Happy Birthday To You....

I would like to say Happy 21st Birthday to my sister Chantal Alexandra Meza. A.K.A.- Chanti. Since I haven't blogged in a while, I am going to blog and brag about my best friend, my sister. Many of you have seen the mynakedpastor UTube videos of my friend and her. Yes, that is my sister & no, that is not me. :) I can't believe she is 21! Man, life goes by fast.

My sister is the greatest person ever! She is soooo funny. I really think there isn't anyone who makes me laugh more than she does. She is my Mia Rudolph (SNL). She is in Texas this weekend. She is a hard worker. She works with my mom at Rowland Coffee Roasters...yup the wonderful people who make Cafe Pilon. (yum, nothing like Cuban coffee) She was in Vegas last week, got back on Tuesday and left on Thursday for Texas. She is doing a little marketing here and there & is at some music festival having a good time passing out coffee drinks. :) She is a full- time student & full-time worker. That alone is amazing.


I remember when we were younger, we would fight here and there. i think I have a picture of us with the same outfit (my mom found pleasure dressing us alike), my cabbage patch, & me pulling on her ear as we smile for the pic. I also remember having wrestling matches in our huge walk-in closet. Aww, good times, good times. I think when Heredes leaves to Indiana & Chicago I'll have to go over & have a wrestling match with the sis. I also remember me being so afraid of the dark. I think God healed me from that like at the age of 16.lol. But my sister was such a good sport at night. We use to have 3 beds in our room- our nanny's, my sister's, and mine. Of course, my bed had to be near the door (scary) and my sister's was in the middle. In the middle of the night, I would carry my sister out from her bed and place her on my bed and then I would sleep in her bed thinking that I would be safe because I had her on one side and my nanny on the other. The when morning came she would wake up and realize that she was not in her own bed. Let me tell you, she always looks out for me, even if I was the biggest scardy cat of all.

I remember our No Doubt, Googoosdolls, Dc Talk , and Oc Supertones times. Rock the universe, pink hair, spikes, and hot green. Ha, making our own headbands and shirts. Playing in the band. Playing soccer together on the same team. Woot woot! Learning through hard, weird times & getting stronger. (hopefully :D ) You being the most beautiful Maid of Honor, driving, working, and owning a dog.

I LOVE YOU CHANTS. I can't express that enough. You are beautiful inside and out. You have a heart that is bigger than stupid drama. Thank you for being my best friend, my sister, the one who beats me at every card & board game. lol. I love you and don't you forget that! I'm so happy that you & the family are at FRC. So happy! And I love to see you serve and SING. Yay! Can't wait to hear you.

Chants, happy birthday once again and IIIIIIIIIIIIIII lOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEE YOUUUUUU!!!! May God continue blessing you with many more wonderful years, so He can continue using you for His glory! You are wonderful. Enjoy the pic. LOL

Get in tune...

Hey guys...The Launch Party was fun, fun, fun. And the most exciting part was to know how many people were watching. Everyone put such hard work into it- it was great!

Just want to encourage you guys to visit www.mynakedpastor.com on a daily basis to see our pastor and his family get naked (being real). Keep them in your prayers and just be a part of it...Pastor Troy is doing 5 am devos., etc. So, watch and be a part of it. Thanks guys...

Gwen Stefani for you

I visited www.hp.com/gwen and I made myself as a paperdoll... or at least what I would like to look like...so there I am...sooo cute! I dedicate it to my sister, who is in Vegas right now..

1st Classical Drawing Home Study

So, any year now I should be graduating from Art Education. I am taking my first ever Classical Drawing class. Heredes is always telling me to post my work up (even though it's not that great), so here it is- a master study on Saint Anne by Leonardo da Vinci.. I like my lines, but for sure I need to work on proportion. :) So, if you'd like to critique you are most welcome too..

Jesus You're my Superhero!

So I was checking David Wakerly's blog...He's one of my favorite resource bloggers. He is one of the kids pastors at Hillsong Church Australia. Anyone who has served with me knows this song. Totally awesome....We will be doing it really soon at FRC. If you can, check his blog out because he has like 6 vidoes of kids doing this song. Thanks Dave!

Reminders about Marriage...

