Today I Am Grateful For Andrae Crouch

I learned today that gospel singer Andrae Crouch died at age 72. I am grateful to this man because he was an influence to me at the tender age of 14 to begin my journey of faith. I saw him in concert at Balboa stadium the summer of 1970. That night he gave an alter call and even though I didn't go forward right then, later that night I surrendered my life to Jesus and began the journey I have been on for the past 45 years. He was a powerful voice in the 70s of the goodness and grace of God. I am who I am today because of his message, as well as the persistence of my best friend, Karen Knapp.  She invited me to the concert and kept inviting me to hear the gospel message until I finally saw the power of the message. I will be forever grateful to her, and to all who have encouraged me on my journey over the years. It has been, and continues to be, the best trip I could take.  Here is a sample of Andrae Crouch's wonderful voice and powerful message. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RZTYDPavEY

My New Years Resolution 2015

My name is Marilea and this is my new blog for a new year. This year, instead of the usual resolutions that people choose to make that fail within the first week, I have decided to choose something to do that will go beyond myself and hopefully be something positive. The idea came from a few things: a book I am reading, 7 An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmaker, a Facebook post about a gratitude jar and from my desire to use social media for something more than just sharing pictures, activities and cute videos.

So, I have created this blog, and a new Facebook page that will be used to share words of encouragement and gratitude for the things that are good, and maybe even a few that aren't so good. Sometimes the 'not so good' is where the most growth in our lives is comes from.

I hope that the posts are uplifting and give encouragement to those who visit my site. I believe we all need more of the positive in our lives. I have always been a 'glass half full' person and according to personality tests, I am an encourager, so I decided to use this forum to make use of the gifts I have been given.

It's amazing how words we hear and read can either make our day better or worse. I have stopped listening or reading most of the news stories because I realized how little most of it really was necessary to know and with the sensationalism of the media, creates and atmosphere of fear, sadness and hopelessness. We need to be informed, but sometimes a diet of negative news is just bad for us.

So my journey begins this first week of January and we will see where the journey takes us. I hope you come on this journey with me and enjoy the ride.