Gobbled til I wobbled and now I'm ready to Celebrate!

Hello Ladies! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I gobbled til I wobbled! I've got to get back on my diet! Well, maybe after Christmas. Now, I'm ready to celebrate the birth of our Savior and King, JESUS!

I wanted to catch everyone up on what we have going on in the next few weeks.

First is this weekend! Dec 6th is Flint Groves Day at Joyful Noise! I am so excited about this because of all the promise and hope it illuminates! We have the opportunity to shine as a church as well as encourage Myra and Greg, the owners of Joyful Noise. I think this is a perfect way to kick off Christmas!

Then on Dec 14th We have 15 people going with us to Hickory Grove for the Christmas program! That is wonderful! I can't wait. I know it's going to be a long day so brace yourself for all we have to do. We will leave after church and stop and eat lunch. Then we will head to Hickory Grove. We need to be there by 2:15. After the program we will head back to the church to help deliver the Brookside boxes for those who wish to participate in that! I have all the tickets and will give them out on that Sunday. If you need yours before then, just let me know.

After this we will rest (yeah right)!

We will get back together on January 9th at 6:30 at Joyful Noise. I want us to gather and plan our calendar for 2009. So, bring your ideas and be looking for concerts, plays, etc. I would also like for us to consider doing a ministry project each quarter. For example, take a worship team to a shut in and enjoy some time with them, a meal encourage our worship leaders, go with the nursing home ministry one Sunday, etc.. There are so many ways we can worship God through our deeds and bless others. Be thinking about this and bring your ideas.

Much love!

Sonda

November and December Events

First, I want to tell you that we are now offically called WOP (Women of Praise)!

November 14th - Friday! 6:30 pm - Joyful Noise - Meet in the coffee shop for coffee, dessert and devotion. Then we will enjoy live music in the upper room by A Temple's Cry. I hope to see you there!

December 14th - Sunday - We will leave from church and go have lunch. Then head to Hickory Grove Main Campus for the Christmas Musical at 3:00pm.

Beginning in January 2009, we will meet at Joyful Noise the second Friday of each month at 6:30pm. At those meeting we will decide if there are any other events, concerts, plays, etc that we want to go to. Please invite your friends to join us any time for any event! Love you all!

Long time no talk!

Hello! Life has been extremely busy for me and I apologize for not being able to organize any recent events for us. I wanted to let everyone know that this week Jason Crabb will be at Harvest Time Church Oct 19th 0 Oct 23. For more information go to www.htcog.com

Hopefully we can get together soon. If anyone has any ideas for a Christmas outing, please let me know. Thanks!

Grace

My heart is so proud
My mind is so unfocused
I see the things you do through me
as great things I have done
And now you gently break me
then lovingly to take me
and hold me as my Father
and mold me as my maker.

I ask you how many times will you pick me up
When I keep on letting you down?
And Each time I will fall short of Your glory
How far will forgiveness abound?
And you answer "My child, I love You
and as long as you're seeking my face
You'll walk in the power of my daily sufficient grace".

At times I may grow weak
and feel a bit discouraged
knowing that someone somewhere can do a better job.
For who am I to serve You?
I know I don't deserve You.
And that's the part that burns in my heart
And keeps me hanging on.

As I walk with You I'm learning
what your grace really means
The price that I could never pay
was paid at Calvary.
So instead of trying to repay you
I'm learning to simply obey you
By giving up my life to you
for all that you've given to me!

I ask you how many times will you pick me up
When I keep on letting you down?
And Each time I will fall short of Your glory
How far will forgiveness abound?
And you answer "My child, I love You
and as long as you're seeking my face
You'll walk in the power of my daily sufficient grace".

Song written by Laura Story - given to her from God to encourage Sonda Buchanan. Thank you Lord for your everlasting grace and Mercy. I love you!

Finally We're off to see Mercy Me! Oh MY!

