again. Yesterday, I went back to Weight Watchers and am going to start their program....again. But this time - I've got help!

I started Weight Watchers yesterday. I put most of the 32 pounds that I lost last year back on. So....I'm not where I started....but I'm close.

Three friends from church are going with me, and we're going to be encouraging each other and spurring one another on.

.......anyone got a twinkie?

Inked

I did it.


Means God is my Deliverance/God is my Refuge



There is WAY more to this story though. Let me start at the beginning.

So, I knew I wanted to get inked. I knew I wanted it to be significant and have profound meaning (if to no one else but me). I love Hebrew script. My first idea was to get the name of God in Hebrew. But since God has, like a million names, which one would I choose? Okay, so then I thought, what has God done for me that I want to monumentalize in a tattoo? Again, thats like a million things. Then it hit me. In the past year God has delivered me from something that I had been struggling with for 13 years. Thats it - I wanted something about God delivering. Well, not speaking Hebrew or knowing anyone that does - I was hard pressed as to where to begin looking. I found a website, Hebrew4Christians.com (which is a pretty cool website, anyway) and it has many names of God in Hebrew script, but nothing I was looking for. So I pulled out my old Strongs Exhaustive Concordance, and found palti'el: God is my Deliverance. I copied the miniscule script from the back of the book (seriously, it was no more than 2 mm big) and I placed my faith in my extensive knowledge of the Hebrew language that #1. What I wrote on my paper was actually Hebrew and #2 that it meant God is my deliverance. So, with paper in hand I pick a tattoo place out of thin air and hop in the car. Who knew you had to make an appointment?
Not me. Anyway, the girl who is making the appointment takes my paper back to one of the tattoo artists and a few minutes later comes out and says, "She wants to see you." Okay. So I go back there. The artist, Jen, says, "So, what does this say?" I tell her God is my Deliverance. She says, "Yeah, sort of." I'm thinking, what do you mean sort of..... So I'm real quiet. She says, "Well, I'll double check with my dad, He is an Israeli, just to make sure that you've got it right."

Okay, time out.

I happen to pick out a tattoo place, that happens to have a tattoo artist who knows Hebrew and whose father happens to be a Hebrew speaker? You have GOT to be kidding me.

So, I can rest assured - God is my deliverance is, in fact, what has been permanantly inked on my ankle.

p.s. Don't tell my mom....she doesn't know about this yet.........

Nerd.

So I picked up some friends of mine at the airport last night. While I was waiting for their flight to get in, I parked in the cell phone lot for a few minutes. I had had a long day and thought I could use a little rest, so I leaned my seat back and kicked my feet up.
A few seconds later I hear someone honking, and I'm assuming its at me cause all they could probably see in my car was my feet sticking up over the steering wheel. Maybe they wanted to make sure I was okay. I just didn't know. Then I realized......it was ME honking.

Nerd.

Has it really been that long?

Wow - been nearly a month since I've posted... I can't believe it!

Not too much is going on round these parts.

Church is still going great. I'm there a lot. I love it. What can I say? :)

Job is going ok. They laid off some people a couple weeks ago, then transferred others around to different offices. Still very blessed to have a job at this point.

Family is good. Nothing new going on there. Noelle just turned 7 years old and Taylor will be 2 in August. Crazy how time flies.

I have been in AZ for 1.5 years. Feels like I've been here forever.

I'm going to get my first tattoo very soon. Its Hebrew for God is my Deliverance because, well, God IS my deliverance! :)

I guess that is all for now. Write and let me know what you want me to write about.

The Extra Mile

a few weeks ago I was in a drama for a youth retreat at my church. It was awesome. The play was called, "The Extra Mile," and it was about two teenage boys who are struggling with cancer. One of the boys is a Christian and one is an athiest.

I played Mrs. Grigglesby, the older and a bit looney, support group leader for terminally ill children. I wanted to share some of the pictures of the drama with you.

For your viewing "pleasure..."

Mrs. Griggleby and the therapy group.

James - the Christian

Mrs. Grigglesby late for the bus

James and Tony - after Mrs. Grigglesby has a hairpiece malfunction

Another malfunction

Little Miracles

God rocks.

Thats all there is to it.

I'm going to post a story that was written by a good friend of mine, Tracy. Its a story of just how awesome our God is, and how he cares about every little detail in our lives. This story has encouraged me so much this week - I hope it does you too! (A little background information - Tracy is my friend - Mark is her husband and Allison is their 4 1/2 year old daughter...not that you wouldn't have picked that up reading the story....I'm just saying....)

"Fiana is the new addition that God choose to give us yesterday. She is a beautiful chocolate lab. I think this story is one of the most personal acts of God that I have ever seen. Allison has wanted a dog forever and we had planned on getting her one for Christmas but our circumstances did not permit that. It made me really sad to not give her the only thing she had asked for. But God had a bigger plan. I love
Him!

