What's been up lately.......

So I haven't blogged since last year. I had the urge to do it a year ago and then just randomly stopped. Regardless of my reasons, I have now decided to continue in my quest to blog. I figure there is just so much going on right now I don't even know where to start. Let me just talk about life these days....

As of the moment, there are many things happening in my life. We have the Orlando Salsa Congress coming up this weekend (which is going to be a busy weekend for us at Salsa Heat). Then we have Training Team auditions coming up as well (along side the Semi-pro Team auditions). We just recently moved into a new place which has been quite a change for us, and there are many many things happening at OHOP (Orlando House of Prayer) as well. I would say that a lot of things have changed mostly for the better.

One thing I (Rachel) really want to talk about are my dreams. I have a dream journal that I received for my birthday back in 2002 and every time I have dreams (ones that I remember) I log it into my dream journal. Lately things have been really strange since this year has started as far as my dreams are concerned. In January 2010 I had three dreams back to back that had to do with natural disasters. First dream was about Earthquakes, the second dream was about dark skies and tornado swirls in the sky but no funnels and the third dream was about volcanoes. I not only logged it into my journal but also posted it on Facebook to see if anyone else was having the same type of dreams. Since January, I have literally seen in the news the three dreams come to pass. We witnessed earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and other countries back to back since the beginning of the year. There have also been many tornadoes taking place lately but I am still not sure if the dream came to pass yet. It was very specific in that it was a very dark sky with swirls of tornadoes but I wasn't seeing the funnels touch down. I don't know if maybe it was a hurricane instead but that is how I understood it. I have also seen a volcano erupt in Iceland since I dreamt it. In my dream I was walking around and there was ashes falling from the sky. That has actually taken place in Iceland.

On the weekend of Memorial day, I had a dream about a Tsunami hitting Florida. I was seeing it come onto the beach and there were people still on the sand getting wiped out. It was not a good dream at all.

I will be posting my dreams as they come however, I would like to post some prophetic words from around the world that have confirmed my dreams as well. Stay tuned.

PS.
Stay tuned for the video blogs Ralph and I will be posting!!!!

What ends up being important to me....

Lots of exciting things are happening around me lately. Some good, some bad. Regardless of whether they are good or bad....the fact is, that everyone (or at least it feels like everyone) around me seems to be soaring. What I mean by that is, I feel like sometimes I'm just standing still watching everyone around me evolve into bigger and better things. I don't exactly feel like life is going gently down the stream. It feels like I'm swimming upstream lately. I am not the only one feeling that way. I know Ralph feels the same way too.

I've been observing a lot of people around me and how things are going in their lives. Although on the surface is all I can observe from, it just come across like I am in the middle of a busy street in Manhattan. Its like everyone around me is moving and has a set place they need to go, yet I am still standing around watching everyone pass me by. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not throwing myself a pity party here. I am just thinking about how my life just feels like its just going really slow.

I just wish that things would just progress for me already. Or should I say for us. I see people around me getting so blessed, favored, becoming famous, having babies, going to school etc. I don't know, I guess since I don't see anything happening in my life that is meaningful or that makes me feel successful. I almost feel like I'm not walking correctly in my destiny. I mean, I truly believe we can change our own decisions by the choices we make so, I really have to observe the paths I choose to take. I don't want to look back one day and think that I have made the wrong decisions in life and ended up changing my destiny.

The brighter side to all of this is, that in spite of all the drama going on in my family, and the frustrations I have at work, or the confidence in myself.....the best part about my life is that I am truly blessed to know the Lord. When I feel lonely in this world, Jesus will sit with me and keep me company. When I feel like I have had enough drama and can't take it anymore, the Lord will let me cast my cares upon Him. When I am down, He lifts me up. When I am weak, He makes me strong. And truthfully, although I see people around me praised, or becoming famous or favored by all......the one true blessing I hold onto as the most important things to me is, knowing that I have eternal life. Knowing that my Lord is faithful until the end. Understanding that its not about my glory.....but the Lord's glory that matters.