We leave in the morning for our trip to Knoxville to meet Mercy Me. I'm nervous because I found out we are on a small plane. Gulp! I'm not a fan of flying. I would rather just walk! But, I know that God is in control. He knew my beginning and He knows my end. Sandy is going with me and I am so glad for that! She is such a huge blessing to me and I love her dearly. I know we are going to have a blast. Please pray for us for safe travel and good times. Love you all!

What's next - WOPPERS!

Hello Women Of Praise! (WOP) I would like to suggest the following for our upcoming events!

September 19th - Buddy Mullins will perform at Flint Groves with Dinner included for 30.00.
If you haven't already purchased a ticket, I pray you will soon.
This is a great opportunity for us to fellowship and help out Alan & JoyMain!

September 26th - Joyful Noise (Fri) Carl Cartee and Tower of Mercy Tickets are $7.00

Please mark your calendars now for the Vision Casting Meeting Oct 3, 2008 (Friday). We will be able to hand out information about the WOPS ministry and decide on our Christmas event!

Blessings to all! I love you!

Mercy Me! A change of plans...

I have been so excited about winning a trip to Nashville to do a Christmas video with Mercy Me! Well, I just wanted to let you all know that my trip was cancelled! They called yesterday and said that the Gospel Music Channel decided to cut the program so they will not be video taping. They have sent me a list of 10 different places that Mercy Me will be performing and they are still going to fly us out for the concert, a personal meet and greet, and everything else they were going to give us. I am disappointed that I can’t go to Nashville but I guess I’ll go to one of the other places. The radio station called to and they are sending me some things to make up for the change. Everyone is being very nice.

Well, bummer! I was hoping to get discovered while I was in Nashville. I guess God has other plans for me and could not risk letting me go there! I had my sequin shirt and everything! But, I know God is in control and it is for the best!

My last nerve!

Ok, As I type this there is something that is getting on my last nerve! I have a co-worker (God love her) that puts on ear phones and then sings or hums the music loudly! I don't know why but it is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Another thing I can't stand is for someone to whistle! I have honestly left stores before because someone was whistling. What is wrong with me! As much as I love music and find joy in it I am surprised that these things bother me as much as they do. I am so sensitive to things these days. It's not just sounds but also smells! Buck and I went to eat the other night and a man came in and sat behind me wearing a strong cologne. That was the end of my meal. From that point on everything tasted like "Old Spice"! I wanted to cry! I'm sure these people were unaware that they were about to cause me to have a hissy fit. That is unless they noticed my hands over my ears or the fact I was plugging my nose!



So now I'm wondering are there things I do that gets on someones last nerve? I'm sure there is because I sometimes get on my own nerves and I love me! I am trying to be more tolerant and look beyond the surface of people and sincerely notice them and listen to them. Maybe God is using these things to make me take notice of people or to get my attention. We are all in such a hurry that sometimes we look over the obvious or take people for granted. Two songs come to mind - God Speaking by Mandisa and Casting Crowns - Does anybody hear her? Both of these address that God speaks to us through many ways and tries to get our attention to be his hands and love on people. Even those that get on our last nerve!



I want to encourage you to be mindful of who God is placing in front of you. Is this someone that would benefit by attending one of the G-Groups? Are you willing to take the time to invite them and encourage them? Make this a matter of daily prayer. You could be the only real Jesus and example of His love that they see! I love you all.

What's up Girlfriends!

Do you like Southern Gospel? If so, Jason Crabb (Formerly with the Crabb Family) will be at Life Church on August 29th. For info: http://www.lifechurchcramerton.org/jason.html . I haven't called and I'm not sure of ticket availability. Just wanted to get it out there in case anyone is interested. Also coming up Sept 6th is ED Cash at Church at Charlotte. He will lead worship at the 5:21 service. I plan on going. Let me know if you want to join me.

I would love to be able to send e-mail updates to those who are interested in going to concerts, etc. If you want to be included, send me your e-mail at shbuchan@duke-energy.com.

A great time was had by all!

