How to Survive in your Pit!

Hey Mighty Warriors, How y'all doing tonight? So I apologize for not posting as I usually do. Some stuff has happened in my life that I had to take some personal time off and spend it with family and most importantly God. The verse I want to share with you today comes from Psalm 40:1-3. Hear the Word of the Lord,
  
I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand. 
 He put a new song in my mouth,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord
    and put their trust in him.

So I will share with you parts of what has happened. So right now I am living at a Stabilization Center because my anxiety just got a huge hold of my life and caused some serious problems in my life. I can honestly tell you that choosing to live at this place was the best decision I ever made. It has helped me understand more about my mental illness and my anxiety in a whole new way. Today's blog post I want to focus on living in your pit. You pit could be whatever it is for you. Maybe it is depression, anxiety, fear, divorce, grief and so on. So one of my mom's friend mailed me a devotional by Beth Moore "Looking up"
This devotional is amazing. I encourage everyone to go and check out this book. So that verse I started out with has really been a truly uplifting verse for me especially during the tough days I am here at the Center but the cool thing is during those difficult times I truly feel God's presence within me. He can do that for you and will be there for you if you call on him and lean on him for peace, love and hope. So we all know life sometimes doesn't go the way we want it to. If it did God wouldn't have sent his only son into this world to be brutally beaten, mocked and killed. He did it for one reason because we are His beloved and He loves us wider then any ocean, higher than any skyscraper and deeper than any pit we have ever been in. So the scripture I started out with has to do with many things. It references being patient and waiting on God's timing and not our own. The fact He hears my every cry and wipes away every tear and our rescuer when we are in the deepest part of our pit. He is our solid rock on which we stand, He will never cause us to stumble. A reading out of my devotional says this " If you're in a pit, you don't have to stay in it. Even if you've been there your whole life, you can call it a day. Even if you somehow- at least in your own mind- deserve the pit you live in, you're still not stuck there. Maybe your the noble type trying to make the best of your pit You keep wondering why you can't get satisfied there, why you aren't mature enough to be content where you are. After all, didn't the apostle Paul tell us that we should learn to be content in any circumstance?
Has it occurred to you that maybe a pit is one place where you're not supposed to be content? Maybe you should thank God you're not. Some things weren't meant to be accepted. A pit is one of them. Quit trying to make the best of it. It's time to GET OUT!! Will you think outside the box- Outside YOUR pit and accept the truth that God doesn't want you in there any longer?"
The prayer at the end of this specific devotional reading is this
" I praise You, Lord, for being my Deliver, my rescuer, my redeemer! I know I'm not supposed to be content in my pit. And I believe You can get me out- You want me out- of it. I will look to you to give me strength to lead me to a place of true contentment.
So for example I have learned my triggers that cause my anxiety to arise and cause me to in my term "being in the zone" So for me when I am in the zone I lose track of what is going on around me. I can't hear anything and I can literally feel my heart pounding faster and faster. I found that bible journaling is very helpful. I have a note book and print out pictures and i trace them and then later color the pictures in. This has become so helpful. I encourage you to try it out. If you like pintrest just look up bible journaling there will be some cool ideas to get started and maybe even save them and you can try doing them yourself.
I usually reference a song at the end of my blog but I am unable to post the videos due to content being blocked.
But you can look it up on your computer if you go to www.YouTube.com and search Kari Jobe I am not alone the video should appear and I feel this song speaks truth,hope and love.
Blessings Mighty Warriors
~MM

The Parable of the Vine and Branches

Good afternoon Mighty Warriors, I hope y'all had a great and blessed week! So todays blog is going to be on the parable of the vine and the branches. So I am not going to post the entire verse as it is very long but I am going to post parts of the scripture that we are going to look at today. Hear the Word of the Lord.

