He looks like a teenager here. :)

I know it has been a very long time since I updated my blog.  I am doing good.  We have a new baby in the house, named Jonathan Greg Stephens.  He was born at 6:29pm on June 1st. He is so precious and his big brother, James, really loves him.  Everyone is doing fine and I know that Greg and Angela will be sharing photos soon when they have a moment.  Angela is such a wonderful and loving mother.  Greg is so sweet with Jonathan and is already making up some new songs for him as he does for James.  James is growing up so fast and is already a great big brother.

I am doing well.  I am still working at Hope Cafe as the Assistant Manager.  We are praying for the Lord to continue to do a work in and through the cafe.  Please continue to keep it in prayer along with us.  We are also trying to get the word out more about our catering.

I hope you all are doing well and would love to hear from you.  God Bless, Holly

Yaya with Jonathan on his birthday

The Stephens Boys singing worship together

I took James to see some tractors.  Look how big he is getting.

Winter Skipped

We went right from Autumn to Spring.  Although I am sad that we didn't get any snow, this year has been very beautiful.  Here are a few pics for you.

Magnolia Tree in Firefighters Memorial Park in Raleigh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My mom and Brian as we were driving up to Clear Creek on my visit to Vegas.

My Aunt Patty.  She likes to give me this look when I take pics of her. :)

Me and my mom at Calico Basin.

 

 

I was so blessed to have been able to to visit my mom, Brian and Aunt Patty in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving.  We spent a lot of time together and I felt very grateful to be with them.  I also was able to spend time with a few of my friends when I visited over at Calvary Chapel Spring Valley. 

All of us here in NC had a great Christmas and New Year.  Our friends, Wayne and Marleen Champion visited us for the New Year from South Carolina.  It was so nice to have them with us. 

I have been busy at work and very thankful that The Hope Cafe is still open and being used for ministry in this city. 

Please continue to keep us in prayer.  Thank you and have a great New Year!

Holly

FALL, THANKSGIVING and BIRTHDAYS

Beautiful Autumn Days have come and are now almost gone.  We have been blessed to see amazing changes of all of God's Creation.  I am so grateful that the Lord moved me to this State and I hope that I will continue to fall in love with what He has made.

I just wanted to let you all know that my job is going well.  We were afraid that we would have to close at the end of October, but praise the Lord, He provided a way for us to stay open.  I am also blessed that my Manager, Gayle, is letting me go back to Vegas for a week and a half.  I will be in Vegas Monday night, November 21st and I will be leaving on Wednesday morning, November 30th.  I will be able to spend time with my family and maybe have some Archi's with a few friends. :)

 We took a walk to the pond and it was gorgeous.

Morning Fog

Cotton Fields-I wanted to pick a bale. :)

James celebrated his 3rd birthday on November 13th.  His grandma, Hope, was able to be here and we all went to Chuck e Cheese.  Pretty fun. :)  Then we went home and he had a cupcake, opened presents and called family to thank them.  He was so cute the next day as he told me that I could play with all of his toys and balloons.  So sweet!

 Eating a cupcake that his mom lovingly made for him. :)

Greg taking a photo from up above if you couldn't tell. :)

I got James one of those block sets that has a picture of a variety of vehicles to build.  Greg had tons of fun. :)

Well, I have to go, but I wanted to give you all a quick update and hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

SUPER BLESSED

We were extremely blessed to have our dear friends, Jason & Nancy Strebe.  I finally had the opportunity to meet their kids, Colin and Preston.  I was so excited and thankful that they went out of their way to see us and spend time with us. 







Here are a few pics of Colin and James along with a shot of the group watching a Stunt Show at the State Fair.

TRANSFORMED

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new."
Philippians 3: 10 "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."
Colossians 2: 6-8 "As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.  Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."
Romans 12: 1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

FACEBOOK WORLD IS GONE!!!

