Ordinary with a little Extra!

Life is full of moments where we are waiting to see what happens next. It seems I have been in a season of that... Waiting... Have you ever been in the middle of a crowd of people and just stopped for a moment to look around and see what is going on? I have a couple in a couple of different crowds. Once in the middle of a concert watching  the people around you jumping and yelling or singing along. Several times in airports. Watching people run on their way to their various destinations. Even on a busy mall on a Saturday afternoon late in the fall. The fact of the matter isn't really gonna change. People from all different backgrounds in the middle of what may be a very ordinary moment to them: Enjoying the music of the band they came to see. Running to catch a plane or to baggage claim off to see family they haven't seen in a while or to vacation at Disney world or an important business meeting or job Interview. Running around to stores shopping for this and that getting ready for the big date or shopping for that special someone to give them the perfect gift for Christmas or Picking up that ring and putting the details on his plans.
I guess many of those moments are not as ordinary as I made them sound at first. But I mean how often do people in the most ordinary moments forget that so many others may be in the middle of a moment that is Extraordinary! I am the type of person that in my apparently ordinary moments seek out the Extra for my Ordinary! I have found that with the Lord it is not far to look. The joy in a child's eyes when they just see their mom or dad for the first time in 5 minutes, hours, days or months! I know that every moment with the Lord is incredibly extraordinary! Because He is very Extraordinary! I mean as people we can only be with so many people at a time... If I wanted time with someone like the president or a Celebrity I would likely be too ordinary to be considered as a audience with someone who is that important. But the Creator of universe the One that considered the every intimate facet of my heart takes the time to be available to enjoy even the ordinary moments with me!

Home Ec·o·nom·ics

Home Ec·o·nom·ics: noun - Cooking and other aspects of household management, esp. as taught at school

Home /hōm/ adverb - 1. To the place where one lives 2. In or at the place where one lives 3. To the end or conclusion of a race or something difficult 4. To or toward home plate 5. To the intended or correct position

Ec·o·nom·ics /ˌekəˈnämiks/ /ˌēkə-/ noun - 1. The branch of knowledge concerned with the production, consumption, and transfer of wealth 2. The condition of a region or group as regards material prosperity

So recently I offered to teach my 'little Sister' Kristen how to make homemade chicken soup from scratch... Which spawned an inquiry that... Well... Made my day and inspired a new found passion. Kristen asked if I would be interested in teaching her and maybe one or two other home school students a Home Economics class. This has inspired me to really apply myself even more to learn how God wants us to run a household and how to best train others how to manage a home God's Way!

It makes me wish I would have taken that Marriage and Family Class from the McWilliams at CFNI that my brother still rants and raves about. But besides that I am very excited about the opportunity... Even though right now it is only a possibility! This is a passion I have had for some time now. I remember when I first started at CFNI I found that allot of young ladies my age never had the opportunity to learn even the basics of cooking, cleaning, budgeting and things like that... Those are just a few things that a good Home Ec course should cover. So I am currently delving into great biblical teaching taught by Devi Titus & Larry Burkett. If you have any great resources I am putting a request out to all my friends please feel free to message me or post info in comments or on my wall!

God Bless!

Alicia Zinn

A life...

One life can change the course of... Well... everything. Many of us forget how significant one life can be. I could tell you right now that if one human interaction in my life had not been there no matter how insignificant it may have seemed. The course of my life would not have remained the same. I often find myself thinking of how significant each life can be when I hear of the loss of life. Last night it was reported that a man, Osama bin Laden, had lost his life. The truth of the matter is if his name had not been mentioned in association with the tragedy of September 11, 2001 none of us would even know his name. I know that on occasion I have found myself just as guilty as the next guy feeling that he deserved it or that he had it coming after what he did. But the only way that justice can be found is not in retaliation... no matter how good we think we will feel after the fact... But rather in Redemption!

It is the only answer that God ever planned on having! Even from the very beginning. God never intended for us to have to live in a world where death even existed! But as soon as things changed He still had a plan but His plan did not include sticking it to the one that started this whole thing. Because we as created beings are unable in our own power to live beyond the created world beyond death we are powerless on our own. He knew from the beginning that if things were going to make a turn for the worst He being the Creator of Life would have to sacrifice His own life in order to conquer death. God had a plan to redeem EVERY man! His desire is that we are ALL redeemed! Even those that our finite minds believe are beyond or undeserving of redemption. Such as a man that many Americans hold responsible for the death of thousands. Our justice system is built upon the understanding that every American is by there constitutional rights Innocent until Proven Guilty. My understanding of the Word of God is quite the opposite as far as sin is concerned well everyman is really Guilty! No questions asked... But that isn't it... We do in fact get a trial... We have one choice before that trial which comes at death... We can choose to represent ourself or to let an Advocate take our case. This Advocate is available to everyman. His name is Jesus. He has already pled Guilty. He even paid the only price of sin which is death. But having lived without sin the laws of death had no hold on Him. He conquered death so that in the end if we have chosen Jesus as our Advocate. When the Judge sees that we are represented by Jesus. The Judge will Move for a dismissal of all charges because the price has already been paid!