“I am the true Vine. My Father is the One Who cares for the Vine. 2 He takes away any branch in Me that does not give fruit. Any branch that gives fruit, He cuts it back so it will give more fruit. 3 You are made clean by the words I have spoken to you. 4 Get your life from Me and I will live in you. No branch can give fruit by itself. It has to get life from the vine. You are able to give fruit only when you have life from Me. 5 I am the Vine and you are the branches. Get your life from Me. Then I will live in you and you will give much fruit. You can do nothing without Me. 
This is the Word of God. So let me ask you this, when you read this passage what comes to mind? This entire gospel on the vine and the branches is all about who you are becoming as this makes it all about the Glory of God. In this story who is the vine? JESUS! WE are the branches! This scripture is about growing and sharing but also becoming ONE with Christ! In the book Ezekial it talks about how he takes out our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. If we abide in Christ he will remain with us. What this means is that we need to look to Christ in Every moment of our lives good or bad. We are completely helpless-He is completely able in ALL things, It says in scripture that Christ prunes us so that we can continue to bear god fruit. 
I want to tell you a story that my friend Jay told me. 
"Before Christ rescued me I had terrible road rage. I would get frustrated in traffic especially in winter driving. My fruit basket of patience, self-control, peace on and on is deficient. So God gifts me with winter weather and challenged driving (pruning) which gives  me the opportunity to grow in him. I become more like him as he prunes me to help me grow my faith in him." So through this blog I pray that you learn that you are the branches and to learn how to bear good fruit. When God has rescued you and you are joined with Jesus one WILL BEAR FRUIT! There is no such thing as a person grafted into Christ where you do not see the fruit of Him who lives in a person. Galations 5:22-26
Amen? 
I want to end with a song called Closer by Hillsong and I think this song really connects with todays blog because it talks about how WE the church find belonging in Christ and how we want to be closer and closer to Him! Enjoy!
Closer-Hillsong
Have a wonderful and blessed week Mighty Warriors!
~MM

Happy New Year! Mighty Mariah's highlights of 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR MIGHTY WARRIORS! Another year in the books and now we look ahead and wait to see what the year 2015 holds for us. I know who holds my future a king who is Mighty to Save! So I want to highlight some of my favorite memories of 2014 and some of the events I got to attend and be a part of. So sit back and enjoy. Let me first say THANK YOU to my followers on facebook and twitter and my readers of my blog. I appreciate the support and the feedback I get from all of you. Some of you have told me I would make a great writer some day. I LOVE hearing that. Keep the feedback coming would LOVE to hear from you!
So let me first start off by saying that Septemeber was an amazing month because that is a special month for so many people who are not only starting their journey in recovery but who have been celebrating the freedom they found in their mighty savior Jesus Christ! It is by the grace of God that we are saved! September was Recovery month and last year I had the great opportunity of being a part of and attending a concert that was put together by the leader of our Celebrate recovery at Lutheran church of Hope Melissa and that concert was called "Lost and Found" Three bands played and one of those three was a rapper and I had the privilage of interviewing him y'all know my buddy Echo! We also had our very own Celebrate Recovery band that was let by the worship leader Jed! Then we had Matt baird who plays for a band called "Spoken' It was a great and memorable night. Here are some photos from that event!

Recovery Month 2014

Mighty Mariah with Echo and CR Coordinator

Mighty Mariah with Matt and his wife Tiffany!

 That was an amazing night and I will always remember that night! Thanks to all the gifted artists that came out and played for us!

My next highlight of 2014 was I also got attend a baptism event held also by Celebrate Recovery. A lot of people from my Celebrate Recovery family. I was so proud of my family that day. It was a great and memorable day for us as a church family.

CR Baptism Event!

Last year I also got to Volunteer and visit Hopetroplis (Home of Super Bible Dude) This was Lutheran church of Hopes Vacation bible theme. WE all had a great time getting crazy for Jesus and having a blown out Jesus party. Like my pastors say "there is no party like a Jesus Party" Here are some photos from that event. Batman, The Hulk and many more awesome characters came to visit us at VBS last year it was so much fun.