We had a wonderful time at the Laura Story concert. She was fantastic! I'm sure that we are just beginning to hear about her. She is a great song writer and singer. We found out that she wrote the song Indescribable while riding through the NC mountains up through Asheville. It's kind of neat knowing that! I was so glad to have Vicki, Cheryl, Tina, Dawn and Quita join me for the concert. I enjoyed getting to know them I hope you all will consider joining us for other events! STAY TUNED!

Concert plans for Saturday August 16th

We will meet at the church at 4:00 to go to the Laura Story concert in Charlotte. Call me if you have any questions 704-689-8063. Blessings!

I won! I am so excited!

I am so excited. I received a call from 91.9 this morning telling me that I won a trip to Nashville to hang out with Mercy Me as they shoot their Christmas video! Words just can't express how thrilled I am! I LOVE MERCY ME!!! They are one of my favorite favorite groups and I love Nashville! I can not wait to go. I will do my very very best to be in the video! Yeap, I might even ask them to let me sing! They just don't know what they are in for do they? Today's praise! Thank you LORD for this great gift and for Mercy Me and for Christian Radio! I am soooooo excited! Jesus Loves me this I know because each day He blesses me so! Woo hoo and AMEN!

Thank you LORD for blessing my son!

Today's praise is for Jake. He has been so blessed through baseball! Check out the highlight video on the blog. Please keep him in your prayers for continued good health and strength. I especially pray that he will stay close and clean!

Blessings!

Joyful Noise

I had a very busy weekend! I helped Myra with an event at Joyful Noise. It was hard work but well worth it. I love that place! If you haven't been there, go and be blessed. Today I would like to praise God for Joyful Noise Christian Music Store and for Myra and Greg. I only have one picture of it and it is of the upper room where we had the event. You will have to come and check it out to see the store and coffee shop areas.


The place is wonderful. They sale all types of Christian Music Cd's, Accompaniment tracks, sheet music, and song books. They also sale Christian literature, bibles, cards, etc. They have a wonderful coffee/dessert shop and great milkshakes too! I love to go there, get coffee and get on the computer and look for songs or grab some Cd's and listen. That is one great thing about it too is that you can listen to the Cd's before you buy them. They also have free live concerts on Friday and Saturday nights. It is definitely not your typical store. It is a cozy place and you can just feel the spirit of the love of God in it. That is why it is out G-Group's "HOME" base. It a great place to hang out and fellowship. I pray that everyone will make a conscious effort to support our locally owned Christian businesses.

Thank you Lord for Joyful Noise! You know how much it has meant to me and I just ask you to please bless them beyond anything they could have ever imagined. In Jesus Name!

An evening with Laura Story August 16, 2008

I'm excited to announce the next event for the Pure Praise G- Group will be August 16, 2008 with An evening with Laura Story at Church at Charlotte. They have a Saturday night service which begins at 5:21! Then she will do a concert at 7:30. Dinner by Chic-Fil-A will be available between the service and the concert. We will make travel arrangements as we see how many are going.

This is a Free ticket event but I need to let them know by Wednesday how many we need. Please e-mail me at shbuchan@duke-energy.com or call me at 704-689-8063 by Tuesday August 15th.

An Evening with Laura Story
August 16, 2008
Event Description
If you listen to Christian radio, you know Laura Story. Whether it’s writing songs like “Indescribable” for Chris Tomlin and others, or singing her own Top 20 hit “Mighty to Save”, Laura is blessing the world with inspiring music that lifts God up in praise, and builds up all who hear her.
But there’s so much more to Laura’s life than music. Take 4 minutes to watch the video link on this blog. Call if you have any questions!

It's a two for one!

I was not able to get on my "BLOG" and blog yesterday. So, today I will submit TWO praise items! First, I want to say, where did the word BLOG come from? Someone enlighten me please. I'm sure it stands for something, right? I want to go on record saying I don't like the word. I think it sounds to much like BLAH and that's not good. So, I will be trying to come up with something different to call it just because that's what I do! OK, now for the praise items. I want to praise God for his word and for empowering people to write bible studies and devotions that help me to grow in my everyday walk with Him. I praise you Lord for revealing secrets to my heart as only you know what I can handle! I use a great book now for my quiet time that was given to me by my dear friend, Beverly! (Thanks Beverly!) It is called God's Purpose for Every Woman (Proverbs 31) I have gained so much knowledge and insight from this book. Thank you Lord!