On Saturday we were having a garage sale and we received a phone call from great friends of ours who have been missionaries in Ireland for 17 years. They are here in the US right now raising there funds to go back to Ireland for another term. They said that they would be in Phoenix for one night and could we come see them. Of course we said yes. While at dinner they told us they would be speaking at Baseline Assembly in the morning and asked if we could come. So on Sunday morning we got ready and headed to church to hear our friends speak. The whole morning I had a pit in my stomach. I felt a little anxious. I told Mark on the way to church that I just sensed that today (Sunday) was going to bring something but I didn’t know what. We had decided recently that we were going to give above and beyond our tithe and had been setting that aside over the last couple of weeks. Mark said that he wanted us to stop and get some cash to give Larry and Ann so we headed for Target. When we came out and started to drive away we seen this white truck with the signs for AKC labs. Mark asked if I thought we should stop, knowing how badly Allison wanted a dog, I wondered if it was a good idea. So anyhow we stopped. Allison of course fell in love with these beautiful little puppies. When we asked how much they were the man said $450. Ok so there was NO WAY! So we stayed for a little bit and played with them. Mark said to them right as we left would you take $100? They of course said no.... of course we didn’t have a $100 so it was pretty funny! Right as we walked away the lady said… let me have your number and if we have one left at the end of the day maybe we can do something. So we gave our numbers.

When we got in the car Allison was sooooo disappointed. She asked if the lady was going to call us and kept saying how much she would love a puppy. I was kinda sorry we stopped. So Mark told her to ask God to give her a puppy, to provided a way for us to get one. And we told her if this was the puppy for her He would make a way. So she did. And then she said “God said I can have one.”

Wow… now what do you say! We continued to church and sat through the sermon. At the end we waited for Larry and Ann to finish so we could say goodbye. Ann got finished so we walked up there and loved on her and said our goodbyes. As I was about to walk away she put something into my hand. When I got into the parking lot I looked and there was a $100 bill. I knew the second I looked at it that God was giving us a puppy!! We headed home and the whole time Allison asked.. “are they going to call now.” We waited and waited! Finally Mark was on the phone to one of his friends and I heard him say “I have another call, can you hold on.” And then, “Yes we are still interested.” It was obviously the lady and she gave us this beautiful little puppy. Allison and me danced around downstair shouting and crying “God is giving us a puppy… we are getting a puppy!” I love God He is soooo good. I called Ann to let her know and she said that God had told her that morning to give us the $100 and she said “God heard Allison’s prayer before she even prayed it.”

The funny thing is is that both Mark and I have learned so much from this. In the midst of a crazy time and economy God cares about even the smallest things in our lives. He has showed Allison that He answers her prayers there are so many lessons I don’t even know where to begin. But ultimately, God loves us, sooo much."

Fiana

The enemy is a failure.

Remember math? I remember in any of my high school math classes thinking, "When am I ever going to need to know ANYTHING about a hypoteneuse?" That day hasn't come, but remember those logic questions they used to ask? Like if A=B and B=C then A=C. Or something like that. You could also do the opposite too, like if A=B but B does not = C, then A does not = C. (trust me - this is going to be okay...)

So God impressed a verse to me today.

Is. 54:17 "No weapon formed against you shall prosper." Another version says that no weapon formed against you will stand. An antonym (or opposite) of stand or even prosper could be fall or fail. Right? So, I thought about wording the verse like this:

Every weapon formed against you will fall or fail.

Every thing the enemy comes at us with will fail. Nothing he comes at us with will prosper! How cool is that? I'm probably using extremely bad theology - so.....don't memorize MY version of the verse, ok? :)

Who knew math would come in handy while expounding on verses? I didn't. I wonder what else its useful for?

Long time no see

Its been a while since I've written here. I saw my name on another blog with the last updated date being three weeks ago.....sorry.

In that time we rang in a new year. Fun times.

I had a colonoscopy and woke up in the middle of the procedure. That was fun - I have pictures. Will email them if you want (or you can see them for free on my Facebook.) Got a good report from the doctor on that, so thank God!

Went to Disneyland with the family. My parents, sister, 2 nieces and grandmother all drove to the Magic Kingdom, and I flew out later that week. It was great! I swore that I would never ride the Hollywood Tower of Terror - a 13 floor drop stright down. I did it many years ago in Florida and a similar ride at Six Flag Elitch Gardens in Denver. I hated them. I'm not a fan of heights. At all. Except in an airplane, I guess. I like that. But my sister talked me into going on it this time. I loved it. She hated it. Oh how the tables have turned. Bought a Jack Sparrow wig and ring to go with my costume for this year's Halloween. Yeah, already planning. Its only 9.15 months away, you know.

Was thinking about purchasing this get up.....

Noelle really was happy...

See?

Still love my church, and I must say I keep quite busy with it. I am barely ever home. When I am - I'm playing video games. What can I say?

Work is work. Thats all I have to say about that.

Tonight on the way home from a long day of church, lunch and shopping - my tire gave out. Luckily it was a mile from my parents house. Unluckily they weren't home. Luckily they have cell phones. Unluckily they were attempting to have dinner at the Cheesecake Factory when I called. Luckily, the love me and left the restaraunt to come help me. Unluckily changing a tire can be messy. Luckily my dad did it. Unluckily for him I had a camera. Luckily my dad didn't know...

My Dad changing my tire

My mom showing her disdain from being interrupted during her dinner.