Mighty Mariah at HopeTropolis

Mighty Mariah and Waterboy

Mighty Mariah and Batman

Next I had the great opportunity to help support a great cause and a great friend who has Lupus. Lupus is a disease and one of my friends has it and last year we did a walk around the mall to support Lupus and here is one of the photos that we took together.

Lupus awareness walk 2014

One of my favorite highlights was going on a motorcycle ride with my dad but meeting one of my church pastors along the way that was celebrating being cancer free. She kicked Cancers butt! So proud of you Nicole! God was with you every step of the way. You truly inspired me and I pray God continues to bless you and your family in new an awesome ways! Here is a picture of me and Nicole together.

Nicole and Mighty Mariah

As most of you know my church is in the process of getting our very own building and we did a giving campaign and we called it "Building Hope Together" The church is really coming along and hopefully will be done by Easter of 2015. Here are two pictures for ya!

Here is Hope Ankeny's new building

Alright I am going to wrap up this very long blog update. There are so many highlights of 2014 I just can't list them all. 2014 started off kind of rough for my family that around thanksgiving of 2013 that my aunt Jan's Cancer had returned and she was back in the hospital and there she stayed until the news came that the final medicine didn't kill the cancerous cells and my aunt was moved to Hospice. There she stayed until her heavenly Father called her home on January 27, 2014. I miss my aunt very much. The wisdom that lady had and the kind words she had for everyone and the love she had for her family was incredible. She will be missed very much! I have learned that in this life there will come a day where we are called to our eternal home and there we will rejoice and celebrate because we are free from sin in this world and we will be with Jesus forever! I have a peace knowing I will see my aunt Jan again. 

2014 was a great year and I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store. I hope y'all enjoy this blog update! Blessings to each and everyone of you!

Happy New Year!!

~MM

That's my kinda night!!! Merry Christmas!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS MIGHTY WARRIORS!!! This blog update is obviously a Christmas blog so I hope you enjoy reading this on Christmas morning or if your reading this at midnight! Lets travel back into time and go back to when someone special was born in a little town called Bethlehem…..this is the Christmas story.

Hear the Word of the Lord:

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them. 

That scripture verse came from www.biblegateway.com

So on I want you to picture if you were one of the sheperds and you got this kinda news. How would you feel? How would you react? For myself I would probable be astonished and breathless to hear the news that a SAVIOR has been born TODAY!! So now lets talk about Mary because Mary is a BIG part of this story cause she is holding the Savior of the world in her womb. But Mary was a little confused when an angel appeared to her saying that she will be pregant with a child but a child that will SAVE and RENEW THE WORLD!!!! Now Mary was a virgin and she had never had intercourse so she was probable thinking "There's no way I could be pregnant with not a child but a SAVIOR" Now for those of you who are mothers and who have had kids lets just use this as an example when you take that first pregnancy test and its positive you are full of excitement right? Of course and you can't wait to tell everyone the good news. You make phone calls, you share it on social media with your family and friends and word gets out pretty fast but back in Mary's time they didn't have facebook,twitter and instagram to get the word out, it says right in scripture that and angel of the Lord appeared to the sheperds telling them of this wonderful news and right above where Jesus was laid in a manger there was a bright Shining star that shined and the sheperds followed that star until they reached the place where baby Jesus was born. That sounds like a pretty amazing night right? I mean today we celebrate and we honor Jesus' birth but sometimes we tend to forget or loose the sight because we have presents to get,wrap and give to friends and family. We have family meals to make, we have a house to clean and we don't take time to just enjoy the season. Wether that be taking a drive and looking a christmas lights on houses or watching the snow fall. This year I have a friend that use to be my counselor and she recently wrote a book called "Stop, Breathe Believe Mindful Living One Thought at a Time, and last year she came to Lutheran Church of Hope for a Christmas Brunch and shared with us how to do just that Stop,Breathe Believe. 