But the thing about that is to remember is that even the worst of us... Terrorists, Serial Killers, Rapists, Occult Leaders and So on... Jesus paid for those sins too. Because when God looks at us He doesn't see what we have done but rather He sees us for Who we are in Jesus! Redeemed with a clean slate. A little reminder to Christians out there who are religious about the Law. We don't live by the Law because we need to live within these parameters to stay clean. We live life in a way that brings honor to the name we have chosen to represent in our faith... It's not about rules or laws. It's about doing the right thing cause well its right. Not because we don't want to do the wrong thing.

All this to say One life... A single life can make all the difference in the world!

I love Y'all!
Alicia Zinn

An Unexpected turn...

Life is full of unexpected changes... Especially when you are on a journey towards the future... Mine has journey has recently taken an unexpected turn and I am looking forward to what the Lord is doing in my life... For those of you who haven't heard from me or through the grapevine I have news... Due to a recent cutback in hours at my current job I have come to the realization that in this small town a full-time job means anything over 20 hours... I have been barely scraping by on 32 hours a week at my job and after my trip home to NC I came back to be informed by my boss that my hours were to be cut back to as little as 25 hours a week. Upon receiving this news I promptly informed my boss that there is no way I can survive on less hours and that if this was going to be the case she should expect my notice soon... I had been praying about several possibilities that I had in front of me... I could get a second job and continue to strain to make ends meet... I could quit and try and find another full time job in town and hope its enough to continue living somewhere I honestly cant afford to live... Or consider and option that was offered to me a few months ago that I had been thinking about for a while... In Dec before my lease was up My father open handedly presented me with an offer... I could pack up all my furniture and things into storage and pack my car up with my clothes and things I need to live and move back home to live with them and get a job in Charlotte where Full-time means at least 40 hours a week and jobs are a bit more plentiful... And then when the grant comes through and Wild Fire is ready for me then I can pack back up and move back to Texas... At the time things were going pretty well and I was keeping my head above water... But January saw a turn around in my job and financial situation and I could see that the Lord was moving some of the Wild Fire Staff into new places... After allot of prayer and a two and a half hour conversation with Toni Hellums... I realized that the wise thing for me to do right now was to move home for a season... So in about three weeks my mother will be flying down to Texas to ride with me back home to NC... I want to thank everyone who has been praying for me through this season... I am so thankful for the people the Lord has placed in my life!

God Bless y'all! Alicia

Father Knows Best

Several years back... actually more like 15 years ago... We won a few CD's in a contest from the local Chirstian music station and when we went by to pick them up on if them was a CD by a somewhat unknown artist named Jeni Varnadeau... My mother loved the title song of her album 'Colors of Truth' so it was one of the 5 CD's we choose to take home with us. There are several songs on that CD that still speak to me. But one the Lord has used allot to speak to me in the last few days is called Father knows best. I attached a player that should let you listen to it! The song speaks of a young lady who has been looking for a string of pearls the fake kind would do for her and her father give her the fake kind for her birthday and she wears them with pride and honor knowing that her father loves her and knows best. Then the next year for her birthday asks her to surrenderer the pearls she cherishes so much to him. though hesitant she does so and upon submitting them he hands her a string of real pearls. I have found myself in a place of surrendering many things I cherish to the My Father in heaven. Recently I have started learning how to use a camera that I had purchased as an investment into my photography business it is a crossover DSLR and from what I have been told a decently well known name although I had never heard of it and they actually no longer make cameras... And The more time I have invested in learning how to use it the more I have learned to love it. Now I have become rather attached to my well 'Fill in till I can afford a Nikon' camera (or my Fake string of Pearls!). After purchasing the camera for $100 I priced it on Amazon for Kicks... New one runs over $800 the lowest price used was $250! Wow I had been blessed with a great deal! A few months after I purchased it I hit one of my hardest financial times and decided to try and sell some stuff on Amazon. I posted it as well as some various DVD sets online. At that time the lowest used was posted at $300 and didn't come with the extra memory card and some of the other accessories were missing so I posted mine at $350... Since then I have sold the DVD's I posted but it has been a few months since then... About a month or so I started really investing my time in learning how to use it to the extent of asking for and receiving a larger memory card for it for Christmas ... In all honesty I had completely forgotten that I had posted it online to sell until yesterday when I got the email that said it was sold! So last night I packed up my Camera and sent it to someone in California who I hope will very much enjoy his "Like New" Camera. I am now out one fake string of pearls (The Camera) and richer in wisdom and a few hundred bucks which goes to saving. Lord just so its said I wouldn't mind a Nikon D90 or better(my version of a Real string of Pearls)!

God bless!
Alicia Zinn