Before the Morning

Do you ever listen to a song a million times and even sing along to it and then all of a sudden you actually HEAR the words for the first time? That is what happened the other day! I heard this song! Before the Morning by Josh Wilson!

There are so many different things happening to so many of my friends right now. Loss of loved ones, a long serious illness, fear of the unknown… The words of this song are so encouraging and such a GREAT reminder!

Do you wonder why you have to,
feel the things that hurt you,
if there’s a God who loves you,
where is He now?

Maybe, there are things you can’t see
and all those things are happening
to bring a better ending
some day, some how, you’ll see, you’ll see

Chorus:
Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
’cause the pain you’ve been feeling,
can’t compare to the joy that’s coming

so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you’ve been feeling,
it’s just the dark before the morning

My friend, you know how this all ends
and you know where you’re going,
you just don’t know how you get there
so just say a prayer.
and hold on, cause there’s good who love God,
life is not a snapshot, it might take a little time,
but you’ll see the bigger picture

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
’cause the pain you’ve been feeling,
can’t compare to the joy that’s coming

so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you’ve been feeling,
it’s just the dark before the morning
yeah, yeah,
before the morning,
yeah, yeah

Once you feel the way of glory,
all your pain will fade to memory
once you feel the way of glory,
all your pain will fade to memory
memory, memory, yeah

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
’cause the pain you’ve been feeling,
can’t compare to the joy that’s coming

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
’cause the pain you’ve been feeling,
can’t compare to the joy that’s coming

com’n, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you’ve been feeling,
it’s just the hurt before the healing
the pain you’ve been feeling,
just the dark before the morning
before the morning, yeah, yeah
before the morning

BEFORE THE MORNING – JOSH WILSON

Check out the video here. (I couldn’t figure out how to post it here. Sorry)

Best kept Secret

Guess where I am right now on this Sunday morning?

So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching. Hebrews 10:23-25 MSG

God is the absolute most important thing to me. I cannot imagine going through my life without my church family to surround me with prayer, encouragement and friendship. Being in a church family also gives me the opportunity to exercise those gifts that God has empowered me with to minister to those around me.

If you don’t have a place to be on Sunday morning join us at either 9:00 am or 11:00 at 199 Marina Blvd.  in Suisun.

If you are ever in the Northern California visiting I invite to to worship with us! We have the most amazingly talented worship band! You can hear our worship leader here!

Check out our AWESOME website!

www.1stchristianchurch.org Click on a place for real people

No call is more important then someone’s life!

I recently saw a flyer posted at work that had this typed out:

Then a friend on Facebook posted that her father was hit by a car and he lost his leg and had to go into surgery to save his life. A 17 year old girl was driving @ 40 mph. I have no idea if she was texting, talking or anything else. It just made me realize that in a split second you can change your life or take another.

I’ve made the decision to not be a distracted driver.  I am done deceiving myself thinking that I am a better driver then everyone else.

Studies show that:

• Texting is MUCH worse then driving drunk
• Crash risk is 4 times more likely while texting
• Using a hands free is still dangerous
• Both hand-held and hands-free devices increase driver reaction time and are equally as dangerous.

Please do a little research. You can go here, here or here.

What this decision means for me:

• I will not put makeup on while driving
• I will not eat in my car – if on long trips I will stop and eat there
• I will not read email messages or Facebook status updates
• I will program my GPS before I start my vehicle
• I will not reach for something on the passenger floorboard
• I will turn off my phone
• I will keep my phone in my purse out of my reach

I know this will be inconvenient and hard at first. I will adjust and in a few weeks it will be habit and I won’t remember that I did it any other way.

The thought of me being responsible for killing someone or hurting someone so much that their life changes completely is something I don’t think I could live with. Nothing is worth that chance!

So to all my friends who text and call me and need things from me… I will get back to you when I get to my final destination.

Things go through my mind as I make this decision… What if there is an emergency? What if there is a change of plans and I need to drive another several miles to get to where I was going? What if my friend goes into labor? What if, what if, what if! I think of so many things that could happen or go wrong. But I remember 10 years ago I didn’t have a cell phone and I lived.

It’s important to:

• Silence your phone before you begin your drive
• Set up a voice mail message that explains you’re on the road, practicing safety to protect yourself and fellow drivers
• Stop texting while driving. Research shows drivers who text are 8 to 23 times as likely to be involved in a collision
• Pull over and park if a call is absolutely necessary
• Encourage your friends and family to leave their phones out of reach while driving

Driving is a privilege, but it also gives you an enormous amount of responsibility. One that I have decided to take very seriously!

I hope you’ll join me! Now I am off to change my voicemail!

Blessings to you!