I am going to describe to you what I have learned from this wonderful yet very sinmply technique to take steps to help live a peace and wonderful life using our minds and hearts and breath to help with this growth in your own life. If you would like to purchase this book you can get it on Amazon.com. So when I first started using Stop, breathe believed it really helped with my anxiety. I felt my anxiety decrease and more hope arise in my life. So for example if I am driving and I feel myself get anxious I am reminded of this easy technique because the book cover is a stop light and how it works is like this. When you feel yourself getting drawn into negative thinking or for some people maybe your mother used the phrase of "Stinkin Thinkin" you just say to yourself Stop Mariah and then the yellow is the breathing part of it and you take big deep breath in and when you retrace your thinking to a postive you exhale and let out all the negative thinking and believe in the green or hope filled thoughts and then repeat it everytime you feel those negatives thoughts try to creep in your head and steal your happiness and joy this holiday season. So with that I am going to wrap up my blog update with three songs Emmanuel by Micheal W Smith and Mary did you know by Rascal Flatts! The last one is a fun song sung by Luke Bryan and its called Run Run Rudolph! Enjoy everyone! I also want to give a special shout out to those who are reading this across the world I pray y'all have a very Merry and Blessed Christmas. 

TODAY A SAVIOR HAS BEEN BORN TO YOU HE IS CHRIST THE LORD AMEN! 

THANKS FOR READING 

MERRY CHRISTMAS MIGHTY WARRIORS 

~MM

Song 1 Emmanuel By Micheal W Smith

Song 2 Mary did you know? By Rascal Flatts

Song 3 "Run Run Rudolph By Luke Bryan

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Mighty Warriors I hope you all had a great week...what? you say today is a holiday YOUR RIGHT! It's a day of Thanksgiving. Today is a day of thanks, today I am going to share with you Psalm 100. Hear the Word of the Lord:

Psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! 

     Worship the Lord with gladness.
    Come before him, singing with joy. 

 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
    He made us, and we are his.
    We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
    go into his courts with praise.
    Give thanks to him and praise his name. 

 For the Lord is good.
    His unfailing love continues forever,
    and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

So that was today's scripture reading. So now I want to ask you, what are you thankful for? I went to a thanksgiving service on Tuesday and the lady who brought the message had 2 mugs in her hand. One of the mugs she called "A mug of Thanks" And she first wrote a list of things she was thankful for and then she cut them into strips and put them in the "mug of thanks" and each day she would pull one out and think about that one thing she was thankful for throughout the day.  Then we get out our "mug of giving and each day we put a quarter in and then when our mug of giving is full we can choose what we want to do with those coins or dollars that we gather. Maybe you pay it forward in the drive-thru at a fast food place, or you donate it towards charity this holiday season. There are multiple ways to give. See thanksgiving isn't just one word. Its two words put together but have such an impact if we use it on a daily basis. I will admit I fail at this every day. I forget to be thankful. I know during hard times it's hard to be thankful. Being Thankful is such a great thing and even though during the hard times it may not seem helpful but I think it can be. This year I am thankful for so many things. I am thankful for my church family that is continuing to grow, not just as a congregation but as a body of believers. We are still in the building process of our new church home and we have come so far since we first began. I am so thankful the Lord has provided us a place and the money to do this. This week I am very thankful for health and safety. My grandma is in the hospital due to dehydration but is doing so much better. So I am thankful that she is getting her strength back. I am so close to both my grandparents and I love them dearly. My uncle recently fell and broke his hip and had to undergo surgery but all went well and he is now recovering. So I am thankful that he is doing better as well. Family to me is also so very very important and I am just so thankful to my parents who have chosen me and adopted me to be there child. So for me I have a ton to be thankful for. I also am thankful for all my readers of my blog. I pray for all my readers and I pray that these words I write wouldn't be mine but the holy spirit speaking through me into your lives. I could go on and on about what I am thankful for because there is just so much but I finally want to give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for dieing for my sins and the worlds sins. On November 21 5 years ago on that day I professed my faith in Jesus Christ, I could tell you the whole story but I will save that story for another blog. But one of the songs I heard in High school was a song called "Yes I believe" and this song was written by an artist Peder Eide and I want to end with 2 songs about faith and just how awesome our God is. I hope you all have a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving.
Song #1  Awesome God By Rich Mullins
Song # 2 Yes I believe By Peder Eide

Blessings to all!
~MM

Pastor appreciation month!!!