Well, at least for me.  I just decided yesterday to close my Facebook account and hopefully I will leave it closed.  It has been a blessing and has a hand in new relationships established and old strengthened.  I have met relatives who didn't even know who I was and it helped spread important information and a plethora of encouragement.  It was useful in getting many people involved in volunteering for big events, donating supplies for Vacation Bible School and many prayer requests passed all over the world.  For me, I need to close it for a variety of reasons, but the main was to go back to pre-facebook times.  Like sending letters in the mail or calling people on the phone.  It has been a big part of my life and it will be a big loss, but I believe this is what I should do for now.  For all you Facebookers, if you think you need to do the same, I suggest not hesitating because it will be easy to keep it if you don't do it soon. :)  God Bless

180movie.com -Caution!!! Graphic Images Displayed

I am encouraged by the ministry of The Way of the Master and Living Waters which reaches this world for Christ and trains up and equips others to do the same.  SIMPLY!!!  Do you consider yourself to be a good Person?  Most people will say yes and then compare themselves with Hitler.  Not often will they compare themselves with Jesus Christ.

This new movie that you can find on www.180movie.com gets a person pretty riled up immediately.  Whether it be in agreement with the man who is sporting a pretty cool mohawk or in frustration, anger and sadness at his words. You will be surprised at the clips of some of the young people who have no idea who Adolph Hitler is or what he did so many years ago.  Although the movie spends a lot of time concerning Hitler and what he thought of the Jewish people and others, it is leading to the topic of Abortion.  Would you bury a hole full of people who are still alive if you have a gun pointed at your head?  Yes?  Would you shoot those same people with the gun still pointed at your head?
 You will see by watching this movie how one thing leads to another and then a person is confronted by their previous answers in relation to abortion.

Please take the time to watch and be ready to share with others what you learn from it.  Also, you can easily pass this video on to your friends and family and encourage them to watch it all the way to the end because they will have the opportunity to hear beyond the subject of abortion what is shared with the young people.  Everyone needs to face the facts that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  If a person tells a lie, thinks lustfully, uses the Lord's name as a curse word, takes something that doesn't belong to him...then he is a lying, thieving, blaspheming adulterer at heart and that person will face the Lord on the day of judgment.  Would that person be found guilty or innocent?  Would you?

Whether you are Pro-Life or Pro-Abortion, please consider what you see and hear.  God Bless

BLANK CANVAS

I own 10 blank canvases, numerous sketch books, journals, paints, pencils and all types of pens.  Why are they blank?  Why do I have ideas that never make it to the smooth, clean and white backgrounds?  I was thinking about this today while I was at work.  I feel like I am wasting them as they are gathering dust.  One day I am going to breathe my last breath and not have completed the images, ideas, beauty, memories and legacy of a life that has been given me by the Creator. 

We need to think about our lives like these blank canvases.  Do we have great ideas and thoughts that we are not acting on?  Do we see each day as a new day of beauty, memories and to establish a legacy that will be handed down from parent to child, friend to friend?

What am I doing with my blank canvas?  What are you doing with yours? 

Hurricane Irene and CEF Spectacular

Walking in the rain

So, Hurricane Irene hit NC on August 27th, and thankfully we were not effected by it, but we know that many others along the East Coast suffered much loss.  Please pray that if the Lord has a plan for us in assisting these people that it will be clear as to what He wants us to do specifically.

A sudden downpour of rain courtesy of Hurricane Irene

Riding the Bull at CEF Spectacular

James on a bull at the Children's Ministry Fellowship Spectacular.  He was able to go on many Inflatable Bounce Houses and Slides, but the best part of the event is the outreach opportunity it was to our community.  Please pray that many children and their parents were saved that day.

REPENTANCE

The memory verse for week 4 of our Seeking Him study is Psalm 51:10. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." I am excited to be able to do this specific topic because it is the desire of my heart is to be truly repentant and humble before the Lord. Lord, I ask for Your strength, reveal to me where I need to repentant and I pray that You will use this study to continue to draw me closer to You as we spend time in Your word, in fellowship and in prayer.

Garner Train and White Deer Park

The other day I was able to hang out with James. We went to see the train in Old Downtown Garner. Then we went to White Deer Park.


You can see the Garner Water Tower in the background.



James walking on the tracks to see the train.