This morning I drove up with Heredes to Cooper City. It's a day of meetings, planning, and doing homework. As he is down stairs in a meeting, I was looking up some devotionals about marriage. Can you believe it! It will be 3 years of marriage on December 27. So far, marriage has been great. I am so blessed- I've been given such a great gift, my husband. I take that for granted to much I think. I take alot of things for granted. Sucks! As we all know, marriage is filled with good times, but sometimes those nasty, ugly little times show up. It is those bad times that I believe so many people give up on their marriages and end it with that ugly D- word. (divorce) I never want to even think about getting a divorce or even having that word come out of my mouth.

As our marriage grows, sometimes it can be tough. I'm not going to lie, I am such an emotional person that sometimes I let the stupid things pile up rather than having fun with my best and only half- HEREDES. Every month women, we get a little friend that passes by and ruins 4--6 days out of that month. I find myself so weak during that time..and i mean weak in every area of my life. Spiritually, physically, & emotionally. I think the only good thing that happens during this time is the fact that I can't stand seeing the house dirty, so I start to clean. :)

So, this morning I wanted to read a bit about what God has to say about marriage, feelings, and commitments through His word and some devotionals. First, I read my friend HP's devo. about how in the beginning GOD created everything and that TODAY (& everyday) I need to lift His glory up and not mine. Then I jumped into James McDonald's devo. about "...walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness." Galatians 5:16,22: meaning- Marcy, stop getting angry and bitter about stupid, small stuff and walk in the Spirit and let His fruits flourish within you.

Next, I stopped by www.crosswalk.com and read a devo. about kids and parents (holy cow, that is another level that I am not even ready for), The next two devos. are the marriage ones and the first one is titled: Three Attitudes Needed in a Successful Marriage. The three attitudes are: trust, appreciation, and acceptance of differences. I sit here and think, Lord, I trust my husband. And when I say that I trust him...I really trust him. "Baby, I trust you." To my friends who are newly weds or are about to wed, trust your husband's and tell them that you trust them and encourage them in their most weakest moments. If I am an emotional freak, then that tells me that my husband struggles with something too. So, be sensitive to his needs and reaffirm him constantly.

Appreciation and acceptance of differences are areas I need to work on. I hope I am an appreciating wife. "Heredes- from the bottom of my heart, I want to say thank youuuu so much for washing the dishes yesterday. It means alot and I am so thankful. :)" The auther writes, be honest & sincere in you appreciation. Lastly, it's funny how "we" say that our husbands/wives are our better halves, but so many times we want to change them or wish they weren't the way they were. I'm guilty of that. So, I go back to HP's devo. about God creating each one of us so differently and uniquely; all creation is like that. So what right do I have to want to change my husband. Of course, there are always areas that need improvement, but I think we understand what the author is trying to say here.

The last devo. I want to share (bc this is getting to long) is titled "Building Marital Securtiy while Living in a Culture of Divorce". This is a conversation between the author and his wife. Something that really hit me was the question "How do you build security in 'our' marraige?" She answers by acknowldeging that she would never say the words hate, divorce, or leave, even if she thought them. ;) And second, (and I remember my mom always telling me this) is her vows were not only said to her husband, but they were a true commitment before the Lord. And that my friends is what I find so amazing. How true is that!!! My commitment the night of our wedding before the whole congregation, was for my husband, but above all to my Heavenly Father. She reminded me that "feelings will change so many times during the day because situations change- but my decison to love him was a commiment for life". A solid foundation in Christ will produce a solid foundation in the HaM relationship. LOL. I remember the song by Geoff Moore and the Distance: "Right here, right now, in the midst of the crowd...I stand alone and make my vow. Whatever it takes I will be faithful. Right here, right now, Let there be no doubt. Let every whisper, with every shout, Let the whole world know I will be faithful. This is my vow." (Oldskool, but great and so true)

These were all great reminders to just keep at it. Fight the good fight. Honor God, Remember I am not even close to being perfect or knowing it all. And that as a wife, I have a responsibilty, duty and service of commitment to my loving husband and my AWESOME, forgiving, merciful Father. My encouragment to all the women who are late in years in their marraiges, in the middle, are new, are about to get married, or are single and one day it will happen....keep those attidudes fresh in our brains: trust, appreciation, and acceptance of differences and remember your commitments. (not only in marriage, but in everything) I was having a weak weekend, but thank you Lord for pushing me to get out of my lazy, dull feelings and getting up and reading your word and thoughts to encourage me today in my relationships- especially my relationship with my husband.

Naked Pastor Video Contest- Kristy & Chanti