Good Evening Mighty Warriors! I hope you had a great week. So this months blog is dedicated to all the pastors out there. But my church is one church in multiple locations. We have many pastors on staff at Hope. I am going to focus on the pastors that I hear from on most weekends. Those pastors would be Pastor Mike Housholder and Pastor Scott Rains. I also attend another church called Hickman Road Church of Christ, their pastor is Colby Clapp and he gives great messages on Sunday mornings. So I since this month is pastor appreciation month I have asked a couple of people from my church what they appreciate about there pastors. 
Angie from Hope Ankeny told me "I appreciate that all the pastors at Hope are approachable, authentic and live life transparently alongside the congregation."
Jennifer from Hope Ankeny say "she appreciates that the pastors don't pretend to be perfect 
people. 
 Trevor from Hope Ankeny says "I'm a fan of sweater vests"
Scott from Hope Ankeny says " I like that Pastor Scott is so genuine and relatable. He doesn't elevate himself, he humbles himself and is not afraid to share his challenges and heart."
Tiffany from Hope West Des Moines says "I love that our pastors take the time to talk and listen. I love that we can work together to do what God wants us to do…Love God, Love People"
Last we go over to the church Hickman Road church of Christ. The Olson family told me what they appreciate about there Pastor Colby.
 Ethan says " He is like a brother, I know I can talk to him about anything. He is overall a really cool guy.
Alex says "He is really sensitive to other peoples emotions. I like the messages he gives on Sundays.
Abby says "He is really cool. I like when he plays video games with me. He is really good at getting the point across in his messages.
Sherri says "He is a very compassionate guy and he cares about everyone. He has a talent for preaching the Word and getting it across.
Todd says "I like the way he focuses on the Word"
So now I am going to post some pictures of some of the pastors that we talked about in this post. This post is dedicated to all pastors out there. I just want to say continue to share your gifts and talents with your congregation. Let Gods spirit continue to flow through you and may You continue to reach out to the world around you and share the everlasting love of Jesus Christ. ~ Hopes mission statement.

Mighty Mariah and Pastor Scott Rains

Jeremy Johnson and Scott Rains

Mighty Mariah with Pastor Mike Housholder

Alex and I with pastor Colby from Hickman Road Church of Christ!

I want to end with a song dedicated to all pastors. This song is called "Fix My Eyes" By For King and country!

Enjoy! 

Blessings to all!

~MM

September is_______?_________ Month?

Hello Mighty Warriors, I apologize for not writing in the last two months. My life has been busy with work and many church activities. So I just want to get right to the point. In April I wrote a blog about an organization called Donate Life. And how my cousin donated his body and organs to help those who needed it. I want to talk to you today about the month of September. September is recovery month.

This year marks the 25^th annual observance of Recovery Month, a national effort to raise public awareness of the importance of prevention, treatment and, especially, recovery from behavioral health disorders, including substance addictions. 

