President Barack H. Obama...

Today has been a hugely memorable day, emotional, exciting, somewhat sad, and overwhelmingly extraordinary in all of its beauty and ceremony. I feel like I have been on a roller coaster all day, watching the events of this historic day from early this morning, when President and Mrs. Obama were driven to St. John's for a private church service with Bishop TD Jakes, to the coverage of the multitudes of people who thronged the Mall and beyond in celebration of our new Hope, to the Inaugural swearing-in ceremony (even if it did get a bit jacked up), to right now, watching the Inaugural Balls. Barack and Michelle Obama appear so perfectly suited to each other, and so very much in love...yet another reason for the hope of a nation.

I really enjoyed hearing President Obama's Inauguration speech today. One of my most favorite parts of it was when he said, "To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their societys ills on the West -- know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy." I am sure that President Obama knows that, even though those words were directed toward leaders not of the U.S., he will be held to that standard as well.

To the naysayers and disillusioned Americans, I can only say please be patient and give this amazing man a chance to prove or disprove your theories about him. He has tried to be very much up-front and honest with the nation that he will lead about the obstacles and challenges that we face. He has made it clear that none of these changes will take place overnight and that none of it will necessarily be easy. But I think that he has made it abundantly clear that he believes in himself and in us as Americans and I think that he will do everything within his considerable power to live up to the promises that he has made to us.

All in all, today was an awesome day, both personally and historically. I am so very glad that I was some small part of it. I would be interested in hearing from others about their feelings on todays events...good, bad, or ugly, I don't care. Just share with me!

Hunger, MLK, and Inauguration Day

So, the Courageous Church did a "30 Hours of Hunger" this past weekend, as a way to soften our hearts toward the plight of starvation in the world. It is all linked to the global Plumpy Nut initiative that Pastor Shaun has launched, and it was really an eye-opening experience.

It seemed almost silly to go without food for 30 hours when we have so much of everything else. I mean, here I am, fasting for the day while I'm at work, making reservations for people to come spend literally hundreds of dollars at Medieval Times, on dinner and a two-hour show. It made me very much aware of how much I do have and how lucky I am to have it. It is absolutely incredible to me that just $20 can mean the difference in a starving child's life as to whether they will live or die...that just $20 can bring a malnourished, dying child back to health and life just floors me. Everyone can help. Go to the Initiative's page and donate $20...you just saved a child. Seriously.


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Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and I did not work in service to anyone today. I do not feel good about admitting that, but it is the plain truth. I heard that 50 members of Courageous showed up at Turner Field today, to help with Hosea Feed the Hungry, though, and I felt great pride at that, even though I wasn't there with them. Way to go, guys!

I have no excuse for my passivity today...I need to do better. My Leo lazy-streak is a mile wide, and I forget sometimes that I have to work hard to overcome that.

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Tomorrow is arguably the Most Important Day in American History! We will be witnessing the Inauguration of the first African-American man to ever be elected President of the United States of America...President Barack Obama.

I did not think that this day would come during my lifetime, but it has, and I couldn't be more excited. This is HUGE! I don't know yet where I will be celebrating President Obama's inauguration, but I will definitely be posting more on this in the next day or two.

Welcome to The Courageous Church

So, the reason I'm starting this blog is to chronicle my journey toward living a courageous life. My motivation for wanting to live courageously is The Courageous Church and my new pastor, Shaun King.

The Courageous Church just had its Grand Opening [video coming soon!] this past Sunday, January 11th, 2009. I found out about Courageous only a week or so before it opening, through an ad on Facebook. I was so excited after looking through the website for CC that I immediately decided I wanted to be a part of the launch team.

I attended a live web meeting with Shaun and was very excited by his vision for this church. I got plugged into the Welcoming group, and made plans to attend one of two dress rehearsals the weekend before Launch day.

By Sunday morning, I was BEYOND hyped for this. We (my sister, Missy, and I, along with her daughter, Lizzy) arrived at Center Stage, where we're holding services, at about 8:30am to prepare for our duties as greeter and usher.

Very soon after, Pastor Shaun called us all together for prayer before services. We prayed then everyone put their hands in the center and on the count of three, a resounding cry of "Jesus!" erupted as we prepared ourselves to help Shaun launch the greatest. church. ever.

After some truly amazing music by some truly talented folks (including remakes of the Nas song "Hero" and Jazmine Sullivan's song "Lions, Tigers, and Bears"), Shaun showed a video about a revolutionary food product that "may just be the most important advance ever to cure and prevent malnutrition," called Plumpy Nut.

An outstanding performance by Sha' Simpson of "Ordinary Servant" followed the video and then Pastor Shaun introduced our new series, Greater Than God. During the message, Shaun introduced to us his plans to start the largest Plumpy Nut initiative in the world - which won't be hard, he says, since nobody else is doing it!

Pastor Shaun closed out with four objectives for the week ahead, including spending time in prayer to work out what it is that we are "filling our holes" with...is it sex, food, drugs, clothing, shoes, etc. that we seek to fill those empty spaces within? How can we change that so that it is God's love that fills us?

All in all, this has been an amazing experience already, and we're only one service into it! This is what I've been searching for, and not finding. This place...these people...this pastor...the feeling that I am truly a part of Courageous Church, and not just an outsider looking in...I feel like I am home.

Finally.

Back in the blog-o-sphere

Well, I am back in the saddle, after a very long absence from blogging. I have missed it terribly and am very excited to be back at it. Lots of things have changed since I last posted, on the long-since-gone "Queen Chaos" blog, but the past is the past and the future is now. So stay tuned and find out what's going on now in the life of the not-so-chaotic-anymore Queen of Chaos!

Peace, love, and pop-tarts!