I don't want to be the kind of person that has to be the one in the limelight with all the glory. I would rather be the person that the Lord sees and has favor over me. I would rather sit in the shadows with the Lord, then be on top of the world.....and be all alone. I'm just blessed to know and have the privilege of being saved and aware that I am the daughter of the living God!

Some things matter to some people, and to others it doesn't make a difference. In my life, the most important thing is to follow the will of the Lord. Everything else will stay here on earth after life is over. But knowing that you did the Lord's will and obeyed His command, will benefit you even after you are gone. I'm just blessed......

the thoughts in my head

Have you ever just sat and allowed thoughts to just run inside your head? What I mean by that is, just sit and think. Today is one of those days that I spent a lot of time just thinking a lot of thoughts in my head.

I think about what my life is like now. I think about how I've gotten to this place and time. I think about where my life is headed. Sometimes I think about destiny and where the Lord has my steps ordered. I wonder if I am headed in the right direction or not. Or if I have altered my destiny in any way by making certain decisions.

I often think about my character or personality. Whether I am reflecting the love of God or not allowing the light of God to shine out. I think about what people see when they look in my eyes. I believe the eyes are the windows to the soul......so what do people see when they look at me? Do they see Jesus who lives in me? Do they just see my brown eyes? Do they see joy? Or sorrow? Can they see my present standing or do they just see my past?

Today when I left OHOP I had a ton of thoughts going through my mind. Some good, some bad. At 2:00 today, I had to sing for a "worship with the word" set. We sang on the hymns of Revelation. I must say..........it was the best set I've ever sang on. Not because of how great the music sounded or the scriptures being the best. I believe it was the best set for me personally because I was allowing myself to be free to sing from my heart. I finally had an oracle today too. That was interesting. I just happened to remember a dream God gave me a few months ago about the end times. That vision flashed in my head and I immediately felt the presence of God. So I sang the scripture based on my dream. I felt freedom to do that today. I can't say I have felt that during any watch that I have done so far.

I fight my mind a lot about insecurities and worries. I know the word of God says in Philipians 4:6 - "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Sometimes that is easier said than done. I just have to remember to take those thoughts....and bring them to the Lord. Then He will bring me peace and clarity....joy and understanding.

I hope today the Lord gives me good dreams. Hopefully something prophetic. I dream a lot....and a lot of them are dreams that come to pass. Maybe today is one of those days! With that.....I will just take the time to release my thoughts through blogging. It helps out either way ;o)

Drama, drama, drama

Gosh what a long week it has been. It started to be just a non-stop week of activities, work etc. It has been very stressful at times, but some times throughout the week were just wonderful. I would go to class sometimes frustrated and leave just as happy as could be. Sometimes, it takes a smile from someone else to brighten up my day....and as a dance instructor, there are lots of smiling people in class and they make me laugh so hard sometimes. It puts my worries on pause for a while.

At times, I think I have it all under control.....but then I get a quick text, or email or even message on the web that changes everything around. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. I guess the bottom line is to figure out how to handle every situation that comes my way. In a way, its like God's way of taking you from glory to glory. Either way, its just a way to learn and to grow.

Lately, I have been hitting prayer harder than usual at the House of Prayer. I have my long list of petitions and prayers for people around me. I pray from a range of subjects like the president, to someone that messaged me on facebook. I pray for friends, family, strangers.....just everything. I feel like the more I pray about everyone and everything.......the harder they get hit with situations. I am sure the enemy is pretty pissed that I am praying for people.

Whatever the situation may be, I just need the Lord to give me strength. Strength to keep pressing on through tough situations. It almost gives me a holy anger. When I feel that way, I want to just war in the heavens even more. I am sick of struggling, and I am sick of seeing others struggle.

I keep hearing the same scriptures in my head and in my spirit........

"Isaiah 40:31
But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

Galatians 6:9 (New King James Version)

⁹ And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

I'm going to just meditate on that for a while. I need to just let that soak into my spirit so I don't get weak and frustrated.