Second, I want to thank the Lord for providing me with another way to help me stay close and clean and that is through music. I love to listen to music all day long and I have a lot of it. I love all types of Christian music and have recently gotten hooked on Bluegrass! Goin' back to my roots! I have been listening to a couple of Cd's a lot lately that are just great and really speak to my heart! They are Integrity's Worship 24:7 and Amazing Grace - Timeless Hymns of Faith

I want you to know that I do have mini worship service everyday in my car and in my cube. I have even rearranged one of the songs to fit! One of my favorite songs is "In the Sanctuary". The lyrics say "We lift our hands in the Sanctuary. We lift our hands to give you the glory! We lift our hands to give You the praise. And we will praise You for the rest of our days. Yes we will!
I have modified this song to say We lift our hands in the KIA SPECTRA! Yep, that's my car! It fits just perfect with the rhythm of the song. He probably thinks I'm crazy!

I do love the Lord and I love praising Him all the time because He saved my life! I love you Lord! Blessings!

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty!

This is a song that we sang this past weekend at the Beth Moore Simulcast. Great song! Thanks for reminding me of it beverly! Check it out! I had a mini worship service in my cube today!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_3W8XI7W2w

For today's Pictorial Praise Diary, I am showing my work place to give thanks to God for my job. I have been at Duke Energy for 25 years! Yes that is almost half my life! I start when I was 20 years old. It's a great company and I am very blessed to have a great job. This is my cubicle! As for me and my cubical, We will serve the Lord!


Lord, thank you so much for providing for me and my family. Father help me to be a good steward of all my blessings and provisions. Lord, I pray that my work brings glory and honor to you. I love you LORD!

In Jesus Name!

Sunny Days and Monday's always make me smile!

A little different from Karen Carpenters version (Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.) It is beautiful today! The sun is shining and it is hot. Monday is a great day. It's usually a day that everyone sets aside to start something new or start over with something. It's a good starting place! I've started many a good diet on Mondays!

Today I am going to take this opportunity to start something on a Monday! I've decided to try and keep a pictorial praise diary! I saw on a news report of a man that kept a daily pictorial diary of his life. I thought it was a neat idea. So I'm stealing it! That's what is so wonderful about sharing our ideas with each other. OK, so anyway, my pictorial praise diary will have pictures of what I want to praise God for that given time. Today's picture is a given! I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband and two great kids. I know that I don't deserve to be so blessed to have them and I am grateful to God for loving me enough allow me to love Buck, Amanda, and Jake! Thank you Lord for my family!

Praise Him! Praise Him!

I had a wonderful weekend! The Beth Moore simulcast message was exactly what I needed. Then it was followed up with a great message from Pastor Ronnie. Both of these wonderful messengers were used by God to penetrate my heart and help pull me out of a discouraging place! He is so faithful and good! He simply amazes me.

I've really been praying about a situation in my life and praise God, in His time,I am seeing that He is in control. He has a plan and I am trusting Him.

My favorite part of the scripture that Beth Moore taught was Luke 8:15 But the ones that fell on good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

KEYWORDS: WITH PATIENCE. hE HAS A PLAN..TRUST HIM!

My first Praise report!

My first praise report to post! I just received the most wonderful message! it simply said "Your Blog Post published successfully!" Thank you Lord!

Now I'm going to bed to catch up on that sleep!

Flint Groves Girlfriends Unlimited Pure Praise G-Group

Pure Praise is a part of Girlfriends Unlimited at Flint Groves Baptist Church in Gastonia NC. This group is for ladies who love music, drama, theater, festivals, etc and want to focus their lives in giving constant glory and homor to the King of Kings.

This blog spot will be used as a communication tool for this group as well as a place to talk it up about what God has done in your life. Otherwise known as Praise reports! I could go on and on about how God has blessed me over and over! He is so good to me!

I'm new at this so please bear with me as I get it going.