A Few More Things About Me

A few more things…

1. I never eat breakfast
2. I know I should
3. I love to travel
4. I wish I had more money to do so
5. I want to go to the East coast (New Hampshire, Vermont) in the fall, New York in the winter, Disneyworld when it is not hot and muggy, Hawaii anytime
6. I hate hot weather – I don’t like Texas in June – July
7. I love green and blue
8. I love to read
9. I want to be married
10. Waiting on God is hard
11. I have been in 9 weddings – I refuse to believe or repeat the “always a bridesmaid…”
12. I love planning showers – wedding and baby
13. I love working / playing on the computer
14. What did we do with out the WORLD WIDE WEB????    I love it!!! You can find EVERYTHING ANYTHING you could ever imagine!!!
15. My favorite websites right now are: Google and my google reader that has all my favorite blogs listed
16. I am inspired by my friends
17. I look a lot like my mom and my sisters and brother look like me
18. I love my family
19. I have so many hopes and dreams
20. I love helping my friends
21. I went TPing a few years ago and thought I could get away with taking a picture with a flash… Dumb move. The teenage son came out with a paint ball gun scared all of us so bad that Naomi and I collided and I got a skin scrape on my hand. How embarrassing. Try explaining why a 28 year old has a raspberry and rocks in her hand
22. I am so thankful for my life and friends
23. I love a “Lori Salad”
24. I love the smell of rain
25. Beautiful sunsets take my breath away
26. I love to take pictures of them
27. I hate North Carolina
28. Daisies are my favorite flower
29. I love worship music by Chris Tomlin, Matt Redmond, MercyMe and so many more
30. I love the song “I Can Only Imagine”
31. I like country music
32. Going on the KLOVE Cruise was the best vacation. I discovered I LOVE to cruise!
33. I cry when I see others cry
34. I LOVE my church. Check it out! 1stchristianchurch.org
35. I love the smell of Bounce dryer sheets
36. My room is almost always messy (I rent a room from an awesome family from my church)
37. I try to have my room clean and organized but I ALWAYS find something else I’d rather be doing
38. I don’t like to be alone or walking into a new place alone
39. I am a geek! I love anything Apple creates! iPhone being my biggest obsession!
40. Dave Ramsey is a genius! I took his Financial Peace University!
41. I am on a mission to become debt free!
42. I almost always have a piece of gum in my mouth
43. I love babies
44. Giving gifts to people is so fun and I totally enjoy it
45. I don’t watch scary, sad or suspenseful movies. I can’t handle them.
46. I believe it takes a long time to know a person. So this list is insufficient, but entertaining!
47. I don’t enjoy laundry
48. I don’t feel like a grown up yet
49. I like silver jewelry not gold
50. I have decided to turn my phone OFF and store it on the back seat – out of reach of myself while driving my vehicle. Life is just too precious to not do this. The “What-if” is just too great.

If you have read to here – Thank you! If you have any questions please let me know! I would love to spend time getting to know you better!

A Few Things About Me – Ok maybe a lot :)

1. My name is LONG! Nicholle Lorraine Peterson – I go by Nicky spelled, N – I – C – K – Y
2. I love Jesus will all my heart, soul, mind and strength
3. I live in and LOVE California
4. I love San Francisco
5. The Golden Gate Bridge is so fun to visit and photograph
6. If I ever lived anywhere else it would be Colorado (I like the weather – not too hot not too cold)
7. I have SOOOOOO many nicknames. My friends come up with more almost every time I see them
8. I love the beach
9. I love the sound of crashing waves
10. The salty air
11. I love to take pictures. Of anything and everything
12. I love to capture pictures that will be cherished for all time
13. I love to give gifts using the pictures I take
14. I am always on a diet
15. I hate to exercise
16. I have 2 sisters 1 brother. All younger
17. I got my drivers license when I was 17
18. I am so blessed
19. I am not very “book” smart but very “common sense” smart
20. I want to read my bible more
21. My favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,  “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future”                         So encouraging
22. I collect supplies for the following crafts: Scrapbooking, beading and knitting
23. I need to take time and use those supplies
24. I love the color Red
25. I have known my best friend for almost 24 years
26. She is the BEST
27. I don’t like the color pink
28. I discovered I hate running but like walking
29. I love to swim
30. Anyone who likes running is missing some marbles up there (Sorry Michela 🙂
31. I spend money to avoid feeling hurt or alone – working on this
32. I love flip flops
33. I love crafts of all kinds
34. I have a degree in Graphic Design and get to use it in the above said gifts that I love to give away
35. My birthday is July 18^th
36. I love the 4^th of July
37. I have been going to the same church for almost 24 years
38. I love my friends
39. I was born in Reno, Nevada – nope my mom wasn’t just there for a weekend trip. We lived there
40. For the first 9 years of my life I lived in Napa
41. Then I moved to American Canyon, then Vallejo then Suisun (my favorite) When I graduated I moved to Denver for 2 years.
42. I need to be able to hang my feet out at the end of my bed
43. I do not like to use a top sheet
44. I can’t sing but wish I could
45. I wish I could read music
46. I love white mocha’s from Starbuck’s
47. I like TV too much – I miss the show Friends so much
48. I cried on the last episode
49. I love Julia Roberts movies – Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, Erin Brockavich, Notting Hill to name a few
50. I cry at commercials, St. Jude fundraisers on the radio and the TV

Ok, now it’s time for a break! Check back again tomorrow for the rest of the list!!

Well Hello!

Welcome to my new site! Thank you for stopping by! This is where I will share what is going on in my life! It could be anything! From photo shoots I have to cakes or cupcakes I decorate to places I’ve been! Anything goes!

I’ll start with sharing with you a recent picture I took that made me smile!

This is my buddy Noah! I love this little man! Anyone who says “come to my room and take a picture of me” is my friend!! =)

Have you ever heard the saying “The best camera is the one that’s with you”? I love this saying! I love my iPhone! The quality may not be the best but it still captures pictures that I will look back on with a smile in my heart!

Signing off for now!

Blessings and lots of love to you today!