What a long week

Boy has it been a long few weeks. We had so many things going on at once. Its nice to finally slow down a little bit from chaos to organized chaos. Its been crazy what with all the conferences and now with events going on each Saturday from now until June. Summer seems to be a busy time for us.....(me and Ralph).

This past week was so busy that we barely had time to go and study at the prayer room. In our book, that is torture. We enjoy being in the House of Prayer to just detox from all that we go through in our busy weeks. Lately, we go non-stop from day to day. Its nice to just relax a while and feel like our burdens are being lifted or pushed aside for a while at least. This weekend alone has a jam packed schedule of teaching, socials and baby showers.

First we have Friday class, then practice after that. Then Saturday morning we have privates then class.......after that, we have a social at night to raise money for the Compassion Center! Then its onto church Sunday morning to then leave, and go to the studio for a busy day of decorating and baby shower organizing.

That part is exciting. Ralph's sister is having a baby and her little boy will be here very soon. So, we have to do a shower asap....considering the circumstances. Well, she is one of those rare cases that found out she was pregnant when she was 7 months pregnant. I know, crazy right? Her belly wasn't growing or anything. So now she has a huge belly and we had to plan a last minute shower for her before the baby gets here. I'm excited. Its Ralph's first nephew. He's never really been an uncle. I've been the one with a niece and nephew so I'm a pro at it! I'm looking forward to what this weekend will bring. Then its onto another busy week of events.

Oh Lord, I pray that I have all the time I need in the prayer room!

Ralph's 25th Birthday

Well Ralph is now officially a quarter of a century old! We went to church this morning instead of going to the beach because Justin Rizzo was doing our Sunday morning worship. So of course we can't miss out on that! After that, we fellowshipped for a while and headed out to Elliot and Iris' house.
The guys decided they wanted to go to Dr. Greenbergs house to play basketball so Iris and I went ahead and left to the hospital to visit Edwin and Heather's new baby Aiden Samuel.
After that, we went and got ready to leave to Amura where we sat at the habachi grill and ate sushi. It was so great! I love that place....its up there on my top 3 favorite places to eat.

Onething Conference

Onething 09 finally came and went! I had such a blast. It was my first time going to a Onething conference and it was everything I imagined and more. I loved it!

We started out by loading up our vehicles with equipment this past Friday, (to move the prayer room over to the conference) and heading out to Iglesia El Calvario where the conference was taking place. When we got there, we started setting up the prayer room area as soon as possible because on Friday there was a prayer watch from 5-8pm with Joanne. So once we got that taken care of, we were running around taking care of whatever needed to be taken care of. There were volunteers running the registration tables, the bookstores, ushering, seating area, and information booths. It was a very busy day.

The conference started right at 7:00pm and Matt Gilman was leading worship for the first session. I never get tired of hearing Matt Gilman lead worship. He's just so anointed. The once that was done, Wes was the first speaker to come up speak at that session. It was awesome....until......Ralph remembered that he has to be on the other side of town to run his student training team practice. Ugh....we frantically got up and left to drive to E. Colonial for practice. It was already an exhausting day to begin with, and it just got worse when we had to go workout and dance for two hours.

When we left practice we were so exhausted that both of us were trying to stay away to drive home. It was a long day. Plus, we had to wake up early for the first session on Saturday for Onething.

That Saturday we both ended up missing the first session from lack of sleep and exhaustion. We both got ready quickly and left to the conference. Once we were there it was like round two of running around............but before that happened, we had to sing at the 12:00 watch with Melany. I must say, that was the best watch we have ever had. I was expecting everyone to be at lunch out and about during that two hours but the prayer room was packed with people that were fully engaged with the worship with the word set we did. It was so great. I loved it.

The next session after that was the breakout session for leaders and latinos lol....seriously that is what it was for. After that, the evening session started. Justin Rizzo was the worship leader Saturday night and man....oh man...........can that man worship. I absolutely love the way Justin Rizzo leads worship. It was amazing! Then Duane Roberts did the night session about the end times and the houses of prayer. I was just in amazement at the way he explains things. It was wonderful!

In all, the conference was just awesome....and I can't wait to go to the Onething conference in Kansas City for New Years!