Has anyone every heard a great and amazing program called "Celebrate Recovery" Rick Warren started the program at Saddleback Church in California and there are many more churches that have the program as well. But right now I want to tell you about my time so far at Celebrate Recovery at Lutheran Church of Hope. It has been very helpful and that doesn't even begin to describe it. My church believes that it is no accident you show up on a Thursday night to Celebrate Recovery or any other event that goes on because WE as a CHURCH have been praying for you. I have been a greeter at my churches Celebrate Recovery for many months and every time it just makes my heart glow brighter and brighter. For newcomers who walk through our doors WE as a CHURCH welcome them with open arms because THEY ARE HOME. We care for one another, we are there. When you join any Celebrate Recovery group there is no need to fear judgement because truth is EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN THIS WORLD STRUGGLES. It doesn't matter what our hurt habit or hang up is.Drugs alcohol, Sexual abuse,drug abuse, divorce,,anxiety, depression, addiction, pornography…. We all have sin, no one in this world is perfect. It doesn't matter how big your house is, or how much money you make or how big your family is or even if you have the best job in the world. NO ONE IS PERFECT! Are you hearing me Mighty Warriors? NO ONE!! Here's the most mind blowing thing about Jesus. He came into this world as a little baby born in a manger. God knew why He sent his one and only son into this world. He didn't do it for nothing.HE DID IT FOR YOU!!!!!! HE LOVES YOU! HE DIED FOR YOU! If you were the last person on this earth He would still have come down to earth and taken on your sin on the cross.  I don't know how many of you have seen the Passion of the Christ? It is a Mel Gibson film and I can tell you that it is such a powerful movie. But I mean even though its just actors its a hard but its such a moving movie. It tugs at your heart. When I first watched this film it was hard to even see my Savior get flogged and beaten and killed like that. Mighty Warriors we will never really know what it was like 2,000 years ago in reality, but this film gets yours thoughts spinning and questions arising. But he really did get flogged and beaten and nailed. All the blood that was poured out of his body was for you! Everything that you have that is weighing on your shoulders has been take off your back and you can now stand up straight and not feel weighed down by your own hurts,habits or hang ups. He took your sin and erased it. It no longer matters to Him. That's what makes Jesus Christ so Mighty so Powerful and so AMAZING AND WONDERFUL. He created every single one of you on purpose for a purpose. Yes, there are struggles in this world but He is already overcome it through his death and resurrection. So I was able to talk to a couple of people who go to my church and here are a couple of questions that I asked them.
Joseph answered these questions: What have you learned from your time at Celebrate Recovery?
Joseph answered "By God's grace I have been set free from my depression and anxieties. Celebrate Recovery has taught me to be grateful for what i have and to concentrate on positive solutions. By confessing my faults to others. In doing so I was able to gain a new perspective and that enabled me to break out of the prison of my old habits"
Melanie: What are you in celebrating recovery from? " I am celebrating recovery from addiction and sexual abuse. It was in the year of 1992 that I first sought help. I was sexual abused at age nine and I took my first drug at age eleven.
What is one piece of advice that you could give to someone who is new to celebrate recovery?
"Reach out to someone you trust"
What is your favorite thing about the Celebrate Recovery program"
"Be still and know"
Mighty Warriors those were a couple of people who have told you a little bit about how Celebrate Recovery has helped them in their recovery journey.
There are many Celebrate Recovery leaders out there who would love to chat with you. I encourage you if you have a hurt, habit or hang up that is weighing you down reach out to one of the Celebrate Recovery programs in your area. You are meant to be FREE from whatever is holding you back from the life that your Mighty Savior has planned for you.
Melissa is a good friend of mine and she is the Celebrate Recovery Coordinator at Lutheran Church of Hope. If your in the area come on out on a Thursday night and check it out. We have a meal at 5:00 than our very own Celebrate Recovery band starts off the night with some awesome and uplifting music, we hear a teaching or a testimony from someone afterwards and last we break out into small groups and if you visit the booth before the service you can find which group best fits your need for recovery or you can check them all out. Come on out and check it out! Celebrate Recovery is a great program and the transformation that I get to see every Thursday is just amazing. We all struggle YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!

Well that is my blog update for Recovery month. I hope y'all enjoyed it. I want to share three songs with you that just touch my heart in so many ways. Feel free to take a listen
The first song is called:  Celebrate Recovery (cry out to Jesus)
The second song is called: I Surrender:Hillsong
The Third song is called: Changed: By Rascal Flatt's
I hope y'all enjoyed this blog update
Blessings
~Mighty Mariah